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diff --git a/44963-0.txt b/44963-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..54817fa --- /dev/null +++ b/44963-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17019 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44963 *** + +Transcriber's note: + +Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + +Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration: coverpage] + + + + +[Illustration: titlepage] + + + + + For Faith and Freedom + + + + + PRINTED BY + + SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. LTD., NEW-STREET SQUARE + + LONDON + +[Illustration: '_Every morning Sir Christopher sat in his Justice's +chair, under the helmets and coats of armour._'] + + + + + For Faith and Freedom + + BY + + WALTER BESANT + + AUTHOR OF 'DOROTHY FORSTER' 'CHILDREN OF GIBEON' + 'ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN' ETC. + + [Illustration: publisher's mark] + + A NEW EDITION + + WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY A. FORESTIER AND F. WADDY + + LONDON + + CHATTO & WINDUS + + 1903 + + + + + _The Illustrations to this Story are reproduced by kind permission + of the Proprietors of 'The Illustrated London News'_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. FAREWELL SUNDAY 1 + + II. IN THE VILLAGE 13 + + III. THE BOYS 18 + + IV. SIR CHRISTOPHER 23 + + V. THE RUNAWAY 27 + + VI. BENJAMIN, LORD CHANCELLOR 32 + + VII. MEDICINÆ DOCTOR 40 + + VIII. A ROYAL PROGRESS 47 + + IX. WITH THE ELDERS 54 + + X. LE ROY EST MORT 60 + + XI. BEFORE THE STORM 66 + + XII. HUMPHREY 72 + + XIII. ONE DAY 78 + + XIV. THE VISION OF THE BASKET 85 + + XV. A NIGHT AND MORNING 91 + + XVI. ON THE MARCH 104 + + XVII. TAUNTON 112 + + XVIII. THE MAIDS OF TAUNTON 117 + + XIX. KING MONMOUTH AND HIS CAMP 121 + + XX. BENJAMIN'S WARNING 130 + + XXI. WE WAIT FOR THE END 134 + + XXII. THE DAY AFTER THE FIGHT 142 + + XXIII. IN HIDING 149 + + XXIV. THE CAMP IN THE COMB 154 + + XXV. ILMINSTER CLINK 167 + + XXVI. SIR CHRISTOPHER 174 + + XXVII. BEFORE THE ASSIZE 180 + + XXVIII. BENJAMIN 186 + + XXIX. ON WHAT CONDITIONS? 192 + + XXX. A SLIGHT THING AT THE BEST 198 + + XXXI. THE VISION OF CONSOLATION 208 + + XXXII. THE MAN OF SAMARIA 214 + + XXXIII. ON BOARD THE 'JOLLY THATCHER' 221 + + XXXIV. THE GOOD SAMARITAN 228 + + XXXV. THE WHITE SLAVE 235 + + XXXVI. THE FIRST DAY OF SERVITUDE 242 + + XXXVII. BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON 248 + + XXXVIII. HUMPHREY'S NARRATIVE 255 + + XXXIX. FOR TEN YEARS 261 + + XL. WITH THE HOE 269 + + XLI. ON CONDITIONS 274 + + XLII. ALICE 283 + + XLIII. BARNABY HEARS THE NEWS 286 + + XLIV. A SCARE 291 + + XLV. BARNABY THE AVENGER 295 + + XLVI. A PERILOUS VOYAGE 299 + + XLVII. TORTUGA 310 + + XLVIII. THE ISLAND OF PROVIDENCE 313 + + XLIX. HOME 317 + + L. THE GREAT LORD CHANCELLOR 321 + + LI. THE CONFESSION 325 + + CHAPTER THE LAST 332 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + 'Every morning Sir Christopher sat in his Justice's + chair, under the helmets and coats of armour' _Frontispiece_ + + 'He was seized with a mighty wrath, and, catching his son + sharply by the ear, led him out of the throng' _To face p._ 30 + + 'Fair White Rose of Somerset, let me be assured by a kiss + from your sweet lips' " " 52 + + 'We played together, he on the violoncello, I upon the + spinnet' " " 56 + + 'And Robin was come home again, and I was lying in his + arms, and he was kissing me' " " 68 + + 'Her schoolgirls were engaged in working and embroidering + flags for the Duke's army' " " 110 + + '"Boys," I said, "beware; if you go up higher you will certainly + meet wild men"' " " 164 + + 'I was standing at the wicket waiting for my basket to be + taken in' " " 182 + + 'As I passed through the crowd, one caught me by the + arm' " " 212 + + 'When I came to my senses the Captain gave me a glass of + cordial' " " 228 + + 'This I did, and so stood before them all + bareheaded' " " 236 + + 'Barnaby holding the pistol to the poor wretch's head, so + that he should not bellow and call for + assistance' " " 313 + + + + +FOR FAITH AND FREEDOM + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +FAREWELL SUNDAY. + + +The morning of Sunday, August 23, in the year of grace 1662, should +have been black and gloomy with the artillery of rolling thunder, +dreadful flashes of lightning, and driving hail and wind to strip +the orchards and lay low the corn. For on that day was done a thing +which filled the whole country with grief, and bore bitter fruit +in after years, of revenge and rebellion. And, because it was the +day before that formerly named after Bartholomew, the disciple, +it hath been called the Black Bartholomew of England, thus being +likened unto that famous day (approved by the Pope) when the French +Protestants were treacherously massacred by their King. It should +rather be called 'Farewell Sunday' or 'Exile Sunday,' for on that +day two thousand godly ministers preached their last sermon in the +churches where they had laboured worthily and with good fruit, some +during the time of the Protector, and some even longer, because +among them were a few who possessed their benefices even from the +time of the late King Charles the First. And, since on that day two +thousand ministers left their churches and their houses, and laid +down their worldly wealth for conscience' sake, there were also, +perhaps, as many wives who went with them, and, I dare say, three +or four times as many innocent and helpless babes. And, further (it +is said that the time was fixed by design and deliberate malice of +our enemies), the ministers were called upon to make their choice +only a week or two before the day of the collection of their tithes. +In other words, they were sent forth to the world at the season +when their purses were at the leanest; indeed, with most country +clergymen, their purses shortly before the collection of tithes have +become well-nigh empty. It was also unjust that their successors +should be permitted to collect the tithes due to those who were +ejected. + +It is fitting to begin this history with the Black Bartholomew, +because all the troubles and adventures which afterwards befell us +were surely caused by that accursed day. One know not certainly, +what other rubs might have been ordained for us by a wise Providence +(always with the merciful design of keeping before our eyes +the vanity of worldly things, the instability of fortune, the +uncertainty of life, and the wisdom of looking for a hereafter +which shall be lasting, stable, and satisfying to the soul). Still, +it must be confessed, such trials as were appointed unto us were, +in severity and continuance, far beyond those appointed to the +ordinary sort, so that I cannot but feel at times uplifted (I hope +not sinfully) at having been called upon to endure so much. Let me +not, however, be proud. Had it not been for this day, for certain, +our boys would not have been tempted to strike a blow--vain and +useless as it proved--for the Protestant religion and for liberty +of conscience: while perhaps I should now be forbidden to relate +our sufferings, were it not for the glorious Revolution which has +restored toleration, secured the Protestant ascendancy, and driven +into banishment a Prince, concerning whom all honest men pray that +he and his son (if he have, indeed, a son of his own) may never +again have authority over this realm. + +This Sunday, I say, should have wept tears of rain over the havoc +which it witnessed; yet it was fine and clear, the sun riding in +splendour, and a warm summer air blowing among the orchards and over +the hills and around the village of Bradford Orcas, in the shire of +Somerset. The wheat (for the season was late) stood gold-coloured +in the fields, ready at last for the reaper; the light breeze bent +down the ears so that they showed like waves over which the passing +clouds make light and shade; the apples in the orchards were red +and yellow, and nearly ripe for the press; in the gardens of the +Manor House, hard by the church, the sunflowers and the hollyhocks +were at their tallest and their best; the yellow roses on the +wall were still in clusters; the sweet-peas hung with tangles of +vine and flower upon their stalks; the bachelors' buttons, the +sweet mignonette, the nasturtium, the gillyflowers and stocks, the +sweet-williams and the pansies, offered their late summer blossoms +to the hot sun among the lavender, thyme, parsley, sage, feverfew, +and vervain of my Lady's garden. Oh! I know how it all looked, +though I was then as yet unborn. How many times have I stood in the +churchyard and watched the same scene at the same sweet season! On a +week-day one hears the thumping and the groaning of the mill below +the church; there are the voices of the men at work--the yo-hoing +of the boys who drive; and the lumbering of the carts. You can even +hear the spinning-wheels at work in the cottages. On Sunday morning +everything is still, save for the warbling of the winged tribe in +the wood, the cooing of the doves in the cote, the clucking of the +hens, the grunting of the pigs, and the droning of the bees. These +things disturb not the meditations of one who is accustomed to them. + +At eight o'clock in the morning, the Sexton, an ancient man and +rheumatic, hobbled slowly through the village, key in hand, and +opened the church-door. Then he went into the tower and rang the +first bell. I suppose this bell is designed to hurry housewives with +their morning work, and to admonish the men that they incline their +hearts to a spiritual disposition. This done, the Sexton set open +the doors of the pews, swept out the Squire's and the Rector's in +the chancel, dusted the cushions of the pulpit (the reading-desk +at this time was not used), opened the clasps of the great Bible, +and swept down the aisle: as he had done Sunday after Sunday for +fifty years. When he had thus made the church ready for the day's +service, he went into the vestry, which had only been used since the +establishment of the Commonwealth for the registers of birth, death, +and marriage. + +At one side of the vestry stood an ancient, black oak coffer, the +sides curiously graven, and a great rusty key in the lock. The +Sexton turned the key with difficulty, threw open the lid and looked +in. + +'Ay,' he said, chuckling, 'the old surplice and the old Book of +Common Prayer. Ye have had a long rest; 'tis time for both to come +out again. When the surplice is out, the book will stay no longer +locked up. These two go in and out together. I mind me, now'----Here +he sat down, and his thoughts wandered for a space; perhaps he +saw himself once more a boy running in the fields, or a young man +courting a maid. Presently he returned to the task before him, and +drew forth an old and yellow roll which he shook out. It was the +surplice which had once been white. 'Here you be,' he said. 'Put you +away for a matter of twelve year and more and you bide your time; +you know you will come back again; you are not in any hurry. Even +the Sexton dies; but you die not, you bide your time. Everything +comes again. The old woman shall give you a taste o' the suds and +the hot iron. Thus we go up and thus we go down.' He put back the +surplice and took out the great Book of Common Prayer--musty and +damp after twelve years' imprisonment. 'Fie!' he said, 'thy leather +is parting from the boards, and thy leaves they do stick together. +Shalt have a pot of paste, and then lie in the sun before thou goest +back to the desk. Whether 'tis Mass or Common Prayer, whether 'tis +Independent or Presbyterian, folk mun still die and be buried--ay, +and married and born--whatever they do say. Parson goes and Preacher +comes; Preacher goes and Parson comes; but Sexton stays'----He +chuckled again, put back the surplice and the book, and locked the +coffer. + +Then he slowly went down the church and came out of the porch, +blinking in the sun, and shading his old eyes. He sat down upon the +flat stones of the old cross, and presently nodded his head and +dropped off asleep. + +This was a strange indifference in the man. A great and truly +notable thing was to be accomplished that day. But he cared nothing. +Two thousand godly and learned men were to go forth into poverty +for liberty of conscience--this man's own minister was one of them. +He cared nothing. The King was sowing the seed from which should +spring a rod to drive forth his successor from the kingdom. In the +village the common sort were not moved. Nothing concerns the village +folk but the weather and the market prices. As for the good Sexton, +he was very old: he had seen the Church of England displaced by the +Presbyterians and the Presbyterians by the Independents, and now +these were again to be supplanted by the Church of England. He had +been Sexton through all these changes. He heeded them not; why, his +father, Sexton before him, could remember when the Mass was said +in the church, and the Virgin was worshipped, and the folk were +driven like sheep to confession. All the time the people went on +being born, and marrying, and dying. Creed doth not, truly, affect +these things, nor the Sexton's work. Therefore, this old gaffer, +having made sure that the surplice was in the place where it had +lain undisturbed for a dozen years, and remembering that it must be +washed and ironed for the following Sunday, sat down to bask in the +sun, his mind at rest, and dropped off into a gentle sleep. + +At ten o'clock the bell-ringers came tramping up the stone steps +from the road, and the Sexton woke up. At ten they used to begin +their chimes, but at the hour they ring for five minutes only, +ending with the clash of all five bells together. At a quarter-past +ten they chime again, for the service, which begins at half-past ten. + +At the sound of these chimes the whole village begins to move +slowly towards the church. First come the children, the bigger ones +leading those who are little by the hand; the boys come next, but +unwillingly, because the Sexton is diligent with his cane, and some +of those who now go up the steps to the church will come down with +smarting backs, the reward of those who play or laugh during the +service. Then come the young men, who stand about the churchyard and +whisper to each other. After them follow the elders and the married +men, with the women and the girls. Five minutes before the half hour +the ringers change the chime for a single bell. Then those who are +outside gather in the porch and wait for the Quality. + +When the single bell began, there came forth from the Rectory the +Rector himself, Mr. Comfort Eykin, Doctor of Divinity, who was this +day to deliver his soul and lay down his charge. He wore the black +gown and Geneva bands, for the use of which he contended. At this +time he was a young man of thirty--tall and thin. He stooped in the +shoulders because he was continually reading; his face was grave +and austere; his nose thin and aquiline; his eyes bright--never was +any man with brighter eyes than my father; his hair, which he wore +long, was brown and curly; his forehead high, rather than broad; his +lips were firm. In these days, as my mother hath told me, and as I +well believe, he was a man of singular comeliness, concerning which +he cared nothing. Always from childhood upwards he had been grave +in conversation and seriously inclined in mind. If I think of my +father as a boy (no one ever seems to think that his father was once +a boy), I am fain to compare him with Humphrey, save for certain +bodily defects, my father having been like a Priest of the Altar for +bodily perfection. That is to say, I am sure that, like Humphrey, +he had no need of rod or ferule to make him learn his lessons, and, +like that dear and fond friend of my childhood, he would willingly +sit in a corner and read a book while the other boys played and went +a-hunting or a-nesting. And very early in life he was smitten with +the conviction of sin, and blessed with such an inward assurance of +salvation as made him afterwards steadfast in all afflictions. + +He was not a native of this country, having been born in New +England. He came over, being then eighteen years of age, to study +at Oxford, that university being purged of malignants (as they +were then called), and, at the time, entirely in the hands of the +godly. He was entered of Balliol College, of which Society he became +a Fellow, and was greatly esteemed for his learning, wherein he +excelled most of the scholars of his time. He knew and could read +Hebrew, Chaldee, and the ancient Syriac, as well as Latin and Greek. +Of modern languages he had acquired Arabic, by the help of which +he read the book which is called the Koran of the False Prophet +Mohammed: French and Italian he also knew and could read easily. As +for his opinions, he was an Independent, and that not meekly or with +hesitation, but with such zeal and vehemence that he considered all +who differed from him as his private enemies--nay, the very enemies +of God. For this reason, and because his personal habits were too +austere for those who attained not to his spiritual height, he was +more feared than loved. Yet his party looked upon him as one of +their greatest and stoutest champions. + +He left Oxford at the age of five or six and twenty, and accepted +the living of Bradford Orcas, offered him by Sir Christopher Challis +of that place. Here he had preached for six years, looking forward +to nothing else than to remain there, advancing in grace and wisdom, +until the end of his days. So much was ordered, indeed, for him; +but not quite as he had designed. Let no man say that he knoweth +the future, or that he can shape out his destiny. You shall hear +presently how Benjamin arrogantly resolved that his future should be +what he chose; and what came of that impious resolution. + +My father's face was always austere; this morning it was more +serious and sterner than customary, because the day was to him +the most important in his life, and he was about to pass from a +condition of plenty (the Rectory of Bradford Orcas is not rich but +it affords a sufficiency) to one of penury. Those who knew him, +however, had no doubt of the course he was about to take. Even +the rustics knew that their minister would never consent to wear +a surplice or to read the Book of Common Prayer, or to keep holy +days--you have seen how the Sexton opened the box and took out the +surplice; yet my father had said nothing to him concerning his +intentions. + +In his hand he carried his Bible--his own copy, I have it still, +the margins covered with notes in his writing--bound in black +leather, worn by constant handling, with brass clasps. Upon his head +he had a plain black silk cap, which he wore constantly in his study +and at meals to keep off draughts. Indeed, I loved to see him with +the silk cap rather than with his tall steeple hat, with neither +ribbon nor ornament of any kind, in which he rode when he afterwards +went about the country to break the law in exhorting and praying +with his friends. + +Beside him walked my mother, holding in her hand her boy, my brother +Barnaby, then three years of age. As for me, I was not yet born. +She had been weeping; her eyes were red and swollen with tears; but +when she entered the church she wept no more, bravely listening to +the words which condemned to poverty and hardship herself and her +children, if any more should be born to her. Alas, poor soul! What +had she done that this affliction should befall her? What had her +innocent boy done? For upon her--not upon her husband--would fall +the heavy burden of poverty, and on her children the loss. Yet never +by a single word of complaint did she make her husband sorry that he +had obeyed the voice of conscience, even when there was nothing left +in the house, not so much as the widow's cruse of oil. Alas, poor +mother, once so free from care! what sorrow and anxiety wert thou +destined to endure for the tender conscience of thy husband! + +At the same time--namely, at the ringing of the single bell--there +came forth from the Manor House hard by the church, his Honour, Sir +Christopher, with his family. The worthy knight was then about fifty +years of age, tall and handsome still--in his later years there was +something of a heavenly sweetness in his face, created, I doubt +not, by a long life of pious thoughts and worthy deeds. His hair +was streaked with grey, but not yet white; he wore a beard of the +kind called stiletto, which was even then an ancient fashion, and +he was dressed more soberly than is common with gentlemen of his +rank, having no feather in his hat, but a simple ribbon round it, +and though his ruffles were of lace and the kerchief round his neck +was lace, the colour of his coat was plain brown. He leaned upon a +gold-headed cane on account of an old wound (it was inflicted by a +Cavalier's musket-ball when he was a Captain in the army of Lord +Essex). The wound left him somewhat lame, yet not so lame but that +he could very well walk about his fields and could ride his horse, +and even hunt with the otter-hounds. By his side walked Madam, his +wife. After him came his son, Humphrey, newly married, and with +Humphrey his wife; and last came his son-in-law, the Reverend Philip +Boscorel, M.A., late Fellow of All Souls' College, Oxford, also +newly married, with his wife, Sir Christopher's daughter, Patience. +Mr. Boscorel, like my father, was at that time thirty years of age. +Like him, too, his face was comely and his features fine; yet they +lacked the fire and the earnestness which marked my father. And in +his silken cassock, his small white bands, his lace ruffles, and +his dainty walk, it seemed as if Mr. Boscorel thought himself above +the common run of mankind and of superior clay. 'Tis sometimes the +way with scholars and those who survey the world from the eminence +of a library. + +Sir Christopher's face was full of concern, because he loved the +young man who was this day to throw away his livelihood; and +although he was ready himself to worship after the manner prescribed +by law, his opinions were rather Independent than Episcopalian. As +for Mr. Boscorel, who was about to succeed to the ejected minister, +his face wore no look of triumph, which would have been ungenerous. +He was observed, indeed, after he had silently gone through the +Service of the day with the help of the Common Prayer-book, to +listen diligently unto the preacher. + +The people, I have already said, knew already what was about to +happen. Perhaps some of them (but I think not) possessed a copy +of the old Prayer-book. This, they knew, was to be restored, with +the surplice, and the observance of Holy days, Feasts, and Fasts, +and the kneeling at the administration of the Holy Communion. Our +people are craftsmen as much as they are rustics; every week the +master-clothiers' men drive their packhorses into the village laden +with wool, and return with yarn; they are not, therefore, so brutish +and sluggish as most country folk; yet they made no outward show +of caring whether Prelacy or Independency was to have the sway. +Perhaps the abstruse doctrines which my father loved to discuss were +too high for them; perhaps his austerity was too strict for them, +so that he was not beloved by them. Perhaps, even, they would have +cared little if they had heard that Bishop Bonner himself was coming +back. Religion, to country folk, means, mostly, the going to church +on Sunday morning. That done, man's service of Prayer and Praise to +his Creator is also done. If the form be changed the church remains, +and the churchyard; one shepherd followeth another, but the flock +is always the same. Revolutions overthrow kings, and send great +heads to the block; but the village heedeth not unless civil war +pass that way. To country folk, what difference? The sky and the +fields are unchanged. Under Queen Mary they are Papists; under Queen +Elizabeth they are Protestants. They have the Prayer-book under King +James and King Charles; under Oliver they have had the Presbyterian +and Independent; now they have the Book of Common Prayer and the +surplice again. Yet they remain the same people, and tell the same +stories, and, so far as I know, believe the same things--viz., that +Christ Jesus saves the soul of every man who truly believes in Him. +Why, if it were not for his immortal soul--concerning which he takes +but little thought--the rustic might be likened unto the patient +beast whom he harnesseth to his plough and to his muck-cart. He +changeth no more; he works as hard; he is as long-enduring; his eyes +and his thoughts are as much bound by the hedge, the lane, and the +field; he thinks and invents and advances no more. Were it not, I +say, for the Church, he would take as little heed of anything as +his ox or his ass; his village would become his country; his squire +would become his king; the nearest village would become the camp of +an enemy; and he would fall into the condition of the Ancient Briton +when Julius Cæsar found every tribe fighting against every other. + +I talk as a fool. For sometimes there falls upon the torpid soul +of the rustic a spark which causes a mighty flame to blaze up and +burn fiercely within him. I have read how a simple monk, called +Peter the Hermit, drew thousands of poor, illiterate, credulous +persons from their homes, and led them, a mob armed with scythes +and pikes, across Europe to the deserts of Asia Minor, where they +miserably perished. I have read also of Jack Cade, and how he drew +the multitudes after him, crying aloud for justice or death. And I +myself have seen these sluggish spirits suddenly fired with a spirit +which nothing could subdue. The sleeping soul I have seen suddenly +starting into life; strength and swiftness have I seen suddenly put +into sluggish limbs; light and fire have I seen gleaming suddenly +in dull and heavy eyes. Oh! it was a miracle: but I have seen it. +And having seen it, I cannot despise these lads of the plough, these +honest boys of Somerset, nor can I endure to hear them laughed at or +contemned. + + * * * * * + +Bradford Orcas, in the Hundred of Horethorne, Somerset, is a village +so far from the great towns, that one would think a minister might +have gone on praying and preaching after his own fashion without +ever being discovered. But the arm of the Law is long. + +The nearest town is Sherborne, in Dorsetshire, to which there is +a bridle-path across the fields; it is the market-town for the +villages round it. Bradford Orcas is an obscure little village, +with no history and no antiquities. It stands in the south-eastern +corner of the county, close to the western declivity of the Corton +Hills, which here sweep round so as to form a valley, in which the +village is built along the banks of a stream. The houses are for +the most part of stone, with thatched roofs, as is the custom in +our country; the slopes of the hills are covered with trees, and +round the village stand goodly orchards, the cider from which cannot +be surpassed. As for the land, but little of it is arable; the +greater part is a sandy loam or stone brash. The church, which in +the superstitious days was dedicated to St. Nicolas, is built upon a +hillock, a rising ground in the west of the village. This building +of churches upon hillocks is a common custom in our parts, and +seemeth laudable, because a church should stand where it can be seen +by all the people, and by its presence remind them of Death and of +the Judgment. The practice doth obtain, for example, at Sherborne, +where there is a very noble church, and at Huish Episcopi, and at +many other places in our county. Our church is fair and commodious, +not too large for the congregation, having in the west a stone +tower embattled, and consisting of a nave and chancel with a very +fine roof of carved woodwork. There is an ancient yew-tree in the +churchyard, from which in old times bows were cut; some of the bows +yet hang in the great hall of the Manor House. Among the graves is +an ancient stone cross, put up no man knows when, standing in a +six-sided slab of stone, but the top was broken off at the time of +the Reformation; two or three tombs are in the churchyard, and the +rest is covered with mounds, beneath which lie the bones and dust of +former generations. + +Close to the churchyard, and at the north-east corner, is the Manor +House, as large as the church itself, but not so ancient. It was +built in the reign of Henry VII. A broad arched gateway leads into +a court, wherein is the entrance to the house. Over the gateway is +a kind of tower, but not detached from the house. In the wall of +the tower is a panel, lozenge-shaped, in which are carved the arms +of the Challis family. The house is stately, with many gables, and +in each are casement windows set in richly-carved stone tracery. +As for the rooms within the house, I will speak of them hereafter. +At present I have the churchyard in my mind. There is no place +upon the earth which more I love. To stand in the long grass among +the graves; to gaze upon the wooded hills beyond, the orchards, +the meadows, the old house, the venerable church, the yew-tree: to +listen to the murmur of the stream below and the singing of the lark +above; to feel the fresh breeze upon my cheek--oh! I do this daily. +It makes me feel young once more; it brings back the days when I +stood here with the boys, and when Sir Christopher would lean over +the wall and discourse with us gravely and sweetly upon the love of +God and the fleeting joys of earth (which yet, he said, we should +accept and be happy withal in thankfulness), and the happiness +unspeakable that awaiteth the Lord's Saints. Or, if my thoughts +continue in the past, the graveyard brings back the presence and the +voice of Mr. Boscorel. + +'In such a spot as this,' he would say, speaking softly and slowly, +'the pastorals of Virgil or Theocritus might have been written. Here +would the shepherds hold their contests. Certainly they could find +no place, even in sunny Sicily or at Mantua itself, where (save for +three months in the year) the air is more delightful. Here they +need not to avoid the burning heat of a sun which gently warms, but +never burns; here they would find the shade of the grove pleasant in +the soft summer season. Innocent lambs instead of kids (which are +tasteless) play in our meadows; the cider which we drink is, I take +it, more pleasing to the palate than was their wine flavoured with +turpentine. And our viols, violins, and spinets are instruments more +delightful than the oaten pipe, or the cithara itself.' Then would +he wave his hand, and quote some poet in praise of a country life-- + + There is no man but may make his paradise, + And it is nothing but his love and dotage + Upon the world's foul joys that keeps him out on't. + For he that lives retired in mind and spirit + Is still in Paradise. + +'But, child,' he would add, with a sigh, 'one may not always wish to +be in Paradise. The world's joys lie elsewhere. Only, when youth is +gone--then Paradise is best.' + +The service began, after the manner of the Independents, with a +long prayer, during which the people sat. Mr. Boscorel, as I have +said, went through his own service in silence, the Book of Common +Prayer in his hand. After the prayer, the minister read a portion +of Scripture, which he expounded at length and with great learning. +Then the congregation sang that Psalm which begins-- + + Triumphing songs with glorious tongues + Let's offer unto Him. + +This done, the Rector ascended the pulpit for the last time, gave +out his text, turned his hour-glass, and began his sermon. + +He took for his text those verses in St. Paul's second epistle to +the Corinthians, vi., 3-10, in which the Apostle speaks of his own +ministry as if he was actually predicting the tribulation which +was to fall upon these faithful preachers of a later time--'In +much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in +stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in +fastings,'--could not the very words be applied to my father? + +He read the text three times, so that everybody might fully +understand the subject upon which he was to preach--namely, the +faithfulness required of a minister of the gospel. I need not set +down the arguments he used or the reasons he gave for his resolution +not to conform with the Act of Uniformity. The rustics sat patiently +listening, with no outward sign of assent or of sympathy. But their +conduct afterwards proved abundantly to which side their minds +inclined. + +It behoves us all to listen with respect when scholars and wise +men inquire into the reasons of things. Yet the preachings and +expositions which such as my father bestowed upon their flocks did +certainly awaken men's minds to consider by themselves the things +which many think too high for them. It is a habit which may lead to +the foundation of false and pernicious sects. And it certainly is +not good that men should preach the doctrines of the Anabaptists, +the Fifth Monarchy men, or the Quakers. Yet it is better that some +should be deceived than that all should be slaves. I have been +assured by one--I mean Humphrey--who hath travelled, that in those +countries where the priest taketh upon himself the religion of +the people, so that they think to be saved by attending mass, by +fasting, confession, penance, and so forth, not only does religion +itself become formal, mechanical, and inanimate, but in the very +daily concerns and business of life men grow slothful and lack +spirit. Their religion, which is the very heat of the body, the +sustaining and vital force of all man's actions, is cold and dead. +Therefore, all the virtues are cold also, and with them the courage +and the spirit of the people. Thus it is that Italy hath fallen +aside into so many small and divided kingdoms. And for this reason, +Spain, in the opinion of those who know her best, is now falling +rapidly into decay. + +I am well assured, by those who can remember, that the intelligence +of the village folk greatly increased during the period when they +were encouraged to search the Scriptures for themselves. Many taught +themselves to read, others had their children taught, in order that +they might read or hear, daily, portions of the Scriptures. It is +now thirty years since Authority resumed the rule; the village +folk have again become, to outward seeming, sheep who obey without +questioning. Yet it is observed that when they are within reach of +a town--that is to say, of a meeting-house--they willingly flock to +the service in the afternoon and evening. + +It was with the following brave words that my father concluded his +discourse:-- + +'Seeing, therefore, my brethren, how clear is the Word of God on +these points; and considering that we must always obey God rather +than man; and observing that here we plainly see the finger of God +pointing to disobedience and its consequences, I am constrained to +disobey. The consequence will be to me that I shall stand in this +place no more: to you, that you will have a stranger in your church. +I pray that he may be a godly person, able to divide the Word, +learned and acceptable. + +'As for me, I must go forth, perhaps from among you altogether. +If persecutions arise, it may behove me and mine to seek again +that land beyond the seas whither my fathers fled for the sake of +religious liberty. Whatever happens, I must fain preach the gospel. +It is laid upon me to preach. If I am silent, it will be as if Death +itself had fallen upon me. My brethren, there have been times--and +those times may return--when the Elect have had to meet, secretly, +on the sides of barren hills, and in the heart of the forest, to +pray together and to hear the Word. I say that these times may +return. If they do, you will find me willing, I hope and pray, +to brave for you the worst that our enemies can devise. Perhaps, +however, this tyranny may pass over. Already the Lord hath achieved +one great deliverance for this ancient Realm. Perhaps another may be +in His secret purposes when we have been chastened, as, for our many +sins, we richly deserve. Whether in affliction or in prosperity, let +us always say, "The Lord's name be praised!" + +'Now, therefore, for the sand is running low and I may not weary the +young and the impatient, let me conclude. Farewell, sweet Sabbaths! +Farewell, the sweet expounding of the Word! Farewell, sweet pulpit! +Farewell, sweet faces of the souls which I have yearned to present +pure and washed clean before the Throne! My brethren, I go about, +henceforth, as a dog which is muzzled; another man will fill this +pulpit; our simple form of worship is gone; the Prayer-book and +the surplice have come back again. Pray God we see not Confession, +Penance, the Mass, the Inquisition, the enslavement of conscience, +the stake, and the martyr's axe!' + +Then he paused and bowed his head, and everybody thought that he had +finished. + +He had not. He raised it again, and threw out his arms and shouted +aloud, while his eyes glowed like fire: + +'_No!_ I will not be silent. I WILL NOT. I am sent into the world +to preach the gospel. I have no other business. I must proclaim the +Word as I hope for everlasting life. Brethren, we shall meet again. +In the woods and on the hills we shall find a Temple; there are +houses where two or three may be gathered together, the Lord Himself +being in their midst. Never doubt that I am ready, in season and out +of season, whatever be the law, to preach the gospel of the Lord!' + +He ended, and straightway descended the pulpit stair, and stalked +out of the church, the people looking after him with awe and wonder. +But Mr. Boscorel smiled and wagged his head, with a kind of pity. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +IN THE VILLAGE. + + +Thus did my father, by his own act and deed, strip himself of all +his worldly wealth. Yet, having nothing, he ceased not to put his +trust in the Lord, and continued to sit among his books, never +asking whence came the food provided for him. I think, indeed, so +wrapt was he in thought, that he knew not. As for procuring the +daily food, my mother it was who found out the way. + +Those who live in other parts of this kingdom do not know what +a busy and populous county is that of Somerset. Apart from the +shipping and the great trade with Ireland, Spain, and the West +Indies carried on from the Port of Bristol, we have our great +manufactures of cloth, in which we are surpassed by no country in +the world. The town of Taunton alone can boast of eleven hundred +looms always at work making Sagathies and Des Roys; there are +many looms at Bristol, where they make for the most part Druggets +and Cantaloons; and there are great numbers at that rich and +populous town of Frome Selwood, where they manufacture the Spanish +Medleys. Besides the cloth-workers, we have, in addition, our +knitted-stocking trade, which is carried on mostly at Glastonbury +and Shepton Mallet. Not only does this flourishing trade make the +masters rich and prosperous (it is not uncommon to find a master +with his twenty--ay, and his forty--thousand pounds), but it fills +all the country with work, so that the towns are frequent, populous, +and full of everything that men can want; and the very villages are +not like those which may be seen in other parts, poor and squalid, +but well-built and comfortable. + +Every cottage has its spinning-wheel. The mother, when she is not +doing the work of the house, sits at the wheel; the girls, when they +have nothing else to do, are made to knit stockings. Every week +the master-clothier sends round his men among the villages, their +packhorses laden with wool; every week they return, their packs +laden with yarn, ready for the loom. + +There is no part of England where the people are more prosperous +and more contented. Nowhere are there more towns, and all thriving; +nowhere are the villages better built; nor can one find anywhere +else more beautiful churches. Because the people make good wages +they are independent in their manners; they have learned things +supposed to be above the station of the humble; most of them in the +towns, and many in the villages, are able to read. This enables them +to search the Scriptures, and examine into doctrine by the light +of their own reason, guided by grace. And to me, the daughter of a +Nonconforming preacher, it does not seem wonderful that so many of +them should have become stiff and sturdy Nonconformists. This was +seen in the year 1685, and, again, three years later, when a greater +than Monmouth landed on the western shores. + +My mother, then, seeing no hope that her husband would earn, by any +work of his own, the daily bread of the household, bravely followed +the example of the women in the village. That is to say, she set +up her spinning-wheel, and spent all the time that she could spare +spinning the wool into yarn; while she taught her little boy first +and afterwards her daughter--as soon as I was old enough to manage +the needles--to knit stockings. What trade, indeed, could her +husband follow save one--and that, by law, prohibited? He could not +dig; he could not make anything; he knew not how to buy or sell; he +could only study, write, and preach. Therefore, while he sat among +his books in one room, she sat over her wheel in the other, working +for the master-clothiers of Frome Selwood. It still makes my heart +to swell with pity and with love when I think upon my mother, thus +spending herself and being spent, working all day, huckstering with +the rough pack-horsemen more accustomed to exchange rude jests with +the rustics than to talk with gentlewomen. And this she continued +to do year after year, cheerful and contented, so that her husband +should never feel the pinch of poverty. Love makes us willing slaves. + +My father, happily, was not a man whose mind was troubled about +food. He paid no heed at all to what he ate, provided that it was +sufficient for his needs; he would sup his broth of pork and turnips +and bread, after thanks rendered, as if it were the finest dish in +the world; and a piece of cold bacon with a hot cabbage would be a +feast for him. The cider which he drank was brewed by my mother from +her own apples; to him it was as good as if it had been Sherris or +Rhenish. I say that he did not even know how his food was provided +for him; his mind was at all times occupied with subjects so lofty +that he knew not what was done under his very eyes. The hand of God, +he said, doth still support His faithful. Doubtless we cannot look +back upon those years without owning that we were so supported. But +my mother was the Instrument; nay, my father sometimes even compared +himself with satisfaction unto the Prophet Elijah, whom the ravens +fed beside the brook Cherith, bringing him flesh and bread in the +morning and flesh and bread in the evening. I suppose my father +thought that his bacon and beans came to him in the same manner. + +Yet we should sometimes have fared but poorly had it not been for +the charity of our friends. Many a fat capon, green goose, side +of bacon, and young grunter came to us from the Manor House, with +tobacco, which my father loved, and wine to comfort his soul; yea, +and clothes for us all, else had we gone barefoot and in rags. In +this way was many an ejected Elijah at that time nourished and +supported. Fresh meat we should never have tasted, any more than +the humblest around us, had it not been for our good friends at the +Manor House. Those who live in towns cannot understand how frugal +and yet sufficient may be the fare of those who live in the country +and have gardens and orchards. Cider was our drink, which we made +ourselves; we had some sweet apple-trees, which gave us a stock of +russets and pippins for winter use; we had bees (but we sold most of +our honey at Sherborne market); our garden grew sallets and onions, +beans and the like; skim milk we could have from the Manor House for +the fetching; for breakfast we had bread and milk, for dinner bread +and soft cheese, with a lettuce or an apple; and bread or bread and +butter for supper. For my father there was always kept a piece of +bacon or fat pork. + +Our house was one of the cottages in the village: it is a stone +house (often I sit down to look at it, and to remember those days +of humility) with a thick thatch. It had two rooms below and two +garrets above. One room was made into a study or library for my +father, where also he slept upon a pallet. The other was kitchen, +spinning room, parlour, all in one. The door opened upon the garden, +and the floor was of stone, so that it was cold. But when Barnaby +began to find the use of his hands he procured some boards, which he +laid upon the stones, and so we had a wooden floor; and in winter +across the door we hung a blanket or rug to keep off the wind. + +The walls were whitewashed, and over all my mother had written +texts of Scripture with charcoal, so that godly admonition was ever +present to our eyes and minds. She also embroidered short texts +upon our garments, and I have still the cradle in which I was laid, +carved (but I do not know by whose hand) with a verse from the Word +of God. My father used himself, and would have us employ, the words +of the Bible even for the smaller occasions of daily use; nor would +he allow that anything was lawful unless it was sanctioned by the +Bible, holding that in the Word was everything necessary or lawful. +Did Barnaby go shooting with Sir Christopher and bring home a +rabbit?--Lo! David bade the children of Israel teach the use of the +bow. Did my mother instruct and amuse me with riddles?--She had the +warrant of Scripture for it in the example of Samson. Did she sing +Psalms and spiritual songs to while away the time and make her work +less irksome and please her little daughter?--In the congregation +of Nehemiah there were two hundred forty-and-five singing men and +singing women. + +My father read and expounded the Bible to us twice a day--morning +and evening. Besides the Bible we had few books which we could +read. As for my mother, poor soul, she had no time to read. And as +for me, when I grew older I borrowed books from the Manor House or +Mr. Boscorel. And there were 'Old Mr. Dod's Sayings' and 'Plain +Directions by Joseph Large' always on the shelf beside the Bible. + +Now, while my father worked in his study and my brother Barnaby +either sat over his lesson-book, his hands rammed into his hair, as +if determined to lose nothing, not the least scrap of his portion +(yet knowing full well that on the morrow there would be not a +word left in his poor unlucky noddle, and once more the whip), my +mother would sit at her wheel earning the daily bread. And, when I +was little, she would tell me, speaking very softly, so as not to +disturb the wrestling of her husband with a knotty argument, all +the things which you have heard--how my father chose rather poverty +than to worship at the altar of Baal; and how two thousand pious +ministers, like-minded with himself, left their pulpits and went +out into the cold for conscience' sake. So that I was easily led +to think that there were no Christian martyrs and confessors more +excellent and praiseworthy than these ejected ministers (which still +I believe). Then would she tell me further of how they fared, and +how the common people do still reverence them. There was the history +of John Norman, of Bridgwater; Joseph Chadwick, of Wrenford; Felix +Howe, of West Torrington; George Minton, and many others. She also +instructed me very early in the history of the Protestant uprising +over the best half of Europe, and showed me how, against fearful +odds, and after burnings and tortures unspeakable, the good people +of Germany, the Netherlands, and Great Britain won their freedom +from the Pope, so that my heart glowed within me to think of the +great goodness and mercy which caused me to be born in a Protestant +country. And she instructed me, later, in the wickedness of King +Charles, whom they now call a martyr, and in the plots of that +King, and Laud his Archbishop, and how King and Archbishop were +both overthrown and perished when the people arose and would bear +no more. In fine, my mother made me, from the beginning, a Puritan. +As I remember my mother always, she was pale of cheek and thin, her +voice was gentle; yet with her very gentleness she would make the +blood to run quick in the veins, and the heart to beat. + +How have I seen the boys spring to their feet when she has talked +with them of the great civil war and the Revolution! But always soft +and gentle; her blue eyes never flashing; no wrath in her heart; +but the truth, which often causeth righteous anger, always upon her +tongue. + +One day, I remember, when I was a little girl playing in the garden, +Mr. Boscorel walked down the village in his great silken gown, which +seemed always new, his lace ruffs, and his white bands, looking +like a Bishop at least, and walking delicately, holding up his gown +to keep it from the dust and mud. When he spoke it was in a soft +voice and a mincing speech, not like our plain Somersetshire way. +He stopped at our gate, and looked down the garden. It was a summer +day, the doors and windows of the cottage were open; at our window +sat my father bending over his books, in his rusty gown and black +cap, thin and lank; at the door sat my mother at her wheel. + +'Child,' said the Rector, 'take heed thou never forget in thine age +the thing which thou seest daily in thy childhood.' + +I knew not what he meant. + +'Read and mark,' he said; 'yea, little Alice, learn by heart what +the Wise Man hath said of the good woman: "She layeth her hands +to the spindle ... she maketh fine linen and selleth it ... she +eateth not the bread of idleness.... Let her works praise her in the +gates."' + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE BOYS. + + +The family of Challis, of Bradford Orcas, is well known; here there +has always been a Challis from time immemorial. They are said to +have been on the land before the time of the Conqueror. But because +they have never been a great family, like the Mohuns of Dunster, +but only modest gentle-folk with some four or five hundred pounds +a year, they have not suffered, like those great houses, from the +civil wars, which, when they raged in the land, brought in their +train so many attainders, sequestrations, beheadings, imprisonments, +and fines. Whether the Barons fought, or whether Cavaliers and +Roundheads, the Challises remained at Bradford Orcas. + +Since the land is theirs and the village, it is reasonable that +they should have done everything that has been done for the place. +One of them built the church, but I know not when; another built +the tower; another gave the peal of bells. He who reigned here in +the time of Henry VII., built the Manor House; another built the +mill; the monuments in the church are all put up to the memory of +Challises dead and gone; there is one, a very stately tomb, which +figures, to the life, Sir William Challis (who died in the time +of Queen Elizabeth), carved in marble, and coloured, kneeling at +a desk; opposite to him is his second wife, Grace, also kneeling. +Behind the husband are three boys, on their knees, and behind the +wife are three girls. Apart from this group is the effigy of Filipa, +Sir Christopher's first wife, with four daughters kneeling behind +her. I was always sorry for Filipa, thus separated and cut off from +the society of her husband. There are brasses on the floor with +figures of other Challises, and tablets in the wall, and the Challis +coat-of-arms is everywhere, cut in lozenges, and painted in wood, +and shining in the east window. It seemed to me, in my young days, +that it was the grandest thing in the world to be a Challis. + +In this family there was a laudable practice with the younger sons, +that they stayed not at home, as is too often their custom, leading +indolent lives without ambition or fortune, but they sallied forth +and sought fortune in trade, or in the Law, or in the Church, or +in foreign service--wherever fortune is to be honourably won--so +that, though I daresay some have proved dead and dry branches, +others have put forth flowers and fruit abundantly, forming new +and vigorous trees sprung from the ancient root. Thus, some have +become judges: and some bishops: and some great merchants: some +have crossed the ocean and are now settled in the Plantations: some +have attained rank and estates in the service of the Low Countries. +Thus, Sir Christopher's brother Humphrey went to London and became a +Levant merchant and adventurer, rising to great honour and becoming +alderman. I doubt not that he would have been made Lord Mayor but +for his untimely death. And as for his wealth, which was rumoured to +be so great--but you shall hear of this in due time. + +That goodly following of his household which you have seen enter +the church on Farewell Sunday, was shortly afterwards broken into +by death. There fell upon the village (I think it was in the year +1665) the scourge of a putrid fever, of which there died, besides +numbers of the village folk, Madam herself--the honoured wife of +Sir Christopher--Humphrey his son, and Madam Patience Boscorel, his +daughter. There were left to Sir Christopher, therefore, only his +daughter-in-law and his grandsons Robin and Benjamin. And in that +year his household was increased by the arrival of his grand-nephew +Humphrey. This child was the grandson of Sir Christopher's brother, +the Turkey or Levant merchant of whom I have spoken. He was rich +and prosperous: his ships sailed out every year laden with I know +not what, and returned with figs, dates, spices, gums, silks, +and all kinds of precious commodities from Eastern parts. It is, +I have been told, a profitable trade, but subject to terrible +dangers from Moorish pirates, who must be bravely fought and beaten +off, otherwise ship and cargo will be taken, and captain and crew +driven into slavery. Mr. Challis dwelt in Thames-street, close to +Tower-hill. It is said that he lived here in great splendour, as +befits a rich merchant who is also an Alderman. + +Now, in the year 1665, as is very well known, a great plague broke +out in the city. There were living in the house in Thames-street the +Alderman, his wife, his son, his son's wife, a daughter, and his +grandson, little Humphrey. On the first outbreak of the pestilence +they took counsel together and resolved that the child should be +first sent away to be out of danger, and that they would follow if +the plague spread. + +This was done, and a sober man, one of their porters or +warehousemen, carried the child with his nurse all the way from +London to Bradford Orcas. Alas! Before the boy reached his +great-uncle, the house in Thames-street was attacked by the plague, +and everyone therein perished. Thus was poor little Humphrey +deprived of his parents. I know not who were his guardians or +trustees, or what steps, if any, were taken to inquire into the +Alderman's estate; but when, next year, the Great Fire of London +destroyed the house in Thames-street, with so many others, all +the estate, whatever it had been, vanished, and could no more be +traced. There must have been large moneys owing. It is certain that +he had ventures in ships. It has been supposed that he owned many +houses in the City, but they were destroyed and their very sites +forgotten, and no deeds or papers, or any proof of ownership, were +left. Moreover, there was nobody charged with inquiring into this +orphan's affairs. Therefore, in the general confusion, nothing at +all was saved out of what had been a goodly property, and the child +Humphrey was left without a guinea in the world. Thus unstable is +Fortune. + +I know not whether Humphrey received a fall in his infancy, or +whether he was born with his deformity, but the poor lad grew up +with a crooked figure, one shoulder being higher than the other, and +his legs short, so that he looked as if his arms were too long for +him. We, who saw him thus every day, paid no heed, nor did he suffer +from any of those cruel gibes and taunts which are often passed upon +lads thus afflicted. As he was by nature or misfortune debarred from +the rough sports which pleased his cousins, the boy gave himself up +to reading and study, and to music. His manner of speech was soft +and gentle; his voice was always sweet, and afterwards became strong +as well, so that I have never heard a better singer. His face--ah! +my brother Humphrey, what a lovely face was thine! All goodness, +surely, was stamped upon that face. Never, never, did an unworthy +thought defile that candid soul, or a bad action cast a cloud upon +that brow! + +As for Robin, Sir Christopher's grandson, I think he was always +what he is still, namely, one of a joyous heart and a cheerful +countenance. As a boy, he laughed continually, would sing more +willingly than read, would play rather than work, loved to course +and shoot and ride better than to learn Latin grammar, and would +readily off coat and fight with any who invited him. Yet not a fool +or a clown, but always a gentleman in manners, and one who read +such things as behove a country gentleman, and scrupulous as to the +point of honour. Such as he is still such he was always. And of a +comely presence, with a rosy cheek and bright eyes, and the strength +of a young David, as well as his ruddy and goodly countenance. +The name of David, I am told, means 'darling.' Therefore ought my +Robin to have been named David. There were two other boys--Barnaby, +my brother, who was six years older than myself, and, therefore, +always to me a great boy; and Benjamin, the son of the Rev. Mr. +Boscorel--the Rector. Barnaby grew up so broad and strong that +at twelve he would have passed easily for seventeen; his square +shoulders, deep chest, and big limbs made him like a bull for +strength. Yet he was shorter than most, and looked shorter than +he was by reason of his great breadth. He was always exercising +his strength; he would toss the hay with the haymakers, and carry +the corn for the reapers, and thresh with the flail, and guide +the plough. He loved to climb great trees, and fell to them with +an axe. Everybody in the village admired his wonderful strength. +Unfortunately, he loved not books, and could never learn anything, +so that when, by dint of great application and many repetitions, he +had learned a little piece of a Latin verb, he straightway forgot it +in the night, and so, next day, there was another flogging. But that +he heeded little. He was five years older than Robin, and taught +him all his woodcraft--where to find pheasants' eggs, how to catch +squirrels, how to trap weasels and stoats, how to hunt the otter, +how to make a goldfinch whistle and a raven talk--never was there +such a master of that wisdom which doth not advance a man in the +world. + +Now, before Barnaby's birth, his mother, after the manner of Hannah, +gave him solemnly unto the Lord all the days of his life, and, after +his birth, her husband, after the manner of Elkanah, said: 'Do +what seemeth thee good; only the Lord establish his word.' He was, +therefore, to become a minister, like his father before him. Alas! +poor Barnaby could not even learn the Latin verbs, and his heart, +it was found, as he grew older, was wholly set upon the things of +this world. Wherefore, my mother prayed for him daily while she sat +at her work, that his heart might be turned, and that he might get +understanding. + +As for the fourth of the boys, Benjamin Boscorel, he was about two +years younger than Barnaby, a boy who, for want of a mother, and +because his father was careless of him, grew up rough and coarse in +manners and in speech, and boastful of his powers. To hear Ben talk +you would think that all the boys of his school (the grammar school +of Sherborne) were heroes; that the Latin taught was of a quality +superior to that which Robin and Humphrey learnt of my father; and +that when he himself went out into the world, the superiority of his +parts would be immediately perceived and acknowledged. + +Those who watch boys at play together--girls more early learn to +govern themselves and to conceal their thoughts, if not their +tempers--may, after a manner, predict the future character of every +one. There is the man who wants all for himself, and still wants +more, and will take all and yield nothing, save on compulsion, and +cares not a straw about his neighbour--such was Benjamin, as a boy. +There is the man who gives all generously--such was Robin. There is, +again, the man whose mind is raised above the petty cares of the +multitude, and dwells apart, occupied with great thoughts--such was +Humphrey. Lastly, there is the man who can act but cannot think; +who is born to be led; who is full of courage and of strength, and +leaves all to his commander, captain, or master--such was Barnaby. + +As I think of these lads it seems as if the kind of man into which +each would grow must have been stamped upon their foreheads. Perhaps +to the elders this prognostic was easy to read. + +They suffered me to play with them or to watch them at play. When +the boys went off to the woods I went with them. I watched them +set their traps--I ran when they ran. And then, as now, I loved +Robin and Humphrey. But I could not endure--no; not even the touch +of him--Benjamin, with the loud laugh and the braggart voice, who +laughed at me because I was a girl and could not fight. The time +came when he did not laugh at me because I was a girl. And oh! to +think--only to think--of the time that came after that! + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +SIR CHRISTOPHER. + + +At the mere remembrance of Sir Christopher, I am fain to lay down +my pen and to weep, as for one whose goodness was unsurpassed, and +whose end was undeserved. Good works, I know, are rags, and men +cannot deserve the mercy of God by any merits of their own; but a +good man--a man whose heart is full of justice, mercy, virtue, and +truth--is so rare a creature, that when there is found such a one, +his salvation seems assured. Is it not wonderful that there are +among us so many good Christians, but so few good men? I am, indeed, +in private duty bound to acknowledge Sir Christopher's goodness +to me and to mine. He was, as I have said, the mainstay of our +household. Had we depended wholly on my mother's work, we should +sometimes have fared miserably indeed. Nay, he did more. Though a +Justice of the Peace, he invited my father every Sunday evening to +the Manor House for spiritual conversation, not only for his own +profit, but knowing that to expound was to my father the breath +of his nostrils, so that if he could not expound he must die. In +person, Sir Christopher was tall; after the fashion (which I love) +of the days when he was a young man he wore his own hair, which, +being now white and long, became his venerable face much better +than any wig--white, black, or brown. He was generally dressed, as +became his station of simple country gentleman, in a plush coat with +silver buttons, and for the most part he wore boots, being of an +active habit and always walking about his fields or in his gardens +among his flowers and his fruit-trees. He was so good a sportsman +that with his rod, his gun, and his hawk he provided his table with +everything except beef, mutton, and pork. In religion he inclined +to Independency, being above all things an upholder of private +judgment; in politics, he denied the Divine right, and openly said +that a Challis might be a King as well as a Stuart; he abhorred +the Pope and all his works; and though he was now for a Monarchy, +he would have the King's own power limited by the Parliament. In +his manners he was grave and dignified; not austere, but one who +loved a cheerful companion. He rode once a week, on market day, to +Sherborne, where he dined with his brother Justices, hearing and +discussing the news, though news comes but slowly from London to +these parts--it was fourteen days after the landing of the King +in the year 1660 that the bells of Sherborne Minster rang for that +event. Sometimes a copy of the _London Gazette_ came down by the +Exeter coach, or some of the company had lately passed a night where +the coach stopped, and conversed with travellers from London and +heard the news. For the rest of the week, his Honour was at home. +For the most part he sat in the hall. In the middle stands the great +oak table where all the household sit at meals together. There was +little difference between the dishes served above and those below +the salt, save that those above had each a glass of strong ale or +of wine after dinner and supper. One side of the hall was hung with +arras worked with representations of herbs, beasts and birds. On the +other side was the great chimney, where in the winter a noble fire +was kept up all day long. On either side of it hung fox skins, otter +skins, pole-cat skins, with fishing-rods, stags' heads, horns and +other trophies of the chase. At the end was a screen covered with +old coats of mail, helmets, bucklers, lances, pikes, pistols, guns +with match-locks, and a trophy of swords arranged in form of a star. +Below the cornice hung a row of leathern jerkins, black and dusty, +which had formerly been worn in place of armour by the common sort. +In the oriel window was a sloping desk, having on one side the Bible +and on the other Foxe's 'Book of Martyrs.' Below was a shelf with +other books, such as Vincent Wing's Almanack, King Charles's 'Golden +Rules,' 'Glanville on Apparitions,' the 'Complete Justice,' and the +'Book of Farriery.' There was also in the hall a great side-board, +covered with Turkey work, pewter, brass, and fine linen. In the +cupboard below was his Honour's plate, reported to be worth a great +deal of money. + +Sir Christopher sat in a high chair, curiously carved, with arms +and a triangular seat. It had belonged to the family for many +generations. Within reach of the chair was the tobacco-jar, his +pipe, and his favourite book--namely, 'The Gentleman's Academie: +or the Book of St. Albans, being a Work on Hunting, Hawking, and +Armorie,' by Dame Juliana Berners, who wrote it two hundred and +fifty years ago. Sir Christopher loved especially to read aloud +that chapter in which it is proved that the distinction between +gentleman and churl began soon after the Creation, when Cain proved +himself a churl, and Seth was created Gentleman and Esquire or +Armiger by Adam, his father. This distinction was renewed after the +Flood by Noah himself, a gentleman by lineal descent from Seth. In +the case of his sons, Ham was the churl, and the other two were the +gentlemen. I have sometimes thought that, according to this author, +all of us who are descended from Shem or Japhet should be gentlemen, +in which case there would be no churl in Great Britain at all. But +certainly there are many; so that, to my poor thinking, Dame Juliana +Berners must be wrong. + +There is, in addition to the great hall, the best parlour. But +as this was never wanted, the door of it was never opened except +at cleaning time. Then, to be sure, one saw a room furnished +very grand, with chairs in Turkey work, and hung round with +family portraits. The men were clad in armour, as if they had all +been soldiers or commanders; the women were mostly dressed as +shepherdesses, with crooks in their hands and flowing robes. In the +garden was a long bowling green, where in summer Sir Christopher +took great pleasure in that ancient game: below the garden was a +broad fishpond, made by damming the stream: above and below the pond +there were trout, and in the pond were carp and jack. A part of the +garden was laid out for flowers, a part for the still-room, and a +part for fruit. I have never seen anywhere a better ordered garden +for the still-room. Everything grew therein that the housewife +wants: sweet cicely, rosemary, burnet, sweet basil, chives, dill, +clary, angelica, lipwort, tarragon, thyme and mint; there were, as +Lord Bacon, in his 'Essay on Gardens,' would have, 'whole alleys of +them to have the pleasure when you walk or tread.' There were thick +hedges to keep off the east wind in spring, so that one would enjoy +the sun when that cold wind was blowing. But in Somerset that wind +hath not the bitterness that it possesses along the eastern shores +of the land. + +Every morning Sir Christopher sat in his Justice's chair under the +helmets and the coats of armour. Sometimes gipsies would be brought +before him, charged with stealing poultry or poisoning pigs; or a +rogue and vagabond would stray into the parish; these gentry were +very speedily whipped out of it. As for our own people, there is +nowhere a more quiet and orderly village; quarrels there are with +the clothiers' men, who will still try to beat down the value of the +women's work, and bickerings sometimes between the women themselves. +Sir Christopher was judge for all. Truly he was a patriarch like +unto Abraham, and a father to his people. Never was sick man +suffered to want for medicines and succour; never was aged man +suffered to lack food and fire; did any youth show leanings towards +sloth, profligacy, or drunkenness, he was straightway admonished, +and that right soundly, so that his back and shoulders would remind +him for many days of his sin. By evildoers Sir Christopher was +feared as much as he was beloved by all good men and true. This also +is proper to one in high station and authority. + +In the evening he amused himself in playing backgammon with the +boys, or chess with his son-in-law, Mr. Boscorel: but the latter +with less pleasure, because he was generally defeated in the game. +He greatly delighted in the conversation and society of that learned +and ingenious gentleman, though on matters of religion and of +politics his son-in-law belonged to the opposite way of thinking. + +I do not know why Mr. Boscorel took upon himself holy orders. God +forbid that I should speak ill of any in authority, and especially +of one who was kind and charitable to all, and refused to become +a persecutor of those who desired freedom of conscience and of +speech. But if the chief duty of a minister of the Gospel is to +preach, then was Mr. Boscorel little better than a dog who cannot +bark. He did not preach; that is to say, he could not, like my +father, mount the pulpit, Bible in hand, and teach, admonish, +argue, and convince without a written word. He read every Sunday +morning a brief discourse, which might, perhaps, have instructed +Oxford scholars, but would not be understood by the common +people. As for arguments on religion, spiritual conversation, or +personal experience of grace, he would never suffer such talk in +his presence, because it argued private judgment and caused, he +said, the growth of spiritual pride. And of those hot Gospellers +whose zeal brings them to prison and the pillory, he spoke with +contempt. His conversation, I must acknowledge, was full of delight +and instruction, if the things which one learned of him were not +vanities. He had travelled in Italy and in France, and he loved +to talk of poetry, architecture, statuary, medals and coins, +antiquities and so forth--things harmless and, perhaps, laudable +in themselves, but for a preacher of the Gospel who ought to think +of nothing but his sacred calling they are surely superfluities. +Or he would talk of the manners and customs of strange countries, +and especially of the Pope. This person, whom I have been taught +to look upon as from the very nature of his pretensions the most +wicked of living men, Mr. Boscorel regarded with as much toleration +as he bestowed upon an Independent. Then he would tell us of London +and the manners of the great; of the King, whom he had seen, and +the Court, seeming to wink at things which one ought to hold in +abhorrence. He even told us of the playhouse, which, according to +my father, is the most subtle engine ever invented by the Devil for +the destruction of souls. Yet Mr. Boscorel sighed to think that he +could no longer visit that place of amusement. He loved also music, +and played movingly upon the violoncello; and he could make pictures +with pen, pencil, or brush. I have some of his paintings still, +especially a picture which he drew of Humphrey playing the fiddle, +his great eyes looking upwards as if the music was drawing his soul +to Heaven. I know not why he painted a halo about his face. Mr. +Boscorel also loved poetry, and quoted Shakspeare and Ben Jonson +more readily than the Word of God. + +In person he was of a goodly countenance, having clear-cut features: +a straight nose, rather long; soft eyes, and a gentle voice. He +was dainty in his apparel, loving fine clean linen and laced +neckerchiefs, but was not a gross feeder; he drank but little +wine, but would discourse upon fine wines, such as the Tokay of +Hungary, Commandery wine from Cyprus, and the like, and he seemed +better pleased to watch the colour of the wine in the glass, and to +breathe its perfume, than to drink it. Above all things he hated +coarse speech and rude manners. He spoke of men as if he stood on an +eminence watching them, and always with pity, as if he belonged to a +nobler creation. How could such a man have such a son? + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE RUNAWAY. + + +Everybody hath heard, and old people still remember, how one +Act after the other was passed for the suppression of the +Nonconformists, whom the Church of England tried to extirpate, but +could not. Had these laws been truly carried into effect, there +would have been great suffering among the Dissenters; but, in order +to enforce them, every man's hand would have been turned against his +neighbour, and this--thank God!--is not possible in Somerset. For +example, the Act of Uniformity provided not only for the ejectment +of the Nonconforming ministers (which was duly carried out), but +also enacted that none of them should take scholars without the +license of the Bishop. Yet many of the ejected ministers maintained +themselves in this way openly, without the Bishop's license. They +were not molested, though they might be threatened by some hot +Episcopalian; nor were the Bishops anxious to set the country afire +by attempting to enforce this law. One must not take from an honest +neighbour, whatever an unjust law may command, his only way of +living. + +Again, the Act passed two years later punished all persons with fine +and imprisonment who attended conventicles. Yet the conventicles +continued to be held over the whole country, because it was +impossible for the Justices to fine and imprison men with whom they +sat at dinner every market-day, with whom they took their punch and +tobacco, and whom they knew to be honest and God-fearing folk. +Again, how could they fine and imprison their own flesh and blood? +Why, in every family there were some who loved the meeting-house +better than the steeple-house. Laws have little power when they are +against the conscience of the people. + +Thirdly, there was an Act prohibiting ministers from residing within +five miles of the village or town where they had preached. This was +a most cruel and barbarous Act, because it sent the poor ministers +away from the help of their friends. Yet how was it regarded? My +father, for his part, continued to live at Bradford Orcas without +let or hindrance, and so, no doubt, did many more. + +Again, another Act was passed giving authority to Justices of the +Peace to break open doors and to take in custody persons found +assembling for worship. I have heard of disturbances at Taunton, +where the Magistrates carried things with a high hand; but I think +the people who met to worship after their own fashion were little +disturbed. Among the Churchmen were some, no doubt, who remembered +the snubs and rubs they had themselves experienced, and the memory +may have made them revengeful. All the persecution, it is certain, +was not on the side of the Church. There was, for instance, the +case of Dr. Walter Raleigh, Dean of Wells, who was clapped into +a noisome prison where the plague had broken out. He did not die +of that disease, but was done to death in the jail, barbarously, +by one David Barrett, shoemaker, who was never punished for the +murder, but was afterwards made Constable of the City. There was +also the case of the Rev. Dr. Piers, whom I have myself seen, for +he lived to a good old age. He was a Prebendary of Wells, and being +driven forth, was compelled to turn farmer, and to work with his own +hands--digging, hoeing, ploughing, reaping, and threshing--when he +should have been in his study. Every week this reverend and learned +Doctor of Divinity was to be seen at Ilminster Market, standing +beside the pillars with his cart, among the farmers and their wives, +selling his apples, cheese, and cabbages. + +I say that no doubt many remembered these things. Yet the affection +of the people went forth to the Nonconformists and the ejected +ministers, as was afterwards but too well proved. I have been +speaking of things which happened before my recollection. It was in +the year 1665, four years after the Ejection, that I was born. My +father would have named me Grace Abounding, but my mother called +me Alice, after her own name. I was thus six years younger than my +brother Barnaby, and two years younger than Robin and Humphrey. + +The first thing that I can recollect is a kind of picture, +preserved, so to speak, in my head. At the open door is a woman +spinning at the wheel. She is a woman with a pale, grave face; she +works diligently, and for the most part in silence; if she speaks, +it is to encourage or to admonish a little girl who plays in the +garden outside. Her lips move as she works, because she communes +with her thoughts all day long. From time to time she turns her +head and looks with anxiety into the other room, where sits her +husband at his table. + +Before him stand three boys. They are Barnaby, Robin, and Humphrey. +They are learning Latin. The room is piled with books on shelves and +books on the floor. In the corner is a pallet, which is the master's +bed by night. I hear the voices of the boys who repeat their +lessons, and the admonishing of their master. I can see through +the open door the boys themselves. One, a stout and broad lad, is +my brother Barnaby: he hangs his head and forgets his lesson, and +causes his father to punish him every day. He receives admonition +with patience; yet profiteth nothing. The next is Humphrey; he is +already a lad of grave and modest carriage, who loves his book and +learns diligently. The third is Robin, whose parts are good, were +his application equal to his intelligence. He is impatient, and +longs for the time when he may close his book and go to play again. + +Poor Barnaby! at the sight of a Latin Grammar he would feel sick. He +would willingly have taken a flogging every day--to be sure, that +generally happened to him--in order to escape his lessons and be off +to the fields and woods. + +It was the sight of his rueful face--yet never sad except at +lessons--which made my mother sigh when she saw him dull but patient +over his book. Had he stayed at home I know not what could have been +done with him, seeing that to become a preacher of the Gospel was +beyond even the power of prayer (the Lord having clearly expressed +His will in this matter). He would have had to clap on a leathern +apron, and become a wheelwright or blacksmith; nothing better than +an honest trade was possible for him. + +But (whether happily or not) a strange whim seized the boy when +he was fourteen years of age. He would go to sea. How he came to +think of the sea I know not; he had never seen the sea; there were +no sailors in the village; there was no talk of the sea. Perhaps +Humphrey, who read many books, told him of the great doings of +our sailors on the Spanish Main and elsewhere. Perhaps some of +the clothiers' men, who are a roving and unsettled crew, had been +sailors--some, I know, had been soldiers under Oliver. However, this +matters not, Barnaby must needs become a sailor. + +When first he broke this resolution, which he did secretly, to my +mother, she began to weep and lament, because everybody knows how +dreadful is the life of a sailor, and how full of dangers. She +begged him to put the thought out of his head, and to apply himself +again to his books. + +'Mother,' he said, 'it is no use. What comes in at one ear goes out +at the other. Nothing sticks: I shall never be a scholar.' + +'Then, my son, learn an honest trade.' + +'What? Become the village cobbler--or the blacksmith? Go hat in hand +to his Honour, when my father should have been a Bishop, and my +mother is a gentlewoman? That will I not. I will go and be a sailor. +All sailors are gentlemen. I shall rise and become first mate, and +then second captain, and lastly, captain in command. Who knows? I +may go and fight the Spaniard, if I am lucky.' + +'Oh, my son, canst thou not stay at home and go to church, and +consider the condition of thine immortal soul? Of sailors it is well +known that their language is made up of profane oaths, and that they +are all profligates and drunkards. Consider, my son'--my mother +laid her hand upon his arm--'what were Heaven to me, if I have not +my dear children with me as well as my husband? How could I praise +the Lord if I were thinking of my son who was not with me, but--ah! +Heaven forbid the thought!' + +Barnaby made no reply. What could he say in answer to my mother's +tears? Yet I think she must have understood very well that her son, +having got this resolution into his head, would never give it up. + +'Oh!' she said, 'when thou wast a little baby in my arms, +Barnaby--who art now so big and strong'--she looked at him with the +wonder and admiration that women feel when their sons grow big and +stout--'I prayed that God would accept thee as an offering for His +service. Thou art vowed unto the Lord, my son, as much as Samuel. Do +you think he complained of his lessons? What would have happened, +think you, to Samuel if he had taken off his ephod and declared +that he would serve no longer at the altar, but must take spear and +shield, and go to fight the Amalekite?' + +Said Barnaby, in reply, speaking from an unregenerate heart, +'Mother, had I been Samuel, to wear an ephod and to learn the Latin +syntax every day, I should have done that. Ay! I would have done it, +even if I knew that at the first skirmish an arrow would pierce my +heart.' + +It was after a great flogging, on account of the passive voice or +some wrestling with the syntax, that Barnaby plucked up courage to +tell his father what he wished to do. + +'With my consent,' said my father, sternly, 'thou shalt never +become a sailor. As soon would I send thee to become a buffoon in a +playhouse. Never dare to speak of it again.' + +Barnaby hung his head and said nothing. + +Then my mother, who knew his obstinate disposition, took him to Sir +Christopher, who chid him roundly, telling him that there was work +for him on land, else he would have been born beside the coast, +where the lads take naturally to the sea: that being, as he was, +only an ignorant boy, and landborn, he could not know the dangers +which he would encounter: that some ships are cast away on desert +islands, where the survivors remain in misery until they die, and +some on lands where savages devour them, and some are dragged down +by calamaries and other dreadful monsters, and some are burned at +sea, their crews having to choose miserably between burning and +drowning, and some are taken by the enemy, and the sailors clapped +into dungeons and tortured by the Accursed Inquisition. + +[Illustration: '_He was seized with a mighty wrath, and, catching +his son sharply by the ear, led him out of the throng._'] + +Many more things did Sir Christopher set forth, showing the +miserable life and the wretched end of the sailor. But Barnaby never +changed countenance, and though my mother bade him note this and +mark that, and take heed unto his Honour's words, his face showed +no melting. 'Twas always an obstinate lad; nay it was his obstinacy +alone which kept him from his learning. Otherwise he might perhaps +have become as great a scholar as Humphrey. + +'Sir,' he said, when Sir Christopher had no other word to say, 'with +submission, I would still choose to be a sailor, if I could.' + +In the end he obtained his wish. That is to say, since no one would +help him towards it, he helped himself. And this, I think, is the +only way in which men do ever get what they want. + +It happened one evening that there passed through the village a +man with a pipe and tabor, on which he played so movingly that all +the people turned out to listen. For my own part I was with my +mother, yet I ran to the garden-gate and leaned my head over, drawn +by the sound of the music. Presently the boys and girls began to +take hands together and to dance. I dare not say that to dance is +sinful, because David danced. But it was so regarded by my father, +so that when he passed by them, on his way home from taking the air, +and actually saw his own son Barnaby in the middle of the dancers, +footing it merrily with them all, joyfully leading one girl up and +the other down at _John come and kiss me now_, he was seized with a +mighty wrath, and, catching his son sharply by the ear, led him out +of the throng and so home. For that evening Barnaby went supperless +to bed, with the promise of such a flogging in the morning as would +cause him to remember for the rest of his life the sinfulness of +dancing. Never had I seen my father so angry. I trembled before +his wrathful eyes. But Barnaby faced him with steady looks, making +answer none, yet not showing the least repentance or fear. I thought +it was because a flogging had no terrors for him. The event proved +that I was wrong; that was not the reason: he had resolved to run +away, and when we awoke in the morning he was gone. He had crept +down-stairs in the night; he had taken half a loaf of bread and a +great cantle of soft cheese, and had gone away. He had not gone for +fear of the rod: he had run away with design to go to sea. Perhaps +he had gone to Bristol; perhaps to Plymouth; perhaps to Lyme. My +mother wept, and my father sighed; and for ten years more we neither +saw nor heard anything of Barnaby, not even whether he was dead or +living. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +BENJAMIN, LORD CHANCELLOR. + + +Summer follows winter and winter summer, in due course, turning +children into young men and maidens, changing school into work, +and play into love, and love into marriage, and so onwards to the +churchyard, where we all presently lie, hopeful of Heaven's mercy, +whether Mr. Boscorel did stand beside our open grave in his white +surplice, or my father in his black gown. + +Barnaby was gone; the other three grew tall, and would still be +talking of the lives before them. Girls do never look forward to +the future with the eagerness and joy of boys. To the dullest boy +it seems a fine thing to be master of his own actions, even if that +liberty lead to whipping-post, pillory, or gallows. To boys of +ambition and imagination the gifts of Fortune show like the splendid +visions of a prophet. They think that earthly fame will satisfy the +soul. Perhaps women see these glories and their true worth with +clearer eye as not desiring them. And truly it seems a small thing, +after a life spent in arduous toil, and with one foot already in the +grave, to obtain fortune, rank, or title. + +Benjamin and Humphrey were lads of ambition. To both, but in fields +which lay far apart, the best life seemed to be that which is spent +among men on the ant-hill where all are driving or being driven, +loading each other with burdens intolerable, or with wealth or with +honours, and then dying and being forgotten in a moment--which we +call London. In the kindly country one stands apart and sees the +vanity of human wishes. Teat the ambition of Humphrey, it must be +confessed, was noble, because it was not for his own advancement, +but for the good of mankind. + +'I shall stay at home,' said Robin. 'You two may go if you please. +Perhaps you will like the noise of London, where a man cannot hear +himself speak, they say, for the roaring of the crowd, the ringing +of the bells, and the rumbling of the carts. As for me, what is good +enough for my grandfather will be surely good enough for me.' + +It should, indeed, be good enough for anybody to spend his days +after the manner of Sir Christopher, administering justice for the +villagers, with the weekly ordinary at Sherborne for company, the +green fields and his garden for pleasure and for exercise, and the +welfare of his soul for prayer. Robin, besides, loved to go forth +with hawk and gun; to snare the wild creatures; to hunt the otter +and the fox; to bait the badger, and trap the stoat and weasel; to +course the hares. But cities and crowds, even if they should be +shouting in his honour, did never draw him, even after he had seen +them. Nor was he ever tempted to believe any manner of life more +full of delight and more consistent with the end of man's creation +than the rural life, the air of the fields, the following of the +plough for the men, and the spinning-wheel for the women. + +'I shall be a lawyer,' said Benjamin, puffing out his cheeks and +squaring his shoulders. 'Very well, then, I say I shall be a great +lawyer. What? None of your pettifogging tribe for me: I shall step +to the front, and stay there. What? Someone must have the prizes and +the promotion. There are always places falling vacant and honours to +be given away: they shall be given to me. Why not to me as well as +another?' + +'Well,' said Robin, 'you are strong enough to take them, +willy-nilly.' + +'I am strong enough,' he replied, with conviction. 'First, I shall +be called to the Outer Bar, where I shall plead in stuff--I saw +them at Exeter last 'Sizes. Next, I shall be summoned to become +King's Counsel, when I shall flaunt it in silk. Who but I?' Then he +seemed to grow actually three inches taller, so great is the power +of imagination. He was already six feet in height, his shoulders +broad, and his face red and fiery, so that now he looked very big +and tall. 'Then my Inn will make me a Bencher, and I shall sit at +the high table in term-time. And the attorneys shall run after me +and fight with each other for my services in Court, so that in every +great case I shall be heard thundering before the jury, and making +the witnesses perjure themselves with terror--for which they will be +afterwards flogged. I shall belong to the King's party--none of your +canting Whigs for me. When the high treason cases come on, I shall +be the counsel for the Crown. That is the high road to advancement.' + +'This is very well, so far,' said Robin, laughing. 'Ben is too +modest, however. He does not get on fast enough.' + +'All in good time,' Ben replied. 'I mean to get on as fast as +anybody. But I shall follow the beaten road. First, favour with +attorneys and those who have suits in the Courts; then the ear of +the Judge. I know not how one gets the ear of the Judge'--he looked +despondent for a moment, then he held up his head again--'but I +shall find out. Others have found out--why not I? What? I am no +fool, am I?' + +'Certainly not, Ben. But as yet we stick at King's Counsel.' + +'After the ear of the Judge, the favour of the Crown. What do I +care who is King? It is the King who hath preferment and place +and honours in his gift. Where these are given away, there shall +I be found. Next am I made Serjeant-at-Law. Then I am saluted as +'Brother' by the Judges on the Bench, while all the others burst +with envy. After that I shall myself be called to the Bench. I +am already "my Lord"--why do you laugh, Robin?--and a Knight: Sir +Benjamin Boscorel--Sir Benjamin.' Here he puffed out his cheeks +again, and swung his shoulders like a very great person indeed. + +'Proceed, Sir Benjamin,' said Humphrey, gravely, while Robin laughed. + +'When I am a Judge, I promise you I will rate the barristers and +storm at the witnesses and admonish the Jury until there shall be +no other question in their minds but to find out first what is my +will in the case, and then to govern themselves accordingly. I will +be myself Judge and jury and all. Oh! I have seen the Judge at last +Exeter 'Sizes. He made all to shake in their shoes. I shall not stop +there. Chief Baron I shall be, perhaps--but on that point I have not +yet made up my mind--and then Lord Chancellor.' He paused to take +breath, and looked around him, grandeur and authority upon his brow. +'Lord Chancellor,' he repeated, 'on the Woolsack!' + +'You will then,' said Robin, 'be raised to the peerage--first Lord +Boscorel; or perhaps, if your Lordship will so honour this poor +village, Lord Bradford Orcas'---- + +'Earl of Sherborne I have chosen for title,' said Benjamin. 'And +while I am climbing up the ladder, where wilt thou be, Humphrey? +Grovelling in the mud with the poor devils who cannot rise?' + +'Nay, I shall have a small ladder of my own, Ben. I find great +comfort in the thought that when your Lordship is roaring and +bawling with the gout--your noble toe being like a ball of fire, and +your illustrious foot swathed in flannel--I shall be called upon to +drive away the pain, and you will honour me with the title not only +of humble cousin, but also of rescuer and preserver. Will it not be +honour enough to cure the Right Honourable the Earl of Sherborne +(first of the name), the Lord Chancellor, of his gout, and to +restore him to the duties of his great office, so that once more he +shall be the dread of evildoers and of all who have to appear before +him? As yet, my Lord, your extremities, I perceive, are free from +that disease--the result, too often, of that excess in wine which +besets the great.' + +Here Robin laughed again, and so did Benjamin. Nobody could use +finer language than Humphrey, if he pleased. + +'A fine ambition!' said Ben. 'To wear a black velvet coat and a +great wig; to carry a gold-headed cane; all day long to listen while +the patient tells of his gripes and pains; to mix boluses, and to +compound nauseous draughts!' + +'Well,' Humphrey laughed, 'if you are Lord Chancellor, Ben, you +will, I hope, give us good laws, and so make the nation happy +and prosperous. While you are doing this, I will be keeping you +in health for the good of the country. I say that this is a fine +ambition.' + +'And Robin, here, will sit in the great chair, and have the rogues +haled before him, and order the Head-borough to bring out his +cat-o'-nine-tails. In the winter evenings, he will play backgammon, +and in the summer, bowls. Then a posset, and to bed. And never any +change from year to year. A fine life, truly!' + +'Truly, I think it is a very fine life,' said Robin; 'while you make +the laws, I will take care that they are obeyed. What better service +is there than to cause good laws to be obeyed? Make good laws, +my Lord Chancellor, and be thankful that you will have faithful, +law-abiding men to carry them out.' + +Thus they talked. Presently the time came when the lads must leave +the village and go forth to prepare for such course as should be +allotted to them, whether it led to greatness or to obscurity. + +Benjamin went first, being sixteen years of age and a great fellow, +as I have said, broad-shouldered and lusty, with a red face, a +strong voice, and a loud laugh. In no respect did he resemble his +father, who was delicate in manner and in speech. He was to be +entered at Gray's Inn, where, under some counsel learned in the law, +he was to read until such time as he should be called. + +He came to bid me farewell, which at first, until he frightened me +with the things he said, I took kindly of him. + +'Child,' he said, 'I am going to London, and, I suppose, I shall +not come back to this village for a long time. Nay, were it not for +thee, I should not wish to come back at all.' + +'Why for me, Ben?' + +'Because'--here his red face became redder, and he stammered a +little, but not much, for he was ever a lad of confidence--'because, +child, thou art not yet turned twelve, which is young to be hearing +of such a thing. Yet a body may as well make things safe. And as +for Humphrey or Robin interfering, I will break their heads with my +cudgel if they do. Remember that, then.' He shook his finger at me, +threatening. + +'In what business should they interfere?' I asked. + +'Kiss me, Alice'--here he tried to lay his arm round my neck, but I +ran away. 'Oh! if thou art skittish, I care not: all in good time. +Very well, then; let us make things safe. Alice, when I come back +thou wilt be seventeen or eighteen, which is an age when girls +should marry'---- + +'I have nothing to do with marrying, Ben.' + +'Not yet. If I mistake not, child, thou wilt then be as beautiful as +a rose in June.' + +'I want no foolish talk, Ben. Let me go.' + +'Then I shall be twenty-one years of age, practising in the courts. +I shall go the Western Circuit, in order to see thee often--partly +to keep an eye upon thee and partly to warn off other men. Because, +child, it is my purpose to marry thee myself. Think upon that, now.' + +At this I laughed. + +'Laugh if you please, my dear; I shall marry thee as soon as the +way is open to the Bench and the Woolsack. What? I can see a long +way ahead. I will tell thee what I see. There is a monstrous great +crowd of people in the street staring at a glass coach. "Who is +the lovely lady?" they ask. "The lovely lady"--that is you, Alice; +none other--"with the diamonds at her neck and the gold chain, in +the glass coach?" says one who knows her liveries: "'tis the lady +of the great Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Sherborne." And the women +fall green with envy of her happiness and great good fortune and her +splendour. Courage, child: I go to prepare the way. Oh! thou knowest +not the grand things that I shall pour into thy lap when I am a +judge.' + +This was the first time that any man spoke to me of love. But +Benjamin was always masterful, and had no respect for such a nice +point as the wooing of a maiden--which, methinks, should be gentle +and respectful, not as if a woman was like a savage to be tempted +by a string of beads, or so foolish as to desire with her husband +such gauds as diamonds, or gold chains, or a glass coach. Nor doth +a woman like to be treated as if she was to be carried off by force +like the Sabine women of old. + +The Rector rode to London with his son. It is a long journey, over +rough ways; but it pleased him once more to see that great city, +where there are pictures and statues and books to gladden the hearts +of such as love these things. And on the way home he sojourned for a +few days at his old college of All Souls, where were still left one +or two of his old friends. Then he rode back to his village. 'There +are but two places in this country,' he said, 'or perhaps three, at +most, where a gentleman and a scholar, or one who loveth the fine +arts, would choose to live. These are London and Oxford, and perhaps +the Sister University upon the Granta. Well, I have once more been +privileged to witness the humours of the Court and the town: I have +once more been permitted to sniff the air of a great library. Let +us be thankful.' He showed his thankfulness with a sigh which was +almost a groan. + +It was three years before we saw Benjamin again. Then he returned, +but not for long. Like his father, he loved London better than +the country, but for other reasons. Certainly, he cared nothing +for those arts which so much delighted the Rector, and the air of +a coffee-house pleased him more than the perfume of books in a +library. When he left us he was a rustic; when he came back he was +already what they call a fopling: that is to say, when he went to +pay his respects to Sir Christopher, his grandfather, he wore a very +fine cravat of Flanders lace, with silken hose, and lace and ribbons +at his wrist. He was also scented with bergamot, and wore a peruke, +which, while he talked, he combed and curled, to keep the curls of +this monstrous head-dress in place. Gentlemen must, I suppose, wear +this invention, and one of the learned professions must show the +extent of the learning by the splendours of his full-bottomed wig. +Yet I think that a young man looks most comely while he wears his +own hair. He had cocked his hat, on which were bows of riband, and +he wore a sword. He spoke also in a mincing London manner, having +now forsworn the honest broad speech of Somerset; and (but not in +the presence of his elders) he used strange oaths and ejaculations. + +'Behold him!' said his father, by no means displeased at his son's +foppery, because he ever loved the city fashions, and thought that +a young man did well to dress and to comport himself after the way +of the world. 'Behold him! Thus he sits in the coffee-house; thus +he shows himself in the pit. Youth is the time for finery and for +folly. Alas! would that we could bring back that time! What saith +John Dryden--glorious John--of Sir Fopling?-- + + '"His various modes from various fathers follow: + One taught the toss, and one the new French wallow; + His sword-knot this, his cravat that, designed, + And this the yard-long snake he twirls behind. + From one the sacred periwig he gained, + Which wind ne'er blew, nor touch of hat profaned." + +'Well, Ben,' said Sir Christopher, 'if the mode can help thee to the +Bench why not follow the mode?' + +'It will not hinder, Sir,' Ben replied. 'A man who hath his fortune +to make does well to be seen everywhere, and to be dressed like +other men of his time.' + +One must do Benjamin the justice to acknowledge that though, like +the young gentlemen his friends and companions, his dress was +foppish, and his talk was of the pleasures of the town, he suffered +nothing to stand in the way of his advancement. He was resolved upon +being a great lawyer, and, therefore, if he spent the evening in +drinking, singing, and making merry, he was reading in chambers or +else attending the Courts all the day, and neglected nothing that +would make him master of his profession. And, though of learning +he had little, his natural parts were so good, and his resolution +was so strong, that I doubt not he would have achieved his ambition +had it not been for the circumstances which afterwards cut short +his career. His course of life, by his own boastful confession, was +profligate; his friends were drinkers and revellers; his favourite +haunt was the tavern, where they all drank punch and sang ungodly +songs, and smoked tobacco; and of religion he seemed to have no care +whatever. + +I was afraid that he would return to the nauseous subject which he +had opened three years before. Therefore I continued with my mother, +and would give him no chance to speak with me. But he found me, and +caught me returning home one evening. + +'Alice,' he said, 'I feared that I might have to go away without a +word alone with thee.' + +'I want no words alone, Benjamin. Let me pass!' For he stood before +me in the way. + +'Not so fast, pretty!'--he caught me by the wrist, and, being a +young man so strong and determined, he held me as by a vice. 'Not +so fast, Mistress Alice. First, my dear, let me tell thee that my +purpose still holds--nay'--here he swore a most dreadful, impious +oath--'I am more resolved than ever. There is not a woman, even in +London, that is to be compared with thee, child. What? Compared +with thee? Why, they are like the twinkling stars compared with the +glorious Queen of Night. What did I say?--that at nineteen thou +wouldst be a miracle of beauty? Nay, that time hath come already! I +love thee, child! I love thee, I say, ten times as much as ever I +loved thee before!' + +He gasped, and then breathed hard; but still he held me fast. + +'Idle compliments cost a man nothing, Benjamin. Say what you meant +to say and let me go. If you hold me any longer I will cry out and +bring your father to learn the reason.' + +'Well,' he said, 'I will not keep thee. I have said what I wanted to +say. My time hath not yet arrived. I am shortly to be called, and +shall then begin to practise. When I come back here again, 'twill +be with a ring in one hand, and in the other the prospect of the +Woolsack. Think upon that while I am gone. "Your Ladyship" is finer +than plain "Madam," and the Court is more delightful than a village +green among the pigs and ducks. Think upon it well: thou art a lucky +girl; a plain village girl to be promoted to a coronet! However, I +have no fears for thee; thou wilt adorn the highest fortune. Thou +wilt be worthy of the great place whither I shall lead thee. What? +Is Sir George Jeffreys a better man than I? Is he of better family? +Had he better interest? Is he a bolder man? Not so. Yet was Sir +George a Common Serjeant at twenty-three, and Recorder at thirty; +Chief Justice of Chester at thirty-two. What he hath done I can do. +Moreover, Sir George hath done me the honour to admit me to his +company, and will advance me. This he hath promised, both in his +cups and when he is sober. Think it over, child: a ring in one hand +and a title in the other.' + +So Benjamin went away again. I was afraid when I thought of him and +his promise, because I knew him of old; and his eyes were as full of +determination as when he would fight a lad of his own age and go on +fighting till the other had had enough. Yet he could not marry me +against my will. His own father would protect me, to say nothing of +mine. + +I should have told him then--as I had told him before--that I +would never marry him. Then, perhaps, he would have been shaken +in his purpose. The very thought of marrying him filled me with +terror unspeakable. I was afraid of him not only because he was so +masterful--nay, women like a man to be strong of will--but because +he had no religion in him and lived like an Atheist, if such a +wretch there be; at all events, with unconcern about his soul; and +because his life was profligate, his tastes were gross, and he was +a drinker of much wine. Even at the Manor House I had seen him at +supper drinking until his cheeks were puffed out and his voice grew +thick. What kind of happiness would there be for a wife whose +husband has to be carried home by his varlets, too heavy with drink +to stand or to speak? + +Alas! there is one thing which girls, happily, do never apprehend. +They cannot understand how it is possible for a man to become so +possessed with the idea of their charms (which they hold themselves +as of small account, knowing how fleeting they are, and of what +small value) that he will go through fire and water for that woman; +yea, and break all the commandments, heedless of his immortal soul, +rather than suffer another man to take her--and that, even though he +knows that the poor creature loves him not, or loves another man. If +maidens knew this, I think that they would go in fear and trembling +lest they should be coveted by some wild beast in human shape, and +prove the death of the gallant gentleman whom they would choose for +their lover. Or they would make for themselves convents and hide in +them, so great would be their fear. But it is idle to speak of this, +because, say what one will, girls can never understand the power and +the vehemence of love, when once it hath seized and doth thoroughly +possess a man. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +MEDICINÆ DOCTOR. + + +Humphrey did not, like Benjamin, brag of the things he would do when +he should go forth to the world. Nevertheless, he thought much about +his future, and frequently he discoursed with me about the life that +he fain would lead. A young man, I think, wants someone with whom +he may speak freely concerning the thoughts which fill his soul. We +who belong to the sex which receives but does not create or invent, +which profits by man's good work, and suffers from the evil which he +too often does, have no such thoughts and ambitions. + +'I cannot,' he would say, 'take upon me holy orders, as Mr. Boscorel +would have me, promising, in my cousin Robin's name, this living +after his death, because, though I am in truth a mere pauper and +dependent, there are in me none of those prickings of the spirit +which I could interpret into a Divine call for the ministry; next, +because I cannot in conscience swear to obey the Thirty-nine +Articles while I still hold that the Nonconformist way of worship +is more consonant with the Word of God. And, again, I am of opinion +that the Law of Moses, which forbade any but a well-formed man from +serving at the altar, hath in it something eternal. It denotes that +as no cripple may serve at the earthly altar, so in heaven, of which +the altar is an emblem, all those who dwell therein shall be perfect +in body as in soul. What, then, is such a one as myself, who hath +some learning and no fortune, to do? Sir Christopher, my benefactor, +will maintain me at Oxford until I have taken a degree. This is more +than I could have expected. Therefore, I am resolved to take a +degree in medicine. It is the only profession fit for a mis-shapen +creature. They will not laugh at me when I alleviate their pains.' + +'Could anyone laugh at you, Humphrey?' + +'Pray heaven, I frighten not the ladies at the first aspect of me.' +He laughed, but not with merriment; for, indeed, a cripple or a +hunchback cannot laugh mirthfully over his own misfortune. 'Some men +speak scornfully of the profession,' he went on. 'The great French +playwright, Monsieur Molière, doth make the physicians the butt and +laughing-stock of all Paris. Yet consider. It is medicine which +prolongs our days and relieves our pains. Before the science was +studied, the wretch who caught a fever in the marshy forest lay down +and died; an ague lasted all one's life; a sore throat putrefied +and killed; a rheumatism threw a man upon the bed, from which he +would never rise. The physician is man's chief friend. If our +Sovereigns studied the welfare of humanity as deeply as the art of +war, they would maintain, at vast expense, great colleges of learned +men continually engaged in discovering the secrets of nature--the +causes and the remedies of disease. What better use can a man make +of his life than to discover one--only one--secret which will drive +away part of the agony of disease? The Jews, more merciful than the +Romans, stupefied their criminals after they were crucified; they +died, indeed, but their sufferings were less. So the physician, +though in the end all men must die, may help them to die without +pain. Nay, I have even thought that we might devise means of causing +the patient by some potent drug to fall into so deep a sleep that +even the surgeon's knife shall not cause him to awaken.' + +He, therefore, before he entered at Oxford, read with my father +many learned books of the ancients on the science and practice of +medicine, and studied botany with the help of such books as he could +procure. + +Some men have but one side to them--that is to say, the only active +part of them is engaged in but one study; the rest is given up to +rest or indolence. Thus Benjamin studied law diligently, but nothing +else. Humphrey, for his part, read his Galen and his Celsus, but +he neglected not the cultivation of those arts and accomplishments +in which Mr. Boscorel was as ready a teacher as he was a ready +scholar. He thus learned the history of painting, and sculpture, +and architecture, and that of coins and medals, so that at eighteen +Humphrey might already have set up as a virtuoso. + +Nor was this all. Still, by the help of the Rector, he learned the +use of the pencil and the brush, and could both draw prettily, or +paint in water colours, whether the cottages or the church, the +cows in the fields, or the woods and hills. I have many pictures +of his painting which he gave me from time to time. And he could +play sweetly, whether on the spinnet, or the violin, or the guitar, +spending many hours every week with Mr. Boscorel playing duettos +together; and willingly he would sing, having a rich and full +voice, very delightful to hear. When I grew a great girl, and had +advanced far enough, I was permitted to play with them. There was no +end to the music which Mr. Boscorel possessed. First, he had a great +store of English ditties such as country people love--as, 'Sing all +a green willow,' 'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,' or 'Once I loved +a maiden fair.' There was nothing rough or rude in these songs, +though I am informed that much wickedness is taught by the ribald +songs that are sung in playhouses and coffee-rooms. And when we were +not playing or singing, Mr. Boscorel would read us poetry--portions +from Shakspeare or Ben Jonson, or out of Milton's 'Paradise Lost'; +or from Herrick, who is surely the sweetest poet that ever lived, +'yet marred,' said Mr. Boscorel, 'by his coarseness and corruption.' +Now, one day, after we had been thus reading--one winter afternoon, +when the sun lay upon the meadows--Humphrey walked home with me, +and on the way confessed, with many blushes, that he, too, had been +writing verses. And with that he lugged a paper out of his pocket. + +'They are for thine own eyes only,' he said. 'Truly, my dear, thou +hast the finest eyes in the world. They are for no other eyes than +thine,' he repeated. 'Not for Robin, mind, lest he laugh: poetry +hath in it something sacred, so that even the writer of bad verses +cannot bear to have them laughed at. When thou art a year or two +older thou wilt understand that they were written for thy heart as +well as for thine eyes. Yet, if thou like the verses, they may be +seen by Mr. Boscorel, but in private; and if he laugh at them do not +tell me. Yet, again, one would like to know what he said; wherefore, +tell me, though his words be like a knife in my side.' + +Thus he wavered between wishing to show them to his master in art, +and fearing. + +In the end, when I showed them to Mr. Boscorel, he said that, for a +beginner, they were very well--very well, indeed; that the rhymes +were correct, and the metre true; that years and practice would +give greater firmness, and that the crafty interlacing of thought +and passion, which was the characteristic of Italian verse, could +only be learned by much reading of the Italian poets. More he said, +speaking upon the slight subject of rhyme and poetry with as much +seriousness and earnestness as if he were weighing and comparing +texts of Scripture. + +Then he gave me back the verses with a sigh. + +'Child,' he said, 'to none of us is given what most we desire. +For my part, I longed in his infancy that my son should grow up +even as Humphrey, as quick to learn; with as true a taste; with as +correct an ear; with a hand as skilful. But----you see, I complain +not, though Benjamin loves the noisy tavern better than the quiet +coffee-house where the wits resort. To him such things as verses, +art, and music are foolishness. I say that I complain not; but I +would to Heaven that Humphrey were my own, and that his shoulders +were straight, poor lad! Thy father hath made him a Puritan: he +is such as John Milton in his youth--and as beautiful in face as +that stout Republican. I doubt not that we shall have from the hand +of Humphrey, if he live and prosper, something fine, the nature +of which, whether it is to be in painting, or in music, or in +poetry, I know not. Take the verses, and take care that thou lose +them not; and, child--remember--the poet is allowed to say what he +pleases about a woman's eyes. Be not deceived into thinking----But +no--no--there is no fear. Good-night, thou sweet and innocent saint.' + +I knew not then what he meant; but these are the verses, and I truly +think that they are very moving and religious. For if woman be truly +the most beautiful work of the Creator (which all men aver), then it +behoves her all the more still to point upwards. I read them with +a pleasure and surprise that filled my whole soul, and inflamed my +heart with pious joy:-- + + Around, above, and everywhere + The earth hath many a lovely thing; + The zephyrs soft, the flowers fair, + The babbling brook, the bubbling spring. + + The grey of dawn, the azure sky, + The sunset glow, the evening gloom; + The warbling thrush, the skylark high, + The blossoming hedge, the garden's bloom. + + The sun in state, the moon in pride, + The twinkling stars in order laid; + The winds that ever race and ride, + The shadows flying o'er the glade. + + Oh! many a lovely thing hath earth, + To charm the eye and witch the soul; + Yet one there is of passing worth-- + For that one thing I give the whole. + + The crowning work, the last thing made, + Creation's masterpiece to be-- + Bend o'er yon stream, and, there displayed, + This wondrous thing reflected see. + + Behold a face for heaven designed; + See how those eyes thy soul betray-- + Love--secret love--there sits enshrined, + And upwards still doth point the way. + +When Humphrey went away, he did not, like Benjamin, come blustering +and declaring that he would marry me, and that he would break the +skull of any other man who dared make love to me--not at all; +Humphrey, with tears in his eyes, told me that he was sorry I could +not go to Oxford as well; that he was going to lose the sweetest +companion in the world; and that he should always love me; and +then he kissed me on the forehead, and so departed. Why should +he not always love me? I knew very well that he loved me, and +that I loved him. Although he was so young, being only seventeen +when he was entered at Exeter College, I suppose there never was +a young gentleman went to the University of Oxford with so many +accomplishments, and so much learning. By my father's testimony +he read Greek as if it were his mother tongue, and he wrote and +conversed easily in Latin: and you have heard what arts and +accomplishments he added to this solid learning. He was elected to a +scholarship at his college, that of Exeter, and, after he took his +degree as Bachelor of Medicine, he was made a Fellow of All Souls, +where Mr. Boscorel himself had also been a Fellow. This election was +not only a great distinction for him, but it gave him what a learned +young man especially desires--the means of living and of pursuing +his studies. + +While he was at Oxford he wrote letters to Sir Christopher, to Mr. +Boscorel, and to my father (to whom also he sent such new books and +pamphlets as he thought would interest him). To me he sent sometimes +drawings and sometimes books, but never verses. + +Now (to make an end of Humphrey for the present), when he had +obtained his fellowship, he asked for and obtained leave of absence +and permission to study medicine in those great schools which far +surpass, they say, our English schools of medicine. These are that +of Montpellier; the yet more famous school of Padua, in Italy; and +that of Leyden, whither many Englishmen have resorted for study, +notably Mr. Evelyn, whose book called 'Sylva' was in the Rector's +library. + +He carried on during the whole of this time a correspondence with +Mr. Boscorel on the paintings, statues, and architecture to be seen +wherever his travels carried him. These letters Mr. Boscorel read +aloud, with a map spread before him, discoursing on the history of +the place and the chief things to be seen there, before he began to +read. Surely there never was a man so much taken up with the fine +arts, especially as they were practised by the ancients. + +There remains the last of the boys--Robin, Sir Christopher's +grandson and heir. I should like this book to be all about +Robin--yet one must needs speak of the others. I declare, that +from the beginning, there never was a boy more happy, more jolly; +never anyone more willing to be always making someone happy. He +loved the open air, the wild creatures, the trees, the birds, +everything that lives beneath the sky; yet not--like my poor brother +Barnaby--a hater of books. He read all the books which told about +creatures, or hunting, or country life; and all voyages and travels. +A fresh-coloured, wholesome lad, not so grave as Humphrey, nor so +rustic as Barnaby, who always seemed to carry with him the scent of +woods and fields. He was to Sir Christopher, what Benjamin was to +Jacob. Even my father loved him though he was so poor a scholar. + +Those who stay at home have homely wits; that is well known: +therefore Robin must follow Humphrey to Oxford. He went thither +the year after his cousin. I never learned that he obtained a +scholarship, or that he was considered one of the younger pillars +of that learned and ancient University; or, indeed, that he took a +degree at all. + +After he left Oxford he must go to London, there to study Justice's +Law and fit himself for the duties he would have to fulfil. Also his +grandfather would have him acquire some knowledge of the Court and +the City, and the ways of the great and the rich. This, too, he did; +though he never learned to prefer those ways to the simple customs +and habits of his Somerset village. + +He, too, like the other two, bade me a tender farewell. + +'Poor Alice!' he said, taking both my hands in his, 'what wilt thou +do when I am gone?' + +Indeed, since Humphrey went away, we had been daily companions; and +at the thought of being thus left alone the tears were running down +my cheeks. + +'Why, Sweetheart,' he said, 'to think that I should ever make thee +cry--I who desire nothing but to make thee always laugh and be +happy! What wilt thou do? Go often to my mother. She loves thee as +if thou wert her own daughter. Go and talk to her concerning me. It +pleaseth the poor soul to be still talking of her son. And forget +not my grandfather; play backgammon with him; fill his pipe for him; +sing to the spinnet for him; talk to him about Humphrey and me. And +forget not Mr. Boscorel, my uncle. The poor man looks as melancholy +since Humphrey went away as a turtle robbed of her nest. I saw him +yesterday opening one of his drawers full of medals, and he sighed +over them fit to break his heart. He sighed for Humphrey, not for +Ben. Well, child, what more? Take Lance'--'twas his dog--'for a +run every day; make George Sparrow keep an eye upon the stream for +otters; and--there are a thousand things, but I will write them +down. Have patience with the dear old man when he will be still +talking about me.' + +'Patience, Robin,' I said. 'Why, we all love to talk about thee.' + +'Do you all love to talk about me? Dost thou, too, Alice? Oh, my +dear, my dear!' Here he took me in his arms and kissed me on the +lips. 'Dost thou also love to talk about me? Why, my dear, I shall +think of nothing but of thee. Because--oh, my dear!--I love thee +with all my heart.' + +Well, I was still so foolish that I understood nothing more than +that we all loved him, and he loved us all. + +'Alice, I will write letters to thee. I will put them in the packet +for my mother. Thus thou wilt understand that I am always thinking +of thee.' + +He was as good as his word. But the letters were so full of the +things he was doing and seeing, that it was quite clear that his +mind had plenty of room for more than one object. To be sure, I +should have been foolish, indeed, had I desired that his letters +should tell me that he was always thinking about me, when he should +have been attending to his business. + +After a year in London, his grandfather thought that he should +travel. Therefore, he went abroad and joined Humphrey at +Montpellier, and with him rode northwards to Leyden, where he +sojourned while his cousin attended the lectures of that famous +school. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +A ROYAL PROGRESS. + + +When all the boys were gone the time was quiet, indeed, for those +who were left behind. My mother's wheel went spinning still, but I +think that some kindness on the part of Mr. Boscorel as well as Sir +Christopher caused her weekly tale of yarn to be of less importance. +And as for me, not only would she never suffer me to sit at the +spinning-wheel, but there was so much request of me (to replace the +boys) that I was nearly all the day either with Sir Christopher, or +with Madam, or with Mr. Boscorel. + +Up to the year 1680, or thereabouts, I paid no more attention to +political matters than any young woman with no knowledge may be +supposed to give. Yet, of course, I was on the side of liberty, both +civil and religious. How should that be otherwise, my father being +such as he was, muzzled for all these years, the work of his life +prevented and destroyed? + +It was in that year, however, that I became a most zealous partisan +and lover of the Protestant cause in the way that I am about to +relate. + +Everybody knows that there is no part of Great Britain (not even +Scotland) where the Protestant religion hath supporters more stout +and staunch than Somerset and Devonshire. I hope I shall not be +accused of disloyalty to Queen Anne, under whom we now flourish and +are happy, when I say that in the West of England we had grown--I +know not how--to regard the late misguided Duke of Monmouth as +the champion of the Protestant faith. When, therefore, the Duke +came into the West of England in the year 1680, five years before +his rebellion, he was everywhere received with acclamations and +by crowds who gathered round him to witness their loyalty to the +Protestant faith. They came also to gaze upon the gallant commander +who had defeated both the French and the Dutch, and was said (but +erroneously) to be as wise as he was brave, and as religious as he +was beautiful to look upon. As for his wisdom, those who knew him +best have since assured the world that he had little or none, his +judgment being always swayed and determined for him by crafty and +subtle persons seeking their own interests. And as for his religion, +whatever may have been his profession, good works were wanting--as +is now very well known. But at that time, and among our people, the +wicked ways of Courts were only half understood. And there can be no +doubt that, whether he was wise or religious, the show of affection +with which the Duke was received upon this journey, turned his head +and caused him to think that these people would rally round him if +he called upon them. And I suppose that there is nothing which more +delights a Prince than to believe that his friends are ready even to +lay down their lives in his behalf. + +At that time the country was greatly agitated by anxiety concerning +the succession. Those who were nearest the throne knew that King +Charles was secretly a Papist. We in the country had not learned +that dismal circumstance; yet we knew the religion of the Duke of +York. Thousands there were, like Sir Christopher himself, who now +lamented the return of the King, considering the disgraces which +had fallen upon the country. But what was done could not be undone. +They, therefore, asked themselves if the nation would suffer an +avowed Papist to ascend a Protestant throne. If not, what should +be done? And here, as everybody knows, was opinion divided. For +some declared that the Duke of Monmouth, had he his rights, was the +lawful heir; and others maintained, on the King's own words, that +he was never married to Mistress Lucy Waters. Therefore, they would +have the Duke of York's daughter, a Protestant princess, married +to William of Orange, proclaimed Queen. The Monmouth party were +strong, however, and it was even said--Mr. Henry Clark, minister +of Crewkerne, wrote a pamphlet to prove it--that a poor woman, +Elizabeth Parcet by name, touched the Duke (he being ignorant of the +thing) for King's Evil, and was straightway healed. Sir Christopher +laughed at the story, saying that the King himself, whether he was +descended from a Scottish Stuart or from King Solomon himself, +could no more cure that dreadful disease than the seventh son of a +seventh son (as some foolish people believe), or the rubbing of the +part affected by the hand of a man that had been hanged (as others +do foolishly believe), which is the reason why on the gibbets the +hanging corpses are always handless. + +It was noised abroad, beforehand, that the Duke was going to ride +through the West Country in order to visit his friends. The progress +(it was more like a Royal progress than the journey of a private +nobleman) began with his visit to Mr. Thomas Thynne, of Longleat +House. It is said that his chief reason for going to that house was +to connect himself with the obligation of the tenant of Longleat +to give the King and his suite a night's lodging when they visited +that part of the country. Mr. Thynne, who entertained the Duke on +this occasion, was the same who was afterwards murdered in London by +Count Konigsmark. They called him 'Tom of Ten Thousand.' The poet +Dryden hath written of this progress, in that poem wherein, under +the fabled name of Absalom, he figures the Duke:-- + + He now begins his progress to ordain, + With chariots, horsemen, and a numerous train. + Fame runs before him as the morning star, + And shouts of joy salute him from afar. + Each house receives him as a guardian god, + And consecrates the place of his abode. + +It was for his hospitable treatment of the Duke that Mr. Thynne was +immediately afterwards deprived of the command of the Wiltshire +Militia. + +'Son-in-law,' said Sir Christopher, 'I would ride out to meet +the Duke in respect to his Protestant professions. As for any +pretensions he may have to the succession, I know nothing of them.' + +'I will ride with you, Sir,' said the Rector, 'to meet the son of +the King. And as for any Protestant professions, I know nothing of +them. His Grace still remains, I believe, within the pale of the +Church as by law established. Let us all ride out together.' + +Seeing that my father also rode with them, it is certain that +there were many and diverse reasons why so many thousands gathered +together to welcome the Duke. Madam, Robin's mother, out of her kind +heart, invited me to accompany her, and gave me a white frock to +wear and blue ribbons to put into it. + +We made, with our servants, a large party. We were also joined by +many of the tenants, with their sons and wives, so that when we came +to Ilchester, Sir Christopher was riding at the head of a great +company of sixty or more, and very fine they looked, all provided +with blue favours in honour of the Duke. + +From Bradford Orcas to Ilchester is but six miles as the crow flies, +but the ways (which are narrow and foul in winter) do so wind +and turn about that they add two miles at least to the distance. +Fortunately, the season was summer--namely, August--when the sun is +hottest and the earth is dry, so that no one was bogged on the way. + +We started betimes--namely, at six in the morning--because we knew +not for certain at what time the Duke would arrive at Ilchester. +When we came forth from the Manor House the farmers were already +waiting for us, and so, after greetings from his Honour, they fell +in and followed. We first took the narrow and rough lane which +leads to the high road; but, when we reached it, we found it full +of people riding, like ourselves, or trudging, staff in hand, all +in the same direction. They were going to gaze upon the Protestant +Duke, who, if he had his way, would restore freedom of conscience, +and abolish the Acts against the Nonconformists. We rode through +Marston Magna, but only the old people and the little children were +left there; in the fields the ripe corn stood waiting to be cut; in +the farmyards the beasts were standing idle; all the hinds were gone +to Ilchester to see the Duke. And I began to fear lest when we got +to Ilchester we should be too late. At Marston we left the main road +and entered upon a road (call it a track rather than a road) across +the country, which is here flat and open. In winter it is miry and +boggy, but it was now dry and hard. This path brought us again to +the main road in two miles, or thereabouts, and here we were but a +mile or so from Ilchester. Now, such a glorious sight as awaited us +here I never expected to see. Once again, after five years, I was +to see a welcome still more splendid; but nothing can ever efface +from my memory that day. For first, the roads, as I have said, were +thronged with rustics, and next, when we rode into the town we +found it filled with gentlemen most richly dressed, and ladies so +beautiful, and with such splendid attire that it dazzled my eyes to +look upon them. It was a grand thing to see the gentlemen take off +their hats and cry, 'Huzza for brave Sir Christopher!' Everybody +knew his opinions, and on what side he had fought in the Civil War. +The old man bent his head, and I think that he was pleased with this +mark of honour. + +The town which, though ancient, is now decayed and hath but few +good houses in it, was made glorious with bright-coloured cloths, +carpets, flags, and ribbons. There were bands of music; the bells +of the church were ringing; the main street was like a fair with +booths and stalls, and in the market-place there were benches set up +with white canvas covering, where sat ladies in their fine dresses, +some of them with naked necks, unseemly to behold. Yet it was pretty +to see the long curls lying on their white shoulders. Some of them +sat with half-closed eyes, which, I have since learned, is the +fashion at Court. Mostly, they wore satin petticoats, and demi-gowns +also of satin, furnished with a long train. Our place was beside +the old Cross with its gilt ball and vane. The people who filled +the streets came from Sherborne, from Bruton, from Shepton, from +Glastonbury, from Langport, and from Somerton, and from all the +villages round. It was computed that there were twenty thousand of +them. Two thousand at least rode out to meet the Duke, and followed +after him when he rode through the town. And, oh! the shouting as he +drew near, the clashing of the bells, the beating of the drums, the +blowing of the horns, the firing of the guns, as if the more noise +they made the greater would be the Duke. + +Since that day I have not wondered at the power which a Prince hath +of drawing men after him, even to the death. Never was heir to the +Crown received with such joy and welcome as was this young man, who +had no title to the Crown and was base born. Yet, because he was a +brave young man, and comely above all other young men, gracious of +speech, and ready with a laugh and a joke, and because he was the +son of the King, and the reputed champion of the Protestant faith, +the people could not shout too loud for him. + +The Duke was at this time in the prime of manhood, being thirty-five +years of age. 'At that age,' Mr. Boscorel used to say, 'one would +desire to remain if the body of clay were immortal. For then the +volatile humours of youth have been dissipated. The time of follies +has passed; love is regarded with the sober eyes of experience; +knowledge has been acquired; skill of eye and hand has been gained, +if one is so happy as to be a follower of art and music; wisdom hath +been reached, if wisdom is ever to be attained. But wisdom,' he +would add, 'is a quality generally lacking at every period of life.' + +'When last I saw the Duke,' he told us while we waited, 'was fifteen +years ago, in St. James's Park. He was walking with the King, his +father, who had his arm about his son's shoulders, and regarded him +fondly. At that time he was, indeed, a very David for beauty. I +suppose that he hath not kept that singular loveliness which made +him the darling of the Court. That, indeed, were not a thing to +be desired or expected. He is now the hero of Maestricht, and the +Chancellor of Cambridge University.' + +And then all hats were pulled off, and the ladies waved their +handkerchiefs, and the men shouted, and you would have thought the +bells would have pulled the old tower down with the vehemence of +their ringing; for the Duke was riding into the town. + +He was no longer a beautiful boy, but a man at whose aspect every +heart was softened. His enemies, in his presence, could not blame +him; his friends, at sight of him, could not praise him, of such +singular beauty was he possessed. Softness, gentleness, kindness, +and goodwill reigned in his large soft eyes: graciousness sat upon +his lips, and all his face seemed to smile as he rode slowly between +the lane formed by the crowd on either hand. + +What said the Poet Dryden in that same poem of his from which I have +already quoted?-- + + Early in foreign fields he won renown + With Kings and States allied to Israel's crown; + In peace the thoughts of war he could remove, + And seemed as he were only born for love. + + Whate'er he did was done with so much ease, + In him alone 'twas natural to please; + His motions all accompanied with grace, + And Paradise was opened in his face. + +Now I have to tell of what happened to me--the most insignificant +person in the whole crowd. It chanced that as the Duke came near the +spot beside the Cross where we were standing, the press in front +obliged him to stop. He looked about him while he waited, smiling +still and bowing to the people. Presently his eyes fell upon me, and +he whispered a gentleman who rode beside him, yet a little in the +rear. This gentleman laughed and dismounted. What was my confusion +when he advanced towards me and spoke to me! + +'Madam,' he said, calling me 'Madam!' 'His Grace would say one word +to you, with permission of your friends.' + +'Go with this gentleman, child,' said Sir Christopher, laughing. +Everybody laughs--I know not why--when a girl is led out to be +kissed. + +'Fair White Rose of Somerset,' said his Grace--twas the most +musical voice in the world, and the softest. 'Fair White Rose'--he +repeated the words--'let me be assured of the welcome of Ilchester +by a kiss from your sweet lips, which I will return in token of my +gratitude.' + +All the people who heard these words shouted as if they would burst +themselves asunder. And the gentleman who had led me forth lifted me +so that my foot rested on the Duke's boot, while his Grace laid his +arm tenderly round my waist, and kissed me twice. + +'Sweet child,' he said, 'what is thy name?' + +'By your Grace's leave,' I said, the words being very strange, 'my +name is Alice. I am the daughter of Dr. Comfort Eykin, an ejected +minister. I have come with Sir Christopher Challis, who stands +yonder.' + +'Sir Christopher!' said the Duke, as if surprised. 'Let me shake +hands with Sir Christopher. I take it kindly, Sir Christopher, that +you have so far honoured me.' So he gave the old man, who stepped +forward bareheaded, his hand, still holding me by the waist. 'I pray +that we may meet again, Sir Christopher, and that before long.' Then +he drew a gold ring, set with an emerald, from his forefinger, and +placed it upon mine, 'God grant it bring thee luck, sweet child,' he +said, and kissed me again, and then suffered me to be lifted down. +And you may be sure that it was with red cheeks that I took my place +among my friends. Yet Sir Christopher was pleased at the notice +taken of him by the Duke, and my father was not displeased at the +part I had been made to play. + +When the Duke had ridden through the town, many of the people +followed after, as far as White Lackington, which is close to +Ilminster. So many were they that they took down a great piece +of the park paling to admit them all; and there, under a Spanish +chestnut-tree, the Duke drank to the health of all the people. + +At Ilminster, whither he rode a few days later; at Chard, a Ford +Abbey, at Colyton, and at Exeter--wherever he went he was received +with the same shouts and acclamations. It is no wonder therefore, +that he should believe, a few years later, that those people would +follow him when he drew the sword for the Protestant religion. + +One thing is certain--that in the West of England, from the progress +of Monmouth to the Rebellion, there was uneasiness, with an anxious +looking forward to troubled times. The people of Taunton kept as +a day of holiday and thanksgiving the anniversary of the raising +of Charles's siege. When the Mayor, in 1683, tried to stop the +celebration, they nearly stoned him to death. After this, Sir George +Jeffreys, afterwards Lord Jeffreys, who took the spring circuit in +1684, was called upon to report on the loyalty of the West Country. +He reported that the gentry were loyal and well disposed. But he +knew not the mind of the weavers and spinners of the country. + +[Illustration: '_Fair White Rose of Somerset, let me be assured by a +kiss from your sweet lips._'] + +It was this progress; the sight of the Duke's sweet face; his +flattery of me, and his soft words, and the ring he gave me, +which made me from that moment such a partisan of his cause as +only a woman can be. Women cannot fight, but they can encourage +those who do; and they can not only ardently desire, but they can +despise and contemn those who think otherwise. I cannot say that +it was I who persuaded our boys five years later to join the Duke; +but I can truly say that I did and said all that a woman can; that +I rejoiced when they did so; and that I should never have forgiven +Robin had he joined the forces of the Papist King. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +WITH THE ELDERS. + + +So we went home again, all well pleased, and I holding the Duke's +ring tight, I promise you. It was a most beautiful ring when I came +to look at it; a great emerald was in the midst of it, with little +pearls and emeralds set alternately around it. Never was such a +grand gift to so humble a person. I tied it to a black ribbon, and +put it in the box which held my clothes. But sometimes I could not +forbear the pleasure of wearing it round my neck secretly; not for +the joy of possessing the ring, so much as for remembering the +lovely face and the gracious words of the giver. + +At that time I was in my sixteenth year, but well-grown for my age. +Like my father, I was above the common stature and taller than most. +We continued for more than four years longer to live without the +company of the boys, which caused me to be much in the society of my +elders, and as much at the Manor House and the Rectory as at home. +At the former place, Sir Christopher loved to have me with him all +day long, if my mother would suffer it; when he walked abroad, I +must walk with him; when he walked in his garden I must be at his +side. When he awoke after his afternoon sleep, he liked to see me +sitting ready to talk to him. I must play to him and sing to him; +or I must bring out the backgammon board; or I must read the last +letters from Robin and Humphrey. Life is dull for an old man whose +friends are mostly dead, unless he have the company of the young. +So David, in his old age, took to himself a young wife. I have +sometimes thought that he would have done better to have comforted +his heart with the play and prattle of his grandchildren--of whom, +I suppose, there must have been many families. + +Now, as I was so much with his Honour, I had much talk with him upon +things on which wise and ancient men do not often converse with +girls, and I was often present when he discoursed with my father or +with his son-in-law, the Rector, on high and serious matters. It +was a time of great anxiety and uncertainty. There were great Pope +burnings in the country; and when some were put in pillory for riot +at these bonfires not a hand was lifted against them. They had one +at Sherborne on November 17, the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's +Coronation day, instead of November 5, Guy Faux Day. Boys went about +the streets asking for halfpence and singing-- + + Up with the ladder, + And down with the rope; + Give us a penny + To burn the old Pope. + +There were riots in Taunton, where the High Church party burned the +pulpit of a meeting-house; people went about openly saying that the +Roundheads would soon come back again. From Robin we heard of the +Popish plot, and the flight of the Duke of York, and afterwards of +Monmouth's disgrace and exile. At all the market towns where men +gathered together they talked of these things, and many whispered +together: a thing which Sir Christopher loved not, because it spoke +of conspiracies and secret plots, whereas he was all for bold +declaration of conscience. + +In short, it was an anxious time, and everybody understood that +serious things would happen should the King die. There were not +wanting, besides, omens of coming ills--if you accept such things +as omens or warnings. To Taunton (afterwards the town most affected +by the Rebellion) a plain warning was vouchsafed by the rumbling +and thundering and shaking of the earth itself, so that dishes were +knocked down and cups broken, and plaster shaken off the walls +of houses. And once (this did I myself see with my own eyes) the +sun rose with four other suns for companions--a most terrifying +sight, though Mr. Boscorel, who spoke learnedly on omens, had an +explanation of this miracle, which he said was due to natural causes +alone. And at Ile Brewers there was a monstrous birth of two girls +with but one body from the breast downwards; their names were Aquila +and Priscilla; but I believe they lived but a short time. + +I needs must tell of Mr. Boscorel, because he was a man the like +of whom I have never since beheld. I believe there can be few men +such as he was, who could so readily exchange the world of heat and +argument for the calm and dispassionate air of art and music. Even +religion (if I may venture to say so) seemed of less importance to +him than painting and sculpture. I have said that he taught me to +play upon the spinnet. Now that Humphrey was gone, he desired my +company every day, in order, he pretended, that I might grow perfect +in my performance, but in reality because he was lonely at the +Rectory, and found pleasure in my company. We played together--he +upon the violoncello and I upon the spinnet--such music as he chose. +It was sometimes grave and solemn music, such as Lulli's 'Miserere' +or his 'De Profundis'; sometimes it was some part of a Roman +Catholic Mass: then was my soul uplifted and wafted heavenwards by +the chords, which seemed prayer and praise fit for the angels to +harp before the throne. Sometimes it was music which spoke of human +passions, when I would be, in like manner, carried out of myself. My +master would watch not only my execution, commenting or correcting, +but he would also watch the effect of the music upon my mind. + +'We are ourselves,' he said, 'like unto the instruments upon which +we play. For as one kind of instrument, as the drum, produces but +one note; and another, as the cymbals, but a clashing which is in +itself discordant, but made effective in a band; so others are, like +the most delicate and sensitive violins--those of Cremona--capable +of producing the finest music that the soul of man hath ever +devised. It is by such music, child, that some of us mount unto +heaven. As for me, indeed, I daily feel more and more that music +leadeth the soul upward, and that, as regards the disputations on +the Word of God, the letter indeed killeth, but the spirit which +music helpeth us to feel--the spirit, I say, giveth life.' He +sighed, and drew his bow gently across the first string of his +violoncello. ''Tis a time of angry argument. The Word of God is +thrown from one to the other as a pebble is shot from a sling. It +wearies me. In this room, among these books of music, my soul finds +rest, and the spiritual part of me is lifted heavenwards. Humphrey +and you, my dear, alone can comprehend this saying. Thou hast a mind +like his, to feel and understand what music means. Listen!' Here he +executed a piece of music at which the tears rose to my eyes. 'That +is from the Romish Mass which we are taught ignorantly to despise. +My child, I am, indeed, no Catholic, and I hold that ours is the +purer Church; yet, in losing the Mass, we have lost the great music +with which the Catholics sustain their souls. Some of our anthems, +truly, are good; but what is a single anthem, finished in ten +minutes, compared with a grand Mass which lasts three hours?' + +[Illustration: '_We played together, he on the violoncello, I upon +the spinnet._'] + +Then he had portfolios filled with engravings, which he would bring +forth and contemplate with a kind of rapture, discoursing upon +the engraver's art and its difficulties, so that I should not, as +is the case with ignorant persons, suppose that these things were +produced without much training and skill. He had also boxes full +of coins, medals, and transparent gems carved most delicately with +heathen gods and goddesses, shepherds and swains, after the ancient +fashion, unclothed and unashamed. On these things he would gaze +with admiration which he tried to teach me, but could not succeed, +because I cannot believe that we may without blame look upon +such figures. Nevertheless, they were most beautiful, the hands and +faces and the very hair so delicately and exquisitely carved that +you could hardly believe it possible. And he talked solemnly and +scholarly of these gauds, as if they were things which peculiarly +deserved the attention of wise and learned men. Nay, he would be +even lifted out of himself in considering them. + +'Child,' he said, 'we know not, and we cannot even guess, the +wonders of art that in heaven we shall learn to accomplish'--as +if carving and painting were the occupation of angels!--'or the +miracles of beauty and of dexterity that we shall be able to design +and execute. Here, the hand is clumsy and the brain is dull; we +cannot rise above ourselves; we are blind to the beauty with which +the Lord hath filled the earth for the solace of human creatures. +Nay; we are not even tender with the beauty that we see and love. We +suffer maidens sweet as the dreams of poets to waste their beauty +unpraised and unsung. I am old, child, or I would praise thee in +immortal verse. Much I fear that thou wilt grow old without the +praise of sweet numbers. Well; there is no doubt more lasting beauty +of face and figure hereafter to joy the souls of the elect. And thou +wilt make his happiness for one man on earth. Pray Heaven, sweet +child, that he look also to thine!' + +He would say such things with so grand an air, speaking as if his +words should command respect, and with so kindly an eye and a soft +smile, while he gently stroked the side of his nose, which was +long, that I was always carried away with the authority of it, and +not till after I left him did I begin to perceive that my father +would certainly never allow that the elect should occupy themselves +with the frivolous pursuits of painting and the fine arts, but only +with the playing of their harps and the singing of praises. It was +this consideration which caused him to consent that his daughter +should learn the spinnet. I did not tell him (God forgive me for the +deceit, if there was any!) that we sometimes played music written +for the Mass; nor did I repeat what Mr. Boscorel said concerning art +and the flinging about of the Word of God, because my father was +wholly occupied in controversy, and his principal, if not his only, +weapon was the Word of God. + +Another pleasure which we had was to follow Humphrey in his travels +by the aid of his letters and a 'Mappa Mundi,' or atlas, which the +Rector possessed. Then I remember when we heard that the boys were +about to ride together through France, from Montpellier to Leyden +in Holland, we had on the table the great map of France. There were +many drawings, coats-of-arms, and other pretty things on the map. + +'It is now,' said Mr. Boscorel, finding out the place he wanted, and +keeping his forefinger upon it, 'nearly thirty years since I made +the grand tour, being then governor to the young Lord Silchester, +who afterwards died of the Plague in London. Else had I been now a +Bishop, who am forgotten in this little place. The boys will ride, +I take it, by the same road which we took: first, because it is the +high road and the safest; next, because it is the best provided with +inns and resting places; and, lastly, because it passes through the +best part of his Most Christian Majesty's dominions, and carries +the traveller through his finest and most stately cities. From +Montpellier they will ride--follow my finger, child!--to Nismes. +Before the Revocation it was a great place for those of the Reformed +Religion, and a populous town. Here they will not fail to visit the +Roman temple which still stands. It is not, indeed, such a noble +monument as one may see in Rome; but it is in good preservation, and +a fair example of the later style. They will also visit the great +amphitheatre, which should be cleared of the mean houses which are +now built up within it, and so exposed in all its vastness to the +admiration of the world. After seeing these things they will direct +their way across a desolate piece of country to Avignon, passing +on the way the ancient Roman aqueduct called the Pont de Gard. At +Avignon they will admire the many churches and the walls, and will +not fail to visit the palace of the Popes during the Great Schism. +Thence they will ride northwards, unless they wish first to see +the Roman remains at Arles. Thence will they proceed up the Valley +of the Rhone, through many stately towns, till they come to Lyons, +where, doubtless, they will sojourn for a few days. Next, they will +journey through the rich country of Burgundy, and from the ancient +town of Dijon will reach Paris through the city of Fontainebleau. +On the way they will see many noble houses and castles, with rich +towns and splendid churches. In no country are there more splendid +churches, built in the Gothic style, which we have now forgotten. +Some of them, alas! have been defaced in the wars (so-called of +Religion), where, as happened also to us, the delicate carved work, +the scrolls and flowers and statues were destroyed, and the painted +windows broken. Alas! that men should refuse to suffer Art to become +the minister and handmaid of Religion! Yet in the first and most +glorious temple, in which the glory of the Lord was visibly present, +there were carved and graven lilies, with lions, oxen, chariots, +cherubim, palm-trees and pomegranates.' + +He closed his atlas and sat down. + +'Child,' he said, meditating, 'for a scholar, in his youth, there is +no pleasure comparable with the pleasure of travelling in strange +countries, among the monuments of ancient days. My own son did +never, to my sorrow, desire the pleasant paths of learning, and +did never show any love for the arts, in which I have always taken +so great delight. He desireth rather the companionship of men; he +loveth to drink and sing; and he nourisheth a huge ambition. 'Tis +best that we are not all alike. Humphrey should have been my son. +Forget not, my child, that he hath desired to be remembered to thee +in every letter which he hath written.' + +If the Rector spoke much of Humphrey, Madam made amends by talking +continually of Robin, and of the great things that he would do when +he returned home. Justice of the Peace, that he would certainly +be made; Captain first and afterwards Colonel in the Somerset +Militia, that also should he be; Knight of the Shire, if he were +ambitious--but that I knew he would never be; High Sheriff of the +County, if his slender means permitted--for the estate was not worth +more than five or six hundred pounds a year. Perhaps he would marry +an heiress: it would be greatly to the advantage of the family if an +heiress were to come into it with broad acres of her own; but she +was not a woman who would seek to control her son in the matter of +his affections, and if he chose a girl with no fortune to her back, +if she was a good girl and pious, Madam would never say him nay. And +he would soon return. The boy had been at Oxford and next in London, +learning law, such as Justices require. He was now with Humphrey at +the University of Leyden, doubtless learning more law. + +'My dear,' said Madam, 'we want him home. His grandfather groweth +old, though still, thank God! in the full possession of his +faculties. Yet a young man's presence is needed. I trust and pray +that he will return as he went, innocent, in spite of the many +temptations of the wicked city. And, oh! child--what if he should +have lost his heart to some designing city hussy!' + +He came--as you shall hear immediately--Robin came home. Would to +God that he had waited, if only for a single month! Had he not come +all our afflictions would have been spared us! Had he not come that +good old man, Sir Christopher----but it is vain to imagine what +might have been. We are in the hands of the Lord; nothing that +happens to us is permitted but by Him, and for some wise purpose was +Sir Christopher in his old age--alas! why should I anticipate what I +have to narrate? + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +LE ROY EST MORT. + + +In February of the year 1685, King Charles II. died. + +Sir Christopher himself brought us the news from Sherborne, whither +he had gone, as was his wont, to the weekly ordinary. He clattered +up the lane on his cob, and halted at our gate. + +'Call thy father, child. Give you good day, Madam Eykin. Will your +husband leave his books and come forth for a moment? Tell him I have +news.' + +My father rose and obeyed. His gown was in rags; his feet were clad +in cloth shoon, which I worked for him; his cheek was wasted; but +his eye was keen. He was lean and tall; his hair was as white as Sir +Christopher's, though he was full twenty years younger. + +'Friend and gossip,' said Sir Christopher, 'the King is dead.' + +'Is Charles Stuart dead?' my father replied. 'He cumbered the earth +too long. For five-and-twenty years hath he persecuted the saints. +Also he hath burnt incense after the abomination of the heathen. Let +his lot be as the lot of Ahaz.' + +'Nay; he is buried by this time. His brother the Duke of York hath +been proclaimed King.' + +'James the Papist. It is as though Manasseh should succeed to Ahaz. +And after him Jehoiakim.' + +'Yet the bells will ring and we shall pray for the King; and wise +men, friend Eykin, will do well to keep silence.' + +'There is a time to speak and a time to keep silence. It may be that +the time is at hand when a godly man must stretch forth his hand to +tear down the Scarlet Woman, though she slay him in the attempt.' + +'It may be so, my friend; yet stretch not forth thine hand until +thou art well assured of the Divine Command. The King is dead. Now +will my son-in-law ring out the bells for the new King, and we shall +pray for him, as we prayed for his brother. It is our duty to pray +for all in authority, though to the prayers of a whole nation there +seemeth, so far as human reason can perceive, no answer.' + +'I for one will pray no more for a King who is a Papist. Rather will +I pray daily for his overthrow.' + +'King Charles is said to have received a priest before he died. Yet +it is worse that the King should be an open than a secret Catholic. +Let us be patient, my friend, and await the time.' + +So he rode up the village, and presently the bells were set +a-ringing, and they clashed as joyously, echoing around the Corton +Hills, as if the accession of King James II. was the only thing +wanted to make the nation prosperous, happy, and religious. + +My father stood at the gate after Sir Christopher left him. The wind +was cold, and the twilight was falling, and his cassock was thin, +but he remained there motionless, until my mother went out and drew +him back to the house by the arm. He went into his own room, but he +read no more that day. + +In the evening he came forth and sat with us, and while I sat +sewing, my mother spinning by the light of the fire, he discoursed, +which was unusual with him, upon things and peoples and the best +form of government, which he held to be a Commonwealth, with a +strong man for President. But he was to hold his power from the +people, and was to lay it down frequently, lest he should in his +turn be tempted to become a King. And if he were to fall away from +righteousness, or to live in open sin, or to be a merry-maker, or +to suffer his country to fall from a high place among the nations, +he was to be displaced, and be forced to retire. As for the man +Charles, now dead, he would become, my father said, an example +to all future ages, and a warning of what may happen when the +doctrine of Divine Right is generally accepted and acted upon; +the King himself being not so much blamed by him as the practice +of hereditary rule which caused him to be seated upon the throne, +when his true place, my father said, was among the lacqueys and +varlets of the palace. 'His brother James,' he added, 'hath now +an opportunity such as is given to few--for he may become another +Josiah. But I think he will neglect that opportunity,' he concluded; +'yea, even if Hilkiah, the priest, were to bring him a message from +Huldah, the prophetess; for he doth belong to a family which, by the +Divine displeasure, can never perceive the truth. Let us now read +the Word, and wrestle with the Lord in prayer.' + +Next we heard that loyal addresses were poured in from all +quarters congratulating the King, and promising most submissive +obedience. One would have thought that the people were rejoiced +at the succession of a Roman Catholic; it was said that the King +had promised liberty of conscience unto all; that he claimed that +liberty for himself, and that he went to Mass daily and openly. + +But many there were who foresaw trouble. Unfortunately, one of them +was Sir Christopher, who spoke his mind at all times too fiercely +for his safety. Mr. Boscorel, also, was of opinion that civil war +would speedily ensue. + +'The King's friends,' he said, 'may for a time buy the support of +the Nonconformists, and make a show of religious liberty. Thus may +they govern for a while. But it is not in the nature of the Roman +Catholic priest to countenance religious liberty, or ever to sit +down contented with less than all the pie. They must for ever +scheme and intrigue for more power. Religious liberty? It means to +them the eternal damnation of those who hold themselves free to +think for themselves. They would be less than human if they did +not try to save the souls of the people by docking their freedom. +They must make this country even as Spain or Italy. Is it to be +believed that they will suffer the Church to retain her revenues, +or the universities to remain out of their control? Nay, will they +allow the grammar schools to be in the hands of Protestants? Never! +The next generation will be wholly Catholic, unless the present +generation send King and priests packing.' + +These were treasonable words, but they were uttered in the hall of +the Manor House with no other persons present than Sir Christopher +and the Rector himself. + +'Seeing these things, son-in-law,' said Sir Christopher, 'what +becomes of Right Divine? Where is the duty of Non-Resistance?' + +'The doctrine of Right Divine,' said Mr. Boscorel, rubbing his nose, +'includes the Divine institution of a Monarchy, which, I confess, is +manifestly untenable, because the Lord granted a King to the people +only because they clamoured for one. Also, had the institution been +of Divine foundation, the Jews would never have been allowed to live +under the rule of Judges, Tetrarchs, and Roman Governors.' + +'You have not always spoken so plainly,' said Sir Christopher. + +'Nay; why be always proclaiming to the world your thoughts and +opinions? Besides, even if the doctrine of Non-Resistance were +sound, there may be cases in which just laws may be justly set +aside. I say not that this is one, as yet. But if there were danger +of the ancient superstitions being thrust upon us to the destruction +of our souls, I say not that we should meekly sit down. Nay; if a +starving man take a loaf of bread, there being no other way possible +to save his life, one would not, therefore, hold him a thief. Yet +the law remains.' + +'Shall the blood which hath been poured out for the cause of liberty +prove to be shed in vain?' asked Sir Christopher. + +'Why, Sir,' said the Rector, 'the same question might be asked in +France, where the Protestants fought longer and against greater odds +than we in this country. Yet the blood of those martyrs hath been +shed, so far as man can see, in vain; the Church of Rome is there +the conqueror indeed. It is laid upon the Protestants, even upon us, +who hold that we are a true branch of the ancient Apostolic Church, +to defend ourselves continually against an enemy who is always at +unity, always guided by one man, always knows what he wants, and +is always working to get it. We, on the other hand, do not know +our own minds, and must for ever be quarrelling among ourselves. +Nevertheless, the heart of the country is Protestant; and sooner or +later the case of conscience may arise whether--the law remaining +unchanged--we may not blamelessly break the law.' + +That case of conscience was not yet ripe for consideration. There +needed first many things--including the martyrdom of saints and +innocent men and poor, ignorant rustics--before the country roused +herself once more to seize her liberties. Then as to that poor +doctrine of Divine Right, they all made a mouthful of it, except +only a small and harmless band of Nonjurors. + +At the outset, whatever the opinions of the people--who could have +been made to rise as one man--the gentry remained loyal. Above all +things, they dreaded another civil war. + +'We must fain accept the King's professions,' said the Rector. 'If +we have misgivings, let us disguise them. Let us rather nourish the +hope that they are honestly meant; and let us wait. England will not +become another Spain in a single day. Let us wait. The stake is not +yet set up in Smithfield, and the Inquisition is not yet established +in the country.' + +It was in this temper that the King's accession found Sir +Christopher. Afterwards, he was accused of having harboured designs +against the King from the beginning. That, indeed, was not the case. +He had no thought of entering into any such enterprise. Yet he never +doubted that in the end there would be an uprising against the rule +of the priests. Nor did he doubt that the King would be pushed on by +his advisers to one pretension after another for the advancement of +his own prerogative and the displacement of the Protestant Church. +Nay, he openly predicted that there would be such attempts; and +he maintained--such was his wisdom!--that, in the long run, the +Protestant faith would be established upon a surer foundation than +ever. But as for conspiring or being cognisant of any conspiracy, +that was untrue. Why, he was at this time seventy-five years of +age--a time when such men as Sir Christopher have continually before +their eyes Death and the Judgment. + +As for my father, perhaps I am wrong, but in the daily prayers of +night and morning, and in the grace before meat, he seemed to find +a freer utterance, and to wrestle more vehemently than was his wont +on the subject of the Scarlet Woman, offering himself as a willing +martyr and confessor, if by the shedding of his blood the great day +of her final overthrow might be advanced; yet always humble, not +daring to think of himself as anything but an instrument to do the +will of his Master. In the end, his death truly helped, with others, +to bring a Protestant King to the Throne of these isles. And since +we knew him to be so deep a scholar, always reading and learning, +and in no sense a man of activity, the thing which he presently did +amazed us all. Yet we ought to have known that one who is under the +Divine command to preach the Word of God, and hath been silenced by +man for more than twenty years, so that the strength of his manhood +hath run to waste and is lost--it is a most terrible and grievous +thing for a man to be condemned to idleness!--may become like unto +one of those burning mountains of which we sometimes read in books +of voyages. In him, as in them, the inner fires rage and burn, +growing ever stronger and fiercer, until presently they rend asunder +the sides of the mountain and burst forth, pouring down liquid fire +over the unhappy valleys beneath, with showers of red-hot ashes to +destroy and cover up the smiling homesteads and the fertile meadows. + +It is true that my father chafed continually at the inaction forced +upon him, but his impatience was never so strong as at this time, +namely, after the accession of King James. It drove him from his +books and out into the fields and lanes, where he walked to and fro +waving his long arms, and sometimes crying aloud and shouting in the +woods, as if compelled to cry out in order to quench some raging +fever or heat of his mind. + +About this time, too, I remember, they began to talk of the exiles +in Holland. The Duke of Monmouth was there with the Earl of Argyle, +and with them a company of firebrands eager to get back to England +and their property. + +I am certain now that my father (and perhaps through his +information, Sir Christopher also) was kept acquainted with the +plots and designs that were carried on in the Low Countries. Nay, I +am also certain that his informant was none other than Humphrey, who +was still in Leyden. I have seen a letter from him, written, as I +now understand, in a kind of allegory or parable, in which one thing +was said and another meant. Thus, he pretends to speak of Dutch +gardening:--'The gardeners,' he says, 'take infinite pains that +their secrets shall not be learned or disclosed. I know, however, +that a certain blue tulip much desired by many gardeners in England, +will be taken across the water this year, and I hope that by next +year the precious bulb may be fully planted in English soil. The +preparation of the soil necessary for the favourable reception of +the bulb is well known to you, and you will understand how to mix +your soil and to add manure and so forth. I myself expect to finish +what I have to do in a few weeks, when I shall cross to London, and +so ride westwards, and hope to pay my respects to my revered tutor +in the month of June next. It may be that I shall come with the +tulip, but that is not certain. Many messages have been received +offering large sums of money for the bulb, so that it is hoped that +the Dutch gardeners will let it go. + +'From H. C.' + +The tulip, in a word, was the Duke of Monmouth, and the Dutch +gardeners were the Scotch and English exiles then in Holland, +and the English gardeners were the Duke's friends, and H. C. was +Humphrey Challis. + +I think that Sir Christopher must have known of this correspondence, +because I now remember that my father would sit with him for many +hours looking at a map of England, conversing long and earnestly, +and making notes in a book. These notes he made in the Arabic +character, which no one but himself could read. I therefore suppose +that he was estimating the number of Nonconformists who might be +disposed to aid in such an enterprise as Humphrey's 'gardeners' were +contemplating. + +Robin, who certainly was no conspirator, also wrote a letter from +Leyden about this time saying that something was expected, nobody +knew what; but that the exiles were meeting constantly, as if +something was brewing. + +It was about the first week of June that the news came to us of +Lord Argyle's landing. This was the beginning. After that, as +you will hear, the news came thick and fast; every day something +fresh, and something to quicken the most sluggish pulse. To me, at +least, it seemed as if the breath of God Himself was poured out +upon the country, and that the people were everywhere resolved +to banish the accursed thing from their midst. Alas! I was but a +simple country maid and I was deceived! The accursed thing was to +be driven forth, but not yet. The country party hated the Pope, but +they dreaded civil war; and, indeed, there is hardly any excuse for +that most dreadful scourge except the salvation of the soul and the +safeguarding of liberties. They would gladly welcome a rising, but +it must be general and universal. They had for five-and-twenty years +been taught the wickedness of rebellion, and now there was no way +to secure the Protestant Faith except by rebellion. Unhappily, the +rebellion began before the country gentlemen were ready to begin. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +BEFORE THE STORM. + + +Before the storm breaks there sometimes falls upon the earth a +brief time when the sun shines in splendour from a clear sky, the +air is balmy and delightsome, the birds sing in the coppice, and +the innocent lambs leap in the meadows. Then, suddenly, dark clouds +gather from the north; the wind blows cold; in a minute the sky is +black; the lightnings flash, the thunders roll, the wind roars, the +hail beats down and strips the orchard of its promise, and silences +the birds cowering in the branches, and drives the trembling sheep +to take shelter in the hedges. This was to be my case. You shall +understand how for a single day--it was no more--I was the happiest +girl in all the world. + +I may now without any shame confess that I have always loved Robin +from my earliest childhood. That was no great wonder seeing what +manner of boy he was, and how he was always kind and thoughtful +for me. We were at first only brother and sister together, which +is natural and reasonable when children grow up together; nor can +I tell when or how we ceased to be brother and sister, save that +it may have been when Robin kissed me so tenderly at parting, and +told me that he should always love me. I do not think that brothers +do generally protest love and promise continual affection. Barnaby +certainly never declared his love for me, nor did he ever promise to +love me all his life. Perhaps, had he remained longer, he might have +become as tender as he was good-hearted; but I think that tenderness +towards a sister is not in the nature of a boy. I loved Robin, and +I loved Humphrey, both as if they were brothers; but one of them +ceased to be my brother, while the other, in consequence, remained +my brother always. + +A girl may be ignorant of the world as I was, and of lovers and +their ways as I was, and yet she cannot grow from a child to a woman +without knowing that when a young man, who hath promised to love her +always, speaks of her in every letter, he means more than common +brotherly love. Nor can any woman be indifferent to a man who thus +regards her; nor can she think upon love without the desire of being +herself loved. Truly, I had always before my eyes the spectacle of +that holy love which consecrates every part of life. I mean, in the +case of my mother, whose waking and sleeping thoughts were all for +her husband, who worked continually and cheerfully with her hands +that he might be enabled to study without other work, and gave up +her whole life, without grudging--even reckoning it her happiness +and her privilege--in order to provide food and shelter for him. +It was enough reward for her that he should sometimes lay his hand +lovingly upon her head, or turn his eyes with affection to meet hers. + +It was in the night of June 12, as I lay in bed, not yet asleep, +though it was already past nine o'clock, that I heard the trampling +of hoofs crossing the stream and passing our cottage. Had I known +who were riding those horses there would have been but little sleep +for me that night. But I knew not, and did not suspect, and so, +supposing that it was only one of the farmers belated, I closed my +eyes, and presently slept until the morning. + +About five o clock, or a little before that time, I awoke, the sun +having already arisen, and being now well up above the hills. I +therefore arose softly, leaving my mother asleep still, and, having +dressed quickly, and prayed a little, I crept down the stairs. +In the house there was such a stillness that I could even hear +the regular breathing of my father as he slept upon his pallet +among his books; it was chill and damp (as is the custom in the +early morning) in the room where he lived and worked. Yet, when I +threw open door and shutter and looked outside, the air was full +of warmth and refreshment; as for the birds, they had long since +left their nests, and now were busy looking for their breakfast; +the larks were singing overhead, and the bees already humming and +droning. Who would lie abed when he could get up and enjoy the +beauty of the morning? When I had breathed a while, with pleasure +and satisfaction, the soft air, which was laden with the scent of +flowers and of hay, I went indoors again and swept and dusted the +room. Then I opened the cupboard, and considered the provision for +breakfast. For my father there would be a slice of cold bacon with a +good crust of home-made bread (better bread or sweeter was nowhere +to be had) and a cup of cider, warming to the spirits and good, for +one who is no longer young, against any rawness of the morning air. +For my mother and myself there would be, as soon as our neighbours' +cows were milked, a cup of warm milk and bread soaked in it. 'Tis a +breakfast good for a grown person as well as for a child, and it +costs us nothing but the trouble of going to take it. + +When I had swept the room and laid everything in its place I went +into the garden, hoe in hand, to weed the beds and trim the borders. +The garden was not very big, it is true, but it produced many things +useful for us; notably onions and sallet, besides many herbs good +for the house, for it was a fertile strip of ground and planted in +every part of it. Now, such was the beauty of the morning and the +softness of the air that I presently forgot the work about which I +had come into the garden, and sat down in the shade upon a bench, +suffering my thoughts to wander hither and thither. Much have I +always pitied those poor folk in towns who can never escape from the +noise and clatter of tongues and sit somewhere in the sunshine or +the shade, while the cattle low in the meadows and the summer air +makes the leaves to rustle, and thus alone suffer their thoughts to +wander here and there. Every morning when I arose was this spectacle +of Nature's gladness presented to my eyes, but not every morning +could my spirit (which sometimes crawls, as if fearing the light +of day and the face of the sun) rise to meet and greet it, and to +feel it calling aloud for a hymn of praise and thanksgiving. For, +indeed, this is a beautiful world, if we could always (which we +cannot for the earthliness of our natures) suffer its loveliness to +sink into our hearts. I know not what I thought this morning; but I +remember, while I considered the birds, which neither reap nor sow, +nor take any thought of to-morrow, yet are daily fed by Heaven, that +the words were whispered in mine ear: 'Are ye not much better than +they?' And this, without doubt, prepared my heart for what should +follow. + +While I sat thinking of I know not what, there came footsteps--quick +footsteps--along the road; and I knew those footsteps, and sprang to +my feet, and ran to the garden-gate, crying, 'Robin!--it is Robin!' + +Yes; it was Robin. + +He seized me by both hands, looking in my face curiously and eagerly. + +'Alice!' he said, drawing a deep breath, 'Oh! but what hath happened +to thee?' + +'What should happen, Robin?' + +'Oh! Thou art changed, Alice! I left thee almost a child, and +now--now--I thought to catch thee in my arms--a sweet rustic +nymph--and now--fain must I go upon my knees to a goddess.' + +'Robin!' Who, indeed, would have expected such language from Robin! + +[Illustration: '_And Robin was come home again, and I was lying in +his arms, and he was kissing me._'] + +'Alice,' he said, still gazing upon me with a kind of wonder which +made me blush, 'do you remember when we parted four years ago--the +words we said? As for me, I have never forgotten them. I was to +think of thee always; I was to love thee always. Truly I may say +that there is never a day but thou hast been in my mind. But not +like this'----He continued to look upon me as upon some strange +creature, so that I began to be frightened and turned away. + +'Nay, Alice, forgive me. I am one who is dazzled by the splendour of +the sun. Forgive me; I cannot speak. I thought of a village beauty, +rosy-cheeked, sweet and wholesome as an August quarander, and I +find'---- + +'Robin--not a goddess.' + +'Well, then, a woman tall and stately, and more beautiful than words +can say.' + +'Nay, Robin, you do but flatter. That is not like the old Robin I +remember and'----I should have added 'loved,' but the word stuck. + +'I swear, sweet saint--if I may swear--nay, then I do affirm, that +I do not flatter. Hear me tell a plain tale. I have travelled far +since last I saw thee; I have seen the great ladies of the Court +both of St. James's and of the Louvre; I have seen the famous +beauties of Provence, and the black-eyed witches of Italy; but +nowhere have I seen a woman half so fair.' + +'Robin--you must not! Nay, Robin--you shame me!' + +Then he knelt at my feet and seized my hand and kissed it. Oh, the +foolishness of a man in love! And yet it pleases us. No woman is +worth it. No woman can understand it; nor can she comprehend the +power and might of man's love, nor why he singles out her alone from +all the rest and fills his heart wholly with her, so that all other +women are henceforward as his sisters. It is wonderful; it is most +wonderful. Yet it pleases us. Nay, we cannot choose but thank God +for it with all our heart and with all our soul. + +I would not, if I could, set down all the things which Robin said. +First, because the words of love are sacred; next, because I would +not that other women should know the extravagance of his praise. It +was in broken words, because love can never be eloquent. + +As for me, what could I do, what could I say? For I had loved him +from my very childhood, and now all my heart went out from me and +became his. I was all his. I was his slave to command. That is the +quality of earthly love by which it most closely resembles the +heavenly love, so that just as the godly man is wholly devoted to +the will of the Lord in all things great and small, resigned to His +chastisements, and always anxious to live and die in His service, so +in earthly love one must be wholly devoted to the person whom one +loves. + +And Robin was come home again, and I was lying in his arms, and he +was kissing me and calling me all the sweet and tender things that +he could invent, and laughing and sighing together as if too happy +to be quiet. Oh! sweetest moments of my life! Why did they pass so +quickly? Oh! sacrament of love, which can be taken only once, and +yet changes the whole of life and fills it with memory which is +wholly sweet! In all other earthly things there is something of +bitterness. In this holy joy of pure and sacred love there is no +bitterness--no; not any. It leaves behind nothing of reproach or of +repentance, of shame or of sorrow. It is altogether holy. + +Now, when my boy had somewhat recovered from his first rapture, and +I had assured him very earnestly that I was not, indeed, an angel, +but a most sinful woman, daily offending in my inner thoughts (an +assurance which he received, indeed, with an appearance of disbelief +and scorn), I was able to consider his appearance, which was now +very fine, though always, as I learned when I saw him among other +gentlemen, with some soberness, as became one whose upbringing +inclined him to plainness of dress as well as of speech and manner. +He wore a long wig of brown hair, which might have been his own +but for its length; his hat was laced and cocked, which gave him a +gallant and martial appearance; his neckcloth was long and of fine +lace; beside him in my russet gown I must have looked truly plain +and rustic; but Robin was pleased not to think so, and love is a +great magician to cheat the eyes. + +He was home again; he told me he should travel no more (yet you +shall hear how far he afterwards travelled against his will); his +only desire now was to stay at home and live as his grandfather +had lived, in his native village; he had nothing to pray for but +the continuance of my love--of which, indeed, there was no doubt +possible. + +It was now close upon six o'clock, and I begged him to go away for +the present, and if my father and Sir Christopher should agree, and +if it should seem to his Honour a fit and proper thing that Robin +should marry a girl so penniless as myself, why--then--we might meet +again after breakfast, or after dinner; or, indeed, at any other +time, and so discourse more upon the matter. So he left me, being +very reluctant to go; and I, forgetting my garden and what I had +come forth to do, returned to the house. + +You must understand that all these things passed in the garden, +divided from the lane by a thick hedge, and that passers-by--but +there were none--could not, very well, have seen what was done, +though they might have heard what was said. But if my father had +looked out of his window he could have seen, and if my mother +had come downstairs she also might have seen through the window, +or through the open door. This I thought not upon, nor was there +anything to hide--though one would not willingly suffer anyone, even +one's own mother, to see and listen at such a moment. Yet mother has +since told me that she saw Robin on his knees kissing my hands; but +she withdrew, and would not look again. + +When I stepped within the door she was at work with her wheel, and +looked up with a smile upon her lips, but tears were lying in her +eyes. Had I known what she had seen I should have been ashamed. + +'Daughter,' she said softly, 'thy cheek is burning red. Hast thou, +perchance, been too long in the sun?' + +'No, mother, the sun is not too hot.' + +'Daughter,' she went on, still smiling through her tears, 'thine +eyes are bright and glowing. Hast thou a touch of fever by ill +chance?' + +'No, mother, I have no fever.' + +'Child, thy lips are trembling and thy hands are shaking. My dear, +my dear, what is it? Tell thy mother all.' + +She held out her arms to me, and I threw myself at her feet, and +buried my head in her lap as if I had been again a child. + +'Mother! mother!' I cried, 'Robin hath come home again, and he says +he loves me, and nothing will do but he must marry me.' + +'My dear,' she said, kissing and fondling me, 'Robin hath always +been a good lad, and I doubt not that he hath returned unspotted +from the world; but, nay, do not let us be too sure. For, first, +his Honour must consent, and then Madam; and thy father must be +asked--and he would never, for any worldly honour--no, never--suffer +thee to marry an ungodly man. As for thy lack of fortune, I know +not if that will not also stand in the way; and as for family, thy +father, though he was born in New England, cometh of a good stock, +and I myself am a gentlewoman, and on both sides we bear an ancient +coat-of-arms. And as for thyself, my dear, thou art--I thank God +for it!--of a sweet temper and an obedient disposition. From the +earliest thou hast never given thy mother any uneasiness, and I +think thy heart hath been mercifully disposed towards goodness +from thy childhood upwards. It is a special grace in this our long +poverty and oppression; and it consoles me partly for the loss of my +son Barnaby.' Here she was silent for a space, and her eyes filled +and brimmed over. 'Daughter,' she said earnestly, 'thou art comely +in the eyes of men; that have I known for long. It is partly for +thy sweet looks that Sir Christopher loves thee; Mr. Boscorel plays +music with thee partly because his eyes love to behold the beauty +of woman. Nay, I mean no reproach, because it is the nature of men +to love all things beautiful, whether it be the plumage of a bird +or the shape of a woman's head. Yes; thou art beautiful, my dear. +Beauty passes, but love remains. Thy husband will perchance never +cease to think thee lovely if he still proves daily thy goodness and +the loveliness of thy heart. My dear, thou hast long comforted thy +mother; now shalt thou go, with the blessing of the Lord, to be the +solace and the joy of thy husband.' + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +HUMPHREY. + + +Presently my father came in, the Bible in his hand. By his +countenance it was plain that he had been already engaged in +meditation, and that his mind was charged as with a message. + +Alas! to think of the many great discourses that he pronounced +(being as a dog who must be muzzled should he leave the farm-yard) +to us women alone. If they were written down the world would lift +up its hands with wonder, and ask if a prophet indeed had been +vouchsafed to this unhappy country. The Roman Church will have +that the time of Saints did not end with the last of the Apostles; +that may be, and yet a Saint has no more power after death than +remains in his written words and in the memory of his life. Shall we +not, however, grant that there may still be Prophets, who see and +apprehend the meaning of words and of things more fully than others +even as spiritually minded as themselves? Now, I say, considering +what was immediately to befall us, the passage which my father read +and expounded that morning was in a manner truly prophetic. It was +the vision of the Basket of Summer Fruit which was vouchsafed to the +Prophet Amos. He read to us that terrible chapter--everybody knows +it, though it hath but fourteen verses. + +'I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into +lamentation.... I will send a famine in the land; not a famine of +bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.' + +He then applied the chapter to these times, saying that the +Scriptures and the prophecies apply not only to the Israel of the +time when Amos or any other prophet lived, but to the people of God +in all ages, yet so that sometimes one prophet seems to deliver +the message that befits the time and sometimes another. All these +things prophesied by Amos had come to pass in this country of Great +Britain; so that there was, and had now been for twenty-five years, +a grievous famine and a sore thirst for the words of the Lord. He +continued to explain and to enlarge upon this topic for nearly an +hour, when he concluded with a fervent prayer that the famine would +pass away and the sealed springs be open again for the children of +grace to drink and be refreshed. + +This done, he took his breakfast in silence, as was his wont, +loving not to be disturbed by any earthly matters when his mind +was full of his morning discourse. When he had eaten the bread and +meat and taken the cup of cider, he arose and went back to his own +room, and shut the door. We should have no more speech of him until +dinner-time. + +'I will speak with him, my dear,' said my mother. 'But not yet. Let +us wait till we hear from Sir Christopher.' + +'I would that my father had read us a passage of encouragement and +promise on this morning of all mornings,' I said. + +My mother turned over the leaves of the Bible. 'I will read you a +verse of encouragement,' she said. 'It is the word of God as much as +the Book of the Prophet Amos.' So she found and read for my comfort +words which had a new meaning to me:-- + +'My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, +and come away. For, lo! the winter is past, the rain is over and +gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of +birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The +fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender +grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.' + +And again, these that follow:-- + +'Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for +love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals +thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. Many +waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. If a man +would give all the substance of his house for love it would utterly +be contemned.' + +In these gracious, nay, these enraptured words, doth the Bible speak +of love; and though I am not so ignorant as not to know that it is +the love of the Church for Christ, yet I am persuaded by my own +spiritual experience--whatever Doctors of Divinity may argue--that +the earthly love of husband and wife may be spoken of in these very +words as being the type of that other and higher love. And in this +matter I know that my mother would also confirm my judgment. + +It might have been between nine and ten that Humphrey came. Surely +he was changed more than Robin: for the great white periwig which he +wore (being now a physician) falling upon his shoulders did partly +hide the deformity of his wry shape, and the black velvet coat did +also become him mightily. As for his face, that was not changed at +all. It had been grave and serious in youth; it was now more grave +and more serious in manhood. He stood in the doorway, not seeing +me--I was making a pudding for dinner, with my sleeves rolled up and +my arms white with flour. + +'Mistress Eykin,' he said, 'are old friends passed out of mind?' + +'Why,' my mother left her wheel and gave him her hand, ''tis +Humphrey! I knew that we should see thee this morning, Humphrey. Is +thy health good, my son, and is all well with thee?' + +'All is well, madam, and my health is good. How is my master--thy +husband?' + +'He is always well, and--but thou knowest what manner of life he +leads. Of late he hath been much disquieted; he is restless--his +mind runs much upon the prophecies of war and pestilence. It is the +news from London and the return of the Mass which keeps him uneasy. +Go in and see him, Humphrey. He will willingly suffer thee to +disturb him, though we must not go near him in his hours of study.' + +'Presently; but where is my old playfellow--where is Alice?' + +'She is behind you, Humphrey.' + +He turned, and his pale face flushed when he saw me. + +'Alice?' he cried. 'Is this truly Alice? Nay, she is changed indeed! +I knew not--I could not expect--nay, how could one expect'---- + +'There is no change,' said my mother, sharply. 'Alice was a child, +and is now a woman; that is all.' + +'Humphrey expects,' I said, 'that we should all stop still while +Time went on. You were to become a Bachelor of Medicine, sir, and a +Fellow of All Souls' College, and to travel in Italy and France, and +to come back in a velvet coat, and a long sword, and a periwig over +your shoulders; and I was to be a little girl still.' + +Humphrey shook his head. + +'It is not only that,' he said; 'though I confess that one did +not make due allowance for the flight of Time. It is that the +sweet-faced child has become'---- + +'No, Humphrey,' I said, 'I want no compliments. Go now, sir, and +speak with my father. Afterwards you shall tell me all that you have +been doing.' + +He obeyed, and opened my father's door. + +'Humphrey!' My father sprang to his feet. 'Welcome, my pupil! Thou +bringest good news? Nay; I have received thy letters: I read the +good news in thy face--I see it in thine eyes. Welcome home!' + +'Sir, I have, indeed, great news,' said Humphrey. + +Then the door was closed. + +He stayed there for half an hour and more; and we heard from within +earnest talk--my father's voice sometimes uplifted, loud and angry, +but Humphrey's always low, as if he did not wish us to overhear +them. So, not to seem unto each other as if we were listening, +mother and I talked of other things, such as the lightness of the +pudding, and the quantity of suet which should be put into it, and +the time it should boil in the pot, and other things, as women can +whose hearts are full, yet they must needs be talking. + +'Father hath much to say to Humphrey,' I said, after a time; 'he +doth not use to like such interruption.' + +'Humphrey's conversation is no interruption, my dear. They think the +same thoughts and talk the same language. Your father may teach +and admonish us, but he can only converse with a scholar such as +himself. It is not the least evil of our oppression that he hath +been cut off from the society of learned men, in which he used to +take so much delight. If Humphrey remains here a little while you +shall see your father lose the eager and anxious look which hath of +late possessed him. He will talk to Humphrey, and will clear his +mind. Then he will be contented again for a while, or, at least, +resigned.' + +Presently Humphrey came forth. His face was grave and serious. My +father came out of the room after him. + +'Let us talk more,' he said; 'let us resume our talk. Join me on +the hillside, where none can hear us. It is, indeed, the Vision of +the Basket of Summer Fruit that we read this morning.' His face +was working with some inward excitement, and his eyes were full +of a strange light as of a glad conqueror, or of one--forbid the +thought!--who was taking a dire revenge. He strode down the garden +and out into the lanes. + +'Thus,' said my mother, 'will he walk out, and sometimes remain in +the woods, walking, preaching to the winds, and swinging his arms +the whole day long. Art thou a physician, and canst thou heal him, +Humphrey?' + +'If the cause be removed, the disease will be cured. Perhaps before +long the cause will be removed.' + +'The cause--oh! the cause--what is the cause but the tyranny of +the Law? He who was ordered by Heaven itself to preach hath been, +perforce, silent for five-and-twenty years. His very life hath been +taken from him. And you talk of removing the cause!' + +'Madam, if the Law suffer him once more to preach freely, would that +satisfy him--and you?' + +My mother shook her head. 'The Law,' she said, 'now we have a Papist +on the throne is far more likely to lead my husband to the stake +than to set him free.' + +'That shall we shortly see,' said Humphrey. + +My mother bent her head over her wheel as one who wishes to talk no +more upon the subject. She loved not to speak concerning her husband +to any except to me. + + * * * * * + +I went out into the garden with Humphrey. I was foolish. I laughed +at nothing. I talked nonsense. Oh! I was so happy that if a pipe +and tabor had been heard in the village I should have danced to the +music, like poor Barnaby the night before he ran away. I regarded +not the grave and serious face of my companion. + +'You are merry, Alice,' said Humphrey. + +'It is because you are come back again--you and Robin. Oh! the time +has been long and dull--and now you have come back we shall all be +happy again. Yes; my father will cease to fret and rage; he will +talk Latin and Greek with you; Sir Christopher will be happy only +in looking upon you; Madam will have her son home again; and Mr. +Boscorel will bring out all the old music for you. Humphrey, it is a +happy day that brings you home again.' + +'It may be a happy day also for me,' he said; 'but there is much to +be done. When the business we have in hand is accomplished'---- + +'What business, Humphrey?' For he spoke so gravely that it startled +me. + +''Tis business of which thy father knows, child. Nay; let us not +talk of it. I think and hope that it is as good as accomplished now +before it is well taken in hand. It is not of that business that I +would speak. Alice, thou art so beautiful and so tall'---- + +'Nay, Humphrey. I must not be flattered.' + +'And I so crooked.' + +'Humphrey, I will not hear this talk. You, so great a scholar, thus +to speak of yourself!' + +'Let me speak of myself, my dear. Hear me for a moment.' I declare +that I had not the least thought of what he was going to say, my +mind being wholly occupied with the idea of Robin. + +'I am a physician, as you doubtless know. I am Medicinæ Doctor of +Oxford, of Padua, Montpellier, and Leyden. I know all--I may fairly +say, and without boasting--that may be learned by one of my age from +schools of medicine and from books on the science and practice of +healing. I believe, in short, that I am as good a physician as can +be found within these seas. I am minded, as soon as tranquillity is +restored, to set up as a physician in London, where I have already +many friends, and am assured of some support. I think, humbly +speaking, that reasonable success awaits me. Alice--you know that +I have loved you all my life--will you marry me, crooked as I am? +Oh! you cannot but know that I have loved you all my life. Oh! +child,' he stretched forth his hands, and in his eyes there was a +world of longing and of sadness which moved my heart. 'My dear, the +crooked in body have no friends among men; they cannot join in their +rough sports, nor drink with them, nor fight with them. They have +no chance of happiness but in love, my dear. My dear, give me that +chance. I love thee! Oh! my dear, give me that chance?' + +Never had I seen Humphrey so moved before. I felt guilty and ashamed +in the presence of this passion of which I was the most unworthy +cause. + +'Oh! Humphrey, stop--for Heaven's sake stop!--because I am but this +very morning promised to Robin, who loves me, too--and I love Robin, +Humphrey.' He sank back, pale and disordered, and I thought that he +would swoon, but he recovered. 'Humphrey, never doubt that I love +you, too. But oh! I love Robin, and Robin loves me.' + +'Yes, dear--yes, child--yes, Alice,' he said in broken accents. 'I +understand. Everything is for Robin--everything for Robin. Why, I +might have guessed it! For Robin, the straight and comely figure; +for Robin, the strength; for Robin, the inheritance; for Robin, +happy love. For me, a crooked body; for me, a feeble frame; for me, +the loss of fortune; for me, contempt and poverty; for me, the loss +of love--all for Robin--all for Robin!' + +'Humphrey, surely thou wouldst not envy or be jealous of Robin!' +Never had I seen him thus moved, or heard him thus speak. + +He made no answer for a while. Then he said, slowly and painfully:-- + +'Alice, I am ashamed. Why should not Robin have all? Who am I that I +should have anything? Forgive me, child. I have lived in a paradise +which fools create for themselves. I have suffered myself to dream +that what I ardently desired was possible and even probable. Forgive +me. Let me be as before--your brother. Will you forgive me, dear?' + +'Oh, Humphrey! there is nothing for me to forgive.' + +'Nay, there is much for me to repent of. Forget it then, if there is +nothing to forgive.' + +'I have forgotten it already, Humphrey.' + +'So'--he turned upon me his grave, sweet face (to think of it makes +me yearn with tenderness and pity)--'so, farewell, fond dream! Do +not think, my dear, that I envy Robin. 'Twas a sweet dream! Yet, +I pray that Heaven in wrath may forget me if ever I suffer this +passion of envy to hurt my cousin Robin or thyself!' + +So saying, he burst from me with distraction in his face. Poor +Humphrey! Alas! when I look back and consider this day, there is a +doubt which haunts me. Always had I loved Robin: that is most true. +But I had always loved Humphrey: that is most true. What if it had +been Humphrey instead of Robin who had arisen in the early morning +to find his sweetheart in the garden when the dew was yet upon the +grass? + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +ONE DAY. + + +In times of great sorrow the godly person ought to look forward to +the never-ending joy and happiness that will follow this short life. +Yet we still look backwards to the happy time that is past and can +never come again. And then, how happy does it seem to have been in +comparison with present affliction! + +It pleased Heaven after many trials to restore my earthly +happiness--at least, in its principal part, which is earthly love. +Some losses--grievous and lamentable--there were which could not be +restored. Yet for a long time I had no other comfort (apart from +that hope which I trust was never suffered to leave me) than the +recollection of one single day in its course, too short, from dewy +morn till dusky eve. I began that day with the sweetest joy that a +girl can ever experience--namely, the return of her lover and the +happiness of learning that he loves her more than ever, with the +knowledge that her heart hath gone forth from her and is wholly his. +To such a girl the woods and fields become the very garden of Eden; +the breath of the wind is as the voice of the Lord blessing another +Eve; the very showers are the tears of gladness and gratitude; the +birds sing hymns of praise; the leaves of the trees whisper words +of love; the brook prattles of kisses; the flowers offer incense; +the royal course of the sun in splendour, the glories of the sunrise +and sunset, the twinkling stars of night, the shadows of the flying +clouds, the pageant of the summer day--these are all prepared for +that one happy girl and for her happy lover! Oh, Divine Gift of +Love! which thus gives the whole world with its fruits in season to +each pair in turn! Nay, doth it not create them anew? What was Adam +without Eve? And Eve was created for no other purpose than to be a +companion to the man. + +I say, then, that the day when Robin took me in his arms and kissed +me--not as he had done when we parted and I was still a child, but +with the fervent kiss of a lover--was the happiest day in all my +life. I say that I have never forgotten that day, but, by recalling +any point of it, I remember all: how he held my hand and how he +made me confess that I loved him; how we kissed and parted, to meet +again. As for poor Humphrey, I hardly gave him so much as a thought +of pity. Then, how we wandered along the brook hand in hand! + +'Never to part again, my dear,' said the fond lover. 'Here will +we live, and here we will die. Let Benjamin become, if he please, +Lord Chancellor, and Humphrey a great physician: they will have to +live among men in towns, where every other man is a rogue. We shall +live in this sweet country place, where the people may be rude but +they are not knaves. Why, in that great city of London, where the +merchants congregate upon the Exchange and look so full of dignity +and wisdom, each man is thinking all the time that, if he fail to +overreach his neighbour, that neighbour will overreach him. Who +would live such a life when he can pass it in the fields with such a +companion as my Alice?' + +The pleasures of London had only increased his thirst for the +country life. Surely, never was seen a swain more truly rustic in +all his thoughts! The fine ladies at the playhouse, with their +painted faces, made him, he told me, think of one who wore a russet +frock in Somersetshire, and did not paint her sweet face--this was +the way he talked. The plays they acted could never even be read, +much less witnessed, by that dear girl--so full of wickedness they +were. At the assemblies the ladies were jealous of each other, and +put on scornful looks when one seemed preferred; at the taverns +the men drank and bellowed songs and quarrelled; in the streets +they fought and took the wall and swaggered; there was nothing but +fighting among the baser sort, with horrid imprecations; at the +coffee-houses the politicians argued and quarrelled. Nay, in the +very churches the sermons were political arguments, and while the +clergyman read his discourse the gallants ogled the ladies. All this +and more he told me. + +To hear my boy, one would think there was nothing in London but what +was wicked and odious. No doubt it is a wicked place; where many men +live together, those who are wicked easily find each other out, and +are encouraged in their wickedness. Yet there must be many honest +and God-fearing persons, otherwise the Judgment of Heaven would +again fall upon that city as it did in the time of the Plague and in +the Great Fire. + +'My pretty Puritan,' said Robin, 'I am now come away from that +place, and I hope never to see it again. Oh! native hills, I salute +you! Oh! woods and meadows, I have returned, to wander again in +your delightful shade.' Then, which was unusual in my boy, and would +have better become Mr. Boscorel or Humphrey, he began to repeat +verses. I knew not that he had ever learned any:-- + + As I range these spacious fields, + Feast on all that Nature yields; + Everything inspires delight, + Charms my smell, my taste, my sight; + Every rural sound I hear + Soothes my soul and tunes my ear. + +I do not know where Robin found these verses, but as he repeated +them, waving his arm around, I thought that Humphrey himself never +made sweeter lines. + +He then told me how Humphrey would certainly become the most learned +physician of the time, and that he was already master of a polite +and dignified manner which would procure him the patronage of +the great and the confidence of all. It was pleasant to hear him +praise his cousin without jealousy or envy. To be sure, he knew not +then--though afterwards I told him--that Humphrey was his rival. +Even had he known this, such was the candour of my Robin and the +integrity of his soul that he would have praised him even more +loudly. + +One must not repeat more of the kind and lovely things that the dear +boy said while we strolled together by the brook-side. + +While thus abroad we walked--'twas in the forenoon, after Humphrey's +visit--Sir Christopher, his grandfather, dressed in his best coat +and his gold-laced hat, which he commonly kept for church, and +accompanied by Madam, walked from the Manor House through the +village till they came to our cottage. Then, with great ceremony, +they entered, Sir Christopher bowing low and Madam dropping a deep +courtesy to my mother, who sat humbly at her wheel. + +'Madam,' said Sir Christopher, 'we would, with your permission, say +a few words with the learned Dr. Eykin and yourself.' + +My father, who had now returned and was in his room, came forth when +he was called. His face had recovered something of its serenity, but +his eyes were still troubled. Madam sat down, but Sir Christopher +and my father stood. + +'Sir,' said his Honour, 'I will proceed straight to the point. My +grandson desires to marry your daughter Alice. Robin is a good +lad--not a scholar if you will--for his religion, the root of the +matter is in him; for the goodness of his heart I will answer; for +his habit of life, he hath, so far as we can learn, acquired no vile +vices of the city--he doth neither drink nor gamble, nor waste his +health and strength in riotous living; and for his means they are my +own. All that I have will be his. 'Tis no great estate, but 'twill +serve him as it hath served me. Sir, the boy's mother and I have +come to ask your daughter in marriage. We know her worth, and we +are right well satisfied that our boy hath made so good and wise a +choice.' + +'They were marrying and giving in marriage when the Flood came; they +will be marrying and giving in marriage in the Great Day of the +Lord,' said my father. + +'Yes, gossip; but that is no reason why they should not now be +marrying and giving in marriage.' + +'You ask my consent?' said my father. 'This surprises me. The child +is too young: she is not yet of marriageable age'---- + +'Husband, she is nigh upon her twentieth birthday!' + +'I thought she had been but twelve or thereabouts! My consent? +Why, Sir Christopher, in the eyes of the world this is great +condescension on your part to take a penniless girl. I looked, I +suppose, to the marriage of my daughter some time--perhaps to a +farmer--yet--yet, we are told that a virtuous woman hath a price far +above rubies; and that it is she who buildeth up the house, and we +are nowhere told that she must bring her husband a purse of gold. +Sir Christopher, it would be the blackest ingratitude in us to deny +you, even if this thing were (which I say not) against the mind of +our daughter.' + +'It is not--it is not,' said my mother. + +'Wherefore, seeing that the young man is a good man as youths go, +though in the matter of the Latin syntax he hath yet much to learn; +and that his heart is disposed towards religion, I am right glad +that he should take our girl to wife.' + +'Bravely said!' cried Sir Christopher. 'Hands upon it, man! And we +will have a merry wedding. But to-day I bid you both to come and +feast with us. We will have holiday and rejoicing.' + +'Yes,' said my father, 'we will feast; though to-morrow comes the +Deluge.' I know now what he meant, but at that time we knew not, and +it seemed to his Honour a poor way of rejoicing at the return of the +boys and the betrothal of his daughter thus to be foretelling woes. +'The Vision of the Plumb-line is before mine eyes,' my father went +on. 'Is the land able to bear all this? We talk of feasting and of +marriages. Yet a few days, or perhaps already----But we will rejoice +together, my old friend and benefactor, we will rejoice together.' +With these strange words he turned and went back to his room, and +after some tears with my mother, Madam went home and Sir Christopher +with her. But in honour to the day he kept on his best coat. + +Robin suffered me to go home, but only that I might put on my best +frock (I had but two) and make my hair straight, which had been +blown into curls, as was the way with my hair. And then, learning +from my mother with the utmost satisfaction what had passed, he led +me by the hand, as if I were already his bride, and so to the Manor +House, where first Sir Christopher saluted me with great kindness, +calling me his dear granddaughter, and saying that next to Robin's +safe return he asked for nothing more than to see me Robin's wife. +And Madam kissed me, with tears in her eyes, and said that she could +desire nothing better for her son, and that she was sure I should do +my best endeavours to make the boy happy. Then Humphrey, as quietly +as if he had not also asked me to be his wife, kissed my hand, and +wished me joy; and Mr. Boscorel also kissed me, and declared that +Robin ought to be the happiest dog on earth. And so we sat down to +our feast. + +The conversation at dinner was graver than the occasion demanded. +For though our travellers continually answered questions about the +foreign lands and peoples they had seen, yet the subject returned +always to the condition of the country, and to what would happen. + +After dinner we sat in the garden, and the gentlemen began to talk +of Right Divine and of Non-Resistance, and here it seemed to me +as if Mr. Boscorel was looking on as from an eminence apart. For +when he had once stated the texts and arguments upon which the +High Church party do mostly rely, he retired and made no further +objections, listening in silence while my father held forth upon +the duty of rising against wicked princes. At last, however, being +challenged to reply by Humphrey, Mr. Boscorel thus made answer: + +'The doctrine that subjects may or may not rebel against their +Sovereign is one which I regard with interest so long as it remains +a question of logic and argument only. Unfortunately, the times are +such that we may be called upon to make a practical application of +it: in which case there may follow once more civil war, with hard +knocks on both sides, and much loss of things temporal. Wherefore +to my learned brother's arguments, which I admit to be plausible, I +will, for the present, offer no reply, except to pray Heaven that +the occasion may not arise of converting a disputed doctrine into a +rule of conduct.' + +Alas! even while he spoke the messenger was speeding swiftly towards +us who was to call upon all present to take a side. + +The question is now, I hope, decided for ever: but many men had +first to die. It was not decided then, but three years later, when +King William cut the knot, and, with the applause of the nation, +pulled down his father-in-law, and mounted the throne himself with +his gracious consort. We are agreed, at last, that kings, like +judges, generals, and all great officers of State, are to hold their +offices in good behaviour. If they enter into machinations against +the liberty of the people and desert the national religion, they +must descend, and let others take their place. But before that right +could be established for the country, streams of blood must first +flow. + +While they talked, we--I mean Madam, my mother, and myself--sat +and listened. But my mind was full of another subject, and I heard +but little of what was said, noting chiefly the fiery ardour of my +father and the careless grace of Mr. Boscorel. + +Presently my father, who was never easy in the company of Mr. +Boscorel--(so oil and water will not agree to fill a cup in +friendship)--and, besides, being anxious to rejoin the society of +his books, arose and went away, and with him my mother--he, in +his ragged cassock, who was a learned scholar; she in her plain +home-spun, who was a gentlewoman by birth. Often had I thought of +our poverty with bitterness. But now it was with a softened heart +that I saw them walk side by side across the lawns. For now I +understood plainly--and for the first time--how love can strengthen +and console. My mother was poor, but she was not therefore unhappy. + +Mr. Boscorel also rose and went away with Humphrey. They went to +talk of things more interesting to the Rector than the doctrine of +Non-Resistance: of painting, namely, and statuary and medals. And +when we presently walked from the Rectory gardens we heard a most +gladsome scraping of fiddlestrings within, which showed that the +worthy man was making the most of Humphrey's return. + +When Sir Christopher had taken his pipe of tobacco he fell asleep. +Robin and I walked in the garden and renewed our vows. Needs must +that I should tell him all that I had done or thought since he went +away. As if the simple thoughts of a country maid should be of +interest to a man! Yet he seemed pleased to question and to listen, +and presently broke into a rapture, swearing that he was in love +with an angel. Young lovers, it is feared, may fall into grievous +sin by permitting themselves these extravagances of speech and +thought; yet it is hard to keep them sober, and besides (because +every sin in man meeteth with its correspondent in woman), if the +lover be extravagant, the maiden takes pleasure in his extravagance. +To call a mortal, full of imperfections, an angel, is little short +of blasphemy. Yet I heard it with, I confess, a secret pleasure. We +know ourselves and the truth concerning ourselves; we do not deceive +ourselves as to our imperfections; yet we are pleased that our +lovers should so speak and think of us as if we were angels indeed. + +Robin told me, presently ceasing his extravagances for a while, that +he was certain something violent was on foot. To be sure, everybody +expected so much. He said, moreover, that he believed Humphrey had +certain knowledge of what was going to happen; that before they +left the Low Countries Humphrey had been present at a meeting of +the exiles in Rotterdam, where it was well known that Lord Argyle's +expedition was resolved upon; that he had been much engaged in +London after their return, and had paid many visits, the nature of +which he kept secret; and that on the road there was not a town and +scarcely a village where Humphrey had not someone to visit. + +'My dear,' he said, 'Humphrey is slight as to stature and strength, +but he carries a stout heart. There is no man more bitter against +the King than he, and none more able if his counsels were listened +to. Monmouth, I am certain, purposes to head an expedition into +England like that of Lord Argyle in Scotland. The history of England +hath many instances of such successful attempts. King Stephen, King +Henry IV., King Henry VII., are all examples. If Monmouth lands, +Humphrey will join him, I am sure. And I, my dear'----he paused. + +'And you too, Robin? Oh! must you too go forth to fight? And yet, if +the Duke doth head a rising all the world would follow. Oh! to drive +away the Papist King and restore our liberty!' + +'My dear, I will do what my grandfather approves. If it be my duty +to go, he will send me forth.' + +I had almost forgotten to say that Madam took me to her own chamber, +where she opened a box and pulled out a gold chain, very fine. This +she hung about my neck, and bade me sit down, and gave me some sound +advice, reminding me that woman was the weaker vessel, and should +look to her husband not only to love and cherish her, but also to +prevent her from falling into certain grievous sins, as of temper, +deceitfulness, vanity, and the like, to which the weaker nature is +ever prone. Many other things she said, being a good and virtuous +woman, but I pass them over. + +After supper we went again into the garden, the weather being warm +and fine. The sun went down, but the sky was full of light, though +it was past nine o'clock and time for me to go home and to bed. Yet +we lingered. The birds had gone to sleep; there was no whisper of +the wind; the village was in silence. And Robin was whispering in +my ear. I remember--I remember the very tones of his voice, which +was low and sweet. I remember the words he said: 'Sweet love! Sweet +love! How could I live so long without thee!' I remember my swelling +heart and my glowing cheeks. Oh! Robin--Robin! Oh! poor heart! poor +maid! The memory of this one day was nearly all thou hadst to feed +upon for so long--so long a time! + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE VISION OF THE BASKET. + + +Suddenly we heard footsteps, as of those who are running, and my +father's voice speaking loud. + +'Sing, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with +all the heart!'---- + +'Now, in the name of Heaven,' cried Sir Christopher, 'what meaneth +this?' + +'The Arm of the Lord! The Deliverance of Israel!' + +He burst upon us, dragging a man with him by the arm. In the +twilight I could only see, at first, that it was a broad, thick-set +man. But my father's slender form looked taller as he waved his arms +and cried aloud. Had he been clad in a sheepskin, he would have +resembled one of those ancient Prophets whose words were always in +his mouth. + +'Good friend,' said Sir Christopher, 'what meaneth these cries? Whom +have we here?' + +Then the man with my father stepped forward and took off his hat. +Why, I knew him at once; though it was ten years since I had seen +him last! 'Twas my brother Barnaby--none other--come home again. +He was now a great strong man--a stouter have I never seen, though +he was somewhat under the middle height, broad in the shoulders, +and thick of chest. Beside him Robin, though reasonable in +breadth, showed like a slender sapling. But he had still the same +good-natured face, though now much broader. It needed no more than +the first look to know my brother Barnaby again. + +'Barnaby,' I cried, 'Barnaby, hast thou forgotten me?' I caught one +of his great hands--never, surely, were there bigger hands than +Barnaby's! 'Hast thou forgotten me?' + +'Why,' he said slowly--'twas ever a boy slow of speech and of +understanding--'belike,'tis Sister.' He kissed my forehead. 'It +is Sister,' he said, as if he were tasting a cup of ale and was +pronouncing on its quality. 'How dost thou, Sister? Bravely, I hope. +Thou art grown, Sister. I have seen my mother, and--and--she does +bravely, too; though I left her crying. 'Tis their way, the happier +they be.' + +'Barnaby?' said Sir Christopher, 'is it thou, scapegrace? Where hast +thou----But first tell us what has happened. Briefly, man.' + +'In two words, Sir: the Duke of Monmouth landed the day before +yesterday at Lyme Regis with my Lord Grey and a company of a +hundred--of whom I was one.' + +The Duke had landed! Then what Robin expected had come to pass! And +my brother Barnaby was with the insurgents! My heart beat fast. + +'The Duke of Monmouth hath landed!' Sir Christopher repeated, and +sat down again, as one who knows not what may be the meaning of the +news. + +'Ay, Sir, the Duke hath landed. We left Holland on the 24th of May, +and we made the coast at Lyme at daybreak on Thursday the 11th. +'Tis now, I take it, Saturday. The Duke had with him on board ship +Lord Grey, Mr. Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, Mr. Heywood Dare of +Taunton'---- + +'I know the man,' said Sir Christopher, 'for an impudent, +loud-tongued fellow.' + +'Perhaps he was, Sir,' said Barnaby, gravely. 'Perhaps he was, but +now'---- + +'How "was"?' + +'He was shot on Thursday evening by Mr. Fletcher for offering him +violence with a cane, and is now dead.' + +''Tis a bad beginning. Go on, Barnaby.' + +'The Duke had also Mr. Ferguson, Colonel Venner, Mr. Chamberlain, +and others whom I cannot remember. First we set Mr. Dare and +Mr. Chamberlain ashore at Seatown, whence they were to carry +intelligence of the rising to the Duke's friends. The Duke landed +at seven o'clock with his company, in seven boats. First, he fell +on his knees and prayed aloud. Then he drew his sword, and we all +marched after to the market-place, where he raised his flag and +caused the Declaration to be read. Here it is, your Honour.' He +lugged out a copy of the Declaration, which Sir Christopher put +aside, saying that he would read it in the morning. + +'Then we tossed our hats and shouted "A Monmouth! A Monmouth!" Sixty +stout young fellows 'listed on the spot. Then we divided our forces, +and began to land the cannon--four pretty pieces as you could wish +to see--and the arms, of which I doubt if we have enough, and the +powder--two hundred and fifty barrels. The Duke lay on Thursday +night at the George. Next day, before dawn, the country people began +flocking in.' + +'What gentlemen have come in?' + +'I know not, Sir--my duty was most of the day on board. In the +evening I received leave to ride home, and indeed, Sir Christopher, +had orders to carry the Duke's Declaration to yourself. And now we +shall be well rid of the King, the Pope, and the Devil!' + +'Because,' said my father, solemnly--'because with lies ye have made +the hearts of the righteous sad whom I have not made sad.' + +'And what doest thou among this goodly company, friend Barnaby?' + +'I am to be a Captain in one of the regiments,' said Barnaby, +grinning with pride: 'though a sailor, yet can I fight with the +best. My Colonel is Mr. Holmes; and my Major, Mr. Parsons. On board +the frigate I was master and navigated her.' + +'There will be knocks, Barnaby; knocks, I doubt.' + +'By your Honour's leave, I have been where knocks were flying for +ten years, and I will take my share, remembering still the treatment +of my father and the poverty of my mother.' + +'It is rebellion, Barnaby!--rebellion!' + +'Why, Sir, Oliver Cromwell was a rebel. And your Honour fought in +the army of the Earl of Essex--and what was he but a rebel?' + +I wondered to hear my brother speak with so much boldness, who ten +years before had bowed low and pulled his hair in presence of his +Honour. Yet Sir Christopher seemed to take this boldness in good +part. + +'Barnaby,' he said, 'thou art a stout and proper lad, and I doubt +not thy courage--nay, I see it in thy face, which hath resolution +in it and yet is modest; no ruffler or boaster art thou, friend +Barnaby. Yet--yet--if rebellion fail--even rebellion in a just +cause--then those who rise lose their lives in vain, and the cause +is lost, until better times.' This he said as one who speaketh to +himself. I saw him look upon his grandson. 'The King is--a Papist,' +he said, 'that is most true. A Papist should not be suffered to rule +this country. Yet to rise in rebellion! Have a care, lad! What if +the time be not yet ripe? How know we who will join the Duke?' + +'The people are flocking to his standard by thousands,' said +Barnaby. 'When I rode away last night the Duke's secretaries were +writing down their names as fast as they could be entered; they +were landing the arms and already exercising the recruits. And such +a spirit they show, Sir, it would do your heart good only once to +witness!' + +Now, as I looked at Barnaby, I became aware that he was not +only changed in appearance, but that he was also very finely +dressed--namely, in a scarlet coat and a sword with a silken sash, +with laced ruffles, a gold-laced hat, a great wig, white breeches, +and a flowered waistcoat. In the light of day, as I afterwards +discovered, there were stains of wine visible upon the coat, and the +ruffles were torn, and the waistcoat had marks upon it as of tar. +One doth not, to be sure, expect in the sailing master of a frigate +the same neatness as in a gallant of Saint James's. Yet, our runaway +lad must have prospered. + +'What doth the Duke intend?' Sir Christopher asked him. + +'Indeed, Sir, I know not. 'Tis said by some that he will raise the +West Country; and by some that he will march north into Cheshire, +where he hath many friends; and by others that he will march upon +London, and call upon all good Protestants to rise and join him. +We look to have an army of twenty thousand within a week. As for +the King, it is doubted whether he can raise a paltry five thousand +to meet us. Courage, Dad'--he dared to call his father, the Rev. +Comfort Eykin, Doctor of Divinity, 'Dad!'--and he clapped him +lustily upon the shoulder; 'thou shalt mount the pulpit yet, ay, of +Westminster Abbey if it so please you!' + +His father paid no heed to this conversation, being wrapt in his own +thoughts. + +'I know not,' said Sir Christopher, 'what to think. The news is +sudden. And yet--and yet'---- + +'We waste time,' cried my father, stamping his foot. 'Oh! we waste +the time talking. What helps it to talk? Every honest man must now +be up and doing. Why, it is a plain duty laid upon us. The finger of +Heaven is visible, I say, in this. Out of the very sins of Charles +Stuart hath the instrument for the destruction of his race been +forged. A plain duty, I say. As for me, I must preach and exhort. +As for my son, who was dead and yet liveth'--he laid his hand upon +Barnaby's shoulder--'time was when I prayed that he might become a +godly minister of God's Word. Now I perceive clearly that the Lord +hath ways of His own. My son shall fight and I shall preach. Perhaps +he will rise and become another Cromwell!'----Barnaby grinned. + +'Sir,' said my father, turning hotly upon his Honour, 'I perceive +that thou art lukewarm. If the Cause be the Lord's, what matter for +the chances? The issue is in the hands of the Lord. As for me and my +household, we will serve the Lord. Yea, I freely offer myself, and +my son, and my wife, and my daughter--even my tender daughter--to +the Cause of the Lord. Young men and maidens, old men and children, +the Voice of the Lord calleth!' + +Nobody made reply; my father looked before him, as if he saw in the +twilight of the summer night a vision of what was to follow. His +face, as he gazed, changed. His eyes, which were fierce and fiery, +softened. His lips smiled. Then he turned his face and looked upon +each of us in turn--upon his son and upon his wife and upon me, +upon Robin and upon Sir Christopher. 'It is, indeed,' he said, 'the +Will of the Lord. Why, what though the end be violent death to me, +and to all of us ruin and disaster? We do but share the afflictions +foretold in the Vision of the Basket of Summer Fruit. What is death? +What is the loss of earthly things compared with what shall follow +to those who obey the Voice that calls? Children, let us up and be +doing. As for me, I shall have a season of freedom before I die. +For twenty-five years have I been muzzled or compelled to whisper +and mutter in corners and hiding-places. I have been a dumb dog. I, +whose heart was full and overflowing with the sweet and precious +Word of God; I, to whom it is not life but death to sit in silence! +Now I shall deliver my soul before I die. Sirs, the Lord hath given +to every man a weapon or two with which to fight. To me he hath +given an eye and a tongue for discerning and proclaiming the word +of sacred doctrine. I have been muzzled--a dumb dog, I say--though +sometimes I have been forced to climb among the hills and speak to +the bending tree-tops. Now I shall be free again, and I will speak, +and all the ends of the earth shall hear.' + +His eyes gleamed, he panted and gasped, and waved his arms. + +'As for sister, Dad,' said Barnaby, 'she and mother may bide at +home.' + +'No; they shall go with me. I offer my wife, my son, my daughter, +and myself to the Cause of the Lord.' + +'A camp is but a rough place for a woman,' said Barnaby. + +'She is offered; she is dedicated; she shall go with us.' + +I know not what was in his mind, or why he wished that I should go +with him, unless it was a desire to give everything that he had--to +hold back nothing--to the Lord; therefore he would give his children +as well as himself. As for me, my heart glowed to think that I was +even worthy to join in such a Cause. What could a woman do? But that +I should find out. + +'Robin,' I whispered, ''tis Religion calls. If I am to be among the +followers of the Duke, thou wilt not remain behind?' + +'Child,'--it was my mother who whispered to me; I had not seen her +before--'Child, let us obey him. Perhaps it will be better for him +if we are at his side. And there is Barnaby. But we must not be in +their way. We shall find a place to sit aside and wait. Alas! that +my son hath returned to us only to go fighting. We will go with +them, daughter.' + +'We should be better without women,' said Barnaby, grumbling; 'I +would as lief have a woman on shipboard as in a camp. To be sure, +if Dad has set his heart upon it--and then he will not stay long in +camp, where the cursing of the men is already loud enough to scare a +preacher out of his cassock. Dad, I say'----But my father was fallen +again into a kind of rapture, and heard nothing. + +'When doth the Duke begin his march?' he said suddenly. + +'I know not. But we shall find him, never fear.' + +'I must have speech with him at the earliest possible time. Hours +are precious, and we waste them--we waste them.' + +'Well, Sir, it is bedtime. To-morrow we can ride; unless, because it +is the Sabbath, you would choose to wait till Monday. And as to the +women, by your leave, it is madness to bring them to a camp.' + +'Wait till Monday? Art thou mad, Barnaby? Art thou mad? Why, I have +things to tell the Duke. Shall we waste eight precious hours? Up! +let us ride all night. To-morrow is the Sabbath, and I will preach. +Yea--I will preach. My soul longeth--yea, even it fainteth, for the +Courts of the Lord. Quick! quick! let us mount and ride all night!' + +At this moment Humphrey joined us. + +'Lads,' said Sir Christopher, 'you are fresh from Holland. Knew you +aught of this?' + +'Sir,' said Humphrey, 'I confess that I have already told Dr. Eykin +what to expect. I knew that the Duke was coming. Robin did not know, +because I would not drag him into the conspiracy. I knew that the +Duke was coming, and that without delay. I have myself had speech +in Amsterdam with his Grace, who comes to restore the Protestant +religion and to give freedom of worship to all good Protestant +people. His friends have promises of support everywhere. Indeed, +Sir, I think that the expedition is well planned, and is certain of +support. Success is in the hands of the Lord; but we do not expect +that there will be any serious opposition. With submission, Sir, I +am under promise to join the Duke. I came over in advance to warn +his friends, as I rode from London, of his approach. Thousands are +waiting in readiness for him. But, Sir, of all this, I repeat, Robin +knew nothing. I have been for three months in the counsels of those +who desire to drive forth the Popish King, but Robin have I kept in +the dark.' + +'Humphrey,' said Robin, reproachfully, 'am not I, also, a +Protestant?' + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +A NIGHT AND MORNING. + + +When I read of men possessed by some Spirit--that is to say, +compelled to go hither and thither where, but for the Spirit, they +would not go, and to say things which they would not otherwise +have said--I think of our midnight ride to Lyme, and of my father +there, and of the three weeks' madness which followed. It was some +Spirit--whether of good or evil, I cannot say, and I dare not so +much as to question--which seized him. That he hurried away to join +the Duke on the first news of his landing, without counting the cost +or weighing the chances, is easy to be understood. Like Humphrey, +he was led by his knowledge of the great numbers who hated the +Catholic religion to believe that they, like himself, would rise +with one accord. He also remembered the successful rebellion against +the first Charles, and expected nothing less than a repetition of +that success. This, I know, was what the exiles in Holland thought +and believed. The Duke, they said, was the darling of the people; +he was the Protestant champion: who would not press forward when he +should draw the sword? But what other man--what man in his sober +senses would have dragged his wife and daughter with him to the +godless riot of a camp? Perhaps he wanted them to share his triumph, +to listen while he moved the soldiers, as that ancient hermit Peter +moved the people to the Holy Wars? But I know not. He said that I +was to be, like Jephthah's daughter, consecrated to the Cause of the +Lord; and what he meant by that I never understood. + +He was so eager to start upon the journey that he would not wait +a moment. The horses must be saddled; we must mount and away. Mark +that they were Sir Christopher's horses which we borrowed; this also +was noted afterwards for the ruin of that good old man, with other +particulars: as that Monmouth's Declaration was found in the house +(Barnaby brought it); one of Monmouth's Captains, Barnaby Eykin by +name, had ridden from Lyme to Bradford in order to see him; he was a +friend of the preacher Dr. Eykin; he was grandfather to one of the +rebels and grand-uncle to another; with many other things. But these +were enough. + +'Surely, surely, friend,' said Sir Christopher, 'thou wilt not take +wife and daughter? They cannot help the Cause; they have no place in +a camp!' + +'Young men and maidens: one with another. Quick! we waste the time.' + +'And to ride all night? Consider, man--all night long!' + +'What is a night? They will have all eternity for rest.' + +'He hath set his heart upon it,' said my mother. 'Let us go--a +night's weariness will not do much harm. Let us go, Sir Christopher, +without further parley.' + +'Go then, in the Name of God,' said the old man. 'Child, give me a +kiss.' He took me in his arms and kissed me on the forehead. 'Thou +art, then,' he said tenderly, 'devoted to the Protestant Cause. +Why, thou art already promised to a Protestant since this morning: +forget not that promise, child. Humphrey and Barnaby will protect +thee--and'---- + +'Sir,' cried Robin quickly, 'by your leave, I alone have the right +to go with her and to protect her.' + +'Nay, Robin,' I said, 'stay here until Sir Christopher himself bids +thee go. That will perhaps be very soon. Remember thy promise. We +did not know, Robin, an hour ago, that the promise would be claimed +so soon. Robin'--for he murmured--'I charge thee, remain at home +until'---- + +'I promise thee, Sweetheart.' But he hung his head and looked +ashamed. + +Sir Christopher, holding my hand, stepped forth upon the grass and +looked upwards into the clear sky, where in the transparent twilight +we could see a few stars twinkling. + +'This, friend Eykin--this, Humphrey,' he said, gravely, 'is a +solemn night for all. No more fateful night hath ever fallen upon +any of us; no! not that day when I joined Hampden's new regiment +and followed with the army of Lord Essex. Granted that we have a +righteous cause, we know not that our leader hath in him the root of +the matter. To rise against the King is a most weighty matter--fatal +if it fail, a dangerous precedent if it succeed. Civil war is, of +all wars, the most grievous; to fight under a leader who doth not +live after the Laws of God is, methinks, most dangerous. The Duke +hath lit a torch which will spread flames everywhere'---- + +'It is the Voice of the Lord which calleth us!' my father +interrupted. 'To-morrow I shall speak again to God's Elect.' + +'Sir,' said Humphrey, very seriously, 'I pray you think not that +this enterprise hath been rashly entered upon, nor that we depend +upon the judgment of the Duke alone. It is, most unhappily, true +that his life is sinful, and so is that of Lord Grey, who hath +deserted his own lawful wife for her sister. But those who have +pushed on the enterprise consider that the Duke is, at least, a +true Protestant. They have, moreover, received solid assurances of +support from every quarter. You have been kept in the dark from the +beginning at my own earnest request, because, though I knew full +well your opinion, I would not trouble your peace or endanger your +person. Suffer us, then, to depart, and, for yourself, do nothing; +and keep--oh! Sir, I entreat you--keep Robin at home until our +success leaves no room for doubt.' + +'Go, then, go,' said Sir Christopher; 'I have grievous misgivings +that all is not well. But go, and Heaven bless the Cause!' + +Robin kissed me, whispering that he would follow, and that before +many days; and so we mounted and rode forth. In such hot haste did +we depart that we took with us no change of raiment or any provision +for the journey at all, save that Barnaby, who, as I afterwards +found, never forgot the provisions, found time to get together a +small parcel of bread and meat, and a flask of Canary, with which to +refresh our spirits later on. We even rode away without any money. + +My father rode one horse and my mother sat behind him: then I +followed, Barnaby marching manfully beside me, and Humphrey +rode last. The ways are rough, so that those who ride, even by +daylight, go but slowly; and we, riding between high hedges, went +much too slowly for my father, who, if he spoke at all, cried out +impatiently, 'Quicker! Quicker! we lose the time.' + +He sat bending over the horse's head, with rounded shoulders, his +feet sticking out on either side, his long white hair and his ragged +cassock floating in the wind. In his left hand he carried his Bible +as a soldier carries his sword; on his head he wore the black silk +cap in which he daily sat at work. He was praying and meditating; he +was preparing the sermon which he would deliver in the morning. + +Barnaby plodded on beside me: night or day made no difference to +him. He slept when he could, and worked when he must. Sailors keep +their watch day and night without any difference. + +'It was Sir Christopher that I came after,' he told me presently. +'Mr. Dare--who hath since been killed by Mr. Fletcher--told the Duke +that if Sir Christopher Challis would only come into camp, old as +he is, the country gentlemen of his opinions would follow to a man, +so respected is he. Well, he will not. But we have his grandnephew, +Humphrey; and, if I mistake not, we shall have his grandson--if +kisses mean anything. So Robin is thy Sweetheart, Sister: thou art a +lucky girl. And we shall have Dad to preach to us. Well, I know not +what will happen, but some will be knocked o' the head, and if Dad +goes in the way of knocks----But, whatever happens, he will get his +tongue again--and so he will be happy.' + +'As for preaching,' he went on, speaking with due pauses, because +there was no hurry in these dark lanes, and he was never one of +those whose words flow easily, 'if he thinks to preach daily, as +they say was done in Cromwell's time, I doubt if he will find many +to listen, for by the look of the fellows who are crowding into camp +they will love the clinking of the can better than the division of +the text. But if he cause his friends to join he will be welcomed: +and for devoting his wife and daughter to the Cause, that, Sister, +with submission, is rank nonsense, and the sooner you get out of the +camp, if you must go there, the better. Women aboard ship are bad +enough, but in camp they are the very devil.' + +'Barnaby, speak not lightly of the Evil One.' + +'Where shall we bestow you when the fighting comes? Well, it shall +be in some safe place.' + +'Oh, Barnaby! will there be fighting?' + +'Good lack, child! what else will there be?' + +'As the walls of Jericho fell down at the blast of the trumpet, so +the King's armies will be dispersed at the approach of the Lord's +soldiers.' + +'That was a vast long time ago, Sister. There is now no such +trumpet-work employed in war, and no priests on the march; but +plenty of fighting to be done before anything is accomplished. But +have no fear. The country is rising. They are sick at heart already +of a Popish King. I say not that it will be easy work; but it can be +done, and it will be done, before we all sit down again.' + +'And what will happen when it is done?' + +'Truly, I know not. When one King is sent a-packing they must needs +put up another, I suppose. My father shall have the biggest church +in the country to preach in; Humphrey shall be made physician to the +new King--nothing less; you shall marry Robin, and he shall be made +a Duke or a Lord at least; and I shall have command of the biggest +ship in the King's navy, and go to fight the Spaniards, or to trade +for negroes on the Guinea Coast.' + +'But suppose the Duke should be defeated?' + +'Well, Sister, if he is defeated it will go hard with all of us. +Those who are caught will be stabbed with a Bridport dagger, as +they say. Ask not such a question; as well ask a sailor what will +happen to him if his ship is cast away. Some may escape in boats +and some by swimming, and some are drowned, and some are cast upon +savage shores. Every man must take his chance. Never again ask such +a question. Nevertheless, I fear my father will get his neck as far +in the noose as I myself. But remember, Sister Alice, do you and my +mother keep snug. Let others carry on the rebellion, do you keep +snug. For, d'ye see, a man takes his chance, and if there should +happen (as there may) a defeat and the rout of these country lads, +I could e'en scud by myself before the gale and maybe get to a +seaport and so aboard and away while the chase was hot. But for a +woman! Keep snug, I say, therefore.' + +The night, happily, was clear and fine. A slight breeze was blowing +from the north-west, which made one shiver, yet it was not too cold. +I heard the screech-owl once or twice, which caused me to tremble +more than the cold. The road, when we left the highway, which is not +often mended in these parts, became a narrow lane full of holes and +deep ruts, or else a track across open country. But Barnaby knew the +way. + +It was about ten of the clock when we began our journey, and it was +six in the morning when we finished it. I suppose there are few +women who can boast of having taken so long a ride and in the night. +Yet, strange to say, I felt no desire to sleep; nor was I wearied +with the jogging of the horse, but was sustained by something of +the spirit of my father. A wonderful thing it seemed to me that a +simple country maid, such as myself, should help in putting down +the Catholic King; women there have been who have played great +parts in history--Jael, Deborah, Judith, and Esther, for example; +but that I should be called (since then I have discovered that I +was not called), this, indeed, seemed truly wonderful. Then I was +going forth to witness the array of a gallant army about to fight +for freedom and for religion, just as they were arrayed forty years +before, when Sir Christopher was a young man and rode among them. + +My brother, this stout Barnaby, was one of them; my father was one +of them; Humphrey was one of them; and in a little while I was very +sure (because Robin would feel no peace of mind if I was with the +insurgents and he was still at home) my lover would be with them +too. And I pictured to myself a holy and serious camp, filled with +godly, sober soldiers, listening to sermons and reading the Bible, +going forth to battle with hymns upon their lips; and withal so +valiant that at their very first onset the battalions of the King +would be shattered. Alas! anyone may guess the foolish thoughts of +a girl who had no knowledge of the world, nor any experience. Yet +all my life I had been taught that Resistance was at times a sacred +duty, and that the Divine Right of the (so-called) Lord's Anointed +was a vain superstition. So far, therefore, was I better prepared +than most women for the work in hand. + +When we rode through Sherborne all the folk were a-bed and the +streets were empty. From Sherborne our way lay through Yetminster +and Evershott to Beaminster, where we watered and rested the horses, +and took some of Barnaby's provisions. The country through which +we rode was full of memories of the last great war. The castle of +Sherborne was twice besieged; once by Lord Bedford, when the Marquis +of Hertford held it for the King. That siege was raised; but it +was afterwards taken by Fairfax, with its garrison of six hundred +soldiers, and was then destroyed, so that it is now a heap of ruins; +and as for Beaminster, the town hath never recovered from the great +fire when Prince Maurice held it, and it is still half in ruins, +though the ivy hath grown over the blackened walls of the burned +houses. The last great war, of which I had heard so much! And now, +perhaps, we were about to begin another. + +It was two o'clock in the morning when we dismounted at Beaminster. +My mother sat down upon a bench and fell instantly asleep. My father +walked up and down impatiently, as grudging every minute. Barnaby, +for his part, made a leisurely and comfortable meal, eating his +bread and meat--of which I had some--and drinking his Canary with +relish, as if we were on a journey of pleasure and there was plenty +of time for leisurely feeding. Presently he arose with a sigh (the +food and wine being all gone), and said that, the horses being now +rested, we might proceed. So he lifted my mother into her seat and +we went on with the journey, the day now breaking. + +The way, I say, was never tedious to me, for I was sustained by the +novelty and the strangeness of the thing. Although I had a thousand +things to ask Barnaby, it must be confessed that for one who had +travelled so far he had marvellous little to tell. I daresay that +the deck and cabins of a ship are much the same whether she be on +the Spanish Main or in the Bristol Channel, and sailors, even in +port, are never an observant race, except of weather and so forth. +It was strange, however, only to look upon him and to mark how +stout a man he was grown and how strong, and yet how he still spoke +like the old Barnaby, so good-natured and so dull with his book, +who was daily flogged for his Latin grammar, and bore no malice, +but prepared himself to enjoy the present when the flogging was +over, and not to anticipate the certain repetition of the flogging +on the morrow. He spoke in the same slow way, as if speech were a +thing too precious to be poured out quickly; and there was always +sense in what he said (Barnaby was only stupid in the matter of +syntax), though he gave me not such answers as I could have wished. +However, he confessed, little by little, something of his history +and adventures. When he ran away, it was, as we thought, to the +port of Bristol, where he presently found a berth as cabin-boy on +board a West India-man. In this truly enviable post--everybody on +board has a cuff or a kick or a rope's-end for the boy--he continued +for some time. 'But,' said Barnaby, 'you are not to think that the +rope's-end was half so bad as my father's rod; nor the captain's +oath so bad as my father's rebuke; nor the rough work and hard fare +so bad as the Latin syntax.' Being so strong, and a hearty, willing +lad to boot, he was quickly promoted to be an able seaman, when +there were no more rope's-endings for him. Then, having an ambition +above his station, and not liking his rude and ignorant companions +of the fo'k'sle (which is the fore-part of a ship, where the common +sailors sleep and eat), and being so fortunate as to win the good +graces of the supercargo first and of the captain next, he applied +his leisure time (when he had any leisure) to the method of taking +observations, of calculating longitudes and latitudes, his knowledge +of arithmetic having fortunately stuck in his mind longer than that +of Latin. These things, I understand, are of the greatest use to +a sailor and necessary to an officer. Armed with this knowledge, +and the recommendation of his superiors, Barnaby was promoted from +before the mast and became what they call a mate, and so rose by +degrees until he was at last second captain. But by this time he had +made many voyages to the West Indies, to New York and Baltimore, +and to the West Coast of Africa in the service of his owners, and, +I daresay, had procured much wealth for them, though but little for +himself. And, being at Rotterdam upon his owners' business, he was +easily persuaded--being always a stout Protestant, and desirous to +strike a blow in revenge for the ejection of his father--to engage +as sailing Master on board the frigate which brought over the Duke +of Monmouth and his company, and then to join him on his landing. +This was the sum of what he had to tell me. He had seen many strange +people, wonderful things, and monsters of the deep: Indians, whom +the cruelty and avarice of the Spaniards have well-nigh destroyed, +the sugar plantations in the islands, negro slaves, negroes free in +their own country, sharks and calamaries (of which I had read and +heard)--he had seen all these things, and still remained (in his +mind, I mean) as if he had seen nothing. So wonderfully made are +some men that, whatever they see, they are in no way moved. + +I say, then, that Barnaby answered my questions, as we rode along, +briefly, and as if such matters troubled him not. When I asked him, +for example, how the poor miserable slaves liked being captured and +sold and put on board ship crowded together for so long a voyage, +Barnaby replied that he did not know, his business being to buy +them and carry them across the water, and if they rebelled on board +ship to shoot them down or flog them; and when they got to Jamaica +to sell them: where, if they would not work, they would be flogged +until they came to a better mind. If a man was born a negro, what +else, he asked, could he expect? + +There was one question which I greatly desired to ask him, but dared +not. It concerned the welfare of his soul. Presently, however, +Barnaby answered that question, before I put it. + +'Sister,' he said, 'my mother's constant affliction concerning me, +before I ran away, was as to the salvation of my soul. And truly, +that formerly seemed to me so difficult a thing to compass (like +navigation to an unknown port over an unknown sea set everywhere +with hidden rocks and liable to sudden gusts) that I could not +understand how a plain man could ever succeed in it. Wherefore it +comforted me mightily after I got to sea to learn on good authority +that there is another way, which, compared with my father's, is +light and easy. In short, Sister, though he knows it not, there is +one religion for lands-folk and another for sailor-folk. A sailor +(everybody knows) cannot get so much as a sail bent without cursing +and swearing--this, which is desperately wicked ashore, counts +for nothing at all afloat: and so with many other things; and the +long and the short of it is that if a sailor does his duty, fights +his ship like a man, is true to his owners and faithful to his +messmates, it matters not one straw whether he hath daily sworn +great oaths, drunk himself (whenever he went ashore) as helpless as +a log, and kissed a pretty girl whenever his good luck gave him the +chance--which does, indeed, seldom come to most sailors'--he added +this with a deep sigh--'I say, Sister, that for such a sailor, when +his ship goes down with him, or when he gets a grapeshot through his +vitals, or when he dies of fever, as happens often enough in the +hot climates, there is no question as to the safety of his soul, +but he goes straight to heaven. What he is ordered to do when he +gets there,' said Barnaby, 'I cannot say; but it will be something, +I doubt not, that a sailor will like to do. No catechism or Latin +syntax. Wherefore, Sister, you can set my mother's heart--poor +soul!--quite at rest on this important matter. You can tell her that +you have conversed with me, and that I have that very same inward +assurance of which my father speaks so much and at such length. The +very same assurance it is--tell her that. And beg her to ask me no +questions upon the matter.' + +'Well, Barnaby; but art thou sure'---- + +'It is a heavenly comfort,' he replied, before I had time to finish, +'to have such an assurance. For why? A man that hath it doth never +more trouble himself about what shall happen to him after he is +dead. Therefore he goes about his duty with an easy mind; and so, +Sister, no more upon this head, if you love me and desire peace of +mind for my mother.' + +So nothing more was said upon that subject then or afterwards. A +sailor to be exempted by right of his calling from the religion of +the landsman! 'Tis a strange and dangerous doctrine. But, if all +sailors believe it, yet how can it be? This question, I confess, is +too high for me. And as for my mother, I gave her Barnaby's message, +begging her at the same time not to question him further. And she +sighed, but obeyed. + +Presently Barnaby asked me if we had any money. + +I had none, and I knew that my mother could have but little. Of +course, my father never had any. I doubt if he had possessed a +single penny since his ejection. + +'Well,' said Barnaby, 'I thought to give my money to mother. But I +now perceive that if she has it she will give it to Dad; and, if he +has it, he will give it all to the Duke for the Cause--wherefore, +Sister, do you take it and keep it, not for me, but to be expended +as seemeth you best.' He lugged out of his pocket a heavy bag. 'Here +is all the money I have saved in ten years. Nay--I am not as some +sailors, one that cannot keep a penny in purse, but must needs fling +all away. Here are two hundred and fifty gold pieces. Take them, +Alice. Hang the bag round thy neck, and never part with it, day or +night. And say nothing about the money either to mother or to Dad, +for he will assuredly do with it as I have said. A time may come +when thou wilt want it.' + +Two hundred and fifty gold pieces! Was it possible that Barnaby +could be so rich? I took the bag and hung it round my waist--not +my neck--by the string which he had tied above the neck, and, as +it was covered by my mantle, nobody ever suspected that I had this +treasure. In the end, as you shall hear, it seemed to be useful. + +It was now broad daylight, and the sun was up. As we drew near +Bridport there stood a man in the road armed with a halbert. + +'Whither go ye, good people?' he asked. 'What is your business?' + +'Friend,' said Barnaby, flourishing his oaken staff, 'we ride upon +our own business. Stand aside, or thou mayest henceforth have no +more business to do upon this earth!' + +'Ride on then--ride on,' he replied, standing aside with great +meekness. This was one of the guards whom they posted everywhere +upon the roads in order to stop the people who were flocking to the +camp. In this way many were sent back, and many were arrested on +their way to join Monmouth. + +Now, as we drew near to Bridport, the time being about four o'clock, +we heard the firing of guns and a great shouting. + +'They have begun the fighting,' said Barnaby. 'I knew it would not +be long a-coming.' + +It was, in fact, the first engagement, when the Dorsetshire Militia +were driven out of Bridport by the Duke's troops, and there would +have been a signal victory at the very outset but for the cowardice +of Lord Grey, who ran away with the Horse. + +Well, it was a strange and a wonderful thing to think that close at +hand were men killing each other on the Sabbath; yea, and some lying +wounded on the roads; and that civil war had again begun. + +'Let us push on,' said Humphrey, 'out of the way of these troops. +They are but country lads all of them. If they retreat, they will +run; and if they run they will be seized with a panic, and will run +all the way back to Lyme, trampling on everything that is in the +road.' + +This was sound advice, which we followed, taking an upper track +which brought us into the high road a mile or so nearer Charmouth. + +I do not think there can be anywhere a finer road than that which +runs from Charmouth to Lyme. It runneth over high hills, sometimes +above the sea, which rolls far below, and sometimes above a great +level inland plain, the name of which I have forgotten. The highest +of the hills is called Golden Cap; the reason why was plainly shown +this morning when the sky was clear and the sun was shining from +the south-east full upon this tall pico. When we got into this road +we found it full of young fellows, lusty and well-conditioned, all +marching, running, walking, shouting, and singing on their way to +join Monmouth. Some were adorned with flowers, some wore the blue +favour of the Duke, some had cockades in their hats, and some again +were armed with musket or with sword; some carried pikes, some +knives tied on to long poles, some had nothing but thick cudgels, +which they brandished valiantly. At sight of these brave fellows my +father lifted his head and waved his hand, crying 'A Monmouth! a +Monmouth! Follow me, brave lads!' just as if he had been a captain +encouraging his men to charge. + +The church of Lyme standeth high upon the cliff which faces the sea; +it is on the eastern side of the town, and before you get to the +church, on the way from Charmouth, there is a broad field also on +the edge of the cliff. It was this field that was the first camp of +Monmouth's men. There were no tents for the men to lie in, but there +were waggons filled, I suppose, with munitions of war; there were +booths where things were sold, such as hot sausages fried over a +charcoal fire, fried fish, lobsters and periwinkles, cold bacon and +pork, bread, cheese, and such like, and barrels of beer and cider +on wooden trestles. The men were haggling for the food and drink, +and already one or two seemed fuddled. Some were exercising in the +use of arms; some were dancing, and some singing. And no thought or +respect paid at all to the Sabbath. Oh! was this the pious and godly +camp which I had expected? + +'Sister,' said Barnaby, 'this is a godly and religious place to +which the wisdom of Dad hath brought thee. Perhaps he meaneth thee +to lie in the open like the lads.' + +'Where is the Duke?' asked my father, looking wrathfully at these +revellers and Sabbath-breakers. + +'The Duke lies at the George Inn,' said Barnaby. 'I will show the +way.' + +In the blue parlour of the George the Duke was at that time holding +a council. There were different reports as to the Bridport affair. +Already it was said that Lord Grey was unfit to lead the Horse, +having been the first to run away; and some said that the Militia +were driven out of the town in a panic, and some that they made a +stand, and that our men had fled. I know not what was the truth, +and now it matters little, except that the first action of our men +brought them little honour. When the council was finished, the Duke +sent word that he would receive Dr. Challis (that was Humphrey) and +Dr. Comfort Eykin. + +So they were introduced to the presence of his Grace, and first my +father--as Humphrey told me--fell into a kind of ecstasy, praising +God for the landing of the Duke, and foretelling such speedy victory +as would lay the enemies of the country at his feet. He then drew +forth a roll of paper in which he had set down, for the information +of the Duke, the estimated number of the disaffected in every town +of the south and west of England, with the names of such as could be +trusted not only to risk their own bodies and estates in the Cause, +but would stir up and encourage their friends. There were so many on +these lists that the Duke's eyes brightened as he read them. + +'Sir,' he said, 'if these reports can be depended upon, we are +indeed made men. What is your opinion, Dr. Challis?' + +'My opinion, Sir, is that these are the names of friends and +well-wishers; if they see your Grace well supported at the outset +they will flock in; if not, many of them will stand aloof.' + +'Will Sir Christopher join me?' asked the Duke. + +'No, Sir; he is now seventy-five years of age.' + +The Duke turned away. Presently he returned to the lists and asked +many more questions. + +'Sir,' said my father, at length, 'I have given you the names of +all that I know who are well affected to the Protestant Cause; they +are those who have remained faithful to the ejected Ministers. Many +a time have I secretly preached to them. One thing is wanting: the +assurance that your Grace will bestow upon us liberty of conscience +and freedom of worship. Else will not one of them move hand or foot.' + +'Why,' said the Duke, 'for what other purpose am I come? Assure +them, good friend, assure them in my name; make the most solemn +pledge that is in your power and in mine.' + +'In that case, Sir,' said my father, 'I will at once write letters +with my own hand to the brethren everywhere. There are many honest +country lads who will carry the letters by ways where they are not +likely to be arrested and searched. And now, Sir, I pray your leave +to preach to these your soldiers. They are at present drinking, +swearing, and breaking the Sabbath. The campaign which should be +begun with prayer and humiliation for the sins of the country hath +been begun with many deadly sins, with merriment, and with fooling. +Suffer me, then, to preach to them.' + +'Preach, by all means,' said the Duke. 'You shall have the parish +church. I fear, Sir, that my business will not suffer me to have +the edification of your sermon, but I hope that it will tend to the +soberness and earnestness of my men. Forgive them, Sir, for their +lightness of heart. They are for the most part young. Encourage them +by promises rather than by rebuke. And so, Sir, for this occasion, +farewell!' + +In this way my father obtained the wish of his heart, and preached +once more in a church before the people who were the young soldiers +of Monmouth's army. + +I did not hear that sermon, because I was asleep. It was in tones of +thunder that my father preached to them. He spoke of the old war, +and the brave deeds that their fathers had done under Cromwell; +theirs was the victory. Now, as then, the victory should be theirs, +if they carried the spirit of faithfulness into battle. He warned +them of their sins, sparing none; and, in the end, he concluded +with such a denunciation of the King as made all who heard it, and +had been taught to regard the King's Majesty as sacred, open their +mouths and gape upon each other; for then, for the first time, they +truly understood what it was that they were engaged to do. + +While my father waited to see the Duke, Barnaby went about looking +for a lodging. The town is small, and the houses were all filled, +but he presently found a cottage (call it rather a hut) on the +shore beside the Cobb, where, on promise of an extravagant payment, +the fisherman's wife consented to give up her bed to my mother and +myself. Before the bargain was concluded, I had laid myself down +upon it and was sound asleep. + +So I slept the whole day; though outside there was such a trampling +on the beach, such a landing of stores and creaking of chains, as +might have awakened the Seven Sleepers. But me nothing could awaken. + +In the evening I woke up refreshed. My mother was already awake, but +for weariness could not move out of her chair. The good woman of the +cottage, a kindly soul, brought me rough food of some kind with a +drink of water--the army had drunk up all the milk, eaten all the +cheese, the butter, the eggs, and the pork, beef and mutton, in the +place. And then Humphrey came and asked if I would go with him into +the town to see the soldiers. So I went, and glad I was to see the +sight. But Lord! to think that it was the Sabbath evening! For the +main street of Lyme was full of men, swaggering with long swords at +their sides and some with spurs--feathers in their hats, and pistols +stuck in their belts--all were talking loud, as I am told is the +custom in a camp of soldiers. Outside the George there was a barrel +on a stand, and vendors and drawers ran about with cans, fetching +and carrying the liquor for which the men continually called. Then +at the door of the George there appeared the Duke himself with his +following of gentlemen. All rose and huzzaed while the Duke came +down the steps and turned towards the camp outside the town. + +I saw his face very well as he passed. Indeed, I saw him many times +afterwards, but I declare that my heart sank when first I gazed upon +him as he stood upon the steps of the George Inn. For on his face, +plain to read, was the sadness of coming ruin. I say I knew from +that moment what would be his end. Nay, I am no prophetess, nor am +I a witch to know beforehand the counsels of the Almighty; yet the +Lord hath permitted by certain signs the future to become apparent +to those who know how to read them. In the Duke of Monmouth the +signs were a restless and uneasy eye, an air of preoccupation, a +trembling mouth and a hesitating manner. There was in him nothing of +the confidence of one who knows that fortune is about to smile upon +him. This, I say, was my first thought about the Duke, and the first +thought is prophecy. + +There sat beside the benches a secretary, or clerk, who took down +the names of recruits. The Duke stopped and looked on. A young man, +in a sober suit of brown, in appearance different from the country +lads, was giving in his name. + +'Daniel Foe, your Grace,' said the clerk, looking up. 'He is from +London.' + +'From London,' the Duke repeated. 'I have many friends in London. +I expect them shortly. Thou art a worthy lad and deservest +encouragement.' So he passed on his way. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +ON THE MARCH. + + +At daybreak, next morning, the drums began to beat, and the trumpets +began to blow, and, after breakfast, the newly-raised army marched +out in such order as was possible. I have not to write a history of +this rebellion, which hath already been done by able hands; I speak +only of what I saw, and the things with which I was concerned. + +First, then, it is true that the whole country was swiftly put into +a ferment by the Duke's landing; and, had those who planned the +expedition provided a proper supply of arms, the army would have +quickly mustered 20,000 men, all resolute and capable of meeting +any force that the King could have raised. Nay, it would have grown +and swelled as it moved. But there were never enough arms from the +outset. Everything at first promised well for the Duke. But there +were not arms for the half of those who came in. The spirit of the +Devon and Somerset Militia was lukewarm; they ran at Bridport, at +Axminster, and at Chard; nay, some of them even deserted to join +the Duke. There were thousands scattered about the country--those, +namely, who still held to the doctrines of the persecuted ministers, +and those who abhorred the Catholic religion--who wished well and +would have joined--Humphrey knew well-wishers by the thousand whose +names were on the lists in Holland--but how could they join when the +army was so ill-found? And this was the principal reason, I have +been assured, why the country gentlemen, with their following, did +not come in at first--because there were no arms. How can soldiers +fight when they have no arms? How could the Duke have been suffered +to begin with so scanty a preparation of arms? Afterwards, when +Monmouth proclaimed himself King, there were, perhaps, other reasons +why the well-wishers held aloof. Some of them certainly, who were +known to be friends of the Duke (among them our old friend Mr. +Prideaux, of Ford Abbey), were arrested and thrown into prison, +while many thousands who were flocking to the standard were either +turned back upon the road or seized and thrown into prison. + +As for the quality of the troops which formed the army, I know +nothing, except that at Sedgemoor they continued to fight valiantly +after their leaders had fled. They were raw troops--mere country +lads--and their officers were, for the most part, simple tradesmen +who had no knowledge of the art of war. Dare the younger was a +goldsmith; Captain Perrot was a dyer; Captain Hucker, a maker of +serge; and so on with all of them. It was unfortunate that Mr. +Andrew Fletcher, of Saltoun, should have killed Mr. Dare the elder +on the first day, because, as everybody agrees, the former was the +most experienced soldier in the whole army. + +The route proposed by the Duke was known to everybody. He intended +to march through Taunton, Bridgwater, and Bristol to Gloucester, +where he thought he would be joined by a new army raised by his +friends in Cheshire. He also reckoned on receiving adherents +everywhere on the road, and on easily defeating any force that +the King should be able to send against him. How he fared in that +notable scheme is common history. + +Long before the army was ready to march, Humphrey came to advise +with us. First of all, he endeavoured to have speech with my father, +but in vain (henceforth my father seemed to have no thought of his +wife and daughter). Humphrey, therefore, advised us to go home. 'As +for your alleged dedication to the Cause,' he said, 'I think that he +hath already forgotten it, seeing that it means nothing, and that +your presence with us cannot help. Go home, then, Madam, and let +Alice persuade Robin to stay at home in order to take care of you.' + +'Nay,' said my mother; 'that may we not do. I must obey my husband, +who commanded us to follow him. Whither he goeth thither also I will +follow.' + +Finding that she was resolute upon this point, Humphrey told us that +the Duke would certainly march upon Taunton, where more than half of +the town were his friends. He therefore advised that we should ride +to that place--not following the army, but going across the country, +most of which is a very wild and desolate part, where we should be +in no danger except from gipsies and such wild people, robbers and +rogues, truly, but now making the most of the disturbed state of the +country, and running about the roads plundering and thieving. But he +said he would himself provide us with a guide, one who knew the way, +and a good stout fellow, armed with a cudgel, at least. To this my +mother agreed, fearing to anger her husband if she should disturb +him at his work. + +Humphrey had little trouble in finding the guide for us. He was +an honest lad from a place called Holford, in the Quantock Hills, +who, finding that there were no arms for him, was going home again. +Unhappily, when we got to Taunton, he was persuaded--partly by me, +alas!--to remain. He joined Barnaby's company, and was either killed +at Sedgemoor, or was one of those hanged at Weston Zoyland, or +Bridgwater. For he was no more heard of. + +This business settled, we went up to the churchyard in order to see +the march of the army out of camp. And a brave show the gallant +soldiers made. + +First rode Colonel Wade with the vanguard. After them, with a due +interval, rode the greater part of the Horse, already three hundred +strong, under Lord Grey, of Wark. Among them was the company sent +by Mr. Speke, of White Lackington, forty very stout fellows, well +armed, and mounted on cart-horses. The main army was composed of +four regiments. The first was the Blue Regiment, or the Duke's Own, +whose Colonel was the aforesaid Wade. They formed the van, and +were seven hundred strong. The others were the White, commanded by +Colonel Foukes; the Green, by Colonel Holmes; and the Yellow, by +Colonel Fox. All these regiments were fully armed, the men wearing +favours or rosettes in their hats and on their arms of the colour +from which their regiment was named. + +The Duke himself, who rode a great white horse, was surrounded by a +small bodyguard of gentlemen (afterwards they became a company of +forty), richly dressed and well mounted. With him were carried the +colours, embroidered with the words 'Pro Religione et Libertate.' +This was the second time that I had seen the Duke, and again I felt +at sight of his face the foreknowledge of coming woe. On such an +occasion the chief should show a gallant mien and a face of cheerful +hope. The Duke, however, looked gloomy, and hung his head. + +Truly, it seemed to me as if no force could dare so much as to meet +this great and invincible army. And certainly there could nowhere be +gathered together a more stalwart set of soldiers, nearly all young +men, and full of spirit. They shouted and sang as they marched. +Presently there passed us my brother Barnaby, with his company of +the Green Regiment. It was easy to perceive by the handling of his +arms, and by his bearing, that he was accustomed to act with others, +and already he had so begun to instruct his men that they set an +example to the rest both in their orderliness of march and the +carriage of their weapons. + +After the main army they carried the ordnance--four small +cannon--and the ammunition in waggons, with guards and horsemen. +Lastly, there rode those who do not fight, yet belong to the army. +These were the Chaplain to the army, Dr. Hooke, a grave clergyman of +the Church of England; Mr. Ferguson, the Duke's private Chaplain, a +fiery person, of whom many hard things have been said, which here +concern us not; and my father, who thus rode openly with the other +two, in order that the Nonconformists might be encouraged by his +presence, as an equal with the two chaplains. He was clad in a new +cassock, obtained I know not whence. He sat upright in the saddle, +a Bible in his hand, his long white locks lying on his shoulders +like a perruque, but more venerable than any wig. His thin face was +flushed with the joy of coming victory, and his eyes flashed fire. +If all the men had shown such a spirit, the army would have overrun +the whole country. The four surgeons--Dr. Temple, Dr. Gaylard, Dr. +Oliver, and Humphrey--followed, all splendid in black velvet and +great periwigs. Lastly marched the rear-guard; and after the army +there followed such a motley crew as no one can conceive. There were +gipsies, with their black tents and carts, ready to rob and plunder; +there were tinkers who are nothing better than gipsies, and are even +said to speak their language; there were men with casks on wheels +filled with beer or cider; there were carts carrying bread, cakes, +biscuits, and such things as one can buy in a booth or at a fair; +there were women of bold and impudent looks, singing as they walked; +there were, besides, whole troops of country lads, some of them mere +boys, running and strutting along in hopes to receive arms and to +take a place in the regiments. + +Presently they were all gone, and Lyme was quit of them. What became +in the end of all the rabble rout which followed the army I know +not. One thing was certain: the godly disposition, the pious singing +of psalms, and the devout exposition of the Word which I had looked +for in the army were not anywhere apparent. Rather there was evident +a tumultuous joy, as of schoolboys out for a holiday--certainly no +schoolboys could have made more noise or showed greater happiness in +their faces. Among them, however, there were some men of middle age, +whose faces showed a different temper; but these were rare. + +'Lord help them!' said our friendly fisherwoman, who stood with us. +'There will be hard knocks before those fine fellows go home again.' + +'They fight on the Lord's side,' said my mother; 'therefore they may +be killed, but they will not wholly perish.' + +As for the hard knocks, they began without any delay, and on that +very morning. For at Axminster they encountered the Somerset and +Devon Militia, who thought to join their forces, but were speedily +put to flight by the rebels--a victory which greatly encouraged them. + +It hath been maliciously said, I have heard, that we followed the +army--as if we were two sutler women--on foot, I suppose, tramping +in the dust, singing ribald songs like those poor creatures whom we +saw marching out of Lyme. You have heard how we agreed to follow +Humphrey's advice. Well, we left Lyme very early the next morning +(our fisherwoman having now become very friendly and loth to let +us go) and rode out, our guide (poor lad! his death lies heavy on +my soul, yet I meant the best: and, truly, he was on the side of +the Lord) marching beside us armed with a stout bludgeon. We kept +the main road (which was very quiet at this early hour) as far as +Axminster, where we left it; and, after crossing the river by a +ford or wash, we engaged upon a track, or path, which led along the +banks of a little stream for a mile or two--as far as the village of +Chardstock. Here we made no halt; but, leaving it behind, we struck +into a most wild and mountainous country full of old forests and +great bare places. It is called the Forest of Neroche, and is said +to shelter numbers of gipsies and vagabonds, and to have in it some +of those wild people who live in the hills and woods of Somerset, +and do no work except to gather the dry broom and tie it up and sell +it, and so live hard and hungry lives, but know not any master. +These are reported to be a harmless people, but the gipsies are +dangerous because they are ready to rob and even murder. I thought +of Barnaby's bag of gold tied about my waist, and trembled. However, +we met with none of them on our journey, because just then they were +all running after Monmouth's army. There was no path over the hills +by the way we took; but our guide knew the country so well that he +needed none, pointing out all the hills with a kind of pride as if +they belonged to him, and telling us the name of every one; but +these I have long since forgotten. The country, however, I can never +forget, because it is so wild and beautiful. One place I remember. +It is a very strange and wonderful place. The ground here is high, +and at one place it rises to a kind of point or hill, falling away, +on all sides but one, in steep sides, up which a man could climb +with difficulty. Round the hill have been cut deep trenches, no +doubt to fortify and strengthen the place, which is by nature a +fortress. And on the side where the ground is level there are raised +very high earth-works or walls with trenches beyond, most wonderful +to consider. Within this double or triple circle of trenches and +earthen walls there stands a farm-house, solitary among the hills. +Here we found an ancient dame who told us that the place had been +a castle of the Romans: yet it was not like unto the castle at +Sherborne, which Oliver Cromwell slighted after he took the place, +blowing it up with gunpowder: nor was it like the castle at Taunton +which I afterwards saw, for there were no stone walls or towers, +or any appearance of stone work. To be sure, Sherborne Castle was +not built by the Romans. Then this old dame showed us bits of pots +dug up within the walls, and rusty arrow heads and green copper +things, which she said were buckles to fasten their clothes withal. +She gave us a cup of cider while we rested and took here our dinner +of cold bacon and bread which we had brought with us. After dinner +our guide took us to the hill called the Beacon, and showed us the +broad Vale of Taunton, spread out below us like unto a map, with its +farm-houses, fields, orchards, and churches. 'And all for Monmouth,' +he said. Surely there cannot be a richer, more fertile, or more +lovely place in all England than the Vale of Taunton. When we had +rested, and enjoyed this enchanting prospect, we remounted our nags +and descended by a gradual incline into the plain below. Humphrey +had provided us with a letter commendatory. He, who knew the names +of all who were well affected, assured us that the lady to whom +the letter was addressed, Miss Susan Blake by name, was one of the +most forward in the Protestant Cause. She was well known and much +respected, and she kept a school for young gentlewomen, where many +children of the Nonconformist gentry were educated. He instructed us +to proceed directly to her house, and to ask her to procure for us a +decent and safe lodging. He could not have given us a letter to any +better person. + +It was late in the afternoon when we rode into Taunton. The streets +were full of people running about, talking now in groups and now +by twos and threes; now shouting and now whispering; while we rode +along the street, a man ran bawling-- + +'Great news! great news! Monmouth is upon us with twice ten thousand +men!' + +It seems that they had only that day learned of the defeat of the +Militia by the rebels. A company of the Somerset Militia were in the +town, under Colonel Luttrell, in order to keep down the people. + +Taunton is, as everybody knows, a most rich, prosperous, and +populous town. I had never before seen so many houses and so many +people gathered together. Why, if the men of Taunton declared for +the Duke, his cause, one felt sure, was already won. For there +is nowhere, as I could not fail to know, a greater stronghold +of Dissent than this town, except London, and none where the +Nonconformists have more injuries to remember. Only two years before +this their meeting-houses had been broken into, and their pulpits +and pews brought out and burned, and they were forced, against their +conscience, to worship in the parish church. + +We easily found Miss Blake's house, and, giving our horses to the +guide, we presented her with our letter. She was a young woman +somewhat below the common stature, quick of speech, her face and +eyes full of vivacity, and about thirty years of age. But when she +had read the letter, and understood who we were, and whence we came, +she first made a deep reverence to my mother and then she took my +hands and kissed me. + +'Madam,' she said, 'believe me, my poor house will be honoured +indeed by the presence of the wife and the daughter of the godly +Dr. Comfort Eykin. Pray, pray, go no further. I have a room that +is at your disposal. Go thither, Madam, I beg, and rest after your +journey. The wife of Dr. Comfort Eykin. 'Tis indeed an honour.' And +so with the kindest words she led us upstairs, and gave us a room +with a bed in it, and caused water for washing to be brought, and +presently went out with me to buy certain things needful for us (who +were indeed somewhat rustical in our dress), in order that we might +present the appearance of gentlewomen--thanks to Barnaby's heavy +purse, I could get them without troubling my mother's careful mind +about the cost. She then gave us supper, and told us all the news. +The King, she said, was horribly afraid, and it was rumoured that +the priests had all been sent away to France; the Taunton people +were resolved to give the Duke a brave reception; all over the +country, there was no doubt, men would rally by thousands; she was +in a rapture of joy and gratitude. Supper over, she took us to her +school-room, and here--oh! the pretty sight!--her school-girls were +engaged in working and embroidering flags for the Duke's army. + +'I know not,' she said, 'whether his Grace will condescend to +receive them. But it is all we women can do.' Poor wretch! she +afterwards suffered the full penalty for her zeal. + +All that evening we heard the noise of men running about the town, +with the clanking of weapons and the commands of officers; but we +knew not what had happened. + +Lo! in the morning the glad tidings that the Militia had left +the town. Nor was that all: for at daybreak the people began to +assemble, and, there being none to stay them, broke into the great +church of St. Mary's and took possession of the arms that had been +deposited for safety in the tower. They also opened the prison and +set free a worthy Nonconformist divine, named Vincent. All the +morning the mob ran about the streets, shouting, 'A Monmouth! A +Monmouth!' the magistrates and Royalists not daring so much as to +show their faces, and there was nothing talked of but the overthrow +of the King and the triumph of the Protestant religion. Nay, there +were fiery speakers in the market-place and before the west porch +of the church, who mounted on tubs and exhorted the people. Grave +merchants came forth and shook hands with each other; and godly +ministers who had been in hiding walked forth boldly. It was truly a +great day for Taunton. + +The excitement grew greater when Captain Hucker, a well-known +serge-maker of the town, rode in with a troop of Monmouth's Horse. +Captain Hucker had been seized by Colonel Phillips on the charge of +receiving a message from the Duke, but he escaped and joined the +rebels, to his greater loss, as afterwards appeared. However, he +now rode in to tell his fellow townsmen of his own wonderful and +providential escape, and that the Duke would certainly arrive the +next day, and he exhorted them to give him such a welcome as he had +a right to expect at their hands. He also reminded them that they +were the sons of the men who, forty years before, defended Taunton +under Admiral Blake. There was a great shouting and tossing of caps +after Captain Hucker's address, and no one could do too much for the +horsemen with him, so that I fear these brave fellows were soon fain +to lie down and sleep till the fumes of the strong ale should leave +their brains. + +[Illustration: '_Her schoolgirls were engaged in working and +embroidering flags for the Duke's army._'] + +All that day and half the night we sat in Miss Blake's school-room +finishing the flags, in which I was permitted to join. There were +twenty-seven flags in all presented to the army by the Taunton +maids: twelve by Miss Blake, and fifteen by one Mrs. Musgrave, also +a schoolmistress. And now, indeed, seeing that the Militia at +Axminster had fled almost at the mere aspect of one man, and that +those of Taunton had also fled away secretly by night, and catching +the zeal of our kind entertainer, and considering the courage and +spirit of these good people, I began to feel confident again, and my +heart, which had fallen very low at the sight of the Duke's hanging +head and gloomy looks, rose again, and all dangers seemed to vanish. +And so, in a mere fool's paradise, I continued happy indeed, until +the fatal news of Sedgemoor fight awoke us all from our fond dreams. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +TAUNTON. + + +I never weary in thinking of the gaiety and happiness of those four +days at Taunton among the rebels. There was no more doubt in any of +our hearts: we were all confident of victory--and that easy and, +perhaps, bloodless. As was the rejoicing at Taunton, so it would be +in every town of the country. One only had to look out of window +in order to feel assurance of that victory, so jolly, so happy, so +confident looked every face. + +'Why,' said Miss Blake, 'in future ages even we women, who have +only worked the flags, will be envied for our share in the glorious +deliverance. Great writers will speak of us as they speak of the +Roman women.' Then all our eyes sparkled, and the needles flew +faster and the flags grew nearer to completion. + +If history should condescend to remember the poor Maids of Taunton +at all, it will be, at best, with pity for the afflictions which +afterwards fell upon them: none, certainly, will envy them; but +we shall be forgotten. Why should we be remembered? Women, it is +certain, have no business with affairs of State, and especially none +with rebellions and civil wars. Our hearts and passions carry us +away. The leaders in the Cause which we have joined appear to us to +be more than human; we cannot restrain ourselves, we fall down and +worship our leaders, especially in the cause of religion and liberty. + +Now behold! On the very morning after we arrived at Taunton I was +abroad in the streets with Miss Blake, looking at the town, which +hath shops full of the most beautiful and precious things, and +wondering at the great concourse of people (for the looms were +all deserted, and the workmen were in the streets filled with a +martial spirit), when I saw riding into the town no other than Robin +himself. Oh! how my heart leapt up to see him! He was most gallantly +dressed in a purple coat, with a crimson sash over his shoulders +to carry his sword; he had pistols in his holsters, and wore +great riding-boots, and with him rode a company of a dozen young +men, mounted on good strong nags: why, they were men of our own +village, and I knew them, every one. They were armed with muskets +and pikes--I knew where those came from--and when they saw me the +fellows all began to grin, and to square their shoulders so as to +look more martial. But Robin leapt from his horse. + +''Tis Alice!' he cried. 'Dear heart! Thou art then safe, so far? +Madam, your servant.' Here he took off his hat to Miss Blake. 'Lads, +ride on to the White Hart and call for what you want, and take care +of the nags. This is a joyful meeting, Sweetheart.' Here he kissed +me. 'The Duke, they say, draws thousands daily. I thought to find +him in Taunton by this time. Why, we are as good as victorious +already. Humphrey, I take it, is with his Grace. My dear, even had +the Cause of Freedom failed to move me I had been dragged by the +silken ropes of Love. Truly, I could not choose but come. There was +the thought of these brave fellows marching to battle, and I all the +time skulking at home, who had ever been so loud upon their side. +And there was the thought of Humphrey, braving the dangers of the +field, tender though he be, and I, strong and lusty, sitting by +the fire, and sleeping on a feather bed; and always there was the +thought of thee, my dear, among these rude soldiers--like Milton's +lady among the rabble rout, because well I know that even Christian +warriors (so-called) are not lambs; and, again, there was my +grandfather, who could find no rest, but continually walked to and +fro, with looks that at one time said, "Go, my son," and at others, +"Nay, lest thou receive a hurt"; and the white face of my mother, +which said as plain as eyes could speak: "He ought to go, he ought +to go; and yet he may be killed."' + +'Oh, Robin! Pray God there prove to be no more fighting.' + +'Well, my dear, if I am not tedious to Madam here'---- + +'Oh, Sir!' said Miss Blake, 'it is a joy to hear this talk.' She +told me afterwards that it was also a joy to look upon so gallant +a gentleman, and such a pair of lovers. She, poor creature, had no +sweetheart. + +'Then on Monday,' Robin continued, 'the day before yesterday, I +could refrain no longer, but laid the matter before my grandfather. +Sweetheart! there is, I swear, no better man in all the world.' + +'Of that I am well assured, Robin.' + +'First, he said that if anything befell me he should go down in +sorrow to his grave; yet that, as to his own end, an old man so near +the grave should not be concerned about the manner of his end, so +long as he should keep to honour and duty. Next, that in his own +youth he had himself gone forth willingly to fight in the cause of +Liberty, without counting the risk. Thirdly, that if my conscience +did truly urge me to follow the Duke, I ought to obey that voice in +the name of God. And this with tears in his eyes, and yet a lively +and visible satisfaction that, as he himself had chosen, so his +grandson would choose. "Sir," I said, "that voice of conscience +speaks out very loudly and clearly. I cannot stifle it. Therefore, +by your good leave, I will go." Then he bade me take the best horse +in the stable, and gave me a purse of gold, and so I made ready.' + +Miss Blake, at this point, said that she was reminded of David. It +was, I suppose, because Robin was so goodly a lad to look upon; +otherwise, David, though an exile, did never endeavour to pull King +Saul from his throne. + +'Then,' Robin continued, 'I went to my mother. She wept, because war +hath many dangers and chances; but she would not say me "Nay." And +in the evening when the men came home I went into the village and +asked who would go with me. A dozen stout fellows--you know them +all, Sweetheart--stepped forth at once; another dozen would have +come, but their wives prevented them. And so, mounting them on good +cart-horses, I bade farewell and rode away.' + +'Sir,' said Miss Blake, 'you have chosen the better part. You will +be rewarded by so splendid a victory that it will surprise all the +world; and for the rest of your life--yes, and for generations +afterwards--you will be ranked among the deliverers of your country. +It is a great privilege, Sir, to take part in the noblest passage of +English history. Oh!' she clasped her hands, 'I am sorry that I am +not a man, only because I would strike a blow in this sacred Cause. +But we are women, and we can but pray--and make flags. We cannot die +for the Cause.' + +The event proved that women can sometimes die for the Cause, because +she herself, if any woman ever did, died for her Cause. + +Then Robin left us in order to take steps about his men and himself. +Captain Hucker received them in the name of the Duke. They joined +the cavalry, and Robin was told that he should be made a Captain. +This done, he rode out with the rest to meet the Duke. + +Now, when his approach was known, everybody who had a horse rode +forth to meet him, so that there followed him, when he entered the +town, not counting his army, so great a company that they almost +made another army. + +As soon as it was reported that the Duke was within a mile (they had +that day marched sixteen miles, from Ilminster) the church bells +were set a-ringing; children came out with baskets of flowers in +readiness to strew them at his feet as he should pass--there were +roses and lilies and all kinds of summer flowers, so that his horse +had a most delicate carpet to walk upon; the common people crowded +the sides of the streets; the windows were filled with ladies, who +waved their handkerchiefs and called aloud on Heaven to bless the +good Duke, the brave Duke, the sweet and lovely Duke. If there were +any malcontents in the town they kept snug; it would have cost them +dear even to have been seen in the streets that day. The Duke showed +on this occasion a face full of hope and happiness; indeed, if he +had not shown a cheerful countenance on such a day, he would have +been something less, or something greater, than human. I mean that +he would have been either insensible and blockish not to be moved by +such a welcome, or else he would have been a prophet, as foreseeing +what would follow. He rode bareheaded, carrying his hat in his hand; +he was dressed in a shining corslet with a blue silk scarf and a +purple coat; his long brown hair hung in curls upon his shoulders; +his sweet lips were parted with a gracious smile; his beautiful +brown eyes--never had any Prince more lovely eyes--looked pleased +and benignant; truly there was never made any man more comely than +the Duke of Monmouth. The face of his father, and that of his uncle, +King James, were dark and gloomy, but the Duke's face was naturally +bright and cheerful; King Charles's long nose in him was softened +and reduced to the proportions of manly beauty; in short, there +was no feature that in his father was harsh and unpleasing but was +in him sweet and beautiful. If I had thought him comely and like a +King's son when four years before he made his Progress, I thought +him now ten times as gracious and as beautiful. He was thinner in +the face, which gave his appearance the greater dignity; he had +ever the most gracious smile and the most charming eyes; and at +such a moment as this who could believe the things which they said +about his wife and Lady Wentworth? No--they were inventions of his +enemies; they must be base lies--so noble a Presence could not +conceal a guilty heart; he must be as good and virtuous as he was +brave and lovely. Thus we talked, sitting in the window, and thus we +cheered our souls. Even now, to think how great and good he looked +on that day, it is difficult to believe that he was in some matters +so vile. I am not of those who expect one kind of moral conduct from +one man and a different kind from another; there is but one set of +commandments for rich and poor, for prince and peasant. But the pity +of it--oh! the pity of it, with such a prince! + +Never, in short, did one see such a tumult of joy; it is impossible +to speak otherwise: the people had lost their wits with excess of +joy. Nor did they show their welcome in shouting only, for all doors +were thrown wide open, and supplies and necessaries of all kinds +were sent to the soldiers in the camp outside the town, so that the +country lads declared they had never fared more sumptuously. There +now rode after the Duke several Nonconformist ministers, beside my +father. Thus there was the pious Mr. Larke, of Lyme: he was an aged +Baptist preacher, who thought it no shame to his profession to gird +on a sword and to command a troop of Horse; and others there were, +whose names I forget, who had come forth to join the deliverer. + +Lord Grey rode on one side of him, and Colonel Speke on the other; +Dr. Hooke, the Chaplain, and my father rode behind. My heart swelled +with joy to hear how the people, when they had shouted themselves +hoarse, cried out for my father, because his presence showed that +they would have once more that liberty of worship for want of which +they had so long languished. The Duke's own Chaplain, Mr. Ferguson, +had got a naked sword in his hand, and was marching on foot, crying +out, in a most vainglorious manner, 'I am Ferguson, the famous +Ferguson, that Ferguson for whose head so many hundred pounds were +offered. I am that man! I am that man!' He wore a great gown and +a silken cassock, which consorted ill with the sword in his hand, +and in the evening he preached in the great church, while my father +preached in the old meeting-house to a much larger congregation, +and, I venture to think, with a much more edifying discourse. + +The army marched through the town in much the same order as it had +marched out of Lyme, and it seemed not much bigger, but the men +marched more orderly, and there was less laughing and shouting. But +the streets were so thronged that the men could hardly make their +way. + +In the market-place the Duke halted, while his Declaration was read +aloud. One thing I could not approve. They dragged forth three +of the Justices--High Churchmen and standing stoutly for King +James--and forced them to listen, bareheaded, to the Declaration: +a thing which came near afterwards to their destruction. Yet they +looked sour and unwilling, as anyone would have testified. The +Declaration was a long document, and the reading of it took half an +hour at least; but the people cheered all the time. + +After this, they read a Proclamation, warning the soldiers against +taking aught without payment. But Robin laughed, saying that this +was the way with armies, where the General was always on the side +of virtue, yet the soldiers were always yielding to temptation in +the matter of sheep and poultry; that human nature must not be too +much tempted, and that camp rations are sometimes scanty. But it was +a noble Proclamation, and I cannot but believe that the robberies +afterwards complained of were committed by the tattered crew who +followed the camp, rather than by the brave fellows themselves. + +The Duke lay at Captain Hucker's house, over against the Three Cups +Inn. This was a great honour for Mr. Hucker, a plain serge-maker, +and there were many who were envious, thinking that the Duke +should not have gone to the house of so humble a person. It was +also said that for his services Mr. Hucker boasted that he should +expect nothing less than a coronet and the title of Peer, once the +business was safely dispatched. A Peer to be made out of a Master +Serge-maker! But we must charitably refuse to believe all that is +reported, and, indeed (I say it with sorrow of that most unfortunate +lady, Miss Blake), much idle tattle concerning neighbours was +carried on in her house, and I was told that it was the same in +every house of Taunton, so that the women spent all their time in +talking of their neighbours' affairs, and what might be going on in +the houses of their friends. This is a kind of talk which my father +would never permit, as testifying to idle curiosity and leading to +undue importance concerning things which are fleeting and trivial. + +However, the Duke was bestowed in Captain Hucker's best bed--of that +there was no doubt; and the bells rang and bonfires blazed, and the +people sang and shouted in the streets. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE MAIDS OF TAUNTON. + + +The next day was made remarkable in our eyes by an event which, +though doubtless of less importance than the enlistment of a dozen +recruits, seemed to us a very great thing indeed--namely, the +presentation to the Duke of the colours embroidered for him by Susan +Blake's school-girls. I was myself permitted to walk with the girls +on this occasion, as if I had been one of them, though a stranger +to the place, and but newly arrived--such was the kindness of Susan +Blake and her respect for the name of the learned and pious Dr. +Comfort Eykin. + +At nine of the clock the girls who were to carry the flags began +to gather in the school-room. There were twenty-seven in all; but +twelve only were the pupils of Miss Blake. The others were the +pupils of Mrs. Musgrave, another school-mistress in the town. I +remember not the names of all the girls, but some of them I can +still write down. One was Katharine Bovet, daughter of Colonel +Bovet: she it was who walked first and named to the Duke those +who followed; there was also Mary Blake, cousin of Susan, who +was afterwards thrown into prison with her cousin, but presently +was pardoned. Miss Hucker, daughter of Captain Hucker, the +Master-Serge-maker who entertained the Duke, was another; there were +three daughters of Captain Herring; two daughters of Mr. Thomas +Baker, one of Monmouth's Privy Councillors; there was Mary Meade, +the girl who carried the famous Golden Flag; and others whom I have +forgotten. When we were assembled, being dressed all in white, +and each maid wearing the Monmouth colours, we took our flags and +sallied forth. In the street there was almost as great a crowd to +look on as the day before, when the Duke rode in; and, certainly, +it was a very pretty sight to see. First marched a man playing on +the crowd very briskly; after him, one who beat a tabor, and one who +played a fife; so that we had music on our march. When the music +stopped, we lifted our voices and sang a Psalm all together; that +done the crowder began again. + +As for the procession, no one surely had ever seen the like of it! +After the music walked six-and-twenty maids, the youngest eight +and the eldest not more than twelve. They marched two by two, +very orderly, all dressed in white with blue favours, and every +girl carrying in her hands a flag of silk embroidered by herself, +assisted by Miss Blake or some other older person, with devices +appropriate to the nature of the enterprise in hand. For one flag +had upon it, truly figured in scarlet silk, an open Bible, because +it was for liberty to read and expound that book that the men were +going forth to fight. Upon another was embroidered a great cross; +upon a third were the arms of the Duke; a fourth bore upon it, to +show the zeal of the people, the arms of the town of Taunton; and +a fifth had both a Bible and a drawn sword; and so forth, every +one with a legend embroidered upon it plain for all to read. The +flags were affixed to stout white staves, and as the maids walked +apart from each other and at a due distance, the flags all flying +in the wind made a pretty sight indeed; so that some of the women +who looked on shed tears. Among the flags was one which I needs must +mention, because, unless the device was communicated by some person +deep in the Duke's counsels, it most strangely jumped with the event +of the following day. Mary Meade, poor child! carried it. We called +it the Golden Flag, because it had a crown worked in gold thread +upon it and the letters 'J. R.' A fringe of lace was sewn round it, +so that it was the richest flag of all. What could the Crown with +the letters 'J. R.' mean, but that James, Duke of Monmouth, would +shortly assume the Crown of these three kingdoms? + +Last of all walked Miss Susan Blake, and I by her side. She bore in +one hand a Bible bound in red leather, stamped with gold, and in the +other a naked sword. + +The Duke came forth to meet us, standing bareheaded before the +porch. There were standing beside and behind him, the Lord Grey, his +two Chaplains, Dr. Hooke and Mr. Ferguson, my father, Mr. Larke, +the Baptist minister of Lyme Regis (he wore a corslet and carried +a sword), and the Colonels of his regiments. His bodyguard were +drawn up across the street, looking brave and splendid in their new +favours. The varlets waited beyond with the horses for the Duke's +party. Who, to look upon the martial array, the bravery of the +Guard, the gallant bearing of all, the confidence in their looks, +and the presence, which should surely bring a blessing, of the +ministers of religion, would think that all this pomp and promise +could be shattered at a single blow? + +As each girl advanced in her turn, she knelt on one knee and offered +her flag, bowing her head (we had practised this ceremony several +times at the school until we were all quite perfect in our parts). +Then the Duke stepped forward and raised her, tenderly kissing her. +Then she stood aside holding her flag still in her hands. + +My turn--because I had no flag--came last but one, Miss Susan Blake +being the last. Now--I hope it was not folly, or a vainglorious +desire to be distinguished by any particular notice of his Grace--I +could not refrain from hanging the ring, which the Duke had given me +at Ilchester five years ago, outside my dress by a blue ribbon. Miss +Blake, to whom I had told the story of the ring, advised me to do +so, partly to show my loyalty to the Duke, and partly because it was +a pretty thing and one which some women would much desire to possess. + +Miss Katharine Bovet informed the Duke that I was the daughter of +the learned preacher, Dr. Comfort Eykin. When I knelt he raised me. +Then, as he was about to salute me, his eyes fell upon the ring, and +he looked first at me and then at the ring. + +'Madam,' he said, 'this ring I ought to know. If I mistake not, +there are the initials of "J. S." upon it.' + +'Sir,' I replied, 'the ring was your own. Your Grace was so good as +to bestow it upon me in your progress through the town of Ilchester +five years ago.' + +'Gad so!' he said, laughing; 'I remember now. 'Twas a sweet and +lovely child whom I kissed--and now thou art a sweet and lovely +maiden. Art thou truly the daughter of Dr. Comfort Eykin?'--he +looked behind him; but my father neither heard nor attended, being +wrapped in thought. ''Tis strange: his daughter! 'Tis indeed +wonderful that such a child should'----Here he stopped. 'Fair Rose +of Somerset I called thee then. Fair Rose of Somerset I call thee +again. Why, if I could place thee at the head of my army all England +would certainly follow, as if Helen of Troy or Queen Venus herself +did lead.' So he kissed me on the cheek with much warmth--more, +indeed, than was necessary to show a gracious and friendly goodwill; +and suffered me to step aside. 'Dr. Eykin's daughter!' he repeated, +with a kind of wonder. 'How could Dr. Eykin have such a daughter!' + +When I told Robin of this gracious salutation, he first turned very +red and then he laughed. Then he said that everybody knew the Duke, +but he must not attempt any Court freedoms in the Protestant camp; +and if he were to try----Then he broke off short, changed colour +again, and then he kissed me, saying that, of course, the Duke meant +nothing but kindliness, but that, for his own part, he desired not +his sweetheart to be kissed by anybody but himself. So I suppose +my boy was jealous. But the folly of being jealous of so great a +Prince, who could not possibly have the least regard for a simple +country maiden, and who had known the great and beautiful Court +ladies! It made me laugh to think that Robin could be so foolish as +to be jealous of the Duke. + +Then it was Miss Susan Blake's turn. She stepped forward very +briskly, and knelt down, and placed the Bible in the Duke's left +hand and the sword in his right. + +'Sir,' she said (speaking the words we had made up and she had +learned), 'it is in the name of the women of Taunton--nay, of the +women of all England--that I give you the Book of the Word of God, +the most precious treasure vouchsafed to man, so that all may learn +that you are come for no other purpose than to maintain the right +of the English people to search the Scriptures for themselves. I +give you also, Sir, a sword with which to defend those rights. In +addition, Sir, the women can only give your Grace the offering of +their continual prayers in behalf of the Cause, and for the safety +and prosperity of your Highness and your army.' + +'Madam,' said the Duke, much moved by this spectacle of devotion, 'I +am come, believe me, for no other purpose than to defend the truths +contained in this book, and to seal my defence with my blood, if +that need be.' + +Then the Duke mounted, and we marched behind him in single file, +each girl led by a soldier, till we came to the camp, when our +flags were taken from us, and we returned home and took off our +white dresses. I confess that I laid mine down with a sigh. White +becomes every maiden, and my only wear till then had been of +russet brown. And all that day we acted over again--in our talk +and in our thoughts--our beautiful procession, and we repeated the +condescending words of the Duke, and admired the graciousness of +his kisses, and praised each other for our admirable behaviour, and +listened, with pleasure unspeakable while Susan Blake prophesied +that we should become immortal by the ceremony of that day. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +KING MONMOUTH AND HIS CAMP. + + +Next day, the town being thronged with people, and the young men +pressing in from all quarters to enrol themselves (over four +thousand joined the colours at Taunton alone), another Proclamation +was read--that, namely, by which the Duke claimed the throne. +Many opinions have been given as to this step. For the Duke's +enemies maintain--first, that his mother was never married to King +Charles the Second (indeed, there is no doubt that the King always +denied the marriage); next, that an illegitimate son could never +be permitted to sit upon the ancient throne of this realm; and, +thirdly, that in usurping the Crown the Duke broke faith with his +friends, to whom he had solemnly given his word that he would not +put forward any such pretensions. Nay, some have gone so far as +to allege that he was not the son of Charles at all, but of some +other whom they even name; and they have pointed to his face as +showing no resemblance at all to that swarthy and gloomy-looking +King. On the other hand, the Duke's friends say that there were in +his hands clear proofs of the marriage; that the promise given to +his friends was conditional, and one which could be set aside by +circumstances; that the country gentry, to whom a Republic was most +distasteful, were afraid that he designed to re-establish that form +of government; and, further, that his friends were all fully aware, +from the beginning, of his intentions. + +On these points I know nothing; but, when a thing has been done, +it is idle to spend time in arguing that it was well or ill done. +James, Duke of Monmouth, was now James, King of Great Britain and +Ireland; and if we were all rebels before, who had risen in the +name of religion and liberty, I suppose we were all ten times as +much rebels now, when we had, in addition, set up another King, and +declared King James to be an usurper, and no more than the Duke of +York. Nay, that there might be wanting no single circumstance of +aggravation, it was in this Proclamation declared that the Duke +of York had caused his brother, the late King, to be secretly +poisoned. I know not what foundation exists for this accusation; but +I have been told that it gave offence unto many, and that it was an +ill-advised thing to say. + +The Proclamation was read aloud at the Market Cross by Mr. Tyley, +of Taunton, on the Saturday morning, before a great concourse of +people. It ended with the words, 'We, therefore, the noblemen, +gentlemen, and Commons at present assembled, in the names of +ourselves and of all the loyal and Protestant noblemen, gentlemen, +and Commons of England, in pursuance of our duty and allegiance, +and for the delivering of the Kingdom from Popery, tyranny, and +oppression, do recognise, publish, and proclaim the said high and +mighty Prince James, Duke of Monmouth, as lawful and rightful +Sovereign and King, by the name of James II., by the grace of God, +King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the +Faith. GOD SAVE THE KING!' + +After this the Duke was always saluted as King, prayed for as +King, and styled 'His Majesty.' He also touched some (as only the +King can do) for the king's-evil, and, it is said, wrought many +miracles of healing--a thing which, being noised abroad, should +have strengthened the faith of the people in him. But the malignity +of our enemies caused these cases of healing to be denied, or else +explained as fables and inventions of the Duke's friends. + +Among the accessions of this day was one which I cannot forbear +to mention. It was that of an old soldier who had been one of +Cromwell's captains, Colonel Basset by name. He rode in--being a +man advanced in years, yet still strong and hale--at the head of a +considerable company raised by himself. 'Twas hoped that his example +would be followed by the adhesion of many more of Cromwell's men, +but the event proved otherwise. Perhaps, being old Republicans, they +were deterred by the Proclamation of Monmouth as King. Perhaps they +had grown slothful with age, and were now unwilling to face once +more the dangers and fatigues of a campaign. Another recruit was the +once-famous Colonel Perrot, who had been engaged with Colonel Blood +in the robbery of the Crown Jewels--though the addition of a robber +to our army was not a matter of pride. He came, it was afterwards +said, because he was desperate, his fortunes broken, and with no +other hope than to follow the fortunes of the Duke. + +It became known in the course of the day that the army was to march +on the Sunday. Therefore, everybody on Saturday evening repaired +to the camp: some to bid farewell and Godspeed to their friends, +and others to witness the humours of a camp. I was fortunate in +having Robin for a companion and protector--the place being rough +and the behaviour and language of the men coarse even beyond what +one expects at a country fair. The recruits still kept pouring in +from all parts; but, as I have already said, many were disheartened +when they found that there were no arms, and went home again. They +were not all riotous and disorderly. Some of the men, those, namely, +who were older and more sober-minded, we found gathered together in +groups, earnestly engaged in conversation. + +'They are considering the Proclamation,' said Robin. 'Truly, we did +not expect that our Duke would so soon become King. They say he is +illegitimate. What then? Let him mount the throne by right of arms, +as Oliver Cromwell could have done had he pleased--who asks whether +Oliver was illegitimate or no? The country will not have another +Commonwealth--and it will no longer endure a Catholic King. Let us +have King Monmouth, then: who is there better?' + +In all the camp there was none who spoke with greater cheerfulness +and confidence than Robin. Yet he did not disguise from himself that +there might be warm work. + +'The King's troops,' he said, 'are closing in all round us. That +is certain. Yet, even if they all join we are still more numerous +and in much better heart; of that I am assured. At Wellington, the +Duke of Albemarle commands the Devonshire Militia; Lord Churchill +is at Chard with the Somerset Regiment; Lord Bath is reported to be +marching upon us with the Cornishmen; the Duke of Beaufort hath the +Gloucester Militia at Bristol; Lord Pembroke is at Chippenham with +the Wiltshire Trainbands; Lord Feversham is on the march with the +King's standing army. What then? are these men Protestants or are +they Papists? Answer me that, Sweetheart.' + +Alas! had they been true Protestants there would have been such an +answer as would have driven King James across the water three years +sooner. + +The camp was now like a fair, only much finer and bigger than any +fair I have ever seen. That of Lyme Regis could not be compared with +it. There were booths where they sold gingerbread, cakes, ale, and +cider; Monmouth favours for the recruits to sew upon their hats or +sleeves; shoes and stockings were sold in some, and even chap-books +were displayed. There was a puppet show with Patient Grizzle; and a +stand where a monkey danced. Men and women carried about in baskets +last year's withered apples, with Kentish cobs and walnuts; there +were booths where they fried sausages and roasted pork all day +long; tumblers and clowns were performing in others; painted and +dressed-up girls danced in others; there was a bull-baiting; a man +was making a fiery oration on the Duke's Proclamation: but I saw +no one preaching a sermon. There were here and there companies of +country lads exercising with pike and halbert; and others, more +advanced, with the loading and firing of their muskets. There were +tables at which sat men with cards and dice, gambling: shouting when +they won and cursing when they lost; others, of more thrifty mind, +sat on the ground practising their trade of tailor or cobbler--thus +losing no money, though they did go soldiering; some polished +weapons and sharpened swords, pikes, and scythes; nowhere did we +find any reading the Bible, or singing of hymns, or listening to +sermons. Save for a few groups of sober men of whom I have spoken, +the love of amusement carried all away; and the officers of the +army, who might have turned them back to sober thought, were not +visible. Everywhere noise; everywhere beating of drums, playing of +pipes, singing of songs, bowling and laughing. Among the men there +ran about a number of saucy gipsy girls, their brown faces showing +under red kerchiefs, their black eyes twinkling (truly they are +pretty creatures to look upon when they are young; but they have +no religion, and say of themselves that they have no souls). These +girls talked with each other in their own language, which none out +of their own nation--except the tinker-folk, who are said to be +their cousins--understand. But English they talk very well, and they +are so clever that, it is said, they will talk to a Somersetshire +man in good broad Somerset, and to a man of Norfolk in his own +speech, though he of Norfolk would not understand him of Somerset. + +'They are the vultures,' said Robin, 'who follow for prey. Before +the battle these women cajole the soldiers out of their money, and +after the battle their men rob and even murder the wounded and +plunder the dead.' + +Then one of them ran and stood before us. + +'Let me tell thy fortune, handsome gentleman? Let me tell thine, +fair lady? A sixpence or a groat to cross my palm, Captain, and you +shall know all that is to happen.' + +Robin laughed, but gave her sixpence. + +'Look me in the face, fair lady'--she spoke good, plain English, +this black-eyed wench, though but a moment before she had been +talking broad Somerset to a young recruit--'look me in the face; +yes. All is not smooth. He loves you; but there will be separation +and trouble. One comes between, a big man with a red face; he parts +you. There is a wedding, I see your ladyship plain. Why, you are +crying at it, you cry all the time; but I do not see this gentleman. +Then there is another wedding--yes, another--and I see you at both. +You will be twice married. Yet, be of good heart, fair lady.' + +She turned away and ran after another couple, no doubt with much the +same tale. + +'How should there be a wedding,' I asked, 'if I am there and you not +there, Robin--and I to be crying? And how could I--oh! Robin--how +could I be married twice?' + +'Nay, Sweetheart, she could not tell what wedding it was. She only +uttered the gibberish of her trade; I am sorry that I wasted a +sixpence upon her.' + +'Robin, is it magic that they practise--these gipsies? Do they +traffic with the Devil? We ought not to suffer witches to live +amongst us.' + +'Most are of opinion that they have no other magic than the art +of guessing, which they learn to do very quickly, putting things +together, from their appearance; so that if brother and sister walk +out together they are taken to be lovers, and promised a happy +marriage and many children.' + +That may be so, and perhaps the fortune told by this gipsy was only +guess-work. But I cannot believe it; for the event proved that she +had in reality possessed an exact knowledge of what was about to +happen. + +Some of the gipsy women--but these were the older women, who had +lost their good looks, though not their impudence--were singing +songs, and those, as Robin told me, songs not fit to be sung; and +one old crone, sitting before her tent beside a roaring wood fire +over which hung a great saucepan, sold charms against shot and +steel. The lads bought these greedily, giving sixpence apiece for +them; so that the old witch must have made a sackful of money. They +came and looked on shyly. Then one would say to the other, 'What +thinkest, lad? Is there aught in it?' And the other would say, +'Truly, I know not; but she is a proper witch, and I'll buy one. +We may have to fight. Best make sure of a whole skin.' And so he +bought one, and then all bought. The husbands of the gipsy women +were engaged, meantime, we understood, in robbing the farm-yards in +the neighbourhood, the blame being afterwards laid upon our honest +soldiers. + +Then there was a ballad-monger singing a song about a man and a +broom, and selling it (to those who would buy) printed on a long +slip of paper. The first lines were-- + + There was an old man and he lived in a wood, + And his trade it was making a broom, + +but I heard no more, because Robin hurried me away. Then there were +some who had drunk too much cider or beer, and were now reeling +about with stupid faces and glassy eyes; there were some who were +lying speechless or asleep upon the grass; and some were cooking +supper over fires after the manner of the gipsies. + +'I have seen enough, Robin,' I said. 'Alas for sacred Religion if +these are her defenders!' + +''Tis always so,' said Robin, 'in time of war. We must encourage our +men to keep up their hearts. Should we be constantly reminding them +that to-morrow half of them may be lying dead on the battle-field? +Then they would mope and hang their heads, and would presently +desert.' + +'One need not preach of death, but one should preach of godliness +and of sober joy. Look but at those gipsy wenches and those lads +rolling about drunk. Are these things decent? If they escape the +dangers of war, will it make them happy to look back upon the memory +of this camp? Is it fit preparation to meet their Maker?' + +'In times of peace, sweet Saint, these lads remember easily that +in the midst of life we are in death, and they govern themselves +accordingly. In times of war, every man hopes for his own part to +escape with a whole skin, though his neighbour fall. That is why we +are all so blithe and jolly. Let us now go home--before the night +falls and the mirth becomes riotous and unseemly.' + +We passed a large booth, whence there issued sounds of singing. It +was a roofless inclosure of canvas. Some ale-house man of Taunton +had set it up. Robin drew aside the canvas door. + +'Look in,' he said. 'See the brave defenders of Religion keeping up +their hearts.' + +It was furnished with benches and rough tables: at one end were +casks. The benches were crowded with soldiers, every man with a pot +before him, and the varlets were running backwards and forwards +with cans of ale and cider. Most of the men were smoking pipes of +tobacco, and they were singing a song which seemed to have no end. +One bawled the lines, and when it came to the 'Let the hautboys +play!' and the 'Huzza!' they all roared out together:-- + + Now, now, the Duke's health, + And let the hautboys play, + While the troops on their march shall roar + Huzza! huzza! huzza! + + Now, now, the Duke's health, + And let the hautboys play, + While the drums and the trumpets sound from the shore + Huzza! huzza! huzza! + +They sang this verse several times over. Then another began-- + + Now, now, Lord Grey's health, + And let the hautboys play, + While the troops on their march shall roar + Huzza! huzza! huzza! + + Now, now, Lord Grey's health, + And let the hautboys play, + While the drums and the trumpets sound from the shore + Huzza! huzza! huzza! + +Next a third voice took it up-- + + Now, now, the Colonel's health, + And let the hautboys play, + +and then a fourth and a fifth, and the last verse was bawled as +lustily and with so much joy that one would have thought the mere +singing would have gotten them the victory. Men are so made, I +suppose, that they cannot work together without singing and music +to keep up their hearts. Sailors sing when they weigh anchor; men +who unlade ships sing as they carry out the bales; even Cromwell's +Ironsides could not march in silence, but sang Psalms as they +marched. + +The sun was set and the twilight falling when we left the camp; and +there was no abatement of the roaring and singing, but rather an +increase. + +'They will go on,' said Robin, 'until the drink or their money gives +out; then they will lie down and sleep. You have now seen our camp, +Sweetheart. It is not, truth to say, as decorous as a conventicle, +nor is the talk so godly as in Sir Christopher's hall. For rough +fellows there must be rough play; in a month these lads will be +veterans; the singing will have grown stale to them; the black-eyed +gipsy-women will have no more power to charm away their money; they +will understand the meaning of war; the camp will be sober if it is +not religious.' + +So we walked homewards, I, for my part, saddened to think in what +a spirit of riot these young men, whom I had pictured so full of +godly zeal, were preparing to meet the chance of immediate death and +judgment. + +'Sweet,' said Robin, 'I read thy thoughts in thy troubled eyes. Pray +for us. Some will fight none the worse for knowing that there are +good women who pray for them.' + +We were now back in the town; the streets were still full of people, +and no one seemed to think of bed. Presently we passed the Castle +Inn; the windows were open, and we could see a great company of +gentlemen sitting round a table on which were candles lit and +bowls full of strong drink; nearly every man had his pipe at his +lips and his glass before him, and one of them was singing to the +accompaniment of a guitar. Their faces were red and swollen, as if +they had taken too much. At one end of the table sat Humphrey. What? +could Humphrey, too, be a reveller with the rest? His face, which +was gloomy, and his eyes, which were sad, showed that he was not. + +'The officers have supped together,' said Robin. 'It may be long +before we get such good quarters again. A cup of hipsy and a song in +good fellowship, thou wilt not grudge so much?' + +'Nay,' I said, ''tis all of a piece. Like man, like master. Officers +and men alike--all drinking and singing. Is there not one good man +in all the army?' + +As I spoke one finished a song at which all laughed, except +Humphrey, and drummed the table with their fists and shouted. + +Then one who seemed to be the president of the table turned to +Humphrey. + +'Doctor,' he said, 'thou wilt not drink, thou dost not laugh, and +thou hast not sung. Thou must be tried by court-martial, and the +sentence of the court is a brimming glass of punch or a song.' + +'Then, gentlemen,' said Humphrey, smiling, 'I will give you a song. +But blame me not if you mislike it: I made the song in praise of +the sweetest woman in the world.' He took the guitar and struck +the strings. When he began to sing, my cheeks flamed and my breath +came and went, for I knew the song; he had given it to me four +years agone. Who was the sweetest woman in the world? Oh! he made +this song for me!--he made this song for me, and none but me! But +these rude revellers would not know that--and I never guessed that +the song was for me. How could I think that he would write these +extravagances for me? But poets cannot mean what they say-- + + As rides the moon in azure skies, + The twinkling stars beside; + As when in splendour she doth rise, + Their lesser lights they hide. + So beside Celia, when her face we see, + All unregarded other maidens be. + + As Helen in the town of Troy + Shone fair beyond all thought, + That to behold her was a joy + By death too poorly bought. + So when fair Celia deigns the lawn to grace, + All life, all joy, dwells in her lovely face. + + As the sweet river floweth by + Green banks and alders tall, + It stayeth not for prayer or sigh, + Nor answereth if we call. + So Celia heeds not though Love cry and weep; + She heavenward wendeth while we earthward creep. + + The marbled Saint, so cold and pure, + Minds naught of earthly ways; + Nor can man's gauds entice or lure + That fixéd heavenly gaze. + So Celia, though thou Queen and Empress art, + To heaven, to heaven alone, belongs thy heart. + +Now, while Humphrey sang this song, a hush fell upon the revellers; +they had expected nothing but a common drinking-song. After the +bawling and the noise and the ribaldry 'twas like a breath of fresh +air after the closeness of a prison; or like a drink of pure water +to one half-dead with thirst. + +'Robin,' I said, 'there is one good man in the camp.' I say that +while Humphrey sang this song--which, to be sure, was neither a +drinking-song, nor a party song, nor a song of wickedness and +folly--the company looked at each other in silence, and neither +laughed nor offered to interrupt. Nay, there were signs of grace +in some of their faces, which became grave and thoughtful. When +Humphrey finished it he laid down the guitar and rose up with a bow, +saying, 'I have sung my song, gentlemen all--and so, good-night!' +and walked out of the room. + +'Robin,' I said again, 'thank God there is one good man in the camp! +I had forgotten Humphrey.' + +'Yes,' Robin replied; 'Humphrey is a good man, if ever there was +one. But he is glum. Something oppresses him. His eyes are troubled, +and he hangs his head; or, if he laughs at all, it is as if he +would rather cry. Yet all the way home from Holland he was joyful, +save when his head was held over the side of the ship. He sang and +laughed; he spoke of great things about to happen. I have never +known him more happy. And now his face is gloomy, and he sighs when +he thinks no one watcheth him. Perhaps, like thee, Sweet, he cannot +abide the noise and riot of the camp. He would fain see every man +Bible in hand. To-day he spent two hours with the Duke before the +Council, and was with thy father afterwards. 'Tis certain that the +Duke hath great confidence in him. Why is he so gloomy? He bitterly +reproached me for leaving Sir Christopher, as if he alone had a +conscience to obey or honour to remember!' + +Humphrey came forth at this moment and stood for a moment on the +steps. Then he heaved a great sigh and walked away slowly with +hanging head, not seeing us. + +'What is the matter with him?' said Robin. 'Perhaps they flout him +for being a physician. These fellows have no respect for learning or +for anyone who is not a country gentleman. Well, perhaps when we are +on the march he will again pick up his spirits. They are going to +sing again. Shall we go, Child?' + +But the president called a name which made me stop a little longer. + +'Barnaby!' he cried; 'jolly Captain Barnaby! Now that Doctor +Graveairs hath left us we will begin the night. Barnaby, my hero, +thy song. Pill up, gentlemen! The night is young, and to-morrow we +march. Captain Barnaby, tip us a sea-song. Silence, gentlemen, for +the Captain's song.' + +It was my brother that they called upon--no other. He got up from +his place at the summons and rose to his feet. Heavens! what a broad +man he seemed compared with those who sat beside him! His face was +red and his cheeks swollen because of the strong drink he had taken. +In his hand he held a full glass of it. Robin called it hipsy--and +it is a mixture of wine, brandy, and water with lemon juice and +sugar--very heady and strong. + +Said not Barnaby that there was one religion for a landsman and +another for a sailor? I thought of that as he stood looking round +him. If it were so, it would be truly a happy circumstance for most +sailors; but I know not on what assurance this belief can be argued. +Then Barnaby waved his hand. + +'Yoho! my lads!' he shouted. 'The ship's in port and the crew has +gone ashore!' + +Then he began to sing in a deep voice which made the glasses ring-- + + Shut the door--lock the door-- + Out of window fling the key. + Hasten; bring me more, bring me more: + Fill it up. Fill it up for me. + The daylight which you think, + The daylight which you think, + The daylight which you think, + 'Tis but the candle's flicker: + The morning star will never wink, + The morning star will never wink, + Till there cometh stint of liquor. + For 'tis tipple, tipple, tipple all around the world, my lads, + And the sun in drink is nightly lapped and curled, my lads, + And to-night let us drink, and to-morrow we'll to sea; + For 'tis tipple, tipple, tipple--yes, 'tis tipple, tipple, tipple-- + Makes the world and us to jee. + +'Take me home, Robin,' I said, 'I have seen and heard enough. Alas! +we have need of all the prayers that we can utter from the depths of +our heart, and more!' + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +BENJAMIN'S WARNING. + + +Since I have so much to tell, before long, of Benjamin's evil +conduct, it must in justice be recorded of him that at this juncture +he endeavoured, knowing more of the world than we of Somerset, to +warn and dissuade his cousins from taking part in any attempt which +should be made in the West. And this he did by means of a letter +written to his father. I know not how far the letter might have +succeeded, but, unfortunately, it arrived two or three days too +late--when our boys had already joined the insurgents. + +'Honoured Sir,' he wrote, 'I write this epistle, being much +concerned in spirit lest my grandfather, whose opinions are well +known, not only in his own county, but also at the Court, should +be drawn into, or become cognisant of, some attempt to raise the +West Country against their lawful King. It will not be news to you +that the Earl of Argyle hath landed in Scotland, where he will meet +with such a reception which will doubtless cause him to repent +of his rashness. It is also currently reported, and everywhere +believed, that the Duke of Monmouth intends immediately to embark +and cross the sea, with the design of raising the country in +rebellion. The Dissenters, who have been going about with sour looks +for five-and-twenty years, venture now to smile and look pleased +in anticipation of another civil war. This may follow, but its +termination, I think, will not be what they expect. + +'I have also heard that my cousin Humphrey, Dr. Eykin's favourite +pupil, who hath never concealed his opinions, hath lately returned +from Holland (where the exiles are gathered), and passed through +London accompanied by Robin. I have further learned that while +in London he visited (but alone, without Robin's knowledge) many +of those who are known to be friends of the Duke and red-hot +Protestants. Wherefore, I greatly fear that he hath been in +correspondence with the exiles, and is cognisant of their designs, +and may even be their messenger to announce the intentions of his +Protestant champion. Certain I am that should any chance occur of +striking a blow for freedom of worship, my cousin, though he is weak +and of slender frame, will join the attempt. He will also endeavour +to draw after him everyone in his power. Therefore, my dear father, +use all your influence to withstand him, and, if he must for his own +part plunge into ruin, persuade my grandfather and my cousin Robin +to stay quiet at home. + +'I hear it on the best authority that the temper of the country, +and especially in your part of it, hath been carefully studied by +the Government, and is perfectly well known. Those who would risk +life and lands for the Duke of Monmouth are few indeed. He may, +perhaps, draw a rabble after him, but no more. The fat tradesmen, +who most long for the conventicle, will not fight, though they may +pray for him. The country gentlemen may be Protestants, but they +are mostly for Church and King. It is quite true that his Majesty +is a Roman Catholic, nor hath he ever concealed or denied his +religion, being one who scorns deception. It is also true that his +profession of faith is a stumbling-block to many who find it hard to +reconcile their teaching of Non-Resistance and Divine Right with the +introduction of the Mass and the Romish Priest. But the country had +not yet forgotten the sour rule of the Independent; and, rather than +suffer him to return, the people will endure a vast deal of Royal +Prerogative. + +'It is absolutely certain--assure my grandfather on this point, +whatever he may learn from Humphrey--that the better sort will never +join Monmouth, whether he comes as another Cromwell to restore +the Commonwealth, or whether he aspires to the Crown and dares to +maintain--a thing which King Charles did always stoutly deny--that +his mother was married. Is it credible that the ancient throne of +these Kingdoms should be usurped by the base-born son of Lucy Waters? + +'I had last night the honour of drinking a bottle of wine with that +great lawyer, Sir George Jeffreys. The conversation turned upon this +subject. We were assured by the Judge that the affections of the +people are wholly with the King; that the liberty of worship which +he demands for himself he will also willingly extend to the country, +so that the last pretence of reason for disaffection shall be +removed. Why should the people run after Monmouth, when, if he were +successful, he could give no more than the King is ready to give? +I was also privately warned by Sir George that my grandfather's +name is unfavourably noted, and his actions and speeches will be +watched. Therefore, Sir, I humbly beg that you will represent to him +and to my cousins, and to Dr. Eykin himself, first the hopelessness +of any such enterprise and the certainty of defeat; and next the +punishment which will fall upon the rebels and upon those who lend +them any countenance. Men of such a temper as Dr. Comfort Eykin +will, doubtless, go to the scaffold willingly with their mouths full +of the texts which they apply to themselves on all occasions. For +such I have no pity, yet for the sake of his wife and daughter I +would willingly, if I could, save him from the fate which will be +his if Monmouth lands in the West. And as for my grandfather, 'tis +terrible to think of his white hairs blown by the breeze while the +hangman adjusts the knot; and I should shudder to see the blackened +limbs of Robin stuck upon poles for all the world to see. + +'It is my present intention, if my affairs permit, to follow +my fortunes on the Western Circuit in the autumn, when I shall +endeavour to ride from Taunton or Exeter to Bradford Orcas. My +practice grows apace. Daily I am heard in the Courts. The Judges +already know me and listen to me. The juries begin to feel the +weight of my arguments. The attorneys besiege my chambers. For a +junior I am in great demand. It is my prayer that you, Sir, may live +to see your son Chancellor and a Peer of the realm. Less than Lord +Chancellor will not content me. As for marriage, that might hinder +my rise; I shall not marry yet. There is in your parish, Sir, one +who knows my mind upon this matter. I shall be pleased to think that +you will assure her--you know very well whom I mean--that my mind +is unaltered, and that my way is now plain before me. So, I remain, +with dutiful respect, + + your obedient son, B. B.' + +This letter arrived, I say, after the departure of Robin with his +company of village lads. + +When Mr. Boscorel had read it slowly and twice over, so as to lose +no point of the contents, he sat and pondered awhile. Then he arose, +and with troubled face he sought Sir Christopher, to whom he read it +through. Then he waited for Sir Christopher to speak. + +'The boy writes,' said his Honour, after a while, 'according to his +lights. He repeats the things he hears said by his boon companions. +Nay, more, he believes them. Why, it is easy for them to swear +loyalty and to declare in their cups where the affections of the +people are placed.' + +'Sir Christopher, what is done cannot be undone. The boys are +gone--alas!--but you still remain. Take heed for a space what you +say as well as what you do.' + +'How should they know the temper of the country?' Sir Christopher +went on, regardless. 'What doth the foul-mouthed profligate Sir +George Jeffreys know concerning sober and godly people? These are +not noisy Templars; they are not profligates of the Court; they +are not haunters of tavern and pot-house; they are not those who +frequent the play-house. Judge Jeffreys knows none such. They +are lovers of the Word of God; they wish to worship after their +fashion; they hate the Pope and all his works. Let us hear what +these men say upon the matter.' + +'Nay,' said Mr. Boscorel; 'I care not greatly what they say. But +would to God the boys were safe returned.' + +'Benjamin means well,' Sir Christopher went on. 'I take this warning +kindly; he means well. It pleases me that in the midst of the work +and the feasting, which he loves, he thinks upon us. Tell him, +son-in-law, that I thank him for his letter. It shows that he hath +preserved a good heart.' + +'As for his good heart'--Mr. Boscorel stroked his nose with his +forefinger--'so long as Benjamin gets what he wants--which is +Benjamin's mess, and five times the mess of any other--there is no +doubt of his good heart.' + +'Worse things than these,' said Sir Christopher, 'were said of us +when the civil wars began. The King's troops would ride us down; the +country would not join us; those of us who were not shot or cut down +in the field would be afterwards hanged, drawn, and quartered. Yet +we drove the King from his throne.' + +'And then another King came back again. So we go up, and so we +go down. But about this expedition and about these boys my mind +misgives me.' + +'Son-in-law,' Sir Christopher said solemnly, 'I am now old, and the +eyes of my mind are dim, so that I no longer discern the signs of +the times, or follow the current of the stream; moreover, we hear +but little news, so that I cannot even see any of those signs. Yet +to men in old age, before they pass away to the rest provided by the +Lord, there cometh sometimes a vision by which they are enabled to +see clearly when younger men are still groping their way in a kind +of twilight. Monmouth hath landed; my boys are with him; they are +rebels; should the rising fail, their lives are forfeit; and that of +my dear friend Dr. Comfort Eykin's--yea, and my life as well belike, +because I have been a consenting party. Ruin and death will in that +event fall upon all of us. Whether it will so happen I know not, nor +do I weigh the chance of that event against the voice of conscience, +duty, and honour. My boys have obeyed that voice; they have gone +forth to conquer or to die. My vision doth not tell me what will +happen to them. But it shows me the priest flying from the country, +the King flying from the throne, and that fair angel, whom we call +Freedom of Conscience, returning to bless the land. To know that the +laws of God will triumph--ought not that to reconcile a man, already +seventy-five years of age, to death, even a death upon the gallows? +What matter for this earthly body so that it be spent until the end +in the service of the Lord?' + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +WE WAIT FOR THE END. + + +I have said that my father from the beginning unto the end of this +business was as one beside himself, being in an ecstasy or rapture +of mind insomuch that he heeded nothing. The letters he sent out to +his friends, the Nonconformists, either brought no answer or else +they heaped loads of trouble, being intercepted and read, upon those +to whom they were addressed. But he was not moved. The defection +of his friends and of the gentry caused him no uneasiness. Nay, he +even closed his eyes and ears to the drinking, the profane oaths, +and the riotous living in the camp. Others there were, like-minded +with himself, who saw the hand of the Lord in this enterprise, and +thought that it would succeed by a miracle. The desertions of the +men, which afterwards followed, and the defection of those who +should have joined--these things were but the weeding of the host, +which should be still further weeded--as in a well-known chapter +in the Book of Judges--until none but the righteous should be left +behind. These things he preached daily, and with mighty fervour, to +all who would listen; but these were few in number. + +As regards his wife and daughter he took no thought for them at all, +being wholly enwrapped in his work; he did not so much as ask if we +had money--to be sure, for five-and-twenty years he had never asked +that question--or if we were safely bestowed; or if we were well. +Never have I seen any man so careless of all earthly affections when +he considered the work of the Lord. But when the time came for the +army to march, what were we to do? Where should we be bestowed? + +'As to following the army,' said Robin, 'that is absurd. We know +not whither we may march or what the course of events may order. +You cannot go home without an armed escort, for the country is up; +the clubmen are out everywhere to protect their cattle and horses, +a rough and rude folk they would be to meet; and the gipsies are +robbing and plundering. Can you stay here until we come back, or +until the country hath settled down again?' + +Miss Blake generously promised that we should stay with her as long +as we chose, adding many kind things about myself, out of friendship +and a good heart; and so it was resolved that we should remain +in Taunton, where no harm could befall us, while my father still +accompanied the army to exhort the soldiers. + +'I will take care of him,' said Barnaby. 'He shall not preach of a +morning till he hath taken breakfast, nor shall he go to bed until +he hath had his supper. So long as the provisions last out he shall +have his ration. After that I cannot say. Maybe we shall all go on +short commons, as hath happened to me already; and, truth to tell, +I love it not. All these things belong to the voyage, and are part +of our luck. Farewell, therefore, mother. Heart up!--all will go +well! Kiss me, Sis; we shall all come back again. Never fear. King +Monmouth shall be crowned in Westminster. Dad shall be Archbishop +of Canterbury, and I shall be Captain of a King's ship. All our +fortunes shall be made, and you, Sis, shall have a great estate, and +shall marry whom you please--Robin or another. As for the gentry who +have not come forward, hang 'em, we'll divide their estates between +us and so change places, and they will be so astonished at not being +shot for cowardice that they will rejoice and be glad to clean our +boots. Thus shall we all be happy.' + +So they marched away, Monmouth being now at the head of an army +seven thousand strong, and all in such spirits that you would have +thought nothing could withstand them. And when I consider, and +remember how that army marched away, with the cheers of the men and +the laughter and jokes of the young recruits, the tears run down my +cheeks for thinking how their joy was turned to mourning, and life +was exchanged for death. The last I saw of Robin was that he was +turning in his saddle to wave his hand, his face full of confidence +and joy. The only gloomy face in the whole army that morning was +the face of Humphrey. Afterwards I learned that almost from the +beginning he foresaw certain disaster. In the first place, none +of those on whom the exiles of Holland had relied came into camp. +These were the backbone of the Protestant party--the sturdy blood +that had been freely shed against Charles I. This was a bitter +disappointment. Next, he saw in the army nothing but a rabble of +country lads, with such officers as Captain Hucker, the Serge-maker, +instead of the country gentlemen, with their troops, as had been +expected; and from the beginning he distrusted the leaders--even the +Duke himself. So he hung his head and laughed not with the rest. But +his doubts he kept locked up in his own heart. Robin knew none of +them. + +It was a pretty sight to see the Taunton maids walking out for a +mile and more with their lovers who had joined Monmouth. They walked +hand-in-hand with the men; they wore the Monmouth favours; they had +no more doubt or fear of the event than their sweethearts. Those +who visit Taunton now may see these women (now grown old) creeping +about the streets lonely and sorrowful, mindful still of that Sunday +morning when they saw their lovers for the last time. + +When I consider the history of this expedition I am amazed that it +did not succeed. It was, surely, by a special judgment of God that +the victory was withheld from Monmouth and reserved for William. I +say not (presumptuously) that the judgment was pronounced against +the Duke on account of his sinful life, but I think it was the +will of Heaven that the country should endure for three years the +presence of a Prince who was continually seeking to advance the +Catholic religion. The people were not yet ripe, perhaps, for that +universal disgust which caused them without bloodshed (in this +island at least) to pull down King James from his throne. When, I +say, I consider the temper and the courage of that great army which +left Taunton, greater than any which the King could bring against +it; when I consider the multitudes who flocked to the standard at +Bridgwater, I am lost in wonder at the event. + +From Sunday, the 21st, when the army marched out of Taunton, till +the news came of their rout on Sedgemoor, we heard nothing certain +about them. On Tuesday the Duke of Albemarle, hearing that the army +had gone, occupied Taunton with the Militia, and there were some +who expected severities on account of the welcome given to the Duke +and the recruits whom he obtained here. But there were no acts of +revenge that I heard of--and, indeed, he did not stay long in the +town. As for us, we remained under the shelter of Miss Blake's roof, +and daily expected news of some great and signal victory. But none +came, save one letter. Every day we looked for this news, and every +day we planned and laid down the victorious march for our army. + +'They will first occupy Bristol,' said Miss Blake. 'That is certain, +because there are many stout Protestants in Bristol, and the place +is important. Once master of that great city, our King will get +possession of ships, and so will have a fleet. There are, no doubt, +plenty of arms in the town, with which he will be able to equip an +army ten times greater than that which he now has. Then with--say, +thirty thousand men--he will march on London. The Militia will, of +course, lay down their arms or desert at the approach of this great +and resolute army. The King's regiments will prove, I expect, to be +Protestants, every man. Oxford will open her gates, London will send +out her train-bands to welcome the Deliverer, and so our King will +enter in triumph and be crowned at Westminster Abbey, one King James +succeeding another. Then there shall be restored to this distracted +country'--being a schoolmistress, Miss Blake could use language +worthy of the dignity of history--'the blessings of religious +freedom; and the pure Word of God, stripped of superstitious +additions made by man, shall be preached through the length and +breadth of the land.' + +'What shall be done,' I asked, 'with the Bishops?' + +'They shall be suffered to remain,' she said, speaking with a voice +of authority, 'for those congregations which desire a prelacy, +but stripped of their titles and of their vast revenues. We will +not persecute, but we will never suffer one Church to lord it over +another. Oh! when will the news come? Where is the army now?' + +The letter of which I have spoken was from Robin. + +'Sweetheart,' he said, 'all goes well so far. At Bridgwater we have +received a welcome only second to that of Taunton. The Mayor and +Aldermen proclaimed our King at the High Cross, and the people have +sent to the camp great store of provisions and arms of all kinds. +We are now six regiments of foot with a thousand cavalry, besides +the King's own body-guard. We have many good friends at Bridgwater, +especially one, Mr. Roger Hoar, who is a rich merchant of the place, +and is very zealous in the Cause. Your father preached on Sunday +evening from the text (Deuteronomy vii. 5), "Ye shall destroy their +altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and +burn their graven images with fire." It was a most moving discourse, +which fired the hearts of all who heard it. + +'They say that our chief is downhearted because the nobility and +gentry have not come in. They only wait for the first victory, +after which they will come in by hundreds. But some of our men look +forward to depriving them of their estates, and dividing them among +themselves; and already the Colonels and Majors are beginning to +reckon up the great rewards which await them. As for me, there is +but one reward for which I pray--namely, to return unto Bradford +Orcas and to the arms of my sweet saint. Lord Churchill is reported +to be at Chard; there has been a brush in the Forest of Neroche +between the scouts, and it is said that all the roads are guarded +so that recruits shall be arrested or at least driven back. Perhaps +this is the reason why the gentry sit down. Barnaby says that so +far there have been provisions enough and to spare; and he hopes +the present plenty may continue. No ship's crew can fight, he says, +on half rations. Our march will be on Bristol. I hope and believe +that when we have gotten that great town our end is sure. Humphrey +continueth glum.' + +Many women there were who passed that time in prayer, continually +offering up supplications on behalf of husband, brother, lover or +son. But at Taunton the Vicar, one Walter Harte, a zealous High +Churchman, came forth from hiding, and, with the magistrates, said +prayers daily for King James II. + +To tell what follows is to renew a time of agony unspeakable. Yet +must it be told. Farewell, happy days of hope and confidence! +Farewell, the sweet exchange of dreams! Farewell to our lovely hero, +the gracious Duke! All the troubles that man's mind can conceive +were permitted to be rained upon our heads--defeat, wounds, death, +prison--nay, for me such a thing as no one could have expected or +even feared--such a fate as never entered the mind of man to invent. + +When the Duke marched out of Bridgwater, across Sedgemoor to +Glastonbury, the weather, which had been hot and fine, became cold +and rainy, which made the men uncomfortable. At Glastonbury they +camped in the ruins of the old abbey. Thence they went to Shepton +Mallet, the spirits of the men still being high. From Shepton Mallet +they marched to a place called Pensford, only five miles from +Bristol. Here they heard that the bridge over the Avon at Keynsham +was broken down. This being presently repaired, the army marched +across. They were then within easy reach of Bristol. + +And now began the disasters of the enterprise. Up to this time +everything had prospered. Had the Duke boldly attacked Bristol--I +speak not of my own wisdom, having none in such matters, but from +others' wisdom--he would have encountered no more than twenty +companies or thereabouts of Militia, and a regiment of two hundred +and fifty horse. Moreover, Bristol was full of Dissenters, who +wanted nothing but encouragement to join the Protestant champion. +Not only the Duke's friends, but also his enemies, agree in +declaring that it wanted nothing but courage to take that great, +rich, and populous city, where he would have found everything +that he wanted--men and money, arms and ammunition. I cannot but +think that for his sins, or for the sins of the nation, a judicial +blindness was caused to fall upon the Duke, so that he chose, of +two ways open to him, that which led to his destruction. In short, +he turned away from Bristol, and drew up his forces against Bath. +When he summoned that city to surrender, they shot his herald, and +scoffed at him. Then, instead of taking the town, the Duke retired +to Philip's Norton, where, 'tis said, he expected some great +reinforcements. But none came; and he now grew greatly dejected, +showing his dejection in his face, which could conceal nothing. Yet +he fought an action with his half-brother, the Duke of Grafton, in +which he was victorious, a thing which ought to have helped him. +In this action Lieutenant Blake, Miss Blake's cousin, was killed. +From Philip's Norton the army marched to Frome, and here such was +the general despondency that two thousand men--a third of the whole +army--deserted in the night and returned to their own homes. I +think, also, it was at Frome that they learned the news of Lord +Argyle's discomfiture. + +Then a council was held, at which it was proposed that the army +should be disbanded and ordered to return, seeing that the King had +proclaimed a pardon to all who would peacefully lay down their arms +and return home; and that the Duke, with Lord Grey, and those who +would be certainly exempted from that pardon, should make the best +of their way out of the country. + +Alas! here was a way open to the safety of all those poor men; but +again was the Duke permitted to choose the other way--that, namely, +which led to the destruction of his army and himself. Yet they say +that he himself recommended the safer course. He must have known +that he wanted arms and ammunition; that his men were deserting; +and that no more recruits came in. Colonel Venner, one of his +principal men, was at this juncture sent away to Holland in order +to get assistance in arms and money. And the King's proclamation of +pardon was carefully kept from the knowledge of the soldiers. + +On July the 4th the army returned to Bridgwater, and now Dr. Hooke, +chaplain to the army, and some of the officers were sent away +secretly in order to raise an insurrection in London and elsewhere; +the only hope being that risings in various parts would call away +some of the King's forces from the West. Some of the Taunton men in +the army rode from Bridgwater to see their friends. But we women +(who, for the most part, remained at home) learned no news save +that as yet there had been no signal victory: we did not hear of +the large desertions nor of the Duke's despondency. Therefore, we +continued in our fool's paradise and looked every day for some great +and crowning mercy. Those who are on the side of the Lord are always +expecting some special interference; whereas, they ought to be +satisfied with being on the right side, whether victory or defeat be +intended for them. In this enterprise I doubt not that those godly +men (there were, I dare say, some godly men) who fell in battle, or +were afterwards executed, received their reward, and that a far, far +greater reward than their conduct deserved--for who can measure the +short agony of death beside the everlasting life of glory and joy +unspeakable? + +The last day of this fatal expedition was Sunday, the fifth day +of July: so that it took no more than three weeks in all between +its first beginning and its failure. Only three weeks! But how +much longer was it before the punishment and the expiation were +concluded? Nay, are they even yet concluded when thousands of +innocent women and children still go in poverty and mourning for the +loss of those who should have worked for them? + +In the morning my father preached to the soldiers on the text +(Joshua xxii. 22), 'The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, He +knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in +transgression against the Lord, save us not this day.' + +And now the time was come when the last battle was to be fought. + +The Earl of Feversham, who had been at Somerton, marched this day +across Sedgemoor and encamped at Weston Zoyland, which is but five +or six miles from Bridgwater. + +Now it chanced that one William Sparke, of Chedzoy, hearing of this +advance, climbed the church tower, and, by aid of a spying-glass, +such as sailors use at sea, he discerned clearly the approach of +the army and its halt at Weston. Being a well-wisher to the Duke, +he sent one of his men, Richard Godfrey by name, with orders to spy +into and learn the position and numbers of the Earl's army, and +to carry his information straightway to Bridgwater. This duty the +fellow promised, and most faithfully performed. + +The Duke had already learned the approach of Lord Feversham, +and, being now wellnigh desperate with his continued losses, and +seeing his army gradually wasting away, with no fresh recruits, +he had resolved upon not waiting to be attacked, but on a retreat +northwards, hoping to get across the bridge at Keynsham, and so +march into Shropshire and Cheshire, where still he hoped to raise +another army. But (says he who hath helped me with this brief +account of the expedition) the retreat, which would have been +harassed by Lord Feversham's horse, would have turned into flight; +the men would have deserted in all directions; and when the remains +of the army arrived at Keynsham Bridge they would certainly have +found it occupied by the Duke of Beaufort. + +The carriages were already loaded in readiness for this march; it +was to begin at nightfall; when the arrival of the man Godfrey, and +the news that he brought, caused the Duke to change everything. For +he now perceived that such a chance was offered him as had never +before occurred since his landing: viz., a night surprise, and, if +he were fortunate, the rout of the King's best troops. + +It is said that had the Duke shown the same boldness in the matter +of Bristol that he showed in this night attack, he would have gained +that city first and his own cause next. Nor did it appear at all a +desperate attempt. For, though Lord Feversham had 2,500 men with +him, horse and foot, with sixteen field-pieces, the Duke had nearly +3,000 foot (counting those armed with pikes and scythes) and 600 +horse with four field-pieces, and though the King's troops included +many companies of Grenadiers, with a battalion of that famous +regiment the Coldstream Guards, and some hundred horse of the King's +regiment and dragoons, the Duke had with him at least 2,000 men well +armed and resolute, as the event showed. Besides this, he had the +advantage of the surprise and confusion of a night attack. And in +addition, the camp was not entrenched, the troopers had all gone to +bed, the foot-soldiers were drinking cider, and the officers were +reported to be all drunk. + +Therefore, it was resolved that the intended flight into Shropshire +should be abandoned, and that the whole matter should be brought to +an issue that very night. + +Had the attack succeeded, all might yet have gone well with the +Duke. His enemies boasted that his raw country lads would be routed +at the first charge of regular soldiers; if he proved the contrary, +those who had deserted him would have returned; those who held aloof +would join. It was not the Cause which found men lukewarm; it was +the doubt--and nothing but the doubt--whether the Duke's enterprise +would be supported. And I never heard that any found aught but +commendation of the boldness and spirit which brought us to the +battle of Sedgemoor. + +All that day we spent in quiet meditation, in prayer, in the reading +of the Bible, and in godly discourses, and herein I must commend +the modesty as well as the piety of Miss Susan Blake, in that she +invited my mother, as her elder and the wife of an eminent minister, +to conduct the religious exercises, though as the hostess she might +have demanded that privilege. We stirred not abroad at all that day. +The meeting-houses, which had been opened when the Duke marched in, +were now closed again. + +In the evening, while we sat together discoursing upon the special +mercies vouchsafed to the people of the Lord, a strange thing +happened. Nay, I do not say that news may not have reached Taunton +already of the Duke's intentions, and of the position of the King's +forces. But this seems incredible, since it was not known--except to +the council by whom it was decided--till late in the afternoon, and +it was not to be thought that these would hurry to spread the news +abroad, and so ruin the whole affair. The window being open, then, +we could hear the voices of those who talked in the street below. +Now, there passed two men, and they were talking as they went. Said +one--and these were the words we heard-- + +'I tell thee that the Duke will have no more to do than to lock the +stable doors, and so seize the troopers in their beds.' + +We all started and listened. The voice below repeated-- + +'I say, Sir, and I have it first hand, that he hath but to lock the +stable doors and so seize all the troopers in their beds.' + +Then they passed on their way. + +Said my mother: 'My husband hath told me that not only may the +conscience be awakened by a word which seemeth chance, but the +future may be revealed by words which were perhaps meant in another +sense. What we have heard this evening may be a foretelling of +victory. My children, let us pray, and so to bed.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE DAY AFTER THE FIGHT. + + +It was five o'clock when I awoke next morning. Though the hour was +so early, I heard a great trampling and running about the streets, +and, looking out of window, I saw a concourse of the townspeople +gathered together, listening to one who spoke to them. But in the +middle of his speech they broke away from him and ran to another +speaker, and so distractedly, and with such gestures, that they +were clearly much moved by some news, the nature of which I could +not guess. For in some faces there was visible the outward show of +triumph and joy, and on others there lay plainly visible the look +of amazement or stupefaction; and in the street I saw some women +weeping and crying. What had happened? Oh! what had happened? Then, +while I was still dressing, there burst into the room Susan Blake, +herself but half dressed, her hair flying all abroad, the comb in +her hand. + +'Rejoice!' she cried. 'Oh! rejoice, and give thanks unto the Lord! +What did we hear last night? That the Duke had but to shut the +stable doors and seize the troopers in their beds. Look out of +window. See the people running and listening eagerly. Oh! 'tis the +crowning mercy that we have looked for: the Lord hath blown and His +enemies are scattered. Remember the strange words we heard last +night. What said the unknown man?--nay, he said it twice: "The Duke +had but to lock the stable doors." Nay, and yesterday I saw, and +last night I heard, the screech-owl thrice--which was meant for the +ruin of our enemies. Oh! Alice, Alice, this is a joyful day!' + +'But look,' I said, 'they have a downcast look; they run about as if +distracted, and some are wringing their hands----' + +''Tis with excess of joy,' she replied, looking out of the window +with me, though her hair was flying in the wind. 'They are so +surprised and so rejoiced that they cannot speak or move.' + +'But there are women weeping and wailing; why do they weep?' + +'It is for those who are killed. Needs must in every great victory +that some are killed--poor brave fellows!--and some are wounded. +Nay, my dear, thou hast three at least at the camp, who are dear to +thee; and God knows I have many. Let us pray that we do not have to +weep like those poor women.' + +She was so earnest in her looks and words, and I myself so willing +to believe, that I doubted no longer. + +'Listen! oh! listen!' she cried; 'never, never before have bells +rung a music so joyful to my heart.' + +For now the bells of the great tower of St. Mary's began to ring. +Clash, clash, clash, all together, as if they were cracking their +throats with joy, and at the sound of the bells those men in the +street, who seemed to me stupefied as by a heavy blow, put up their +hands to their ears and fled as if they could not bear the noise, +and the women who wept wrung their hands, and shrieked aloud in +anguish, as if the joy of the chimes mocked the sorrow of their +hearts. + +'Poor creatures!' said Susan. 'From my heart I pity them. But the +victory is ours, and now it only remains to offer up our humble +prayers and praises to the Throne of all mercy.' + +So we knelt and thanked God. + +'O Lord! we thank and bless Thee! O Lord! we thank and bless Thee!' +cried Susan, the tears of joy and gratitude running down her cheeks. + +Outside, the noise of hurrying feet and voices increased, and more +women shrieked, and still the joy-bells clashed and clanged. + +'O Lord! we thank Thee! O Lord! we bless Thee!' Susan repeated on +her knees, her voice broken with her joy and triumph. 'Twas all that +she could say. + +I declare that at that moment I had no more doubt of the victory +than I had of the sunshine. There could be no doubt. The joy-bells +were ringing: how should we know that the Rev. Mr. Harte, the Vicar, +caused them to be rung, and not our friends? There could be no +manner of doubt. The people running to and fro in the street had +heard the news, and were rushing to tell each other and to hear +more--the women who wept were mothers or wives of the slain. Again, +we had encouraged each other with assurances of our success, so +that we were already fully prepared to believe that it had come. +Had we not seen a splendid army, seven thousand strong, march out +of Taunton town, led by the bravest man and most accomplished +soldier in the English nation? Was not the army on the Lord's side? +Were we not in a Protestant country? Were not the very regiments of +the King Protestants? Why go on? And yet--oh! sad to think!--even +while we knelt and prayed, the army was scattered like a cloud of +summer gnats by a shower and a breeze, and hundreds lay dead upon +the field, and a thousand men were prisoners; and many were already +hanging in gemmaces upon the gibbets, where they remained till King +William's coming suffered them to be taken down; and the rest were +flying in every direction hoping to escape. + +'O Lord! we thank Thee! O Lord! we bless Thee!' + +While thus we prayed we heard the door below burst open, and a +trampling of a man's boots; and Susan, hastily rolling up her hair, +ran downstairs, followed by mother and myself. + +There stood Barnaby. Thank God! one of our lads was safe out of the +fight. His face and hands were black with powder; his red coat, +which had been so fine, was now smirched with mud and stained with +I know not what--marks of weather, of dust, and of gunpowder; the +right-hand side was torn away; he had no hat upon his head, and a +bloody clout was tied about his forehead. + +'Barnaby!' I cried. + +'Captain Barnaby!' cried Susan, clasping her hands. + +'My son!' cried mother. 'Oh! thou art wounded! Quick, Alice, +child--a basin of water, quick!' + +'Nay--'tis but a scratch,' he said; 'and there is no time for +nursing.' + +'When--where--how?' we all cried together, 'was the victory won? Is +the enemy cut to pieces? Is the war finished?' + +'Victory?' he repeated, in his slow way--'what victory? Give me a +drink of cider, and if there is a morsel of victual in the house----' + +I hurried to bring him both cold meat and bread and a cup full of +cider. He began to eat and drink. + +'Why,' he said, talking between his mouthfuls, 'if the worst comes +'tis better to face it with a----Your health, Madam': he finished +the cider. 'Another cup, Sister, if you love me: I have neither +eaten nor drunk since yesterday at seven o'clock, or thereabouts.' +He said no more until he had cleared the dish of the gammon and +left nothing but the bone. This he dropped into his pocket. 'When +the provisions are out,' he said wisely, 'there is good gnawing in +the shankbone of a ham.' Then he drank up the rest of the cider and +looked around. 'Victory? Did someone speak of victory?' + +'Yes--where was it? Tell us quick!' + +'Well, there was in some sort a victory. But the King had it.' + +'What mean you, Barnaby? The King had it?--what King?' + +'Not King Monmouth. That King is riding away to find some port and +get some ship, I take it, which will carry him back to Holland.' + +'Barnaby, what is it? Oh! what is it? Tell us all.' + +'All there is to tell, Sister, is that our army is clean cut to +pieces, and that those who are not killed or prisoners are making +off with what speed they may. As for me, I should have thrown away +my coat and picked up some old duds and got off to Bristol and so +aboard ship and away, but for Dad.' + +'Barnaby,' cried my mother, 'what hath happened to him? Where is he?' + +'I said, mother,' he replied very slowly, and looking in her face +strangely, 'that I would look after him, didn't I? Well, when we +marched out of Bridgwater at nightfall nothing would serve but he +must go too. I think he compared himself with Moses who stood afar +off and held up his arms. Never was there any man more eager to get +at the enemy than Dad. If he had not been a minister, what a soldier +he would have made!' + +'Go on--quick, Barnaby.' + +'I can go, Sister, no quicker than I can. That is quite sure.' + +'Where is he, my son?' asked my mother. + +Barnaby jerked his thumb over his left shoulder. + +'He is over there, and he is safe enough for the present. Well, +after the battle was over, and it was no use going on any longer, +Monmouth and Lord Grey having already run away----' + +'Run away? Run away?' + +'Run away, Sister. Aboard ship the Captain stands by the crew to +the last, and, if they strike, he is prisoner with them. Ashore, +the General runs away and leaves his men to find out when they will +give over fighting. We fought until there was no more ammunition, +and then we ran with the rest. Now, I had not gone far before I saw +lying on the moor at my very feet the poor old Dad.' + +'Oh!' + +'He was quite pale, and I thought he was dead. So I was about to +leave him when he opened his eyes. "What cheer, Dad?" He said +nothing; so I felt his pulse and found him breathing. "But what +cheer, Dad?" I asked him again. "Get up if thou canst, and come with +me." He looked as if he understood me not, and he shut his eyes +again. Now, when you run away, the best thing is to run as fast and +to run as far as you can. Yet I could not run with Dad lying in the +road half dead. So while I tried to think what to do, because the +murdering Dragoons were cutting us down in all directions, there +came galloping past a pony harnessed to a kind of go-cart, where, I +suppose, there had been a barrel or two of cider for the soldiers. +The creature was mad with the noise of the guns, and I had much ado +to catch him and hold the reins while I lifted Dad into the cart. +When I had done that, I ran by the side of the horse and drove him +off the road across the moor, which was rough going, but for dear +life one must endure much, to North Marton, where I struck the road +to Taunton, and brought him safe, so far.' + +'Take me to him, Barnaby,' said my mother. 'Take me to him.' + +'Why, mother,' he said kindly, 'I know not if 'tis wise. For, look +you--if they catch us, me they will hang or shoot, though Dad they +may let go, for he is sped already--and for a tender heart like +thine 'twould be a piteous sight to see thy son hanging from a +branch with a tight rope round his neck and thy husband dead on a +hand-cart.' + +'Barnaby, take me to him!--take me to him!' + +'Oh! Is it true? Is it true? Oh! Captain Barnaby, is it really true? +Then, why are the bells a-ringing?' + +Clash! Clash! Clash! The bells rang out louder and louder. One would +have thought the whole town was rejoicing. Yet there were a thousand +lads in the army belonging to Taunton town alone, and I know not how +many ever came home again. + +'They are ringing,' said Barnaby, 'because King Monmouth's army +is scattered and the rebellion is all over. Well: we have had our +chance and we are undone. Now must we sing small again. Madam,' he +said earnestly, addressing Susan, 'if I remember right, they were +your hands that carried the naked sword and the Bible?' + +'Sir, they were my hands. I am proud of that day.' + +'And they were your scholars who worked the flags and gave them to +the Duke that day when you walked in a procession?' + +'They were my scholars,' she said proudly. + +'Then, Madam, seeing that we have, if all reports be true, a damned +unforgiving kind of King, my advice to you is to follow my example +and run. Hoist all sail, Madam, and fly to some port--any port. +Fly false colours. When hanging, flogging, branding, and the like +amusements set in, I think they will remember the Maids of Taunton. +That is my advice, Madam.' + +'Sir,' said Susan bravely, though her cheek grew pale when he spoke +of floggings and brandings, 'I thank you. Whither should I fly? +Needs must I stay here and bear whatever affliction the Lord may lay +upon me. And, since our Protestant hero is defeated, methinks it +matters little what becomes of any of us.' + +'Why,' Barnaby shook his head, 'King Monmouth is defeated, that is +most true; but we who survive have got ourselves to look after. +Sister, get a basket and put into it provisions.' + +'What will you have, Barnaby?' + +'Everything that you can find. Cold bacon for choice, and bread, and +a bottle of drink if you have any, and--all you can lay hands upon. +With your good leave, Madam.' + +'Oh! Sir, take all--take all. I would to God that everything I have +in the world could be used for the succour of these my friends!' And +with that she began to weep and to cry. + +I filled a great basket with all that there was in the house, and he +took it upon his arm. And then we went away with many tears and fond +farewells from this kind soul who had done so much for the Cause, +and was now about to pay so heavy a penalty for her zeal. + +Outside in the street the people recognised Barnaby for one of +Monmouth's Captains, and pressed round him and asked him a thousand +questions, but he answered shortly. + +'We were drubbed, I tell you. King Monmouth hath run away. We have +all run away. How should I know how many are killed? Every man who +doth not wish to be hanged had best run away and hide. The game is +up--friend, we are sped. What more can I say? How do I know, in the +Devil's name, whose fault it was? How can I tell, Madam, if your son +is safe? If he is safe, make him creep into a hiding-place'--and so +on to a hundred who crowded after him and questioned him as to the +nature and meaning of the defeat. Seeing that no more news could be +got from him, the people left off following us, and we got out of +the town on the east side, where the road leads to Ilminster; but it +is a bad road and little frequented. + +Here Barnaby looked about him carefully to make sure that no one was +observing us, and then, finding that no one was within sight, he +turned to the right down a grassy lane between hedges. + +''Tis this way that I brought him,' he said. 'Poor old Dad! he can +now move neither hand nor foot; and his legs will no more be any use +to him. Yet he seemed in no pain, though the jolting of the cart +must have shaken him more than a bit.' + +The lane led into a field, and that field into another and a smaller +one, with a plantation of larches on two sides and a brook shaded +with alders on a third side. In one corner was a linney, with a +thatched roof supported on wooden pillars in front and closed in at +back and sides. It was such a meadow as is used for the pasture of +cattle and the keeping of a bull. + +At the entrance of this meadow Barnaby stopped and looked about him +with approbation. + +'Here,' he said slowly, 'is a hiding-place fit for King Monmouth +himself. A road unfrequented; the rustics all gone off to the +wars--though now, I doubt not, having had their bellyfull of +fighting. I suppose there were once cattle in the meadow, but they +are either driven away by the clubmen for safety, or they have been +stolen by the gipsies. No troopers will this day come prying along +this road, or if they do search the wood, which is unlikely, they +will not look in the linney; here can we be snug until we make up +our minds what course is best.' + +'Barnaby,' I said, 'take us to my father without more speech.' + +'I have laid him,' he went on, 'upon the bare ground in the linney; +but it is soft and dry lying, and the air is warm, though last night +it rained and was cold. He looks happy, mother, and I doubt if he +hath any feeling left in his limbs. Once I saw a man shot in the +backbone and never move afterwards, but he lived for a bit. Here he +is.' + +Alas! lying motionless on his back, his head bare, his white hair +lying over his face, his eyes closed, his cheek white, and no sign +of life in him except that his breast gently heaved, was my father. +Then certain words which he had uttered came back to my memory. +'What matters the end,' were the words he said, 'if I have freedom +of speech for a single day?' + +He had enjoyed that freedom for three weeks. + +My mother threw herself on her knees beside him and raised his head. + +'Ah! my heart,' she cried, 'my dear heart, my husband, have they +killed thee? Speak, my dear--speak if thou canst! Art thou in pain? +Can we do aught to relieve thee? Oh! is this the end of all?' + +But my father made no reply. He opened his eyes, but they did not +move: he looked straight before him, but he saw nothing. + +And this, until the end, was the burden of all. He spoke no word to +show that he knew anyone, or that he was in pain, or that he desired +anything. He neither ate nor drank, yet for many weeks longer he +continued to live. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +IN HIDING. + + +Thus we began our miserable flight. Thus, in silence, we sat in the +shade of the linney all the morning. Outside, the blackbird warbled +in the wood and the lark sang in the sky. But we sat in silence, +not daring so much as to ask each other if those things were real +or if we were dreaming a dreadful dream. Still and motionless lay +my father's body, as if the body of a dead man. He felt no pain--of +that I am assured; it makes me sick even to think that he might have +suffered pain from his wound; he had no sense at all of what was +going on. Yet once or twice, during the long trance or paralysis +into which he had fallen, he opened his lips as if to speak. And he +breathed gently--so that he was not dead. Barnaby, for his part, +threw himself upon his face, and, laying his head upon his arm, +fell asleep instantly. The place was very quiet; at the end of the +meadow was a brook, and there was a wood upon the other side; we +could hear the prattling of the water over the pebbles; outside the +linney, a great elm-tree stretched out its branches; presently I saw +a squirrel sitting upon one and peering curiously at us, not at all +afraid, so still and motionless we were. I remember that I envied +the squirrel. He took no thought even for his daily bread. He went +not forth to fight. And the hedge-sparrows, no more afraid than +if the linney was empty, hopped into the place and began picking +about among the straw. And so the hours slowly passed away, and by +degrees I began to understand a little better what had happened to +us, for at the first shock one could not perceive the extent of the +disaster, and we were as in a dream when we followed Barnaby out of +the town. The great and splendid army was destroyed; that gallant +hero, the Duke, was in flight; those of the soldiers who were not +killed or taken prisoners were running hither and thither trying to +escape; my father was wounded, stricken to death, as it seemed, and +deprived of power to move, to feel, or to think. While I considered +this, I remembered again how he had turned his eyes from gazing into +the sky, and asked me what it mattered even if the end would be +death to him and ruin unto all of us. And I do firmly believe that +at that moment he had an actual vision of the end, and really saw +before his eyes the very things that were to come to pass, and that +he knew all along what the end would be. Yet he had delivered his +soul--why, then he had obtained his prayer--and by daily exhortation +had doubtless done much to keep up the spirit of those in the army +who were sober and godly men. Did he also, like Sir Christopher, +have another vision which should console and encourage him? Did he +see the time to follow when a greater than the Duke should come and +bring with him the deliverance of the country? There are certain +gracious words with which that vision closes (the last which he +did expound to us), the vision, I mean, of the Basket of Summer +Fruit. Did those words ring in his mind and comfort him even in the +prospect of his own end? Then my thoughts, which were swift and yet +beyond my control, left him and considered the case of Barnaby. He +had been a Captain in the Green Regiment; he would be hanged, for +certain, if he were caught. My sweetheart, my Robin, had also been a +Captain in the Duke's army. All the Duke's officers would be hanged +if they were caught. But perhaps Robin was already dead--dead on +the battlefield--his face white, his hands stiff, blood upon him +somewhere, and a cruel wound upon his dear body! Oh, Robin! Yet I +shed no tears. Humphrey, who had been one of the Duke's chyrurgeons, +he would also be surely hanged if he were caught. Why--since all +would be hanged--why not hang mother and me as well, and so an end! + +About noon Barnaby began to stir; then he grunted and went to sleep +again: presently he moved once more, then he rolled over on his +broad back and went to sleep again. It was not until the sun was +quite low that he awoke, sitting up suddenly, and looking about him +with quick suspicion, as one who hath been sleeping in the country +of an enemy, or where wild beasts are found. + +Then he sprang to his feet and shook himself like a dog. + +'Sister,' he said, 'thou shouldst have awakened me earlier. I have +slept all the day. Well, we are safe, so far.' Here he looked +cautiously out of the linney towards the wood and the road. 'So +far, I say, we are safe. I take it we had best not wait until +to-morrow, but budge to-night. For not only will the troopers scour +the country, but they will offer rewards; and the gipsies--ay, and +even the country-folk--will hasten to give information out of their +greedy hearts. We must budge this very night.' + +'Whither shall we go, Barnaby?' + +He went on as if he had not heard my question. + +'We shall certainly be safe here for to-night; but for to-morrow I +doubt. Best not run the chance. For to-day their hands are full: +they will be hanging the prisoners. Some they will hang first and +try afterwards, some they will try first and hang afterwards. What +odds if they are to be hanged in the end? The cider orchards never +had such fruit as they will show this autumn, if the King prove +revengeful--as, to judge by his sour face, he will be.' + +Here he cursed the King, his sour face, his works and ways, his +past, his present, and his future, in round language, which I hope +his wounded father did not hear. + +'We must lie snug for a month or two somewhere, until the unlucky +Monmouth men will be suffered to return home in peace. Ay! 'twill be +a month and more, I take it, before the country will be left quiet. +A month and more--and Dad not able to crawl!' + +'Where shall we lie snug, Barnaby?' + +'That, Sister, is what I am trying to find out. How to lie snug with +a couple of women and a wounded man who cannot move? 'Twas madness +of the poor old Dad to bring thee to the camp, Child. For now we +cannot--any of us--part company, and if we stay together 'twill +maybe bring our necks to the halter.' + +'Leave us, Barnaby,' I said. 'Oh! leave us to do what we can for the +poor sufferer, and save thyself.' + +'Ta, ta, ta, Sister--knowest not what thou sayest. Let me consider. +There may be some way of safety. As for provisions, now: we have the +basket full--enough for two days say--what the plague did Dad, the +poor old man, want with women when fighting was on hand? When the +fighting is done, I grant you, women, with the tobacco and punch, +are much in place. Those are pretty songs, now, that I used to sing +about women and drink.' + +'Barnaby, is this a time to be talking of such things as drink and +singing?' + +'All times are good. Nevertheless, all company is not fitting. +Wherefore, Sis, I say no more.' + +'Barnaby, knowest thou aught of Robin? Or of Humphrey?' + +'I know nothing. They may be dead; they may be wounded and +prisoners; much I fear, knowing the spirit of the lads, that both +are killed. Nay, I saw Humphrey before the fight, and he spoke to +me----' + +'What did Humphrey say?' + +'I asked why he hung his head and looked so glum, seeing that we +were at last going forth to meet the King's army. This I said +because I knew Humphrey to be a lad of mettle, though his arm is +thin and his body is crooked. "I go heavy, Barnaby," he said, +speaking low lest others should hear, "because I see plainly that, +unless some signal success come to us, this our business will end +badly." Then he began to talk about the thousands who were to have +been raised all over the country; how he himself had brought to +the Duke promises of support gathered all the way from London to +Bradford Orcas, and how his friends in Holland even promised both +men and arms; but none of these promises had been kept; how Dad +had brought promises of support from all the Nonconformists of the +West, but hardly any, save at Taunton, had come forward; and how +the army was melting away, and no more recruits coming in. And then +he said that he had been the means of bringing so many to the Duke +that if they died their deaths would lie upon his conscience. And +he spoke lovingly of Robin and of thee, Sister. And so we parted, +and I saw him no more. As for what he said, I minded it not a straw. +Many a croaker turns out in the long run to be brave in the fight. +Doubtless he is dead; and Robin, too. Both are dead. I take it, +Sis, thou hast lost thy sweetheart. Cry a little, my dear,' he added +kindly; ''twill ease the pain at thy heart. 'Tis natural for a woman +to cry.' + +'I cannot cry, Barnaby: I wish I could. The tears rise to my eyes, +but my throat is dry.' + +'Try a prayer or two, Sister. 'Twas wont to comfort the heart of my +mother when she was in trouble.' + +'A prayer? Brother, I have done nothing but pray since this +unfortunate rebellion began. A prayer? Oh, I cannot pray! If I were +to pray now it would be as if my words were echoed back from a wall +of solid rock. We were praying all yesterday; we made the Sabbath +into a day of prayer without ceasing; and this morning, when you +opened the door, we were praising and thanking God for the mercy of +the great victory bestowed upon us. And at that time the poor brave +men----' + +'They were brave enough to the end,' said Barnaby. + +'The poor brave men lying cold and dead upon the field (among them, +maybe, Robin!), and the prisoners huddled together somewhere, and +men hanging already upon the gibbets. We were praising God--and my +father lying on the ground stricken to death, and thou a fugitive, +and all of us ruined! Prayer? How could I pray from such a pit of +woe?' + +'Child'--my mother lifted her pale face--'in the darkest hour pray +without ceasing. Even if there happen a darker hour than this, in +everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your +requests be made known--with thanksgiving, my daughter.' + +Alas! I could not obey the apostolic order. 'Twas too much for me. +So we fell into silence. When the sun had quite gone down Barnaby +went forth cautiously. Presently he came back. + +'There is no one on the road,' he said. 'We may now go on our way. +The air of Taunton is dangerous to us. It breeds swift and fatal +diseases. I have now resolved what to do. I will lift my father upon +the cart again and put in the pony. Four or five miles sou'-west or +thereabouts is Black Down, which is a No-Man's-Land. Thither will +we go and hide in the combs, where no one ever comes, except the +gipsies.' + +'How shall we live Barnaby?' + +'That,' he said, 'we shall find out when we come to look about us. +There is provision for two days. The nights are warm. We shall +find cover or make it with branches. There is water in the brooks +and dry wood to burn. There we may, perhaps, be safe. When the +country is quiet, we will make our way across the hills to Bradford +Orcas, where no one will molest you, and I can go off to Bristol +or Lyme, or wherever there are ships to be found. When sailors are +shipwrecked, they do not begin by asking what they shall do on dry +land: they ask only to feel the stones beneath their feet. We must +think of nothing now but of a place of safety.' + +'Barnaby, are the open hills a proper place for a wounded man?' + +'Why, Child, for a choice between the hills and what else may happen +if we stay here, give me the hills, even for a wounded man. But, +indeed'--he whispered, so that my mother should not hear him--'he +will die. Death is written on his face. I know not how long he will +live. But he must die. Never did any man recover from such evil +plight.' + +He harnessed the pony to the cart, which was little more than a +couple of planks laid side by side, and laid father upon them, just +as he had brought him from Taunton. My mother made a kind of pillow +for him, with grass tied up in her kerchief, and so we hoped that he +would not feel the jogging of the cart. + +'The stream,' said Barnaby, 'comes down from the hills. Let us +follow its course upwards.' + +It was a broad stream with a shallow bed, for the most part flat and +pebbly, and on either side of the stream lay a strip of soft turf, +broad enough for the cart to run upon. So that, as long as that +lasted, we had very easy going, my mother and I walking one on each +side, so as to steady the pillow and keep the poor head upon it from +pain. But whether we went easy, or whether we went rough, that head +made no sign of feeling aught, and lay, just as in the linney, as if +dead. + +I cannot tell how long we went on beside that stream. 'Twas in a +wild, uncultivated country; the ground ascended; the stream became +narrower and swifter; presently the friendly strip of turf failed +altogether, and then we had trouble to keep the cart from upsetting. +I went to the pony's head, and Barnaby, going behind the cart, +lifted it over the rough places, and sometimes carried his end of +it. The night was chilly; my feet were wet with splashing in the +brook, and I was growing faint with hunger, when Barnaby called a +halt. + +'We are now,' he said, 'at the head of the stream. In half an hour, +or thereabouts, it will be break of day. Let us rest. Mother, you +must eat something. Come, sister, 'tis late for supper, and full +early for breakfast. Take some meat and bread and half a cup of +cider.' + +It is all I remember of that night. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE CAMP IN THE COMB. + + +Our camping-place, when I awoke in the morning, I found to be near +the head of a most beautiful comb or valley among the Black Down +Hills. I knew it not at the time, but it was not far from that +old Roman stronghold which we had passed on our way to Taunton, +called Castle Ratch. The hills on the Somerset side are of a gentle +or gradual slope, and the valley was not deep, but yet, where we +lay, so grown over with trees as to afford a complete shelter and +hiding-place, while at our feet the brook took its rise in a green +quagmire and began to make its way downwards among ferns and bushes, +and through a wild, uncultivated country, beyond which the farms +and fields began. The birds were singing, the sun was already high, +and the air was warm, though there was a fresh breeze blowing. The +warmth and sweetness filled my soul when I awoke, and I sat up with +joy, until suddenly I remembered why we were here, and who were +here with me. Then my heart sank like a lump of lead in water. I +looked around. My father lay just as he had been lying all the day +before, motionless, white of cheek, and as one dead, save for the +slight motion of his chest and the twitching of his nostril. As I +looked at him in the clear morning light, it was borne in upon me +very strongly that he was indeed dead, inasmuch as his soul seemed +to have fled. He saw nothing, he felt nothing. If the flies crawled +over his eyelids he made no sign of disturbance; yet he breathed, +and from time to time he murmured--but as one that dreameth. Beside +him lay my mother sleeping, worn out by the fatigues of the night. +Barnaby had spread his coat to cover her so that she should not take +cold, and he had piled a little heap of dead leaves to make her a +pillow. He was lying at her feet, head on arm, sleeping heavily. +What should be done, I wondered, when next he woke? + +First I went down the comb a little way till the stream was deep +enough, and there I bathed my feet, which were swollen and bruised +by the long walk up the comb. Though it was in the midst of so +much misery there was a pleasure of dabbling my feet in the cool +water and afterwards of walking about barefoot in the grass. I +disturbed an adder which was sleeping on a flat stone in the sun, +and it lifted its venomous head and hissed, but did not spring upon +me. Then I washed my face and hands and made my hair as smooth as +without a comb it was possible. When I had done this I remembered +that perhaps my father might be thirsty or at least able to drink, +though he seemed no more to feel hunger or thirst. So I filled +the tin pannikin--it was Barnaby's--with water and tried to pour +a little into his mouth. He seemed to swallow it, and I gave him +a little more until he would swallow no more. Observe that he +took no other nourishment than a little water, wine, or milk, or +a few drops of broth until the end. So I covered his face with a +handkerchief to keep off the flies, and left him. Then I looked into +the basket. All that there was in it would not be more than enough +for Barnaby's breakfast, unless his appetite should fail him by +reason of fear; though, in truth, he had no fear being captured, or +of anything else. There was in it a piece of bacon, a large loaf of +bread, a lump of cheese, a bottle of cider; nothing more. When these +provisions were gone, what next? Could we venture into the nearest +village and buy food, or to the first farm-house? Then we might fall +straight into the jaws of the enemy, who were probably running over +the whole country in search of the fugitives. Could we buy without +money? Could we beg without arousing suspicions? If the people were +well-inclined to the Protestant cause we might trust them. But how +could we tell that? So in my mind I turned over everything except +the one thing which might have proved our salvation, and that you +shall hear directly. Also, which was a very strange thing, I quite +forgot that I had upon me, tied by a string round my waist and well +concealed, Barnaby's bag of gold--two hundred and fifty pieces. +Thus there was money enough and to spare. I discovered, next, that +our pony had run away in the night. The cart was there, but no pony +to drag it. Well, it was not much; but it seemed an additional +burden to bear. I ventured a little way up the valley, following a +sheep-track which mounted higher and higher. I saw no sign anywhere +of man's presence; that, I take it, is marked in woods by circles of +burnt cinders, by trees felled, by bundles of broom or fern tied up, +or by shepherds' huts. Here there was nothing at all; you would have +said that the place had never been visited by man. Presently I came +to a place where the woods ceased, the last of the trees being much +stunted and blown over from the west; and then the top of the hill +began, not a sharp pico or point, but a great open plain, flat, or +swelling out here and there with many of the little hillocks which +people say are ancient tombs. And no trees at all, but only bare +turf, so that one could see a great way off. But there was no sign +of man anywhere: no smoke in the comb at my feet; no shepherd on +the hill. At this juncture of our fortunes any stranger might be an +enemy; therefore I returned, but so far well pleased. + +Barnaby was now awake, and was inspecting the basket of provisions. + +'Sister,' he said, 'we must go upon half rations for breakfast; but +I hope, unless my skill fails, to bring you something better for +supper. The bread you shall have, and mother. The bacon may keep +till to-morrow. The cider you had better keep against such times +as you feel worn out and want a cordial, though a glass of Nantz +were better, if Nantz grew in the woods.' He looked around as if to +see whether a miracle would not provide him with a flask of strong +drink, but, seeing none, shook his head. + +'As for me,' he went on, 'I am a sailor, and I understand how to +forage. Therefore, yesterday, foreseeing that the provisions might +give out, I dropped the shank of the ham into my pocket. Now you +shall see.' + +He produced this delicate morsel, and, sitting down, began to gnaw +and to bite into the bone with his strong teeth, exactly like a dog. +This he continued, with every sign of satisfaction, for a quarter of +an hour or so, when he desisted, and replaced the bone in his pocket. + +'We throw away the bones,' he said. 'The dogs gnaw them and devour +them. Think you that it is for their amusement? Not so; but for the +juices and the nourishment that are in and around the bone; for the +marrow and for the meat that still will stick in odd corners.' He +went down to the stream with the pannikin and drank a cup or two of +water to finish what they called a horse's meal--namely, the food +first and the water afterwards. + +'And now,' he added, 'I have breakfasted. It is true that I am still +hungry, but I have eaten enough to carry me on for a while. Many a +poor lad cast away on a desert shore would find a shank of a ham a +meal fit for a king; aye, and a meal or two after that. I shall make +a dinner presently off this bone; and I shall still keep it against +a time when there may be no provision left.' + +Then he looked about him, shading his eyes with his hand. 'Let us +consider,' he said. 'The troopers, I take it, are riding along the +roads. Whether they will ride over these hills, I know not; but I +think they will not, because their horses cannot well get up these +combs. Certainly, if they do, it will not be by the way we came. We +are here, therefore, hidden away snug. Why should we budge? Nowhere +is there a more deserted part of the country than Black Down, on +whose side we are. And I do not think, further, that we should +find anywhere a safer place to hide ourselves in than this comb, +where, I dare to say, no one comes, unless it be the gipsies or the +broom-squires, all the year round. And now they are all laden with +the spoil of the army--for, after a battle, this gentry swoop down +upon the field like the great birds which I have seen abroad upon +the carcases of drowned beasts, and plunder the dead. Next they must +go into town in order to sell their booty; then they will be fain to +drink about till all is spent; so they will leave us undisturbed. +Therefore, we will stay here, Sister. First, I will go and try the +old tricks by which I did often in the old time improve the fare +at home. Next, I will devise some way of making a more comfortable +resting-place. Thank the Lord for fine weather, so far.' + +He was gone a couple of hours. During that time my mother awoke. Her +mind was broken by the suddenness of this trouble, and she cared +no more to speak, sitting still by the side of her husband, and +watching for any change in him. But I persuaded her to take a little +bread and a cup of cider. + +When Barnaby came back, he brought with him a blackbird, a thrush, +and two wood-pigeons. He had not forgotten the tricks of his +boyhood, when he would often bring home a rabbit, a hare, or a +basket of trout. So that my chief terror, that we might be forced +to abandon our hiding-place through sheer hunger, was removed. But +Barnaby was full of all kinds of devices. + +He then set to work with his great knife, cutting down a quantity of +green branches, which he laid out side by side, with their leaves +on, and then bound them together, cleverly interlacing the smaller +shoots and branches with each other, so that he made a long kind of +hurdle, about six feet high. This, which by reason of the leaves +was almost impervious to the wind, he disposed round the trunks of +three young trees growing near each other. Thus he made a small +three-cornered inclosure. Again, he cut other and thicker branches, +and laid them over and across this hurdle, and cut turf which he +placed upon the branches, so that here was now a hut with a roof and +walls complete. Said I not that Barnaby was full of devices? + +'There,' he said, when all was ready, 'is a house for you. It will +have to rain hard and long before the water begins to drop through +the branches which make the roof and the slabs of turf. Well, 'tis a +shelter. Not so comfortable as the old cottage, perhaps, but nearly +as commodious. If it is not a palace, it will serve us to keep off +the sun by day and the dew by night.' + +Next he gathered a great quantity of dry fern, dead leaves, and +heather, and these he disposed within the hut, so that they made a +thick and warm carpet or covering. Nay, at night they even formed +a covering for the feet and prevented one from feeling cold. When +all was done, he lifted my father gently and laid him with great +tenderness upon this carpet within the rude shelter. + +'This shall be a warmer night for thee than the last, Dad,' he said. +'There shall be no jolting of thy poor bones. What, mother? We can +live here till the cold weather comes. The wind will perhaps blow +a bit through the leaves to-night, but not much, and to-morrow I +will see to that. Be easy in your mind about the provisions'--Alas! +my poor mother was thinking of anything in the world except the +provisions--'There are rabbits and birds in plenty; we can catch +them and eat them; bread we must do without when what we have is +gone, and as for strong drink and tobacco'--he sighed heavily--'they +will come again when better times are served out.' + +In these labours I helped as much as I was able, and particularly +in twisting the branches together. And thus the whole day passed, +not tediously, and without any alarms, the labour being cheered by +the hopefulness of Barnaby's honest face. No one, to look at that +face, could believe that he was flying for his life, and would be +hanged if he was caught. After sunset we lit a fire, but a small one +only, and well hidden by the woods, so that its light might not be +seen from below. Then Barnaby dexterously plucked and trussed the +birds and roasted them in the embers, so that had my heart been at +rest I should have had a most delicious supper. And I confess that +I did begin to pluck up a little courage, and to hope that we might +yet escape, and that Robin might be living. After supper my mother +prayed, and I could join with more of resignation and something of +faith. Alas! in times of trial how easily doth the Christian fall +from faith! The day before, prayer seemed to me a mockery; it was as +if all prayer were addressed to a deaf God, or to one who will not +hear; for our prayers had all been for safety and victory, and we +were suddenly answered with disaster and defeat. + +After supper, Barnaby sat beside the embers and began to talk in a +low voice. + +''Twill be a sorrowful barley-mow song this year,' he said; 'a dozen +brave lads from Bradford alone will be dead.' + +'Not all dead, Barnaby! Oh! not all!' + +'I know not. Some are prisoners, some are dead, some are running +away.' Then he began to sing in a low voice, + + 'Here's a health to the barley-mow-- + +I remember, Sister, when I would run a mile to hear that song, +though my father flogged me for it in the morning. 'Tis the best +song ever written.' He went on singing in a kind of whisper-- + + 'We'll drink it out of the nipperkin, boys-- + +Robin--poor Robin! he is dead!--was a famous hand at singing it; but +Humphrey found the words too rustical. Humphrey--who is now dead, +too!--was ever for fine words, like Mr. Boscorel. + + 'We'll drink it out of the jolly brown bowl-- + +'I think I see him now--poor Robin! Well; he is no more. He used to +laugh in all our faces while he sang it:-- + + 'We'll drink it out o' the river, my boys. + Here's a health to the barley-mow! + The river, the well, the pipe, the hogshead, the half- + Hogshead, the anker, the half-anker, the gallon, the + Pottle, the quart, the pint, the half-pint, the quarter- + Pint, the nipperkin, the jolly brown bowl, my boys, + Here's a health to the barley-mow!' + +He trolled out the song in a melodious whisper. Oh! Barnaby, how +didst thou love good companionship with singing and drinking! + +''Twill be lonely for thee, Sister, at Bradford when thou dost +return; Sir Christopher, I take it, will not long hold up his head, +and Madam will pine away for the loss of Robin, and mother looks as +if she would follow after, so white and wan is she. If she would +speak or complain or cry it would comfort her, poor soul! 'Twas a +sad day for her when she married the poor old Dad. Poverty and hard +work, and now a cruel end--poor mother!' + +'Barnaby, you tear my heart!' + +'Nay, Child, 'tis better to talk than to keep silence. Better have +your heart torn than be choked with your pain. Thou art like unto a +man who hath a wounded leg, and if he doth not consent to have it +cut off, though the anguish be sharp, he will presently bleed to +death. Say to thyself therefore, plain and clear, "Robin is dead; I +have lost my sweetheart."' + +'No--no--Barnaby--I cannot say those cruel words! Oh! I cannot say +them; I cannot feel that Robin is truly dead!' + +'Put the case that he is living. Then he is either a prisoner or +he is in hiding. If a prisoner, he is as good as dead; because the +Duke's officers and the gentlemen who joined him, they will never +forgive--that is quite certain. If I were a prisoner I should feel +my neck already tightened. If he is not a prisoner, where is he to +hide?--whither betake himself? I can get sailors' duds and go abroad +before the mast; and ten to one nobody will find me out, because, +d'ye see, I can talk the sailors' language, and I know their manners +and customs. But Robin--what is Robin to do, if he is alive? And +this, I say, is doubtful. Best say to thyself, "I have lost my +sweetheart." So wilt thou all the sooner recover thy cheerfulness.' + +'Barnaby, you know not what you say! Alas! if my Robin is dead--if +my boy is truly dead--then I ask for nothing more than swift +death--speedy death--to join him and be with him!' + +'If he escape he will make for Bradford Orcas and hide in the Corton +woods. That is quite certain. They always make for home. I would +that we were in that friendly place, so that you could go live in +the cottage and bring provisions, with tobacco and drink, to us +unsuspected and unseen. When we have rested here a while we will +push across the hills and try to get there by night; but it is +a weary way to drag that wounded man. However'--he broke off and +said earnestly--'make up thy mind, Child, to the worst. 'Tis as if +a shipwrecked man should hope that enough of the ship would float +to carry him home withal. Make up thy mind. We are all ruined and +lost--all--all--all. Thy father is dying--thy lover is dead--thou +art thyself in great danger by reason of that affair at Taunton. +Everything being gone, turn round therefore and make thyself as +comfortable as possible. What will happen we know not. Therefore +count every day of safety for gain, and every meal for a respite.' + +He was silent for a while, leaving me to think over what he had +said. Here, indeed, was a philosopher. Things being all lost, and +our affairs in a desperate condition, we were to turn round and +make ourselves as comfortable as we could! This, I suppose, is what +sailors are wont to do; certainly they are a folk more exposed to +misfortune than others, and therefore, perhaps, more ready to make +the best of whatever happens. + +'Barnaby,' I said presently, 'how can I turn round and make myself +comfortable?' + +'The evening is still,' he said, without replying. 'See, there is a +bat, and there another. If it were not for the trouble in there'--he +pointed to the hut--'I should be easy in my mind and contented. I +could willingly live here a twelvemonth. Why, compared with the lot +of the poor devils who must now be in prison, what is ours? They +get the foul and stinking clink, with bad food, in the midst of +wounded men whose hurts are putrefying, with jail fever, and with +the whipping-post or the gallows to come. We breathe sweet air, we +find sufficient food--to-morrow, if I know any of the signs, thou +shalt taste a roasted hedgehog, dish fit for a king! I found at +the bottom of the comb a pot left by some gipsies: thou shalt have +boiled sorrel and mushrooms to thy supper. If we stay here long +enough there will be nuts and blackberries and whortleberries. Pity, +a thousand pities, there is not a drop of drink! I dream of punch +and hipsy. Think upon what remains, even if thou canst not bear to +think of what is lost. Hast ever seen a tall ship founder in the +waves? They close over her as she sinks, and, in an instant, it is +as if that tall ship with all her crew had never been in existence +at all. The army of Monmouth is scattered and ruined. Well; it is, +with us, amidst these woods, just as if there had been no army. It +has been a dream perhaps. Who can tell? Sometimes all the past seems +to have been a dream. It is all a dream--past and future. There is +no past and there is no future; all is a dream. But the present we +have. Let us be content therewith.' + +He spoke slowly and with measured accents as one enchanted. +Sometimes Barnaby was but a rough and rude sailor. At other times, +as these, he betrayed signs of his early education and spoke as one +who thought. + +'It is ten years and more since last I breathed the air of the +hills. I knew not that I loved so much the woods and valleys and the +streams. Some day, if I survive this adventure, I will build me a +hut and live here alone in the woods. Why, if I were alone I should +have an easy heart. If I were driven out of one place I could find +another. I am in no hurry to get down among men and towns. Let us +all stay here and be happy. But there is Dad--who lives not, yet is +not dead. Sister, be thankful for thy safety in the woods, and think +not too much upon the dead.' + +We lived in this manner, the weather being for the most part +fine and warm, but with showers now and then, for a fortnight or +thereabouts, no one coming up the comb and there being still no sign +of man's presence in the hills. Our daily fare consisted of the +wild birds snared by Barnaby, such creatures as rabbits, hedgehogs, +and the like, which he caught by ingenious ways, and trout from the +brook which he caught with a twisted pin or by tickling them with +his hand. There were also mushrooms and edible leaves, such as the +nettle, wild sorrel, and the like of which he knew. These we boiled +and ate. He also plucked the half-ripe blackberries and boiled them +to make a sour drink, and one which, like the cider loved by our +people, would grip his throat because he could not endure plain +cold water. And he made out of the bones of the birds a kind of +thin broth for my father, of which he daily swallowed a teaspoonful +or so. So that we fared well, if not sumptuously. The bread, to be +sure, which Barnaby left for mother and me, was coming to the last +crust, and I know not how we should have got more without venturing +into the nearest village. + +Now, as I talked every night with my brother, I found out what a +brave and simple soul it was--always cheerful and hopeful, talking +always as if we were the most fortunate people in the world, instead +of the most miserable, and yet by keeping the truth before me, +preventing me from getting into another Fool's Paradise as to our +safety and Robin's escape, such as that into which I had fallen +after the army marched out of Taunton. I understand now, that he +was always thinking how to smooth and soften things for us, so that +we might not go distracted with anxiety and grief; finding work for +me, talking about other things--in short, the most thoughtful and +affectionate brother in all the world. As for my mother, he could +do nothing to move her. She still sat beside her wounded husband, +watching all day long for any sign of consciousness or change. + +Seeing that Barnaby was so good and gentle a creature, I could not +understand how it was that in the old days he used to get a flogging +most days for some offence or other, so that I had grown up to +believe him a very wicked boy indeed. I put this question to him one +night. + +He put it aside for a while, replying in his own fashion. + +'I remember Dad,' he said, 'before thou canst, Sister. He was always +thin and tall, and he always stooped as he walked. But his hair, +which now is white, was brown, and fell in curls which he could not +straighten. He was always mighty grave; no one, I am sure, ever saw +him laugh; I have never seen him so much as smile, except sometimes +when he dandled thee upon his knee, and thou wouldst amuse him with +innocent prattle. All his life he hath spent in finding out the way +to Heaven. He did find the way--I suppose he hath truly discovered +it--and a mighty thorny and difficult way it is, so that I know not +how any can succeed in reaching port by such navigation. The devil +of it is that he believes there is no other way; and he seemed never +so happy as when he had found another trap or pitfall to catch the +unwary, and send them straight to hell. + +'For my part,' Barnaby went on slowly, 'I could never love such +a life. Let others, if they will, find out rough and craggy ways +that lead to heaven. For my part, I am content to jog along the +plain and smooth high road with the rest of mankind, though it +brings us in the end to a lower place, inhabited by the baser sort. +Well, I dare say I shall find mates there, and we will certainly +make ourselves as comfortable as the place allows. Let my father, +therefore, find out what awaits him in the other world; let me take +what comes in this. Some of it is sweet and some is bitter; some +of it makes us laugh and sing and dance; and some makes us curse +and swear and bellow out, as when one is lashed to the hatches +and the cat falls on his naked back. Sometimes, Sister, I think +the naked negroes of the Guiney Coast the happiest people in the +world. Do they trouble their heads about the way to heaven? Not +they. What comes they take, and they ask no more. Has it made Dad +the happier to find out how few are those who will sit beside him +when he hath his harp and crown? Not so. He would have been happier +if he had been a jolly ploughboy whistling to his team, or a jolly +sailor singing over his pannikin of drink of a Saturday night. He +tried to make me follow in his footsteps; he flogged me daily in +the hope of making me take, like himself, to the trade of proving +out of the Holy Bible that most people are surely damned. The more +he flogged, the less I yearned after that trade; till at last I +resolved that, come what would, I would never thump a pulpit like +him in conventicle or church. Then, if you will believe me, Sister, +I grew tired of flogging, which, when it comes every day, wearies a +boy at fourteen or fifteen more than you would think. Now, one day, +while I was dancing to the pipe and tabor with some of the village +girls, as bad luck would have it, Dad came by. "Child of Satan!" +he roared, seizing me by the ear, which I verily thought he would +have pulled off. Then to the girls, "Your laughter shall be turned +into mourning," and so lugged me home and sent me supperless to bed, +with the promise of such a flogging in the morning as should make +all previous floggings seem mere fleabites or joyous ticklings in +comparison. This decided me. So in the dead of night I crept softly +down the stairs, cut myself a great hunch of bread and cheese, and +ran away and went to sea.' + +'Barnaby, was it well done--to run away?' + +'Well, Sister, 'tis done; and if it was ill done, 'tis by this time, +no doubt, forgotten. Now, remember, I blame not my father. Before +all things he would save my soul alive. That was why he flogged +me. He knew but one way, and along that way he would drive me. So +he flogged me the harder. I blame him not. Yet had I remained he +would doubtless be flogging me still. Now, remember again, that ever +since I understood anything I have always been enraged to think upon +the monstrous oppression which silenced him and brought us all to +poverty, and made my mother, a gentlewoman born, work her fingers to +the bone, and caused me to choose between being a beggarly scholar, +driven to teach brats and endure flouts and poverty, or to put on an +apron and learn a trade. Wherefore when I found that Monmouth was +going to hoist his flag, I came with him in order to strike a blow, +and I hoped a good blow, too, at the oppressors.' + +'You have struck that blow, Barnaby, and where are we?' + +He laughed. + +'We are in hiding. Some of the King's troopers did I make to bite +the dust. They may hang me for it, if they will. They will not bring +those troopers back to life. Well----Sister, I am sleepy. Good +night!' + +We might have continued this kind of life I know not how much +longer. Certainly, till the cold nights came. The weather continued +fine and warm; the hut kept off dews at night; we lay warm among +the heather and the ferns; Barnaby found a sufficiency of food; my +father grew no worse, to outward seeming; and we seemed in safety. + +Then an ill chance and my own foolishness marred all. + +One day, in the afternoon, Barnaby being away looking after his +snares and gins, I heard, lower down the comb, voices as of +boys talking. This affrighted me terribly. The voices seemed to +be drawing nearer. Now if the children came up as high as our +encampment, they could not fail to see the signs of habitation. +There was the hut among the trees and the iron pot standing among +the grey embers of last night's fire. The cart stood on one side. +We could not possibly remain hidden. If they should come up so far +and find us, they would certainly carry the report of us down to the +village. + +I considered, therefore, what to do, and then ran quickly down the +comb, keeping among the trees so as not to be seen. + +After a little I discovered, a little way off, a couple of boys +about nine years of age. They were common village boys, rosy +faced and wholesome: they carried a basket, and they were slowly +making their way up the stream, stopping now to throw a stone at a +squirrel, and now to dam the running water, and now to find a nut or +filbert ripe enough to be eaten. By the basket which they carried +I knew that they were come in search of whortleberries, for which +purpose they would have to get quite to the end of the comb and the +top of the hill. + +Therefore, I stepped out of the wood and asked them whence they came +and whither they were going. + +They told me in plain Somersetshire (the language which I love, +and would willingly have written this book in it, but for the +unfortunate people who cannot understand it) that they were sent by +their parents to get whortleberries, and that they came from the +little village of Corfe, two miles down the valley. This was all +they had to say, and they stared at me as shyly as if they had never +before encountered a stranger. I clearly perceive now that I ought +to have engaged them in conversation and drawn them gently down the +valley in the direction of their village until we reached the first +appearance of a road, when I could have bidden them farewell or sent +them up the hill by another comb. But I was so anxious that they +should not come up any higher that I committed a great mistake, and +warned them against going on. + +'Boys,' I said, 'beware! If you go higher up the comb you will +certainly meet wild men, who always rob and beat boys;' here they +trembled, though they had not a penny in the world. 'Ay, boys! and +sometimes have been known to murder them. Turn back--turn back--and +come no farther.' + +The boys were very much frightened, partly at the apparition of a +stranger where they expected to find no one, and partly at the news +of wild and murderous men in a place where they had never met with +anyone at all, unless it might have been a gipsy camp. After gazing +at me stupidly for a little while they turned and ran away, as fast +as their legs could carry them, down the comb. + +I watched them running, and when they were out of sight I went back +again, still disquieted, because they might return. + +When I told Barnaby in the evening, he, too, was uneasy. For, he +said, the boys would spread abroad the report that there were people +in the valley. What people could there be but fugitives? + +'Sister,' he said, 'to-morrow morning must we change our quarters. +On the other side of the hills looking south, or to the east +in Neroche Forest, we may make another camp, and be still more +secluded. For to-night I think we are in safety.' + +What happened was exactly as Barnaby thought. For the lads ran home +and told everybody that up in the comb there were wild men who +robbed and murdered people: that a lady had come out of the wood +and warned them to go no farther, lest they should be robbed and +murdered. They were certain it was a lady, and not a country-woman; +nor was it a witch; nor a fairy or elf, of whom there are many on +Black Down. No; it was a lady. + +This strange circumstance set the villagers a-talking; they talked +about it at the inn, whither they nightly repaired. + +[Illustration: '_"Boys," I said, "beware; if you go up higher you +will certainly meet wild men."_'] + +In ordinary times they might have talked about it to their heart's +content, and no harm done; but in these times talk was dangerous. +In every little village there are one or two whose wits are sharper +than the rest, and, therefore, they do instigate whatever mischief +is done in that village. At Corfe, the cobbler it was who did +the mischief. For he sat thinking while the others talked, and he +presently began to understand that there was more in this than his +fellows imagined. He knew the hills; there were no wild men upon +them who would rob and murder two simple village boys. Gipsies there +were, and broom-squires sometimes, and hedge-tearers: but murderers +of boys--none. And who was this gentlewoman? Then he guessed the +whole truth: there were people lying hidden in the comb; if people +hidden, they were Monmouth's rebels. A reward would be given for +their capture. Fired with this thought he grasped his cudgel and +walked off to the village of Orchard Portman, where, as he had +heard, there was lying a company of Grenadiers sent out to scour +the country. He laid his information, and received the promise of +reward. He got that reward, in short; but nothing prospered with +him afterwards. His neighbours, who were all for Monmouth, learned +what he had done, and shunned him. He grew moody; he fell into +poverty, who had been a thriving tradesman; and he died in a ditch. +The judgments of the Lord are sometimes swift and sometimes slow, +yet they are always sure. Who can forget the dreadful end of Tom +Boilman, as he was called, the only wretch who could be found to +cut up the limbs of the hanged men and dip them in the cauldrons of +pitch? For he was struck dead by lightning--an awful instance of the +wrath of God! + +Early next morning, about five of the clock, I sat before the hut +in the shade. Barnaby was up and had gone to look at his snares. +Suddenly I heard steps below, and the sound as of weapons clashing +against each other. Then a man came into sight--a fellow he was with +a leathern apron, who stood gazing about him. There was no time for +me to hide, because he immediately saw me and shouted to them behind +to come on quickly. Then a dozen soldiers, all armed, ran out of the +wood and made for the hut. + +'Gentlemen,' I cried, running to meet them, 'whom seek you?' + +'Who are you?' asked one, who seemed to be a Sergeant over them. +'Why are you in hiding?' + +Then a thought struck me. I know not if I was wise or foolish. + +'Sir,' I replied, 'my father, it is true, was with the Duke of +Monmouth. But he was wounded, and now lies dead in this hut. You +will suffer us to bury our dead in peace.' + +'Dead is he? That will we soon see.' + +So saying, he entered the hut and looked at the prostrate form. He +lifted one hand and let it drop. It fell like the hand of one who +is recently dead. He bent over the body and laid his hand upon the +forehead. It was cold as death. The lips were pale as wax, and the +cheeks were white. He opened an eye: there was no expression of +light in it. + +'Humph!' he said; 'he seems dead. How did he come here?' + +'My mother and I drove him here for safety in yonder cart. The pony +hath run away.' + +'That may be so; that may be so. He is dressed in a cassock: what is +his name?' + +'He was Dr. Comfort Eykin, an ejected minister and preacher in the +Duke's army.' + +'A prize, if he had been alive!' Then a sudden suspicion seized him. +He had in his hand a drawn sword. He pointed it at the breast of the +dead man. 'If he be truly dead,' he said, 'another wound will do him +no harm. Wherefore'--he made as if he would drive the sword through +my father's breast, and my mother shrieked and threw herself across +the body. + +'So!' he said, with a horrid grin, 'I find that he is not dead, but +only wounded. My lads, here is one of Monmouth's preachers; but he +is sore wounded.' + +'Oh!' I cried, 'for the love of God suffer him to die in peace!' + +'Ay, ay, he shall die in peace, I promise you so much. Meanwhile, +Madam, we will take better care of him in Ilminster Jail than you +can do here. The air is raw upon these hills.' The fellow had a glib +tongue and a mocking manner. 'You have none of the comforts which a +wounded man requires. They are all to be found in Ilminster prison, +whither we shall carry him. There will he have nothing to think +about, with everything found for him. Madam, your father will be +well bestowed with us.' + +At that moment I heard the footsteps of Barnaby crunching among the +brushwood. + +'Fly! Barnaby, fly!' I shrieked. 'The enemy is upon us!' + +He did not fly. He came running. He rushed upon the soldiers, and +hurled this man one way and that man another, swinging his long arms +like a pair of cudgels. Had he had a cudgel I believe he would have +sent them all flying. But he had nothing except his arms and his +fists; and in a minute or two the soldiers had surrounded him, each +with a bayonet pointed, and such a look in every man's eye as meant +murder had Barnaby moved. + +'Surrender!' said the Sergeant. + +Barnaby looked around leisurely. + +'Well,' he said, 'I suppose I must. As for my name, it is Barnaby +Eykin; and, for my rank, I was Captain in the Green Regiment of the +Duke's valiant army.' + +'Stop!' said the Sergeant, drawing a paper from his pocket. +'"Captain Eykin,"' he began to read, '"has been a sailor. Rolls in +his walk; height, about five foot five; very broad in the shoulders; +long in the arms; of great strength."' + +'That is so,' said Barnaby, complacently. + +'"Legs short and figure stumpy."' + +'What?' cried Barnaby, 'stumpy?' + +'"Legs short and figure stumpy,"' repeated the Sergeant reading. + +'That is so set down is it? Then,' said Barnaby, looking down at his +limbs, ''twas a pity that, with such legs as these, I did not deny +my name. Call these short, brother?' + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +ILMINSTER CLINK. + + +How can I tell--oh! how can I sit down to tell in cold blood the +story of all that followed? Some parts of it for very pity I must +pass over. All that has been told or written of the Bloody Assize +is most true, and yet not half that happened can be told. There are +things, I mean, which the historian cannot, for the sake of pity, +decency, and consideration for living people, relate, even if he +hath seen them. You who read the printed page may learn how in one +place so many were hanged; in another place so many; how some were +hung in gemmaces, so that at every cross-road there was a frightful +gibbet with a dead man on it; how some died of small-pox in the +crowded prisons, and some of fever; and how Judge Jeffreys rode from +town to town, followed by gangs of miserable prisoners driven after +him to stand their trial in towns where they would be known; how the +wretched sufferers were drawn and quartered, and their limbs seethed +in pitch, and stuck up over the whole country; how the women and +boys of tender years were flogged through market-towns--you, I say, +who read these things on the cold page presently (even if you be a +stickler for the Right Divine and hold rebellion as a mortal sin) +feel your blood to boil with righteous wrath. The hand of the Lord +was afterwards heavy upon those who ordered these things; nay, at +the very time (this is a most remarkable Judgment, and one little +known) when this inhuman Judge was thundering at his victims--so +that some went mad and even dropped down dead with fear--he was +himself, as Humphrey hath assured me, suffering the most horrible +pain from a dire disease; so that the terrors of his voice and of +his fiery eyes were partly due to the agony of his disease, and +he was enduring all through that Assize, in his own body, pangs +greater than any that he ordered! As for his miserable end, and the +fate that overtook his master, that we know; and candid souls cannot +but confess that here were truly Judgments of God, visible for all +to see and acknowledge. But no pen can truly depict what the eye saw +and the ear heard during that terrible time. And, think you, if it +was a terrible and a wretched time for those who had no relations +among the rebels, and only looked on and saw these bloody executions +and heard the lamentations of the poor women who lost their lovers +or their husbands, what must it have been for me, and those like +me, whose friends and all whom they loved--yea, all, all!--were +overwhelmed in one common ruin, and expected nothing but death? + +Our own misery I cannot truly set forth. Sometimes the memory of it +comes back to me, and it is as if long afterwards one should feel +again the sharpness of the surgeon's knife. Oh! since I must write +down what happened, let me be brief. And you who read it, if you +find the words cold where you would have looked for fire; if you +find no tears where there should have been weeping and wailing, +remember that in the mere writing have been shed again (but these +you cannot see) the tears which belonged to that time, and in the +writing have been renewed (but these you cannot hear) the sobbings +and wailings and terrors of that dreadful autumn. + +The soldiers belonged to a company of Grenadiers of Trelawny's +Regiment, stationed at Ilminster, whither they carried the +prisoners. First they handcuffed Barnaby, but, on his giving his +parole not to escape, they let him go free; and he proved useful in +the handling of the cart on which my unhappy father lay. And, though +the soldiers' talk was ribald, their jests unseemly, and their +cursing and swearing seemed verily to invite the wrath of God, yet +they proved honest fellows in the main. They offered no rudeness to +us, nor did they object to our going with the prisoners; nay, they +even gave us bread and meat and cider from their own provisions when +they halted for dinner at noon. Barnaby walked sometimes with the +soldiers, and sometimes with us; with them he talked freely, and as +if he were their comrade and not their prisoner: with us he put in a +word of encouragement or consolation, such as 'Mother, we shall find +a way out of this coil yet;' or 'Sister, we shall cheat Tom Hangman. +Look not so gloomy upon it;' or, again, he reminded us that many a +shipwrecked sailor gets safe ashore, and that where there are so +many they cannot hang all. 'Would the King,' he asked, 'hang up the +whole county of Somerset?' But he had already told me too much. In +his heart I knew he had small hope of escape; yet he preserved his +cheerfulness, and walked towards his prison (to outward seeming) as +insensible of fear, and with as unconcerned a countenance as if he +were going to a banquet or a wedding. This cheerfulness of his was +due to a happy confidence in the ordering of things rather than +to insensibility. A sailor sees men die in many ways, yet himself +remains alive. This gives him something of the disposition of the +Oriental, who accepts his fate with outward unconcern, whatever it +may be. Perhaps (I know not) there may have been in his mind that +religious Assurance of which he had told me. Did Barnaby at this +period, when death was very near unto him, really believe that there +was one religion for landsmen and another for sailors--one way to +heaven for ministers, another for seamen? Indeed, I cannot tell; +yet how otherwise account for his courage and cheerfulness at all +times--even in the very presence of death? + +'Brother,' he asked the Sergeant, 'we have been lying hid for a +fortnight, and have heard no news. Tell me, how go the hangings?' + +'Why, Captain,' the fellow replied with a grin, 'in this respect +there is little for the rebels to complain of. They ought to be +satisfied, so far, with the attentions paid to them. Lord Feversham +hanged twenty odd to begin with. Captain Adlan and three others are +trussed up in chains for their greater honour; and, in order to put +the rest in good heart, one of them ran a race with a horse, being +promised his life if he should win. When he had beaten the horse, +his Lordship, who was ever a merry man, ordered him to be hanged +just to laugh at him. And hanged he was.' + +'Ay,' said Barnaby, 'thus do the Indians in America torture their +prisoners first and kill them afterwards.' + +'There are two hundred prisoners laying in Weston Zoyland church,' +the Sergeant went on; 'they would have been hanged, too, but the +Bishop interfered. Now they are waiting to be tried. Lord! what +signifies trial, except to give them longer rope?' + +'Ay, ay; and how go things in Bridgwater and Taunton?' + +'From Weston to Bridgwater there is a line of gibbets already; in +Taunton, twenty, I believe, have swung--twenty, at least. The drums +beat, the fifes played, and the trumpets sounded, and Colonel Kirke +drank to the health of every man (such was his condescension!) +before he was turned off. 'Twould have done your heart good, +Captain, only to see the brave show.' + +'Ay, ay,' said Barnaby, unmoved; 'very like, very like. Perhaps I +shall have the opportunity of playing first part in another brave +show if all goes well. Hath the Duke escaped?' + +'We heard yesterday that he is taken somewhere near the New Forest. +So that he will before long lay his lovely head upon the block. +Captain, your friends have brought their pigs to a pretty market.' + +'They have, Brother; they have,' replied Barnaby, still with unmoved +countenance. 'Yet many a man hath recovered from worse straits than +these.' + +I listened with sinking heart. Much I longed to ask if the Sergeant +knew aught of Robin; but I refrained, lest merely to name him might +put the soldiers on the look-out for him, should he, happily, be in +hiding. + +Next the Sergeant told us (which terrified me greatly) that there +was no part of the country where they were not scouring for +fugitives; that they were greatly assisted by the clergy, who, he +said, were red-hot for King James; that the men were found hiding, +as we had hidden, in linneys, in hedges, in barns, in woods; that +they were captured by treachery--by information laid, and even, most +cruel thing of all, by watching and following the men's sweethearts +who were found taking food to them. He said also that, at the +present rate, they would have to enlarge their prisons to admit ten +times their number, for they were haling into them not only the men +who had followed Monmouth, but also those who had helped him with +money, arms, or men. The Sergeant was a brutal fellow, yet there +was about him something of good nature, and even of compassion for +the men he had captured. But he seemed to take delight in speaking +of the sufferings of the unfortunate prisoners. The soldiers, he +told us, were greatly enraged towards the rebels--not, I suppose, +on account of their rebellion, because three years later they +themselves showed how skin-deep was their loyalty, but because the +rustics, whom they thought contemptible, had surprised and nearly +beaten them. And this roused in them the spirit of revenge. + +'Captain,' said the Sergeant, ''tis pity that so lusty a gentleman +as thou shouldst die. Hast thou no friends at Court? No? Nor any who +would speak for thee? 'Tis pity. Yet a man can die but once. With +such a thick neck as thine, bespeak, if so much grace be accorded +thee, a long rope and a high gallows. Else, when it comes to the +quartering'--he stopped and shook his head--'but there--I wish you +well out of it, Captain.' + +In the evening, just before sunset, we arrived at Ilminster, after a +sad and weary march of ten miles, at least; but we could not leave +the prisoners until we knew how and where they were bestowed; and +during all this time my mother, who commonly walked not abroad from +one Sabbath to the next, was possessed with such a spirit that she +seemed to feel no weariness. When we rode all night in order to join +the Duke she complained not; when we rode painfully across the hills +to Taunton she murmured not; nor when we carried our wounded man +up the rough and steep comb; no, nor on this day, when she walked +beside her husband's head, careful lest the motion of the cart +should cause him pain. But he felt nothing, poor soul! He would feel +nothing any more. + +Ilminster is a goodly town, rich and prosperous with its spinners +and weavers. This evening, however, there was no one in the streets +except the troopers, who swaggered up and down or sat drinking at +the tavern door. There is a broad open place before the market, +which stands upon great stone pillars. Outside the market is +the Clink, whither the soldiers were taking their prisoners. +The troopers paid not the least heed to our mournful little +procession--a wounded man; a prisoner in scarlet and lace, but the +cloth tattered and stained and the lace torn. They were only two +more men on their way to death. What doth a soldier care for the +sight of a man about to die? + +'Mother,' said Barnaby when we drew near the prison gates, 'come not +within. I will do all that I can for him. Go now and find a decent +lodging, and, Sister, hark ye, the lads in our army were rough, but +they were as lambs compared with these swaggering troopers. Keep +snug, therefore, and venture not far abroad.' + +I whispered in his ear that I had his bag of money safe, so that +he could have whatever he wanted if that could be bought. Then the +prison gates were closed, and we stood without. + +It would have been hard indeed if the wife and daughter of Dr. +Comfort Eykin could not find a lodging among godly people, of whom +there are always many in every town of Somerset. We presently +obtained a room in the house of one Martha Prior, widow of the +learned and pious Joshua Prior, whilom preacher and ejected +minister. Her case was as hard as our own. This poor woman had two +sons only, and both had gone to join the Duke; one already risen to +be a Master Serge-maker and one a Draper of the town. Of her sons +she could hear no news at all: whether they were alive or dead. +If they were already dead, or if they should be hanged, she would +have no means of support, and so must starve or eat the bread of +charity. (I learned afterwards that she never did hear anything of +them, so that it is certain that they must have been killed on the +battle-field or cut down by the dragoons in trying to escape. But +the poor soul survived not long their loss.) + +The church of Ilminster stands upon a rising ground; on the north +of the church is the grammar school, and on the other three sides +are houses of the better sort, of which Mrs. Prior had one. The +place, which surrounds the churchyard, and hath no inn or ale-house +in it, is quiet and retired. The soldiers came not thither, except +once or twice, with orders to search the houses (and with a private +resolution to drink everything that they might lay their hands +upon), so that, for two poor women in our miserable circumstances, +we could not have a more quiet lodging. + +Despite our troubles, I slept so well that night that it was +past seven in the morning when I awoke. The needs of the body do +sometimes overcome the cares of the spirit. For a whole fortnight +had we been making our beds on the heather, and, therefore, without +taking off our clothes; and that day we had walked ten miles, at +least, with the soldiers, so that I slept without moving or waking +all the night. In the morning, I dressed quickly and hurried to the +jail, not knowing whether I might be admitted or should be allowed +speech of Barnaby. Outside the gate, however, I found a crowd of +people going into the prison and coming out of it. Some of them, +women like ourselves, were weeping--they were those whose brothers +or lovers, husbands or sons, were in those gloomy walls. Others +there were who brought, for such of the prisoners as had money to +buy them, eggs, butter, white bread, chickens, fruit, and all kinds +of provisions; some brought wine, cider, and ale; some, tobacco. The +warders who stood at the gates made no opposition to those who would +enter. I pressed in with a beating heart, prepared for a scene of +the most dreadful repentance and gloomy forebodings. What I saw was +quite otherwise. + +The gates of the prison opened upon a courtyard, not very big, where +the people were selling their wares, and some of the prisoners were +walking about, and some were chaffering with the women who had the +baskets. On the right-hand side of the yard was the Clink itself; on +the left hand were houses for the warders or officers of the prison. +In general, a single warder, constable, or head-borough is enough +for a town such as Ilminster, to keep the peace of the prison, which +is for the most part empty, save when they enforce some new Act +against Nonconformists and fill it with them or with Quakers. Now, +however, so great was the press that, instead of two, there were +a dozen guards, and, while a stout cudgel had always been weapon +enough, now every man went armed with pike and cutlass to keep order +and prevent escapes. Six of them occupied the gate-house; other six +were within, in a sort of guard-house, where they slept on the left +hand of the court. + +The ground floor of the Clink we found to be a large room, at +least forty feet each side in bigness. On one side of it was a +great fireplace, where, though it was the month of July, there was +burning a great fire of Welsh coal, partly for cooking purposes, +because all that the prisoners ate was cooked at this fire; and +partly because a great fire kept continually burning sweetens the +air, and wards off jail fever. On another side was a long table and +several benches. Thick wooden pillars supported the joists of the +rooms above; the windows were heavily barred, but the shutters had +been taken down, and there was no glass in them. In spite of fire +and open windows, the place was stifling, and smelt most horrible. +Never have I breathed so foul an air. There lived in this room about +eighty prisoners (later on the numbers were doubled); some were +smoking tobacco and drinking cider or ale; some were frying pieces +of meat or smoked herrings over the fire; and the tobacco, the ale, +the wine, the cooking, and the people themselves--nearly all country +lads, unwashed, who had slept since Sedgemoor, at least, in the same +clothes without once changing--made so foul an air that jail fever, +putrid throats, and small-pox (all of which afterwards broke out) +should have been expected sooner. + +They were all talking, laughing, and even singing, so that, in +addition to the noisome stench of the place, there was such a din as +one may hear at Sherborne Fair of an evening. I expected, as I have +said, a gloomy silence with the rattling of chains, the groans of +those who looked for death, and, perhaps, a godly repentance visible +upon every countenance. Yet they were all laughing, except a few who +sat retired and who were wounded. I say that they were all laughing. +They had nothing to expect but death, or at the best to be horribly +flogged, to be transported, to be fined, branded, and ruined. Yet +they laughed! What means this hardness and indifference in men? +Could they not think of the women they had left at home? I warrant +that none of them were laughing. + +Among them--a pipe of tobacco in his lips and a mug of strong ale +before him on the table, his hat flung backwards--sat Barnaby, his +face showing, apparently, complete satisfaction with his lot. + +When he saw us at the door, he rose and came to meet us. + +'Welcome,' he said. 'This is one of the places where King Monmouth's +men are to receive the honour due to them. Courage, gentle hearts. +Be not cast down. Everywhere the prisons are full, and more are +brought in every day. Our very numbers are our safety. They cannot +hang us all. And hark!' here he whispered, 'Sister, we now know +that Colonel Kirke hath been selling pardons at ten pounds, twenty +pounds, and thirty pounds apiece. Wherefore we are well assured that +somehow or other we shall be able to buy our release. There are +plenty besides Colonel Kirke who will sell a prisoner his freedom.' + +'Where is your father?' asked my mother. + +'He is bestowed above, where it is quieter, except for the groaning +of the wounded. Go up-stairs, and you will find him. And there is +a surprise for you, besides. You will find with him one you little +expect to see.' + +'Oh! Barnaby, is there new misery for me? Is Robin a prisoner?' + +'Robin is not here, Sis; and as for misery, why, that is as you take +it. To be sure the man above is in prison, but no harm will happen +to him. Why should it? He did not go out with Monmouth's men. But go +up-stairs--go up-stairs, and see for yourselves.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +SIR CHRISTOPHER. + + +I know not whom I expected to find in consequence of Barnaby's +words, as we went up the dark and dirty stairs which led to the +upper room. Robin was not a prisoner. Why--then--but I knew not what +I thought, all being strange and dreadful. + +At the top of the stairs we found ourselves in a room of the same +size as the lower chamber, but not so high, and darker, being a +gloomy place indeed, insomuch that it was not for some minutes that +one could plainly discern things. It was lighted by a low, long +window, set very close with thick bars, the shutters thrown open +so that all the light and air possible to be admitted might come +in. It had a great fireplace, but there was no fire burning, and +the air of the room struck raw, though outside it was a warm and +sunny day. The roof was supported, as in the room below, by means of +thick square pillars, studded with great nails set close together, +for what purpose I know not. Every part of the woodwork in the room +was in the same way stuck full of nails. On the floor lay half a +score mattresses, the property of those who could afford to pay the +warders an exorbitant fee for the luxury. At Ilminster, as I am +told, at Newgate, the chief prison of the country, the same custom +obtains of exacting heavy fees from the poor wretches clapped into +ward. It is, I suppose, no sin to rob the criminal, the debtor, the +traitor, or the rebel. For those who had nothing to pay there were +only a few bundles of straw, and on these were lying half a dozen +wretches, whose white faces and glazed eyes showed that they would +indeed cheat Tom the Hangman, though not in the way that Barnaby +hoped. These were wounded either in the Sedgemoor fight or in their +attempt to escape. + +My father lay on a pallet bed. His face showed not the least change; +his eyes were closed, and you would have thought him dead; and +beside him, also on a pallet, sat, to my astonishment, none other +than Sir Christopher himself. + +He rose and came to meet us, smiling sadly. + +'Madam,' he said, taking my mother's hand, 'we meet in a doleful +place, and we are, indeed, in wretched plight. I cannot bid you +welcome; I cannot say that I am glad to see you. There is nothing +that I can say of comfort or of hope, except, which you know +already, that we are always in the hands of the Lord.' + +'Sir Christopher,' said my mother, 'it was kind and neighbourly in +you to come. But you were always his best friend. Look at his poor +white face!' she only thought upon her husband. 'You would think +him dead! More than a fortnight he hath lain thus--motionless. I +think he feels no pain. Husband, if thou canst hear me, make some +sign--if it be but to open one eye! No!' she cried. 'Day after day +have I thus entreated him and he makes no answer! He neither sees +nor hears! Yet he doth not die; wherefore I think that he may yet +recover speech and sit up again, and presently, perhaps, walk about, +and address himself again unto his studies.' + +She waited not for any answer, but knelt down beside him and poured +some drops of milk into the mouth of the sick man. Sir Christopher +looked at her mournfully and shook his head. + +Then he turned to me, and kissed me without saying a word. + +'Oh! Sir,' I cried, 'how could you know that my father would be +brought unto this place? With what goodness of heart have you come +to our help!' + +'Nay, child,' he replied gravely, 'I came because I had no choice +but to come. Like your father and your brother, Alice, I am a +prisoner.' + +'You, Sir? You a prisoner? Why, you were not with the Duke.' + +'That is most true. And yet a prisoner. Why, after the news of +Sedgemoor fight I looked for nothing else. They tried to arrest +Mr. Speke, but he has fled; they have locked up Mr. Prideaux, of +Ford Abbey; Mr. Trenchard has retired across the seas. Why should +they pass me over? Nay, there were abundant proofs of my zeal for +the Duke. My grandson and my grandnephew had joined the rebels. +Your father and brother rode over to Lyme on my horses; with my +grandson rode off a dozen lads of the village. What more could +they want? Moreover, I am an old soldier of Lord Essex's army; +and, to finish, they found in the window-seat a copy of Monmouth's +Declaration--which, indeed, I had forgotten, or I might have +destroyed it.' + +'Alas! alas!' I cried, wringing my hands. 'Your Honour, too, a +prisoner!' + +Since the Sergeant spoke to Barnaby about the interest of friends, +I had been thinking that Sir Christopher, whose power and interest, +I fondly thought, must be equal to those of any Lord in the land, +would interpose to save us all. And he was now a prisoner himself, +involved in the common ruin! One who stands upon a bridge and sees +with terror the last support carried away by the raging flood feels +such despair as fell upon my soul. + +'Oh, Sir!' I cried again. 'It is Line upon Line--Woe upon Woe!' + +He took my hand in his, and held it tenderly. + +'My child,' he said, 'to an old man of seventy-five what doth it +matter whether he die in his bed or whether he die upon a scaffold? +Through the pains of death, as through a gate, we enter upon our +rest.' + +'It is dreadful!' I cried again. 'I cannot endure it!' + +'The shame and ignominy of this death,' he said, 'I shall, I trust, +regard lightly. We have struck a blow for Freedom and for Faith. +Well; we have been suffered to fail. The time hath not yet come. +Yet, in the end, others shall carry on the Cause, and Religion shall +prevail. Shall we murmur who have been God's instruments?' + +'Alas! alas!' I cried again. + +'To me, sweet child, it is not terrible to contemplate my end. But +it is sad to think of thee, and of thy grave and bitter loss. Hast +thou heard news of Robin and of Humphrey?' + +'Oh, Sir!--are they also in prison--are they here?' + +'No; but I have news of them. I have a letter brought to me but +yesterday. Read it, my child, read it.' + +He pulled the letter out of his pocket and gave it to me. Then I +read aloud, and thus it ran:-- + + 'Honoured Sir and Grandfather, + +'I am writing this letter from the prison of Exeter, where, with +Humphrey and about two hundred or more of our poor fellows, I am +laid by the heels, and shall so continue until we shall all be tried. + +'It is rumoured that Lord Jeffreys will come down to try us, and we +are assured by report that the King shows himself revengeful, and +is determined that there shall be no mercy shown. After Sedgemoor +fight they hanged, as you will have heard, many of the prisoners +at Weston Zoyland, at Bridgwater, and at Taunton, without trial. +If the King continue in this disposition it is very certain that, +though the common sort may be forgiven, the gentlemen and those who +were officers in the rebel army will certainly not escape. Therefore +I have no hope but to conclude my life upon the gallows--a thing +which, I confess, I had never looked to do. But I hope to meet my +fate with courage and resignation. + +'Humphrey is with me, and it is some comfort (though I know not +why) that we shall stand or fall together; for if I was a Captain +in the army he was a Chyrurgeon. That he was also a secret agent of +the exiles, and that he stirred up the Duke's friends on his way +from London to Sherborne, that they know not, or it would certainly +go hard with him. What do I say? Since they will hang him, things +cannot very well go harder. + +'When the fight was over, and the Duke and Lord Grey fled, there was +nothing left but to escape as best we might. I hope that some of the +Bradford lads will make their way home in safety: they stood their +ground and fought valiantly. Nay, if we had been able to arm all who +volunteered and would have enlisted, and if our men had all shown +such a spirit as your valiant lads of Bradford Orcas, then, I say, +the enemy must have been cut to pieces. + +'When we had no choice left but to run, I took the road to +Bridgwater, intending to ride back to that place, where, perhaps, +our forces might be rallied. But this proved hopeless. There I +found, however, Humphrey, and we resolved that the safest plan would +be to ride by way of Taunton and Exeter, leaving behind us the +great body of the King's army, and so escape to London if possible, +where we should certainly find hiding-places in plenty, until the +pursuit should be at an end. Our plan was to travel along byways +and bridle-paths, and that by night only, hiding by day in barns, +linneys, and the like. We had money for the charges of our journey. +Humphrey would travel as a physician returning to London from the +West as soon as we had gotten out of the insurgents' country; I was +to be his servant. Thus we arranged the matter in our minds, and +already I thought that we were safe, and in hiding somewhere in +London, or across the seas in the Low Countries again. + +'Well, to make short my story, we got no further than Exeter, where +we were betrayed by a rascal countryman who recognised us, caused +us to be arrested, and swore to us. Thereupon we were clapped into +jail, where we now lie. + +'Hon'd Sir: Humphrey, I am sorry to write, is much cast down, not +because he dreads death, which he doth not, any more than to lie +upon his bed; but because he hath, he says, drawn so many to their +ruin. He numbers me among those--though, indeed, it was none of his +doing, but by my own free will, that I entered upon this business, +which, contrary to reasonable expectation, hath turned out so ill. +Wherefore, dear Sir, since there is no one in the world whose +opinion and counsel Humphrey so greatly considers as your own, I +pray you, of your goodness, send him some words of consolation and +cheer.' + +'That will I, right readily,' said Sir Christopher. 'At least the +poor lad cannot accuse himself of dragging me into the Clink.' + +'I hear,' continued Robin's letter, 'that my mother hath gone with +Mr. Boscorel to London, to learn if aught can be done for us. If +she do not return before we are finished, bid her think kindly of +Humphrey and not to lay these things to his charge. As for my dear +girl, my Alice, I hear nothing of her. Miss Blake, who led the Maids +when they gave the flags to the Duke, is, I hear, clapped into +prison. Alice is not spoken of. I am greatly perturbed in spirit +concerning her, and I would gladly, if that might be compassed, +have speech with her before I die. I fear she will grieve and weep; +but not more than I myself at leaving her, poor maid! I hear, also, +nothing concerning her father, who was red-hot for the Cause, and +therefore, I fear, will not be passed over or forgotten. Nor do I +hear aught of Barnaby, who, I hope, hath escaped on shipboard, as +he said that he should do if things went ajar. Where are they all? +The roads are covered with rough men, and it is not fit for such +as Alice and her mother to be travelling. I hope that they have +returned in safety to Bradford Orcas, and that my old master, Dr. +Eykin, hath forgotten his zeal for the Protestant Duke, and is +already seated again among his books. If that is so, tell Alice, +Honoured Sir, that there is no hour of the day or night but I think +of her continually; that the chief pang of my approaching fate is +the thought that I shall leave her in sorrow, and that I cannot say +or do anything to stay her sorrow. Comfort her I cannot, save with +words which will come better from the saintly lips of her father. I +again pray thee to assure her of my faithful love. Tell her that the +recollection of her sweet face and steadfast eyes fills me with so +great a longing that I would fain die at once so as to bring nearer +the moment when we shall be able to sit together in heaven. My life +hath been glorified, if I may say so in humility, by her presence in +my heart, which drove away all common and unclean things. Of such +strength is earthly love. Nay, I could not, I now perceive, be happy +even with the joys of heaven if she were not by my side. Where is +she, my heart, my love? Pray God, she is in safety. + +'And now, Sir, I have no more to say: The prison is a hot and +reeking place; at night it is hard to bear the foulness and the +stench of it. Humphrey says that we may shortly expect some jail +fever or small-pox to break out among us, in which case the work of +the Judges may be lightened. The good people of this ancient city +are in no way afraid of the King's vindictiveness, but send in of +their bounty quantity of provisions--fruit, eggs, fresh meat, salted +meat, ale, and cider--every day for the poor prisoners, which shows +which way their opinions do lean, even although the clergy are +against us. Honoured Sir, I am sure and certain that the miscarriage +of our enterprise was caused by the conduct of those who had us in +hand. In a year or two there shall be seen (but not by us) another +uprising; under another leader with another end. + +'So no more. I send to thee, dear and Honoured Sir, my bounden duty +and my grateful thanks for all that I owe to your tender care and +affection. Pray my mother, for me, to mourn no more for me than is +becoming to one of her piety and virtue. + +'Alas! it is thinking upon her, and upon my poor lost Alice, that +my heart is wellnigh torn in pieces. But (tell Humphrey) through no +fault--no--through no fault of his. + +'From thy dutiful and obedient grandson,-- + + 'R. C.' + +I read this all through. Then I folded up the letter and returned it +to Sir Christopher. As he took it the tears came into his dear and +venerable eyes and rolled down his cheeks. + +'My dear--my dear,' he said, 'it is hard to bear. Everyone who is +dear to thee will go; there is an end of all; unless some way, of +which we know nothing, be opened unto us.' + +'Why,' I said, 'if we were all dead and buried, and our souls +together in heaven'---- + +'Patience, my dear,' said the old man. + +'Oh! must they all die--all? My heart will burst! Oh! Sir, will not +one suffice for all? Will they not take me and hang me, and let the +rest go free?' + +'Child,' he took my hand between his own, 'God knows that if +one life would suffice for all, it should be mine. Nay, I would +willingly die ten times over to save thy Robin for thee. He is not +dead yet, however. Nor is he sentenced. There are so many involved +that we may hope for a large measure of mercy. Nay, more. His mother +hath gone to London, as he says in his letter, with my son-in-law, +Philip Boscorel, to see if aught can be done, even to the selling of +my whole estate, to procure the enlargement of the boys. I know not +if anything can be done, but be assured Philip Boscorel will leave +no stone unturned.' + +'Oh! can money buy a pardon? I have two hundred gold pieces. They +are Barnaby's'---- + +'Then, my dear, they must be used to buy pardon for Barnaby and thy +father--though I doubt whether any pardon need be bought for one who +is brought so low.' + +Beside the bed my mother sat crouched, watching his white face as +she had done all day long in our hiding-place. I think she heeded +nothing that went on around her, being wrapped in her hopes and +prayers for the wounded man. + +Then Sir Christopher kissed me gently on the forehead. + +'They say the King is unforgiving, my dear. Expect not, therefore, +anything. Say to thyself, every morning, that all must die. To know +the worst brings with it something of consolation. Robin must die; +Humphrey must die; your brother Barnaby must die; your father--but +he is wellnigh dead already--and I myself, all must die upon the +scaffold if we escape this noisome jail. In thinking of this, +remember who will be left. My dear, if thou art as a widow and yet +a maiden, I charge thee solemnly that thou forget thine own private +griefs and minister to those who will have none but thee to help +them. Live not for thyself, but to console and solace those who, +like thyself bereaved, will need thy tender cares.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +BEFORE THE ASSIZE. + + +Then we sat down and waited. 'Twas all that we could do. Day after +day we went to the prison, where my mother sat by my father, whose +condition never changed in the least, being always that of one who +slept, or, if his eyes were open, was unconscious, and though he +might utter a few rambling words, had no command of his mind or of +his speech. Wherefore we hoped that he suffered nothing. ''Twas a +musket ball had struck,' the surgeon said, 'in his backbone between +the shoulders, whereby his powers of motion and of thought were +suspended.' I know not whether anyone attempted to remove the ball, +or whether it was lodged there at all, because I am ignorant of +such matters; and to me, whether he had been struck in the back or +no, it was to my mind sure and certain that the Lord had granted my +father's earnest prayer that he should again be permitted to deliver +openly the message that was upon his soul; nay, had given him three +weeks of continual and faithful preaching, the fruits of which, +could we perceive them, should be abundant. That prayer granted, the +Lord, I thought, was calling him to rest. Therefore, I looked for no +improvement. + +One other letter came from Robin, inclosing one for me, with which +(because I could not leave my mother at such a time) I was forced +to stay my soul, as the lover in the Canticle stayeth his soul +with apples. I have that letter still; it hath been with me always; +it lay hanging from my neck in the little leathern bag in which I +carried the Duke's ring; I read it again and again until I knew it +by heart; yet still I read it again, because even to look at my +lover's writing had in it something of comfort even when things were +at their worst, and Egyptian darkness lay upon my soul. But this +letter I cannot endure to copy out or suffer others to read it, +because it was written for mine own eye in such a time of trouble. +'Oh! my love!' he said. 'Oh, my tender heart!' and then a hundred +prayers for my happiness, and tears for my tears, and hopes for the +future (which would be not the earthly life but the future reserved +by merciful Heaven for those who have been called and chosen). As +for the sharp and painful passage by which we must travel from this +world to the next, Robin bade me take no thought of that at all, but +to think of him either as my lover walking with me as of old beside +the stream at home, or as a spirit waiting for me to join him in the +heavenly choir. And so ending with as many farewells (the letter +being written when he expected the Judges to arrive and the Assize +to begin) as showed his tender love for me. No--I cannot write down +this letter for the eyes of all to read. There are things which must +be kept hidden in our own hearts; and, without doubt, every woman +to whom good fortune hath given a lover such as Robin, with a heart +as fond and a pen as ready (though he could never, like Humphrey, +write sweet verses), hath received an epistle or two like unto mine +for its love and tenderness, but (I hope) without the sadness of +impending death. + +It was four weeks after we were brought to Ilminster that the news +came to us of the coming trials. There were five Judges--but the +world knows but of one, namely, George Lord Jeffreys, Chief Justice +of England--and now, indeed, we began to understand the true misery +of our situation. For everyone knew the character of the Judge, who, +though a young man still, was already the terror alike of prisoners, +witnesses, and juries. It promised to be a black and bloody Assize +indeed, since this man was to be the Judge. + +The aspect of the prison by this time was changed. The songs and +merriment, the horseplay and loud laughter by which the men had at +first endeavoured to keep up their hearts were gone. The country +lads pined and languished in confinement; their cheeks grew pale +and their eyes heavy. Then, the prison was so crowded that there +was barely room for all to lie at night, and the yard was too small +for all to walk therein by day. In the morning, though they opened +all the shutters, the air was so foul that in going into it from +the open one felt sick and giddy, and was sometimes fain to run out +and drink cold water. Oh! the terrible place for an old man such +as Sir Christopher! Yet he endured without murmuring the foulness +and the hardness, comforting the sick, still reproving blasphemies, +and setting an example of cheerfulness. The wounded men all died, I +believe; which, as the event proved, was lucky for them. It would +have saved the rest much suffering if they had all died as well. +And to think that this was only one of many prisons thus crowded +with poor captives! At Wells, Philip's Norton, Shepton Mallet, Bath, +Bridgwater, Taunton, Ilchester, Somerton, Langport, Bristol and +Exeter, there was a like assemblage of poor wretches thus awaiting +their trials. + +I said that there was now little singing. There was, however, +drinking enough, and more than enough. They drank to drown their +sorrows, and to forget the horrid place in which they lay and the +future which awaited them. When they were drunk they would bellow +some of their old songs; but the brawling of a drunkard will not +communicate to his companions the same joy as the music of a merry +heart. + +While we were expecting to hear that the Judge had arrived at +Salisbury, the fever broke out in the prison of Ilminster. At Wells +they were afflicted with the small-pox, but at Ilminster it was jail +fever which fell upon the poor prisoners. Everybody hath heard of +this terrible disorder, which is communicated by those who have it +to those who go among them--namely, to the warders and turnkeys, +and even to the judges and the juries. On the first day after it +broke out--which was with an extraordinary virulence--four poor men +died and were buried the next morning. After this, no day passed +but there were funerals at the churchyard, and the mounds of their +graves--the graves of these poor countrymen who thought to fight +the battles of the Lord--stood side by side in a long row, growing +continually longer. We--that is, good Mrs. Prior and myself--sat at +the window and watched the funerals, praying for the safety of those +we loved. + +So great was the fear of infection in the town that no one was +henceforth allowed within the prison, nor were the warders allowed +to come out of it. This was a sad order for me, because my mother +chose to remain within the prison, finding a garret at the house of +the Chief Constable, and I could no longer visit that good old man, +Sir Christopher, whose only pleasure left had been to converse with +me daily, and, as I now understand, by the refreshment the society +of youth brings to age, to lighten the tedium of his imprisonment. + +Henceforth, therefore, I went to the prison door every morning and +sent in my basket of provisions, but was not suffered to enter; and +though I could have speech with my mother or with Barnaby, they were +on one side the bars and I on the other. + +[Illustration: '_I was standing at the wicket waiting for my basket +to be taken in._'] + +It was at this time that I made the acquaintance of Mr. George +Penne. This creature--a villain, as I afterwards discovered, of +the deepest dye--was to external appearance a grave and sober +merchant. He was dressed in brown cloth and laced shirt, and carried +a gold-headed stick in his hand. He came to Ilminster about the +end of August or the beginning of September, and began to inquire +particularly into the names and the circumstances of the prisoners, +pretending (such was his craftiness) a great tenderness for their +welfare. He did the same thing, we heard afterwards, wherever the +Monmouth prisoners were confined. At Ilminster, the fever being in +the jail, he did not venture within, but stood outside and asked of +any who seemed to know, who were the prisoners within, and what were +their circumstances. + +He accosted me one morning when I was standing at the wicket waiting +for my basket to be taken in. + +'Madam,' he said, 'you are doubtless a friend of some poor prisoner. +Your father or your brother may unhappily be lying within?' + +Now I was grown somewhat cautious by this time. Wherefore, fearing +some kind of snare or trap, I replied gravely, that such, indeed, +might be the case. + +'Then, Madam,' he said, speaking in a soft voice and looking full +of compassion, 'if that be so, suffer me, I pray you, to wish him a +happy deliverance; and this, indeed, from the bottom of my heart.' + +'Sir,' I said, moved by the earnestness of his manner, 'I know not +who you may be, but I thank you. Such a wish, I hope, will not +procure you the reward of a prison. Sir, I wish you a good day.' + +So he bowed and left me, and passed on. + +But next day I found him in the same place. And his eyes were more +filled with compassion than before and his voice was softer. + +'I cannot sleep, Madam,' he said, 'for thinking of these poor +prisoners; I hear that among them is none other than Sir Christopher +Challis, a gentleman of great esteem and well stricken in years. +And there is also the pious and learned--but most unfortunate--Dr. +Comfort Eykin, who rode with the army and preached daily, and is +now, I hear, grievously wounded and bedridden.' + +'Sir,' I said, 'Dr. Comfort Eykin is my father. It is most true that +he is a prisoner, and that he is wounded.' + +He heaved a deep sigh and wiped a tear from his eyes. + +'It is now certain,' he said, 'that Lord Jeffreys will come down to +conduct the trials. Nay, it is reported that he has already arrived +at Salisbury, breathing fire and revenge, and that he hath with him +four other Judges and a troop of horse. What they will do with so +many prisoners I know not. I fear that it will go hard with all; +but, as happens in such cases, those who have money, and know how to +spend it, may speedily get their liberty.' + +'How are they to spend it?' + +'Why, Madam, it is not indeed to be looked for that you should +know. But when the time comes for the trial, should I, as will +very likely happen, be in the way, send for me, and whatever the +sentence I warrant we shall find a way to 'scape it--even if it be a +sentence of death. Send for me--my name is George Penne, and I am a +well-known merchant of Bristol.' + +It was then that Barnaby came to the other side of the wicket. We +could talk, but could not touch each other. + +'All is well, Sis,' he said: 'Dad is neither better nor worse, and +Sir Christopher is hearty, though the prison is like the 'tween +decks of a ship with Yellow Jack aboard--just as sweet and pleasant +for the air and just as merry for the crew.' + +'Barnaby,' I said, 'the Judges are now at Salisbury.' + +'Ay, ay; I thought they would have been there before. We shall be +tried, they tell me, at Wells, which it is thought will be taken +after other towns. So there is still a tidy length of rope. Sis, +this continual smoking of tobacco to keep off infection doth keep a +body dry. Cider will serve, but let it be a runlet, at least.' + +'He called you "Sister," Madam,' said Mr. Penne curiously. 'Have you +brother as well as father in this place?' + +'Alas! Sir, I have not only my father, my mother, and my brother +in this place, but my father-in-law (as I hoped soon to call him); +and in Exeter Jail is my lover and his cousin. Oh! Sir, if you mean +honestly'---- + +'Madam'--he laid his hand upon his breast--'I assure you I am all +honesty. I have no other thought, I swear to you, than to save, if +possible, the lives of these poor men.' + +He walked with me to my lodging, and I there told him not only +concerning our own people, but also all that I knew of the prisoners +in this jail--they were for the most part poor and humble men. +He made notes in a book, which caused me some misgivings; but he +assured me again and again that all he desired was to save their +lives. And I now understand that he spoke the truth indeed, but not +the whole truth. + +'Your brother, for instance,' he said. 'Oh! Madam, 'twere a thousand +pities that so brave a young man, so stout withal, should be +hanged, drawn, and quartered. And your lover at Exeter, doubtless +a tall and proper youth; and the other whom you have named, Dr. +Humphrey Challis, and your grandfather (as I hope he will be) Sir +Christopher; and your own father--why, Madam,' he grew quite warm +upon it, 'if you will but furnish some honest merchant--I say not +myself, because I know not yet if you would trust me--but some +honest merchant with the necessary moneys, I will engage that they +shall all be saved from hanging. To be sure, these are all captains +and officers, and to get their absolute pardon will be a great +matter--perhaps above your means. Yet, Sir Christopher hath a good +estate, I am told.' + +This George Penne was, it is true, a Bristol merchant, engaged in +the West India trade; that is to say, he bought sugar and tobacco, +and had shares in ships which sailed to and from Bristol and +the West Indies, and sometimes made voyages to the Guinea Coast +for negroes. But, in common with many Bristol merchants, he had +another trade, and a very profitable trade it is, namely, what is +called kidnapping: that is, buying or otherwise securing criminals +who have been pardoned or reprieved on condition of going to +the Plantations. They sell these wretches for a term of years to +the planters, and make a great profit by the transaction. And, +foreseeing that there would presently be a rare abundance of such +prisoners, the honest Mr. George Penne was going from prison to +prison finding out what persons of substance there were who would +willingly pay for their sentence to be thus mitigated. In the event, +though things were not ordered exactly as he could have wished, this +worthy man (his true worth you shall presently hear) made a pretty +penny, as the saying is, out of the prisoners. What he made out of +us, and by what lies, you shall learn; but, by ill-fortune for him, +he gat not the fingering of the great sums which he hoped of us. + +And now the news--from Winchester first, and from Dorchester +afterwards--filled the hearts of all with a dismay which it is +beyond all power of words to tell. For if an ancient lady of good +repute (though the widow of a regicide), such a woman as Lady Lisle, +seventy years of age, could be condemned to be burned--and was, in +fact, beheaded--for no greater offence than harbouring two rebels, +herself ignorant of who they were or whence they came, what could +any hope who had actually borne arms? And, again, at Dorchester, +thirty who pleaded not guilty were found guilty and condemned to be +hanged, and nearly three hundred who pleaded guilty were sentenced +to be hanged at the same time. It was not an idle threat intended to +terrify the rest, because thirteen of the number were executed on +the following Monday, and eighty afterwards. Among those who were +first hanged were many whom we knew. The aged and pious Mr. Sampson +Larke, the Baptist Minister of Lyme, for instance, was one; Colonel +Holmes (whom the King had actually pardoned) was another; and young +Mr. Hewling--whose case was like that of Robin. This terrible news +caused great despondency and choking in the prison, where also the +fever daily carried off one or two. + +Oh! my poor heart fell, and I almost lost the power of prayer, when +I heard that from Dorchester the Judge was riding in great state, +driving his prisoners before him to Exeter, where there were two +hundred waiting their trial. And among them Robin--Alas! alas!--my +Robin. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +BENJAMIN. + + +It was the evening of September the Sixteenth, about nine of the +clock. I was sitting alone in my lodging. Downstairs I heard the +voice of the poor widow, Mrs. Prior, who had received us. She was +praying aloud with some godly friends for the safety of her sons. +These young men, as I have said, were never more heard of, and were +therefore already, doubtless, past praying for. I, who ought to +have been praying with them, held Robin's last letter in my hands. +I knew it by heart; but I must still be reading it again and again; +thinking it was his voice which was indeed speaking to me, trying to +feel his presence near me, to hear his breath, to see his very eyes. +In the night, waking or sleeping, I still would hear him calling +to me aloud. 'My heart! my life! my love!' he would cry. I heard +him, I say, quite plainly. By special mercy and grace this power +was accorded to me; because I have no doubt that in his mind, while +lying in his noisome prison, he did turn his thoughts, yea, and +the yearnings of his fond heart, to the maid he loved. But now the +merciless Judge who had sentenced three hundred men to one common +doom--three hundred men!--was such a sentence ever known?--had left +Dorchester, and was already, perhaps, at Exeter. Oh!--perhaps Robin +had by this time stood his trial: what place was left for prayer? +For if the poor, ignorant clowns were condemned to death, how much +more the gentlemen, the officers of Monmouth's army! Perhaps he was +already executed--my lover, my boy, my Robin!--taken out and hanged, +and now a cold and senseless corpse! Then the wailings and prayers +of the poor woman below, added to the distraction of these thoughts, +made me feel as if I was indeed losing my senses. At this time, it +was blow upon blow--line upon line. The sky was black--the heavens +were deaf. Is there--can there be--a more miserable thing than to +feel that the very heavens are deaf? The mercy of the Lord--His +kindly hearkening to our cries and prayers--these we believe as +we look for the light of day and the warmth of the sun. Nay, this +belief is the very breath of our life; so that there is none but +the most hardened and abandoned sinner who doth not still feel +that he hath in the Lord a Father as well as a Judge. To lose that +belief--'twere better to be a lump of senseless clay. The greatest +misery of the lost soul, even greater than his continual torment of +fire, and his never-ending thirst, and the gnawing of remorse, must +be to feel that the heavens are deaf to his prayers--deaf for ever +and for ever! + +At this time, my prayers were all for safety. 'Safety, good Lord! +give them safety! Save them from the executioner? Give them safety?' +Thus, as Barnaby said, the shipwrecked mariner clinging to the +mast asks not for a green, pleasant, and fertile shore, but for +land--only for land. I sat there, musing sadly, the Bible on the +table and a lighted candle. I read not in the Bible, but listened +to the wailing of the poor soul below, and looked at the churchyard +without, the moonlight falling upon the fresh mounds which covered +the graves of the poor dead prisoners. Suddenly I heard a voice--a +loud and harsh voice--and footsteps. I knew both footsteps and +voice, and I sprang to my feet trembling, because I was certain that +some new disaster had befallen us. + +Then the steps mounted the stairs; the door was opened, and +Benjamin--none other than Benjamin--appeared. What did he here? He +was so big, with so red a face, that his presence seemed to fill +the room. And with him--what did this mean?--came Madam herself, +who I thought to have been at Exeter. Alas! her eyes were red with +weeping; her cheeks were thin and wasted with sorrow; her lips were +trembling. + +'Alice!' she cried, holding out her hands. 'Child, these terrible +things are done, and yet we live! Alas! we live! Are our hearts made +of stone that we still live? As for me, I cannot die, though I lose +all--all--all!' + +'Dear Madam, what hath happened? More misery! More disaster! Oh! +tell me! tell me!' + +'Oh! my dear, they have been tried--they have been tried, and +they are condemned to die--both Robin--my son Robin--and with him +Humphrey, who dragged him into the business and alone ought to +suffer for both. But there is now no justice in the land. No--no +more justice can be had. Else Humphrey should have suffered for all.' + +There was something strange in her eyes--she did not look like a +mother robbed of her children; she gazed upon me as if there was +something else upon her mind. As if the condemnation of her son was +not enough. + +'Robin will be hanged,' she went on. 'He hath been the only comfort +of my life since my husband was taken from me, when he was left an +infant in my arms. Robin will be hanged like any common gipsy caught +stealing a sheep. He will be hanged, and drawn and quartered, and +those goodly limbs of his will be stuck upon poles for all to see!' + +Truly I looked for nothing less. Barnaby bade me look for nothing +less than this; but at the news I fell into a swoon. So one who +knoweth beforehand that he is to feel the surgeon's knife, and +thinks to endure the agony without a cry, is fain to shriek and +scream when the moment comes. + +When I recovered I was sitting at the open window, Madam applying a +wet cloth to my forehead. + +'Have no fear,' Benjamin was saying. 'She will do what you command +her, so only that he may go free.' + +'Is there no way but that?' she asked. + +'None!' And then he swore a great oath. + +My eyes being opened and my sense returned, I perceived that Mrs. +Prior was also in the room. And I wondered (in such moments the mind +finds relief in trifles) that Benjamin's face should have grown so +red and his cheeks so fat. + +'Thou hast been in a swoon, my dear,' said Madam. 'But 'tis past.' +'Why is Benjamin here?' I asked. + +He looked at Madam, who cast down her eyes, I knew not why. + +'Benjamin is now our only friend,' she replied without looking up. +'It is out of his kindness--yes--his kindness of heart that he hath +come.' + +'I do not understand. If Robin is to die what kindness can he show?' + +'Tell her, Benjamin,' said Madam, 'tell her of the trials at Exeter.' + +'His Lordship came to Exeter,' Benjamin began, 'on the evening of +September the Thirteenth, escorted by many country gentlemen and +a troop of horse. I had the honour of riding with him. The trials +began the day before yesterday, the Fourteenth.' + +'Pray, good Sir,' asked the poor woman who had lost her sons, 'did +you observe my boys among the prisoners?' + +'How the devil should I know your boys?' he replied, turning upon +her roughly, so that she asked no more questions. 'If they were +rebels they deserve hanging'--here she shrieked aloud, and fled +the room. 'The trials began with two fellows who pleaded "Not +guilty," but were quickly proved to have been in arms, and were +condemned to death, one of them being sent out to instant execution. +The rest who were brought up that day--among whom were Robin and +Humphrey--pleaded "Guilty," being partly terrified and partly +persuaded that it was their only chance of escape. So they, too, +were condemned--two hundred and forty in all--every man Jack of +them, to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, and their limbs to be +afterwards stuck on poles for the greater terror of evildoers'--he +said these words with such a fire in his eyes, and in such a +dreadful threatening voice, as made me tremble. 'Then they were all +taken back to jail, where they will lie until the day of execution, +and the Lord have mercy upon their souls!' + +The terrible Judge Jeffreys himself could not look more terrible +than Benjamin when he uttered the prayer with which a sentence to +death is concluded. + +'Benjamin, were you in the court to see and hear the condemnation of +your own cousins?' + +'I was. I sat in the body of the court, in the place reserved for +Counsel.' + +'Could you say nothing that would help them?' + +'Nothing. Not a word from anyone could help them. Consider--one of +them was an officer, and one a surgeon in the army. The ignorant +rustics whom they led may some of them escape, but the officers can +look for no mercy.' + +'Madam,' I cried, 'I must see Robin before he dies; though, God +knows, there are those here who want my services daily. Yet I must +see Robin. He will not die easy unless he can see me and kiss me +once.' + +Madam made no reply. + +'For a week,' said Benjamin, 'they are safe. I do not think they +will be executed for a week at least. But it is not wise to reckon +on a reprieve even for an hour: the Judge may at any time order +their execution.' + +'I will go to-morrow.' + +'That will be seen,' said Benjamin. + +'My dear,' said Madam, 'my nephew Benjamin is a friend of the Judge, +Lord Jeffreys.' + +'Say rather a follower and admirer of that great, learned, and +religious man. One who is yet but a member of the Outer Bar must not +assume the style and title of friend to a man whose next step must +be the Woolsack.' + +'Heavens! He called the inhuman wretch who had sentenced an innocent +old woman of seventy to be burned alive, and five hundred persons to +be hanged, and one knows not how many to be inhumanly flogged--great +and religious!' + +'If interest can save any,' Madam said softly, 'Benjamin can command +that interest, and he is on the side of mercy, especially where his +cousins are concerned.' + +I now observed that Madam, who had not formerly been wont to regard +her nephew with much affection, behaved towards him with the +greatest respect and submission. + +'Madam,' he replied, 'you know the goodness of my heart. What man +can do shall be done by me, not only for Robin, but for the others +who are involved with him in common ruin. But there are conditions +with which I have taken pains to acquaint you.' + +Madam sighed heavily, and looked as if she would speak, but +refrained; and I saw the tears rolling down her cheeks. + +'What conditions, Benjamin?' I asked him. 'Conditions for trying to +save your own cousins and your own grandfather! Conditions? Why, +you should be moving heaven and earth for them instead of making +conditions.' + +'It needs not so much exertion,' he replied with an unbecoming grin. +'First, Alice, I must own, Child, that the two years or thereabouts +since I saw thee last have added greatly to thy charms; at which I +rejoice.' + +'Oh! what have my charms to do with the business?' + +'Much; as thou wilt presently discover. But let me remind you +both that there threaten--nay, there are actually overhanging +--disasters, the like of which never happen save in time of civil +war and of rebellion. My grandfather is in prison, and will be tried +on a charge of sending men and horses to join Monmouth. Nay, the +Duke's Proclamation was found in his house; he will be certainly +condemned and his estates confiscated. So there will be an end of as +old a family as lives in Somerset. Then there is thy father, Child, +who was Preacher to the army, and did make mischief in stirring up +the fanatical zeal of many. Think you that he can escape? Then there +is thy brother Barnaby, who was such a fool as to meddle in what +concerned him not, and now will hang therefor. What can we expect? +Are men to go unpunished who thus rebel against the Lord's anointed? +Is treason--rank treason--the setting up of a Pretender Prince (who +is now lying headless in his coffin) as the rightful heir, to be +forgiven? We must not look for it. Alas! Madam, had I been with you +instead of that conceited, fanatical, crookback Humphrey, whom I did +ever detest, none of these things should have happened.' + +'Humphrey,' I said, 'has more worth in one finger than you in all +your great body, Benjamin.' + +'My dear, my dear, do not anger Benjamin. Oh, do not anger our only +friend!' + +'She may say what she pleases. My time will come. Listen then. They +must all be hanged unless I can succeed in getting them pardoned.' + +'Nay--but--forgive my rudeness, Benjamin; they are your own +cousins--it is your own grandfather. What need of conditions? Oh! +what does this mean? Are you a man of flesh and blood?' + +'My conditions, Child'--why did he laugh?--'will assure you that +such is truly the nature of my composition.' + +'If money is wanted'--I thought of my bag of gold and of Mr. Penne's +hints--'how much will suffice?' + +'I know not. If it comes to buying them off, more thousands than +could be raised on the Bradford Orcas estates. Put money out of +mind.' + +'Then, Benjamin, save them if thou canst.' + +'His Lordship knows that I have near relations concerned in the +Rebellion. Yet, he assured me if his own brothers were among the +prisoners he would hang them all.' + +'Nay, then, Benjamin; I say no more. Tell me what are these +conditions, and, if we can grant or contrive them, we will comply.' +I had no thought of what was meant by his conditions, nor did I even +guess until the morning, when Madam told me. 'Oh! Madam, is there +anything in the world--anything that we would not do to save them?' + +Madam looked at me with so much pity in her eyes that I wondered. It +was pity for me and not for her son that I read in that look. Why +did she pity me? + +I understood not. + +'My dear,' she said, 'there are times when women are called upon +to make sacrifices which they never thought to make, which seem +impossible to be even asked----' + +'Oh! there are no sacrifices which we would not gladly make. What +can Benjamin require that we should not gladly do for him? Nay, he +is Robin's cousin, and your nephew, and Sir Christopher's grandson. +He will, if need be, join us in making these sacrifices.' + +'I will,' said Benjamin--again, why did he laugh?--'I will join you +in making one sacrifice at least, with a willing heart.' + +'I will tell her to-morrow,' said Madam. 'No, I cannot tell her +to-night. Let us first rest. Go, Sir; leave us to our sorrow. It may +be that we may yet think the sacrifice too great even for the lives +and the safety of those we love. Go, Sir, for to-night, and return +to-morrow.' + + * * * * * + +'Surely, Child,' said Madam presently, when he was gone, and we were +alone, 'we are the most unhappy women in the world.' + +'Nay,' I replied. 'There have been other women before us who have +been ruined and widowed by civil wars and rebellions. If it be any +comfort to think that others have suffered like ourselves, then we +may comfort ourselves. But the thought brings no consolation to me.' + +'Hagar,' said Madam, 'was a miserable woman because she was cast out +by the man she loved, even the father of her son; but she saved her +son. Rachel was unhappy until the Lord gave her a son. Jephthah's +daughter was unhappy--my dear, there is no case except hers which +may be compared with ours--and Jephthah's daughter was happy in one +circumstance: that she was permitted to die. Ah! happy girl, she +died! That was all her sacrifice--to die for the sake of her father! +But what is ours?' + +So she spoke in riddles or dark sayings, of which I understood +nothing. Nevertheless, before lying down, I did solemnly and, in her +presence and hearing, aloud, upon my knees, offer unto Almighty God +myself--my very life--if so that Robin could be saved. And then, +with lighter heart than I had known for long, I lay down and slept. + + * * * * * + +At midnight, or thereabouts, Madam woke me up. + +'Child,' she said, 'I cannot sleep. Tell me truly: is there nothing +that thou wouldest refuse for Robin's sake?' + +'Nothing, verily! Ah, Madam, can you doubt it?' + +'Even if it were a sacrifice of which he would not approve?' + +'Believe me, Madam, there is nothing that I would not do for Robin's +safety.' + +'Child, if we were living in the days of persecution wouldest thou +hear the Mass and adopt the Catholic religion to save thy lover's +life?' + +'Oh, Madam, the Lord will never try us above our strength!' + +'Sleep, my child, sleep; and pray that, as thy temptation, so may be +thy strength!' + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +ON WHAT CONDITIONS? + + +In the morning I awoke with a lighter heart than I had known for a +long time. Benjamin was going to release our prisoners! I should go +to meet Robin at the gate of his prison. All would be well, except +that my father would never recover. We should return to the village +and everything would go on as before. Oh! poor fond wretch! how was +I deluded! and, oh! miserable day that ended with such shame and +sadness, yet began with so much hope. + +Madam was already dressed. She was sitting at the window looking +into the churchyard. She had been crying. Alas! how many women in +Somersetshire were then weeping all day long! + +'Madam,' I said, 'we now have hope. We must not weep and lament +any more. Oh! to have at last a little hope--when we have lived so +long in despair--it makes one breathe again. Benjamin will save our +prisoners for us. Oh! after all, it is Benjamin who will help us. We +did not use to love Benjamin, because he was rude and masterful and +wanted everything for himself and would never give up anything. Yet, +you see, he had, after all, a good heart.' Madam groaned. 'And he +cannot forget, though he followeth not his grandfather's opinions, +that he is his Honour's grandson--the son of his only daughter--and +your nephew, and first cousin to Robin, and second cousin once +removed to Humphrey and Barnaby; playfellows of old. Why, these are +ties which bind him as if with ropes! He needs must bestir himself +to save their lives. And since he says that he can save them, of +course he must have bestirred himself to some purpose. Weep no +more, dear Madam; your son will be restored to us! We shall be happy +again--thanks to Benjamin!' + +'Child,' she replied, 'my heart is broken! It is broken, I say! Oh, +to be lying dead and at peace in yonder churchyard! Never before did +I think that it must be a happy thing to be dead and at rest, and to +feel nothing and to know nothing!' + +'But, Madam, the dead are not in their graves. There lie only the +bodies. Their souls are above.' + +'Then they still think and remember. Oh! can a time ever come when +things can be forgotten? Will the dead ever cease to reproach +themselves?' + +She wrung her hands in an ecstasy of grief, though I knew not what +should move her so. Indeed, she was commonly a woman of sober and +contained disposition, entirely governed both in her temper and her +words. What was in her mind that she should accuse herself? Then, +while I was dressing, she went on talking, being still full of this +strong passion. + +'I shall have my boy back again,' she said. 'Yes; he will come +back to me. And what will he say to me when I tell him all? Yet I +_must_ have him back. Oh! to think of the hangman tying the rope +about his neck'--she shuddered and trembled--'and afterwards the +cruel knife'--she clasped her hands and could not say the words--'I +see the comely limbs of my boy. Oh! the thought tears my heart--it +tears me through and through. I cannot think of anything else day +or night. And yet in the prison he is so patient and so cheerful. I +marvel that men can be so patient with this dreadful death before +them.' She broke out again into another passion of sobbing and +crying. Then she became calmer, and tried to speak of things less +dreadful. + +'When first I visited my boy in prison,' she said, 'Humphrey came +humbly to ask my pardon. Poor lad! I have had hard thoughts of him. +It is certain that he was in the plot from the beginning. Yet had he +not gone so far, should we have sat down when the rising began? But +he doth still accuse himself of rashness and calls himself the cause +of all our misfortunes. He fell upon his knees, in the sight of all, +to ask forgiveness, saying that it was he and none other who had +brought ruin upon us all. Then Robin begged me to raise him up and +comfort him, which I did, putting aside my hard thoughts and telling +him that, being such stubborn Protestants, our lads could not choose +but join the Duke, whether he advised it or whether he did not. Nay, +I told him that Robin would have dragged him willy nilly. And so I +kissed him, and Robin took him by the hand and solemnly assured him +that his grandfather had no such thought in his mind.' + +'Nay,' I said, 'my father and Barnaby would certainly have joined +the Duke, Humphrey or not. Never were any men more eager for +rebellion.' + +'I have been to London,' she went on. ''Tis a long journey and I +effected nothing; for the mind of the King, I was assured, is harder +than the nether millstone. My brother-in-law, Philip Boscorel, went +with me, and I left him there. But I have no hope that he will be +able to help us, his old friends being much scattered and many of +them dead, and some hostile to the Court and in ill-favour. So I +returned, seeing that, if I could not save my son I could be with +him until he died. The day before yesterday he was tried--if you +call that a trial when hundreds together plead guilty and are all +alike sentenced to death.' + +'Have you seen him since the trial?' + +'I went to the prison as soon as they were brought back from Court. +Some of the people--for they were all condemned to death--every +one--were crying and lamenting. And there were many women among +them--their wives or their mothers--and these were shrieking and +wringing their hands; so that it was a terrible spectacle. But some +of the men called for drink, and began to carouse, so that they +might drown the thought of impending death. My dear, I never thought +to look upon a scene so full of horror. As for our own boys, Robin +was patient and even cheerful; and Humphrey, leading us to the most +quiet spot in that dreadful place, exhorted us to lose no time in +weeping or vain laments, but to cheer and console our hearts with +the thought that death--even violent death--is but a brief pang +and life is but a short passage, and that heaven awaits us beyond. +Humphrey should have been a godly minister, such is the natural +piety and goodness of his heart. So he spoke of the happy meeting in +that place of blessedness where earthly love would be purged of its +grossness, and our souls shall be so glorified that we shall each +admire the beauty and the excellence of the other. Then Robin talked +of thee, my dear, and sent thee a loving message bidding thee grieve +for him, but not without hope--and that a sure and certain hope--of +meeting again. There are other things he bade me tell thee; but now +I cannot!--oh, I must not!' + +'Nay, Madam; but if they are words that he wished me to hear'---- + +'Why, they were of his constant love--and--no, I cannot tell them!' + +'Well,' I said, 'fret not thy poor heart with thinking any more of +the prison; for Benjamin will surely save him, and then we shall +love Benjamin all our lives.' + +'He will, perhaps, save him. And yet'----she turned her head--'Oh, +how can I tell _her_--we shall shed many more tears. How can I tell +_her_? How can I tell _her_?' + +So she broke off again, but presently recovered and went on talking. +In time of great trouble the mind wanders backwards and forwards, +and though one talks still, it is disjointedly. So she went back to +the prison. + +'The boys have been well, though the prison is full and the air +is foul. Yet there hath been as yet no fever, for which they are +thankful. They had no money, the soldiers who took them prisoners +having robbed them of their money, and indeed stripped them as +well to their shirts, telling them that shirts were good enough to +be hanged in. Yet the people of Exeter have treated the prisoners +with great humanity, bringing them daily food and drink, so that +there has been nothing lacking. The time, however, doth hang upon +hands in a place where there is nothing to do all day but to think +of the past and to dread the future. One poor prisoner I was told +had gone distracted with the terror of this thought. Child, every +day that I visited my son, while he talked with me, always cheerful +and smiling, my mind turned continually to the scaffold and the +gibbet.' Then she returned to the old subject from which she could +in no way escape. 'I saw the hangman, I saw my son hanging to the +shameful tree--oh! my son! my son!--till I could bear it no longer, +and would hurry away from the prison and walk about the town over +the fields--yea, all night long--to escape the dreadful thought. +Oh! to be blessed with such a son and to have him torn from my arms +for such a death! If he had been killed upon the field of battle +'twould have been easier to bear. But now he dies daily--he dies +a thousand deaths in my mind. My child!'--she turned again to the +churchyard--'the rooks are cawing in their nests; the sparrows and +the robins hop among the graves; the dead hear nothing; all their +troubles are over, all their sins are forgiven.' + +I comforted her as well as I could. Indeed, I understood not at all +what she meant, thinking that perhaps all her trouble had caused +her to be in that frame of mind when a woman doth not know whether +to laugh or to cry. And then, taking my basket, I sallied forth to +provide the day's provisions for my prisoners. + +'Barnaby,' I said, when he came to the wicket, 'I have good news for +thee.' + +'What good news? That I am to be flogged once a year in every +market-town in Somersetshire, as will happen to young Tutchin?' + +'No, no--not that kind of news, but freedom, Brother, hope for +freedom.' + +He laughed. 'Who is to give us freedom?' + +'Benjamin hath found a way for the enlargement of all.' + +'Ben Boscorel? What! will he stir finger for the sake of anybody? +Then, Sis, if I remember Ben aright, there will be something for +himself. But if it is upon Ben that we are to rely we are truly well +sped. On Ben, quotha!' + +'My Brother, he told me so himself.' + +''Ware hawks, Sister. If Ben is a tone end of the rope and the +hangman at the other, I think I know who will be stronger. Well, +Child, believe Ben if thou wilt. Thy father looks strange this +morning. He opened his eyes and seemed to know me. I wonder if there +is a change. 'Tis wonderful how he lasts. There are six men sickened +since yesterday of the fever. Three of them brought in last week +are already dead. As for the singing that we used to hear, it is all +over, and if the men get drunk they are dumb drunk. Sir Christopher +looks but poorly this morning. I hope he will not take the fever. He +staggered when he arose, which is a bad sign.' + +'Tell mother, Barnaby, what Benjamin hath undertaken to do.' + +'Nay, that shall I not, because, look you, I believe it not. There +is some trick or lie at the bottom, unless Ben hath repented and +changed his disposition, which used to be two parts wolf, one part +bear, and the rest fox. If there were anything left it was serpent. +Well, Sister, I am no grumbler, but I expect this job to be over in +a fortnight or so, when they say the Wells Assizes will be held. +Then we shall all be swinging, and I only hope that we may carry +with us into the Court such a breath of jail fever as shall lay the +Judge himself upon his back and end his days. In the next world he +will meet the men whom he has sentenced, and it will fare worse for +him in their hands than with fifty thousand devils.' + +So he took a drink of the beer, and departed within the prison. And +for many months I saw him no more. + +On my way home I met Benjamin. + +'Hath Madam told you yet of my conditions?' he asked eagerly. + +'Not yet; she will doubtless tell me presently. Oh! what matter for +the conditions? It can only be something good for us, contrived by +your kind heart, Ben. I have told Barnaby, who will not believe in +our good fortune.' + +'It is, indeed, something very good for you, Alice, as you will +find. Come with me and walk in the meadows beyond the reach of this +doleful place, where the air reeks with jail fever, and all day long +they are reading the Funeral Service.' + +So he led me out upon the sloping sides of a hill, where we walked a +while upon the grass very pleasantly, my mind being now at rest. + +'You have heard of nothing,' he said, 'of late, but of the Rebellion +and its consequences. Let us talk about London.' + +So he discoursed concerning his own profession and his prospects, +which, he said, were better than those of any other young lawyer, +in his own opinion. 'For my practice,' he said, 'I already have one +which gives me an income far beyond my wants, which are simple. Give +me plain fare, and for the evening a bottle or two of good wine, +with tobacco, and friends who love a cheerful glass. I ask no more. +My course lies clear before me: I shall become a King's Counsel, I +shall be made a Judge; presently, I shall become Lord Chancellor. +What did I tell thee, Child, long ago? Well, that time has now +arrived.' + +Still I was so foolish, being so happy, that I could not understand +what he meant. + +'I am sure, Benjamin,' I said, 'that we at home shall ever rejoice +and be proud of your success. Nobody will be more happy to hear of +it than Robin and I.' + +Here he turned very red and muttered something. + +'You find your happiness in courts and clubs and London,' I went on; +'as for Robin and myself, we shall find ours in the peaceful place +which we have always decided to have.' + +'What the Devil!' he cried, 'she will not tell you the conditions? +She came with me for no other purpose. I have borne with her company +all the way from Exeter for this only. Go back to her, and ask what +it is! Go back, I say, and make her tell! What! am I to take all +this trouble for nothing?' + +His face became purple with sudden rage; his eyes grew swiftly +fierce, and he roared and bawled at me. Why, what had I said? + +'Benjamin,' I cried, 'what is the matter? How have I angered you?' + +'Go back!' he roared again. 'Tell her that if I presently come and +find thee still in ignorance 'twill be the worse for all! Tell her +that _I_ say it. 'Twill else be worse for all!' + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +A SLIGHT THING AT THE BEST. + + +So I left Benjamin much frightened, and marvelling, both at his +violent passion, and at the message which he sent to Madam. + +She was waiting for me at the lodging. + +'Madam,' I said, 'I have seen Benjamin. He is very angry. He bade me +go home and ask you concerning his conditions. We must not anger our +best friend, dear Madam.' + +She rose from her chair and began to walk about, wringing her hands +as if torn by some violent emotion. + +'Oh! my child,' she cried; 'Alice, come to my arms--if it is for the +last time--my daughter. More than ever mine, though I must never +call thee daughter.' + +She held me in her arms, kissing me tenderly. 'My dear, we agreed +that no sacrifice could be too great for the safety of our boy. Yes, +we agreed to that. Let us kiss each other before we do a thing after +which we can never kiss each other again. No, never again.' + +'Why not again, Madam?' + +'Oh,' she pushed me from her, 'it is now eight of the clock, he will +be here at ten! I promised I would tell thee before he came! And all +is in readiness.' + +'For what, Madam?' + +Why, even then I guessed not her meaning, though I might have done +so; but I never thought that so great a wickedness was possible! + +'No sacrifice should be too great for us!' she cried, clasping her +head with her hands and looking wildly about. 'None too great! Not +even the sacrifice of my own son's love--no; not that! Why, let +us think of the sacrifices men make for their country, for their +religion. Abraham was ready to offer his son, Isaac; Jephthah +sacrificed his daughter; King Mesha slew his eldest son for a burnt +offering. Thousands of men die every year in battle for their +country. What have we to offer? If we give ourselves, it is but a +slight thing that we offer at the best.' + +'Surely, Madam,' I cried, 'you know that we would willingly die for +the sake of Robin?' + +'Yes, Child; to die--to die were nothing. It is to live--we must +live--for Robin.' + +'I understand not, Madam.' + +'Listen then--for the time presses, and if he arrives and finds that +I have not broken the thing to thee, he will perhaps ride back to +Exeter in a rage. When I left my son after the trial, being very +wretched and without hope, I found Benjamin waiting for me at the +prison gates. He walked with me to my lodging, and on the way he +talked of what was in my mind. First, he said, that for the better +sort there was little hope, seeing that the King was revengeful and +the Judge most wrathful, and in a mood which allowed of no mercy. +Therefore, it would be best to dismiss all hopes of pardon or of +safety either to these two or to the prisoners of Ilminster. Now, +when he had said this a great many times, we being now arrived at +my lodging, he told me that there was in my case a way out of the +trouble--and one way only: that if we consented to follow that way, +which, he said, would do no manner of harm to either of us or to our +prisoners, he would undertake and faithfully engage to secure the +safety of all our prisoners. I prayed him to point out this way, +and, after much entreaty, he consented.' + +'What is the way?' I asked, having not the least suspicion. And yet +the look in her eyes should have told me what was coming. + +'Is it true, Child, that long ago you were betrothed to Benjamin?' + +'No, Madam, that is most untrue.' + +'He says that when you were quite a little child he informed you of +his intention to marry you, and none but you.' + +'Why, that is true, indeed.' And now I began to understand the way +that was proposed; and my heart sank within me. 'That is true. But +to tell a child such a thing is not a betrothal.' + +'He says that only three or four years ago he renewed that +assurance.' + +'So he did, but I gave him no manner of encouragement.' + +'He says that he promised to return and marry you when he had +arrived at some practice, and that he engaged to become Lord +Chancellor and make you a Peeress of the Realm.' + +'All that he said, and more. Yet did I never give him the least +encouragement, but quite the contrary, for always have I feared and +disliked Benjamin. Never at any time was it possible for me to think +of him in that way. That he knows, and cannot pretend otherwise. +Madam, doth Benjamin wish evil to Robin because I am betrothed to +him?' + +'He also says, in his rude way--Benjamin was always a rude and +coarse boy--that he had warned you, long ago, that if anyone else +came in his way he would break the head of that man.' + +'Yes: I remember, now, that he threatened some violence.' + +'My dear'--Madam took my hand--'his time of revenge is come. He says +that he has the life of the man whom you love in his own hands; and +he will, he swears, break his head for him, and so keep the promise +made to you by tying the rope round his neck. My dear, Benjamin has +always been stubborn and obstinate from his birth. Stubborn and +obstinate was he as a boy; stubborn and obstinate is he now. He +cares for nobody in the world except himself; he has no heart; he +has no tenderness; he has no scruples; if he wants a thing, he will +trample on all the world to get it, and break all the laws of God. I +know what manner of life he leads. He is the friend and companion of +the dreadful Judge who goeth about like a raging lion. Every night +do they drink together until they are speechless and cannot stand. +Their delight it is to drink, and smoke tobacco, with unseemly jests +and ribald songs which would disgrace the playhouse or the country +fair. Oh! 'tis the life of a hog that he delights in! Yet, for all +that, he is, like his noble friend, full of ambition. Nothing will +do but he must rise in the world. Therefore, he works hard at his +profession--and'---- + +'Madam--the condition!--what is the condition? For Heaven's sake +tell me quickly! Is it--is it!--oh! no--no--no! Anything but that!' + +'My child--my daughter'--she laid her hand upon my head. 'It is that +condition--that, and none other. Oh! my dear, it is laid upon thee +to save us!--it is to be thy work alone--and by such a sacrifice as, +I think, no woman ever yet had to make! Nay, perhaps it is better +not to make it, after all. Let all die together, and let us live +out our allotted lives in sorrow. I thought of it all night, and it +seemed better so--better even that thou wert lying in thy grave. +His condition! Oh! he must be a devil thus to barter for the lives +of his grandfather and his cousins--no human being, surely, would +do such a thing: the condition, my dear, is that thou must marry +him--now: this very morning--and this once done, he will at once +take such steps--I know not what they may be, but I take it that his +friend the Judge will grant him the favour--such steps, I say, as +will release unto us all our prisoners.' + +At first I made no answer. + +'If not,' she added after a while, 'they shall all be surely hanged.' + +I remained silent. It is not easy at such a moment to collect one's +thoughts and understand what things mean. I asked her presently if +there was no other way. + +'None,' she said: 'there was no other way.' + +'What shall I do? What shall I do?' I asked. 'God, it seems, hath +granted my daily prayer; but how? Oh! what shall I do?' + +'Think of what thou hast in thy power.' + +'But to marry him--to marry Benjamin--oh! to marry him! How should I +live? How should I look the world in the face?' + +'My dear, there are many other unhappy wives. There are other +husbands brutal and selfish; there are other men as wicked as my +nephew. Thou wilt swear in church to love, honour, and obey him. Thy +love is already hate; thy honour is contempt; thy obedience will +be the obedience of a slave. Yet death cometh at length, even to a +slave and to the harsh task-master.' + +'Oh! Madam, miserable indeed is the lot of those whose only friend +is death.' + +She was silent, leaving me to think of this terrible condition. + +'What would Robin say? What would Humphrey say? Nay, what would his +Honour himself say?' + +'Why, Child,' she replied, with a kind of laugh, 'it needs not a +wizard to tell what they would say. For one and all, they would +rather go to the gallows than buy their lives at such a price. Thy +brother Barnaby would mount the ladder with a cheerful heart rather +than sell his sister to buy his life. That we know already. Nay, we +know more. For Robin will never forgive his mother who suffered thee +to do such a thing. So shall I lose what I value more than life--the +love of my only son. Yet would I buy his life at such a price. My +dear, if you lose your lover I lose my son. Yet, we will save him +whether he will or no.' She took my hands and pressed them in her +own. 'My dear, it will be worse for me than for you. You will have a +husband, it is true, whom you will loathe; yet you will not see him, +perhaps, for half the day at least; and, perhaps, he will leave thee +to thyself for the other half. But for me, I shall have to endure +the loss of my son's affections all my life, because I am very sure +and certain that he can never forgive me. Think, my dear! Shall they +all die?--all!--think of father and brother, and of your mother!--or +will you willingly endure a life of misery with this man for husband +in order that they may live?' + +'Oh, Madam,' I said, 'as for the misery--any other kind of misery +I would willingly endure; but it is marriage--marriage! Yet who am +I that I should choose my sacrifice? Oh, if good works were of any +avail, then would the way to heaven be opened wide for me by such +an act and such a life! Oh, what will Robin say of me? What will he +think of me? Will he curse me and loathe me for being able to do +this thing? Should I do it? Is it right? Doth God command it? Yet to +save their dear lives--only to set them free--to send that good old +man back to his home--to suffer my father to die in peace!--I must +do it--I must do it! Yet Robin could never forgive me. Oh! he told +me that betrothal was a sacrament. I have sworn to be his. Yet, to +save his life, I cannot hesitate. If it is wrong, I pray that Robin +will forgive me. Tell him--oh, tell him that it is I who am to die +instead of him. Perhaps the Lord will suffer me to die quickly. Tell +him that I loved him, and only him; that I would rather have died; +that for his life alone I would not have done this thing, because he +would not have suffered it. But it is for all--it is for all! Oh! he +must forgive me! Some day you will send me a message of forgiveness +from him. But I must go away and live in London, far from all of +you; never to see him or any one of you again--not even my own +mother. It is too shameful a thing to do. And you will tell his +Honour, who hath always loved me and would willingly have called me +his granddaughter. It was not that I loved not Robin--God knoweth +that; but for all--for him and Robin and all--to save his grey hairs +from the gallows, and to send him back to his home. Oh! tell him +that'---- + +'My dear--my dear,' she replied, but could say no more. + +Then for a while we sat in silence, with beating hearts. + +'I am to purchase the lives of five honest men,' I said presently, +'by my own dishonour. I know very well that it is by my dishonour +and my sin that their lives are to be bought. It doth not save me +from dishonour that I am first to stand in the church and be married +according to the Prayer Book. Nay, does it not make the sin greater +and the dishonour more certain that I shall first swear what I +cannot ever perform--to love and honour that man?' + +'Yes, girl--yes!' said Madam. 'But the sin is mine more than yours. +Oh! let me bear the sin upon myself.' + +'You cannot, it is my sin and my dishonour; nay, it is a most +dreadful wicked thing that I am to do. It is all the sins in one: +I do not honour my parents in thus dishonouring myself; I kill +myself--the woman that my Robin loved; I steal the outward form +which belonged to Robin and give it to another; I live in a kind of +adultery. It is truly a terrible sin in the sight of Heaven. Yet I +will do it!--I must do it! I love him so that I cannot let him die; +rather let me be overwhelmed with shame and reproach if only he can +live!' + +'Said I not, my dear, that we two could never kiss each other again? +When two men have conspired together to commit a crime they consort +no more together, it is said, but go apart and loathe each other. So +it is now with us.' + + * * * * * + +So I promised to do this thing. The temptation was beyond my +strength. Yet had I possessed more faith I should have refused. +And then great, indeed, would have been my reward. Alas! how was I +punished for my want of faith! Well, it was to save my lover. Love +makes us strong for evil as well as strong for good. + +And all the time, to think that we never inquired or proved his +promises! To think that we never thought of doubting or of asking +how he, a young barrister, should be able to save the lives of four +active rebels, and one who had been zealous in the cause! That two +women should have been so simple is now astonishing. + +When the clock struck ten I saw Benjamin walking across the +churchyard. It was part of the brutal nature of the man that he +should walk upon the graves, even those newly-made and not covered +up with turf. He swung his great burly form, and looked up at the +window with a grin which made Madam tremble and shrink back. But +for me, I was not moved by the sight of him, for now I was strong +in resolution. Suppose one who hath made up her mind to go to the +stake for her religion, as would doubtless have happened unto many +had King James been allowed to continue in his course, do you think +that such a woman would begin to tremble at the sight of her +executioner? Not so. She would arise and go forth to meet him, with +pale face, perhaps (because the agony is sharp), but with a steady +eye. Benjamin opened the door, and stood looking from one to the +other. + +'Well,' he said to Madam, roughly, 'you have by this time told her +the condition?' + +'I have told her--alas! I have told her, and already I repent me +that I have told her.' + +'Doth she consent?' + +'She does. It shall be as you desire.' + +'Ha!' Benjamin drew a long breath. 'Said I not, Sweetheart'--he +turned to me--'that I would break the head of any who came between +us? What? Have I not broken the head of my cousin when I take away +his girl? Very well, then. And that to good purpose. Very well, +then. It remains to carry out the condition.' + +'The condition,' I said, 'I understand to be this. If I become your +wife, Benjamin, you knowing full well that I love another man and am +already promised to him'---- + +'Ta--ta--ta!' he said. 'That you are promised to another man matters +not one straw. That you love another man I care nothing. What! I +promise, Sweetheart, that I will soon make thee forget that other +man. And as for loving any other man after marrying me, that, d'ye +see, my pretty, will be impossible. Oh! thou shalt be the fondest +wife in the Three Kingdoms.' + +'Nay: if such a thing cannot move your heart, I say no more. If I +marry you, then all our prisoners will be enlarged?' + +'I swear'--he used a great round oath, very horrid from the lips of +a Christian man--'I swear that, if you marry me, the three--Robin, +Humphrey, and Barnaby--shall all save their lives. And as for Sir +Christopher and thy father, they also shall be enlarged. Can I say +aught in addition?' + +I suspected no deceit. I understood, and so did Madam, that this +promise meant the full and free forgiveness of all. Yet there +was something of mockery in his eyes, which should have made us +suspicious. But I, for one, was young and ignorant, and Madam was +country-bred and truthful. + +'Benjamin,' I cried, falling on my knees before him, 'think what +it is you ask! Think what a wicked thing you would have me do!--to +break my vows, who am promised to your cousin! And would you leave +your grandfather to perish all for a whim about a silly girl? +Benjamin, you are playing with us. You cannot--you could not sell +the lives--the very lives of your grandfather and your cousins for +such a price as this! The play has gone far enough, Benjamin. Tell +us that it is over, and that you never meant to be taken seriously, +and we will forgive you the anguish you have caused us.' + +'Get up,' he said, 'get up, I say, and stop this folly.' He then +began to curse and to swear. 'Playing, is it? You shall quickly +discover that it is no play, but serious enough to please you all, +Puritans though you be. Playing! Get up, I say, and have done.' + +'Then,' I said, 'there is not in the whole world a more inhuman +monster than yourself.' + +'Oh! my dear--my dear, do not anger him!' cried Madam. + +'All is fair in love, my pretty,' said Benjamin with a grin. 'Before +marriage call me what you please--inhuman monster--anything that you +please. After marriage my wife will have to sing a different tune.' + +'Oh! Benjamin, treat her kindly,' Madam cried. + +'I mean not otherwise. Kindness is my nature, I am too kind for +my own interests. Obedience I expect, and good temper and a civil +tongue, with such respect as is due to one who intends to be Lord +Chancellor. Come, Child, no more hard words. Thou shalt be the +happiest woman, I say, in the world. What? Monmouth's rebellion was +only contrived to make thy happiness. Instead of a dull country +house thou shalt have a house in London; instead of the meadows, +thou shalt have the parks; instead of skylarks, the singers at the +playhouse; in due course thou shalt be My Lady'---- + +'Oh! stop--stop; I must marry you since you make me, but the partner +in your ambitions will I never be.' + +'My dear,' Madam whispered, 'speak him fair. Be humble to him. +Remember he holds in his hands the lives of all.' + +'Yes,' Benjamin overheard her. 'The lives of all. The man who dares +to take my girl from me--mine--deserves to die. Yet so clement, +so forgiving, so generous am I, that I am ready to pardon him. He +shall actually save his life. If, therefore, it is true that (before +marriage) you love that man and are promised to him, come to church +with me, out of your great love to him, in order to save his life; +but if you love him not, then you can love me, and, therefore, can +come to please yourself, willy nilly. What! am I to be thwarted in +such a trifle? Willy nilly, I say, I will marry thee. Come--we waste +the time.' + +He seized my wrist as if he would have dragged me towards the door. + +'Benjamin,' cried Madam, 'be merciful! she is but a girl, and +she loves my poor boy--be merciful! Oh! it is not yet too late.' +She snatched me from his grasp and stood between us, her arms +outstretched. 'It is not too late; they may die and we will go in +sorrow, but not in shame. They may die. Go! murderer of thy kith +and kin! Go, send thy grandfather to die upon the scaffold; but, at +least, leave us in peace.' + +'No, Madam,' I said. 'With your permission, if there be no other +way, I will save their lives.' + +'Well, then,' Benjamin said sulkily, 'there must be an end of this +talk and no further delay; else, by the Lord! I know not what may +happen. Will Tom Boilman delay to prepare his cauldron of hot pitch? +If we wait much longer, Robin's arms and legs will be seething in +that broth! Doth the Judge delay with his warrant? Already he signs +it--already they are putting up the gibbet on which he will hang! +Come, I say.' + + * * * * * + +Benjamin was sure of his prey, I suppose, because we found the +clergyman waiting for us in the church, ready with surplice and +book. The clerk was standing beside him, also with his book, open at +the Service for Marriage. While they read the Service Madam threw +herself prostrate on the Communion steps, her head in her hands, as +one who suffers the last extremities of remorse and despair for sin +too grievous to be ever forgiven. Let us hope that sometimes we may +judge ourselves more harshly than Heaven itself doth judge us. + +The clerk gave me away, and was the only witness of the marriage +besides that poor distracted mother. + +'Twas a strange wedding. There had been no banns put up; the bride +was pale and trembling; the bridegroom was gloomy; the only other +person present wept upon her knees while the parson read through +his ordered prayer and psalm and exhortation; there was no sign of +rejoicing. + +'So,' said Benjamin, when all was over, 'now thou art my wife. They +shall not be hanged therefor. Come, wife, we will this day ride +to Exeter, where thou shalt thyself bear the joyful news of thy +marriage and their safety to my cousins. They will own that I am a +loving and a careful cousin.' + +He led me, thus talking, out of church. Now, as we left the +churchyard, there passed through the gates--oh, baleful omen!--four +men carrying between them a bier. Upon it was the body of another +poor prisoner, dead of jail fever. I think that even the hard heart +of Benjamin--now my husband!--oh! merciful Heavens! he was my +husband!--quailed, and was touched with fear at meeting this most +sure and certain sign of coming woe, for he muttered something in +his teeth, and cursed the bearers aloud for not choosing another +time. + +My husband, then--I must needs call him my husband--told me, +brutally, that I must ride with him to Exeter, where I should myself +bear the joyful news of their safety to his cousins. I did not take +that journey, nor did I bear the news, nor did I ever after that +moment set eyes upon him again, nor did I ever speak to him again. +His wife I remained, I suppose, because I was joined to him in +church. But I never saw him after that morning. And the reason why +you shall now hear. + +At the door of our lodging, which was, you know, hard by the church, +stood Mr. Boscorel himself. + +'What means this?' he asked, with looks troubled and confused. 'What +doth it mean, Benjamin? What hath happened, in the name of God?' + +'Sir,' said Benjamin, 'you know my character. You will acknowledge +that I am not one of those who are easily turned from their +purpose. Truly, the occasion is not favourable for a wedding, but +yet I present to you my newly-married wife.' + +'_Thy_ wife! Child, _he_ thy husband? Why, thou art betrothed +to Robin! Hath the world gone crazy? Do I hear aright? Is +this--this--this--a time to be marrying? Hast thou not heard? Hast +thou not heard, I say?' + +'Brother-in-law,' said Madam, 'it is to save the lives of all that +this is done.' + +'"To save the lives of all?"' Mr. Boscorel repeated. 'Why--why--hath +not Benjamin, then, told what hath happened, and what hath been +done?' + +'No, Sir, I have not,' said his son. 'I had other fish to fry.' + +'Not told them? Is it possible?' + +'Benjamin hath promised to save all their lives if this child would +marry him. To save their lives hath Alice consented, and I with her. +He will save them through his great friendship with Judge Jeffreys.' + +'Benjamin to save their lives? Sirrah'--he turned to his son with +great wrath in his face--'what villainy is this? Thou hast promised +to save their lives? What villainy, I say, is this? Sister-in-law, +did he not tell you what hath been done?' + +'He has told us nothing. Oh! is there new misery?' + +'Child'--Mr. Boscorel spoke with the tears running down his +cheeks--'thou art betrayed--alas! most cruelly and foully betrayed. +My son--would to God that I had died before I should say so--is a +villain! For, first, the lives of these young men are already saved, +and he hath known it for a week and more. Learn, then, that with the +help of certain friends I have used such interests at Court that for +these three I have received the promise of safety. Yet they will not +be pardoned. They are given, among other prisoners, to the courtiers +and the ladies-in-waiting. One Mr. Jerome Nipho hath received and +entered on his list the names of Robin and Humphrey Challis and +Barnaby Eykin; they will be sold by him, and transported to Jamaica +or elsewhere for a term of years.' + +'They were already saved!' cried Madam. 'He knew, then, when they +were tried and sentenced, that their lives were already spared. Oh, +child! poor child! Oh, Alice! Oh, my daughter! what misery have we +brought upon thee!' + +Benjamin said nothing. On his face lay a scowl of obstinacy. As for +me, I was clinging to Madam's arm. This man was my husband--and +Robin was already saved--and by lies and villainy he had cheated us! + +'They were already saved,' Mr. Boscorel continued. 'Benjamin +knew it--I sent him a letter that he might tell his cousins. My +son--alas!--I say again, my only son--my only son--my son is a +villain!' + +'No one shall take my girl,' said Benjamin sullenly. 'What? All is +fair in love.' + +'He has not told you, either, what hath happened in the prison? Thou +hadst speech, I hear, with Barnaby, early this morning, Child. The +other prisoners'--he lowered his voice and folded his hands, as in +prayer--'they have since been enlarged.' + +'How?' Madam asked. 'Is Sir Christopher free?' + +'He hath received his freedom--from One who never fails to set poor +prisoners free. My father-in-law fell dead in the courtyard at nine +o'clock this morning--weep not for him. But, Child, there is much +more; about that same time thy father breathed his last. He, too, +is dead; he, too, hath his freedom, Benjamin knew of this as well, +Alice, my child'--the kindly tears of compassion rolled down his +face. 'I have loved thee always, my dear; and it is my son who hath +wrought this wickedness--my own son--my only son'----he shook his +cane in Benjamin's face. 'Oh, villain!' he cried; 'oh, villain!' + +Benjamin made no reply; but his face was black and his eyes +obstinate. + +'There is yet more--oh! there is more. Alas! my child, there is +more. Thou hast lost thy mother as well. For at the sight of her +husband's death, his poor, patient wife could no longer bear the +trouble, but she, too, fell dead--of a broken heart; yea, she fell +dead upon his dead body--the Lord showed her this great and crowning +mercy--so that they all died together. This, too, Benjamin knew. Oh! +villain! villain!' + +Benjamin heard unmoved, except that his scowl grew blacker. + +'Go,' his father continued, 'I load thee not, my son, with a +father's curse. Thy wickedness is so great that thy punishment will +be exemplary. The judgments of God descend upon the most hardened. +Get thee gone out of my sight. Let me never more behold thee until +thou hast felt the intolerable pangs of remorse. Get thee hence I +say! begone!' + +'I go not,' said Benjamin, 'without my loving wife. I budge not, I +say, without my tender and loving wife. Come, my dear.' + +He advanced with outstretched hands, but I broke away and fled +shrieking. As I ran, Mr. Boscorel stood before his son and barred +the way, raising his right hand. + +'Back, boy! Back!' he said, solemnly. 'Back, I say! Before thou +reachest thy most unhappy wife, first shalt thou pass over thy +father's body!' + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE VISION OF CONSOLATION. + + +I ran so fast, being then young and strong, that Benjamin, I am +sure, could not have overtaken me had he tried, because he was +already gross of body and short of breath in consequence of his +tippling. I have since heard that he did not follow me, nor did he +dare to push aside his father. But he laughed and said, 'Let her +run; let her run. I warrant I shall find her and bring her back;' +thinking, I suppose, that I had run from him as a girl in play runs +from her companions. I ran also so long, fear lending me strength, +that the sun was getting even into the afternoon before I ventured +to stop. I looked round from time to time, but saw no one following +me. I do not remember by what road, track, or path I went: pasture +fields and plantations I remember; twice I crossed a stream on +stepping-stones; once I saw before me a village with a church tower; +but this I avoided for fear of the people. When I ventured to stop, +I was in a truly wild and desolate country--our county of Somerset +hath in it many such wild places, given over to forests, fern, and +heather. Presently I remembered the place, though one forest is +much like another, and I knew that I had been in this part before, +on that day when we rode from Lyme to Taunton, and again on the day +when we walked prisoners with the soldiers to Ilminster. I was on +the Black Down Hills again. + +When, therefore, I understood where I was, I began to recover a +little from the first horror which had driven me to fly like one +possessed of an evil spirit; and, seeing that no one was in pursuit, +I began to collect my senses and to ask myself whither I was +going, and what I should do. I was then near that ancient inclosure +called Castle Ratch, from whose walls one looks down upon the broad +vale of Taunton Dean. In the distance, I thought I could discern +the great tower of St. Mary's Church: but perhaps that was only +my imagination. I sat down, therefore, upon the turf under these +ancient walls, and set myself to consider my condition, which was +indeed forlorn. + +First, I had no friends or protectors left in the whole world, +because after what I had done I could never look upon Robin or even +Humphrey again; nor could I importune Madam, because she would not +anger her son (I represented him in my mind as most unforgiving); +nor could I seek the help of Mr. Boscorel, because that might help +his son to find me out, and everybody knows that a husband may +command the obedience of his wife. And Sir Christopher was dead, and +my father was dead, and my mother was dead, and I could not even +weep beside their coffins or follow their bodies to the grave. A +woman without friends in this world is like unto a traveller in a +sandy desert without a bottle of water. + +Yet was I so far better than some of these poor friendless +creatures, because I had, concealed upon me, a bag containing +all the money which Barnaby had given me--two hundred and fifty +gold pieces--save a little which we had expended at Taunton and +Ilminster. This is a great sum, and by its help I could, I thought +with satisfaction, live for a long time, perhaps all my life, if I +could find some safe retreat among godly people. + +No friends? Why, there was Susan Blake of Taunton--she who walked +with the Maids when they gave Monmouth the Bible, the sword, and +the flags. I resolved that I would go to her and tell her all that +had happened. Out of her kindness she would take me in and help +me to find some safe hiding-place and perhaps some honest way of +living, so as to save his money against Barnaby's return from the +Plantations. + +Then I thought I would find out the valley where we had lived for +a fortnight, and rest for one night in the hut, and in the early +morning before daybreak walk down the comb and so into Taunton while +as yet the town was still sleeping. And this I did. It was very easy +to find the head of the comb and the source of the stream, where we +had made our encampment. Close by, beneath the trees, was Barnaby's +hut: no one had been there to disturb or destroy it; but the leaves +upon the boughs which formed its sides were now dead. Within it the +fern and the heath which had formed my bed were still dry. Outside, +the pot hung over the black embers of our last fire; and, to my +great joy, in the basket which had contained our provisions I found +a large crust of bread. It was, to be sure, dry and hard; but I +dipped it in the running water of the stream and made my supper with +it. For dessert I had blackberries, which were by this time ripe, +and are nowhere bigger or sweeter than on Black Down. There were +also filberts and nuts, now ripe, of which I gathered a quantity, so +that I had breakfast provided for me, as well as supper. + +When I had done this, I was so tired and my head was so giddy with +the terror of the day, that I lay down upon the fern in the hut and +there fell fast asleep and so continued until far into the night. + +Now, in my sleep a strange thing happened unto me. For my own part, +I account it nothing less than a Vision granted unto me by mercy +and special grace of Heaven. Those who read of it may call it what +they please. It was in this wise. There appeared before my sleeping +eyes (but they seemed wide open), as it were, a broad and open +champaign; presently there came running across the plain in great +terror, shrieking and holding her hands aloft, a girl, whose face at +first I could not see. She ran in this haste and terrible anguish +of fear because there followed after her a troop of dogs, barking +and yelping. Behind the dogs rode on horseback one whose face I saw +not any more than that of the girl. He cursed and swore (I knew the +voice, but could not tell, being in a dream, to whom it belonged), +and cracked a horrid whip and encouraged the dogs, lashing the +laggards. In his eyes (though his face was in some kind of shadow) +there was such a look as I remembered in Benjamin's when he put the +ring upon my finger--a look of resolute and hungry wickedness, which +made me tremble and shake. + +Now, as I looked, the dogs still gained upon her who ran, and yelped +as if in a few moments they would spring upon her and tear her flesh +from her bones. Then suddenly, between her who ran and those who +pursued, there arose an awful form. He was clad in white, and in his +hand he bore a sword, and he turned upon that hunter a face filled +with wrath. Lightnings shot from his eyes and a cloud of thunder +lay upon his brow. At the sight of that face the dogs stopped in +their running, cowered, and fell dead. And at the dreadful aspect of +that face the hunter's horse fell headlong, and his rider, falling +also with a shriek of terror, broke his neck, and so lay prostrate +and dead. Then this dreadful minister of God's wrath turned from +him to the flying figure, and lo! his face was now transformed; his +eyes became soft and full of love; he smiled graciously; a crown of +glory was upon his head; white robes flowed downward to his feet; +his fiery sword was a palm branch: he was the Angel of Consolation. +'Have no more fear,' he said, 'though the waves of the sea rise +up against thee and the winds threaten to drown thee in the deep. +Among the ungodly and the violent thou shalt be safe; in all times +of peril the Lord will uphold thee; earthly joy shall be thine. Be +steadfast unto the end.' + +And then I looked again, those blessed words ringing in my ears; and +behold! I saw then, which I had not seen before, that the flying +figure was none other than myself; that he who cruelly hunted after +with the dogs and the whip was none other than my husband; and +that the Angel of Wrath, who became the Angel of Consolation, was +none other than my father himself! But he was glorified! Oh! the +face was his face--that, anyone could see; but it was changed into +something--I know not what--so far brighter and sweeter than the +earthly face, that I marvelled! Then the Vision disappeared, and I +awoke. + +So bright and clear had it been that I seemed to see it still, +though I was sitting up with my eyes open, and it was night. Then it +slowly vanished. Henceforth, however, I was assured of two things: +first, that no harm would happen unto me, but that I should be +protected from the malice of my enemies, whatever they might design +(indeed, I had but one enemy--to wit, the man who had that morning +sworn to love and cherish me); and next, that I had seen with mortal +eyes what, indeed, hath been vouchsafed to few, the actual spiritual +body--the glorified body, like to the earthly, but changed--with +which the souls of the Elect are clothed. + +So I arose now without the least fear. It was night; but in the East +there showed the first grey of the dawn, and the birds were already +beginning to twitter as if they were dreaming of the day. The wind +was fresh, and I was lightly clad, but the splendour of the Vision +made me forget the cold. Oh! I had received a voice from heaven! How +could I henceforth fear anything? Nay, there was no room even for +grief, though those terrible things had fallen upon me, and I was +now alone and friendless, and the world is full of ungodly men. + +It must have been about half-past four in the morning. It grew +light quickly, so that not only the trees became visible, but the +black depths between them changed into glades and underwood, and +I could see my way down the comb beside the stream. Then, without +waiting for the sun to rise (which he presently did in great warmth +and splendour), I started, hoping to get into Taunton before the +people were up and the streets became crowded. But I did not know +the distance, which must have been seven miles at least, because it +was nearly eight o'clock when I reached the town, having followed +the course of the stream through three villages, which I have since +learned must have been those of Pitminster, Trull, and Wilton. + +It was market day, and the streets were full of country people--some +of them farmers with bags of corn in their hands, going to the +corn-market, and some with carts full of fresh fruit and other +things. Their faces were heavy and sad, and they talked in whispers +as if they were afraid. They had, indeed, good cause for fear; for +the prison held over five hundred unfortunate men waiting for their +trial, and the terrible Judge was already on his way with his carts +filled with more prisoners rumbling after him. Already Colonel Kirke +had caused I know not how many to be hanged, and the reports of what +had been done at Dorchester and Exeter sufficiently prepared the +minds of the wretched prisoners at Taunton for what was about to +be done there. Among them was the unfortunate Captain Hucker, the +Serge-Maker, who had looked for a Peerage, and was now to receive a +halter. There was also among them that poor man, Mr. Simon Hamlyn, +who was hanged only for riding into Taunton in order to dissuade +his son from joining Monmouth. This the Mayor of Taunton pointed +out to the bloodthirsty Judge; but in vain. The whole five hundred +prisoners were, in the end, sentenced to death; and one hundred and +forty-five actually suffered, to the great indignation of those who +looked on, even of the King's party. Nay, at one of the executions, +when nineteen were hanged at the same time, and a great fire was +made so that the sufferers might actually see before their death +the fire that was to burn their bowels, the very soldiers wept, +saying that it was so sad a thing they scarce knew how to bear it. +Three years later, the hard heart of the King met with its proper +punishment. + +The soldiers were among the crowd, some leaning against bulkheads, +some drinking at the ale-houses, some haggling for the fruit; some +were also exercising upon Castle Green. They looked good-natured, +and showed in their faces none of the cruelty and rage which +belonged to their officers. But what a doleful change from the time +when Monmouth's soldiers filled the town, and all hearts were full +of joy, and every face shone with happiness! What a change, indeed! + +As I passed among the crowd, one caught me by the arm. It was a +little old woman, her face all wrinkled and puckered. She was +sitting on a stool beside a great basketful of apples and plums, and +a short pipe of tobacco within her lips. + +'Mistress,' she whispered, taking the pipe from her mouth. 'Thou +wert with the Maids the day of the Flags: I remember thy pretty +face. What dost thou here abroad among the people? The air of +Taunton town is unwholesome! There may be others who will remember +thee as well as I. Take an old woman's advice, and get thee gone. +How fares it with thy father, the worthy Dr. Eykin?' + +'Alas!' I said, 'he died in Ilminster Jail.' + +''Tis pity. But he was old and pious: he hath gone to glory. Whither +will those poor lads in the Clink go when they are hanged? Get thee +gone, get thee gone! The air is already foul with dead men's bodies: +they tell strange stories of what hath been done by women for the +safety of their brothers. Get thee gone, pretty maid, lest something +worse than prison happen to thee. And Judge Jeffreys is coming +hither like the Devil, having much wrath.' + +I could not tell her that nothing would happen to me, because I was +protected by a Heavenly Guard. + +'I was in the town forty years agone,' the old woman went on, 'when +Blake defended it, and we were well-nigh starved. But never have I +seen such things as have been done here since the Duke was routed. +Get thee gone!--haste away, as from the mouth of Hell!--get thee +gone, poor child!' + +[Illustration: '_As I passed through the crowd, one caught me by the +arm._'] + +So I left her, and went on my way, hanging my head, in hopes that +no one else would recognise me. Fortunately, no one did, though I +saw many faces which I had seen in the town before. They were then +tossing their caps and shouting for Monmouth, but were now gloomily +whispering, as if every man feared that his own turn would come +next. Over the great gateway of the Castle was stuck up a high row +of heads, arms, and legs of rebels blackened with pitch--a horrid +sight. Unto this end had come those brave fellows who went forth +to dethrone the King. No one noticed or accosted me, and I arrived +safely at Susan's house. The door seemed shut, but when I pushed +I found that it was open--the lock having been broken from its +fastening. Barnaby did that, I remembered. I went in shutting it, +after me. No doubt Susan was with her children in the schoolroom. +Strange that she should not repair her lock, and that at a time when +the town was full of soldiers, who always carry with them their +riotous and lawless followers. 'Twas unlike her orderly housekeeping. + +There was no one in the back parlour, where Susan commonly took her +meals and conducted the morning and evening prayers. The dishes were +on the table, as if of last night's supper or yesterday's dinner. +This was, also, unlike a tidy housewife. I opened the door of the +front parlour. Though it was already past the hour for school, there +were no children in the room; the lesson-books and copying-books +and slates lay about the floor. What did this untidy litter mean? +Then I went up-stairs and into the bedrooms, of which there were +three--namely, two on the floor above, and one a garret. No one was +in them, and the beds had not been made. There remained only the +kitchen. No one was there. The house was quite empty; I observed +also that the garden, which was wont to be kept with the greatest +neatness, now looked neglected; the ripe plums were dropping from +the branches trained upon the wall; the apples lay upon the grass; +the flower-beds were cumbered with weeds; grass grew in the walks; +the lawn, which had been so neat and trim, was covered with long +grass. + +What had happened? Where was Susan? Then I seemed to hear her voice +above thanking God for the victory, as she had done when Barnaby +burst in upon us; and methought I heard her singing a hymn with the +children, as she had done while we all sat embroidering the Flags. +Oh! the pretty Flags! And oh! the pretty sight of the innocents in +white and blue carrying those Flags! The house was filled with the +sounds of bygone happiness. Had I stayed another moment I am certain +that I should have seen the ghosts of those who filled the rooms in +the happy days when the army was in the town. But I did not stay. +Not knowing what to do or whither to fly, I ran quickly out of the +house, thinking only to get away from the mournful silence of the +empty and deserted rooms. Then, as I stepped into the street, I met, +face to face, none other than Mr. George Penne, the kind-hearted +gentleman who had compassionated the prisoners at Ilminster. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THE MAN OF SAMARIA. + + +''Tis no other than the Fair Maid of Ilminster!' said Mr. Penne, +with surprise. 'Madam, with submission, is it safe--is it +prudent--for one who walked with the Maids of Taunton on a certain +memorable day, to venture openly into the streets of this city at +such a time? Judge Jeffreys doth approach to hold his Court. Thy +friends are in prison or in hiding. The Maids are scattered all.' + +'I sought shelter,' I said, 'at the house of Susan Blake, the +schoolmistress.' + +'How? You have not heard, then? Miss Susan Blake is dead.' + +'She is dead?' + +'She died in Dorchester Jail, whither she was sent, being specially +exempted from any pardon. 'Twas fever carried her off. She is dead! +Alas! the waste of good lives! She might have bought her freedom +after a while, and then--but--well, 'tis useless to lament these +mishaps.' + +'Alas! alas!' I cried, wringing my hands. 'Then am I in evil plight +indeed! All, all are dead!--all my friends are dead!' + +'Madam,' he replied very kindly, 'not all your friends, if I may say +so. I have, I assure you, a most compassionate heart. I bleed for +the sufferings of others; I cannot rest until I have brought relief. +This is my way. Oh! I take not credit to myself therefor. It is that +I am so constituted; I am not proud or uplifted on this account. +Only tell me your case, entrust your safety to me. You may do so +safely if you reflect for one moment, because--see--one word from +me and you would be taken to prison by yon worthy clergyman, who is +none other than the Rev. Mr. Walter Harte, the Vicar of Taunton. +No one is more active against the rebels, and he would rejoice in +committing thee on the charge of having been among the Maids. A word +from me would, I say, cause you to be hauled to jail; but, observe, +I do not speak that word--God forbid that I should speak that word!' + +'Oh, Sir!' I said, 'this goodness overwhelms me.' + +'Then, Madam, for greater privacy, let us go back into the house and +converse there.' + +So we went back into the empty house and sat in the back parlour. + +'As for the nature of your trouble, Madam,' he began, 'I hope you +have no dear brothers or cousins among those poor fellows in Taunton +Jail.' + +'No, Sir; my only brother is at Ilminster, and my cousins are far +away in New England.' + +'That is well. One who, like myself, is of a compassionate +disposition, cannot but bewail the grievous waste in jail fever, +smallpox, scarlet fever, or putrid throat (to say nothing of the +hangings), which now daily happens in the prison. What doth it avail +to hang and quarter a man, when he might be usefully set to work +upon his Majesty's Plantations? It is a most sinful and foolish +waste, I say'--he spoke with great sincerity and warmth--'and a +robbing of the pockets of honest merchants.' + +'Indeed, Sir,' I said, 'your words prove the goodness of your heart.' + +'Let my deeds rather than my words prove that. How fare the +prisoners with whom you are most concerned?' + +'Alas! Sir Christopher is dead! and my father hath also died of his +wound.' + +'So?--indeed? More waste! They are dead. More waste! But one was +old: had Sir Christopher been sent to the Plantations, his value +would have been but small, though, indeed, a ransom--but he is dead; +and your father, being wounded--but they are dead, and so no more +need be said. There are, however, others, if I remember aright?' + +'There is my brother in Ilminster Prison, and----' + +'Yes; the two young gentlemen--Challis is their name--in Exeter. I +have seen them and conversed with them. Strong young men, especially +one of them. 'Tis sad, indeed, to think that they may be cut off in +the very bloom of their age when they would command so high a price +in Jamaica or Barbadoes. I ventured to beg before their trial that +they would immediately begin to use whatever interest they might be +able to command in order to get their sentence (which was certain) +commuted. Many will be suffered to go abroad--why not these young +gentlemen? But they have no interest, they assured me; and therefore +I fear that they will die. 'Tis most sad. They cannot hang all--that +is quite true; but then these young gentlemen were officers in the +army, and therefore an example will be made of them if they have no +interest at Court.' + +'Well, Sir,' I told him, pleased to find him of such a kindly and +thoughtful disposition, 'you will be glad to hear that they are +already pardoned, and have been presented by the King to a gentleman +at Court.' + +'Aha! Sayest thou so?' His eyes glittered, and he rubbed his hands. +'This is, indeed, joyful news. One of them, Mr. Robin Challis, is a +goodly lad, like to whom there are few sent out to the Plantations. +He will certainly fetch a good price. The other, Mr. Humphrey, who +is somewhat crooked, will go for less. Who hath obtained the gift of +these young gentlemen?' + +'It is a person named Mr. Nipho.' + +'Mr. Jerome Nipho. I know him well. He is a good Catholic--I mean a +Papist--and is much about the Court. He is lucky in having had many +prisoners given to him. And now, Madam, I hope you will command my +services.' + +'In what way, Sir?' + +'In this way. I am, as I have told you'--here he wagged his head +and winked both his eyes, and laughed pleasantly--'one of those +foolish busybodies who love to be still doing good to their +fellow-creatures. To do good is my whole delight. Unfortunately, +the opportunities are rare of conferring exemplary benefit upon my +fellow-men. But here the way seems clear.' + +He rubbed his hands and laughed again, repeating that the way was +clear before him, so that I believed myself fortunate in falling in +with so virtuous a person. + +'Oh, Sir,' I cried, 'would that the whole world would so live and so +act!' + +'Truly, if it did, we should have the prisons cleared. There should +be no more throwing away of good lives in hanging; no more waste +of stout fellows and lusty wenches by fever and small-pox. All +should go to the Plantations--all. Now, Madam, to our business, +which is the advantage of these young gentlemen. Know, therefore, +that Mr. Jerome Nipho, with all those who have received presents of +prisoners, straightway sells them to persons who engage to transport +them across the seas to his Majesty's Plantations in Jamaica, +Virginia, or elsewhere. There they are bound to work for a certain +term of years. Call it not work, however,' he added quickly; 'say +rather that they are invited every day to exercise themselves in +the cotton and the sugar fields. The climate is delightful; the +sky is seldom clouded; there are never any frosts or snows; it is +always summer; the fruits are delicious; they have a kind of spirit +distilled from the sugar canes which is said to be finer and more +wholesome than the best Nantz; the food is palatable and plentiful, +though plain. The masters or employers (call them rather friends) +are gentlemen of the highest humanity, and the society is composed +of sober merchants, wealthy planters, and gentlemen, like your +brother, who have had the misfortune to differ in opinions from the +Government.' + +'Why, Sir,' I said, 'I have always understood that the transported +prisoners are treated with the greatest inhumanity: forced to work +in heat such as we never experience, driven with the lash, and +half-starved, so that none ever come back.' + +He shook his head gently. 'See now,' he said, 'how prejudices +arise. Who could have thought that the Plantations should be thus +regarded? 'Tis true that there are estates cultivated by convicts +of another kind--I mean robbers, highwaymen, petty thieves, and +the like. Bristol doth every year send away a shipload at least of +such. Nay, 'tis reported that rather than hang murderers and the +like the Bristol merchants buy them of the magistrates; but this +is out of the kindness of their hearts. Madam,' he thrust his hand +into his bosom and looked me in the face, 'I myself am sometimes +engaged in that trade. I myself buy these unhappy prisoners and send +them to estates where I know they will be treated with the greatest +kindness. Do I look like a dishonest man, Madam? As for my name it +is George Penne, and I am known to every man of credit in Bristol. +Do I talk like one who would make money out of his neighbours' +sufferings? Nay, if that is so, let us part at once and say no more. +Madam, your humble servant--no harm is done: your humble servant, +madam.' He put his hat under his arm, and made as if he would go; +but I begged him to remain, and to advise me further in the matter. + +Then I asked him if transported persons ever came home again. + +'Surely,' he replied, 'some of them come home laden with gold. Some, +possessed of places both of honour and of profit, who return to +visit their friends, and then go back to the new country. It is a +very Eldorado, or land of gold, to those who are willing to work; +and for those who have money and choose to buy exemption from work, +it is only an agreeable residence in cheerful society for a certain +term of years. Have you, by chance, Madam, any friends who can +influence Mr. Jerome Nipho?' + +'No, Sir, I have none.' + +'Then will I myself communicate with that gentleman. Understand, +Madam, that I shall have to pay him so much a head for every +prisoner; that I shall be engaged to place every man on board ship; +that the prisoners will then be taken across the seas and again +sold. But in the case of those who have money, a ransom can be +procured, by means of which they will not have to work.' + +So far he had spoken in the belief that I was at Taunton on my +brother's business, or that of my friends. I told him, therefore, +that certain events had occurred which would prevent me from +seeing the prisoners at Exeter. And because I could not forbear +from weeping while I spoke, he very earnestly begged me to inform +him fully in every particular as to my history, adding that his +benevolence was not confined to the unhappy case of prisoners, but +that it was ready to be extended in any other direction that happy +chance might offer. + +Therefore, being, as you have seen, so friendless and so ignorant, +and so fearful of falling into my husband's hands, and at the same +time so grateful to this good man for his kindly offers (indeed, +I took him for an instrument provided by Heaven for the safety +promised in my vision of the night), that I told him everything +exactly, concealing nothing. Nay, I even told him of the bag of +gold which I had tied round my waist--a thing which I had hitherto +concealed, because the money was not mine, but Barnaby's. But I told +it to Mr. Penne. + +While I related my history he interrupted me by frequent +ejaculations, showing his abhorrence of the wickedness with which +Benjamin compassed his design, and when I finished, he held up his +hands in amazement. + +'Good God!' he cried; 'that such a wretch should live! That he +should be allowed still to cumber the earth! What punishment were +fitting for this devil in the shape of a man? Madam, your case is, +indeed, one that would move the heart of Nero himself. What is to be +done?' + +'Nay, that I know not. For if I go back to our village he will find +me there; and if I find out some hiding-place he will seek me out +and find me; I shall never know rest or peace again. For of one +thing am I resolved--I will die--yea, I will indeed die--before I +will become his wife more than I am at present.' + +'I cannot but commend that resolution, Madam. But, to be plain with +you, there is no place in the world more unsafe for you than Taunton +at this time. Therefore, if you please, I will ride with you to +Bristol without delay.' + +'Sir, I cannot ask this sacrifice of your business.' + +'My business lies at Bristol. I can do no more here until Judge +Jeffreys hath got through his hangings, of which, I fear, there +may be many, and so more sinful waste of good convicts. Let us, +therefore, hasten away as quickly as may be; as for what shall be +done afterwards, that we will consider on the way.' + +Did ever a woman in misfortune meet with so good a man? The +Samaritan himself was not of better heart. + +Well, to be brief, half an hour afterwards we mounted and rode to +Bristol, by way of Bridgwater (this town was even more melancholy +than Taunton), taking three days; the weather being now wet and +rainy, so that the ways were bad. Now, as we rode along--Mr. +Penne and I--side by side, and his servant behind, armed with +a blunderbuss, our conversation was grave, turning chiefly on +the imprudence of the people in following Monmouth, when they +should have waited for the gentry to lead the way. I found my +companion (whom I held to be my benefactor) sober in manners and in +conversation; no drunkard; no user of profane oaths; and towards me, +a woman whom he had (so to say) in his own power, he behaved always +with the greatest ceremony and politeness. So that I hoped to have +found in this good man a true protector. + +When we reached Bristol he told me that, for my better safety, he +would lodge me apart from his own house; and so took me to a house +in Broad Street, near St. John's Gate, where there was a most +respectable old lady of grave aspect, though red in the cheeks. + +'I have brought you, Madam,' he said, 'to the house of a lady whose +virtue and piety are well known.' + +'Sir,' said the old lady, 'this house is well known for the piety of +those who use it. And everybody knows that you are all goodness.' + +'No,' said Mr. Penne; 'no man is good. We can but try our best. In +this house, however, Madam, you will be safe. I beg and implore you +not at present to stir abroad, for reasons which you very well know. +This good woman has three or four daughters in the house, who are +sometimes, I believe, merry----' + +'Sir,' said the old lady, 'children will be foolish.' + +'True, true,' he replied laughing. 'Take care, then, that they +molest not Madam.' + +'No, Sir; they shall not.' + +'Then, Madam, for the moment I leave you. Rest and be easy in your +mind. I have, I think, contrived a plan which will answer your case +perfectly.' + +In the evening he returned and sent me word, very ceremoniously, +that he desired the favour of a conversation with me. As if there +could be anything in the world that I desired more! + +'Madam,' he said, 'I have considered carefully your case, and I can +find but one advice to give.' + +'What is it, Sir?' + +'We might,' he went on, 'find a lodging for you in some quiet Welsh +town across the Channel. At Chepstow, for instance, or at Newport, +you might find a home for a while. But, the country being greatly +inflamed with dissensions, there would everywhere be the danger of +some fanatical busybody inquiring into your history--whence you +came, why you left your friends--and so forth. And, again, in every +town there are women (saving your presence, Madam), whose tongues +tittle-tattle all day long. Short work they make of a stranger. So +that I see not much safety in a small town. Then, again, you might +find a farm-house where they would receive you; but your case is +not that you wish to be hidden for a time, as one implicated in +the Monmouth business. Not so; you desire to be hidden all your +life, or for the whole life of the man who, if he finds you, may +compel you to live with him, and to live for--how long? Sixty years, +perhaps, in a dull and dirty farm-house, among rude boors, would be +intolerable to a person of your manners and accomplishments.' + +'Then, Sir, in the name of Heaven'--for I began to be wearied with +this lengthy setting up of plans only to pull them down again--'what +shall I do?' + +'You might go to London. At first I thought that London offered +the best hope of safe retreat. There are parts of London where +the gentlemen of the robe are never seen, and where you might be +safe. Thus, about the eastern parts of the city there are never +any lawyers at all. There you might be safe. But yet--it would be +a perpetual risk. Your face, Madam, if I may say so, is one which +will not be quickly forgotten when it hath once been seen--you would +be persecuted by would-be lovers; you would go in continual terror, +knowing that one you fear was living only a mile away from you. +You would have to make up some story, to maintain which would be +troublesome; and presently the time would come when you would have +no more money. What, then, would you do?' + +'Pray, Sir, if you can, tell me what you think I should do, since +there are so many things that I cannot do.' + +'Madam, I am going to submit to you a plan which seems to me at once +the safest and the best. You have, you tell me, cousins in the town +of Boston, which is in New England.' + +'Yes, I have heard my father speak of his cousins.' + +'I have myself visited that place, and have heard mention of certain +Eykins as gentlemen of substance and reputation. I propose, Madam, +that you should go to these cousins, and seek a home among them.' + +'Leave England? You would have me leave this country and go across +the ocean to America?' + +'That is my advice. Nay, Madam'--he assumed a most serious +manner--'do not reject this advice suddenly; sleep upon it. You are +not going among strangers, but among your own people, by whom the +name of your pious and learned father is doubtless held in great +honour. You are going from a life (at best) of danger and continual +care to a place where you will be certainly free from persecution. +Madam, sleep upon it.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +ON BOARD THE JOLLY THATCHER. + + +I lay awake all night thinking of this plan. The more I thought +upon it, the more I was pleased with it. To fly from the country +was to escape the pursuit of my husband, who would never give over +looking for me because he was so obstinate and masterful. I should +also escape the reproaches of my lover, Robin, and break myself +altogether from a passion which was now (through my own rashness) +become sinful. I might also break myself from the loathing and +hatred which I now felt towards my wicked husband, and might even, +in time and after much prayer, arrive at forgiving him. At that +time--yea, and for long afterwards--I did often surprise myself in +such a fit of passion as, I verily believe, would have made me a +murderess had opportunity or the Evil One sent that man my way. Yea, +not once or twice, but many times have I thus become a murderess +in thought and wish and intention--I confess this sin with shame, +though I have long since repented of it. To have been so near unto +it--nay, to have already committed it in my imagination, covers me +with shame. And now when I sometimes (my Lord, the master of my +affections, doth allow it) visit the Prison of Ilchester and find +therein some poor wretch who hath yielded to temptation and sudden +wrath (which is the possession by the Devil), and so hath committed +what I only imagined, my heart goes forth to that poor creature, and +I cannot rest until I have prayed with her and softened her heart, +and left her to go contrite to the shameful tree. Nay, since, as +you shall hear, I have been made to pass part of my life among the +most wicked and profligate of my sex, I am filled with the thought +that the best of us are not much better than the worst, and that the +worst of us are in some things as good as the best; so that there is +no room for pride and self-sufficiency, but much for humiliation and +distrust of one's own heart. + +Well, if I would consent to fly from the country; across the seas, +I should find kith and kin who would shelter me. There should I +learn to think about other things--poor wretch, as if I could ever +forget the village--and Robin! Oh! that I should have to try--even +to try--to forget Robin! I was to learn that though the skies be +changed the heart remains the same. + +How I fled--and whither--you shall now hear. + +Mr. George Penne came to see me next morning, sleek and smiling and +courteous. + +'Madam,' he said, 'may I know your decision, if you have yet arrived +at one?' + +'Sir, it is already made. I have slept upon it; I have prayed upon +it; I will go.' + +'That is well. It is also most opportune, because a ship sails this +very day. It is most opportune I say--even Providential. She will +drop down the Channel with the coming tide. You will want a few +things for the voyage.' + +'It will be winter when we arrive, and the winters in that country +are cold; I must buy some thicker clothing. Will there be any +gentlewoman on board?' + +'Surely'--he smiled--'surely. There will be, I am told, more than +one gentlewoman on board that ship. There will be, in fact, a large +and a cheerful company. Of that you may be assured. Well, since that +is settled, a great load of care is removed, because I have heard +that your husband rode into Taunton with Judge Jeffreys; that he +learned from someone--I know not from whom--of your presence in the +town, and of your departure with me.' + +'It must have been the market-woman.' + +'Doubtless the market-woman'--I have often asked myself whether this +was a falsehood or not--'and he is even now speeding towards Bristol +hoping to find you. Pray Heaven that he hath not learned with whom +you fled!' + +'Oh!' I cried. 'Let us go on board the ship at once! Let us hasten!' + +'Nay; there is no hurry for a few hours. But stay withindoors. +Everything that is wanted for the voyage shall be put on board for +you. As for your meals, you will eat with'--here he paused for a +moment--'with the rest of the company under the care of the Captain. +For your berth, it will be as comfortable as can be provided. Next, +as to the money. You have, I understand, two hundred pounds and +more?' + +I took the bag from my waist and rolled out the contents. There were +in all two hundred and forty-five pounds and a few shillings. The +rest had been expended at Ilminster. + +He counted it carefully, and then replaced the money in the bag. + +'The Eykins of Boston, in New England,' he said, 'are people of +great credit and substance. There will be no necessity for you to +take with you this money should you wish it to be expended to the +advantage of your brother and your friends.' + +'Take it all, kind Sir. Take it all, if so be it will help them in +their need.' + +'Nay, that will not do, either,' he replied, smiling, his hand still +upon the bag. 'For, first, the Captain of your ship must be paid +for his passage; next, you must not go among strangers (though your +own kith and kin) with no money at all in purse. Therefore, I will +set aside (by your good leave) fifty pounds for your private purse. +So: fifty pounds. A letter to my correspondent at Boston, which I +will write, will cause him to pay you this money on your landing. +This is a safer method than to carry the money in a bag or purse, +which may be stolen. But if the letter be lost, another can be +written. We merchants, indeed, commonly send three such letters of +advice in case of shipwreck and loss of the bags. This done, and the +expenses of the voyage provided, there remains a large sum, which, +judiciously spent, will, I think, insure for your friends from the +outset the treatment reserved for prisoners of distinction who can +afford to pay--namely, on their arrival they will be bought (as it +is termed) by worthy merchants, who (having been previously paid by +me) will suffer them to live where they please, without exacting of +them the least service or work. Their relatives at home will forward +them the means of subsistence, and so their exile will be softened +for them. If you consent thereto, Madam, I will engage that they +shall be so received, with the help of this money.' + +If I consented, indeed! With what joy did I give my consent to such +laying out of my poor Barnaby's money! Everything now seemed turning +to the best, thanks to my new and benevolent friend. + +At his desire, therefore, I wrote a letter to Barnaby recommending +him to trust himself, and to advise Robin and Humphrey to trust +themselves, entirely to the good offices of this excellent man. I +informed him that I was about to cross the seas to our cousins in +New England, in order to escape the clutches of the villain who had +betrayed me. And then I told him how his money had been bestowed, +and bade him seek me when he should be released from the Plantations +(wherever they might send him) at the town of Boston among his +cousins. The letter Mr. Penne faithfully promised to deliver. (Nota +bene--the letter was never given to Barnaby.) + +At the same time he wrote a letter for me to give to his +correspondent at Boston, telling me that on reading that letter his +friend would instantly pay me the sum of fifty pounds. + +Thus was the business concluded, and I could not find words, I told +him, to express the gratitude which I felt for so much goodness +towards one who was a stranger to him. I begged him to suffer me +to repay at least the charges to which he had been put at the inns +and the stabling since he took me into his own care and protection. +But he would take nothing. 'Money,' he said, 'as payment for such +services as he had been enabled to render would be abhorrent to his +nature. Should good deeds be bought? Was it seemly that a merchant +of credit should sell an act of common Christian charity?' + +'What!' he asked, 'are we to see a poor creature in danger of being +imprisoned if she is recognised--and of being carried off against +her will by a husband whom she loathes, if he finds her--are we +to see such a woman and not be instantly fired by every generous +emotion of compassion and indignation to help that woman at the mere +cost of a few days' service and a few guineas spent?' + +I was greatly moved--even to tears--at these words, and at all this +generosity, and I told him that I could not sufficiently thank him +for all he had done, and that he should have my prayers always. + +'I hope I may, Madam,' he said, smiling strangely. 'When the ship +hath sailed you will remember, perhaps, the fate of Susan Blake, +and, whatever may be your present discomfort on board a rolling +ship, say to yourself that this is better than to die in a noisome +prison. You will also understand that you have fallen into the hands +of a respectable merchant, who is much more lenient than Judge +Jeffreys, and will not consent to the wasting of good commercial +stuff in jails and on gibbets.' + +'Nay, Sir,' I said, 'what doth all this mean?' + +'Nothing, Madam; nothing. I was only anxious that you should say to +yourself, "Thus and thus have I been saved from a jail."' Such was +Mr. Penne's humanity! + +'Understand it! Oh! dear Sir, I repeat that my words are not strong +enough to express my gratitude.' + +'Now, Madam, no doubt your gratitude runs high. Whether +to-morrow----' + +'Can I ever forget? To-morrow? To-morrow? Surely, Sir----' + +'Well, Madam, we will wait until to-morrow. Meantime, lie snug and +still all day, and in the afternoon I will come for you. Two hundred +and forty-five pounds--'tis not a great sum, but a good day's +work--a good day's work, added to the satisfaction of helping a most +unfortunate young gentlewoman--most unfortunate.' + +What did the good man mean by still talking of the morrow? + +At half-past twelve the good woman of the house brought me a plate +of meat and some bread. + +'So,' she said--her face was red, and I think she had been +drinking--'he hath determined to put you on board with the rest, I +hear.' + +'Hush! If you have heard, say nothing.' + +'He thinks he can buy my silence. Come, Madam; though, indeed, some +would rather take their chance with Judge Jeffreys--they say he is a +man who can be moved by the face of a woman--than with--well, as for +my silence, there----It is usual, Madam, to compliment the landlady, +and though, I confess, you are not of the kind which do commonly +frequent this house, yet one may expect'---- + +'Alas! my good woman, I have nothing. Mr. Penne has taken all my +money.' + +'What! you had money? And you gave it to Mr. Penne? You gave it to +him? Nay, indeed--why, in the place where thou art going'---- + +She was silent, for suddenly we heard Mr. Penne's step outside; and +he opened the door. + +'Come,' he said roughly; 'the Captain says that he will weigh anchor +in an hour: the tide serves--come.' + +I hastened to put on my hat and mantle. + +'Farewell,' I said, taking the old woman's hand. 'I have nothing +to give thee but my prayers. Mr. Penne, who is all goodness, will +reward thee for thy kindness to me.' + +'He all goodness?' asked the old woman. 'He? Why, if there is upon +the face of the whole earth'---- + +'Come, Child!' Mr. Penne seized my hand and dragged me away. + +'The woman,' he said, 'hath been drinking. It is a bad habit she +hath contracted of late. I must see into it, and speak seriously to +her: but a good nature at heart. Come, we must hasten. You will be +under the special care of the Captain. I have provided a box full of +warm clothing and other comforts. I think there is nothing omitted +that may be of use. Come.' + +He hurried me along the narrow streets until we came to a quay, +where there were a great number of ships, such as I had never before +seen. On one of them the sailors were running about clearing away +things, coiling ropes, tossing sacks and casks aboard, with such a +'Yo-hoing!' and noise as I never in my life heard before. + +''Tis our ship,' said Mr. Penne. Then he led me along a narrow +bridge, formed by a single plank, to the deck of the ship. There +stood a gentleman of a very fierce and resolute aspect, armed with +a sword, hanging from a scarlet sash, and a pair of pistols in his +belt. 'Captain,' said Mr. Penne, 'are all aboard?' + +'Ay; we have all our cargo. And a pretty crew they are! Is this the +last of them? Send her for'ard.' + +'Madam,' said Mr. Penne, 'suffer me to lead you to a place where, +until the ship sails and the officers have time to take you to your +cabin, you can rest and be out of the way. It is a rough assemblage, +but at sailing one has no choice.' + +Gathered in the forepart of what they call the waist there was a +company of about a hundred people. Some were young, some old; some +were men, some women; some seemed mere children. All alike showed in +their faces the extreme of misery, apprehension, and dismay. + +'Who are these?' I asked. + +'They will tell you themselves presently. Madam, farewell.' With +that Mr. Penne left me standing among this crowd of wretches, +and, without waiting for my last words of gratitude, hurried away +immediately. + +I saw him running across the plank to the quay. Then the boatswain +blew a shrill whistle; the plank was shoved over; some ropes were +cast loose, and the ship began slowly to move down the river with +the tide, now beginning to run out, and a wind from the north-east. + +I looked about me. What were all these people? Why were they going +to New England? Then, as the deck was now clearer, and the sailors, +I suppose, at their stations, I ventured to walk towards the +afterpart of the ship with the intention to ask the Captain for my +cabin. As I did so, a man stood before me armed with a great cane, +which he brandished, threatening, with a horrid oath, to lay it +across my back if I ventured any further aft. + +'Prisoners, for'ard!' he cried. 'Back you go, or--by the Lord'---- + +'Prisoner?' I said. 'I am no prisoner. I am a passenger.' + +'Passenger? Why, as for that, you are all passengers.' + +'All? Who are these, then?' + +He informed me with plainness of speech who and what they +were--convicts taken from the prisons, branded in the hand, and +sentenced to transportation. + +'But I am a passenger,' I repeated. 'Mr. Penne hath paid for my +passage to New England. He hath paid the Captain'---- + +'The ship is bound for Barbadoes, not New England. 'Tis my duty not +to stir from this spot; but here's the Mate--tell him.' + +This was a young man, armed, like the Captain, with pistols and +sword. + +'Sir,' I said, 'I am a passenger brought on board by Mr. Penne, by +whom my passage hath been paid to New England.' + +'By Mr. George Penne, you say?' + +'The same. He hath engaged a cabin for me, and hath purchased +clothes--and'---- + +'Is it possible,' said the Mate, 'that you do not know where you +are, and whither you are going?' + +'I am going, under the special care of the Captain, to the city of +Boston, in New England, to my cousin, Mr. Eykin, a gentleman of +credit and substance of that town.' + +He gazed at me with wonder. + +'I will speak to the Captain,' he said, and left me standing there. + +Presently he returned. 'Come with me,' he said. + +'You are Alice Eykin?' said the Captain, who had with him a paper +from which he read. + +'That is my name.' + +'On a certain day in July, your father being a preacher in the army +of the Duke of Monmouth, you walked with a procession of girls +bearing flags which you presented to that rebel?' + +'It is true, Sir.' + +'You have been given by the King to some great Lord or other, I +know not whom, and by him sold to the man Penne, who hath put you +on board this ship, the "Jolly Thatcher," Port of London, to be +conveyed, with a hundred prisoners, all rogues and thieves, to the +Island of Barbadoes, where you will presently be sold as a servant +for ten years; after which period, if you choose, you will be at +liberty to return to England.' + +Then, indeed, the Captain before me seemed to reel about, and I fell +fainting at his feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +THE GOOD SAMARITAN. + + +This was indeed the truth: I had parted with my money on the word +of a villain; I put myself into his power by telling him the whole +of my sad story; and, on the promise of sending me by ship to my +cousins in New England, he had entered my name as a rebel sold to +himself (afterwards I learned that he made it appear as if I was one +of the hundred given to Mr. Jerome Nipho, all of whom he afterwards +bought and sent to the Plantations), and he had then shipped me on +board a vessel on the point of sailing with as vile a company of +rogues, vagabonds, thieves, and drabs as were ever raked together +out of the streets and the prisons. + +When I came to my senses the Captain gave me a glass of cordial, and +made me sit down on a gun-carriage while he asked me many questions. +I answered him all truthfully, concealing only the reason of my +flight and of my visit to Taunton, where, I told him truly, I hoped +to see my unhappy friend Miss Susan Blake, of whose imprisonment and +death I knew nothing. + +'Madam,' said the Captain, stroking his chin, 'your case is indeed +a hard one. Yet your name is entered on my list, and I must deliver +your body at St. Michael's Port, Barbadoes, or account for its +absence. This must I do: I have no other choice. As for your being +sold to Mr. George Penne by Mr. Jerome Nipho, this may very well be +without your knowing even that you had been given to that gentleman +by the King. They say that the Maids of Taunton have all been given +away, mostly to the Queen's Maids of Honour, and must either be +redeemed at a great price or be sold as you have been. On the other +hand, there may be villainy, and in this case it might be dangerous +for you to move in the matter lest you be apprehended and sent to +jail as a rebel, and so a worse fate happen unto you.' + +[Illustration: '_When I came to my senses the captain gave me a +glass of cordial._'] + +He then went on to tell me that this pretended merchant, this +Mr. George Penne, was the most notorious kidnapper in the whole +of Bristol; that he was always raking the prisons of rogues and +sending them abroad for sale on the Plantations; that at this time +he was looking to make a great profit, because there were so many +prisoners that all could not be hanged, but most must be either +flogged and sent about their business, or else sold to him and his +like for servitude. 'As for any money paid for your passage,' he +went on, 'I assure you, Madam, upon my honour, that nothing at all +has been paid by him; nor has he provided you with any change of +clothes or provisions of any kind for the voyage; nor hath he asked +or bargained for any better treatment of you on board than is given +to the rogues below; and that, Madam,' he added, 'is food of the +coarsest, and planks, for sleep, of the hardest. The letter which +you have shown me is a mere trick. I do not think there is any such +person in Boston. It is true, however, that there is a family of +your name in Boston, and that they are substantial merchants. I make +no doubt that as he hath treated you, so he will treat your friends; +and that all the money which he has taken from you will remain in +his own pocket.' + +'Then,' I cried, 'what am I to do? Where look for help?' + +''Tis the damnedest villain!' cried the Captain, swearing after +the profane way of sailors. 'When next I put in at the Port of +Bristol, if the Monmouth scare be over, I will take care that all +the world shall know what he hath done. But, indeed, he will not +care. The respectable merchants have nothing to say with him--he is +now an open Catholic, who was formerly concealed in that religion. +Therefore, he thinks his fortune is at the flood. But what is to be +done, Madam?' + +'Indeed, Sir, I know not.' + +He considered a while. His face was rough and coloured like a ripe +plum with the wind and the sun; but he looked honest, and he did +not, like Mr. Penne, pretend to shed tears over my misfortunes. + +'Those who join rebellions,' he said, but not unkindly, 'generally +find themselves out in their reckoning in the end. What the deuce +have gentlewomen to do with the pulling down of Kings! I warrant, +now, you thought you were doing a grand thing, and so you must needs +go walking with those pretty fools, the Maids of Taunton! Well; 'tis +past praying for. George Penne is such a villain that keelhauling is +too good for him. Flogged through the fleet at Spithead he should +be. Madam, I am not one who favours rebels; yet you cannot sleep and +mess with the scum down yonder. 'Twould be worse than inhuman--their +talk and their manners would kill you. There is a cabin aft which +you can have. The furniture is mean, but it will be your own while +you are aboard. You shall mess at my table if you will so honour me. +You shall have the liberty of the quarter-deck. I will also find for +you, if I can, among the women aboard, one somewhat less villainous +than the rest, who shall be your grumeta, as the Spaniards say--your +servant, that is--to keep your cabin clean and do your bidding. When +we make Barbadoes there is no help for it, but you must go ashore +with the rest and take your chance.' + +This was truly generous of the Captain, and I thanked him with all +my heart. He proved as good as his word, for though he was a hard +man, who duly maintained discipline, flogging his prisoners with +rigour, he treated me during the whole voyage with kindness and +pity, never forgetting daily to curse the name of George Penne and +drink to his confusion. + +The voyage lasted six weeks. At first we had rough weather with +heavy seas and rolling waves. Happily, I was not made sick by +the motion of the ship, and could always stand upon the deck and +look at the waves (a spectacle, to my mind, the grandest in the +whole world). But, I fear, there was much suffering among the +poor wretches--my fellow-prisoners. They were huddled and crowded +together below the deck; they were all sea-sick; there was no doctor +to relieve their sufferings, nor were there any medicines for +those who were ill. Fever presently broke out among them, so that +we buried nine in the first fortnight of our voyage. After this, +the weather growing warm and the sea moderating, the sick mended +rapidly, and soon all were well again. + +I used to stand upon the quarter-deck and look at them gathered +in the waist below. Never had I seen such a company. They came, +I heard, principally from London, which is the rendezvous or +headquarters of all the rogues in the country. They were all in +rags--had any one among them possessed a decent coat it would have +been snatched from his back the very first day; they were dirty +from the beginning; many of them had cuts and wounds on their heads +gotten in their fights and quarrels, and these were bound about +with old clouts; their faces were not fresh-coloured and rosy, +like the faces of our honest country lads, but pale and sometimes +covered with red blotches, caused by their evil lives and their hard +drinking; on their foreheads was clearly set the seal of Satan. +Never did I behold wickedness so manifestly stamped upon the human +countenance. They were like monkeys for their knavish and thievish +tricks. They stole everything that they could lay hands upon: pieces +of rope, the sailors' knives when they could get them, even the +marlinspikes if they were left about. When they were caught and +flogged they would make the ship terrible with their shrieks, being +cowards as prodigious as they were thieves. They lay about all day +ragged and dirty on deck, in the place assigned to them, stupidly +sleeping or else silent and dumpish, except for some of the young +fellows who gambled with cards--I know not for what stakes--and +quarrelled over the game and fought. It was an amusement among the +sailors to make these lads fight on the forecastle, promising a +pannikin of rum to the victor. For this miserable prize they would +fight with the greatest fury and desperation, even biting one +another in their rage, while the sailors clapped their hands and +encouraged them. Pity it is that the common sort do still delight +themselves with sport so brutal. On shore these fellows would be +rejoicing in cock-fights and bull-baitings: on board they baited the +prisoners. + +There were among the prisoners twenty or thirty women, the sweepings +of the Bristol streets. They, too, would fight as readily as the +men, until the Captain forbade it under penalty of a flogging. These +women were to the full as wicked as the men; nay, their language +was worse, insomuch that the very sailors would stand aghast to hear +the blasphemies they uttered, and would even remonstrate with them, +saying, 'Nan,' or 'Poll'--they were all Polls and Nans--''tis enough +to cause the ship to be struck with lightning! Give over, now! Wilt +sink the ship's company with your foul tongue?' But the promise of a +flogging kept them from fighting. Men, I think, will brave anything +for a moment's gratification; but not even the most hardened woman +will willingly risk the pain of the whip. + +The Captain told me that of these convicts, of whom every year whole +shiploads are taken to Virginia, to Jamaica, and to Barbadoes, not +one in a hundred ever returns. 'For,' he said, 'the work exacted +from them is so severe, with so much exposure to a burning sun, and +the fare is so hard, that they fall into fevers and calentures. +And, besides the dangers from the heat and the bad food, there is a +drink called rum, or arrack, which is distilled from the juice of +the sugar-cane, and another drink called "mobbie," distilled from +potatoes, which inflames their blood, and causes many to die before +their time. Moreover, the laws are harsh, and there is too much +flogging and branding and hanging. So that some fall into despair +and, in that condition of mind, die under the first illness which +seizes on them.' + +'Captain,' I said, 'you forget that I am also to become one of these +poor wretches.' + +The Captain swore lustily that, on his return, he would seek out +the villain Penne and break his neck for him. Then he assured me +that the difference between myself and the common herd would be +immediately recognised; that a rebel is not a thief, and must not +be so treated; and that I had nothing to fear--nay, that he himself +would say what he could in my favour. But he entreated me with the +utmost vehemence to send home an account of where I was, and what +I was enduring, to such of my friends as might have either money +to relieve me from servitude or interest to procure a pardon. +Alas! I had no friends. Mr. Boscorel, I knew full well, would move +heaven and earth to help me. But he could not do that without his +son finding out where I was; and this thought so moved me that +I implored the Captain to tell no one who I was, or what was my +history; and, for greater persuasion, I revealed to him those parts +of my history which I had hitherto concealed, namely, my marriage +and the reason of that rash step and my flight. + +'Madam,' he said, 'I would that I had the power of revenging these +foul wrongs. For them, I swear, I would kidnap both Mr. George Penne +and Mr. Benjamin Boscorel; and, look you, I would make them mess +with the scum and the sweepings whom we carry for'ard; and I would +sell them to the most inhuman of the planters, by whom they would +be daily beaten and cuffed and flogged; or, better still, would +cause them to be sold at Havana to the Spaniards, where they would +be employed, as are the English prisoners commonly by that cruel +people, namely, in fetching water under negro overseers. I leave you +to imagine how long they would live, and what terrible treatment +they would receive.' + +So it was certain that I was going to a place where I must look +for very little mercy, unless I could buy it; and where the white +servant was regarded as worth so many years of work; not so much +as a negro, because he doth sooner sink under the hardships of his +lot, while the negro continues frolick and lusty, and marries and +has children, even though he has to toil all day in the sun, and is +flogged continually to make him work with the greater heart. + +Among the women on board was a young woman, not more than eighteen +or thereabout, who was called Deb. She had no other name. Her +birthplace she knew not; but she had run about the country with +some tinkers, whose language she said is called 'Shelta' by those +people. This she could still talk. They sold her in Bristol; after +which her history is one which, I learn, is common in towns. When +the Captain bade her come to the cabin, and ordered her to obey me +in whatsoever I commanded, she looked stupidly at him, shrinking +from him if he moved, as if she was accustomed (which was indeed the +case) to be beaten at every word. I made her first clean herself +and wash her clothes. This done, she slept in my cabin, and, as +the Captain promised, became my servant. At first she was not only +afraid of ill-treatment, but she would wilfully lie; she purloined +things and hid them; she told me so many tales of her past life, all +of them different, that I could believe none. Yet when she presently +found out that I was not going to beat her, and that the Captain did +never offer to cuff or kick her (which the poor wretch expected), +she left off telling falsehoods and became as handy, obliging, and +useful a creature as one could desire. She was a great, strapping +girl, black-eyed and with black hair, as strong as any man, and a +good-looking creature as well, to those who like great women. + +This Deb, when, I say, she ceased to be afraid of me, began to tell +me her true history, which was, I suppose, only remarkable because +she seemed not to know that it was shameful and wicked. She lived, +as the people among whom she had been brought up lived, without the +least sense or knowledge of God; indeed, no heathen savage could +be more without religion than the tinkers and gipsies on the road. +They have no knowledge at all; they are born; they live; they die; +they are buried in a hedgeside, and are forgotten. It was surprising +to me to find that any woman could grow up in a Christian country +so ignorant and so uncared for. In the end, as you shall hear, she +showed every mark of penitence and fell into a godly and pious life. + +My Captain continued in the same kindness towards me throughout the +voyage--suffering me to mess at his table, where the provisions were +plain but wholesome, and encouraging me to talk to him, seeming to +take pleasure in my simple conversation. In the mornings when, with +a fair wind and full sail, the ship ploughed through the water, +while the sun was hot overhead, he would make me a seat with a +pillow in the shade, and would then entreat me to tell him about +the rebellion and our flight to Black Down. Or he would encourage +me in serious talk (though his own conversation with his sailors +was over-much garnished with profane oaths), listening with grave +face. And sometimes he would ask me questions about the village +of Bradford Orcas, my mother and her wheel, Sir Christopher and +the Rector, showing a wonderful interest in everything that I told +him. It was strange to see how this man, hard as he was with the +prisoners (whom it was necessary to terrify, otherwise they might +mutiny), could be so gentle towards me, a stranger, and a costly one +too, because he was at the expense of maintaining me for the whole +voyage, and the whole time being of good manners, never rude or +rough, or offering the least freedom or familiarity--a thing which a +woman in my defenceless position naturally fears. He could not have +shown more respect unto a Queen. The Lord will surely reward him +therefor. + +One evening at sunset, when we had been at sea six weeks, he came +to me as I was sitting on the quarter-deck and pointed to what +seemed a cloud in the west. 'Tis the island of Barbadoes,' he said. +'To-morrow, if this wind keeps fair, we shall make the Port of St. +Michael's, which some call the Bridge, and then, Madam, alas!'--he +fetched a deep sigh--'I must put you ashore and part with the +sweetest companion that ever sailed across the ocean.' + +He said no more, but left me as if he had other things to say but +stifled them. Presently the sun went down and darkness fell upon the +waters; the wind also fell and the sea was smooth, so that there was +a great silence. 'To-morrow,' I thought, 'we shall reach the port, +and I shall be landed with these wretches and sent, perhaps, to toil +in the fields.' But yet my soul was upheld by the vision which had +been granted to me upon the Black Down Hills, and I feared nothing. +This I can say without boasting, because I had such weighty reasons +for the faith that was in me. + +The Captain presently came back to me. + +'Madam,' he said, 'suffer me to open my mind to you.' + +'Sir,' I told him, 'there is nothing which I could refuse you, +saving my honour.' + +'I must confess,' he said, 'I have been torn in twain for love of +you, Madam, ever since you did me the honour to mess at my table. +Nay, hear me out. And I have been minded a thousand times to assure +you first that your marriage is no marriage, and that you have not +indeed any husband at all; next, that since you can never go back to +your old sweetheart, 'tis better to find another who would protect +and cherish you; and thirdly, that I am ready--ay! and longing--now +to become your husband and protector, and to love you with all my +heart and soul.' + +'Sir,' I said, 'I thank you for telling me this, which indeed I did +not suspect. But I am (alas! as you know) already married--even +though my marriage be no true one--and can never forget the love +which I still must bear to my old sweetheart. Wherefore, I may not +listen to any talk of love.' + +'If,' he replied, 'you were a woman after the common pattern you +would right gladly cast aside the chains of this marriage ceremony. +But, Madam, you are a saint. Therefore, I refrained.' He sighed. +'I confess that I have been dragged as by chains to lay myself at +your feet. Well; that must not be.' He sighed again. 'Yet I would +save you, Madam, from the dangers of this place. The merchants and +planters do, for the most part, though gentlemen of good birth, lead +debauched and ungodly lives, and I fear that, though they may spare +you the hardships of the field, they may offer you other and worse +indignities.' + +I answered in the words of David: 'The Lord hath delivered me out of +the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear: He will deliver +me out of the hand of the Philistines.' + +'Nay; but there is a way; you need not land at all. It is but a +scratch of the pen, and I will enter your name among those who died +upon the voyage. There will be no more inquiry, any more than after +the other names, and then I can carry you back with me to the Port +of London, whither I am bound after taking in my cargo.' + +For a space I was sorely tempted. Then I reflected. It would be, I +remembered, by consenting to the Captain's treachery towards his +employers, nothing less, that I could escape this lot. + +'No, Sir,' I said, 'I thank you from my heart for all your kindness +and for your forbearance; but we may not consent together unto this +sin. Again, I thank you, but I must suffer what is laid upon me.' + +He knelt at my feet and kissed my hands, saying nothing more, +and presently I went to my cabin, and so ended my first voyage +across the great Atlantic Ocean. In the morning when I awoke, we +were beating off Carlisle Bay, and I felt like unto one of those +Christian martyrs, of whom I have read, whom they were about to lead +forth and cast unto the lions. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +THE WHITE SLAVE. + + +When we dropped anchor in the port or road of Carlisle Bay we were +boarded by a number of gentlemen, who welcomed the Captain, asked +him the news, and drank with him. I meantime kept in my cabin, +knowing that I must shortly come forth; and presently I heard the +boatswain's pipe, and the order to all the prisoners to come on +deck. Then one knocked softly at my door. It was the Captain. + +'Madam,' he said, with a troubled voice, 'it is not too late. Suffer +me, I pray you, to enter your name as one of those who died on the +voyage. It is no great deception: the villain Penne will alone be +hurt by it; and I swear to take you home, and to place you until +better times with honest and Godfearing people in London.' + +'Oh! Sir!' I replied, 'tempt me not, I pray you. Let me go forth and +take my place among the rest.' + +He entreated me again, but, finding that he could not prevail, he +suffered me to come out. Yet, such was his kindness to the last that +he would not place me with the rest, but caused his men to give me a +chair on the quarter-deck. Then I saw that we were all to be sold. +The prisoners were drawn up standing in lines one behind the other, +the men on one side and the women on the other. The hardships of the +voyage had brought them so low that, what with their rags and dirt, +and their dull scowls and savage faces, and their thin, pale cheeks, +they presented a forbidding appearance indeed. + +Three or four gentlemen (they were, I found, planters of the +island) were examining them, ordering them to lift up their arms, +stretch out their legs, open their mouths, and, in short, treating +them like so many cattle: at which the women laughed with ribald +words, but the men looked as if they would willingly, if they dared, +take revenge. + +'Faugh!' cried one of the planters. 'Here is a goodly collection +indeed! The island is like to become the dust-heap of Great Britain, +where all the rubbish may be shot. Captain, how long before these +bags of bones will drop to pieces? Well, sweet ladies and fair +gentlemen'--he made a mock bow to the prisoners--'you are welcome. +After the voyage, a little exercise will do you good. You will find +the air of the fields wholesome; and the gentlewomen, I assure you, +will discover that the drivers and overseers will willingly oblige +any who want to dance with a skipping-rope.' + +There were now twenty or thirty gentlemen, all of them merchants and +planters, on board, and a man stepped forward with a book and pencil +in hand, who was, I perceived, the salesman. + +'Gentlemen,' he said, 'this parcel of servants' (he called them a +parcel, as if they were a bale of dry goods) 'is consigned to my +care by Mr. George Penne, of Bristol, their owner. They are partly +from that city and partly from London, though shipped at the port of +Bristol. A tedious voyage, following after a long imprisonment in +Newgate and Bridewell, hath, it is true, somewhat reduced them. But +there are among them, as you will find on examination, many lusty +fellows and stout wenches, and I doubt not that what you buy to-day +will hereafter prove good bargains. They are to be sold without +reserve, and to the highest bidder. Robert Bull'--he read the first +name on the list--'Robert Bull, shoplifter. Stand forth, Robert +Bull.' + +There arose from the deck where he had been lying a poor wretch who +looked as if he could hardly stand, wasted with fever and privation, +his eyes hollow (yet they looked full of wicked cunning). The +planters shook their heads. + +'Come, gentlemen,' said the salesman, 'we must not judge by +appearances. He is at present, no doubt, weak, but not so weak as he +looks. I warrant a smart cut or two of the whip would show another +man. Who bids for Robert Bull?' + +He was sold after a little parley for the sum of five pounds. Then +the speaker called another, naming his offence as a qualification. +No pillory could be more shameful. Yet the men looked dogged and the +women laughed. + +The sale lasted for three or four hours, the prisoners being knocked +down, as they say, for various sums, the greatest price being given +for those women who were young and strong. The reason, I have been +told, is that the women make better servants, endure the heat more +patiently, do not commonly drink the strong spirit which destroys +the men, and, though they are not so strong, do more work. + +[Illustration: '_This I did, and so stood before them all +bareheaded._'] + +Last of all, the man called my name. 'Alice Eykin, Rebel. Stand +forth, Alice Eykin, Rebel.' + +'Do not go down among them,' said the Captain. 'Let them see at once +that yours is no common case. Stand here.' + +He led me to the top of the ladder or steps which they call the +companion--leading from the waist to the quarter-deck. + +'Madam,' he said, 'it will be best to throw back your hood.' + +This I did, and so stood before them all bareheaded. + +Oh! ye who are women of gentle nurture, think of such a thing as +this: to stand exposed to the curious gaze of rough and ribald men; +to be bought and sold like a horse or an ox at the fair! At first +my eyes swam and I saw nothing, and should have fallen but that the +Captain placed his hand upon my arm, and so I was steadied. Then +my sight cleared, and I could look down upon the faces of the men +below. There was no place whither I could fly and hide. It would be +more shameful still (because it might make them laugh) to burst into +tears. Why, I thought, why had I not accepted the Captain's offer +and suffered my name to be entered as one of those who had died on +the voyage and been buried in the sea? + +Down in the waist the gentlemen gazed and gasped, in astonishment. +It was no new thing for the planters to buy political prisoners. +Oliver Cromwell sent over a shipload of Irishmen first, and another +shipload of those engaged in the rising of Penruddock and Grove +(among them were gentlemen, divines, and officers, of whom a few yet +survived on the island). But as yet no gentlewoman at all had been +sent out for political reasons. Wherefore, I suppose, they looked +so amazed, and gazed first at me and then at one another and then +gasped for breath. + +'Alice Eykin, gentlemen,' said the salesman, who had a tongue +which, as they say, ran upon wheels, 'is a young gentlewoman, the +daughter, I am informed, of the Rev. Comfort Eykin, Doctor of +Divinity, deceased, formerly Rector of Bradford Orcas, in the county +of Somerset, and sometime Fellow of his college at Oxford, a very +learned Divine. She hath had the misfortune to have taken part in +the Monmouth Rebellion, and was one of those Maids of Taunton who +gave the Duke his flags, as you have heard by the latest advices. +Therefore, she is sent abroad for a term of ten years. Gentlemen, +there can be no doubt that her relations will not endure that this +young lady--as beautiful as she is unfortunate, and as tender as +she is beautiful--should be exposed to the same hard treatment as +the rogues and thieves whom you have just had put up for sale. +They will, I am privately assured'--I heard this statement with +amazement--'gladly purchase her freedom, after which, unless she is +permitted to return, the society of our Colony will rejoice in the +residence among them of one so lovely and so accomplished. Meantime, +she must be sold like the rest.' + +'Did Monmouth make war with women for his followers?' asked a +gentleman of graver aspect than most. 'I, for one, will have no part +or share in such traffic. Are English gentlewomen, because their +friends are rebels, to be sent into the fields with the negroes?' + +'Your wife would be jealous,' said another, and then they all +laughed. + +I understood not until afterwards that the buying and selling of +such a person as I appeared to be is a kind of gambling. That is to +say, the buyer hopes to get his profit, not by any work that his +servant should do, but by the ransom that his friends at home should +offer. And so they began to bid, with jokes rude and unseemly, and +much laughter, while I stood before them still bareheaded. + +'Ten pounds,' one began; 'Twelve,' cried another; 'Fifteen,' said +a third; and so on, the price continually rising, and the salesman +with honeyed tongue continually declaring that my friends (as he +very well knew) would consent to give any ransom--any--so only that +I was set free from servitude: until, for sixty pounds, no one +offering a higher price, I was sold to one whose appearance I liked +the least of any. He was a gross, fat man, with puffed cheeks and +short neck, who had bought already about twenty of the servants. + +'Be easy,' he said, to one who asked him how he looked to get his +money back. 'It is not for twice sixty pounds that I will consent to +let her go. What is twice sixty pounds for a lovely piece like this?' + +Then the Captain, who had stood beside me, saying nothing, +interfered. + +'Madam,' he said, 'you can put up your hood again. And harkee, +Sir,' he spoke to the planter, 'remember that this is a pious +and virtuous gentlewoman, and'--here he swore a round oath--'if +I hear when I make this port again that you have offered her the +least freedom--you shall answer to me for it. Gentlemen all,' he +went on, 'I verily believe that you will shortly have the greatest +windfall that hath ever happened to you, compared with which the +Salisbury Rising was but a flea-bite. For the trials of the Monmouth +rebels were already begun when I left the port of Bristol, and, +though the Judges are sentencing all alike to death, they cannot +hang them all--therefore his Majesty's Plantations, and Barbadoes +in particular, will not only have whole cargoes of stout and +able-bodied servants, compared with whom these poor rogues are like +so many worthless weeds; but there will also be many gentlemen, and +perhaps gentlewomen--like Madam here--whose freedom will be bought +of you. So that I earnestly advise and entreat you not to treat them +cruelly, but with gentleness and forbearance, whereby you will be +the gainers in the end, and will make their friends the readier to +find the price of ransom. Moreover, you must remember that though +gentlemen may be flogged at whipping-posts, and beat over the head +with canes, as is your habit with servants both black and white, +when the time of their deliverance arrives they will be no longer +slaves but gentlemen again, and able once more to stand upon the +point of honour and to run you through the body, as you will richly +deserve, for your barbarity. And in the same way any gentlewomen +who may be sent here have brothers and cousins who will be ready to +perform the same act of kindness on their behalf. Remember that very +carefully, gentlemen, if you please.' + +The Captain spoke to all the gentlemen present, but in the last +words he addressed himself particularly unto my new master. It was +a warning likely to be very serviceable, the planters being one and +all notoriously addicted to beating and whipping their servants. +And I have no doubt that these words did a great deal towards +assuring for the unfortunate gentlemen who presently arrived such +consideration and good treatment as they would not otherwise have +received. + +The island of Barbadoes, as many people know, is one of the Caribby +Islands. It is, as to size, a small place, not more than twenty +miles in length by fifteen in breadth, but in population it is a +very considerable place indeed, for it is said to have as many +people in it as the City of Bristol. It is completely settled, and +of the former inhabitants not one is left. They were the people +called Indians or Caribs, and how they perished I know not. The +island had four ports, of which the principal is that of St. Michael +or the Bridge, or Bridgetown, in Carlisle Bay. The heat by day is +very great, and there is no winter, but summer all the year round. +There is, however, a cool breeze from the sea which moderates the +heat. A great number of vessels call here every year (there is said +to be one every day, but this I cannot believe). They bring to the +island all kinds of European manufactures, and take away with them +cargoes of Muscovada sugar, cotton, ginger, and logwood. The island +hath its shores covered with plantations, being (the people say) +already more thickly cultivated than any part of England, with fewer +waste places, commons, and the like. The fruits which grow here are +plentiful and delicious--such as the pineapple, the pappau, the +guava, the bonannow, and the like--but they are not for the servants +and the slaves. The fertility of the country is truly astonishing; +and the air, though full of moisture, whereby knives and tools of +all kinds quickly rust and spoil, is considered more healthy than +that of any other West Indian island. But, for the poor creatures +who have to toil in the hot sun, the air is full of fatigue and +thirst; it is laden with fevers, calentures, and sunstrokes. Death +is always in their midst; and after death, whatever awaits them +cannot, I think, be much worse than their condition on the island. + +After the sale was finished, the Captain bade me farewell, with +tears in his eyes, and we were taken into boats and conveyed ashore, +I, for my part, sitting beside my purchaser, who addressed no word +at all to me. I was, however, pleased to find that among the people +whom he had bought was the girl Deb, who had been my maid (if a +woman who is a convict may have a maid who is a sister-convict). +When we landed, we walked from the quay or landing-place to a +great building like a barn, which is called a barracoon, in which +are lodged the negro slaves and servants before they go to their +masters. But at this time it was empty. Hither came presently a +certain important person in a great wig and a black coat, followed +by two negro beadles, each carrying a long cane or stick. After +commanding silence, this officer read to us in a loud voice those +laws of the colony which concern servants, and especially those who, +like ourselves, are transported for various offences. I forget what +these laws were; but they seemed to be of a cruel and vindictive +nature, and all ended with flogging and extension of the term of +service. I remember, for instance--because the thought of escape +from a place in the middle of the ocean seemed to me mad--that, by +the law, if any one should be caught endeavouring to run away, he +should be first flogged and then made to serve three years after +his term was expired; and that no ship was allowed to trade with +the island, or to put in for water, unless the captain had given +security with two inhabitants of the island in the sum of 2,000_l_. +sterling not to carry off any servant without the owner's consent. + +When these laws had been read, the officer proceeded, further, to +inform us that those who were thus sent out were sent to work as a +punishment; that the work would be hard, not light; and that those +who shirked their work, or were negligent in their work, would be +reminded of their duties in the manner common to Plantations; that +if they tried to run away they would most certainly be caught, +because the island was but small; and that when they were caught, +not only would their term of years be increased, but that they +would most certainly receive a dreadful number of lashes. He added, +further, that as nothing would be gained by malingering, sulking, +or laziness, so, on the other hand, our lot might be lightened by +cheerfulness, honesty, and zeal. A more surly, ill-conditioned +crew I think he must have never before harangued. They listened, +and on most faces I read the determination to do no more work than +was forced from them. This is, I have learned, how the plantation +servants do commonly begin; but the most stubborn spirit is not +proof against the lash and starvation. Therefore, before many days +they are as active and as zealous as can be desired, and the white +men, even in the fields, will do double the work that can be got out +of the black. + +Then this officer went away followed by his beadles, who cast eyes +of regret upon us, as if longing to stay and exercise their wands +of office upon the prisoners' backs. This done, we were ordered to +march out. My master's horse was waiting for him, led by a negro; +and two of his overseers, also mounted and carrying whips in their +hands, waited his commands. He spoke with them a few minutes, and +then rode away. + +They brought a long cart with a kind of tilt to it, drawn by two +asses (here they call them assinegoes), and invited me courteously +to get into it. It was loaded with cases and boxes, and a negro +walked beside the beasts. Then we set out upon our march. First +walked the twenty servants--men and women--newly bought by the +master; after them, or at their side, rode the overseers, roughly +calling on the laggards to quicken their pace, and cracking their +whips horribly. Then came the cart in which I sat. The sun was high +in the heavens, for it was not more than three of the clock; the +road was white and covered with dust; and the distance was about six +or seven miles, and we went slowly, so that it was already nigh unto +sunset when we arrived at the master's estate. + +Thus was I, a gentlewoman born, sold in the Island of Barbadoes for +a slave. Sixty pounds the price I fetched. Oh! even now, when it is +all passed long since, I remember still with shame how I stood upon +the quarter-deck, my hood thrown back, while all those men gazed +upon me, and passed their ribald jests, and cried out the money they +would give for me! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE FIRST DAY OF SERVITUDE. + + +Thus began my captivity. Thus I began to sit beside the waters of +Babylon, more wretched than the daughters of Zion, because they wept +together, while I wept alone. I looked for no release or escape +until the Lord should mercifully please to call me away by opening +the Gate of Death. For even if I were released--if by living out +the ten years of servitude I could claim my freedom, of what use +would it be to me? Whither could I fly? where hide myself? Yet you +shall hear, if you will read, how a way, terrible at first and full +of peril, was unexpectedly opened, and in what strange manner was +wrought my deliverance. + +We arrived at our new master's estate--which was, as I have said, +about seven miles from the port--towards sundown. We were marched +(rather, driven) to a kind of village, consisting of a double row +of huts or cottages, forming a broad street, in the middle of which +there were planted a large number of the fruit-trees named here +bonannows (they are a kind of plantain). The green fruit was hanging +in clusters, as yet unripe; but the leaves, which are also the +branches, being for the most part blown into long shreds, or rags, +by the wind, had an untidy appearance. The cottages looked more like +pigsties for size and shape; they were built of sticks, withs, and +plantain-leaves both for sides and for roof. Chimneys had they none, +nor windows; some of them had no door, but an opening only. Thus are +housed the servants and slaves of a plantation. The furniture within +is such as the occupants contrive. Sometimes there is a hammock or a +pallet with grass mats and rugs; there are some simple platters and +basins. In each hut there are two, three, or four occupants. + +Here let me in brief make an end of describing the buildings on +this estate, which were, I suppose, like those of every other. If +you were to draw a great square, in which to lay down or figure the +buildings, you would have in one corner the street or village of +the people; next to the village lies the great pond which serves +for drinking-water as well as for washing. The negroes are fond +of swimming and bathing in it, and they say that the water is not +fouled thereby, which I cannot understand. In the opposite corner +you must place the Ingenio, or house where the sugar-canes are +brought to be crushed and ground, and the sugar is made. There +are all kinds of machines, with great wheels, small wheels, cogs, +gutters for running the juice, and contrivances which I cannot +remember. Some of the Ingenios are worked by a windmill, others by +horses and assinegoes. There is in every one a still where they make +that fiery spirit which they call "kill-devil." Near the Ingenio +are the stables, where there are horses, oxen, assinegoes, and the +curious beast spoken of in Holy Writ called the camel. It hath been +brought here from Africa, and is much used for carrying the sugar. +The open space around the Ingenio is generally covered and strewed +with trash, which is the crushed stalk of the cane. It always gives +forth a sour smell (as if fermenting), which I cannot think to be +wholesome. In the fourth corner is the planter's house. Considering +that these people sometimes grow so rich that they come home and buy +great estates, it is wonderful that they should consent to live in +houses so mean and paltry. They are of wood, with roofs so low that +one can hardly stand upright in them; and the people are so afraid +of the cool wind which blows from the east that they have neither +doors nor windows on that side; but will have them all towards the +west, whence cometh the chief heat of the sun--namely, the afternoon +heat. Their furniture is rude, and they have neither tapestry, nor +wainscoted walls, nor any kind of ornament. Yet they live always +in the greatest luxury, eating and drinking of the best. Some of +the houses--my master's among them--have an open verandah (as they +call it: in Somersetshire we should call it a linney) running round +three sides of the house, with coarse canvas curtains which can be +let down so as to keep out the sun, or drawn up to admit the air. +But their way of living--though they eat and drink of the best--is +rude, even compared with that of our farmers at home; and a thriving +tradesman, say, of Taunton, would scorn to live in such a house +as contenteth a wealthy planter of Barbadoes. Behind the house is +always a spacious garden, in which grow all kinds of fruits and +vegetables, and all round the buildings on every side stretched the +broad fields of sugar-canes, which, when they are in their flower or +blossom of grey and silver, wave in the wind more beautifully than +even a field of barley in England. + +On the approach of our party and hearing the voices of the +overseers, a gentlewoman (so, at least, she seemed) came out of the +house and stood upon the verandah, shading her eyes and looking at +the gang of wretches. She was dressed splendidly in a silken gown +and flowered petticoat, as if she was a very great lady, indeed; +over her head lay a kerchief of rich black lace; round her neck was +a gold chain; when she slowly descended the steps of the verandah +and walked towards us I observed that she was of a darker skin than +it is customary to find at home; it was, indeed, somewhat like the +skin of the gipsy people; her features were straight and regular; +her hair was quite black; her eyes were also black, and large, +shaped like almonds. On her wrists were heavy gold bracelets, and +her fingers were loaded with rings. She seemed about thirty years +of age. She was a woman of tall and fine presence, and she stood +and moved as if she was a queen. She presently came forth from the +verandah and walked across the yard towards us. + +'Let me look at them--your new batch,' she said, speaking languidly, +and with an accent somewhat foreign. 'How many are there? Where do +they come from? Who is this one, for instance?' She took the girl +named Deb by the chin, and looked at her as if she were some animal +to be sold in the market. 'A stout wench, truly. What was she over +there?' + +The overseer read the name and the crimes of the prisoner. Madam +(this was the only name by which I knew her) pushed her away +disdainfully. + +'Well,' she said, 'she will find companions enough here. I hope she +will work without the whip. Hark ye, girl,' she added with, I think, +kindly intent, 'it goes still to my heart when I hear that the women +have been trounced; but the work must be done. Remember that! And +who are those--and those?' She pointed with contempt to the poor +creatures covered with dirt and dust, and in the ragged, miserable +clothes they had worn all the voyage. 'Street sweepings; rogues and +thieves all. Let them know,' she said grandly, 'what awaits those +who skulk and those who thieve. And whom have we here?'--she turned +to me--'Is this some fine city madam fresh from Bridewell?' + +'This prisoner,' said the overseer, 'is described as a rebel in the +late Monmouth rising.' + +'A rebel? Truly?' she asked with curiosity. 'Were Monmouth's +soldiers women? We heard by the last ship something of this. Madam, +I know not why you must needs become a rebel; but this, look you, is +no place for gentlewomen to sit down and fold their arms.' + +'Madam,' I replied, 'I look for nothing less than to work, being now +a convict (though I was never tried) and condemned--I know not by +whom--to transportation in his Majesty's Plantations.' + +'Let me look at your hands,' she said sharply. 'Why, of what use +are these little fingers? They have never done any work. And your +face--prithee, turn back your hood.' I obeyed, and her eyes suddenly +softened. Indeed, I looked not for this sign of compassion, and my +own tears began to flow. ''Tis a shame!' she cried. ''Tis a burning +shame to send so young a woman--and a gentlewoman, and one with such +a face--to the Plantations! Have they no bowels? Child, who put thee +aboard the ship?' + +'I was brought on board by one Mr. Penne, who deceived me, promising +that I should be taken to New England, where I have cousins.' + +'We will speak of this presently. Meantime--since we must by the law +find you some work to do--can you sew?' + +'Yes, Madam, I can perform any kind of needlework, from plain sewing +to embroidery.' + +'What mean they,' she cried again, 'by sending a helpless girl alone +with such a crew? The very Spaniards of whom they talk so much would +blush for such barbarity. Well, they would send her to a convent +where the good Nuns would treat her kindly. Madam, or Miss, thou art +bought, and the master may not, by law, release you. But there is a +way of which we will talk presently. Meanwhile, thou canst sit in +the sewing-room, where we may find thee work.' + +I thanked her. She would have said more; but there came forth +from the house, with staggering step, the man who had bought us. +He had now put off his wig and his scarlet coat, and wore a white +dressing-gown and a linen nightcap. He had in his hand a whip, which +he cracked as he walked. + +'Child,' said Madam, quickly, 'pull down your hood. Hide your face. +He hath been drinking, and at such times he is dangerous. Let him +never set eyes upon thee save when he is sober.' + +He came rolling and staggering, and yet not so drunk but he could +speak, though his voice was thick. + +'Oho!' he cried. 'Here are the new servants. Stand up, every man and +woman. Stand up, I say!' Here he cracked his whip, and they obeyed, +trembling. But Madam placed herself in front of me. 'Let me look +at ye.' He walked along the line, calling the unhappy creatures +vile and foul names. O shame! thus to mock their misery! 'What!' he +cried. 'You think you have come to a country where there is nothing +to do but lie on your backs and eat turtle and drink mobbie? What! +You shall find out your mistake.' Here he cracked his whip again. +'You shall work all day in the field, not because you like it, but +because you must. For your food, it shall be loblollie, and for +your drink, water from the pond. What, I say! Those who skulk shall +learn that the Newgate "cat" is tender compared with her brother of +Barbadoes. Tremble, therefore, ye devils all; tremble!' + +They trembled visibly. All were now subdued. Those of them who +swaggered--the dare-devil reckless blades--when first we sailed, +were now transformed into cowardly, trembling wretches, all +half-starved, and some reduced with fevers, with no more spirit left +than enabled them still to curse and swear. The feeblest of mortals, +the lowest of human wretches, has still left so much strength and +will that he can sink his immortal soul lower still--a terrible +power, truly! + +Then Madam drew me aside gently, and led me to a place like a barn, +where many women, white and black, sat sewing, and a great quantity +of little black babies and naked children played about under their +charge. The white women were sad and silent; the blacks, I saw with +surprise, were all chattering and laughing. The negro is happy, if +he have enough to eat and drink, whether he be slave or free. Madam +sat down upon a bench, and caused me to sit beside her. + +'Tell me,' she said, kindly, 'what this means. When did women begin +to rebel? If men are such fools as to go forth and fight, let them; +but for women'---- + +'Indeed,' I told her, 'I did not fight.' + +Then nothing would do but I must tell her all, from the +beginning--my name, my family, and my history. But I told her +nothing about my marriage. + +'So,' she said, 'you have lost father, mother, brothers, lover, +and friends by this pretty business. And all because they will not +suffer the King to worship in his own way. Well, 'tis hard for you. +To be plain, it may be harder than you think, or I can help. You +have been bought for sixty pounds, and that not for any profit that +your work will bring to the estate, because such as you are but a +loss and a burden; but only in the hope that your friends will pay a +great sum for ransom.' + +'Madam, I have indeed no friends left who can do this for me.' + +'If so, it is indeed unfortunate. For presently the master will look +for letters on your behalf, and if none come I know not what he +may threaten, or what he may do. But think--try to find some one. +Consider, your lot here must be hard at best; whereas, if you are +released, you can live where you please; you may even marry whom +you please, because beautiful young gentlewomen like yourself are +scarce indeed in Barbadoes. 'Tis Christian charity to set you free. +Remember, Child, that money will do here what I suppose it will do +anywhere--all are slaves to money. You have six months before you in +which to write to your friends and to receive an answer. If in that +time nothing comes, I tell thee again, Child, that I know not what +will happen. As for the life in the fields, it would kill thee in a +week.' + +'Perhaps, if the Lord so wills,' I replied helplessly, 'that may +be best. Friends have I none now, nor any whom I could ask for +help--save the Lord alone. I will ask for work in the fields.' + +'Perhaps he may forget thee,' she said--meaning the master. 'But no; +a man who hath once seen thy face will never forget thee. My dear, +he told me when he came home that he had bought a woman whose beauty +would set the island in flames. Pray heaven he come not near thee +when he is in liquor. Hide that face, Child. Hide that face. Let +him never see thee. Oh! there are dangers worse than labour in the +fields--worse than whip of overseer!' She sprang to her feet, and +clasped her hands. 'You talk of the Lord's will! What hath the Lord +to do with this place? Here is nothing but debauchery and drinking, +cruelty and greed. Why have they sent here a woman who prays?' + +Then she sat down again and took my hand. + +'Tender maid,' she said, 'thy face is exactly such as the face of a +certain saint--'tis in a picture which hangs in the chapel of the +convent where the good nuns brought me up long ago, before I came to +this place--long ago. Yes, I forget the name of the saint; thou hast +her face. She stood, in the picture, surrounded by soldiers who had +red hair, and looked like devils--English devils, the nuns said. +Her eyes were raised to heaven, and she prayed. But what was done +unto her I know not, because there was no other picture. Now she +sits upon a throne in the presence of the Mother of God.' + +The tears stood in her great black eyes--I take it that she was +thinking of the days when she was young. + +'Well, we must keep thee out of his way. While he is sober he +listens to reason, and thinks continually upon his estate and his +gains. When he is drunk no one can hold him, and reason is lost on +him.' + +She presently brought me a manchet of white bread and a glass of +Madeira wine, and then told me that she would give me the best +cottage that the estate possessed, and, for my better protection, +another woman to share it with me. I thanked her again, and asked +that I might have the girl called Deb, which she readily granted. + +And so my first day of servitude ended in thus happily finding a +protector. As for the cottage, it was a poor thing; but it had +a door, and a window with a shutter. The furniture was a pallet +with two thick rugs, and nothing more. My condition was desperate, +indeed; but yet, had I considered, I had been, so far, most +mercifully protected. I was shipped as a convict (it is true) by +a treacherous villain; but on the ship I found a compassionate +captain, who saved me from the company among whom I must otherwise +have dwelt. I was sold to a drunken and greedy planter; but I found +a compassionate woman who promised to do what she could; and I had +for my companion the woman who had become a most faithful maid to +me upon the voyage, and who still continued in her fidelity and her +love. Greater mercies yet--and also greater troubles--were in store, +as you shall see. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON. + + +Thus delivered from the slavery of the fields, I began to work, an +unprofitable servant, among those who made and mended the garments +of the servants and negroes. On an estate so large as this there is +always plenty to be done by the sempstresses and needlewomen. Thus, +to every woman is given by the year four smocks, two petticoats, and +four coifs, besides shoes, which are brought from England by the +ships. Those who wait in the house have, in addition, six smocks and +three waistcoats. To the men are given six shirts; and to every man +and woman a rug or gown of thick stuff to cast about them when they +come home hot, so that they may not catch cold--a thing which throws +many into a fever. All these things have to be made and mended on +the estate. + +As for the children, the little blacks, they run about without +clothing, their black skin sufficing. The women who are engaged +upon the work of sewing are commonly those of the white servants, +who are not strong enough for the weeding and hoeing in the fields, +or are old and past hard work. Yet the stuff of which the smocks +and shirts are made is so coarse that it tore the skin from my +fingers, which, when Madam saw, she brought me fine work--namely, +for herself. She was also so good as to provide me with a change of +clothes, of which I stood sadly in need, and excused my wearing the +dress of the other women. I hope that I am not fond of fine apparel, +more than becomes a modest woman, but I confess that the thought +of wearing this livery of servitude, this coarse and common dress +of smock, petticoat, and coif, all of rough and thick stuff, like +canvas, with a pair of shoes and no stockings, filled my very soul +with dismay. None of the many acts of kindness shown me by Madam was +more gratefully received than her present of clothes--not coarse +and rough to the skin, nor ugly and common, befitting prisoners and +criminals, but soft and pleasant to wear, and fit for the heat of +the climate. 'Twas no great hardship, certainly, to rise early and +to sit all day with needle and thread in a great room well-aired. +The company, to be sure, was not what one would have chosen; nor +was the language of the poor creatures who sat with me--prison and +Bridewell birds, or negro slaves--such as my poor mother would have +desired her daughter to hear. The food was coarse; but I was often +at the house (when the master was away), and there Madam would +constantly give me something from her own table, a dish of chocolata +(rightly called the Indian nectar) made so thick and strong that +a spoon stands upright in it, or a glass of Madeira, if my cheeks +looked paler than ordinary. In this country, the great heat of the +air seems to suck out and devour the heat of the body, so that those +of European birth, if they are not nourished on generous diet, +presently fall into a decline or wasting away, as is continually +seen in the case of white servants, both men and women, who die +early, and seldom last more than five or six years. + +Briefly, Madam seemed to take great pleasure in my conversation, +and would either seek me in the work-room, or would have me to +the house, asking questions as to my former life. For herself, I +learned that she was born in Cuba, and had been brought up by nuns +in a convent; but how or why she came to this place, I knew not, +nor did I ask. Other gentlewomen of the island I never saw, and I +think there were none who visited her. Nor did she show kindness to +the women servants (except to myself), treating them all, as is the +fashion in that country, as if they were so many black negroes, not +condescending to more than a word or a command; and if this were +disobeyed, they knew very well what to expect from her. But to me +she continued throughout to be kind and gracious, thinking always +how she could lighten my lot. + +In this employment, therefore, I continued with such contentment as +may be imagined, which was rather a forced resignation to the will +of the Lord than a cheerful heart. But I confess that I looked upon +the lot of the other women with horror, and was thankful indeed +that I was spared the miseries of those who go forth to the fields. +They begin at six in the morning, and work until eleven, when they +come home to dinner: at one o'clock they go out again and return at +sunset, which, in this country, is nearly always about half-past +six. But let no one think that work in the fields at Barbadoes may +be compared with work in the fields at home; for in England there +are cloudy skies and cold wintry days in plenty, but in Barbadoes, +save when the rain falls in prodigious quantities, the skies have +no clouds, but are clear blue all the year round: the sun burns +with a heat intolerable, so that the eyes are well-nigh blinded, +the head aches, the limbs fail, and, but for fear of the lash, the +wretched toiler would lie down in the nearest shade. And a terrible +thirst (all this was told me by the girl Deb) seizes the throat, +all day long, which nothing can assuage but rest. For the least +skulking the whip is laid on; and if there be a word of impatience +or murmuring, it is called stark mutiny, for which the miserable +convict, man or woman, is tied up and flogged with a barbarity which +would be incredible to any were it not for the memory of certain +floggings in our own country. Besides the lash, they have also the +pillory and the stocks, and the overseers carry in addition to their +whip a heavy cane, with which they constantly belabour the slaves, +both white and black. I say 'slaves' because the white servants are +nothing less, save that the negroes are far better off, and receive +infinitely better treatment than the poor white creatures. Indeed, +the negro being the absolute property of his master, both he and his +children, to ill-treat him is like the wanton destruction of cattle +on a farm; whereas there is no reason in making the convicts last +out more than the ten years of their servitude, or even so long, +because many of them are such poor creatures when they arrive, and +so reduced by the miseries of the voyage, and so exhausted by the +hard labour to which they are put, that they bring no profit to the +master, but quickly fall ill and die like rotten sheep. Like rotten +sheep, I say, they die, without a word of Christian exhortation; and +like brute creatures, who have no world to come, are they buried in +the ground! Again, the food served out to these poor people is not +such as should be given to white people in a hot climate. There is +nothing but water to drink, and that drawn from ponds, because in +Barbadoes there are few springs or rivers. It is true that the old +hands, who have learned how to manage, contrive to make plantain +wine, and get, by hook or by crook, mobbie (which is a strong +drink made from potatoes), or kill-devil, which is the new spirit +distilled from sugar. Then for solid food, the servants are allowed +five pounds of salt beef for each person every week, and this so +hard and stringy that no boiling will make it soft enough for the +teeth. Sometimes, instead of the beef, they have as much salt fish, +for the most part stinking; with this a portion of ground Indian +corn, which is made into a kind of porridge, and called loblollie. +This is the staple of the food, and there are no rustics at home who +do not live better and have more nourishing food. + +I do not deny that the convicts are for the most part a horrid crew, +who deserve to suffer if any men ever did; but it was sad to see how +the faces of the people were pinched with hunger and wasted with +the daily fatigues, and how their hollow eyes were full of despair. +Whatever their sins may have been, they were at least made in God's +own image: no criminal, however wicked, should have been used with +such barbarity as was wreaked upon the people of this estate. The +overseers were chosen (being themselves also convicts) for their +hardness of heart. Nay, did they show the least kindness towards the +poor creatures whom they drove, they would themselves be forced +to lay down the whip of office and to join the gang of those who +toiled. And over them was the master, jealous to exact the last +ounce of strength from the creatures whom he had bought. Did the +good people of Bristol who buy the sugar and molasses and tobacco of +the Indies know or understand the tears of despair and the sweat of +agony which are forced with every pound of sugar, they would abhor +the trade which makes them rich. + +The companion of my sleeping-hut, the girl Deb, was a great, +strapping wench, who bid fair to outlast her ten years of servitude, +even under the treatment to which, with the rest, she was daily +subjected. And partly because she was strong and active, partly +because she had a certain kind of beauty (the kind which belongs to +the rustic, and is accompanied by good-humour and laughter), she +would perhaps have done well, as some of the women do, and ended by +marrying an overseer, but for events which presently happened. Yet, +strong as she was, there was no evening when she did not return worn +out with fatigue, her cheeks burning, her limbs weary, yet happy +because she had one more day escaped the lash, and had the night +before her in which to rest. If it is worth noting, the women were +from the outset the most willing workers, and the most eager to +satisfy their taskmasters; the men, on the other hand, went sullen +and downcast, thinking only how to escape the overseer's whip, and +going through the work with angry and revengeful eyes. I think that +some great mutiny might have happened upon this estate--some wild +revenge--so desperate were these poor creatures and so horrible were +the scourgings they endured, and the shrieks and curses which they +uttered. Let me not speak of these things. + +There are other things which make residence in Barbadoes, even to +the wealthy, full of annoyances and irritations. The place is filled +with cockroaches, great spiders, horrid scorpions, centipedes, and +lizards. There are ants which swarm everywhere, and there are clouds +of flies, and at night there are moskeetos and merrywings, which by +their bites have been known to drive new-comers into fever, or else +into a kind of madness. + +In the evenings after supper there reigned a melancholy silence in +the village, the people for the most part taking rest with weary +limbs. Sometimes there would be a quarrel, with horrid oaths and +curses and perhaps some fighting; but these occasions were rare. + +From the house there came often the noise of singing, drinking, and +loud talking when other planters would ride over for a drinking +bout. There was also sometimes to be heard the music of the theorbo, +upon which Madam played very sweetly, singing Spanish songs; so +that it seemed a pity for music so sweet to be thrown away upon +this selfish crew. It made me think of Humphrey, and of the sweet +and holy thoughts which he would put into rhymes, and then fit the +rhymes with music which seemed to breathe those very thoughts. Alas! +In the village of Bradford Orcas there would be now silence and +desolation! The good old Squire dead, my father dead, the young +men sent to the Plantations, no one left at all but the Rector and +Madam his sister-in-law, and I, alas! a slave. Perchance at that +moment the Rector might be slowly drawing his bow across the strings +of his violoncello thinking of those who formerly played with him; +or perhaps he would be sorrowfully taking out his cases and gazing +for a little consolation upon the figures of his goddesses and his +nymphs. Only to think of the place, and of those who once lived +there, tore my poor heart to pieces. + +One evening, when there was a great noise and talking at the house, +while we were sitting upon our beds with no other light than that of +the moon, Madam herself came to the cottage. + +'Child,' she said, 'nothing will do but that the gentlemen must see +thy beauty. Nay, no harm shall happen while I am there: so much +they know. But he hath so bragged about thy beauty and the great +price he will demand for ransom that the rest are mad to see thee. +I swear that not the least rudeness shall be offered thee. They are +drinking, it is true; but they are not yet drunk. Come!' + +So I arose and followed her. First, she took me to her own room, +where she took off my hood and threw over me a long white lace +mantilla, which covered my head and fell over my shoulders and below +the waist. + +She sighed as she looked at me. + +'Poor innocent!' she said. 'If money could buy that face, there is +not a man in the room but would give all he hath and count it gain. +Canst thou play or sing?' + +I told her that I had some knowledge of the theorbo. Therefore she +brought me hers, and bade me sing to the gentlemen and then retire +quickly. So I followed her into the living or keeping room, where a +dozen gentlemen were sitting round the table. A bowl of punch was +on the table, and every man had his glass before him, and a pipe of +tobacco in his hand. Some of their faces were flushed with wine. + +'Gentlemen,' said Madam, 'our prisoner hath consented to sing +one song to you, after which she will ask permission to bid you +good-night.' + +So they all clapped their hands and rapped the table, and I, being +indeed terrified, but knowing very well that to show fear would be +the worst thing I could do, touched the strings and began my song. I +sang the song which Humphrey made, and which he sang to the officers +at Taunton when the Duke was there. + +When I finished, I gave back the theorbo to Madam, curtsied to the +gentlemen, and quickly stepped back to Madam's room, while they all +bellowed and applauded and roared for me to come back again. But +I put on my hood and slipped out to the cottage, where I lay down +beside Deb, and quickly fell asleep. (It is a great happiness, in +these hot latitudes, that, when a new-comer hath once got over the +trouble of the merrywings, he falleth asleep the moment he lies +down, and so sleeps through the whole night.) + +But in the morning Madam came to see me while I was sewing. + +'Well, Child,' she said, laughing, 'thou hast gotten a lover who +swears that he will soon have thee out of this hell.' + +'A lover!' I cried. 'Nay!--that may God forbid!' + +''Tis true. Young Mr. Anstiss it is. While thou wast singing +he gazed on thy pretty face and listened as one enchanted. I +wonder--but no!--thou hast no eyes for such things. And when +thou wast gone he offered the master four times the sum he paid +for thee--yea, four times--or six times--saying that he meant +honourably, and that if any man dared to whisper anything to the +contrary he would cut his throat.' + +'Alas! Madam. I must never marry--either this Mr. Anstiss or any +other.' + +'Tut--tut. This is foolish maid's nonsense. Granted you have lost +your old lover, there are plenty more. Suppose he hath lost his old +sweetheart, there are plenty more--as I doubt not he hath already +proved. Mr. Anstiss is a very pretty young gentleman; but the master +would not listen, saying that he waited for the lady's friends.' + +And so passed six weeks, or thereabouts, for the only count of +time I kept was from Sunday to Sunday. On that day we rested; the +negroes, who are no better than heathens, danced. The white servants +lay about in the shade, and drank what they could; in one cottage +only on that godless estate were prayers offered. + +And then happened that great event which, in the end, proved to be +a change in my whole life, and brought happiness out of misery, and +joy out of suffering, though at first it seemed only a dreadful +addition to my trouble. Thus is the course of things ordered for us, +and thus the greatest blessings follow upon the most threatening +juncture. What this was I will tell in a few words. + +It was about the third week in September when I embarked, and about +the third week in November when the ship made her port. Therefore, +I take it that it was one day about the beginning of the year 1686, +when Madam came to the work-room and told me that a ship had arrived +carrying a cargo of two hundred rebels and more, sent out to work +upon the Plantations, like myself, for the term of ten years. She +also told me that the master was gone to the Bridge in order to +buy some of them. Not, she said, that he wanted more hands; but he +expected that there would be among them persons of quality, who +would be glad to buy their freedom. He still, she told me, looked +to make a great profit out of myself, and was thinking to sell me, +unless my friends in England speedily sent proposals for my ransom, +to the young planter who was in love with me. This did not displease +me. I have not thought it necessary to tell how Mr. Anstiss came +often to the estate, and continually devised schemes for looking +at me, going to the Ingenio, whence he could see those who sat in +the work-room, and even sending me letters, vowing the greatest +extravagance of passion--I say I was not displeased, because there +was in this young gentleman's face a certain goodness of disposition +clearly marked; so that even if I became his property I thought I +might persuade him to relinquish thoughts of love, even if I had to +trust myself entirely to his honour and tell him all. But, as you +shall hear, this project of the master's was brought to naught. + +As for the rebels, I was curious to see them. Some I might +recognise; to some I might perhaps be of a little use at the outset +in guarding them against dangers. I did not fear, or think it +likely, that there would be any among them whom I might know or who +might know me. Yet the thing which I least suspected, and the least +feared--a thing which one would have thought so unlikely as to make +the event a miracle--nay, call it rather the merciful ordering of +all--that thing, I say, actually happened. + +The newly-bought servants arrived at about five in the evening. + +I looked out of the work-room to see them. Why, I seemed to know +their faces--all their faces! They were our brave West Country lads, +whom I had last seen marching gallantly out of Taunton town to +victory and glory (as they believed). Now--pale with the miseries +of the voyage, thin with bad food and disease, hollow-cheeked and +hollow-eyed, in rags and dirt, barefooted, covered with dust, grimy +for want of washing, their beards grown all over their faces--with +hanging heads, stood these poor fellows. There were thirty of +them; some had thrown themselves on the ground, as if in the last +extremity of fatigue; some stood with the patience that one sees in +brute beasts who are waiting to be killed; and in a group together +stood three--oh! merciful Heaven! was this misery also added to my +cup!--they were Robin, Barnaby, and Humphrey! Robin's face, heavy +and pale, betrayed the sorrow of his soul. He stood as one who +neither careth for nor regardeth anything. My heart fell like lead +to witness the despair which was visible in his attitude, in his +eyes, in his brow. But Barnaby showed still a cheerful countenance +and looked about him, as if he was arriving a welcome guest instead +of a slave. + +'Do you know any of them, Child?' Madam asked. + +'Oh! Madam,' I cried; 'they are my friends--they are my friends. Oh! +help them--help them!' + +'How can I help them?' she replied coldly. 'They are rebels, and +they are justly punished. Let them write home for money if they have +friends, and so they can be ransomed. To make them write the more +movingly, the master hath resolved to send them all to work in the +fields. "The harder they work," he says, "the more they will desire +to be free again."' + +In the fields! Oh! Robin--my poor Robin! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +HUMPHREY'S NARRATIVE. + + +With these words--'Oh! Robin! Robin!'--the history, as set down in +my Mistress's handwriting, suddenly comes to an end. The words are +fitting, because her whole heart was full of Robin, and though at +this time it seemed to the poor creature a sin still to nourish +affection for her old sweetheart, I am sure--nay, I have it on her +own confession--that there was never an hour in the waking day when +Robin was not in her mind, though between herself and her former +lover stood the dreadful figure of her husband. I suppose that, +although she began this work with the design to complete it, she had +not the courage, even when years had passed away and much earthly +happiness had been her reward, to write down the passages which +follow. Wherefore (and for another reason--namely, a confession +which must be made by myself before I die) I have taken upon myself +to finish that part of Alice Eykin's history which relates to the +Monmouth rising and its unhappy consequences. You have read how +(thanks to my inexperience and ignorance of conspiracies, and belief +in men's promises) we were reduced to the lowest point of disgrace +and poverty. Alice did not tell, because till afterwards she did +not know, that on Sir Christopher's death his estate was declared +confiscated, and presently bestowed upon Benjamin by favour of Lord +Jeffreys; so that he whose ambition it was to become Lord Chancellor +was already (which he had not expected) the Lord of the Manor of +Bradford Orcas. But of this hereafter. + +I have called her my Mistress. Truly, all my life she hath been +to me more than was ever Laura to Petrarch, or even Beatrice to +the great Florentine. The ancients represented every virtue by a +Goddess, a Grace, or a Nymph. Nay, the Arts were also feminine (yet +subject to the informing influence of the other sex, as the Muses +had Apollo for their director and chief). To my mind every generous +sentiment, every worthy thought, all things that are gracious, all +things that lift my soul above the common herd, belong not to me, +but to my Mistress. In my youth it was she who encouraged me to the +practice of those arts by which the soul is borne heavenwards--I +mean the arts of poetry and of music: it was she who listened +patiently when I would still be prating of myself, and encouraged +the ambitions which had already seized my soul. So that if I turned +a set of verses smoothly, it was to Alice that I gave them, and +for her that I wrote them. When we played heavenly music together, +the thoughts inspired by the strain were like the Italian painter's +vision of the angels which attend the Virgin--I mean that, sweet +and holy as the angels are, they fall far short of the holiness +and sweetness of her whom they honour. So, whatever my thoughts or +my ambitions, amidst them all I saw continually the face of Alice, +always filled with candour and with sweetness. That quality which +enables a woman to think always about others, and never about +herself, was given to Alice in large and plenteous measure. If she +talked with me, her soul was all mine. If she was waiting on Madam, +or upon Sir Christopher, or upon the Rector, or on her own mother, +she knew their inmost thoughts and divined all their wants. Nay, +long afterwards, in the daily exercise of work and study, at the +University of Oxford, in the foreign schools of Montpellier, Padua, +and Leyden, it was Alice who, though far away, encouraged me. I +could no longer hear her voice; but her steadfast eyes remained in +my mind like twin stars that dwell in heaven. This is a wondrous +power given to a few women, that they should become as it were +angels sent from heaven, lent to the earth a while, in order to fill +men's minds with worthy thoughts, and to lead them in the heavenly +way. The Romish Church holds that the age of miracles hath never +passed; which I do also believe, but not in the sense taught by that +Church. Saints there are among us still, who daily work miracles, +turning earthly clay into the jasper and the precious marble of +heaven! + +Again, the great poet Milton hath represented his virtuous lady +unharmed among the rabble rout of Comus, protected by her virtue +alone. Pity that he hath not also shown a young man led by that +sweet lady, encouraged, warned, and guarded along that narrow way, +beset with quag and pitfall, along which he must walk who would +willingly climb to higher place! And all this apart from earthly +love, as in the case of those two Italian poets. + +More, I confess, I would have had, and presumptuously longed for +it--nay, even prayed for it with such yearnings and longings as +seemed to tear my very heart asunder. But this was denied to me. + +In September, 1685, ten weeks after the fight of Sedgemoor, we, +being by that time well tired of Exeter Prison, were tried by Lord +Jeffreys. It was no true trial, for we were all advised to plead +guilty, upon which the Judge bellowed and roared at us, abusing us +in such language as I never thought to hear from the bench, and +finally sentenced us all to death. (A great deal has been said +of this roaring of the Judge, but I am willing to excuse it in +great measure, on the ground of the disease from which he was then +suffering. I myself, who had heard that he was thus afflicted, saw +the drops of agony upon his forehead, and knew that if he was not +bawling at us he must have been roaring on his own account.) So +we were marched back to prison and began to prepare for the last +ceremony, which is, I think, needlessly horrible and barbarous. To +cut a man open while he is still living is a thing not practised +even by the savage Turk. At this gloomy time my cousin Robin set +a noble example of fortitude, which greatly encouraged the rest +of us. Nor would he ever suffer me to reproach myself (as I was +continually tempted to do) with having been the cause of the ruin +which had fallen upon the whole of our unfortunate house. Nay, he +went further, and insisted, and would have it, that had I remained +in Holland he himself would have joined the Duke, and that I was +in no way to blame as an inciter to this unfortunate act. We knew +by this time that Sir Christopher had been arrested and conveyed +to Ilminster Jail, and that with him were Dr. Eykin, grievously +wounded, and Barnaby; and that Alice, with her mother, was also at +Ilminster. Mr. Boscorel, for his part, was gone to London in order +to exert whatever interest he might possess on behalf of all. With +him went Madam, Robin's mother; but she returned before the trial, +much dejected, so that we were not encouraged to hope for anything +from that quarter. Madam began to build some hopes at this time from +Benjamin, because he, who had accompanied the Judges from London, +was the boon companion every night of Lord Jeffreys himself. But it +is one thing to be permitted to drink and sing with a great man at +night, and another thing to procure of him the pardon of rebels (and +those not the common sort, but leaders and captains). That Benjamin +would attempt to save us, I did not doubt; because in common +decency and humanity he must needs try to save his grandfather and +his cousins. But that he would effect anything--that, indeed, I +doubted. Whether he did make an attempt, I know not. He came not +to the prison, nor did he make any sign that he knew we were among +the prisoners. What he contrived, the plot which he laid, and the +villainy with which he carried it out, you have already read. Well, +I shall have much more to say about Benjamin. For the moment, let +him pass. + +I say, then, that we were lying in Exeter Jail, expecting to be +called out for execution at any hour. We were sitting in the +courtyard on the stone bench with gloomy hearts. + +'Robin--Humphrey--lads both!' cried a voice we knew. It was the +Rector, Mr. Boscorel himself, who called us. 'Courage, lads!' he +cried (yet looked himself as mournful as man can look). 'I bring you +good news--I have this day ridden from Ilminster (there is other +news not so good)--good news, I say: for you shall live, and not +die! I have so far succeeded that the lives are spared of Robin +Challis, Captain in the Rebel Cavalry; Barnaby Eykin, Captain of the +Green Regiment; and Humphrey Challis, Chyrurgeon to the Duke. Yet +must you go to the Plantations--poor lads!--there to stay for ten +long years. Well, we will hope to get your pardon and freedom long +before that time is over. Yet you must, perforce, sail across the +seas.' + +'Lad,' cried Robin, catching my hand, 'cease to tear thy heart with +reproaches! See! none of us will die, after all.' + +'On the scaffold, none,' said Mr. Boscorel. 'On the scaffold, none,' +he repeated. + +'And what saith my grandfather, Sir?' Robin asked. 'He is also +enlarged, I hope, at least. And how is the learned Dr. Eykin? and +Alice--my Alice--where is she?' + +'Young men,' said the Rector, 'prepare for tidings of the +worst--yes; of the very worst. Cruel news I bring to you, boys; and +for myself'--he hung his head--'cruel news, shameful news?' + +Alas! you know already what he had to tell us. Worse than the death +of that good old man, Sir Christopher; worse than the death of the +unfortunate Dr. Eykin and his much-tried wife; there was the news of +Alice's marriage and of her flight, and at hearing this we looked at +each other in dismay, and Robin sprang to his feet and cried aloud +for vengeance upon the villain who had done this thing. + +'It is my own son,' said Mr. Boscorel; 'yet spare him not! He +deserves all that you can call him, and more. Shameful news I had +to tell you. Where the poor child hath found a retreat or how she +fares, I know not. Robin, ask me not to curse my own son--what +is done will bring its punishment in due time. Doubt it not. But +of punishment we need not speak. If there were any way--any way +possible--out of it! But there is none. It is a fatal blow. Death +itself alone can release her. Consider, Humphrey, consider; you are +not so distracted as your cousin. Consider, I say, that unhappy girl +is Benjamin's lawful wife. If he can find her, he may compel her to +live with him. She is his lawful wife, I say. It is a case in which +there is no remedy; it is a wickedness for which there is no help, +until one of the twain shall die.' + +There was indeed no help or remedy possible. I will not tell of the +madness which fell upon Robin at this news, nor of the distracted +things he said, nor how he wept for Alice at one moment and the +next cursed the author of this wickedness. There was no remedy. Yet +Mr. Boscorel solemnly promised to seek out the poor innocent girl, +forced to break her vows for the one reason which could excuse +her--namely, to save the lives of all she loved. + +'They were saved already,' Mr. Boscorel added. 'He knew that they +were saved. He had seen me; he had the news that I brought from +London; he knew it; and he lied unto her! There is no single +particular in which his wickedness can be excused or defended. +Yet, I say, curses are of no avail. The Hand of God is heavy upon +all sinners, and will presently fall upon my unhappy son--I pray +that before that Hand shall fall his heart may be touched with +repentance.' + +But Robin fell into a melancholy from which it was impossible to +arouse him. He who, while death upon the scaffold seemed certain, +was cheerful and brave, now, when his life was spared, sat heavy and +gloomy, speaking to no one; or, if he spoke, then in words of rage +and impatience. + +Mr. Boscorel remained at Exeter, visiting us daily until the +time came when we were removed. He brought with him one day a +smooth-tongued gentleman in sober attire, who was, he told us, a +West Indian merchant of Bristol, named George Penne. (You have read, +and know already, how great a villain was this man.) + +'This gentleman,' said Mr. Boscorel, 'is able and willing, for +certain considerations, to assist you in your exile. You have been +given (among many others) by the King to one Mr. Jerome Nipho, who +hath sold all his convicts to this gentleman. In his turn, he is +under bonds to ship you for the Plantations, where you will be sold +again to the planters.' + +'Sirs,' Mr. Penne looked from one to the other of us with +compassionate eyes, 'I have heard your melancholy case, and it will +be to my great happiness if I may be able in any way to soften the +rigours of your exile. Be it known to you that I have correspondents +in Jamaica, Barbadoes, and Virginia, and that for certain sums +of money these--my friends--will readily undertake to make your +servitude one merely in name. In other words, as I have already +informed his Reverence, I have bought you in the hope of being +useful to you (I wish I could thus buy all unhappy prisoners), and +I can, on paying my friends what they demand, secure to you freedom +from labour, subject only to the condition of remaining abroad until +your term is expired, or your friends at home have procured your +pardon.' + +'As for the price, Humphrey,' said Mr. Boscorel, 'that shall be my +care. It is nearly certain that Sir Christopher's estates will be +confiscated, seeing that he died in prison under the charge of high +treason, though he was never tried. Therefore we must not look to +his lands for any help. What this gentleman proposes is, however, +so great a thing that we must not hesitate to accept his offer +gratefully.' + +'I must have,' said Mr. Penne, 'seventy pounds for each prisoner. I +hear that there is a third young gentleman of your party now in the +same trouble at Ilminster; I shall therefore ask for two hundred +guineas--two hundred guineas in all. It is not a large sum in order +to secure freedom. Those who cannot obtain this relief have to work +in the fields or in the mills under the hot sun of the Spanish Main; +they are subject to the whip of the overseer; they have wretched +food; they are worse treated than the negroes, because the latter +are slaves for life and the former for ten years only. By paying two +hundred guineas only you will all be enabled to live at your ease. +Meanwhile, your friends at home will be constantly endeavouring +to procure your pardon. I myself, though but a simple merchant of +Bristol City, can boast some influence, which I will most readily +exert to the utmost in your behalf'---- + +'Say no more, Sir,' said Mr. Boscorel, interrupting him; 'the +bargain is concluded. These young gentlemen shall not be subjected +to any servitude; I will pay you two hundred guineas.' + +'I would, Sir'--Mr. Penne laid his hand, which was large, white, +and soft, the hand of a liar and a traitor, upon his treacherous +heart--'I would to Heaven, Sir,' he said, 'that I could undertake +this service for less. If my correspondents were men of tender +hearts, the business should cost you nothing at all. But they are +men of business; they say that they live not abroad for pleasure, +but for profit; they cannot forego any advantage that may offer. As +for me, this job brings me no profit. Upon my honour, gentlemen, +profit from such a source I should despise: every guinea that you +give me will be placed to the credit of my correspondents, who will, +I am assured, turn a pretty penny by the ransom of the prisoners. +But that we cannot help. And as for me--I say it boldly in the +presence of this learned and pious clergyman--I am richly rewarded +with the satisfaction of doing a generous thing. That is enough, I +hope, for any honest man.' + +The fellow looked so benevolent, and smiled with so much compassion, +that it was impossible to doubt his word. Besides, Mr. Boscorel +had learned many things during the journey to London; among +others that it would be possible to buy immunity from labour for +the convicts. Therefore, he hesitated not, but gave him what he +demanded, taking in return a paper, which was to be shown to Mr. +Penne's correspondents, in which he acknowledged the receipt of the +money, and demanded in return a release from actual servitude. This +paper I put carefully in my pocket, with my note-book and my case of +instruments. + +It was, so far as my memory serves me, about six weeks after our +pardon was received when we heard that we were to be marched to +Bristol, there to be shipped for some port or other across the +ocean. At Taunton we were joined by a hundred poor fellows as +fortunate as ourselves; and at Bridgwater by twenty more, whose +lives had been bought by Colonel Kirke. Fortunate we esteemed +ourselves; for everywhere the roads were lined with legs, heads, +trunks, and arms, boiled and blackened in pitch, stuck up for the +terror of the country. Well; you shall judge how fortunate we were. + +When we reached Bristol, we found Mr. Penne upon the Quay, with +some other merchants. He changed colour when he saw us; but quickly +ran to meet us, and whispered that we were on no account to betray +his goodness in the matter of ransom, otherwise it might be the +undoing of us all, and perhaps cause his own imprisonment. He also +told me that the ship was bound for Barbadoes, and we should have +to mess with the other prisoners on the voyage, but that it would +all be made up to us when we arrived. He further added that he had +requested his correspondents to entertain us until money should +arrive from England, and to become our bankers for all that we +should want. And with that he clasped my hand tenderly, and with a +'God be wi' ye!' he left us, and we saw him no more. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +FOR TEN YEARS. + + +It was a numerous company gathered together on the deck of the ship. +By their dress they were country lads; by their pale cheeks they +were prison birds like ourselves; by their dismal faces they were, +also, like ourselves, rebels condemned to the Plantations. Alas! +how many of these poor fellows have returned to their homes, and +how many lie in the graves of Jamaica, Virginia, and Barbadoes? As +for preparations for a voyage, not one of us could make any, either +of clothes or of provisions. There was not among the whole company +so much as a change of clothes; nay, there was not even a razor, +and our faces were already bristling horribly with the beards which +before long made us look like so many Heyducs. + +Among them I presently discerned, to my great surprise and joy, +none other than Barnaby. His coat of scarlet was now so ragged and +stained that neither colour nor original shape could be discerned, +his ruffles and cravat of lace were gone, and the scarlet sash +which had formerly carried his hanger was gone also. In a word, he +was in rags and covered with the dust of the road. Yet his jolly +countenance showed a satisfaction which contrasted greatly with the +dejection of his companions. He sniffed the scent of tar and ropes +with a joy which was visible to all, and he contemplated the ship +and her rigging with the air of one who is at home. + +Then he saw us and shouted to us while he made his way roughly +through the rest. + +'What cheer, ho! Humphrey, brave lad of boluses?'--never did any +man grasp the hand of friend with greater vigour. 'This is better, +I say, than the accursed prison, where one got never a breath of +fresh air. Here one begins to smell salt water and tarred rope, +which is a downright wholesome smell. Already I feel hearty again. I +would willingly drink a tankard or two of black beer. What, Robin, +what? We are not going to be hanged, after all. Lift up thy head, +therefore: is this a time for looking glum? We shall live to hang +Judge Jeffreys yet!--what? Thy looks are but poorly, lad. Is it the +prison or is it thy disappointment? That villain, Benjamin! Hark +ye, Robin'--some men's faces look black when they threaten, but +Barnaby's grew broader, as if the contemplation of revenge made him +the happier--'Hark ye, this is my business. No one shall interfere +with me in this. Benjamin is my affair. No one but I myself must +kill Benjamin: not you, Humphrey, because he is your cousin; not +you, Robin, because you must not kill Alice's husband even to get +back your own sweetheart.' Barnaby spoke wisdom here; in spite of +Robin's vows he could not get Alice for himself by killing her +husband, unworthy though he was. 'Benjamin,' he went on, 'may call +her wife, but if he seek to make her his wife, if I know Sis aright, +he will meet his match. As for her safety, I am certain that she is +safe. For why? Wherever there are folks of her religious kidney, +there will she find friends. Cheer up, Robin! Soon or late I will +kill this fine husband of hers.' + +But Robin shook his head. + +Barnaby then asked if I knew whither we were bound. I told him +Barbadoes, according to the information given me by Mr. Penne. + +'Why,' said Barnaby, rubbing his hands, 'this is brave news, indeed. +There is no place I would sooner choose. 'Tis a small island, to +begin with: give me a small island, so that the sea runneth all +round about and is everywhere within easy reach. Where there is the +sea there are boats; where there are boats there are the means of +escape. Cheer up, my lads! I know the Spanish Main right well. Give +me a tight boat, I care not how small, and a keg of water, and I +will sail her anywhere. Ha! we are bound to Barbadoes, are we? This +is truly brave news!' + +I asked him next what kind of place it was. + +'It is a hot place,' he replied. 'A man is always thirsty, and there +is plenty to drink except water, which is said to be scarce. But the +merchants and the planters want none. They have wine of the best, +of Spain and of France and of Madeira. Cider and strong ale they +import from England. And drinks they make in the country--perino and +mobbie--I remember--grippo and plantain wine and kill-devil. 'Tis a +rare country for drink, and many there be who die of too much. Hold +up thy head, Robin; we will drink damnation to Benjamin yet. But +'tis I who shall kill him. Courage, I say. What? Our turn will come!' + +I told him, then, what had been done with Mr. George Penne--namely, +the ransom bought by the Rector for us all, and the letter which I +carried to Mr. Penne's correspondent. + +'Why,' he said, with some discontent, 'we shall not be long upon +the island after all, and perhaps the money might have been +better bestowed. But 'twas kindly done of the Rector. As for the +banishment, I value it not a farthing. One place is as good as +another; and, for my own part, I love the West Indies. We shall have +our choice among them all, because, where there are boats and the +open sea, a man can go whithersoever pleaseth him best. The voyage +out'--he glanced round him--'will, I fear, be choking work--the +rations will be short, there will be neither drink nor tobacco, and +at nights we shall lie close. A more melancholy company I never saw. +Patience, my lads; our turn will come.' + +Well, 'twas a special mercy that we had with us one man, at least, +who preserved his cheerfulness, for the rest of the company were as +melancholy as King James himself could have desired. Indeed, to look +back upon the voyage is to recall the most miserable time that can +be imagined. First of all, as I have said, we were wholly unprepared +for a voyage, having nothing at all with us. Then we had bad weather +at the outset, which not only made our people ill, but caused the +biscuit to be mostly spoiled, so that before the end of the voyage +a few peas with the sweepings of the biscuit-room, and sometimes a +little tough beef, was all our diet, and for drink nothing, not so +much as a pannikin of beer, but water, and that turbid, and not too +much of it. + +As for me, I kept my health chiefly by the method common among +physicians--namely, by watching the symptoms of others. But mostly +was I concerned with the condition of Robin. For the poor lad, +taking so much to heart the dreadful villainy which had been +practised upon Alice, never once held up his head, and would talk +and think of nothing else but of that poor maid. + +'Where is she?' he asked a hundred times. 'Where hath she found a +shelter and a hiding-place? How shall she escape the villain, who +will now do what he pleases since we are out of his way? And no help +for her--not any until she die, or until he dies! And we cannot even +send her a letter to console her poor heart! Humphrey, it drives +me mad to think that every day carries us further from her. If I +could but be with her to protect her against her husband! Humphrey, +Barnaby said well: I could not get her back to me over the dead body +of her husband. But to protect her--to stand between her and the man +she hath sworn to obey!' + +There is no more dangerous condition of the mind than that which +we call despair. It is, I take it, a disease, and that of the most +dangerous kind. I have observed many men in that condition. With +some, the devil enters into them, finding all the doors open and +unguarded; nay, he even receives a warm welcome. With others it is +as if the body itself was left without its armour--a cheerful and +hopeful mind being certainly an armour against disease, capable of +warding off many of those invisible arrows which are always flying +about the air and striking us down with fevers, agues, calentures, +and other pains and grievous diseases. + +I marvel that more of the men on board were not sick; for, to +begin with, the water soon became thick and swarmed with wriggling +creatures difficult to avoid in drinking; and then, though during +the day we were allowed to be on deck (where the air was fresh even +if the sun was hot), at night we were terribly crowded below, and +lay too close for health or for comfort. However, we finally made +Carlisle Bay and the port of St. Michael's or the Bridge. And I must +say this for Barnaby, that he maintained throughout the whole voyage +his cheerfulness, and that he never ceased to make his plans for +escape, drawing on a paper, which he procured, a rough chart of the +Spanish Main, with as many islands as he could remember. Of these +there are hundreds, some desolate and safe for fugitives, some with +neither water nor green trees, and some with springs and woods, wild +fruit, land turtles on the shore, fish in the sea, and everything +that man can desire. + +We made the land, after I know not how many weeks, one day in the +forenoon. + +'Barbadoes,' said Barnaby, pointing to a little cloud far away on +the horizon. 'Well; of this job I am wellnigh sick. To-morrow, if +the wind holds, we shall have sailed round the island and shall beat +up for Carlisle Bay. Well, it is lucky for us that we have this +letter of Mr. Penne's. We will go--I know the place well--to the +sign of the Rock and Turtle, kept by old Mother Rosemary, if she +lives still, or, if she be dead, by one of her daughters--she had +fifty daughters, at least, all buxom mulatto girls. There we will +put off these filthy rags, have a wash in a tub of fresh water, +get shaved, and then with smooth chins and clean shirts we will +sit down to a dinner such as the old woman knows how to make, a +potato-pudding and Scots collops with Rhenish wine, and afterwards +a cool cup of beverage, which is nothing in the world but squeezed +limes, with sugar and water, fit for such a womanly stomach as +yours, Doctor. With this, and a pipe of tobacco, and perhaps a song +and (when your Worship hath gone to bed) a dance from one of the +girls--I say, my lad, with this I shall be ready to forget Sedgemoor +and to forgive Judge Jeffreys. When we are tired of Barbadoes, we +will take boat and sail away. I know one island, at least, where +they care nothing for King James. Thither will we go, my lad.' + +Well; what we found at our port, and how we fared, was not quite as +Barnaby expected and hoped, as you shall hear. But I must admire +the cunning of the man Penne, who not only took from Alice--poor +child!--all her brother's money, amounting to two hundred and fifty +pounds or thereabouts (which you have read), on the pretext of +bestowing it for the advantage of all, but also received two hundred +guineas from Mr. Boscorel on the same pretence. This made in all +four hundred and fifty pounds. And not one penny--not a single +penny--of this great sum did the man spend upon the purpose for +which it was given him. + +You have heard how the merchants and planters came aboard the ships +which put in with servants and slaves, and how these are put up +for sale one at a time. As was the sale described by Alice, just +such was ours: though, I take it, our lads were not so miserable a +company as were those on board her ship. Pale of cheek they looked, +and dejected, and some were sick with various disorders, caused by +the confinement of the prison or the sufferings of the voyage. They +put us up one after the other and we were sold. I forget what I +myself fetched, and, indeed, it matters not, save that many jests +were passed at our expense, and that when one was put up--as Robin, +for instance--who had been a Captain in the rebel army, the salesman +was eloquent in praise of his rich and illustrious family, who would +never endure that this unfortunate man should continue in servitude. +But Barnaby put his tongue in his cheek and laughed. + +When the sale was concluded, we were bundled into boats and taken +ashore to the barracoon, of which you have heard from Alice. Here +the same officer who read to her party the laws concerning servants +and their duties, and the punishments which await transgressors, +read them also to ourselves. + +'Faith,' Barnaby whispered, 'there will be a great scoring of backs +before many days are done, unless their bark is worse than their +bite.' + +This business despatched, I thought it was time to present my +letter. Therefore I stepped forward, and informed the officer, who, +by reason of his gown and wig and the beadles who were with him, I +judged to be some lawyer, that, with my cousin and another, I held a +letter which should hold us free from servitude. + +'Ay, ay,' he said. 'Where is that letter?' + +So I gave it to him. 'Twas addressed to one Jonathan Polwhele, and +enjoined him to receive the three prisoners, named Humphrey Challis, +Robin Challis, and Barnaby Eykin, to pay for them such sums as would +reasonably be required to redeem them from servitude, and to advance +them such moneys as they would want at the outset for maintenance, +the whole to be accounted for in Mr. Jonathan Polwhele's next +despatches to his obedient, much obliged servant, G. P. + +'Sir,' said the officer, when he had read the letter through, 'this +epistle is addressed to one Jonathan Polwhele. There is no merchant +or planter of that name on the whole island.' + +He gave me back the letter. 'If this,' he said, 'is all you have to +show, there is no reason why you and your friends should not march +with the rest.' + +Truly, we had nothing else to show. Not only was there no one named +Polwhele on the island, but there never had been any one of that +name. Therefore it was plain that we had been tricked, and that the +man George Penne was a villain. Alas! poor Barnaby. Where now were +his cool cups and his pipe of tobacco? Then the officer beckoned to +a gentleman--a sober and grave person--standing near, and spoke to +him. + +'Gentlemen,' said the merchant, 'permit me to read this letter. So, +it is in the handwriting of Mr. George Penne, which I know well. +There is here some strange mistake. The letter is addressed to Mr. +Jonathan Polwhele; but there is no one of that name in the place. +I am myself Mr. Penne's correspondent in this island. My name, +gentlemen, is Sefton, not Polwhele.' + +'Sir,' I said, 'do you know Mr. Penne?' + +'I have never seen him. He consigns to my care once or twice a year +a cargo of transported servants, being rogues and thieves, sent +here, instead of to the gallows. He ships them to my care, I say, +as he hath shipped the company arrived this morning; and I sell +them for him, taking for my share a percentage, as agreed upon, and +remitting to him the balance in sugar and tobacco.' + +'Is there no letter from him?' + +'There is a letter in which he advises me of so many rebels +consigned to me in order to be sold. Some among them, he says, were +captains and officers in Monmouth's army, and some are of good +family, among whom he especially names Robin and Humphrey Challis. +But there is not a word about ransom.' + +'Sir,' I said, knowing nothing as yet of Alice and her money, 'two +hundred guineas have been paid to Mr. Penne by the Rev. Philip +Boscorel, Rector of Bradford Orcas, in the county of Somerset, for +our ransom.' + +'Nothing is said of this,' he replied gravely. 'Plainly, gentlemen, +without despatches from Mr. Penne I cannot act for you. You have +a letter; it is written by that gentleman; it is addressed to Mr. +Polwhele; it says nothing about Barbadoes, and would serve for +Jamaica or Virginia. So great a sum as two hundred guineas cannot +have been forgotten. I exhort you, therefore, to patience until +other letters arrive. Why, two hundred guineas would have gone far +to redeem you all three, and to maintain you for a great while. +Gentlemen, I am grieved for you, because there is for the present no +help for it, but that you must go with the planter who hath bought +you, and obey his orders. I will, however, send to Mr. Penne an +account of this charge, and I would advise that you lose no time in +writing to your friends at home.' + +'Heart up, lad!' cried Barnaby, for I turned faint upon this +terrible discovery, and would have fallen, but he held me up. +'Patience; our turn will come.' + +'Write that letter,' said the merchant again. 'Write that letter +quickly, so that it may go with the next vessel. Otherwise the work +is hard and the heat is great.' So he turned and left us. + +'Courage, man!' said Barnaby. 'To every dog his day. If now for +five minutes only I could have my thumb on Mr. Penne's windpipe +and my fingers round his neck! And I thought to spend the evening +joyfully at Mother Rosemary's! Courage, lad! I have seen already,' +he whispered, 'a dozen boats in the bay, any one of which will serve +our turn.' + +But Robin paid no heed, whatever happened. He stood up when his +name was called, and was sold without showing any emotion. When we +found that we had been tricked he seemed as if he neither heard nor +regarded. + +When all was ready we were marched, twenty in number, along a white +and dusty road to our estate. By great good fortune--rather by +Providence--we were all bought by the same master. He was, it is +true, a bad man; but to be bought all together was a happiness which +we could not expect. He bought us all because he understood that we +belonged to the same family (and that one of position), in the hope +of receiving substantial ransom. This man rode with us, accompanied +by two overseers (these were themselves under the same sentence) +who cracked their whips continually, and cursed us if we lagged. +Their bark was worse, we afterwards found, than their bite, for it +was only in the master's presence that they behaved thus brutishly, +and in order to curry favour with him and to prevent being reduced +again to the rank of those who served in the field. There was no +doubt, from the very outset, that we were afflicted with a master +whose like, I would hope, is not to be found upon the island of +Barbadoes. Briefly, he was one whose appearance, voice, and manner +all alike proclaimed him openly to all the world as a drunkard, a +profligate, and a blasphemer. A drunkard he was of that kind who are +seldom wholly drunk and yet are never sober; who begin the day with +a glass and go on taking more glasses all day long, with small ale +for breakfast, strong ale and Madeira for dinner, a tankard in the +afternoon, and for supper more strong ale and Madeira, and before +bed another tankard. As for compassion, or tenderness, or any of the +virtues which a man who holds other men in slavery ought to possess, +he had none of them. + +Let me speak of him with no more bitterness than is necessary. +We have, I think, all forgiven him, and he hath long since gone +to a place where he can do no more harm to any, but awaiteth +judgment--perhaps in the sure and certain hope of which the funeral +service speaks--but this is open to doubt. + +When we were arrived at the estate, the master dismounted, gave his +horse to a negro, and ordered us to be drawn up in line. + +He then made a short speech. He said that he had bought us, rebels +and villains as we were, and that he meant to get his money's worth +out of us or he would cut us all to pieces. Other things he told +us, which I pass over because they were but repetitions of this +assurance. He then proceeded to examine us in detail. When he came +to me he cursed and swore because he said he had been made to pay +for a sound, proper man, and had got a crookback for his bargain. I +told him that, with submission, he might find the crookback, who +was a physician, a more profitable bargain than many a stronger man. + +'What?' he roared. 'Thou art a physician, eh? Wouldst slink out of +the field-work and sit idle among bottles and boluses? John'--he +turned to one of the overseers--'pay particular attention, I command +thee, to this learned physician. If he so much as turn round in his +work, make his shoulders smart.' + +'Ay, ay, Sir,' said the overseer. + +'And what art thou, sirrah?' He turned next to Barnaby. 'Another +learned physician, no doubt--or a Divine, a Bishop likely, or a Dean +at the least?' + +'As for what I was,' said Barnaby, 'that is neither here nor there. +For what I am, I suppose I am your servant for ten years, or until +our pardons are sent us.' + +'Thou art an impudent dog, I dare swear,' returned the master. 'I +remember now. Thou wast a Captain in the rebel army, once a sailor. +Well, take care, lest thou taste the cat.' + +'Gentlemen who are made to taste the cat,' said Barnaby, 'are apt to +remember the taste of it when their time is up.' + +'What?' he cried. 'You dare to threaten? Take that--and that!' and +so began to belabour him about the head. I trembled lest Barnaby +should return the blows. But he did not. He only held up his arm to +protect his head, and presently, when the master desisted, he shook +himself like a dog. + +'I promise you I shall remember the taste of that wood,' he said +quietly. + +The master looked as if he would renew the cudgelling, but thought +better of it. + +Then, without more violence, we were assigned our quarters. A +cottage or hut was given to us. We were served with a hammock, and a +rug each; a pannikin, basin, spoon and platter for each; a Monmouth +cap; two shirts, common and coarse; two pairs of canvas breeches, +and a pair of shoes for each--so that we looked for all the world +like the fellows who live by loading and unloading the ships in the +port of Bristol. Yet the change after the long voyage was grateful. +They served us next with some of the stuff they call loblollie, and +then the night fell and we lay down in our hammocks, which were +certainly softer than the planks of the ship, and then fell fast +asleep in spite of the humming and the biting of the merrywings, and +so slept till the break of day. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +WITH THE HOE. + + +Before it was daylight we were aroused by the discordant clang of a +bell: work was about to begin. + +In these latitudes there is little twilight; the day begins, as +it ends, with a kind of suddenness. I arose, being thus summoned, +and looked out. Long rays of light were shooting up the sky from +the East, and, though the stars were still visible, the day was +fast breaking. In a few moments it became already so light that +I could see across the yard--or what the Italians would call +the piazza--with its ragged bonannow-leaves, the figures of our +fellow-slaves moving about the huts, and hear their voices. Alas! +sad and melancholy are the voices of those who work upon his +Majesty's Plantations. Two old negresses went about among the +new-comers, carrying a bucketful of their yellow mess, which they +distributed among us, and giving us to understand that this bowl of +yellow porridge, or loblollie, made out of Indian corn, was all we +should have before dinner. They also gave us to understand in their +broken English, which is far worse than the jargon talked by some of +our country people, that we should have to prepare our own meals for +the future, and that they would show us how to make this delectable +mess. + +'Eat it,' said Barnaby; 'a pig is better fed at home. Eat it, Robin, +lest thou faint in the sun. Perhaps there will be something better +for dinner. Heigho! only to think of Mother Rosemary's, where I +thought to lie last night! Patience, lads!' + +One would not seem to dwell too long on the simple fare of convicts: +therefore I will say, once for all, that our rations consisted of +nothing at all but the Indian meal and of salt beef or salt fish. +The old hands and the negro slaves know how to improve their fare in +many ways, and humane masters will give their servants quantities +of the fruits such as grow here in great abundance--as plantains, +lemons, limes, bonannows, guavas, and the like. And many of the +black slaves have small gardens behind their huts, where they grow +onions, yams, potatoes, and other things which they cultivate on +Sundays. They are all great thieves also, stealing, whenever they +can, poultry, eggs, and fruit, so that they grow fat and sleek, +while the white servants daily grow more meagre, and fall into +diseases by reason of the poorness of their food. Then, as to +drink, there are many kinds of drink (apart from the wines of +Spain, Portugal, Canary, Madeira, and France) made in the country +itself, such as mobbie, which is a fermented liquor of potatoes; +and perino, from the liquor of chewed cassavy root; punch, which is +water and sugar left to work for ten days; rum, which is distilled +in every Ingenio, and is a spirit as strong as brandy, and said to +be more wholesome. Those who have been long in the island, even the +servants, though without a penny, know how and where to get these +drinks; and, since there is no consoler, to the common sort, so good +as strong drink, those who are able to drink every day of these +things become somewhat reconciled to their lot. + +'Come out, ye dogs of rebels and traitors!' It was the loud and +harsh voice of the master himself, who thus disturbed us at our +breakfast. 'Twas his custom thus to rise early, and to witness the +beginning of the day's work. And 'twas his kindly nature which +impelled him thus to welcome and encourage his newly-bought slaves. +'Come out, I say! Ye shall now show of what stuff ye are made. +Instead of pulling down your lawful King, ye shall pull up your +lawful master and make him rich. If ye never did a day's work in +your lives, ye shall now learn the how by the must. Come forth, I +say, ye lazy, guzzling skulkers!' + +'Ay, ay,' said Barnaby, leisurely scraping his bowl, 'we are like, +indeed, to be overfed here.' He rolled sailor fashion out of the hut. + +'Barnaby,' I said, 'for God's sake, say nothing to anger the master! +There is no help but in patience and in hope.' + +So we, too, went forth. The master, red-faced as he was, looked as +if he had been drinking already. + +'So,' he cried, 'here is the learned physician. Your health, +Doctor. And here is the gallant Captain, who was once a sailor. +The air of the fields, Captain, will remind you, perchance, of the +quarter-deck. This young gentleman looks so gallant and gay that I +warrant he will ply the hoe with a light and frolick heart. Your +healths, gentlemen. Hark ye, now. You are come of a good stock, +I hear. Therefore have I bought you at a great price, looking to +get my money back and more. Some planters would suffer you to lie +at your ease cockered up with bonavist and Madeira till the money +comes. As for me, I shall now show you what you will continue to do, +unless the money comes. Therefore you will at once, I doubt not, +ask for paper and pen and presently write. Sixty pounds a-piece, +gentlemen--not one penny less--will purchase your freedom. Till +then, the fields. And no difference between white and black; but one +whip for both.' + +We made no reply, but took the hoes which were given out to us and +marched with the rest of the melancholy troop. + +There were as many blacks as whites. We were divided into gangs; +with every gang a driver armed with a whip; and over all the +overseers, who, by their severity, showed their zeal for the +master. The condition of slavery hath in it something devilish, both +for those who are slaves and those who are masters. The former it +drives into despair, and fills with cunning, dishonesty, treachery, +and revenge. Why, the black slaves have been known to rise in +rebellion, and while they had the power have inflicted tortures +unheard-of upon their masters. The latter it makes cruel and +unfeeling; it tempts them continually to sins of all kinds; it puts +into their power the lives, the bodies--nay, the very souls--of the +poor folk whom they buy. I do maintain, and conceal not my opinion, +that no man ought, in a Christian country, to be a slave except +for a term of years, and then for punishment. I have been myself a +slave, and I know the misery and the injustice of the condition. +But it is idle to hope that the planters will abandon this means of +cultivating their estates, and it is certain that in hot countries +no man will work except by compulsion. + +The whip carried by the driver is a dreadful instrument, long, +thick, and strongly plaited, with a short handle. It is coiled and +slung round the shoulders when it is not being used to terrify or to +punish, and I know well that its loud crack produces upon the mind a +sensation of fear and of horror such as the thunder of artillery or +the sight of the enemy charging could never cause even to a coward. +The fellows are also extremely dexterous in the use of it; they can +inflict a punishment not worse than the flogging of a schoolboy; or, +with no greater outward show of strength, they will cut and gash the +flesh like a Russian executioner with the cruel instrument which +they call the knout. + +For slight offences, such as laziness or carelessness in the field, +the former is administered; but for serious offences, the latter. +One sad execution (I cannot call it less) I myself witnessed. What +the poor wretch had done I know not, but I can never forget his +piercing shrieks as the whip cut into the bleeding flesh. This is +not punishment: it is savage and revengeful cruelty. Yet the master +and the overseers looked on with callous eyes. + +They marched us to a field about half a mile from our village or +camp, and there, drawing us up in line, set us to work. Our task +was, with the hoe, to dig out square holes, each of the same depth +and size, in which the sugar canes are planted, a small piece of +old cane being laid in each. These holes are cut with regularity +and exactness, in long lines and equally distant from each other. +It is the driver's business to keep all at work at the same rate of +progress, so that no one should lag behind, no one should stop to +rest or breathe, no one should do less than his neighbours. The poor +wretches, with bent bodies streaming with their exertions, speedily +become afflicted with a burning thirst; their legs tremble; their +backs grow stiff and ache; their whole bodies become full of pain; +and yet they may not rest nor stand upright to breathe a while, nor +stop to drink, until the driver calls a halt. From time to time the +negroes--men and women alike--were dragged out of the ranks and laid +on the ground three or four at a time, to receive lashes for not +making the holes deep enough or fast enough. At home one can daily +see the poor creatures flogged in Bridewell; every day there are +rogues tied to the cart-wheel and flogged wellnigh to death; but +a ploughman is not flogged for the badness of his furrow, nor is +a cobbler flogged because he maketh his shoon ill. And our men do +not shriek and scream so wildly as the negroes, who are an ignorant +people and have never learned the least self-restraint. It was +horrid also to see how their bodies were scarred with the marks of +old floggings, and branded with letters to show by whom they had +been bought. As for our poor fellows, who had been brave recruits +in Monmouth's army, they trembled at the sight and worked all the +harder; yet some of them with the tears in their eyes, to think that +they should be brought to such a dismal fate and to herd with these +poor, ignorant, black people. + +'Twas the design of the master to set us to the very hardest work +from the beginning, so that we should be the more anxious to get +remission of our pains. For it must not be supposed that all +the work on the estate was so hard and irksome as that with the +hoe--which is generally kept for the strongest and hardest of the +negroes, men and women. There are many other employments: some are +put to weed the canes, some to fell wood, some to cleave it, some +to attend the Ingenio, the boiling-house, the still-house, the +curing-house; some to cut the maize, some to gather provisions, of +bonavist, maize, yams, potatoes, cassavy, and the like. Some to +the smith's forge; some to attend to the oxen and sheep; some to +the camels and assinegoes, and the like: so that, had the master +pleased, he might have set us to work better fitted to English +gentlemen. Well, his greediness and cruelty were defeated, as you +shall presently see. As for the domestic economy of the estate, +there were on it five hundred acres of land, of which two hundred +were planted with sugar, eighty for pasture, one hundred and +twenty for wood, thirty for tobacco, five for ginger, and as many +for cotton-wool, and seventy for provisions--viz. corn, potatoes, +plantains, cassavy, and bonavist--with a few for fruit. There were +ninety-six negroes, two or three Indian women with their children, +and twenty-eight Christian servants, of whom we were three. + +At eleven o'clock we were marched back to dinner. At one we went out +again, the sun being at this time of the day very fierce, though +January is the coldest month in the year. We worked till six o'clock +in the evening, when we returned. + +'This,' said Robin, with a groan, 'is what we have now to do every +day for ten years.' + +'Heart up, lads!' said Barnaby; 'our time will come. Give me time to +turn round, as a body may say. Why, the harbour is full of boats. +Let me get to the port and look round a bit. If we had any money +now--but that is past praying for. Courage and patience! Doctor, +you hoe too fast: no one looks for zeal. Follow the example of the +black fellows, who think all day long how they shall get off with +as little work as possible. As for their lash, I doubt whether they +dare to lay it about us, though they may talk. Because you see, +even if we do not escape, we shall some time or other, through the +Rector's efforts, get a pardon, and then we are gentlemen again; +and when that moment arrives I will make this master of ours fight, +willy-nilly, and I will kill him, d'ye see, before I go home to kill +Benjamin.' + +He then went on to discourse (either with the hope of raising our +spirits or because it cheered his mind just to set them forth) upon +his plans for the means of escape. + +'A boat,' he said, 'I can seize. There are many which would serve +our purpose. But a boat without victuals would be of little use. +One would not be accused of stealing, yet we may have to break into +the store and take therefrom some beef or biscuit. But where to +store our victuals? We may have a voyage of three or four hundred +knots before us. That is nothing for a tight little boat when the +hurricane season is over. We have no compass either--I must lay +hands upon a compass. The first Saturday night I will make for the +port and cast about. Lift up your head, Robin. Why, man, all bad +times pass if only one hath patience.' + +It was this very working in the fields, by which the master +thought to drive us into despair, which caused in the long run our +deliverance, and that in the most unexpected manner. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +ON CONDITIONS. + + +This servitude endured for a week, during which we were driven forth +daily with the negroes to the hardest and most intolerable toil, the +master's intention being so to disgust us with the life as to make +us write the most urgent letters to our friends at home; since, as +we told him two hundred guineas had been already paid on our account +(though none of the money was used for the purpose), he supposed +that another two hundred could easily be raised. Wherefore, while +those of the new servants who were common country lads were placed +in the Ingenio, or the curing-house, where the work is sheltered +from the scorching sun, we were made to endure every hardship that +the place permitted. In the event, however, the man's greed was +disappointed and his cruelty made of none avail. + +In fact, the thing I had foreseen quickly came to pass. When a man +lies in a lethargy of despair, his body, no longer fortified by a +cheerful mind, presently falls into any disease which is lurking +in the air. Diseases of all kinds may be likened unto wild beasts: +invisible, always on the prowl, seeking whom they may devour. The +young fall victims to some, the weak to others; the drunkards and +gluttons to others; the old to others; and the lethargic, again, to +others. It was not surprising to me, therefore, when Robin, coming +home one evening, fell to shivering and shaking, chattering with his +teeth, and showing every external sign of cold, though the evening +was still warm, and the sun had that day been more than commonly +hot. Also, he turned away from his food, and would eat nothing. +Therefore, as there was nothing we could give him, we covered him +with our rugs; and he presently fell asleep. But in the morning, +when we awoke, behold! Robin was in a high fever: his hands and +head burning hot, his cheek flushed red, his eyes rolling, and his +brain wandering. I went forth and called the overseer to come and +look at him. At first he cursed and swore, saying that the man was +malingering (that is to say, pretending to be sick, in order to +avoid work); that, if he was a negro instead of a gentleman, a few +cuts with his lash should shortly bring him to his senses; that, for +his part, he liked not this mixing of gentlemen with negroes; and +that, finally, I must go and bring forth my sick man or take it upon +myself to face the master, who would probably drive him afield with +the stick. + +'Sir,' I said, 'what the master may do I know not. Murder may be +done by any who are wicked enough. For my part, I am a physician, +and I tell you that to make this man go forth to work will be +murder. But indeed he is light-headed, and with a thousand lashes +you could not make him understand or obey.' + +Well, he grumbled, but he followed me into the hut. + +'The man hath had a sunstroke,' he said. 'I wonder that any of you +have escaped. Well, we can carry him to the sick-house, where he +will die. When a new hand is taken this way he always dies.' + +'Perhaps he will not die,' I said, 'if he is properly treated. If +he is given nothing but this diet of loblollie and salt beef, and +nothing to drink but the foul water of the pond, and no other doctor +than an ignorant old negress, he will surely die.' + +'Good Lord, man!' said the fellow. 'What do you expect in this +country? It is the master's loss, not mine. Carry him between you to +the sick-house.' + +So we carried Robin to the sick-house. + +At home we should account it a barn, being a great place with a +thatched roof, the windows open, without shutter or lattice, the +door breaking away from its hinges. Within there was a black lying +on a pallet, groaning most piteously. The poor wretch, for something +that he had done, I know not what, had his flesh cut to pieces with +the whip. With him was an old negress mumbling and mouthing. + +We laid Robin on another pallet, and covered him with a rug. + +'Now, man,' said the overseer, 'leave him there, and come forth to +your work.' + +'Nay,' I said, 'he must not be left. I am a physician, and I must +stay beside him.' + +'If he were your son I would not suffer you to stay with him.' + +'Man!' I cried. 'Hast thou no pity?' + +'Pity!' The fellow grinned. 'Pity! quotha. Pity! Is this a place +for pity? Why, if I showed any pity I should be working beside you +in the fields. It is because I have no pity that I am overseer. +Look here'--he showed me his left hand, which had been branded +with a red-hot iron. 'This was done in Newgate seven years ago and +more. Three years more I have to serve. That done, I may begin +to show some pity. Not before. Pity is scarce among the drivers +of Barbadoes. As well ask the beadle for pity when he flogs a +'prentice.' + +'Let me go to the master, then.' + +'Best not; best not. Let this man die and keep yourself alive. The +morning is the worst time for him, because last night's drink is +still in his head. Likely as not you will but make the sick man's +case and your own worse. Leave him in the sick-house, and go back to +him in the evening.' + +The man spoke with some compassion in his eyes. Just then, however, +a negro boy came running from the house and spoke to the overseer. + +'Why,' he said, 'nothing could be more pat. You can speak to the +master, if you please. He is in pain, and Madam sends for Dr. +Humphrey Challis. Go, Doctor. If you cure him, you will be a lucky +man. If you cannot cure him, the Lord have mercy upon you! Whereas, +if you suffer him to die,' he added with a grin and a whisper, +'every man on the estate will fall down and worship you. Let him +die! Let him die!' + +I followed the boy, who took me to that part of the house which +fronts the west and north. It was a mean house of wood, low and +small, considering how wealthy a man was the master of it; on three +sides, however, there was built out a kind of _loggia_, as the +Italians call it, of wood instead of marble, forming a cloister or +open chamber, outside the house. They call it a verandah, and part +of it they hang with mats made of grass, so as to keep it shaded +in the afternoon and evening, when the sun is in the west. The boy +brought me to this place, pointed to a chair where the master sat, +and then ran away as quickly as he could. + +It was easy to understand why he ran away, because the master at +this moment sprang out of his chair and began to stamp up and down +the verandah, roaring and cursing. He was clad in a white linen +dressing-gown and linen nightcap. On a small table beside him stood +a bottle of beer, newly opened, and a silver tankard. + +When he saw me he began to swear at me for my delay in coming, +though I had not lost a moment. + +'Sir,' I said, 'if you will cease railing and blaspheming I will +examine into your malady. Otherwise I will do nothing for you.' + +'What?' he cried. 'You dare to make conditions with me, you dog, +you!' + +'Fair words,' I said. 'Fair words. I am your servant to work on +your plantation as you may command. I am not your physician; and I +promise you, Sir, upon the honour of a gentleman, and without using +the sacred name which is so often on your lips, that if you continue +to rail at me I will suffer you to die rather than stir a little +finger in your help.' + +'Suffer the physician to examine the place,' said a woman's voice. +'What good is it to curse and to swear?' + +The voice came from a hammock swinging at the end of the verandah. +It was made, I observed, of a land of coarse grass loosely woven. + +The man sat down and sulkily bade me find a remedy for the pain +which he was enduring. So I consented and examined his upper jaw, +where I soon found out the cause of his pain in a good-sized tumour +formed over the fangs of a grinder. Such a thing causes agony even +to a person of cool blood, but to a man whose veins are inflamed +with strong drink the pain of it is maddening. + +'You have got a tumour,' I told him. 'It has been forming for some +days. It has now nearly, or quite, reached its head. It began about +the time when you were cursing and insulting certain unfortunate +gentlemen, who are for a time under your power. Take it, therefore, +as a Divine judgment upon you for your cruelty and insolence.' + +He glared at me, but said nothing, the hope of relief causing him to +receive this admonition with patience, if not in good part. Besides, +my finger was still upon the spot, and if I so much as pressed +gently I could cause him agony unspeakable. Truly, the power of the +physician is great. + +'The pain,' I told him, 'is already grown almost intolerable. But +it will be much greater in a few hours unless something is done. It +is now like unto a little ball of red-hot fire in your jaw; in an +hour or two it will seem as if the whole of your face was a burning +fiery furnace; your cheek will swell out until your left eye is +closed; your tortures, which now make you bawl, will then make you +scream; you now walk about and stamp; you will then lie down on your +back and kick. No negro slave ever suffered half so much under your +accursed lash as you will suffer under this tumour--unless something +is done.' + +'Doctor,' it was again the woman's voice from the hammock, 'you have +frightened him enough.' + +'Strong drink,' I went on, pointing to the tankard, 'will only make +you worse. It inflames your blood and adds fuel to the raging fire. +Unless something is done the pain will be followed by delirium; that +by fever, and the fever by death. Sir, are you prepared for death?' + +He turned horribly pale and gasped. + +'Do something for me!' he said. 'Do something for me, and that +without more words!' + +'Nay; but I will first make a bargain with you. There is in the +sick-house a gentleman, my cousin--Robin Challis by name--one of the +newly-arrived rebels, and your servant. He is lying sick unto death +of a sunstroke and fever caused by your hellish cruelty in sending +him out to work on the fields with the negroes instead of putting +him to light labour in the Ingenio or elsewhere. I say, his sickness +is caused by your barbarity. Wherefore I will do nothing for you at +all--do you hear? Nothing! nothing!--unless I am set free to do all +I can for him. Yea; and I must have such cordials and generous diet +as the place can afford, otherwise I will not stir a finger to help +you. Otherwise--endure the torments of the damned; rave in madness +and in fever. Die and go to your own place. I will not help you. So; +that is my last word.' + +Upon this I really thought the man had gone stark, staring mad. For, +at the impudence of a mere servant (though a gentleman of far better +family than his own) daring to make conditions with him, he became +purple in the cheeks, and, seizing his great stick which lay on the +table, he began belabouring me with all his might about the head and +shoulders. But I caught up a chair and used it for a shield, while +he capered about, striking wildly and swearing most horribly. + +At this moment the lady who was in the hammock stepped out of it +and walked towards us slowly, like a Queen. She was without any +doubt the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She was dressed in +a kind of dressing-gown of flowered silk, which covered her from +head to foot; her head was adorned with the most lovely glossy +black ringlets; a heavy gold chain lay round her neck, and a chain +of gold with pearls was twined in her hair, so that it looked like +a coronet; her fingers were covered with rings, and gold bracelets +hung upon her bare white arms. Her figure was tall and full; her +face inclined to the Spanish, being full and yet regular, with large +black eyes. Though I was fighting with a madman, I could not resist +the wish that I could paint her, and I plainly perceived that she +was one of that race which is called Quadroon, being most likely the +daughter of a mulatto woman and a white father. This was evident by +the character of her skin, which had in it what the Italians call +the _morbidezza_, and by a certain dark hue under the eyes. + +'Why,' she said, speaking to the master as if he had been a petulant +school-boy, 'you only make yourself worse by all this fury. Sit +down, and lay aside your stick. And you. Sir'--she addressed herself +to me--'you may be a great physician, and at home a gentleman; but +here you are a servant, and therefore bound to help your master in +all you can without first making conditions.' + +'I know too well,' I replied, 'he bought me as his servant, but not +as his physician. I will not heal him without my fee; and my fee is +that my sick cousin be attended to with humanity.' + +'Take him away!' cried the master, beside himself with rage. 'Clap +him in the stocks! Let him sit there all day long in the sun! He +shall have nothing to eat or to drink! In the evening he shall be +flogged! If it was the Duke of Monmouth himself, he should be tied +up and flogged! Where the devil are the servants?' + +A great hulking negro came running. + +'You have now,' I told him quietly, 'permitted yourself to be +inflamed with violent rage. The pain will therefore more rapidly +increase. When it becomes intolerable, you will be glad to send for +me.' + +The negro dragged me away (but I made no resistance), and led me +to the courtyard, where stood the stocks and a whipping-post. He +pointed to the latter with a horrid grin, and then laid me fast in +the former. Fortunately, he left me my hat, otherwise the hot sun +would have made an end of me. I was, however, quite easy in my mind. +I knew that this poor wretch, who already suffered so horribly, +would before long feel in that jaw of his, as it were, a ball of +fire. He would drink, in order to deaden the pain; but the wine +would only make the agony more horrible. Then he would be forced to +send for me. + +This, in fact, was exactly what he did. + +I sat in those abominable stocks for no more than an hour. Then +Madam herself came to me, followed by the negro fellow who had +locked my heels in those two holes. + +'He is now much worse,' she said. 'He is now in pain that cannot be +endured. Canst thou truly relieve his suffering?' + +'Certainly I can. But on conditions. My cousin will die if he is +neglected. Suffer me to minister to his needs. Give him what I want +for him and I will cure your'--I did not know whether I might say +'your husband,' so I changed the words into--'my master. After that +I will cheerfully endure again his accursed cruelty of the fields.' + +She bade the negro unlock the bar. + +'Come,' she said. 'Let us hear no more about any bargains. I will +see to it that you are able to attend to your cousin. Nay, there +is an unfortunate young gentlewoman here, a rebel, and a servant +like yourself--for the last week she doth nothing but weep for the +misfortunes of her friends--meaning you and your company. I will ask +her to nurse the sick man. She will desire nothing better, being a +most tender-hearted woman. And as for you, it will be easy for you +to look after your cousin and your master at the same time.' + +'Then, Madam,' I replied, 'take me to him, and I will speedily do +all I can to relieve him.' + +I found my patient in a condition of mind and body most dangerous. I +wondered that he had not already fallen into a fit, so great was his +wrath and so dreadful his pain. He rolled his eyes; his cheeks were +purple; he clenched his fists; he would have gnashed his teeth but +for the pain in his jaws. + +'Make yourself easy,' said Madam. 'This learned physician will cause +your pain to cease. I have talked with him and put him into a better +mind.' + +The master shook his head as much as to say that a better mind would +hardly be arrived at without the assistance of the whipping-post; +but the emergency of the case prevented that indulgence. Briefly, +therefore, I took out my lancet and pierced the place, which +instantly relieved the pain. Then I placed him in bed, bled him +copiously, and forbade his taking anything stronger than small-beer. +Freedom from pain and exhaustion presently caused him to fall into +a deep and tranquil sleep. After all this was done I was anxious to +see Robin. + +'Madam,' I said, 'I have now done all I can. He will awake at +noon, I dare say. Give him a little broth, but not much. There is +danger of fever. You had better call me again when he awakes. Warn +him solemnly that rage, revenge, cursing, and beating must be all +postponed until such time as he is stronger. I go to visit my cousin +in the sick-house, where I await your commands.' + +'Sir,' she said courteously, 'I cannot sufficiently thank your skill +and zeal. You will find the nurse of whom I spoke in the sick-house +with your cousin. She took with her some cordial, and will tell +me what else you order for your patient. I hope your cousin may +recover. But, indeed'----she stopped and sighed. + +'You would say, Madam, that it would be better for him and for us +all to die. Perhaps so. But we must not choose to die, but rather +strive to live, as more in accordance with the Word of God.' + +'The white servants have been hitherto the common rogues and thieves +and sweepings of your English streets,' she said. 'Sturdy rogues +are they all, who fear naught but the lash, and have nothing of +tenderness left but tender skins. They rob and steal; they will not +work, save by compulsion; they are far worse than the negroes for +laziness and drunkenness. I know not why they are sent out, or why +the planters buy them, when the blacks do so much better serve their +turn, and they can without reproach beat and flog the negroes, while +to flog and beat the whites is by some accounted cruel.' + +'All this, Madam, is doubtless true: but my friends are not the +sweepings of the street.' + +'No, but you are treated as if you were. It is a new thing having +gentlemen among the servants, and the planters are not yet +accustomed to them. They are a masterful and a wilful folk, the +planters of Barbadoes; from childhood upwards they have their own +way, and brook not opposition. You have seen into what a madness +of wrath you threw the master by your opposition. Believe me, Sir, +the place is not wholesome for you and for your friends. The master +looks to get a profit, not from your labour, but by your ransom. +Sir'--she looked me very earnestly in the face--'if you have friends +at home--if you have any friends at all--entreat them--command +them--immediately to send money for your ransom. It will not cost +them much. If you do not get the money you will most assuredly die, +with the life that you will have to live. All the white servants +die except the very strongest and lustiest. Whether they work in +the fields, or in the garden, or in the Ingenio, or in the stables, +they die. They cannot endure the hot sun and the hard fare. They +presently catch fever, or a calenture, or a cramp, and so they die. +This young gentlewoman who is now with your cousin will presently +fall into melancholy and die. There is no help for her, or for +you--believe me, Sir--there is no hope but to get your freedom.' She +broke off here, and never at any other time spoke to me again upon +this subject. + +In three weeks' time, indeed, we were to regain our freedom, but not +in the way Madam imagined. + +Before I go on to tell of the wonderful surprise which awaited me, +I must say that there was, after this day, no more any question +about the field-work for me. In this island, then, there was a great +scarcity of physicians; nay, there were none properly qualified to +call themselves physicians, though a few quacks; the sick servants +on the estates were attended by the negresses, some of whom have, I +confess, a wonderful knowledge of herbs--in which respect they may +be likened to our countrywomen, who, for fevers, agues, toothache, +and the like, are as good as any physicians in the world. It was, +therefore, speedily rumoured abroad that there was a physician upon +my master's estate, whereupon there was immediately a great demand +for his services; and henceforth I went daily, with the master's +consent, to visit the sick people on the neighbouring estates--nay, +I was even called upon by his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor +himself, Mr. Steed, for a complaint from which he suffered. And +I not only gave advice and medicines, but I also received a fee +just as if I had been practising in London. But the fees went to +my master, who took them all, and offered me no better diet than +before. That, however, mattered little, because wherever I went I +asked for, and always received, food of a more generous kind, and +a glass or two of wine, so that I fared well and kept my health +during the short time that we remained upon the island. I had also +to thank Madam for many a glass of Madeira, dish of cocoa, plate of +fruit, and other things, not only for my patient Robin, but also for +myself, and for another, of whom I have now to speak. + +When, therefore, the master was at length free from pain and in a +comfortable sleep, I left him, with Madam's permission, and sought +the sick-house in a most melancholy mood, because I believed that +Robin would surely die, whatever I should do. And I confess that, +having had but little experience of sunstroke and the kind of +fever which followeth upon it, and having no books to consult and +no medicine at hand, I knew not what I could do for him. And the +boasted skill of the physician, one must confess, availeth little +against a disease which hath once laid hold upon a man. 'Tis better +for him so to order the lives of his patients while they are well as +to prevent disease, just as those who dwell beside an unruly river +(as I have seen upon the great river Rhone) build up a high levée, +or bank, over which it cannot pass. + +In the sick-house the floor was of earth, without boards; there was +no other furniture but two or three wooden beds, on each a coarse +mattress with a rug; and all was horribly filthy, unwashed, and +foul. Beside the pallet where Robin lay there knelt, praying, a +woman with her head in her hands. Heavens! there was, then, in this +dark and heathenish place one woman who still remembered her Maker! + +Robin was awake. His restless eyes rolled about; his hands clutched +uneasily at his blanket; and he was talking. Alas! the poor brain, +disordered and wandering, carried him back to the old village. He +was at home again in imagination, though we were so far away. Yea; +he had crossed the broad Atlantic, and was in fair Somerset, among +the orchards and the hills. And, only to hear him talk, the tears +rolled down my cheeks. + +'Alice,' he said. Alas! he thought that he was again with the sweet +companion of his youth. 'Alice; the nuts are ripe in the woods. We +will to-morrow take a basket and go gather them. Benjamin shall not +come to spoil sport. Besides, he would want to eat them all himself. +Humphrey shall come, and you, and I. That will be enough.' + +Then his thoughts changed again. 'Oh! my dear,' he said--in a moment +he had passed over ten years, and was now with his mistress, a child +no longer. 'My dear, thou hast so sweet a face. Nowhere in the whole +world is there so sweet a face. I have always loved thy face; not a +day but it has been in my mind--always my love, my sweetheart, my +soul, my life. My dear, we will never leave the country; we want no +grandeur of rank, and state, and town; we will always continue here. +Old age shall find us lovers still. Death cannot part us, oh! my +dear, save for a little while--and then sweet Heaven will unite us +again to love each other for ever, and for ever'---- + +'Oh! Robin! Robin! Robin!' + +I knew that voice. Oh! Heavens! was I dreaming? Was I, too, +wandering? Were we all back in Somerset? + +For the voice was none other than the voice of Alice herself! + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +ALICE. + + +'Alice!' I cried. + +She rose from her knees and turned to meet me. Her face was pale; +her eyes were heavy and they were full of tears. + +'Alice!' + +'I saw you when you came here, a week ago,' she said. 'Oh! Humphrey, +I saw you, and I was ashamed to let you know that I was here.' + +'Ashamed? My dear, ashamed? But how--why--what dost thou here?' + +'How could I meet Robin's eyes after what I had done?' + +'It was done for him, and for his mother, and for all of us. Poor +child, there is no reason to be ashamed.' + +'And now I meet him, and he is in a fever, and his mind wanders; he +knows me not.' + +'He is sorely stricken, Alice; I know not how the disease may end; +mind and body are sick alike. For the mind I can do nothing; for the +body I can do but little: yet with cleanliness and good food we may +help him to mend. But tell me, Child, in the name of Heaven, how +camest thou in this place?' + +But before anything she would attend to the sick man. And presently +she brought half-a-dozen negresses, who cleaned and swept the place, +and sheets were fetched and a linen shirt, in which we dressed our +patient, with such other things as we could devise for his comfort. +Then I bathed his head with cold water, continually changing his +bandages so as to keep him cool; and I took some blood from him, but +not much, because he was greatly reduced by bad food and hard work. + +When he was a little easier we talked. But, Heavens! to think of +the villainy which had worked its will upon this poor child! As if +it was not enough that she should be forced to fly from a man who +had so strangely betrayed her, and as if it was not enough that +she should be robbed of all her money--but she must also be put on +board, falsely and treacherously, as one, like ourselves, sentenced +to ten years' servitude on the Plantations! For, indeed, I knew and +was quite certain that none of the Maids of Taunton were thus sent +abroad. It was notorious, before we were sent away, that, with the +exception of Susan Blake, who died of jail-fever at Dorchester, all +the Maids were given to the Queen's ladies, and by them suffered to +go free on the payment by their parents of thirty or forty pounds +apiece. And as for Alice, she was a stranger in the place, and it +was not known that she had joined that unfortunate procession. So +that, if ever a man was kidnapper and villain, that man was George +Penne. + +It behoves a physician to keep his mind under all circumstances +calm and composed. He must not suffer himself to be carried away by +passion, by rage, hatred, or even anxiety. Yet, I confess that my +mind was clean distracted by the discovery that Alice herself was +with us, a prisoner like ourselves; I was, I say, distracted, nor +could I tell what to think of this event and its consequences. For, +to begin with, the poor child was near those who would protect her. +But what kind of protection could be given by such helpless slaves? +Then was she beyond her husband's reach; he would not, it was quite +certain, get possession of her at this vast distance. So far she was +safe. But then the master, who looked to make a profit by her, as he +looked to make a profit by us--through the ransom of her friends! +She had no friends to ransom her. There was but one, the Rector, and +he was her husband's father. The time would come when the avarice +of the master would make him do or threaten something barbarous +towards her. Then she had found favour with Madam, this beautiful +mulatto woman, whom Alice innocently supposed to be the master's +wife. And there was the young planter, who wished to buy her with +the honourable intention of marrying her. In short, I knew not what +to think or to say, because at one moment it seemed as if it was the +most Providential thing in the world that Alice should have been +brought here, and the next moment it seemed as if her presence only +magnified our evils. + +'Nay,' she said, when I opened my mind to her, 'seeing that the +world is so large, what but a special ruling of Providence could +have brought us all to this same island, out of the whole multitude +of isles--and then again to this same estate out of so many? +Humphrey, your faith was wont to be stronger. I believe--nay, I am +quite sure--that it was for the strengthening and help of all alike +that this hath been ordained. First, it enables me to nurse my poor +Robin--mine, alas! no longer! Yet must I still love him as long as I +have a heart to beat.' + +'Love him always, Child,' I said. 'This is no sin to love the +companion of thy childhood, thy sweetheart, from whom thou wast torn +by the most wicked treachery'--but could say no more, because the +contemplation of that sweet face, now so mournful, yet so patient, +made my voice to choke and my eyes to fill with tears. Said I not +that a physician must still keep his mind free from all emotion? + +All that day I conversed with her. We agreed that for the present +she should neither acknowledge nor conceal the truth from Madam, +upon whose good-will we now placed all our hopes. That is to say, +if Madam questioned her she was to acknowledge that we were her +former friends; but, if Madam neither suspected anything nor asked +her anything, she should keep the matter to herself. She told me +during this day all that had happened unto her since I saw her last, +when we marched out of Taunton. Among other things I heard of the +woman called Deb, who was now working in the canefields (she was one +of a company whose duty it was to weed the canes). In the evening +this woman, when the people returned, came to the sick-house. +She was a great strapping woman, stronger than most men. She was +dressed, like all the women on the estate, in a smock and petticoat, +with a thick coif to keep off the sun, and a pair of strong shoes. + +She came to help her mistress, as she fondly called Alice. She +wanted to sit up and watch the sick man, so that her mistress might +go to sleep. But Alice refused. Then this faithful creature rolled +herself up in her rug and laid herself at the door, so that no one +should go in or out without stepping over her. And so she fell +asleep. + +Then we began our night watch, and talked in whispers, sitting by +the bedside of the fevered man. Presently I forgot the wretchedness +of our condition, the place where we were, our hopeless, helpless +lot, our anxieties and our fears, in the joy and happiness of once +more conversing with my mistress. She spoke to me after the manner +of the old days, but with more seriousness, about the marvellous +workings of the Lord among His people; and presently we began to +talk of the music which we loved to play, and how the sweet concord +and harmony of the notes lift up the soul; and of pictures and +painting, and Mr. Boscorel's drawings and my own poor attempts, and +my studies in the schools, and so forth, as if my life was, indeed, +but just beginning, and, instead of the Monmouth cap, and the canvas +breeches, and common shirt, I was once more arrayed in velvet, with +a physician's wig and a gold-headed cane. + +Lastly she prayed, entreating merciful Heaven to bestow health of +mind and enlargement of body to the sick man upon the bed, and her +brother, and her dear friend (meaning myself), and to all poor +sufferers for religion; and she asked that, as it had been permitted +that she should be taken from her earthly lover by treachery, so it +might now be granted to her to lay down her life for his, so that he +might go free and she die in his place. + +Through the open window I saw the four stars which make the +constellation they call the 'Crucero,' being like a cross fixed in +the heavens. The night was still, and there was no sound save the +shrill noise of the cigala, which is here as shrill as in Padua. +Slave and master, bondman and free, were all asleep save in this +house, where Robin rolled his heavy head, and murmured without +ceasing, and Alice communed with her God. Surely, surely, I thought, +here was no room for doubt! This my mistress had been brought here +by the hand of God Himself, to be as an angel or messenger of His +own, for our help and succour--haply for our spiritual help alone, +seeing that no longer was there any help from man. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +BARNABY HEARS THE NEWS. + + +The master, my patient, got up from his bed in a few days, somewhat +pale and weak after his copious blood-letting and the drastic +medicines with which I purged the grossness of his habit and +expelled the noxious humours caused by his many intemperances. These +had greatly injured what we call--because we know not what nor what +else to call it--the pure volatile spirit, and, so to speak, turned +sour the _humor radicalis_--the sweet oil and balsamical virtues +of the body. I gave him such counsel as was fitting for his case, +admonishing him urgently to abstain from strong liquors, except +in their moderate use; to drink only after his meals; to keep his +head cool and sober, and above all things to repress and govern his +raging temper, which would otherwise most certainly catch him by +the throat like some fierce and invisible devil and throw him into +a fit, and so kill him. I told him also what might be meant by the +Wise Man (who certainly thought of all the bearings which his words +could have) when he said that one who is slow to wrath is of great +understanding--namely, that many men do throw away their lives by +falling into excessive fits of rage. But I found that the words of +Holy Scripture had little authority over him, for he lived without +prayer or praise, trampled on the laws of God, and gave no heed at +all to the flight of time and the coming of the next world. + +For a day or two he followed my injunctions, taking a tankard of +small ale to his breakfast, the same quantity with his dinner, a +pint of Madeira for his supper, and a sober glass or two before +going to bed. But when he grew well, his brother planters came +round him again, the drinking was renewed, and in the morning I +would find him again with parched throat, tongue dry, and shaking +hand, ready to belabour, to curse, and to rail at everybody. If +one wanted an example for the young how strong drink biteth like +a serpent and stingeth like an adder, here was a case the sight +of which might have caused all young men to forswear drunkenness. +Alas! there are plenty of such examples to be seen in every part of +England; yet the younger men still continue to drink, and that, I +think, worse than their fathers. This man, however, who was not yet +five-and-thirty, in the very prime of strong and healthy manhood, +had his finger-joints swollen and stony from taking much wine; he +commonly ate but little meat, craving continually for more drink, +and his understanding, which was by nature, I doubt not, clear and +strong, was now brutish and stupid. Thinking over this man, and of +the power, even unto death, which he possessed over his servants and +slaves, the words came into my mind: 'It is not for Kings, O Lemuel, +it is not for Kings to drink wine; nor for Princes strong drink.' + +Nay, more (and this I say, knowing that many godly men will not +agree with me): I am fully persuaded that there is no man in the +whole world so good and so strong in virtue and religion that he +should be suffered to become the master or despot over any other +man, even over a company of poor and ignorant blacks, or a gang of +transported thieves. When I think of those unhappy people, driven +forth in the morning, heavy-eyed and downcast, to the hard day's +work; and when I remember how they crept home at night, after being +driven, cursed, and beaten all day long; and when I think upon their +drivers, overseers, and masters, and of their hard and callous +hearts, I am moved to cry aloud (if any would hear me) that to be a +slave is wretched indeed; but that to own and to drive slaves should +be a thing most dangerous for any who would continue members of +Christ's Church. + +When I told Barnaby the surprising news that his sister was not only +safe, but a servant like ourselves upon the same estate, I looked +that he would rejoice. On the contrary, he fell into a strange mood, +swearing at this ill stroke as he called it. He said that he never +had the least doubt as to her safety, seeing there were so many +in the West Country who knew and respected her father, and would +willingly shelter her. Then he dwelt upon certain evils--of which, I +confess, I had thought little--which might befall her. And, lastly, +he set forth with great plainness the increased dangers in escaping +when one has to carry a woman or a wounded man--a thing, he pointed +out, which had caused his own capture after Sedgemoor. + +Then he opened up to me the whole business of our escape. + +'Last Saturday night,' he said, 'while you were sleeping, I made +my way to the port, and, having a shilling or so left, I sought +out a tavern. There is one hard by the Bridge, a house-of-call for +sailors, where I had the good fortune to find a fellow who can do +for us all we want--if his money hold out, which I doubt. He is a +carver by trade, and a convict, like ourselves; but is permitted +by his master to work at his trade in the town. He hath been, it +is true, branded in the hand; but, Lord! what signifies that? He +was once a thief--well--he is now an honest lad again, who asks for +nothing but to get home again. John Nuthall is his name.' + +'Go on, Barnaby. We are already in such good company that another +rogue or two matters little.' + +'This man came here secretly last night, while you were in the +sick-house. He is very hot upon getting away. And because I am +a sailor and can navigate a craft (which he cannot do) he will +take with him not only myself, but also all my party. Now listen, +Humphrey. He hath bought a boat of a Guinea man in the harbour; and +because, to prevent the escape of servants, every boat is licensed +and her owner has to give security to the Governor's officers, he +hath taken this boat secretly up a little creek of which he knows, +and hath there sunk her three feet deep. The masts, the sails, the +oars, and the other gear he hath also safely bestowed in a secret +place. But we cannot sail without water, provisions, nor without +a compass at least. If our party is to consist of Sister, Robin, +you, John Nuthall, and myself--five in all--we shall have to load +the boat with provisions, and I must have a compass. I looked for a +boatful with ourselves and John Nuthall. Now we have Sis as well; +and the boat is but small. Where shall we get provisions? and where +shall we lay our hands upon the money to buy what we want?' + +He could talk of nothing else, because his mind was full of his +plan. Yet it seemed to me a most desperate enterprise, thus to +launch a small boat upon the wide ocean, and in this cockle-shell to +brave the waves which are often fatal to the tallest ships. + +'Tut, man,' said Barnaby. 'We are not now in the season of the +tornadoes, and there is no other danger upon these seas. I would +as lief be in an open boat as in a brigantine. Sharks may follow +us, but they will not attack a boat; calamaries they talk of, big +enough to lay their arms round the boat and so to drag it under; +but such monsters have I never seen, any more than I have seen the +great whale of Norway or the monstrous birds of the Southern Seas. +There is only one danger, Humphrey, my lad.' Here he laid his hand +upon mine and became mighty serious. 'If we are taken we shall be +flogged--all of us. Thirty-nine lashes they will lay on, and they +will brand us. For myself, I value not their thirty-nine lashes a +brass farthing, nor their branding with a hot iron, which can but +make a man jump for a day or two. To me this risk against the chance +of escape matters nothing. Why, when I was cabin-boy I got daily +more than thirty-nine lashes--kicks, cuffs, and rope's-endings. Nay, +I remember, when we sat over the Latin syntax together my daily +ration must have been thirty-nine, more or less, and Dad's arm was +stronger than you would judge, to look at him. If they catch me, let +them lay on their thirty-nine and be damned to them! But you and +Robin, I doubt, think otherwise.' + +'I would not willingly be flogged, Barnaby, if there were any way of +escape--even by death.' + +'So I thought! So I thought!' + +'And as for Robin, if he recovers--which I doubt--he too, if I know +him, would rather be killed than be flogged.' + +'That comes of Oxford!' said Barnaby. 'And then there is Sis. +Humphrey, my lad, it goes to my heart to think of that poor girl, +stripped to be lashed like a black slave or a Bristol drab.' + +'Barnaby, she must never run that dreadful risk.' + +'Then she must remain behind, and here she runs that risk every day. +What prevents yon drunken sot--the taste of that cudgel still sticks +in my gizzard!--I say, what prevents him from tying her up to-day, +or to-morrow, or every day?' + +'Barnaby, I say that she must never run that risk, for if we are +caught----' I stopped. + +'Before we are caught, you would say, Humphrey. We are of the same +mind there. But who is to kill her? Not Robin, for he loves her; not +you, because you have too great a kindness for her. Not I, because I +am her brother. What should I say to my mother when I meet her after +we are dead, and she asks me who killed Alice?' + +'Barnaby, if she is to die, let us all die together.' + +'Ay,' he replied, 'though I have, I confess, no great stomach for +dying; yet, since we have got her with us, it must be done. 'Tis +easy to let the water into the boat, and so, in three minutes, with +no suspicion at all, and my mother never to know anything about it, +she would have said her last prayers, and we should be all sinking +together with never a gasp left.' + +I took him after this talk to the sick-house, where Alice was +beginning her second night of nursing. Barnaby saluted his sister as +briefly as if her presence was the thing he most expected. + +The room was lit by a horn lanthorn containing a great candle, which +gave enough light to see Robin on the bed and Alice standing beside +him. The woman called Deb was sitting on the floor, wrapped in her +rug. + +'Sis,' said Barnaby, 'I have heard from Humphrey how thou wast +cozened out of thy money and enticed on board ship. Well, this world +is full of villains, and I doubt whether I shall live to kill them +all. One I must kill and one I must cudgel. Patience, therefore, and +no more upon this head. Well, Sis, dost love to be a servant?' + +'Surely not, Barnaby.' + +'Wouldst like to get thy freedom again?' + +'I know not the meaning of thy words, brother. Madam says that those +who have interest at home may procure pardons for their friends in +the Plantations. Also that those whose friends have money may buy +their freedom from servitude. I am sure that Mr. Boscorel would +willingly do this for Robin and for Humphrey; but for myself--how +can I ask him? How can I ever let him know where I am and in what +condition?' + +'Ay, ay, but I meant not that way, child; wilt thou trust thyself to +us?' + +She looked at Robin. 'I cannot leave him,' she said. + +'No, no; we shall wait until he is dead--or, perhaps, better.' But +he only added this to please his sister. 'When he is better, Sis, +thou wilt not be afraid to trust thyself with us?' + +'I am not afraid of any danger, even of death, with you, if that is +the danger in your mind, Barnaby.' + +'Good! Then we understand each other. There are other dangers for a +young and handsome woman--and, maybe, worse dangers. Hast any money +at all, by chance?' + +'Nay; the man Penne took all my money.' + +Barnaby, for five or six minutes without stopping, spoke upon this +topic after the manner of a sailor. 'My turn will come,' he added. +'No money, child? 'Tis a great pity. Had we a few gold pieces, now! +Some women have rings and chains. But of course----' + +'Nay, brother; chains I never had, and as for rings, there were but +two that ever I had--one from Robin, the day that I was plighted to +him; and one from the man who made me marry him, and put it on in +the church. The former did I break and throw away when I agreed--for +your dear lives--Barnaby, oh! for the lives of all'---- + +'I know, I know,' said Barnaby. 'Patience--patience. Oh! I shall get +such a chance some day!' + +'The other I threw away when I fled from my husband at the church +door.' + +'Ay, ay! If we only had a little money! 'Tis pity that we should +fail for want of a little money.' + +'Why,' said Alice, 'I had quite forgotten. I have something that may +bring money.' She pulled from her neck a black ribbon on which was +a little leathern bag. 'Tis the ring the Duke gave me at Ilchester +long ago. I have never parted with it. "God grant," he said, when +he gave it to me, "that it may bring thee good luck!" Will the ring +help, Barnaby?' + +I took it first from her hand. + +'Why,' I said, 'it is a sweet and costly ring. Jewels I know and +have studied. If I mistake not, these emeralds must be worth a great +sum. But how shall we dispose of so valuable a ring in this place, +and without causing suspicion?' + +'Give it to me.' Barnaby took it, looked at it, and laid it, bag +and all, in his pocket. 'There are at the port merchants of all +kinds, who will buy a ship's cargo of sugar one minute and the next +will sell you a red herring. They will also advance money upon a +ring. As for suspicion, there are hundreds of convicts and servants +here. 'Tis but to call the ring the property of such an one, and no +questions will be asked. My friend John Nuthall, the carver, shall +do this for us. And now, Sis, I think that our business is as good +as done. Have no fear; we shall get away. First get Robin well, and +then'----Here Barnaby gazed upon her face with affection and with +pity. 'But, sister, understand rightly: 'tis no child's play of hide +and seek. 'Tis life or death!--life or death! If we fly, we must +never come back again! Understand that well.' + +'Since we are in the Lord's hands, brother, why should we fear? +Take me with you; let me die, if you must die; and if you live I am +content to live with you, so that my husband never find me out.' + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +A SCARE. + + +There is between the condition of the mind and that of the body an +interdependence which cannot but be recognised by every physician. +So greatly has this connection affected some of the modern +physicians, as to cause doubts in their minds whether there be any +life at all hereafter, or if, when the pulse ceases to beat, the +whole man should become a dead and senseless lump of clay. In this, +they confuse the immortal soul with the perishable instruments of +brain and body, through which in life it manifests its being and +betrays its true nature, whether of good or ill. + +Thus, the condition in which Robin now lay clearly corresponded, as +I now understand, with the state of his mind induced by the news +that Alice, to save his life, had been betrayed into marrying his +cousin. For at the hearing of that dreadful news he was seized with +such a transport of rage (not against that poor innocent victim, +but against his cousin) as threatened to throw him into madness; +and on recovering from this access, he presently fell into a kind +of despair, in which he languished during the whole voyage. So also +in a corresponding manner, after a fever, the violence of which +was like to have torn him to pieces, he fell into a lethargy, in +which, though his fever left him, he continued to wander in his +mind, and grew, as I could not fail to mark, daily weaker in his +body, refusing to eat, though Alice brought him dainty broth of +chicken, delicate panadas of bread and butter, fruit boiled with +sugar, and other things fit to tempt a sick man's appetite, provided +by the goodness of Madam. This lady was in religion a Romanist; by +birth she was a Spanish Quadroon. To escape the slavery to which +the colour of her grandmother doomed her, she escaped from Cuba and +found her way to Jamaica, where she met with our master. And whether +she was lawfully married unto him I will not, after her kindness to +Alice and her faithfulness to myself as regards Robin, so much as +ask. + +Robin, therefore, though the fever left him, did not mend. On the +contrary, as I have said, he grew daily weaker; so that I marvelled +at his lasting so long, and looked to see him die, as so many die, +in the early morning, when there is a sharpness or eagerness in the +air, and the body is exhausted by long sleep. Yet he died not. + +And now you shall hear how, through the Duke of Monmouth's ring, we +escaped from our servitude. 'God grant,' said the Duke, 'that it +bring thee good luck!' This was a light and unconsidered prayer, +forgotten as soon as uttered, meant only to please the ear of a +child. And yet, in a manner most marvellous to consider, it proved +the salvation of us all. What better luck could that ring cause than +that we should escape from the land of Egypt--the House of Bondage? + +'I have disposed of the ring,' Barnaby told me a few days later. +'That is to say, John Nuthall has secretly pledged it with a +merchant for twenty guineas. He said that the ring belongs to a +convict; but many of them have brought such precious things with +them in order to buy their freedom. He owns that the stones are +fine, and very willingly gave the money on their security.' + +'Then nothing remains,' I said, 'but to get away.' + +'John Nuthall has bought provisions and all we want, little by +little, so as to excite no suspicion. They are secretly and safely +bestowed, and half the money still remains in his hands. How goes +Robin?' + +'He draws daily nearer to his grave. We cannot depart until either +he mends or dies. 'Tis another disaster, Barnaby.' + +'Ay; but of disaster we must not think. Robin will die. Yet our own +case may be as bad if it comes to scuttling the ship. Cheer up, +lads; many men die, but the world goes on. Poor Robin! Every man for +himself and the Lord for us all. Sis will cry; but even if Robin +recovers he cannot marry her: a consideration which ought to comfort +her. And for him--since nothing else will serve him--it is best that +he should die. Better make an end at once than go all his life with +hanging head for the sake of a woman, as if there are not plenty +women in the world to serve his turn.' + +'I know not what ails him that he does not get better. The air is +too hot for him; he hath lost his appetite. Barnaby,' I cried, +moved to a sudden passion of pity such as would often seize me at +that time, 'saw one ever ruin more complete than ours? Had we been +fighting for Spain and the accursed Inquisition we could not have +been more heavily punished. And we were fighting on the Lord's side!' + +'We were--Dad was with us too. And see how he was served! The +Lord, it seems, doth not provide His servants with arms, or with +ammunition, or with commanders. Otherwise, the Duke this day would +be in St. James's Palace wearing his father's crown, and you would +be a Court physician with a great wig and a velvet coat, instead of +a Monmouth cap and a canvas shirt. And I should be an admiral. But +what doth it profit to ask why and wherefore? Let us first get clear +of the wreck. Well; I wish we were to take Robin with us. 'Twill be +a poor business going back to Bradford Orcas without him.' + +We waited, therefore, day after day, for Robin either to get better +or to die, and still he lingered, seemingly in a waste or decline, +but such as I had never before seen; and I know not what would have +happened to him, whether he would have lived or died, but then there +happened a thing which caused us to wait no longer. It was this. + +The master having, according to his daily custom, gone the round +of his estate--that is to say, having seen his servants all +at work under their drivers; some planting with the hoe, some +weeding, some cutting the maize, some gathering yams, potatoes, +cassavy, or bonavist for provisions, some attending the ingenio +or the still-house--did unluckily take into his head to visit the +sick-house. What was more unfortunate, this desire came upon him +after he had taken a morning dram, and that of the stiffest: not, +indeed, enough to make him drunk, but enough to make him obstinate +and wilful. When I saw him standing at the open door, I perceived +by the glassiness of his eyes and the unsteadiness of his shoulders +that he had already begun the day's debauch. He was now in a most +dangerous condition of mind. Later in the day, when he was more +advanced in drink, he might be violent, but he would be much less +dangerous, because he would afterwards forget what he had said or +done in his cups. + +'So, Sir Doctor,' he said, 'I have truly a profitable pair of +servants!--one who pretends to cure everybody, and so escapes work; +and your cousin, who pretends to be sick, and so will do none! A +mighty bargain I made, truly, when I bought you both!' + +'With submission, sir,' I said, 'I have within the last week earned +for your honour ten guineas' worth of fees.' + +'Well, that is as it may be. How do I know what hath gone into your +own pocket? Where is this malingering fellow? Make him sit up! Sit +up, I say, ye skulking dog; sit up!' + +'Sir,' I said, still speaking with the greatest humility, 'nobody +but the Lord can make this man sit up.' And, indeed, Robin did not +comprehend one word that was said. + +'I gave fifty pounds for him only a month ago. Am I to lose all +that money, I ask? Fifty pounds! because I was told that he was a +gentleman and would be ransomed by his family. Hark ye, Doctor, you +must either cure this man for me--or else, by the Lord! you shall +have his ransom added to your own. If he dies, I will double your +price! Mark that!' + +I said nothing, hoping that he would depart. As for Alice, she had +turned her back upon him at his first appearance (as Madam had +ordered her to do), so that he might not notice her. + +Unfortunately he did not depart, but came into the room, looking +about him. Certainly he was not one who would suffer his servants to +be negligent, even in the smallest things. + +'Here is fine work!' he said. 'Sheets of the best--a pillow; what +hath a servant to do with such luxuries?' + +'My cousin is a gentleman,' I told him, 'and accustomed to lie in +linen. The rug which is enough for him in health must have a sheet +to it as well, now that he is sick.' + +'Humph! And whom have we here! Who art thou, madam, I wish to know?' + +Alice turned. + +'I am your honour's servant,' she said. 'I am employed in this +sick-house when I am not in the sewing-room.' + +'A servant? Oh! madam, I humbly crave your pardon. I took you for +some fine lady. I am honoured by having such a servant. All the rest +of my women servants go in plain smock and petticoat. But,' here +he smiled, 'to so lovely a girl as Alice Eykin--fair Alice, sweet +Alice--we must give the bravest and daintiest. To thee, my dear, +nothing can be denied. Those dainty cheeks, those white hands, were +never made to adorn a common coif. Mistress Alice, we must be better +acquainted. This is no fit place for you. Not the sick-house, but +the best room in my house shall be at thy service.' + +'Sir, I ask for nothing but to sit retired, and to render such +service as is in my power.' + +'To sit retired? Why, that cannot be longer suffered. 'Twould be +a sin to keep hidden any longer this treasure--this marvel, I +say, of beauty and grace. My servant! Nay; 'tis I--'tis the whole +island--who are thy servants. Thou to render service! 'Tis for me, +madam, to render service to thy beauty.' He took off his hat and +flourished it, making a leg. + +'Then, sir,' said Alice, 'suffer me, I pray, to go about my +business, which is with this sick man, and not to hear compliments.' + +He caught her hand and would have kissed it, but she drew it back. + +'Nay, coy damsel,' he said; 'I swear I will not go without a kiss +from thy lips! Kiss me, my dear.' + +She started back, and I rushed between them. At that moment Madam +herself appeared. + +'What do you here?' she cried, catching his arm. 'What has this girl +to do with you? Come away! Come away, and leave her in peace!' + +'Go back to the house, woman!' he roared, breaking from her and +flourishing his stick, so that I thought he was actually going to +cudgel her. 'Go back, or it will be the worse for you. What? Am I +master here or you? Go back, I say.' + +Then a strange thing happened. She made no reply, but she turned +upon him eyes so full of authority that she looked like a queen. He +shifted his feet, made as if he would speak, and finally obeyed, and +went out of the place to his own house with the greatest meekness, +soberness, and quietness. + +Presently Madam came back. + +'I blame thee not, child,' she said. 'It is with him as I have +told thee. When he begins to drink the Devil enters into him. Dost +think he came here to see the sick man? No, but for thy fair eyes, +inflamed with love as well as with drink. At such times no one can +rule him but myself, and even I may fail. Keep snug, therefore. +Perhaps he may forget thee again. But, indeed, I know not.' + +She sighed, and left us. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +BARNABY THE AVENGER. + + +The man did not come back. During the whole day I remained with +Alice in fear. But he molested us not. + +When the sun set, and the field hands returned, I was in two minds +whether to tell Barnaby what had happened, or not. But when I +saw his honest face, streaked with the dust of the day's work, +and watched him eating his lump of salt beef and basin of yellow +porridge with as much satisfaction as if it had been a banquet +of all the dainties, I could not bear, without greater cause, to +disturb his mind. + +'To-night,' he told me, when there was no more beef and the porridge +was all eaten, 'there is a great feast at the Bridge. I would +we had some of their Sherris and Madeira. The Governor of Nevis +landed yesterday, and is entertained to-day by our Governor. All +the militia are feasting, officers and men; nobody will be on the +look-out anywhere; and it is a dark night, with no moon. What a +chance for us, could we make our escape to-night! There may never +again happen such a chance for us! How goes Robin?' + +And so after a little more talk we lay down in our hammocks, and I, +for one, fell instantly asleep, having no fear at all for Alice; +first, because the Master would be now at the Bridge, feasting and +too drunk for anything but to sleep; and next, because she had with +her the woman Deb, as stout and lusty as any man. + +The Master was not at the Bridge with the rest of the planters and +gentlemen. Perhaps the drink which he took in the morning caused +him to forget the great banquet. However that may be, he was, most +unluckily for himself, drinking at home and alone, yet dressed in +his best coat and wig, and with his sword, all of which he had put +on for the Governor's banquet. + +After a while the Devil entered into him, finding easy admission, +so to speak, all doors thrown wide open, and even a welcome in +that deboshed and profligate soul. About eight o'clock, therefore, +prompted by the Evil One, the Master rose and stealthily crept out +of the house. + +It was a dark night, but he needed no light to guide his footsteps. +He crossed the court and made straight for the sick-house. + +He pushed the door open and stood for a little, looking within. By +the light of the horn lanthorn he saw the girl whose image was in +his mind. The sight might have caused him to return, repentant and +ashamed. For she was on her knees, praying aloud beside the bedside +of the sick man. + +As he stood in the door the woman named Deb, who lay upon the floor +asleep, woke up and raised her head. But he saw her not. Then she +sat up, watching him with suspicion. But his eyes were fixed on the +figure of Alice. Then she sprang to her feet, for now she knew that +mischief was meant, and she stood in readiness, prepared with her +great strong arms to defend her mistress. But he thought nobody was +in the house but Alice and the sick man. He saw nothing but the girl +at the bedside. + +I say that I was sleeping. I was awakened at the sound of a +shriek--I knew the voice--I sprang from the hammock. + +'God of mercy!' I cried, 'it is Alice! Barnaby, awake!--awake, I +say! It is the cry of Alice!' + +Then I rushed to the sick-house. + +There I saw Alice--shrieking and crying for help. And before her +the Master struggling and wrestling with the woman Deb. She had her +arms round his neck and made as if she was trying to throttle him. +Nay, I think that she would have throttled him, so strong she was +and possessed of such a spirit, and by the light of the lanthorn +gleaming upon the blade I saw that his sword had either fallen from +his hand or from the scabbard, and now lay upon the floor. + +'Stand back,' cried Barnaby, pushing me aside. 'Leave go of him, +woman. Let me deal with him.' + +The thing was done in a moment. Merciful Heavens! To think that thus +suddenly should the soul of man be called to its account! I had +seen the poor fellows shot down and cut to pieces on Sedgemoor; but +then they knew that they were going forth to fight, and so might be +killed. There was time before the battle for a prayer. But this man +had no time--and he was more than half drunk as well. + +He lay at our feet, lifeless, Barnaby standing over him with a +broken sword in his hand. + +For a while no one spoke or moved. But the woman called Deb gasped +and panted and even laughed, as one who is well pleased because she +hath had her revenge. + +Then Madam herself, clad in a long white night-dress and with bare +feet, suddenly pushed us aside and fell upon her knees beside the +wounded man. + +She lifted his head. The face was pale and the eyes closed. She laid +it gently down and looked round. + +'You have killed him,' she said, speaking not in a rage or passion, +but quietly. 'You have killed him. To-morrow you will hang! you will +all hang!' + +We said nothing. + +'Doctor,' she turned to me, 'tell me if he is dead or living.' + +She snatched the lanthorn and held it while I made such examination +as was possible. I opened his waistcoat and laid back his shirt. +The sword had run straight through him and broken off short, perhaps +by contact with his ribs. The broken point remained in the wound and +the flesh had closed around it, so that, save for a drop of blood or +two oozing out, there was no flow. + +It needs no great knowledge to understand that when a man hath six +inches of steel in his body which cannot be pulled out, and when he +is bleeding inwardly, he must die. + +Still, as physicians use, I did not tell her so. + +'Madam,' I said, 'he is not dead; he is living. While there is life, +there is hope.' + +'Oh!' she cried; 'why did he buy you when he could have had the +common sort? You will hang--you will hang, every one!' + +'That shall we presently discover,' said Barnaby. 'Humphrey, we have +now no choice left--what did I tell thee about the chances of the +night? We must go this night. As for this villain, let him bleed to +death.' + +'Go!' said Madam. 'Whither, unhappy men, will you go? There is no +place in the island where you can hide but with bloodhounds they +will have you out. You can go nowhere in this island but you will be +found and hanged, unless you are shot like rats in a hole.' + +'Come, Humphrey,' said Barnaby, 'we will carry Robin. This poor +woman must go too; she will else be hanged for trying to throttle +him. Well, she can lend a hand to carry Robin. Madam, by your +leave we will not hang, nor will we be shot. In the--in the--the +cave--cave that I know of, your bloodhounds will never find us.' + +'Madam,' I said, 'it is true that we shall attempt to escape. For +what hath happened I am truly sorry; yet we may not suffer such a +thing as was this night attempted without resistance, else should we +be worse than the ignorant blacks. The Master will perhaps live, and +not die. Listen, and take heed therefore.' + +'Doctor,' she said, 'do not leave me. Stay with me, or he will die. +Doctor, stay with me, and I will save your life. I will swear that +you came at my call. Stay with me--I will save Alice as well. I will +save you both. You shall be neither flogged nor hanged. I swear it. +I will say that I called you for help when it was too late. Only +this man and this woman shall hang. Who are they? A rogue and----' + +Barnaby laughed aloud. + +'Doctor,' she said, 'if you stay he will perhaps recover and forgive +you all.' + +Barnaby laughed again. + +'Madam,' I told her, 'better death upon the gallows than any further +term of life with such a man.' + +'Oh!' she cried; 'he will die where he is lying!' + +'That may be, I know not.' I gave her certain directions, bidding +her, above all, watch the man, and cause him to lie perfectly quiet +and not to speak a word, even in a whisper, and to give him a few +drops of cordial from time to time. + +'Come,' said Barnaby, 'we lose time, which is precious. Madam, if +your husband recover--and for my part I care nothing whether he +recover or whether he die--but if he should recover, tell him from +me, Captain Barnaby Eykin, that I shall very likely return to this +island, and that I shall then, the Lord helping, kill him in fair +duello, to wipe out the lash of the cudgel which he was good enough +once to lay about my head. If he dies of this trifling thrust with +his own sword he must lay that to the account of my sister. Enough,' +said Barnaby, 'we will now make our way to the woods and the cave.' + +This said, Barnaby went to the head of Robin's bed and ordered Deb +to take the foot, and so between them they carried him forth with +them, while Alice followed and I went last. + +We heard, long afterwards, through one Mr. Anstiss--the same young +gentleman who loved Alice and would have married her--what had +happened when we were gone. An hour or thereabouts afterwards, Madam +woke up one of the overseers, telling him what had happened, and +bidding him be ready at daybreak, with the bloodhounds, horses, and +loaded guns, to follow in pursuit and bring us back. + +There would be, they thought, no difficulty at all in catching us, +because we were encumbered by a sick man and two women. + +There was, however, more difficulty than they expected. For the +footsteps led the bloodhounds to the seashore; and here the trace +was lost, nor could it ever be afterwards recovered. And though +the hue and cry was out over all the island, and the woods and +the ravines and caves where runaway negroes hide were searched, +we were never found. Therefore, since no boat at all was missing +(the Guineaman had sailed away), it was certain that we could not +have escaped by sea. It was fortunate, indeed, that Barnaby dropped +no hint about the sea; otherwise there would have been despatched +some of the boats of the port in search of us, and in that case the +scuttling of the ship might have been necessary. For, had we been +caught, we should certainly have been hanged for murder, after being +flogged for attempted escape. For the Master died. He lay speechless +until the day broke. Then he became conscious, and presently +breathed his last in great anguish of body and terror of mind. What +hath since become of Madam, and of that miserable family of servants +and slaves, I know not. Certain it is that they could not find a +more barbarous or a more savage master in place of him whom Barnaby +slew if they were to search the whole of the Spanish Main and the +islands upon it. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +A PERILOUS VOYAGE. + + +In this way, unexpected and tragical, arrived our chance of escape. +We walked to Carlisle Bay by way of the sea-shore, so that we might +be met by none, and in order that the bloodhounds (if they should +use them) in the morning might be thrown off the track. On the march +that stout and lusty wench who carried one end of the bed neither +called for a halt nor complained of the burden she carried all the +way. It was nigh unto midnight when we arrived at the creek in which +the boat lay sunk. This was within a stone's throw of John Nuthall's +cottage, where were bestowed the mast, sails, oars, and gear, with +such provisions as he had gotten together for the voyage. The man +was sleeping when Barnaby called him, but he quickly got up, and +in less than an hour we had the boat hauled out of the water, the +provisions hastily thrown in, the mast stepped, our sick man and the +women placed in the bows, the stern and middle of the boat being +encumbered with our provisions, we had pushed down the muddy and +stinking creek, we had hoisted sail, and we were stealing silently +out of Carlisle Bay under a light breeze. Three or four ships were +lying in the bay; but either there was no watch kept aboard, or +(which is more probable) it was no one's business to hail a small +sail-boat going out, probably for fishing at dawn. Besides, the +night was so dark that we may very well have escaped notice. However +that might be, in a quarter of an hour we were well out at sea, +beyond the reach of the guns of Carlisle Bay, no longer visible +to the ships in port, and without any fear of being seen until +daybreak. The wind, which sometimes drops altogether in the night, +still continued favourable, though very light. + +'My lads,' said Barnaby presently, drawing a long breath, 'I verily +believe that we have given them the slip this time. In the morning +they may go forth, if they please, with their bloodhounds to hunt +for us. Let them hunt. If any inquiry is made for us at the Bridge, +no boat will be missing, and so no suspicion will be awakened. They +will then, I suppose, search for us among the caves and ravines of +which I have heard, where there are hiding-places in plenty, but +no water to drink, so that the poor devils who run away and seek a +refuge there are speedily forced to come out for water, and so are +caught or shot down. Well, they will hunt a long time before they +find us. This boat makes a little water, but I think not much. If +she proves watertight, and the breeze holds, by daylight we should +be well to the south of the island. Courage, therefore! All will be +well yet! How goes Robin?' + +He was lying as easily as we could manage for him--one rug over him +and another under him. Alice sat on one side of him, and the woman +they called Deb on the other. Then, because the boat sometimes +shipped a little water when she dipped in the waves, Barnaby rigged +a tarpaulin round the bows to prevent this; and (but this was not +till next day) over the tarpaulin he made, out of a rug and a spare +spar, a low tilt which, unless the weather grew bad, should shelter +those three by night from dew and spray, and by day from the sun +overhead and the glare and heat of the water. + +'Deb,' he said softly, 'art afraid?' + +'No, sir--not while my mistress is here.' (Meaning Alice.) + +'If we are taken, we shall all be flogged well nigh unto death, and +very likely hanged as well.' + +'I am not afraid, sir.' + +'We may spring a leak,' said Barnaby, 'and so go all to the bottom +and be devoured. Art not afraid to die?' + +'No, sir--not if I may hold my mistress by the hand, so that she may +take me whither she goeth herself.' + +'Good,' said Barnaby. 'As for me, I expect I shall have to go alone +or with John Nuthall here. Well, there will be a goodly company of +us. Go to sleep, my girl! In the morning we will serve around the +first ration, with perhaps, if all be well, a dram of cordial.' + +In the dim light of the stars I watched all night the three figures +in the bow. Robin lay white and motionless; Alice sat, covered with +her hood, bending over him; and Deb, from whose head her coif had +fallen, lay, head on arm, sound asleep. She had no fear, any more +than a common soldier has when he goes into action, because he +trusts his captain. + +Thus began our voyage: in an open boat twenty feet long, with a +company of three sound men, two women, and a sick man. For arms, in +case we needed them, we had none at all. If any ship crossed our +track and should call upon us to surrender we could not deny that we +were escaped convicts, because the dress of all but one proclaimed +the fact. Who, in such a climate, would choose to wear a coarse +shirt and canvas breeches, with a Monmouth cap, except it was a +servant or a slave who had no choice, but must take what is given +him? + +But we should not surrender, come what might. If we could neither +fight nor fly, we could sink. Said Barnaby, in the dead of night, +whispering in my ear, 'Lad, 'tis agreed between us, we will have +that clear; sooner than be taken, we will scuttle the ship, and so +sink all together. If 'tis accounted murder, the blame shall lie +between us.' + +A little before daybreak the breeze freshened, and the waves began +to rise; but not so high as to threaten the boat, which proved, +indeed, a most gallant little craft, dancing over the waters as +if she enjoyed being driven by the breeze. Some boats, as sailors +will tell you (being always apt to compare these craft with living +creatures), come thus, frolic and sprightly, from their makers' +hands; while others, built of the same material and on the same +lines, are, on the contrary, and always remain, heavy and lumpish; +just as some children are lively and gay, while others, born of the +same parents, are dull and morose. + +Then the sun rose, seeming to leap out of the water, a most glorious +ball of fire, which instantly warmed the cool air and began to +burn and scorch our hands and faces. In these hot latitudes one +understands what the ancients meant when they spoke of the dreadful +Sun-God, who both gives and destroys life, and is so beneficial +and yet so terrible. We, who live in a cold country, are sometimes +greatly comforted by the sun, but are never burned; we feel his +warmth, but understand not his power. + +Then Barnaby began to gaze curiously all round the horizon. We had +no glass or telescope; but his eyes were to him as good as any +telescope is to most men. + +'Thank the Lord!' he said, drawing breath (it was rare for Barnaby +thus openly to give praise), 'there is no sail in sight. To be sure, +we have the day before us. But yet'--here he began to talk as some +men use when they desire to place before their own minds clearly +the position of affairs. 'Very well, then--Barbadoes laying thirty +miles and more nor'-east by north--vessels bound for the island +from Bristol commonly sailing round the north--very well, then--we +are out of their track. Yet--then again--some are driven south by +stress of weather. Ay, there is our danger. Yet again, if one should +see us, would she bear down upon us? I greatly doubt it. The wind +will continue--that is pretty sure. If they were to discover that +we had gone by boat, would they sail after us? Why, what boat could +they send? And whither would they steer? And what boat have they +that can sail faster than this little craft? Yet we are pretty low +down in the water. Humphrey, lad'--he turned upon me his broad and +sunburnt face, full of cheerfulness--'we are not within many hours +of scuttling yet. A tight boat, a fair wind, a smooth sea--let us +hope for the best! How goes Robin?' + +There was no change in Robin, either for better or for worse. + +'Sis,' said Barnaby; 'art sleeping still, Sis? Wake up, and let +us eat and drink, and be jolly! What! Alice, I say! Why--we have +escaped! We are far away at sea! Let us laugh and sing. If there +were room in this cockle, I would dance also!' + +She lifted her head, and threw back her hood. Ah! what a mournful +face was there! + +'Oh, brother!' she said, 'canst thou laugh and sing? Hast thou +forgotten last night?' + +'Why, no,' he replied. 'One must not forget last night, because it +was the night of our escape. All else, I own, I can forget. Let it +not stick in thy gizzard, my dear, that the man frightened thee. +Rejoice rather that he thus afforded me a chance of giving him a +taste of his own cold iron.' + +'Nay, brother,' she said, shaking her head; then she looked round +her. 'We are a long way from the land,' she said. 'When will they +send out a ship to bring us back?' + +'Why, d'ye see,' Barnaby replied, 'give us twelve hours more, and +they may send out all their fleet, if they have one, and sail the +wide world round for us, and yet not capture us. And now let us +overhaul the provisions, and examine the ship's stores.' Alice +pulled her hood down again, and said no more. The woman they called +Deb was now wide awake, and staring about her with the greatest +satisfaction. + +'Come, John Nuthall,' Barnaby went on, 'we are hungry and thirsty. +Where is the list I made for thee? Thou art our purser, our +supercargo, our cook, and our steward; thou art also bo's'n and +carpenter, and half the crew. Where is my list, I say? Give it me, +and we will examine our stores. Look up, Sis; never cry over what +is done and over. What? A villain hath received a lesson, and thou +hangest thy head therefor? Look up, I say. There is now hope for +all; thou shalt merrily dance at my wedding yet.' + +Then he read the list, and examined each parcel or box with great +care. + +'A hundred and a half of bread, a soft cheese, plantains, a keg of +water (nine gallons), six bottles of Canary (not one broken), a +compass, a half-hour glass, a spare rug ('tis over Robin's legs), +flint and steel, a bit of tarpaulin, a hatchet and hammer, a saw, +some nails, a spar or two, a coil of rope and yarn, a lump of +tobacco (we can chew it, though I would rather put it into a pipe), +candles--faugh! they are run together in a lump; they will serve to +caulk something presently.' + +We had, in fact, no light during our voyage, but the tallow proved +useful when--I think it was the next day--the boat started a leak. + +This was all our store. 'Twas not much for six people, but Barnaby +hoped that the voyage would be short. If he should be disappointed, +who would not put up with short rations for a day or two for the +sake of freedom? + +'And now,' he said, when everything was stowed according to his +mind, 'we will have breakfast. Our provisions are no great things; +but, after the accursed loblollie, a bit of bread and cheese will be +a feast.' + +A feast indeed it was, and our captain gratified us further by +opening a flask of Canary, which raised all our hearts. Strange +that men should be able to recover their spirits, which should be +independent of the creature comforts, by a dram of wine. As for +Barnaby, I thought he would have kissed the bottle. + +'It is now three months and more,' he said, 'that we have had +nothing save a sup of kill-devil fresh from the still, and now we +are mercifully permitted to taste again a glass of Canary. 'Tis too +much!' he sighed, drinking his ration. 'Well, we have but a few +bottles, and the voyage may be longer than we hope; therefore we +must go upon short allowance. But fear not, Sis; there shall always +be enough for Robin, poor lad.' + +He then proceeded to tell us what he intended, and whither he would +steer. + +'We have no chart,' he said. 'What then? I can draw one as good as +they are made to steer by in these seas.' He could not draw one, +because he had no paper or pencil; but he carved one with the point +of his knife on the seat, and marked out our course upon it day +by day. 'See,' he said, 'here is Barbadoes. Our course all night +hath been sou'-west. She now makes five knots an hour. It is now +eight, I take it; and we must therefore be about forty miles from +Barbadoes. To-morrow morning we should make the Grenadilloes, which +are a hundred and fifty miles from Carlisle Bay. Hark ye! There may +be a Bristol vessel sailing from Great Grenada to Barbadoes, or +the other way. That would be the devil. But such ships are rare, +and there is no trade between the two islands. Well, we shall give +Grenada as wide a berth as may be.' Here he considered a little. +'Therefore, 'twill be our wiser plan to bear more to the south. Once +south of Grenada, I take it, there will be no more danger. Off the +main of South America the sea is covered with islands. They are No +Man's Land; inhabitants have they none; navigators, for the most +part, know them not; English, French, and Spanish ships come never +to these islands. My purpose, therefore, is to put in at Great +Margaritos or Tortuga for rest and fresh water, and so presently +make the Dutch island of Curaçao.' + +'And after that?' + +'Then, my lad, we shall take ship to some country where a sailor +may get a berth and a physician may find patients. It must be to +Holland first; but, never fear, we shall get back to England some +time; and perhaps fight another battle with a different tale to tell +afterwards.' + +As the day advanced, the coast of Barbadoes continually receded, +until, before sunset, the island lay like a purple cloud low down in +the horizon. The north-east breeze blew steadily, but the sun caused +a most dreadful heat in the air, and our eyes smarted from the glare +of the water and the spray that was blown upon us. It was at this +time that Barnaby constructed the tilt of which I have spoken. The +sea lay spread out round us in a broad circle, of which we were the +centre, and the cloudless blue sky lay over us like unto a roof laid +there for us alone. It is only in a ship one doth feel thus alone, +in the centre of creation; even as if there were nothing but the sea +around, the sky above, and our boat in the centre. Thus must the +Patriarch Noah have felt when his ark floated upon the vast face +of the water, and even the tops of the high hills were hidden and +covered over. All day Barnaby scanned the horizon anxiously; but +there came into sight no sail or ship whatever. To us, who sometimes +see the vessels lying in a crowded port, and hear how they bring +argosies from every land, it seems as if every part of the ocean +must be covered with sails driving before the wind from whatever +quarter it may blow. But he who considers the 'Mappa Mundi' will +presently discover that there are vast expanses of sea where never +a sail is seen, unless it be the fugitive sail of the pirate or the +bark canoe of the native. We were now nearing such a lonely sea or +part of the ocean. Barnaby knew, what these planters did not, how to +steer across the unknown water to a port of safety beyond. + +At midday our captain served out another drink of water, and to +Robin I gave a sop of bread in Canary, which he seemed to suck up +and to swallow with readiness. + +In such a voyage, where there is nothing to do but to keep the ship +on her course and to watch the horizon for a strange sail, one +speedily falls into silence, and sits many hours without speech; +sometimes falling asleep, lulled by the ripple of the water as the +boat flies through it. + +I have said nothing about the man John Nuthall. He was a plain, +honest-looking man, and we found him throughout all this business +faithful, brave, and patient, obedient to Barnaby, and of an even +temper and contented with his share. That he had formerly been a +thief in his native country cannot be denied, but I hope that we +shall not refuse to any man the right of repentance. + +Barnaby divided the crew--namely, himself, John Nuthall, and +me--into three watches of eight hours each, of which each man kept +two at a stretch. Thus, beginning the day at noon, which was the +only time we knew for certain, Barnaby would himself (but this was +after the first two days) lie down and sleep till sunset or a little +later. Then John Nuthall lay down and took his turn of sleep till +Barnaby thought it was two o'clock in the morning, when he woke him +and I took his place. But for the first day or two Barnaby slept not +at all, and the whole of the voyage he slept as a good watch-dog +sleeps--namely, with one eye open. + +At sunset he gave out another pannikin of cold water to each of us, +a ration of bread and cheese, and a dram of wine. Then he commanded +John Nuthall to lie down and sleep, while I took the tiller and he +himself held the ropes. Then the night fell once more upon us. + +Presently, while we sat there in silence, Alice rose up from her +seat and came aft and sat down beside me. + +'Humphrey,' she whispered, 'think you that he is truly dead?' She +was speaking, not of Robin, but of the Master. + +'I know not, my dear.' + +'I can think of nothing but of that man's sudden end, and of what +may happen to us. Say something to comfort me, Humphrey! You always +had some good word to say, like manna for refreshment. My soul is +low in the dust--I cannot even pray.' + +'Why, my dear?' What could I say? ''Tis true that the man was struck +down, and that suddenly. And yet----' + +'To think that my brother--that Barnaby--should have killed him!' + +'Why,' said Barnaby, 'if some one had to kill him, why not I as well +as another? What odds who killed him?' + +'Oh!' she said, 'that a man should be called away at such a moment, +when his brain was reeling with wine and wicked thoughts!' + +'He was not dead,' I told her (though I knew very well what would +be the end), 'when we came away. Many a man recovers who hath had +a sword-thrust through the body. He may now be on the mend--who +can tell?' Yet I knew, I say, very well how it must have ended. +'Consider, my dear: he tempted the wrath of God, if any man ever +did. If he is destroyed, on his own head be it--not on ours. If he +recover, he will have had a lesson which will serve him for the +rest of his life. If he doth not recover, he may have time left +him for something of repentance and of prayer. Why, Alice, if we +get safely to our port we ought to consider the punishment of this +sinner (which was in self-defence, as one may truly say) the very +means granted by Providence for our own escape. How else should we +have got away? How else should we have resolved to venture all, even +to carrying Robin with us?' All this, I repeat, I said to encourage +her, because, if I know aught of wounds, a man bleeding inwardly +of a sword-thrust through his vitals would have short time for the +collecting of his thoughts or the repentance of his sins, being as +truly cut off in the midst of them as if he had been struck down by +a thunderbolt. A man may groan and writhe under the dreadful torture +of such a wound, but there is little room for meditation or for +repentance. + +Then I asked her if she was in fear as to the event of the voyage. + +'I fear nothing,' she told me, 'but to be captured and taken back +to the place whence we came, there to be put in prison and flogged. +That is my only fear. Humphrey, we have suffered so much that this +last shame would be too great for me to bear. Oh! to be tied up +before all the men, and flogged like the black women--'twould kill +me, Humphrey!' + +'Alice,' I said very earnestly, 'art thou, indeed, brave enough to +endure death itself rather than this last barbarity?' + +'Oh! Death!--death!' she cried, clasping her hands. 'What is death +to me, who have lost everything?' + +'Nay, but consider, my dear. To die at sea--it means to sink down +under the cold water out of the light of day; to be choked for want +of air; perhaps to be devoured quick by sharks; to lie at the bottom +of the water, the seaweed growing over your bones; to be rolled +about by the troubled waves----' + +'Humphrey, these are old wives' tales. Why, if it had been lawful +I would have killed myself long ago. But I must not lose heaven as +well as earth. A brief pang it is to die, and then to be happy for +ever. What do I care whether the seaweed covers my bones, or the +cold clay? Oh, Humphrey, Humphrey, why should I care any longer to +live?' + +'My dear,' I said, 'if we escape in safety there may yet be +happiness in store. No man knoweth the future.' She shook her head. +'Happiness,' I told her, 'doth not commonly come to man in the way +which he most desires and prays. For, if he doth obtain the thing +for which he hath so ardently prayed, he presently finds that the +thing bringeth not the joy he so much expected. Or it comes too +late, as is the case often with honours and wealth, when one foot +is already in the grave. I mean, my dear, that we must not despair +because the thing which most we desired is taken from us. Perhaps +we ought not to desire anything at all, except what the Lord shall +provide. But that is a hard saying, and if men desired nothing it +is certain they would no longer work.' I talked thus at length to +divert her mind from her troubles. 'To thee, poor child,' I said, +'have been given afflictions many and great--the loss of godly +parents, a husband whom thou must avoid, and the deprivation of +earthly love. Yet, since thou art so brave, Alice, I will tell +thee--I thought not to tell thee anything of this----' + +'What, Humphrey? What?' + +'Briefly, Alice, thou shalt not be taken alive.' + +'How--unless you kill me?' + +'We are agreed, my dear--Barnaby and I--that if we cannot escape +any boats which may pursue us the boat shall be sunk, and so we +shall all drown together. Indeed, Alice, I confess that I am not +myself so much in love with life as to return to that captivity and +intolerable oppression from which we have gotten away. Therefore, be +assured, we will all drown rather than go back.' + +'Oh!' she sighed, but with relief, 'now shall I fear nothing. I +have not lost everything, since I have thee still--and Barnaby. +Alas! my head has been so full of what Madam said--that we should +be certainly caught, and all of us flogged. To be flogged! +Who would not rather die?'--she shivered and trembled. 'To be +flogged!--Humphrey, I could not bear the shame!' She trembled and +shivered as she repeated this confession of fear. + +'Fear not, my dear,' I said; 'there are those on the boat who love +thee too well to suffer that extreme of barbarity. Put that fear out +of thy mind. Think only that we may have to die, but that we shall +not be taken. To die, indeed, is very likely our fate: for we have +but a quarter of an inch of frail wood between us and the seas. If +a storm should arise, we fill with water and go down; if the wind +should drop we should be becalmed, and so perish miserably of hunger +and thirst; if Barnaby steer not aright----' + +'Humphrey,' said Barnaby, 'fill not her innocent head with rubbish. +'Tis not the time of tornadoes, and there will be no storm. The wind +at this season never drops, therefore we shall not lie becalmed. And +as for my steering aright, why, with a compass--am I a lubber?' + +'Brother,' she said, 'if I am not to be flogged, the rest concerns +me little. Let us say no more about it. I am now easy in my mind. +Robin sleeps, Humphrey. He hath slept since the sun went down, and +this afternoon he looked as if he knew me. Also, he took the bread +sopped in Canary eagerly, as if he relished it.' + +'These seas,' said Barnaby, 'are full of sharks.' + +I knew not what he meant, because we were speaking of Robin. + +'Sharks have got their senses, as well as humans,' he went on. + +Still I understood him not. + +'When a man on board a ship is going to die, the sharks find it out, +and they follow that ship until he does die and is flung overboard. +Then they devour his body and go away, unless there is more to +follow. I have looked for sharks, and there are none following the +boat; wherefore, though I am not a doctor, I am sure that Robin will +not die.' + +'I know not at all,' I said, 'how that may be. There are many things +believed by sailors which are superstitions--fond beliefs nourished +by the continual presence of perils. On the other hand, the senses +of man are notoriously as far below those of creatures as his +intellect is above them (yet a skilful man may read the premonition +of death in a sick man's face). Therefore I know not but a shark may +have a sense, like unto the eye of a hawk or the scent of a hound, +with which to sniff the approach of death afar off. Let us comfort +ourselves, Alice, with Barnaby's assurance.' + +''Tis a well proved and tried thing,' said Barnaby; 'and sailors, +let me tell thee, Master Doctor, have no superstitions or idle +beliefs.' + +'Well, that may be. As to Robin's disease, I can pronounce nothing +upon it. Nay, had I the whole library of Padua to consult, I could +learn nothing that would help me. First, the mind falls into a +languishing and spiritless condition. That causeth the body to lie +open to attacks of any disease which may be threatening. Then, the +body, being ill at ease, works upon the mind, and causes it to +wander beyond control. So that the soul, which is bound up with body +and mind, cannot show herself or manifest her will. It is the will +which shows the presence of the soul: the will which governs body +and mind alike. But if I know aught of disease, if a change comes +upon Robin it will either swiftly cure or swiftly kill.' + +'Humphrey,' she whispered, 'if he recover, how shall I meet his +face? How shall I reply when he asks me concerning my faith?' + +'My dear, he knows all. 'Twas that knowledge, the pity of it, +and the madness of it, believe me, which threw him into so low a +condition.' + +'I have looked daily for reproaches in thy kind eyes, Humphrey. I +have found none, truly. But from Robin--oh! I dare not think of +meeting those eyes of his.' + +'Reproach thee will he never, Alice. Sorrow and love, I doubt not, +will lie in his eyes all his life. What thou hast done was for him +and for thy father and thy brother and for all of us. But, oh! the +pity--and the villainy! Fear not to meet the poor lad's eyes, Alice.' + +'I long to see the light of reason in those dear eyes--and yet I +fear. Humphrey, I am married; but against my will. I am a wife, and +yet no wife; I am resolved that, come what may, I will never, never +go to my husband. And I love my Robin still--oh!' she sobbed, 'I +love my Robin still!' + +'If we die,' I told her, 'you shall go down with your arm round his +neck, and so you shall die together.' + +Then we sat silent a while. + +'My dear,' I said, 'lie down and take some sleep.' + +'I cannot sleep, Humphrey, for the peace of mind which hath fallen +me upon. If Robin now come to his senses again I shall not fear him. +And the night, it is so peaceful--so cool and so peaceful;' the +wind had dropped, till there was barely enough to fill the sail, +and only enough way on the boat to make a soft murmur of the water +along her sides. 'The sea is so smooth; the sky is so bright and so +full of stars. Can there be, anywhere, a peace like this? Alas! if +we could sail still upon a silent and peaceful ocean! But we must +land somewhere. There will be men, and where there are men there +is wickedness, with drink and wrath and evil passions--such as we +have left behind us. Humphrey--oh! my brother Humphrey!--it would be +sweet if the boat would sink beneath us now, and so, with Robin's +hand in mine, we could all go together to the happy land, where +there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage.' + +From beneath the tilt there came a voice--I verily believe it was +an answer sent straight from heaven to comfort this poor faithful +soul. 'Alice'--it was the voice of Robin, in his right mind at last. +'Alice,' he said, 'we will continue to love each other, yet without +sin.' + +'Oh, Robin! Robin!' she moved quickly to his side and fell upon her +knees. 'Robin, thou wilt recover?' + +'Stay!' I interposed. 'Robin will first have a cup of cordial.' + +'I have been sleeping,' he said; 'I know not what hath happened. +We are in a boat, it seems, and on the open sea. Unless I am still +dreaming, we are slaves to a planter in Barbadoes! And this is +Alice--who was in England! And I know not what it means.' + +'You have been ill, Robin,' I told him. 'You have been nigh unto +death. Many things have happened of which we will speak, but +not now. Alice is at your side, and Barnaby is navigating the +boat. Drink this cup of wine--so--sleep now; and in the morning, +if it please Heaven, you shall be so strong that you shall hear +everything. Ask no more questions, but sleep. Give him your hand, +Alice.' + +She obeyed me, sitting at his side and taking his hand in hers, and +so continued for the rest of the night, Robin sleeping peacefully. + +In a word, he was restored. The fresh sea-breeze brought him back to +life and reason; and, though he was still weak, he was now as sound +in his mind as any man could desire to be. And in the morning we +told him all that had been done, whereat he marvelled. + +Alice might love him still. That was most true, yet between them +stood her husband. Why, there was another man in the boat who also +loved a girl he could never wed. His passion, I swear, was full of +constancy, tenderness, and patience. Would Robin be as patient? + +When the day broke again we were still sailing over a lonely sea, +with never a sail in sight, and never a sign of land. + +And now Robin was sitting up, his face pale, and his hands thin. But +the light of reason was in his eyes, and on his lips such a smile of +tenderness as we were wont to see there in the days of old. + +'Said I not,' cried Barnaby, 'that he would recover? Trust the +sharks for common-sense. And again an open sea, with never a sail in +sight. Praise the Lord, therefore!' + +But Alice, when the sun rose above the waves, threw back her hood +and burst forth into singing:-- + + O Lord, how glorious is Thy grace, + And wondrous large Thy love! + At such a dreadful time and place, + To such as faithful prove. + +The tears came into my eyes only to see the change that had fallen +upon her gracious, smiling countenance. It was not, truly, the sweet +and happy face that we remembered before her troubles fell upon her, +but that face graver with the knowledge of evil and of pain. And now +it was like unto such a face as one may see in many an altar-piece +in Italy, glorified with gratitude and love. + +Then the woman called Deb fell to weeping and blubbering for very +joy that her mistress looked happy again. 'Twas a faithful, loving +creature. + +'Humphrey,' said Alice, 'forgive me that I murmured. Things that +are done cannot be undone. Robin is restored to us. With three such +brothers, who should not be content to live? I hope, now, that we +shall get safely to our port; but if we die, we shall die contented +in each other's arms. Going through the Vale of Misery,' she added +softly, 'we will use it as a well.' + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +TORTUGA. + + +'I take it,' said Barnaby, on the third morning--the weather +continuing fine and the sea clear of ships--'that we are now clear +out of the track of any British vessels. We may fall into the hands +of the Spaniard; but he is mild and merciful of late compared with +his temper a hundred years ago. 'Tis true we have given him many +lessons in humanity. We should now before nightfall make the islands +of Testigos; but I think they are only rocks and sandy flats, such +as they call Keys, where we need not land, seeing that we should get +nothing by so doing, except to go out of the way, and so make the +rations shorter. Robin'--'twas at breakfast, when he served out a +dram of wine to every one--'I drink to thy better health, lad. Thou +hast cheated the Devil. Nay, Sis, look not so angry!--I meant, thou +wilt not go to heaven this bout. Up heart, then, and get strong! We +will find thee another sweetheart, who shall make thee lift up thine +head again. What? Is there but one woman in the world? + +'I was saying then,' he went on, 'that we shall presently make the +islands of Testigos. There followeth thereafter, to one who steereth +west, a swarm of little islands. 'Twas here that the pirates used +to lie in the good old days, snug and retired, with their girls and +their drink. Ay, and plenty of both! A happy time they had!' Barnaby +wagged his head and sighed. 'South of this archipelago (which I +will some day visit, in order to search for treasure) there lieth +the great and mountainous island of Margaritos. This great island +we shall do well to keep upon our south, and so bear away to the +desert island of Tortuga, where we shall find water for certain--and +that, I have been told, the best spring-water that flows; turtles +we may also find, and fish we may catch; and when we have recovered +our strength, with a few days' rest ashore, we will once more put +to sea and make for the island of Curaçao and the protection of the +Dutchmen.' + +It needs not to tell much more about the voyage, in which we were +favoured by Heaven with everything that we could desire--a steady +breeze from the best quarter, a sea never too rough, provisions in +sufficiency, the absence of any ships, and, above all, the recovery +of Robin. + +I say, then, that we sighted (and presently passed) the group +of islets called the Testigos; that we coasted along the great +island of Margaritos, where we landed not, because Barnaby feared +that certain smoke which we saw might betoken the presence of the +Spaniard, whom, in spite of his new character for mildness, he was +anxious to avoid. 'Tis strange thus to sail along the shore of a +great island whereon are no inhabitants, or, if any, a few sailors +put in for water, for turtle, and for cocoanuts; to see afar off the +forests climbing round the mountain sides, the waterfalls leaping +over the precipices, and to think of the happy life one might lead +in such a place, far from men and their ways. I confess (since my +Mistress will never see this page) that my thoughts for a whole day, +while we sailed along the shores of Margaritos, turned upon those +pirates of whom Barnaby spoke. They lived here at ease, and in great +happiness. 'Tis of such a life that a man sometimes dreams. But +if he were suffered so to lie in sloth, farewell Heaven! Farewell +future hopes! Farewell our old talk of lifting the soul above the +flesh! Let us henceforth live the lives of those who are content +(since they can have no more) with a few years of love and wine and +revelry! It is in climates like that of the West Indies that such a +temptation seizes on men the most strongly: for here everything is +made for man's enjoyment; here is no cold, no frost, no snow or ice; +here eternal summer reigns, and the world seems made for the senses +and for nothing else. Of these confessions enough. 'Twas impossible +that in such a luxurious dream the image of Alice could have any +part. + +We landed, therefore, on the desert island of Tortuga, where we +remained for several days, hauling up our boat and covering her with +branches to keep off the sun. Here we lived luxuriously upon turtle, +fresh fish, the remains of our bread, and what was left of our +Canary; setting up huts in which we could sleep, and finding water +of the freshest and brightest I ever saw. Here Robin mended apace, +and began to walk about with no more help from his nurses. + +We were minded, as I have said, to sail as far as the island of +Curaçao, but an accident prevented this. + +One day, when we had been ashore for ten days or thereabouts, we +were terrified by the sight of a small vessel rigged in the fashion +of a ketch--that is, with a small mizzen--beating about outside the +bay which is the only port of Tortuga. + +'She will put in here,' said Barnaby. 'That is most certain. Now, +from the cut of her she is of New England build, and from the +handling of her she is under-manned; and I think that we have +nothing to fear from her, unless she is bound for Barbadoes, or for +Grenada, or Jamaica.' + +Presently the vessel came to anchor, and a small boat was lowered, +into which three men descended. They were unarmed. + +'She is certainly from New England,' said Barnaby. 'Well, they +are not from Barbadoes in quest of us, otherwise they would not +send ashore three unarmed men to capture four desperate men. That +is certain. And as we cannot hide our boat, though we might hide +ourselves, I will e'en go forth and parley with these strangers.' + +This he did, we watching from a safe place. The conversation was +long and earnest, and apparently friendly. Presently Barnaby +returned to us. + +'There offers,' he said, 'a chance which is perhaps better than to +make for Curaçao, where, after all, we might get scurvy treatment. +These men, in a word, are privateers; or, since we are at war with +none, they are pirates. They fitted out a brigantine, or bilander +(I know not which), and designed to sail round Cape Horn to attack +the Spaniard on the South Seas. On the way they took a prize, which +you now see in the bay. Ten men were sent aboard to navigate her as +a tender to their ship. But they fell into bad weather off Brazil, +and their ship went down with all hands. Now they are bound for +Providence, only seven hands left, and they will take us aboard +and carry us to that island for our services. Truly, I think we +should go. They have provisions in plenty, with Madeira wine; and +Providence is too far for the arm of King James to reach. What say +ye all? Alice, what sayest thou?' + +'Truly, brother, I say nothing.' + +'Then we will agree, and go with them.' + +We went on board, taking with us a good supply of turtle, clear +water, and cocoanuts (being all that the isle afforded). Honest +fellows we found our pirates to be. They belonged to the island of +Providence, in the Bahamas, which has long been the rendezvous of +English privateers. Ten years before this the Spaniards plucked up +courage to attack and destroy the settlement, when those who escaped +destruction found shelter in some of the adjacent islands, or on the +mainland of Virginia. Now some of them have come back again, and +this settlement, or colony, is re-established. + +Thither, therefore, we sailed. It seemed as if we were become a mere +shuttlecock of fortune, beaten and driven hither and thither upon +the face of the earth. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +THE ISLAND OF PROVIDENCE. + + +It was some time in the month of March, A.D. 1686, that we landed in +Providence. The settlement--from which the Spaniards had now nothing +to fear--then consisted (it is now, I learn, much larger) of no more +than one hundred and fifty people in all, the men being all sailors, +and ready to carry on again the old trade of privateer or pirate, as +you please to call it, when they should be strong enough to buy or +hire a ship and to equip her. + +We stayed on the island for two years and a quarter, or thereabouts. +It is one of an archipelago, for the most part, I believe, desert. +The settlement was, as I have said, but a small one, living in +scattered houses; there were plenty of these to spare (which had +belonged to the former settlement), if one only took the trouble +to clear away the creeping plants and cut down the trees which +had grown up round them since the Spaniards came and destroyed +the colony. Such a house, built of wood, with a shingle roof, we +found convenient for us; and after we had cleared the ground round +it and repaired it, we lived in it. Some of the people helped us +to a porker or two and some chickens. They also gave us some salt +beef and maize to start with. That we had little money (only what +was left over from the sale of Alice's ring) made no difference +to us here, because no one had any at all, and at this time there +was neither buying nor selling on the island--a happy condition +of things which will not, I take it, last long. So great is the +fertility of the ground here, and such is the abundance which +prevails, that we very shortly found ourselves provided with all +that we wanted to make life pleasant. Work there was for us, but +easy and pleasant work--such as weeding our patches of vegetables +and fruit in the early mornings; or going to fish; or planting +maize; or attending to our pigs, poultry, and turkeys; and for the +rest of the time, sitting in the shade conversing. It is none too +hot in this place, though one would not in the summer walk abroad +at noon; nor is it ever too cold. All the fruits which flourish +under the tropics grow here, with those also which belong to the +temperate zone. Here are splendid forests, where you can cut the +mahogany-tree, and build your house, if you please, of that lovely +wood. Here we ourselves grew, for our own use, maize, tobacco, +coffee, cocoa, plantains, pines, potatoes, and many other fruits and +vegetables. + +Barnaby soon grew tired of this quiet life, and went on board a +schooner bound for New England, promising that we should hear from +him. After two years we did receive a letter from him, as you +shall immediately learn. When he was gone we carried on a quiet +and peaceful life. Books, paper, and pen there were none upon this +island. Nor were there any clothes, so that the raggedness of our +attire (we were dressed in the sailors' clothes our friends the +privateers gave us) became incredible. I made some kind of guitar on +which we played, and in the evening we would have very good playing +and singing together of such pieces and songs as we could remember. +I made verses, too, for amusement, and Alice learned them. We found +our brother-settlers a rough but honest folk, to whom we taught many +arts: how to procure sea-salt, how to make wine from pineapples, +how to cure the tobacco-leaf--things which greatly added to their +comfort; and, seeing that there was no church on the island, we +every Sabbath held a meeting for prayer and exhortation. + +Seeing, then, that we had all that man could desire, with perfect +freedom from anxiety, our liberty, a delightful climate, plenty to +eat and drink--ay, and of the very best--and that at home there was +nothing for us but prison again, and to be sent back to the place +whence we had escaped, we ought, every one will acknowledge, to have +felt the greatest contentment and gratitude for this sure and quiet +refuge. We did not. The only contented members of our household were +John Nuthall and the woman Deb, who cheerfully cultivated the garden +and fed the poultry and the pigs (for we had now everything around +us that is wanted to make life pleasant). Yet we were not contented. +I could read the signs of impatience in the face whose changes I had +studied for so long. Other women would have shown their discontent +in ill-temper and a shrewish tongue; Alice showed hers in silence, +sitting apart, and communing with herself. I daresay I also showed +my discontent; for I confess that I now began to long vehemently +for books. Consider, it was more than two years since I had seen a +book! There were no books at all on the island of Providence--not +one book, except a Bible or two, and, perhaps, a Book of Common +Prayer. I longed, therefore, for the smell of leather bindings, the +sight of books on shelves, and the holy company of the wise and the +ingenious. No one, again, could look upon Robin without perceiving +that he was afflicted with a constant yearning for that which he +could not have. What that was I understood very well, although he +never opened his mind unto me. + +Now I confess that at this time I was grievously tormented +with the thought that, Alice's marriage having been no true +marriage--because, first, she was betrayed and deceived; and, next, +she had left her husband at the very church porch--there was no +reason in the world why she should not disregard that ceremony +altogether, and contract a marriage after her own heart. I turned +this over in my mind a long while; and, indeed, I am still of the +opinion that there would have been nothing sinful in such an act. +But the law of the country would not so regard it. That is quite +true. If, therefore, I had advised these unhappy lovers in such +a sense they would have been compelled to live for the rest of +their lives on this island, and their offspring would have been +illegitimate. So that, though the letter of the law caused a most +cruel in justice--_summum jus summa injuria_--it was better that it +should be obeyed. In the end, it was a most happy circumstance that +it was so obeyed. + +I have presently to relate the means by which this injustice was +removed. As for my own share in it, I shall neither exaggerate nor +shall I extenuate it. I shall not defend it. I will simply set it +down, and leave judgment to a higher Court than the opinion of those +who read these pages. I must, however, acknowledge that, partly in +Barbadoes and partly in Providence, I learned from the negresses, +who possess many secrets and have a wonderful knowledge of plants +and their powers, the simple remedies with which they treat fevers, +agues, rheumatisms, and other common disorders. I say simple, +because they will, with a single cup of liquor boiled with certain +leaves, or with a pinch of some potent powder gotten from a plant, +effect a speedier cure than our longest prescriptions, even though +they contain more than fifty different ingredients. Had I possessed +this knowledge, for example, while we lay in Exeter Jail, not one +prisoner (except the old and feeble) should have died of the fever. +This said, you will understand presently what it was I did. + +It was, then, about the month of March, in the year 1688, that a +ship, laden with wine, and bound from New York to Jamaica, put in +at the port of Providence. Her captain carried a letter for me, +and this was the first news of the world that came to us since our +flight. + +The letter was from Barnaby. It was short, because Barnaby had never +practised the art of letter-writing; but it was pertinent. First, +he told us that he had made the acquaintance at Boston (I mean the +little town Boston of New England) of his cousins, whom he found to +be substantial merchants (so that here, at least, the man George +Penne lied not), and zealous upholders of the Independent way of +thinking; that these cousins had given him a hearty welcome for +the sake of his father; that he had learned from them, first, that +the Monmouth business was long since concluded, and, so great was +the public indignation against the cruelties of the Bloody Assize, +that no one would again be molested on that account, not even those +who had been sent abroad should they venture to return. He also +said--but this we understood not--that it was thought things would +before long improve. + +'And now,' he concluded, 'my cousins, finding that I am well skilled +and have already navigated a ship with credit, have made me captain +of their own vessel, the _Pilgrim_, which sails every year to +Bristol and back again. She will be despatched in the month of +August or September. Come, therefore, by the first ship which will +set you ashore either at New York or at Boston, and I will give you +all a passage home. Afterwards, if you find not a welcome there, you +may come back with me. Here a physician may find practice, Robin may +find a farm, and sister will be safe from B. B.' + +At this proposal we pricked up our ears, as you may very well +believe. Finally we resolved to agree to it, promising each other +to protect Alice from her husband, and to go back to Boston with +Barnaby if we found no reason to stay in England. But the woman +Deb, though she wept at leaving her mistress, would not go back to +the place where her past wickedness might be remembered, and John +Nuthall was also unwilling, for the same reason, to return; and, +as this honest couple had now a kindness for each other, I advised +them to marry and remain where they were. There was on the island +no minister of religion, nor any magistrate or form of government +whatever (yet all were honest); therefore I ventured to hear +their vows of fidelity, and prayed with them while I joined their +hands--a form of marriage, to my mind, as binding and as sacred +as any wanting the assistance of a priest. So we handed over to +them all our property (which was already as much theirs as ours), +and left them in that sunny and delightful place. If the man was a +repentant thief, the woman was a repentant magdalen, and so they +were well matched. I hope and believe that, being well resolved +for the future, they will lead a godly and virtuous life, and will +be blessed with children who will never learn the reason why their +parents left their native country. + +There is little trade at Providence, but many vessels touch at the +port, because it lies between the English possessions in America +and those in the West Indies. They put in for water, for fruit, and +sometimes, if they are short-handed, for men, most of them in the +place being sailors. Therefore we had not to wait long before a +vessel put in, bound from Jamaica to New York. We bargained with the +captain for a passage, agreeing that he should find us provisions +and wine, and that we would pay him (by means of Barnaby) on our +reaching Boston (which is but a short distance from New York). +Strange to say, though we had been discontented with our lot, when +we sailed away Alice fell to weeping. We had murmured, and our +murmuring was heard. We should now be permitted to live out what +was left to us of life in England, and we should die and be buried +among our own folk. Yet there are times when I remember the sweet +and tranquil life we led in the island of Providence, its soft and +sunny air, the cool sea-breeze, the shade of its orange groves, and +the fruits which grew in such abundance to our hands. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + +HOME. + + +In one thing alone the villain Penne spoke the truth. The Eykin +family of Boston (I say again of New England) was one of the most +considerable in the place--great sticklers for freedom and for +religion (but, indeed, it is a most God-fearing town, and severe +towards transgressors). They received us with so much kindness that +nothing could surpass it; we were treated as Christian martyrs at +the least, and towards Alice, of whose cruel lot they had heard from +Barnaby, they showed (but that no one could help) an affection quite +uncommon. They generously furnished us all with apparel becoming our +station, and with money for our daily occasions; they approved of +our going with Barnaby; but, in the event of our finding no welcome +or means of a livelihood at home, and if Alice should be molested by +her husband, they engaged us to return to New England. Here, they +said, Robin might become a farmer, if he had no inclination for +trade; they would joyfully receive Alice to live with them; and I +myself would certainly find practice as a physician; while Barnaby +should continue to command their ship. When I considered the many +conveniences which exist in Boston (it is already, though young, +better provided with everything than Barbadoes), the excellence of +the climate, the books which are there, the printing press which +hath already been established, the learned ministers, the college, +the schools, and the freedom of religion, I should have been nothing +loth to remain there. But I was constrained first to go home. I +found also, which astonished me, so great a love of liberty that +the people speak slightingly of the English at home who tamely +suffer the disabilities of the Nonconformists and the prerogative +of the Crown; and they ask why, when the country had succeeded in +establishing a Commonwealth, they could not keep it? It certainly +cannot be denied, as they argue, that Israel acted against the +declared will of the Lord in seeking a king. + +So we left them. But in how changed a condition did we now cross +the ocean! Instead of huddling in a noisome and stinking dungeon, +unclean for want of water, ill fed, and with no change of raiment, +we had now comfortable cabins, clothes such as become a gentleman, +and food of the best. And Barnaby, who had then sat humbly in +the waist, where the prisoners were confined, now walked the +quarterdeck--a laced kerchief round his neck, lace ruffles at his +wrist, a scarlet coat on his back, a sword at his side, and gold +lace in his hat: the captain of the ship. + +The winds were contrary, and it was not until the last days of +October that we arrived at Bristol. Here we lay for a few days, +while Barnaby transacted his business, resolving to remain in +retirement, for fear of accidents, until our captain should be ready +to ride with us to Bradford Orcas. + +The first news we learned was joyful indeed. It was that the Prince +of Orange himself was about to invade England, with intent to drive +his father-in-law from the throne. (He had indeed already sailed, +but his fleet was driven back by a storm.) It was also stated +that he had with him a great army of Dutch and English, and such +preparations of arms and ammunition as (it was hoped) would make +such a failure as that of our unhappy Duke impossible. + +We also confirmed Barnaby's information that Monmouth's men could +now go about without fear or molestation. + +As to the position of affairs at Bradford Orcas, we could learn +nothing. + +There was one point on which I was curious--namely, as to what +Barnaby would do in the matter of the villain Penne. On the one hand +it was certain that Barnaby would not forget this man, nor was he +likely to sit down with his arms folded after he had been robbed of +so great a sum. + +Therefore, I was not surprised when, the evening before we rode out +of Bristol, he brought a big bag of blue stuff in his hands and +poured out the contents--a vast shower of gold pieces--into the lap +of his astonished sister. + +'Alice,' he said, 'I bring you back your money. You will find it all +here, and Mr. Boscorel's money to boot. He hath disgorged.' + +With that he sat down and laughed, but as one who hath a joke in +secret and would tell us no more. + +For a day or two after this he would (on the road to Bradford Orcas) +begin to laugh at intervals, rolling about in his saddle, shaking +his sides, choking with laughter; insomuch that I presently lost +patience with him, and, as a physician, ordered him instantly to +make full confidence, or I would not answer for it but he would have +a fit. + +Then he told us what he had done. + +Towards five in the afternoon, when the autumn day is ended, he +repaired to the man Penne's counting-house (a place easily found on +inquiry), having with him one of those fellows who bawl at fairs, +selling medicines and charms, drawing teeth, letting blood, and so +forth. At the sight of a sea captain, many of whom came to this +place, the worthy merchant's servant, without suspicion, opened the +door of the private office, or chamber, where Mr. Penne transacted +his affairs. Barnaby found him dozing by the fire, his wig on the +table, a silk handkerchief over his head, and the candles already +lighted. + +He awoke, however, on the opening of the door. + +'Friend,' said Barnaby, 'I am Captain Barnaby Eykin, commanding the +ship _Pilgrim_, from Boston--at your service. I am also brother to +the young woman Alice Eykin, whom you robbed ('twas my money) of two +hundred and fifty pounds, and afterwards kidnapped.' + +[Illustration: '_Barnaby holding the pistol to the poor wretch's +head, so that he should not bellow and call for assistance._'] + +Mr. Penne looked about him, and would have cried out for assistance; +but Barnaby clapped a pistol to his forehead. Then he sank in his +chair and gasped. + +'Stir not,' said his enemy, 'I am also one of the three rebels for +whose ransom the Reverend Philip Boscorel, Rector of Bradford Orcas, +paid the sum of two hundred and ten pounds--which you have also +stolen.' + +'Sir,' said Mr. Penne, 'upon my honour those moneys were sent to +Barbadoes. Upon my honour, sir.' + +'You will therefore,' said Barnaby, taking no heed of this +assurance, 'pay over to me the sum of four hundred and sixty pounds, +with interest at five per cent. for three years, which I have +calculated; the whole amount is five hundred and twenty-nine pounds. +Begin by paying this.' Well, to make a long story short, though the +man protested that he had not so much in the world, yet he presently +opened his strong box and counted out the money, all in gold. This +done, he hoped to be let off. + +'There now remains,' said Barnaby, 'the punishment--and I forgot +sister's ring: I ought to have added fifty pounds for that. But +time presses. Perhaps I shall come back. I did intend to kill thee, +brother, for thy great villany. However----' + +He then beckoned the man with him, who lugged out of his pocket +an instrument which made Mr. Penne shake and quake with terror. +Barnaby then informed his victim that, as he had been the means of +inflicting grievous bodily suffering upon four undeserving people, +it was meet and right that he himself should experience something +which, by its present agony, should make him compassionate for the +future, and by its permanence of injury should prevent his ever +forgetting that compassion for the rest of his life. + +He therefore, he told him, intended to draw from his head four of +his stoutest and strongest grinders. + +This, in a word, he did; the man with him dragging them out with the +pincers; Barnaby holding the pistol to the poor wretch's head, so +that he should not bellow and call for assistance. + +His laughter was caused by the remembrance of the twisting of the +man's features in this agony, and by his moanings and groanings. The +grinders he had brought away with him in his pocket, and showed them +in triumph. + +It was late in the afternoon when we rode into Bradford Orcas. The +November sun, now setting, lay upon the woods, yellow and red with +the autumn leaves not yet fallen. As we neared the village the sun +went down, and a mist began to rise. All the doors were closed, and +no one looked forth to greet us; the old cottage where Alice was +born and where she lived so long was empty still; the door was open, +the shutter hung upon one hinge; the honey hives were overturned, +the thatch was broken; the garden was neglected. + +'Why, Sis,' said Barnaby, 'thy mother is not there; nor Dad,--is +he?--poor old Dad!' + +We rode up the village till we came to the church, and the Manor +House beside it. Alas! the house itself was closed, which had +formerly stood open to all. There was no smoke from its chimneys, +and the grass grew in the courtyard. We dismounted and opened the +door, which was not locked. We went into the house: all was cold, +and empty, and deserted. The twilight falling outside made the +rooms dark. Beside the fireplace stood Sir Christopher's great +chair, empty! his tankard was on the table and his tobacco-pipe, +and--strange!--there lay, forgotten, the unhappy Duke's Proclamation. + +Then a truly wonderful thing happened. Barnaby says that I must have +dreamed it, for he saw nothing. Suddenly Sir Christopher himself +appeared sitting in the chair; on his knees lay the Bible open. +Beside him stood, with upraised forefinger, as if commenting on some +knotty point, the Rev. Dr. Comfort Eykin. I declare that I saw them +plainly, as plainly as I now behold the paper on which I write. They +were but as shadows in the dark shadows of the empty room, and they +appeared but for a moment, and then vanished, and I saw them no more. + +'Come to the Rectory,' said Robin; 'it chokes us to be here.' + +'Listen,' said Alice, outside the house. + +From the Rectory there came the sound of a violoncello. Then was the +good Rector himself there, comforting his soul. + +We opened the garden-gate and walked softly across the lawn and +looked in at the window ('twas made after the foreign fashion, to +open upon the lawn). Beside the fire sat Madam, her hands clasped, +thin, pale, and prematurely aged. Thus had she sat for three long +years, still waiting for news of her son. + +The Rector laid down his bow, crossed the room and sat down to the +spinnet (on which he played prettily, but not with such command as +he possessed over the other instrument). He played--I caught Alice's +hand--an air of my own making to which I had set certain words, also +of my own. + +Then, while he played, we began to sing outside the window, Alice +singing treble, or first, I the second part, and Robin the bass, as +I had taught him in Providence Island the words of that little song. +We sang it _piano_, or softly, at first, and then _crescendo_, or +louder:-- + + As rides the moon in azure skies + The twinkling stars beside; + As when in splendour she doth rise, + Their lesser lights they hide. + So beside Celia, when her face we see, + All unregarded other maidens be. + +When we began, softly as I said, the Rector looked round him, +playing still and listening. He thought the voices were in his own +brain--echoes or memories of the past. Madam heard them too, and +sat up listening as one who listens in a dream. When we sang louder +Madam sprang to her feet, and held out her arms--but the Rector +played the verse quite through. Then he opened the window for us. + +'My son! my son!' cried Madam. + + + + +CHAPTER L. + +THE GREAT LORD CHANCELLOR. + + +But the Prince of Orange had already landed. + +We learned this news next day, and you may be sure that we were in +the saddle again and riding to Exeter, there to join his standard. + +This we did with the full consent of Madam and of Alice. Much as we +had suffered already, they would not deter us, because this thing +would have been approved by Sir Christopher and Dr. Eykin. Therefore +we went. As all the world knows, this expedition was successful. Yet +was not Barnaby made an Admiral, nor was I made a Court physician; +we got, in fact, no reward at all, except that for Barnaby was +procured a full pardon on account of the homicide of his late master. + +My second campaign, as everybody knows, was bloodless. To begin +with, we had an army, not of raw country lads armed indifferently +and untrained, but of veteran troops, fifteen thousand strong, all +well equipped, and with the best General in Europe at their head. +At first, indeed, such was the dread in men's minds caused by Lord +Jeffreys' cruelties, few came in; yet this was presently made up +by what followed, when, without any fighting at all, the King's +regiments melted away, his priests fled, and his friends deserted +him. This was a very different business from that other, when we +followed one whom I now know to have been a mere tawdry pretender, +no better fitted to be a King than a vagabond actor at a fair is fit +to be a Lord. Alas! what blood was wasted in that mad attempt!--of +which I was myself one of the most eager promoters. I was then +young, and I believed all that I was told by the conspirators in +Holland; I took their list of well-wishers for insurgents already +armed and waiting only for a signal; I thought that the roll of +noble names set down for sturdy Protestants was that of men already +pledged to the Cause; I believed that the whole nation would rise at +the first opportunity to turn out the priests; I even believed in +the legitimacy of the Duke, and that against the express statement +of his father (if King Charles was in reality his father); and I +believed what they told me of his princely virtues, his knowledge +of the art of war, and his heroic valour. I say that I believed all +these things and that I became a willing and zealous tool in their +hands. As for what those who planned the expedition believed, I +know not; nor will any one now ever learn what promises were made +to the Duke, what were broken, and why he was, from the outset, +save for a few days at Taunton, so dejected and disappointed. As +for me, I shall always believe that the unhappy man--unwise and +soft-hearted--was betrayed by those whom he trusted. + +It is now an old tale, though King Monmouth will not speedily be +forgotten in the West Country, nor will the memory of the Bloody +Assize. The brave lads who followed him are dead and buried; some +in unhonoured graves hard by the place where they were hanged, some +under the burning sun of the West Indies. The Duke himself hath long +since paid the penalty of his rash attempt. All is over and ended, +except the memory of it. + +It is now common history, known to everybody, how the Prince of +Orange lingered in the West Country, his army inactive, as if he +knew (doubtless he was well informed upon this particular) that +the longer he remained idle the more likely was the King's Cause +to fall to pieces. There are some who think that if King James +had risked an action he could not but have gained, whatsoever +its event--I mean that, the blood of his soldiers once roused, +they would have remained steadfast to him, and would have fought +for him. But this he dared not to risk; wherefore the Prince did +nothing, while the King's regiments fell to pieces and his friends +deserted him. It was in December when the Prince came to Windsor, +and I with him, once more Chyrurgeon in a rebel army. While there +I rode to London--partly with the intention of judging for myself +as to the temper of the people; partly because, after so long an +absence, I wished once more to visit a place where there are books +and pictures; and partly because there were certain notes and +herbs which I desired to communicate to the College of Physicians +in Warwick Lane. It happened to be the very day when the King's +first flight--that, namely, when he was taken in the Isle of +Sheppey--became known. The streets in the City of London I found +crowded with people hurrying to and fro, running in bands and +companies, shouting and crying, as if in the presence of some great +and imminent danger. It was reported and currently believed that +the disbanded Irish soldiers had begun to massacre the Protestants. +There was no truth at all in the report; but yet the bells were +ringing from all the towers, the crowds were exhorting each other to +tear down and destroy the Romish chapels, to hunt for and to hang +the priests, and especially Jesuits (I know not whether they found +any), and to shout for the Prince of Orange. I stood aside to let +the crowds (thus religiously disposed) run past, but there seemed no +end to them. Presently, however (this was in front of the new Royal +Exchange), there drew near another kind of crowd. There marched six +or eight sturdy fellows bearing stout cudgels and haling along a +prisoner. Round them there ran, shrieking, hooting, and cursing, +a mob of a hundred men and more; they continually made attacks +upon the guard, fighting them with sticks and fists; but they were +always thrust back. I thought at first that they had caught some +poor, wretched priest whom they desired to murder. But it proved +to be a prize worth many priests. As they drew nearer, I discerned +the prisoner. He was dressed in the garb of a common sailor, with +short petticoats (which they call slops), and a jacket; his cap had +been torn off, leaving the bare skull, which showed that he was no +sailor, because common sailors do not wear wigs; blood was flowing +down his cheek from a fresh wound; his eyes rolled hither and +thither in an extremity of terror; I could not hear what he said for +the shouting of those around him, but his lips moved, and I think he +was praying his guards to close in and protect him. Never, surely, +was seen a more terror-stricken creature. + +I knew his face. Once seen (I had seen it once) it could never be +forgotten. The red and bloated cheeks, which even his fear could +not make pale; the eyes, more terrible than have been given to any +other human creature: these I could not forget--in dreams I see them +still. I saw that face at Exeter, when the cruel Judge exulted over +our misery and rejoiced over the sentence which he pronounced. Yea, +he laughed when he told us how we should swing, but not till we were +dead, and then the knife--delivering his sentence so that no single +point of its horror should be lost to us. Yes; it was the face +of Judge Jeffreys--none other--this abject wretch was that great +Judge. Why, when we went back to our prison there were some who cast +themselves upon the ground, and, for terror of what was to come, +fell into mere _dementia_. And now I saw him thus humbled, thus +disgraced, thus threatened, thus in the last extremity and agony of +terror. + +They had discovered him, thus disguised and in hiding, at a tavern +in Wapping, and were dragging him to the presence of the Lord Mayor. +It is a long distance from Wapping to Guildhall, and they went but +slowly, because they were beset and surrounded by these wolves who +howled to have his blood. And all the way he shrieked and trembled +for fear! + +Sure and certain is the vengeance of the Lord! + +This Haman, this unjust Judge, was thus suffering, at the hands +of the savage mob, pangs far worse than those endured by the poor +rustics whom he had delivered to the executioner. I say worse, +because I have not only read, but have myself proved, that the rich +and the learned--those, that is, who live luxuriously and those who +have power to imagine and to feel beforehand--do suffer far more in +disease than the common, ignorant folk. The scholar dies of terror +before ever he feels the surgeon's knife, while the rustic bares his +limb, insensible and callous, however deep the cut or keen the pain. +I make no doubt, therefore, that the great Lord Chancellor, while +they haled him all the way from Wapping to Guildhall, suffered as +much as fifty ploughboys flogged at the cart-tail. + +Many thousands there were who desired revenge upon him--I know not +what revenge would satisfy the implacable; because revenge can do no +more than kill the body, but his worst enemy should be satisfied +with this, his dreadful fate. Even Barnaby, who was sad because he +could get no revenge on his own account (he wanted a bloody battle, +with the rout of the King's armies and the pursuit of a flying +enemy, such as had happened at Sedgemoor), was satisfied with the +justice which was done to that miserable man. It is wonderful that +he was not killed amidst so many threatening cudgels; but his guards +prevented that, not from any love they bore him; but quite the +contrary (more unforgiving faces one never saw); for they intended +to hand him over to the Lord Mayor, and that he should be tried for +all his cruelties and treacheries, and, perhaps, experience himself +that punishment of hanging and disembowelling which he had inflicted +on so many ignorant and misled men. + +How he was committed to the Tower, where he shortly died in the +greatest torture of body as well as mind, everybody knows. + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + +THE CONFESSION. + + +Now am I come to the last event of this history, and I have to +write down the confession of my own share in that event. For the +others--for Alice and for Robin--the thing must be considered as the +crown and completion of all the mercies. For me--what is it? But you +shall hear. When the secrets of all hearts are laid open, then will +Alice hear it also: what she will then say, or what think, I know +not. It was done for her sake--for her happiness have I laid this +guilt upon my soul. Nay, when the voice of conscience doth exhort me +to repent, and to confess my sin, then there still ariseth within my +soul, as it were, the strain of a joyful hymn, a song of gratitude +that I was enabled to return her to freedom and the arms of the man +she loved. If any learned Doctor of Divinity, or any versed in that +science which the Romanists love (they call it casuistry), should +happen to read this chapter of confession, I pray that they consider +my case, even though it will then be useless as far as I myself am +concerned, seeing that I shall be gone before a Judge who will, I +hope (even though my earthly affections do not suffer me to separate +my sin from the consequences which followed), be more merciful than +I have deserved. + +While, then, I stood watching this signal example of God's wrath, +I was plucked gently by the sleeve, and, turning, saw one whose +countenance I knew not. He was dressed as a lawyer, but his gown was +ragged, and his bands yellow; he looked sunk in poverty; and his +face was inflamed with those signs which proclaim aloud the habit of +immoderate drinking. + +'Sir,' he said, 'if I mistake not, you are Dr. Humphrey Challis?' + +'The same, Sir; at your service,' I replied with some misgivings. +And yet, being one of the Prince's following, there needed none. + +'I have seen you, Sir, in the chambers of your cousin, Mr. Benjamin +Boscorel, my brother learned in the law. We drank together, though +(I remember) you still passed the bottle. It is now four or five +years ago. I wonder not that you have forgotten me. We change +quickly, we who are the jolly companions of the bottle; we drink our +noses red, and we paint our cheeks purple; nay, we drink ourselves +out of our last guinea, and out of our very apparel. What then, Sir? +a short life and a merry. Sir, yonder is a sorry sight. The first +Law Officer of the Crown thus to be haled along the streets by a +howling mob. Ought such a thing to be suffered? 'Tis a sad and sorry +sight, I say!' + +'Sir,' I replied hotly, 'ought such villains as Judge Jeffreys to be +suffered to live?' + +He considered a little, as one who is astonished and desires to +collect his thoughts. Perhaps he had already taken more than a +morning draught. + +'I remember now,' he said. 'My memory is not so good as it was. We +drink that away as well. Yes, I remember--I crave your forgiveness, +Doctor. You were yourself engaged with Monmouth. Your cousin told me +as much. Naturally you love not this good Judge, who yet did nothing +but what the King, his master, ordered him to do. I, Sir, have often +had the honour of sitting over a bottle with his Lordship. When his +infirmities allowed (though not yet old, he is grievously afflicted) +he had no equal for a song or a jest, and would drink so long as any +were left to keep him company. Ha! they have knocked him down--now +they will kill him. No; he is again upon his feet; those who protect +him close in. So--they have passed out of our sight. Doctor, shall +we crack a flask together? I have no money, unhappily; but I will +with pleasure drink at your expense.' + +I remembered the man's face now, but not his name. 'Twas one of +Ben's boon companions. Well; if hard drinking brings men so speedily +to rags and poverty, even though it be a merry life (which I doubt), +give me moderation. + +'Pray, Sir,' I said coldly, 'to have me excused. I am no drinker.' + +'Then, Doctor, you will perhaps lend me, until we meet again, a +single guinea?' + +I foolishly complied with this request. + +'Doctor, I thank you,' he said. 'Will you now come and drink with +me at my expense? Sir, I say plainly, you do not well to refuse +a friendly glass. I could tell you many things, if you would but +drink with me, concerning my Lord Jeffreys. There are things which +would make you laugh. Come, Doctor; I love not to drink alone. Your +cousin, now, was always ready to drink with any man, until he fell +ill'-- + +'How? is my cousin ill?' + +'Assuredly; he is sick unto death. Yesterday I went to visit him, +thinking to drink a glass with him, and perhaps to borrow a guinea +or two, but found him in bed and raving. If you will drink with +me, Doctor, I can tell you many curious things about your cousin. +And now I remember, you were sent to the Plantations; your cousin +told me so. You have returned before your time. Well, the King +hath run away; you are, doubtless, safe. Your cousin hath gotten +his grandfather's estate. Lord Jeffreys, who loved him mightily, +procured that grant for him. When your cousin wakes at night he +swears that he sees his grandfather by his bedside looking at him +reproachfully, so that he drinks the harder; 'tis a merry life. He +hath also married a wife, and she ran away from him at the church +door, and he now cannot hear of her or find her anywhere, so that he +curses her and drinks the harder. Oh! 'tis always the jolliest dog. +They say that he is not the lawyer that he was, and that his clients +are leaving him. All mine have left me long since. Come and drink +with me, Doctor.' + +I broke away from the poor toper who had drunk up his wits as well +as his money, and hurried to my cousin's chambers, into which I had +not thought to enter save as one who brings reproaches--a useless +burden. + +Benjamin was lying in bed: an old crone sat by the fire, nodding. +Beside her was a bottle, and she was, I found, half drunk. Her I +quickly sent about her business. No one else had been attending him. +Yet he was laid low, as I presently discovered, with that kind of +fever which is bred in the villainous air of our prisons--the same +fever which had carried off his grandfather. + +Perhaps, if there were no foul and stinking wards, jails, and +clinks, this kind of fever would be banished altogether, and be +no more seen. So, if we could discover the origin and cause of +all diseases, we might once more restore man to his primitive +condition, which I take to have been one free from any kind of +disease or infirmity, designed at first by his Creator so to live +for ever, and, after the Fall, enabled (when medicine shall be so +far advanced) to die of old age after such prolongation of life and +strength as yet we cannot even understand. + +'Cousin,' I said, 'I am sorry to find thee lying in this condition.' + +'Ay,' he replied, in a voice weak and low, not like his old +blustering tones. 'Curse me and upbraid me, if thou wilt. How art +thou come hither? Is it the ghost of Humphrey? Art thou dead like my +grandfather? Are we on the Plantations of Barbadoes?' + +'Indeed, I am no ghost, Benjamin. As for curses, I have none; and as +for reproaches, I leave them to thy conscience.' + +'Humphrey, I am sore afflicted. I am now so low that I cannot even +sit upright in my bed. But thou art a doctor--thou wilt bring me +back to health. I am already better only for seeing thee here.' + +I declare that as yet I had no thought, no thought at all, of what +I was to do. I was but a physician in presence of a sick man, and +therefore bound to help him if I could. + +I asked him first certain questions, as physicians use, concerning +his disorder and its symptoms. I learned that, after attending at +the Court, he was attacked by fits of shivering and of great heat, +being hot and cold alternately, and that in order to expel the fever +he had sat drinking the whole evening--a most dangerous thing to do. +Next, that in the morning he had been unable to rise from his bed, +and, being thirsty, had drunk more wine--a thing enough of itself +to kill a man in such a fever. Then he lost his head, and could +tell me no more what had happened until he saw me standing by his +bedside. In short, he had been in delirium, and was now in a lucid +interval, out of which he would presently fall a-wandering again, +and, perhaps, raving, and so another lucid interval, after which he +would die, unless something could be done for him. + +I liked not his appearance nor the account which he gave me, nor did +I like his pulse, nor the strange look in his eyes--death doth often +show his coming by such a prophetic terror of the eyes. + +'Humphrey,' he said pitifully. 'It was no fault of mine that thou +wast sent to the Plantations.' + +'That I know full well, Cousin,' I answered him. 'Be easy on that +score.' + +'And as for Alice,' he went on. 'All is fair in love.' + +I made no reply, because at this point a great temptation assailed +my soul. + +You have heard how I learned many secrets of the women while I was +abroad. Now, while we were in Providence Island I found a woman +of the breed they call half caste--that is, half Indian and half +Portuguese--living in what she called wedlock with an English +sailor, who did impart to me a great secret of her own people. I +obtained from her not only the knowledge of a most potent drug +(known already to the Jesuits), but also a goodly quantity of the +drug itself. This, with certain other discoveries and observations +of my own, I was about to communicate to the College in Warwick Lane. + +As for this drug, I verily believe it is the most potent medicine +ever yet discovered. It is now some years since it was first brought +over to Europe by the Jesuits, and is therefore called _Pulvis +Jesuiticus_, and sometimes Peruvian Bark. When administered at such +a stage of the fever as had now been reached by my unhappy cousin, +it seldom fails to vivify the spirits, and so to act upon the nerves +as to restore the sinking, and to call back to life a man almost +moribund. + +Remembering this, I lugged the packet out of my pocket and laid it +on the table. + +'Be of good cheer, Cousin,' I said; 'I have a drug which is strong +enough, with the help of God, to make a dying man sit up again. +Courage, then!' + + * * * * * + +When I had said these words my temptation fell upon me. It came in +the guise of a voice which whispered in my ear. + +'Should this man die,' it said, 'there will be freedom for Alice. +She can then marry the man she loves. She will be restored to +happiness. While he lives, she must still continue in misery, being +cut off from love. Let him die therefore.' + + * * * * * + +'Humphrey,' said Ben; 'in this matter of Alice: if she will come +to me, I will make her happy. But I know not where she is hidden. +Things go ill with me since that unlucky day. I would to God I +had not done it! Nothing hath gone well since; and I drink daily +to hide her face. Yet at night she haunts me--with her father, +who threatens, and her mother, who weeps, and my grandfather, who +reproaches. Humphrey--tell me--what is it, man? What mean thy looks?' + +For while he spoke that other voice was in my ears also. + +'Should he die, Alice will be happy again. Should he live, she will +continue in misery.' At these words (which were but my own thoughts, +yet involuntary), I felt so great a pity, such an overwhelming love +for Alice, that my spirit was wholly carried away. To restore her +freedom! Oh! what price was too great for such a gift? Nay--I was +seized with the thought that to give her so great a thing, even my +own destruction would be a light price to pay. Never, until that +moment, had I known how fondly and truly I loved her. Why, if it +were to be done over again--but this matters not. I have to make my +confession. + +'Humphrey, speak!' I suppose that my trouble showed itself in my +face. + +'Thou art married to Alice,' I said slowly. 'That cannot be denied. +So long as thou livest, Benjamin, so long will she be robbed of +everything that she desires, so long will she be unhappy. Now, if +thou shouldst die'---- + +'Die? I cannot die; I must live.' He tried to raise himself, but he +was too weak. 'Cousin, save my life.' + +'If thou shouldst die, Benjamin,' I went on, regardless of his +words, 'she will be set free. It is only by thy death that she can +be set free. Say then to thyself: "I have done this poor woman +so great an injury that nothing but my death can atone for it. +Willingly, therefore, will I lay down my life, hoping thus to atone +for this abominable wickedness."' + +'Humphrey, do not mock me. Give me--give me--give me speedily the +drug of which you spoke. I die--I die!--Oh!--give me of thy drug.' + +Then I took the packet containing the _Pulvis Jesuiticus_ and threw +it upon the fire, where in a moment it was a little heap of ashes. + +'Now, Benjamin,' I said, 'I cannot help thee. Thou must surely die.' + +He shrieked, he wept, he implored me to do something--something to +keep him alive. He began to curse and to swear. + +'No one can now save thee, Benjamin,' I told him. 'Not all the +College of Physicians; not all the medicines in England. Thou must +die. Listen and heed: in a short time, unless thy present weakness +causeth thee to expire, there will fall upon thee another fit of +fever and delirium, after which another interval of reason: perhaps +another--but yet thou must surely die. Prepare thy soul, therefore. +Is there any message for Alice that thou wouldst send to her, being +now at the point of death?' + +His only answer was to curse and weep alternately. + +Then I knelt beside his bed, and prayed aloud for him. But +incessantly he cried for help, wearing himself out with prayers and +curses. + +'Benjamin,' I said, when I had thus prayed a while, but +ineffectually, 'I shall take to Alice, instead of these curses, +which avail nothing, a prayer for pardon, in order to touch her +heart and cause her to think of thee with forgiveness, as of one +who repented at the end. This I shall do for her sake. I shall also +tell thy father that thy death was repentant, and shall take to him +also a prayer for forgiveness as from thee. This will lighten his +sorrow, and cause him to remember thee with the greater love. And +to Robin, too, so that he may cease to call thee villain, I will +carry, not these ravings, but a humble prayer (as from thyself) for +forgiveness.' + + * * * * * + +This is my confession: _I, who might have saved my cousin, suffered +him to die_. + + * * * * * + +The sick man, when he found that prayers or curses would not avail, +fell to moaning, rolling his head from side to side. When he was +thus quiet I prayed again for him, exhorting him to lift up his soul +to his Judge, and assuring him of our full forgiveness. But, indeed, +I know not if he heard or understood. It was then about four of the +clock, and growing dark. I lit a candle, and examined him again. I +think that he was now unconscious. He seemed as if he slept. I sat +down and watched. + +I think that at midnight, or thereabouts, I must have fallen asleep. + +When I awoke the candle was out, and the fire was out. The room was +in perfect darkness. I laid my hand upon my cousin's forehead. He +was cold and dead. + +Then I heard the voice of the watchman in the street: 'Past two +o'clock, and a frosty morning!' + +The voice I had heard before whispered again in my ear. + +'Alice is free--Alice is free! Thou--thou--thou alone hast set her +free! Thou hast killed her husband!' + +I threw myself upon my knees and spent the rest of that long night +in seeking for repentance; but then, as now, the lamentation of a +sinner is also mingled with the joy of thinking that Alice was free +at last, and by none other hand than mine. + +This I repeat is my confession: I might have saved my cousin, and I +suffered him to die. Wherefore I have left the profession in which +it was my ambition to distinguish myself, and am no longer anything +but a poor and obscure person, living on the charity of my friends +in a remote village. + + * * * * * + +Two days afterwards I was sitting at the table, looking through the +dead man's papers, when I heard a footstep on the stair. + +It was Barnaby, who broke noisily into the room. + +'Where is Benjamin?' he cried. 'Where is that villain?' + +'What do you want with him?' + +'I want to kill him. I am come to kill him.' + +'Look upon the bed, Barnaby.' I laid back the sheet and showed him +the pale face of the dead man. + +'The hand of the Lord--or that of another--hath already killed him. +Art thou now content?' + + + + +CHAPTER THE LAST. + + +In the decline of years, when the sixtieth birthday is near at hand +and one looks not to live much longer, and the future hath no fresh +joy to bring with it (but only infirmities of age and pain), it +is profitable and pleasant to look back upon the past, to observe +the guidance of the Unseen Hand, to repent one's sins, and to live +over again those seasons, whether of sorrow or of joy, which we now +perceive to have been Providentially ordered. + +This have I done, both in reading the history of our lives as +related by my Mistress, and in writing this latter part. To the +former have I added nothing, nor have I subtracted anything +therefrom, because I would not suffer the sweet and candid soul of +her whom I have always loved to be tarnished by any words of mine, +breaking in upon her own, as jarring notes in some lovely harmony. +It is strictly laid upon me to deliver her words just as she hath +written them down. + +Now, after the death of Benjamin, I took it upon myself, being his +cousin, in the absence of his father, to examine the papers which he +had left. Among them I found abundance of songs, chiefly in praise +of wine and women, with tavern bills. Also, there were notes of +legal cases, very voluminous, and I found notes of payment made to +various persons engaged in inquiring after his wife, in those towns +of the West Country where her father's name would procure friends +for her. But there was no will; Benjamin had died (never looking +for so early an end) without making any will. Therefore the estate +of Bradford Orcas, with the old house, became the property of the +Rector, Benjamin's father. And he, being moved to make reparation +for his son's sin, and out of the great love which he bore to Alice, +conveyed the whole to Robin on the day of his marriage. Thus the +confiscated estate returned to the ancient family who had always +held it, and promise to hold it still, so long as the good old stock +shall last. + + * * * * * + +It is thirty years ago and more. King William III. is dead; Queen +Anne is dead; King George (who cannot, they say, speak English, but +is a stout Protestant) sits upon our throne; the Nonconformists are +free, save that they cannot enter the Universities, and are subject +to other disabilities, which will, doubtless, be removed in the +course of years. But English people, I think, love power beyond all +earthly things; and so long as the Church is in a majority the +Churchmen will exercise their power and will not part with it. To +us of Bradford Orcas it matters little. We worship at the parish +church. Every Sunday I contemplate, as I did fifty years ago, the +monument of Filipa kneeling apart, and of her husband and his second +wife kneeling together. There is a new tablet in the chancel put up +to the memory of Sir Christopher, and another to that of Dr. Comfort +Eykin. Their bodies lie somewhere among the mounds on the north side +of Ilminster Church. + +Forty years ago, as you have seen, there stood three boys in the +garden of the Manor House discoursing on their future. One wished +never to go anywhere, but to remain always a country gentleman, +like his grandfather; one would be a great lawyer, a Judge, even +the Lord Chancellor; the third would be a great Physician. Lo! +the end of all! The first, but after divers miseries, perils, and +wanderings, hath attained to his desire; the second lies buried +in the churchyard of St. Andrew's, Holborn, forgotten long since +by his companions (who, indeed, are now with him in the pit), and +remembered only among his own kin for the great wickedness which +he wrought before the Lord. And, as for the third and last, no +illustrious physician is he; but one who lives obscure (but content) +in a remote village (in the very cottage where his Mistress was +born), with books and music, and the society of the sweetest woman +who ever graced this earth for his solace. She was always gracious: +she was gracious in her childhood; gracious as a maiden; more +gracious still is she in these latter days when her hair is grey, +and her daughters stand about her, tall and comely. + +Now, had I administered that powder--that sovereign remedy, the +_Pulvis Jesuiticus_--what would have been her lot? + + * * * * * + +'Humphrey,' said Robin, 'a penny for thy thoughts.' + +'Robin, I was thinking--it is not a new thing, but twenty years old +and more--that Cousin Benjamin never did anything in his life so +useful as to die.' + +'Ay, poor Benjamin! That he had at the end the grace to ask our +forgiveness and to repent hath in it something of a miracle. +We have long forgiven him. But consider, Cousin. We were saved +from the fight; we were saved from the sea; we were saved from +slavery; we were enabled to strike the last blow for the Protestant +religion--what were all these blessings worth if Benjamin still +lived? To think, Humphrey, that Alice would never have been my wife +and never a mother; and all these children would have remained +unborn! I say that, though we may not desire the death of a sinner, +we were not human if we rejoiced not at the death of our poor +cousin.' + +Yes; that is the thought which will not suffer me to repent. A +single pinch of the _Pulvis Jesuiticus_, and he might have been +living unto this very day: then would Alice have lost the crowning +blessing of a woman's life. + +Yet--I was, it is true, a physician--whose duty it is to save life, +always to save life, even the life of the wretched criminal who is +afterwards to die upon the gallows. + +Yet, again, if he had been saved! As I write these lines I see +my Mistress walking down the village street. She looks over my +garden-gate; she lifts the latchet and enters, smiling gravely and +tenderly. A sober happiness sits upon her brow. The terror of her +first marriage has long been forgotten. + + * * * * * + +Why, as I watch her tranquil life, busy with her household and +her children, full of the piety which asks not (as her father was +wont to ask) how and where the mercy of Heaven is limited, and if, +indeed, it will embrace all she loves; as I mark the tender love +of husband and of children, which lies around her like a garment +and prevents all her doings, there comes back to me continually +a bed-room in which a man lies dying. Again in memory, again +in _intention_, I throw upon the fire that handful of _Pulvis +Jesuiticus_ which should have driven away his fever and restored him +to health again. A great and strong man he was, who might have lived +till eighty years: where then would have been that love? where those +children? where that tranquil heart and that contented mind? '_I +WILL NOT SAVE HIS LIFE._' I say again in my mind: '_I WILL NOT SAVE +HIM; HE SHALL DIE._' + + * * * * * + +'Humphrey,' my Mistress says, 'leave thy books awhile and walk with +me: the winter sun is warm upon the hills. Come, it is the day when +Benjamin died--repentant--what better could we wish? What greater +blessing could have been bestowed upon him and upon us than a true +repentance and to die? Oh! dear Brother, dear Humphrey, let us +walk and talk of these blessings which have been showered upon my +undeserving head. + + PRINTED BY + SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. 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MARTIN'S LANE, W.C. + + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's note: + +Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. +Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as +printed. + +The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up +paragraphs, thus the page number of the illustration might not match +the page number in the List of Illustrations. + +Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where +the missing quote should be placed. + +The page of ads was moved from the beginning of the book to the end +of the book. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of For Faith and Freedom, by Walter Besant + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44963 *** |