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diff --git a/old/65957-0.txt b/old/65957-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 78bfcc2..0000000 --- a/old/65957-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7103 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Joan, the Curate, by Florence Warden - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Joan, the Curate - -Author: Florence Warden - -Release Date: July 30, 2021 [eBook #65957] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: MWS, Quentin Campbell, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The Internet - Archive/Canadian Libraries) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOAN, THE CURATE *** - - Transcriber’s Note - -In this transcription, italic text is denoted by _underscores_. Small -capitals in the original text have been replaced by ALL CAPITALS. - -See the end of this document for details of corrections and other -changes. - - ————————————— Start of Book ————————————— - - - - - JOAN, THE CURATE - - - - - BY - - FLORENCE WARDEN - - AUTHOR OF - - “THE HOUSE ON THE MARSH,” “THE INN BY THE SHORE,” ETC. - - - - - [Illustration] - - - - - TORONTO - - GEORGE J. McLEOD - - PUBLISHER - - - - - Copyright, 1899 - - BY - - F. M. BUCKLES & COMPANY - - - - - _Joan, the Curate_ - - - - - CONTENTS. - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. The New Broom 7 - - II. A Startling Incident 25 - - III. An Ally at Last 36 - - IV. Fresh Outrages 52 - - V. A Load of Hay 65 - - VI. A Collision 84 - - VII. An Ugly Customer 94 - - VIII. Rede Hall 106 - - IX. Traitress or Friend? 126 - - X. The Mystery of the Gray Barn 143 - - XI. In The Lion’s Mouth 155 - - XII. Settling Accounts 174 - - XIII. A Late Visitor 187 - - XIV. A Perilous Ride 203 - - XV. The Smugglers’ Ship 218 - - XVI. A Traitress 233 - - XVII. An Innocent Rival 250 - - XVIII. A Prisoner 265 - - XIX. A Very Woman 280 - - XX. The Free-Traders’ Farewell 297 - - - - - JOAN, THE CURATE. - - ——————— - - CHAPTER I. - - THE NEW BROOM. - - -It was soon after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, had put an -inglorious end to an inglorious war, that the Government of the day -began to give serious attention to an evil which had been suffered to -grow while public attention was absorbed by battles abroad and the -doings of the press-gang at home. - -This was the practise of plundering wrecked vessels, which had been -carried on in combination with the smuggler’s daring and dangerous -trade, particularly on the wild marsh coast south of Kent, and the -equally lonely Sussex cliffs beyond. - -So audacious had the doings of these “free-traders” become, that a -brigade of cavalry was sent down into the old town of Rye, for the -purpose of overawing them, while, at the same time, a smart revenue -cutter, under the command of a young lieutenant of noted courage and -efficiency, was despatched to cruise about the coast, to act in concert -with the soldiers. - -It was on a windy night in early autumn, when the sea was roaring -sullenly as it dashed against the sandstone cliffs, and echoed in the -caves and hollows worn by the waves, that a sharp knocking at the door -of Hurst Parsonage, a mile or two from the sea-coast, made Parson -Langney look up from the writing of his Sunday sermon, and glance -inquiringly at his daughter. - -“Now, who will that be, Joan?” said he as he tilted his wig on to one -side of his head, and pursed up his jolly, round, red face with an air -of some anxiety. - -“Nay, father, you have as many visitors that come for the ills of -the body as for the health of the soul!” cried Joan. “I can but hope -you han’t another long trudge across the marsh before you, like your -journey of a week back.” - -At that moment there came another thundering knock at the little front -door, and a handful of stones and earth was flung against the window, -followed the next moment by a rattling of the panes. - -Father and daughter, genial, portly parson, and creamy-skinned, -black-eyed maiden, sprang to their feet, and looked once at each other. - -There were wild folk in these parts, and lonesome errands to be run -sometimes by Parson Langney, who had begun life as a surgeon, and who -had been lucky enough to be pitch-forked into a living which exactly -suited his adventurous habits, his love of fox-hunting, and his liking -for good wine and well-hung game. - -Before the importunate summons could be repeated, Parson Langney had -come out of the little dining-parlor, and drawn the bolt of the front -door. - -For Nance, the solitary housemaid of the modest establishment, was -getting into years, and inclined to regard a late visitor as a person -to be thwarted by being kept as long as possible waiting at the door. - -“Hast no better manners than to do thy best to drive the glass from out -the panes?” asked he, as soon as he found himself face to face with -the intruder, who proved to be a sailor, in open jacket, loose shirt -and slops, and flat, three-cornered hat. - -“Oons, sir, ’tis a matter of life and death!” said the man, as he -saluted the parson with becoming respect, and then pointed quickly back -in the direction of the sea, which could be seen faintly glistening in -the murky light of a clouded moon. “I’m from the revenue cutter in the -offing yonder, where one of my mates lies with a bullet in’s back, sent -there by one of those rascally smugglers in a fray we’ve had with them -but now. I’ve been in the village for help, but they say there’s no -doctor here but yourself. So I beg your honor’ll come with me, and do -what you can for him. And could you tell me of a woman that would watch -by him? For we’ve all got our hands full, and he’ll be wandering from -his wits ere morning.” - -The parson, without a moment’s delay, had begun, by the help of his -daughter, to get into a rough brown riding-coat that hung from a nail -on the whitewashed wall. - -“Why, there you have me out,” said he, as he buttoned himself up to -the chin, and put a round, broad-brimmed black hat, with a bow and a -twisted band of black cloth, tightly on to his somewhat rusty, grizzled -bob-wig. “For there’s none in these parts to nurse the sick as well as -my daughter Joan.” - -“And sure I’m ready to go, father!” cried the girl, who, with the -nimbleness of a fawn, had darted back into the parlor and brought out -her father’s case of surgical instruments, as well as a diminutive -portable chest, containing such drugs and medicines as were in use at -the time. - -“I’ll have on my hood in a tick of the clock.” - -And by the time these words were uttered she had flown up the steep, -narrow staircase and disappeared round the bend at the top. The sailor, -who had stepped inside the porch, out of the wind and a drizzling rain -which had now begun to fall, was full of admiration and astonishment. - -“Oons, sir, but ’twill be rough work for the young mistress!” said he. -“The water’s washing over the boat yonder, and we shan’t be able to -push off without getting wet up to the waist.” - -“The lass is used to rough weather,” said Parson Langney, proudly. -“She’ll tell you herself that where her father can go she goes.” - -The words were scarcely out of his mouth when Joan, wrapped in a rough -peasant’s cloak, and wearing a loose hood, came tripping down the -stairs. - -Not a moment was lost. With a word to Nance, who had put in a tardy -appearance, the parson, with his daughter on one side and the sailor on -the other, started for the shore. - -The wind was at its worst on the top of the hill where the Parsonage -stood. A very few minutes’ sharp walking brought them all to a lower -level, and within the shelter of a wild straggling growth of bushes and -small trees, which extended in patches from the village almost to the -edge of the crumbling cliffs. - -Here they struck into a rough track made by the feet of the fishermen -and less inoffensive characters, and before they had gone far they saw -the hulk of the cutter, tossing like a little drifting spar amid the -foam of the waves, and showing dark against the leaden, faint moonlight -on the sea beyond. The parson asked a few questions, and elicited the -usual story—a contraband cargo was being run in a little creek just -where the cliffs broke off and the marsh began, when the lookout man on -the cutter spied the smugglers, and a boat was sent out to give chase. -There had been a smart brush, almost half in and half out of the water, -between the smugglers on the one side and the cutter’s men on the -other. But, on the whole, as the narrator was forced ruefully to admit, -the smugglers had got the best of it, as they all got away, leaving not -so much as a keg behind them, while one of the cutter’s men had had to -be carried off seriously wounded. - -“Zoons, and it was main odd they did get off so well!” went on the -sailor, as if in some perplexity; “for the lieutenant himself landed -a bullet in the leg of one of the rascals, that should have brought -him down, if he hadn’t had the devil himself—saving your presence, -mistress—to help him.” - -In the momentary pause which followed the man’s words, a sound suddenly -came to the ears of them all, above the whining of the wind in the -trees and bushes. It made Joan stop short for the space of a second, -and turn her eyes hastily and furtively in the direction of a little -dell on their left, where the bracken grew high about the trunks of a -knot of beeches. - -“Eh!” cried the sailor, stopping short, also to listen. “What was that? -’Twas like the groan of a man.” - -As he turned his head to listen, the parson and his daughter quickly -exchanged a glance expressive both of alarm and of warning. Then the -former seized the sailor by the arm, pushing onward towards the shore -at a better pace than ever. - -“Sure,” said he, in a deep, strong, resonant voice that would have -drowned any fainter sound in the ears of his listener; “’tis but the -screech of a hawk. This woody ground’s alive with the creatures.” - -The man cast at him a rather suspicious look, but said nothing, and -allowed himself to be led forward. So they hurried on, increasing their -pace when the ground began to dip again, until they followed the course -of a narrow and dark ravine, which cut its way through the cliffs to -the seashore. Here they had to pick their way over the stones and -bits of broken cliff, through which a brook, swollen by recent rains, -gurgled noisily on its way to the sea. The tide was going down, and -the thunder of the waves, as they beat upon the cliff’s base and echoed -in its hollows, grew fainter as they went. It was an easier matter -than they had expected to get into the boat which was waiting to take -them to the cutter; and though the tiny craft rose like a nutshell on -the crest of the waves, and sank into deep dells of dark water, they -reached the cutter safely, and scrambled, not without difficulty, up -the side of the little vessel, which was anchored not far from the land. - -A man’s voice, full, clear, musical, a voice used to command, hailed -them from the deck— - -“Ho, there! Hast brought a doctor?” - -“Ay, capt’n, and a parson to boot!” answered the sailor who had been -despatched on this errand. “And a nurse that it would cure a sick man -to look at.” - -It was at that moment that Joan, who was as agile as a kitten, stepped -on deck, and into the light of the lantern which the lieutenant himself -was holding. The young man saluted her, with surprise in his eyes, and -a thrill of some warmer feeling in his gallant heart. Joan curtsied, -holding on to the nearest rope the while. - -“You are welcome on board, madam.” - -“I thank you, sir.” - -And the young people exchanged looks. - -What he saw was a most fair maiden, tall and straight, graceful with -the ease and freedom of nature and good breeding, with sparkling brown -eyes, even white teeth, and a merry gleam belying the demureness of her -formal words. - -What she saw was a young man only a little above the middle height, -stalwart and handsome, with quick eyes gray as the winter sea, and -a straight, clean-cut mouth, that closed with a look of indomitable -courage and determination. - -“And yet, madam,” the lieutenant went on, leaving his subordinates to -help Parson Langney, who was portly, and less agile than his daughter, -up on to the deck, “they should not have brought you. For, in truth, we -are in no state to receive a lady on board. There has been ugly work to -do with those rascally smugglers.” - -“I come not as a fine lady, sir,” retorted Joan, promptly; “but as a -nurse for a sick man. There is no state needed by a woman when she -comes but to do her duty.” - -“Well said, madam; but I thank God your care will not be needed. The -poor fellow who was shot by those ruffians has taken a turn for the -better, and if the gentleman, whom I take to be your father, can but -perform a simple operation for him——” - -“My father, sir, is a most skilled surgeon, and can perform any -operation,” answered Joan, interrupting him proudly. - -Her look was so full of fire, the carriage of her head, in its graceful -hood, so superb, as she uttered the ingenuous words, that Lieutenant -Tregenna smiled a little as he saluted her and turned to the parson, -who, panting and in some disorder, had at length reached the deck. - -The young man introduced himself, and they saluted each other, the -parson with some difficulty, since the continual motion of the vessel -was somewhat trying to his landsman’s legs. Then they went below, and -in a few minutes the young man returned alone. - -Joan had been accommodated with a seat by the tiller, and protected -from wind and water by a tarpaulin, out of which her bonny face peeped -white in the moonlight. - -“You have no work for me, sir?” she asked, as the lieutenant came up. - -“None, madam; and even less for your good father than we feared might -be the case. He has found the bullet, and ’twill be an easy matter to -extract it, so he says; and after that, ’tis a mere matter of a few -days’ quiet to set the poor fellow on his legs again. So the rascals -escaped murder this time; not that one crime more or less would sit -hard on the conscience of such villains!” - -For a moment Joan said nothing. Then she hazarded, in a very dry, -demure voice— - -“But, sir, by what I heard, your side went as near committing murder as -the other. The man who brought us hither spoke of a bullet in the leg -of one of the fishermen.” - -“Fishermen! Odds my life, madam, but that’s a very pretty way of -putting it! I hope you han’t the same kindness for the rascals that -seems to be strong among the country-folk here! Nay, I won’t do you -the injustice to suppose you could hold their villainies in aught but -abhorrence.” - -“Whatever is villainous I hope I abhor very properly,” answered Joan -with spirit. “And the shooting down of one’s fellow-men I do hold one -of the greatest villainies of all.” - -“When ’tis done by smugglers and plunderers of wrecks, no doubt you -mean,” retorted the lieutenant tartly. - -“Plunderers of wrecks we have none in these parts, or at least none -that do the vile things that were done in times past,” said she -quickly. “And if you and the soldiers that are come to Rye had had -but the punishment of murderers and wreckers in your eye, you would -have met with more sympathy than is like to be the case if you mean to -repress what they call in these parts free-trade.” - -“Well, madam, ’tis in truth the repression of ‘free-trade’ that we -have in our minds, and that we intend to carry out by the strength of -our arms. And I own I’m amazed to hear a gentlewoman of your sense -and spirit speak so leniently of a pack of thievish persons that live -by robbing his Majesty, and, indeed, the whole nation to which they -belong. I can but trust you speak in more ignorance than you imagine, -and that the doings of such ruffians as one Jem Bax, and another wretch -called Gardener Tom, of Long Jack and Bill Plunder, Robin Cursemother -and Ben the Blast have never come to your ears.” - -Lieutenant Tregenna uttered each of these names very clearly, and with -solemn emphasis, standing so that he could see the expression of the -girl’s face as he mentioned them. To his great disgust, he perceived -that, though she kept her eyes down as if to conceal her feelings, she -was well acquainted with all these men, and appeared somewhat startled -to learn that he knew them so well. - -“You have heard of these men?” he asked sharply. - -“Yes, I’ve—I’ve heard of them.” - -“You know them, perhaps?” - -A moment’s pause. - -“Ye—es, I know them.” - -“I won’t affront you by asking whether you have any sympathy with them -and their methods. With men that live by defrauding the revenue, and -that scruple not to commit the most violent deeds in the exercise of -their unlawful calling?” - -The lieutenant’s tone was harsh and arrogant as he asked these -questions. Miss Joan still sat with her eyelids down, giving him a new -view of her beauty, unconsciously proving to him that her face was -as handsome in repose, with the black eyelashes sweeping her rounded -cheeks, as it was when her features were animated with the excitement -of conversation. She was silent at first, and the lieutenant repeated -his last question somewhat impatiently. There was another slight pause, -however, and then a ponderous footstep was heard creeping up the -companion-ladder. - -“There’s my father!” cried Joan, as she started up, in evident relief -at the opportune interruption. - -Parson Langney, holding on valiantly to such support as came in his -way, staggered towards them, and ended by hurling himself against the -lieutenant with so much force that it was only by a most dexterous -movement that the younger and slimmer man escaped being flung into the -sea. - -“I ask your pardon, captain,” cried the jolly parson, in good-humored -apology, as, with the assistance of the young folk, he reached a place -of safety. “Remember, you’re on your element, but I’m not on mine! Come -and dine with my daughter and me to-morrow, and you shall see that my -feet carry me well enough on the dry land.” - -“I thank you, sir, and I would most willingly have accepted your kind -offer, but I’m engaged to dine with one who is, I believe, a neighbor -of yours—Squire Waldron, of Hurst Court.” - -“Why, God bless my soul, so am I!” cried the parson, in amazement at -his own momentary lapse of memory. “Then, sir, I shall be happy to meet -you there; and I warrant you’ll be happy too, for the squire’s port -wine, let me tell you, is a tipple not to be despised by his Majesty -himself.” - -“Ay, sir, and there at any rate I shall feel comfortable in the thought -that the wine has paid duty, which, I give you my word, is what I have -not felt in any other house in the neighborhood, public or private, -since I arrived here.” - -But at these words a sudden and singular alteration had occurred in the -parson’s features. He seemed to remember the office of the person to -whom he was speaking, and to become more reserved. - -“Ay, sir, certainly,” was all he said. - -The lieutenant went on, with a return to the bitterness he had shown -while discussing the subject of smugglers with Miss Joan. - -“And as the squire is a justice of the peace, whose duty it is to -punish evil-doers, I may at last hope, under his roof, to meet with -some sympathy with the objects of justice, such as one expects from all -right-thinking people.” - -“Why, sir, certainly,” said Parson Langney again, somewhat more dryly -than before. And then, turning to his daughter, he added briskly, -“Come, Joan, we must be returning. The lad below will do very well now, -sir, with quiet, and the physic I have left for him. And I’ll pay him -another visit in a day or two.” - -As he addressed these last words to the lieutenant, the parson was -already preparing to lower himself into the boat which had brought him. -He seemed in haste to be gone. - -Lieutenant Tregenna then helped the young lady down into the boat, -giving her as he did so a somewhat piqued and resentful glance, which, -however, she demurely refused to meet with a return look from her own -black eyes until she was safely in the little boat beside her father. - -Then, as the small craft was tossing amidst the spray from the larger -one, she did look up, with the struggling moonlight full upon her face, -at the handsome young commander, on whom a touch of youthful arrogance -sat not unbecomingly. - -And Lieutenant Tregenna, as he saluted and watched the little boat, -and in particular its fair occupant, was irritated and incensed beyond -measure by what he took for an expression of merry defiance in her -bright eyes. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - A STARTLING INCIDENT. - - -Hurst Court, where Lieutenant Tregenna presented himself next day, -by Squire Waldron’s most obliging and pressing invitation, was an -ugly Georgian house just outside the village of Hurst, standing in an -extensive but little-cultivated park, much of which was in a primitive -condition of gorse and tangle and unclipped, undersized trees. - -The mansion itself was not in the heart of the park, but was built near -the road, with nothing but a little stretch of grass and a wooden fence -between. - -A great baying of hounds and noise of disputing men-servants were the -sounds which greeted the lieutenant when he arrived at the house. -Even before entering, he had formed, both from this circumstance and -from the extent of the stables, some idea of the sort of rollicking, -happy-go-lucky, rough country household he was to expect; and he had -scarcely set foot inside the wide and lofty hall when the onrush of -half a dozen barking dogs, the crowding into the hall of three or -four gawky men-servants, and the entrance of the squire himself, in -a scarlet coat, with a loud and hearty greeting on his lips, fully -confirmed this impression. - -“Welcome, welcome to Hurst Court, lieutenant!” cried his host, seizing -him by the hand with a grip like a blacksmith’s, and promptly leading -him in the direction of the music-room, across a floor where a couple -of stag-hounds were lying lazily stretched out, and between walls laden -with antlers and the grinning pates of three or four score foxes. -“You should have come a couple of hours sooner; for the ladies have -a mind to show you their Dutch garden, and to regale you with some -music before we dine. I know not, sir, whether such diversions are -to your taste, or whether your liking runs more in the direction of -fox-hunting and the shooting of game, as mine does? I have no taste, -myself, for your finicking London modes; but I’m told that the young -bucks nowadays pride themselves more on cutting a fine figure in the -ladies’ drawing-rooms than in sitting a horse well and riding straight -to hounds.” - -“Nay, squire, it will give me vast pleasure to hear the ladies’ music,” -said Lieutenant Tregenna, when his host’s volubility allowed him the -chance of answering. “’Tis a diversion one can enjoy but seldom so far -from town.” - -“Nay, we have better diversions here than those,” said the squire -disparagingly. “But my wife and daughters will be prodigious pleased -that you are not of my way of thinking. For a stranger in these parts -is a mighty welcome arrival, I assure you, and like to be made much of.” - -Indeed, it was quite perceptible to the lieutenant that there was a -flutter of excitement going on in the music-room up to the very moment -of his entrance; and the welcome he got from the squire’s wife and two -daughters was quite as sincere, though not so tempestuous, as that of -the host himself. - -For Mrs. Waldron and the two young misses, her daughters, were quite as -much in love with the pleasures of the town as the husband and father -was with those of the country. And in dress, manner, conversation, -and tone they marked the difference between themselves and him as -ostentatiously as possible. - -Thus, while the squire wore the old-fashioned Ramillies wig, with -its bush of powdered hair at the sides, and long pigtail tied at the -top and bottom with black ribbon, and the loosely-fitting scarlet -coat which he had worn for any number of years, his good wife and two -round-faced, simpering daughters were all attired in the latest modes -of the town. - -They all three wore the loose sacque or _negligee_, which was then the -height of fashion; they tottered about in slim-heeled shoes, under huge -hoops which swayed as they walked; while their hair was all dressed in -the same way—knotted up tightly under the smallest and closest of caps, -making their heads look singularly small and mean, when compared with -the enormous width of their distended skirts. - -They all seemed the most amiable of living creatures; and Lieutenant -Tregenna found at last the sympathy he wanted when he expressed that -horror and hatred of smugglers which was at present the ruling passion -of his mind. The squire had left him with the ladies, and he had been -entertaining them with an account of the adventure of the preceding -night. - -“And I can assure you, madam,” he said to his hostess, when they had -hung attentively on his words, and cried, “Wretch!” “Villains!” “How -monstrous shocking!” at appropriate intervals, “that so deep-rooted has -this evil become, that even the parson and his young daughter appeared -to grieve more for the smuggler whom I wounded than they did for the -poor fellow whom the ruffians shot!” - -“His daughter! Oh, do you mean Mistress Joan?” said Mrs. Waldron, -pursing her mouth a little. “Sure, sir, what would you expect from a -country-bred wench like that, who tramps the villages and moors with -her father like a man, and is almost as much among these fearsome -wretches, the smugglers, as if she were their own kin?” - -“Oh, la, sir; you must know they call her ‘the curate,’” cried one of -the young ladies, tittering, and looking languishingly at the visitor -out of her little pink-rimmed eyes with the whitish eyelashes; “for -she’s quite as useful in his parish as he is.” - -“And I’m sure ’tis a very rational diversion for a girl of her tastes,” -said her sister. “You must know, sir, that she has never seen a play, -nor any of the diversions of the town, and that she fills up her time -twittering on a dulcimer to her father, and has barely so much as heard -of the harpsichord.” - -“I don’t wonder you was affronted by her Gothic behavior,” went on Mrs. -Waldron; “but sure ’tis very excusable in a girl who has no polish, no -refinement, and who takes no more care of her complexion than if she -was a dairymaid.” - -Tregenna felt considerable surprise at the storm of reprobation which -he had brought down on the head of poor Joan. For he could not know -that the young men of the neighborhood, and even Bertram, the squire’s -son, all showed a most boorish preference for handsome, straight-limbed -Joan, with her free bearing and her ready tongue, over the fine ladies -of Hurst Court; and that, at the Hastings assemblies, and at such routs -as were given in the neighborhood, Joan had more partners than any one -else, though her gown was seldom of the latest mode, and her only fan -was one which had belonged to her grandmother. - -“Nay; I honor and admire her for helping her father,” said the -lieutenant, hastily. “I did but grieve that a young lady of so much -spirit should take so wrong-headed a view of the matter.” - -“Your consideration is wasted upon her, sir, indeed,” said Mrs. -Waldron. “But hush! here comes her father with the squire.” - -There was no possibility of mistaking the loud, deep, cheery voice -of Parson Langney, which could be heard even above the barking of -the hounds, which was the first greeting given to every visitor. The -next moment the door opened, and Parson Langney, the squire, and his -son Bertram, entered, to be joined a few minutes later by a couple of -country gentlemen more clownish than their host. - -Bertram Waldron was an unhappy cross between the country breeding of -his father and the town airs and graces of the ladies. For while he -affected the modish cut of the town in his clothes, swore the latest -oaths, and swaggered about with a great assumption of the manners of -the beau, his rusticity peeped out every moment in his gait, and in -his strong provincial accent. - -When they all trooped into the dining-parlor, where a huge sirloin -was placed smoking on the table, it was not long before the stranger -perceived that the sympathy he had met with from the ladies was not -shared by the gentlemen. - -Not only did they express but faint interest in his collision with -the smugglers, and profess the greatest incredulity as to the alleged -magnitude of their operations, but by the time the ladies had retired, -it began to be hinted to him pretty freely, as the decanters passed -round, that the less zeal he showed in the prosecution of his raids -against the “free-traders,” the more his discretion would be respected. - -“Gad, sir; I don’t say theirs is an honest trade,” said the squire, -whose face assumed a purplish and apoplectic tint as the meal wore -on; “but I say that ’tis best to let sleeping dogs lie; and that your -soldiers will do a monstrous sight more harm than good by driving the -trade into wilder parts, where the fellows can be more daring and -more dangerous. And what I say to you, who are but a young man, and -hot with zeal, is this: that the easier you take things, the easier -things will take you. And if you won’t trust the advice of a man of my -experience—why, ask the parson there, and take his.” - -“Gad’s my life, sir; but I can take no man’s advice who bids me do -aught but what seems to me my duty!” cried the young lieutenant with -fire. He was incensed at the laxity of morals, which he now perceived -to have permeated to every class of society in the neighborhood. “I’m -here, under the orders of his Majesty—the stringent orders—to put down -smuggling and the wrecking connected with it. And what I’m sent to do, -I’ll do, please God, no matter what the difficulties in my way may be, -nor what the dangers!” - -His words were followed by a dead, an ominous silence. - -The day was dying now, and the red fire that glowed and flickered -in the wide hearth showed strange lights and shadows on the painted -ceiling, the painted and paneled walls, the long spindle-legged -sideboard, where more wine was waiting for the jovial band at the -table. - -The country gentleman, one and all, looked up at the ceiling during the -pause. - -Before any one spoke, there came to the ears of all a sound which was -easily distinguished as the gallop of horses, accompanied by the loud -shouts of men, the cracking of whips, the creaking of heavy wheels. -Lieutenant Tregenna who was near the window, jumped up, and looked out, -as a wagon, piled high with kegs, and surrounded by a band of half a -dozen armed men on horseback, dashed past the house and up the hill -towards the village. - -“Smugglers, as I live!” cried Tregenna, much excited, and turning to -attract the attention of the rest. - -But not a man of them moved; not one so much as turned his head in the -direction of the window. - -The blood flew to the young man’s brain. “Gentlemen!” cried he, as he -dashed across the room to the door; “you will excuse me. You, squire, -are a justice of the peace; and I must do my best to bring some of -these rascals before you, when, I doubt not, you will do your duty -towards them—and towards the king!” - -With that he swung out of the heated room, seized his hat and his -heavy riding-coat which lay in the hall, and dashed down the lawn -cutting across to the left, just as a party of soldiers came riding -fast up the hill in full pursuit of the smugglers. - -“A d——d coxcombical puppy!” cried one of the husky squires, as he -watched the stalwart figure of the young lieutenant making his way -rapidly past the window. “What does he want setting up his joodgment -against ours, and presuming for to think he’s a better subject of his -Majesty than what we be?” - -“Let ’un be! Let ’un be!” said the third squire, grimly. “There’s no -need to worrit ourselves about him. If he doesn’t get a bullet in his -head before many days be over, why, you may eat me for a Frenchman, and -bury my bones at the cross-roads.” - -And the rest of the company, with only one protesting voice, that of -Parson Langney, who said the lad had no fault but youth, and he hoped -he would come to no hurt, filled up their glasses and smacked their -lips over the famous port, and never asked themselves whether it had -paid duty; for, indeed, there was no mystery about that. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - AN ALLY AT LAST. - - -The soldiers were rattling on in pursuit of the smugglers at such a -good pace that Lieutenant Tregenna only reached the road in time to see -them turn the next corner and disappear. - -He followed, however, at the best pace he could, hoping to be of use -in finding out the direction the smugglers had taken. He had not yet -had time to become acquainted with the inland part of the neighborhood, -or he would have known that, by dashing across the park in a northerly -direction, he could have reached the village before the soldiers, who -had to follow the windings of the road. - -As it was, when he reached the first of the straggling cottages of the -picturesque Sussex village, the horsemen were out of sight; and the -women and children of the neighborhood seemed to be all at their doors -and windows, evidently discussing the recent invasion with boisterous -mirth. - -As Tregenna was not in uniform, he flattered himself that he might go -up the village unrecognized, and perhaps obtain some scraps of valuable -information; but whether they were better posted up than he supposed, -or whether the mere sight of a stranger awoke suspicion in the shrewd -women-folk, it was certain that as soon as they caught sight of him -they checked their volubility, and stood, with their hands on their -hips, staring at him with broad amusement still on their faces, or else -dropped a curtsey with demure and sudden respectfulness, which was in -itself somewhat suspicious. - -However, he thought he would make at least an attempt to obtain some -information. So he addressed himself to a coarse-featured woman who -might have been any age between twenty-five and forty-five, who stood -wiping her hands on her apron at the door of one of the cottages, and -who, by the curtsey she dropped and the good-humored expression of her -face, seemed to promise that she would at least give a civil answer. - -“Was that a troop of soldiers I caught sight of coming into the -village?” asked he, as indifferently as possible, when he had returned -her salutation with deferential courtesy. - -“Maybe it were, sir,” replied the woman promptly, with demure -cheerfulness; “but I doan’t rightly know. I were out at back yonder -when I heard the noise.” She glanced out of the corners of her eyes at -an older woman outside the door of the next cottage. “Old Jenny yonder -can tell ye more’n me, sir,” added she slyly; “she’s been there all the -toime.” - -Tregenna, concealing the mortification he felt, turned to Jenny. - -But her stolid face offered little hope of success. - -“Ay,” said she, in a voice like a man’s, “I’ve been sittin’ an’ -standin’ about here, I ’ave, all mornin’; but I han’t seen naught.” - -“You haven’t seen a wagon full of smugglers, maybe, coming through at -full gallop?” cried Tregenna, losing all patience with the mendacious -females. “Nor a troop of soldiers after them?” - -But the sarcasm was lost upon the good lady, who was chewing a quid of -tobacco, which he well knew to be contraband. - -“Noa, I han’t seen aught o’ that,” she replied imperturbably, looking -him steadily in the eyes the while. “Maybe I were in a dose, sir, or -had the sun in my eyes as they passed.” - -He did not trust himself to speak to her again, but went on up the -village, between the groups of straggling red cottages with their -thatched roofs overgrown with moss or lichen, noting everywhere the -sidelong looks cast at him by such of the women as did not shut -themselves in their cottages at his approach. - -The very urchins, chubby boys of eight and nine, grinned at him -maliciously, and helped to give him confirmation of the fact that he -was in an enemy’s country. - -When the ground began to rise again, at the end of the village, he came -to a point where three roads met, and where the high hedges and another -patch of wooded ground made it impossible to see far in any direction. -As all three roads were in a most villainous condition, with deep ruts -and pools and furrows of caked mud, and as all three bore marks of -horses’ hoofs the lieutenant knew that it was useless to go further. -So he returned through the village in a highly irritated state of mind. - -The excitement had subsided a little by this time, and most of the -gossips had resumed their household occupations. There was a group of -suspicious-looking loafers about the door of each of the two inns; but -although it seemed to Tregenna that the word smuggler was writ large -across the bloated features of every one, there was nothing to be done -but to look as if he ignored their existence. - -Thus, in the very worst of humors, he again reached the entrance of the -village, and, after a moment’s hesitation, struck up to the left in the -direction of the Parsonage, at the garden gate of which he saw handsome -Mistress Joan in conversation with another woman. - -He was still ostensibly bound on a mission of inquiry, yet it is -doubtful whether he hoped to get much information from Joan, who had -clearly shown herself to be one of the enemy. Still he strode up -the hill with a resolute step, and saluted her in the most abrupt, -business-like, and even somewhat offended manner. - -“Your pardon, Mistress Joan, for intruding. But ’tis in the -performance of my duty. Can you inform me whither the smugglers be gone -that rode by just now with the soldiers after them?” - -“How should I be able to tell you that, sir? Do you take me for a -smuggler myself?” asked Joan, demurely. - -He did not at once answer. The girl looked even handsomer, so it seemed -to him, in the dying light of day than she had done by the light of -moon and lantern on the preceding evening. The creamy tints of her -skin melted into bright carnation on her cheeks; and he thought, with -a flash of amusement, of the strictures of the powdered and painted -ladies of Hurst Court upon her rustic complexion. Her dress, too, -pleased his taste better than theirs had done. She wore neither hood -nor cap, and her abundant brown hair was rolled back from her forehead -in a style which was at that period somewhat old-fashioned, but which -gave infinitely more dignity to the head than the tightly screwed-up -knot of the fashionable ladies. She wore no hoop or next to none, and -her full skirt, of some sort of gray homespun, fell in graceful folds -around her. A long fine white apron reached to the hem of her dress, -and her bodice was adorned with a frilled kerchief of soft white -muslin, and with full gathers of muslin just below the elbow. The dress -was neat, simple, eminently fresh and becoming. - -Perhaps Tregenna’s masculine eye did not take in all these details; but -he was conscious that the whole effect was pleasing beyond anything -feminine he had ever seen, and vastly superior to the modish charms of -the Hurst Court ladies. He gave himself, however, little time for these -reflections before a glance at the house behind her suggested to him a -thought which he immediately put into the most matter-of-fact words. - -“You stand high here, madam; that tower to the east of your house will -give you a view over many miles. Will you favor me with your permission -to go up thither for a few minutes, that I may take a reconnaissance of -the country?” - -By the startled look which instantly came into Joan’s gray eyes, by -the crimson flush which mounted to her forehead, Tregenna saw, to his -intense annoyance, another proof that her sympathy with his foes went -beyond the passive stage. - -“Oh, you can’t go into the tower, sir; at least——” She hesitated a -moment, evidently looking for an excuse, and then went on—“at least, -in my father’s absence. If you will come hither to-morrow, or—or——” -Tregenna noticed that at this point she sought the eyes of the woman -with whom she had been talking, and who had withdrawn respectfully to a -distance of some paces on his approach. “Or the day after. ’Tis a fair -view, certainly, when there’s no mist on the marshes; but hardly worth -the trouble of climbing our staircase, which is encumbered by much -lumber of my father’s,” she ended somewhat lamely, but recovering her -composure. - -Tregenna did not at once answer, but he glanced at the house with a -scrutinizing eye. The western portion of the building, which was most -modest in dimensions, had been the banqueting-hall of a mansion as far -back as the time of King John. It had since that time gone through many -vicissitudes, and was now divided into small chambers, with the ancient -king-post of the banqueting-hall spreading its wide beams through the -upper story. On the east side of the dwelling an addition had been -made, taller than the more ancient portion, and crowned by a gabled -roof of red tiles. - -Over the whole house there hung a rich mantle of glossy dark ivy, which -had grown into a massive tree over the more ancient part, and stretched -its twining branches as far as the higher roof of the newer portion, -leaving little to be seen of the structure but the windows, the knotted -panes of which glistened like huge dewdrops in the setting sun. - -Tregenna drew himself up. He took it for granted she did not intend -him to use the Parsonage as a watch-tower, to descry the course the -smugglers had taken. - -“You are afraid, I suppose,” said he sharply, “that I might find out -the direction in which lie the haunts of ‘free-trade?’” - -Joan drew herself up in her turn. “Nay, sir,” said she quietly, “those -haunts are reached by now, I doubt not; and your friends the soldiers -will ere long be returning.” - -“May be with a few of _your_ friends, the free-traders, at their -saddle-bow, madam,” retorted the lieutenant hotly. - -“Sir, you are insulting,” said Joan. - -“Nay, madam, there is no inference to be drawn from your speech and -behavior in this matter but the one I draw.” - -“I wish you a good evening, sir,” replied Joan, as, flashing upon him -one look of indignant pride from her great brown eyes, she made him a -most stately curtsey, with her arms folded across and her head erect, -and sailed back into the house between the holly-bushes and the clipped -yews. - -There was nothing for Tregenna to do but to retire, after having -returned her curtsey with a deep bow of corresponding stiffness. As -he turned to descend the hill, he had to pass the woman who had been -talking with Joan, and who had made way for him to converse with the -young lady. He glanced at her in passing, but noted only that she was -apparently of the small-farmer class, youngish rather than young, with -a quiet, stolid country face, and sinewy, rustic hands and arms. - -Her dress was that of her class, consisting of a thick dark stuff skirt -drawn through the placket-holes, a coarse white apron, frilled white -cap, a kerchief knotted on the breast, and long close mittens. She wore -buckled shoes with stout heels, and carried a big basket on her arm. - -There was altogether nothing more remarkable about her than an air of -extreme cleanliness, neatness, and dignified respectability. - -She dropped a curtsey to the gentleman as he went by, which he returned -with a touch of the hat and a curt “Good evening.” He was in no mood -for any unnecessary exchange of civilities; for he judged by the -glance Joan had thrown in the direction of this woman that, demurely -respectable as she looked, she shared the universal sympathy with the -wrong-doers whom it was his mission to root out of the land. - -He had scarcely reached the bottom of the hill by the lane which -formed an acute angle with the village street, when the soldiers, -with the brigadier at their head, came trooping slowly through the -village on their return journey. Alas! they had no captured outlaws -at their bridle; they looked tired, hot, dispirited; their commander -was swearing lustily, after the military fashion of the times; and the -women of the village, keen-witted enough to guess that the squadron -would be in an ill-humor, kept within doors, and satisfied their -curiosity by furtive peeps from behind the drapery of their windows. - -The brigadier perceived the lieutenant, called “Halt,” in a guttural -voice, to his men, and proceeded to unfold his grievances, with a -plentiful interlarding of strange oaths. - -It was the old story that Tregenna knew so well: nobody had seen the -smugglers; nobody had heard them; nobody had the least idea that there -were such people about, or could give a suggestion as to the way they -had gone. - -“Ods my life, sir, we got to the river through following what I took -for their trail; but there was no bridge, and I knew no means of -getting across it, since the water appeared to be high and the stream -swift. So, sir, the d——d rascals may e’en be at t’other end of the -county by this, and curse me if I see how they’re to be got at, when -every wench and every child in the place is on their side—damme!” - -While he thus railed on, Tregenna became suddenly aware that he had an -attentive listener in the person of the respectable-looking woman with -the basket, who had evidently followed the lieutenant down the hill, -and who now stood close to the bridle of the brigadier’s charger, whose -nose she presently began to caress with her broad brown hand. - -The brigadier, incensed by what he considered a piece of gross -impertinence on the part of one of the country-folk, drew back his -horse with a jerk, and uttered an oath, bursting the next moment into a -not very refined reproof for her temerity. The woman remained however -entirely unmoved by it, and as the horse retreated, she followed him -up, until she again stood close to the bit he was champing. - -“May I make so bold as give him a drink of water, sir?” asked she, in -a pleasant, deep voice, with less of the rough country accent than one -would have expected from her. “Sure you’ve had a long, hard ride, and -one should be merciful to one’s beast.” - -Tregenna glanced at her with more interest than before. When she spoke, -there was a certain quiet authority about her, most proper to the -mistress of a farmhouse; and he perceived that she was younger by some -years than he had supposed, not more than eight and twenty perhaps, -and that her features, though not handsome, had a homely attraction of -their own when animated by the action of speaking. - -The brigadier, who, true to his profession, looked upon himself as a -rake of the first water, cocked his hat, put his hand to his side, -and leered at her with a roguish air, which was, in truth, not so -fascinating in a gentleman of his portly build and purplish complexion -as he fancied. - -“You wenches in these parts are kinder to the beasts than to their -riders, egad!” said he, with a shake of the head that set his bob-wig -wagging merrily. “You don’t offer me a drink; and if I was to beg such -a favor of you as a word to tell me where to find the smugglers, I’ll -be sworn you’d give me a stare like the rest of ’em, and vow you’d -never heard of the creatures!” - -The woman listened to him with modest gravity, her face quite stolid, -her eyes on the horse. Then she said, in a quiet, even tone, without -either prudery or coquetry, but with an air of being much interested by -what he said— - -“Well, sir, I’m not going to tell you that. I know to my cost the -things that go on in these parts, and that there’s many a man ruined -for an honest calling by being drawn in with these folks. You see, -sir, it be in the air, and they breathe it in from childhood up, so to -speak.” - -“That’s it; that’s it, my good woman!” cried the brigadier -enthusiastically. “Egad, my lass, you’re the first person I’ve met in -these parts to admit even so much. Now tell me, think you not ’twould -be better for you all if this thing, this free-trade, as they falsely -call it, was rooted out?” - -“Ay, sir, I do think so,” said the woman earnestly. “And if I thought -you’d do your work without too rough a hand, I’d lead you to their -haunts myself.” - -“You would? You would?” cried the brigadier, with great eagerness. -“Well, then, you may rely on me. If you’ll but take me to the spot -where they harbor, I’ll be as gentle as a lamb with the ruff—I should -say, with the poor misguided fellows.” - -“Come, sir, then, with me,” said the woman, as she at once began to -lead the way back through the village at a smart pace. - -The brigadier turned his horse, and commanded his men to follow, and in -a few minutes every horseman was again lost to sight at the bend of the -road. - -Lieutenant Tregenna, who had heard this colloquy, had been inclined to -think, from the woman’s manner, that in her indeed they had got hold of -a decent-minded person who had no sympathy with the thieves. - -But happening to glance up at the latticed window under the eaves -of the nearest cottage he caught sight of two faces, a man’s and a -woman’s, in convulsions of laughter. A cursory examination of such -other windows as were near enough for him to see revealed similar -phenomena. - -And the question darted into his mind: Was the respectable-looking -woman a friend of the smugglers? And was it her intention to lead the -soldiers into an ambuscade? - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - FRESH OUTRAGES. - - -Tregenna debated with himself whether he should run after the brigadier -and put him on his guard. But a moment’s reflection convinced him that -a word of warning from a young man like himself would be received -with resentment rather than with gratitude by the old soldier. After -all, the soldiers were well armed, and were presumably prepared for -emergencies. - -So he turned his back on the village, and made his way over the cliffs -to the creek where the gig was lying to take him to the cutter. - -It was at the mouth of the little ravine down which Parson Langney and -his daughter had gone on the preceding evening. - -It was dark in this cleft between the sandstone hills, dark and -cool, with a breeze that rushed through from the sea and whistled in -the scrubby pines and through the arching briers of the blackberry -bushes. The stream which flowed swiftly down, making little trickling -waterfalls from rock to rock, was swollen by recent rains, and made -little patches of morass and mire at every few steps. The lieutenant -found the water over his ankles half a dozen times on his way down. He -had just come in sight of the opening where the gig lay when, drawing -his right foot out of a mossy swamp that squelched under his tread, he -saw, with a sudden chill, that his boot was dyed a deep, murky red. - -Scenting another outrage, he uttered an exclamation, and looked about -him. Trickling down the side of the ravine into the mud and water of -the little patch of swamp was a dark red stream—and the stream was -blood. - -He uttered a cry, a call; no one answered. The next moment he was -scrambling up the side of the ravine. - -At the top, lying in a patch of gorse that fringed the edge of the -broken cliff, was the body of a coastguardsman, his head nearly severed -from his body, and with the blood still oozing from the ghastly wound -which had killed him. - -The poor fellow’s hands and limbs were ice cold; he had been dead some -time. A sheath-knife, such as sailors use, apparently the weapon with -which the murder had been effected, lay among the bushes a few paces -off. - -The lieutenant ground his teeth. Not thieves alone, but murderers, -were these wretches with whom the whole country-side was in league. -He picked up the knife, with the dried blood upon it; there was a -name scratched roughly on the blade, “Ben Bax.” It was a name new to -Tregenna, and strong as the clue seemed, it inspired him with but faint -hopes of bringing the murderer to punishment. The whole neighborhood -would conspire to shield the author of the outrage; the very fact of -the knife, with the name on it, having been left behind, showed with -what cynical impunity the wretches went about their work. - -However, here was at last a deed which not even Squire Waldron could -excuse, not even Joan Langney could palliate. The man was dead; there -was nothing to be done for him. But information must be given of the -murder without delay. - -Tregenna was near enough to the gig to hail the men in charge of it, -and these hurried up to the spot without delay. - -They knew of the raid, but not of the murder. During the lieutenant’s -absence a suspicious-looking sloop had been sighted at anchor some -little distance away. A watch had been kept upon her from the cutter, -and a boat seen to push off and make for the marshes. - -The cutter’s crew had manned a boat and given chase, only to find that -they had been drawn off in pursuit of a decoy craft, containing nothing -contraband, while the men remaining on the cutter had the mortification -to see a second boat, piled high with kegs and full of smugglers armed -to the teeth, row up the creek, land crew and cargo, and then return to -the sloop, exchanging shots with the cutter’s men, without effect on -either side. - -The cutter’s men, however, had seen nothing of the murder, for the -irregularities of the ground and the scrubby undergrowth of gorse and -bramble had hidden the struggle from their sight, though, but for -this circumstance, the spot would have been within the range of their -telescopes. - -Lieutenant Tregenna lost not a moment in returning to Hurst, to report -the outrage to Squire Waldron, whose lenity could not afford to excuse -such a barbarous act as this on the part of his free-traders. - -He went by the shortest way this time, taking the foot-track over -the hills, by which Parson Langney and his daughter had come on the -previous night. - -Perhaps the ghastly sight he had just witnessed had sharpened his -faculties; for before he had gone far over the worn grass of the path -he caught sight of some marks which arrested his attention. Stooping to -look at them, and then kneeling on the short turf, peering closely at -the ground, he soon satisfied himself that the marks were bloodstains, -and that they followed the course he was taking. - -Feeling sure that he was on the track of another piece of the -free-traders’ sanguinary work, he went back on his steps, and traced -the bloodstains to a thicket by the side of the footpath, where there -were traces, in broken branches and down-trodden bracken, of the -wounded creature, whether man or animal, having hidden or rested. - -And then it flashed suddenly across his mind that it was near this -spot that the smuggler must have stood at whom he himself had, on the -previous evening, fired with what he had believed at the time to be -good effect. - -If this were so, and if this were the trail of the wounded man, he -might be able, by following it up, to find at least one of the guilty -fraternity, and bring him to justice. - -Fired with this belief, which was like a ray of golden hope in the -black despair which had been settling on him, he turned again, and -following the track of the bloodstains, which were dry, although -evidently recent, he went steadily on in the direction of Hurst, -looking always on the ground, and not noticing at first whither the -track was leading him. - -It was with a start and a sudden chill that he presently recognized, -on raising his head when the ground began to rise, that it was to the -Parsonage that the marks led. - -To the Parsonage—where he had stood talking to Joan Langney that -afternoon! For a moment he felt sick, and faltered in his purpose. He -did not want to bring shame, disgrace, upon that house of all others. -Yet what was to be done? If she and her father were indeed harboring -one of the ferocious pack with whom he and his men had been in conflict -on the preceding night, why should he hesitate to accuse them of the -fact, and to demand that the rascal should be handed over to justice? - -He was sorry to have to do it, almost passionately sorry; for even -Joan’s prevarication, her defense of the outlaws, her defiance of -himself, had not availed to destroy the admiration he felt for the -handsome, fearless maiden who was her father’s right hand, and who was -ready to dare all dangers in the cause of what she considered her duty. - -But, then, there was his own duty to be considered. And that demanded -that he should seize the smallest clue to the authors of the outrages -which followed one another thick and fast, and showed an almost -inconceivable audacity on the part of the smugglers. - -He marched, therefore, after a few minutes’ hesitation, boldly upwards, -and following the track of the bloodstains still, found himself, in a -few minutes, not at the front of the house, where he had been that -morning, but at a garden-gate at the back. - -He lifted the latch and entered. The bloodstains were faintly visible -in the dusk, on the gravel of the path that took him up to the back -door of the house. - -And there, on the very doorstep, was a keg of contraband brandy. - -The sight of this gave Tregenna fresh nerve; and he knocked with his -cane loudly at the door. - -It was opened by Joan herself. - -It was almost dark by this time; but he saw the look of horror and -dismay which flashed across her face when she saw who her visitor was. -Her glance passed quickly to the keg on the step below, but only for a -moment. Then, without appearing to notice that very suspicious article, -she addressed Tregenna, not discourteously, but with decided coldness. - -“What is your pleasure, sir? Are you come to see my father? He is not -yet returned.” - -“I am not come to see your father, madam, but another person who is -harboring beneath this roof; the smuggler who is taking refuge here -from the consequences of his ill deeds.” - -She was taken by surprise, and the look which crossed her candid face -betrayed her. - -“’Tis in vain for you to deny it, madam,” pursued Tregenna, boldly, -“for I have proof of what I say.” - -There was a short pause, and then Joan said steadily— - -“I do not deny it.” - -Certain as he had felt of the truth of his surmise, Tregenna felt that -his breath was taken away for a moment by this cool confession. He was -shocked, grieved, through all the triumph he felt at having, as he -thought, at last run his prey to earth. - -“You deny not, madam,” he went on, in an altered voice, “that you have -beneath your roof a thief, and if not a murderer, at least an associate -and accomplice of murderers?” - -“A murderer! No, I will not believe that,” cried Joan, warmly. - -“Well a smuggler, if that name please you better, though in truth -there’s mighty little difference between them. I am come, then, madam, -to see this smuggler, and to endeavor to find out whether he is the man -that cruelly stabbed to death a poor coastguardsman but a couple or so -of hours ago.” - -“It was not he,” said Joan, hastily. “He hath been here since last -night.” - -“Ah! then he was engaged in the fight with us last night; and ’twas he, -doubtless, whom I shot in the leg as he got away.” - -“And is not the wound, think you, sir, a sufficient injury to have -inflicted on him, that you must relentlessly track him down for fresh -punishment?” - -“Madam, ’tis no matter of personal feeling; ’tis in the king’s name, -and on the king’s behalf, I charge you to give him up to justice.” - -“Then, in the name of justice and of humanity, I refuse!” said Joan, -passionately, as she threw her handsome head back, and fixed upon him -a look of proud defiance. “The man who takes shelter in my father’s -house, should be safe there, were he the greatest criminal on earth; -and how much more when he comes bleeding from a wound inflicted by the -men who should be our protectors!” - -Exasperated as Tregenna was by the difficulties which she put in his -way, he could not help admiring her spirit. He answered more mildly -than he would have done had her defiant speech been uttered by another -mouth— - -“Nay, madam, you will not suffer us to protect you from the wrong-doers -and their works; you side with them, against us and the law!” - -“Who is that talks of the law?” cried a cheery voice from the narrow -hall behind Joan. - -And Parson Langney, in a very genial mood, having but just returned -from Hurst Court and the merrymakers there, presented himself at the -doorway where his daughter made way for him. - -“You have a smuggler here, sir, whom I beg you to give up to justice,” -said Tregenna. “I can prove that he hath taken a foremost part in a -raid and a fight with my men; and sure Miss Joan may rest satisfied -with what you have done for him, and let justice take its course now.” - -The parson glanced at his daughter with a change of countenance— - -“Well,” said he, “the soldiers are at Hurst Court; bring them hither, -and make a search of my house, if you please. You will find but a poor -fellow that lies sick with a wound in his leg. I fear me poor Tom will -never live to take his trial if he be moved from where he lies with the -fever that is on him now.” - -“He shall be used with all gentleness, sir, I promise you. And sorry am -I to have to intrude upon you and your kind charity in this manner. But -you are aware, sir, that I must do my duty.” - -“Ay, sir, as we do ours,” replied the parson, sturdily. “We ask not -what a man has done when he comes to us for help. We ask but what we -can do for him, be he friend or be he foe.” - -“I know it, sir. I have experienced your kindness—and Mistress Joan’s.” - -The young lady now stood a little in the background, looking anxious -and perturbed. She hardly glanced at him when he uttered her name. - -“You will pardon me, sir, for being forced to incommode you thus.” - -“You must do your duty, sir,” retorted Parson Langney, dryly. - -“And you will admit us when we come with a warrant?” - -“Ay, sir.” - -Tregenna bowed and withdrew. Halfway down the garden path he heard a -noise behind him, and turned. Parson Langney was busy rolling the keg -of brandy into his house. On meeting the lieutenant’s eyes, the parson, -hardly pausing in his labor, sang out with much simplicity— - -“’Tis but the physician’s fee, sir. And sure, the laborer is worthy of -his hire!” - -And with that, he gave the keg a final roll, got it within doors, and -drew the bolt. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - A LOAD OF HAY. - - -Lieutenant Tregenna was quite prepared to find the gentlemen at Hurst -Court in a very merry mood, after the hours which they had spent at the -dinner-table since his abrupt departure. - -He sent in his message that his business was urgent, and chose to wait -in the great hall, with the staghounds sniffing about his ankles, -rather than have to discuss small-talk with the ladies, as the old -butler wished him to do. - -In a few minutes Squire Waldron, not very steady as to gait, or clear -as to utterance, came out of the dining-parlor, followed by the -brigadier, who was less coherent still. - -The news of the murder of the coastguardsman, however, startled them -both into sobriety; and the squire made less difficulty than Tregenna -had expected about making out a warrant for the apprehension of the -one man whom he had tracked down. - -“What’s his name, say you?” asked the squire, who had conducted his -companions into the study, through the walls of which they could hear -the stertorous snoring of the other guests, who had fallen asleep, -whether upon or under the table Tregenna could only guess. - -“I know only that he is called Tom,” replied Tregenna, who remembered -that the parson had uttered that name. - -“Ah, then ’twill be ‘Gardener Tom,’ as they call him, as fine a -lad as ever you clapped eyes on,” almost sighed the squire, as he -began to make out the warrant, not without erasures, in a decidedly -‘after-dinner’ handwriting. “Poor Tom, poor Tom! You will not have him -moved to-night, general, and jolt a man in a fever across the marshes -to Rye?” - -“Egad, squire, since he will certainly be hanged, what signifies a -jog more or less to his rascally bonesh?” retorted the brigadier -ferociously. - -The warrant made out, and the soldiers summoned from the servants’ -hall, where they had been regaled by the squire’s command, the -lieutenant and the brigadier took leave of their host, and started from -the house without loss of time, Tregenna keeping pace on foot with the -officer’s charger, while the soldiers followed. - -The brigadier was in the highest spirits, and was inclined to look down -upon Tregenna’s capture, and upon his methods of work. - -“’S’no use, my lad, no mortal use,” he said, laying down the law -with vigor, and trying to sit straight upon the saddle so that his -gesticulating arm should not overbalance him, “to try t’ get on in -anything without th’ women! Now, I alwaysh make up to th’ women!” he -went on, with a wink and a roguish leer; “and they’re going to pull me -through thish time, as they’ve done a hundred timesh afore! Did you -see me with that lass?” he went on, resting his hand upon his hip, and -cocking his hat knowingly. “That lass that went up the village with me?” - -“A decent-looking woman, that has the appearance of a farmer’s wife or -daughter?” said Tregenna, somewhat dryly. - -“Ay, that’s she. Name’s Ann Price, keepsh house for her brother, who’s -a farmer living a little way inland yonder. Forget name of place. -Squire told me all about her. Fine woman, sir; doosed fine woman; -sh’perior woman, too, monstrous sh’perior. She’s going to put me on the -track of the beggars; took me up the hill, and showed me the way to one -of their haunts, that she did, sir. Though in these parts one wouldn’t -have thought she’d ha’ dared do it, sir; and she wouldn’t if I hadn’t -known how to wheedle it out of her!” - -“You don’t think, general, she was playing you false?” - -“False! No, sir. I’m too devilish artful to be played tricks with. No, -sir; I played with her as a cat plays with a mouse, and led her on so -far that she can’t draw back. She is to come and see me at my quarters -in Rye next market day, and—” he paused a moment to give a fatuous -chuckle—“if I don’t get out of her afore she goes back every damned -thing I want to know, why, sir, then they may court-martial me for a -d-d-d-damned blunderer, sir!” - -Tregenna did not attempt to betray further his doubts as to the woman’s -good faith. But when they reached the angle where the road through the -village was joined by the by-road up to the Parsonage, and he saw a -woman’s figure which he thought he recognized at the door of one of -the cottages, he dropped behind, and let the brigadier, who had the -warrant, and the soldiers, go up to the Parsonage without him. - -As he had supposed, the woman who had attracted his attention proved -indeed to be Ann Price, who now wore a long round cloak of full pleats, -with a hood attached to it, and who appeared to be waiting for some one. - -It was so dark by this time that the poor oil-lamp over the door of -the little thatched inn opposite made a small patch of light in the -miry roadway; into this patch, while the woman still stood waiting, -and Tregenna watched her, came, reeling from the inn-door, a tall, -brawny, muscular man, in a rough fisherman’s dress, wearing on his head -the long, knitted, tasseled cap of his kind. He had a couple of huge -pistols stuck in his belt, which showed under the flaps of his loose, -open coat; and his whole appearance betrayed the unmistakable fact -that he was no peaceful seafarer, but an active participator in the -contraband trade of the neighborhood. - -Crossing the road with an unsteady gait, and uttering the while a -chuckling, coarse laugh, he made his way towards the woman, who, by a -quick movement, avoided his close approach. - -“Why, Ann, my lass, what’s to do that thou’rt grown too nice to give a -greeting to a friend, and thy cousin to boot? Is’t for yon knave Tom -thou’rt grieving? Ods life, but he’s no fit match for thee; thou’lt -never wed with a landsman, thou, when there’s a better man ready, eh, -lass?” - -And with that he steadied himself, ran towards her, intercepted her as -she would have gone through the alley between the cottages, and seized -her roughly by the cloak. - -“Coom, lass, no airs with me!” he said, in an angry tone, as she tried, -to wrench her cloak away from his grasp. “Thou canst keep thy coyness -for the soldier-chaps.” - -“Have done, Ben!” cried Ann, imperiously, but in a low voice. “Dost -want to have the soldiers after thee? They’re nigh enough!” - -“What care I for the fules in red? or thou either, cousin Ann? Come, -now, one kiss, lass, and I’ll be gone.” - -Seeing that the man, who was a hulking rascal some six feet high, and -broad in proportion, was plainly preparing to take by force what he -could not get by coaxing, Tregenna hurried up to rescue the woman from -her too persistent admirer. - -To his surprise, however, before he came up with the disputants, Ann -suddenly struck out with her right fist straight from the shoulder, -caught the unsteady Ben unawares, and landed him flat on his back in -the mud in the middle of the road. - -“Well done!” cried Tregenna, involuntarily below his breath. - -“Get up, Ben!” cried Ann, as it were apologetically, and without the -least resentment. “Thou shouldst not ha’ crossed me, lad.” - -Ben was sitting up, and swearing the most appalling oaths. Perceiving -Tregenna, and hearing his ejaculation, he was seized with a sudden -access of brutal ferocity; and with a yell of rage he clapped his hand -to his belt, drew out one of the huge pistols he wore, and, pointing it -at the lieutenant, would have fired at him, if Ann had not sprung into -the middle of the roadway with astounding agility, and jerked up the -weapon. - -“Up, up!” cried she, in a low voice; “up and begone. You must do no -more mischief to-night.” - -Ben continued to swear, but he obeyed her, getting up slowly and with -difficulty, and meekly suffering her to strip off his coat, which she -put into his hands, telling him to get the hostess of the Frigate to -cleanse it for him. This command also he took with docility; but once -more catching sight of Tregenna as he turned to re-enter the inn, he -shook his fist at him, and growled out something which sounded like a -threat of settling arrears between them on some future occasion. - -When he had disappeared within the hospitable doors of the Frigate, -whence issued a great noise of singing, shouting, and hoarse laughter, -Ann turned with some appearance of impatience to the lieutenant. - -“Why are you not with your friends, the soldiers, searching the -parson’s house, yonder?” she asked shortly. - -He did not tell her the truth, that he was suspicious of her, and was -keeping watch on her movements, wondering for whom she was waiting. He -only said— - -“There are enough of them to perform that simple office. And I am loath -to incommode Mistress Joan, by forcing upon her more intruders than can -do the task there is to do.” - -“Nay, then, you should return to your ship, sir; for there be a wild -sort of characters about to-night, and none too sober. Your person is -known, too, and you may chance to get a bullet through you, which will -further neither the king’s cause nor your own, I reckon.” - -“I thank you for the advice, mistress,” said Tregenna, who was more -interested in this grave woman with the quiet manners, low voice, -and tranquil air of authority, the more he saw of her. “But ’tis my -business to carry my life in my hand; and truly the vicinity of a woman -as quick of eye and ready of hand as yourself is as safe a one as I -could wish.” - -But Ann Price shook her head. “I might not always be so fortunate,” -said she. “Besides, I must be stirring myself. I have another two miles -to trudge to get to my mother’s home.” - -“If my escort would be any protection to you, which, perhaps, you would -deny, me-thinks ’twould be less hazardous than a walk across a wild -road alone.” - -Dark as it was; for the light given by the moon was as yet but faint, -and the inn’s oil-lamp scarcely threw its light so far as the place -where they stood, Tregenna fancied he saw a smile on her face. She -answered quite gravely, however— - -“I shall not walk, I thank you, sir. I have a load of hay to take -home; and yonder, as I think, comes the cart with it. I’ll bid you a -good-night, sir.” - -She was looking up the road, and listening, Tregenna heard the creaking -of wheels; but he did not take her hint to retreat; he followed her, as -she went to meet the cart, which was at that moment descending into the -main street by a narrow lane behind the cottages on the right. He was -suspicious of that cart with its load of hay. - -There was a great difficulty in getting the heavy wheels out of the -mire of the lane; and Ann hurried to the assistance of the young boy -who was leading the horse. At the same moment, the brigadier, cursing -loud and deep, came at a smart pace down the hill from the Parsonage. - -“They’ve tricked us! They’re a set of rascally thieves!” yelled he, as -soon as he caught sight of Tregenna. “Your parson and his daughter are -in league with the smugglers, damn them!” - -“Why, what—what mean you, general?” - -“We’ve searched the house, from garret to cellar; and devil a ghost of -a smuggler is there in the place.” - -Tregenna glanced quickly from the brigadier to the hay-cart, which was -just clear of the lane. As he did so, he was on the point of suggesting -to the brigadier that he and his soldiers should follow that vehicle, -when he was stopped by seeing Ann Price raise her arm, while, at the -same moment, she hailed him in a clear voice— - -“Sir, one moment! Will you come hither, sir?” - -It was plainly Tregenna whom she addressed. It is doubtful whether the -brigadier even recognized his charmer of the daylight hours, for the -frown did not lift from his brows, neither did he salute her in any way. - -Tregenna, with a word to his companion, returned quickly to the woman’s -side. - -“Maybe, sir,” said she, in the same low, level voice as before, “you -would not mind if I use my sex’s privilege, and beg you’ll be so good -as come with me as far as the ford. The roads be monstrous bad, and -I’ve but this little lad with me, to help me at a pinch to get the cart -along.” - -Tregenna assented at once; though by no means so confiding or so -self-confident as the brigadier, and well aware that there was -something rather uncanny, rather mysterious, about this woman who could -fell a man like an ox while addressing him with lamb-like gentleness; -he was too young, too full-blooded, not to relish the adventure, and -was quite ready to face the danger into which she might lead him. - -His first idea had been that the cartful of hay was merely a receptacle -for contraband goods, and it had been his intention to make this -suggestion to the brigadier. But this request on the part of the woman -that he should accompany her on her drive, necessarily put that notion -out of his head. - -He got up beside her, the boy mounted behind, and they started on their -journey, jogging through the miry, rutty roads at a snail’s pace, with -the lantern swinging on the off-side of the cart with every motion of -the vehicle. - -They went so slowly, and the cart was so uncomfortable from the lack -of springs, that the journey would have been miserably tedious but for -the interest Tregenna felt in the woman herself, an interest which -increased tenfold as he listened to her conversation. - -She was very frank, very straightforward, and made no more pretense -than she had done to the brigadier of being shocked by the doings of -the smugglers. - -“They’ve been brought up to it like to a trade,” said she, “and it’s -passed from father to son. And when duties be high, so I’ve heard -say, the free-traders start up from the ground like to mushrooms. And -look, sir, be they so much to blame as the folks that buy their goods -from them, and that think no harm of getting goods cheap, seeing that, -after all, defrauding a Government never seems like the same thing as -defrauding a man? Governments doan’t seem to be flesh and blood like to -ourselves, do they, sir?” - -“Well, maybe not. But still——” - -“Still, it brings it home to us that ’tis a crime to smuggle when the -king sends down a troop of redcoats to shoot us down, sir. Ah, yes, -sir, I’m not defending ’em, though there’s many a good-hearted lad -among them; ay, and some of my own kin too, I’m main sorry to tell.” - -“Surely they’ll not be so foolhardy as to continue in these ways, now -that they must do it at such fearsome risk!” urged Tregenna. - -“Nay, sir, I know not. But ’twould be a fair day for Sussex if you -could but get the men to give it up, and to take to honester work -again.” - -The words were hardly out of her mouth when the cart sank down into a -small morass with such a jerk that Tregenna, less used to this type of -vehicle than his companions, was all but precipitated into the road. At -the same moment a slight groan from the back part of the cart struck -upon his ears, and startled him considerably. - -All at once it flashed into his mind that it was not a load of -contraband tobacco and spirits, laces and silks that the hay was -concealing, but the wounded smuggler Tom, who had eluded the brigadier, -escaping by the back way from the Parsonage on the approach of the -soldiers. Almost at the same moment he realized why it was that Ann -Price had shown such a sudden desire for his own company. The artful -woman had guessed his suspicions of herself and her load of hay, and -had invited Tregenna to put him off the scent, and to avoid having her -vehicle overhauled by the soldiers. - -He took care not to betray, by word or sign, that he had heard that -groan from the wounded man; he went on talking to Ann, getting her -opinions on agricultural topics, which she gave with characteristic -intelligence. And all the while he was congratulating himself that he -should find out where Tom lived, and be able to follow him up and bring -him to justice. - -There was another thing that he wished to find out: whether the tipsy -smuggler whom Ann Price had treated so cavalierly was the “Ben Bax” -whose knife he had found beside the murdered coastguardsman. He put the -question to her direct— - -“Was that fellow who affronted you in the street yonder the man they -call ‘Ben Bax’?” he asked at the first convenient opening in their -conversation. - -But Ann, whether she knew the reason of his question or not, was -cautious in her answer. - -“Maybe,” she answered, as if indifferently, “there be plenty o’ Baxes -in these parts; they’re in every village. I know not whether I ever -heard yonder fellow called by any other name than ‘Ben the Blast.’” - -“He’s a fisherman, I suppose, by his dress?” pursued Tregenna. - -She gave him a straight look, turning her head stolidly towards him to -do so. - -“He’s mate of a merchantman, I think,” said she. “We don’t see much of -him up here, and we shouldn’t mind if we saw less. He’s a rough fellow, -and free with his fists when he’s in liquor.” - -“It seems you know how to manage him, however,” said Tregenna. - -Ann only smiled. And Tregenna, who saw that she meant to let him know -no more, allowed the subject to drop. - -They had by this time jogged some distance out of the village, and were -descending a slope towards the river. - -“We shall have to cross the water by the ford,” said she. “You’re not -afraid, sir, to do it in the dark?” - -“Not with you,” answered Tregenna, promptly. “Have you much further to -go, when the river is crossed?” - -“Not above another mile,” replied Ann. “And if you can’t stay the night -at the farm, sir, we can put you in the way of coming back by a path, a -little higher up, where there’s a ferry-boat to take you across.” - -“Thanks,” replied Tregenna. “I wish I could avail myself of your -hospitality, but I must return to my boat to-night.” - -They were descending the hill in the same jog-trot fashion, and were -within a few yards of the river, which was flowing swiftly, and looked, -Tregenna thought, somewhat perilous to negotiate, when Ann uttered an -exclamation of dismay. - -“Mercy on me!” cried she, in a tone of great annoyance, “if I haven’t -dropped my whip! And it’ll need all the lashing I can give her to get -the mare across, with the river running as swift as it does to-night.” - -She had reined in the animal, and was peering round in the road with -anxious eyes. - -“Did you mind, sir, when I had it last? Nay, nay, for sure you don’t. -You’d have spoken if you’d seen it drop. Would you hold the reins a -moment, sir, while I go back up the hill in search of it?” - -“Nay, I’ll do that,” replied Tregenna readily. “I’ll take the lantern.” - -He had unfastened the great clumsy thing from the side of the vehicle -while he spoke, and had already begun his search. He had almost reached -the crest of the hill before he found the whip, lying in a pool of mud -under the hedge by the side of the road. - -“Hey!” cried he, as he picked it up and cracked it in the air. “I’ve -found it!” - -As he turned, with the lantern in one hand, and the whip in the other, -and looked down the hill towards the cart, he was astonished to see, -by the light of the moon which had grown stronger since they started, -the lad who had been at the back of the cart leap up to the seat beside -Ann, with a long stick, cut from the hedge, in his hand. - -The next moment, with a speed which, compared with her former jog-trot, -was like that of an arrow from a bow, the mare was galloping towards -the river, lashed unsparingly by her driver. - -Pursuit was hopeless. Almost before Tregenna had time to recognize -that he had been tricked, the cart, swaying, splashing, dashing through -little eddies of foam, was in the middle of the stream. - -He ran a few paces, stumbling in the ruts of the road, and muttering -uncomplimentary things of the high-spirited lady and all her sex. -But, long before he reached his side of the river the cart had gained -the other, and was galloping along the road at a pace which put all -thoughts of overtaking it to flight. - -Disgusted, furious, and vowing vengeance against both Ann and smuggler -Tom, Lieutenant Tregenna dashed the lantern on the ground, flung the -whip into the middle of the stream, and returned towards the shore -as fast as possible, taking a byway to the cliffs, lest any of Ann’s -friends should see him, and rejoice at his discomfiture. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - A COLLISION. - - -On the following day Tregenna sent word to General Hambledon that he -had better search the neighborhood of Rede Hall for “Gardener Tom,” who -had escaped him at the Parsonage on the previous evening. - -But he had very little hope of any result; and his fears were justified -when, a few days later, he met the brigadier, who had, of course, been -as completely fooled by the artful Ann as Tregenna himself had been. - -Ann, whom the general had found with her arms in the wash-tub, placid, -stolid, and as amiable as ever, had made profuse apologies for her -behavior to Tregenna, whom she professed herself ashamed to meet. She -had had no idea, she said, that there was any one hidden in the cart -until the lieutenant had got out in search of the lost whip. Then a -man had started up from under the hay, put a pistol to her head, and -threatened her with instant death if she did not drive on, which she -was thus forced to do. After crossing the river, he had jumped out at -the first bend of the road, and she had no idea what had become of him. - -Even the brigadier seemed to have his doubts about the entire truth of -Ann’s story; but Tregenna, who knew it was a tissue of falsehoods, said -nothing. He perceived already that General Hambledon’s precious plan of -“getting hold of the women, my boy,” only had the result of letting the -women get hold of him. - -Then there came a lull in the excitement of the times. Ben the Blast -had disappeared from the neighborhood, without Tregenna’s having been -able to identify him with the owner of the blood-stained knife. There -were no more raids; there were no more discoveries, things seemed -to have settled down, and it appeared impossible to suspect the -peaceful-looking carters and plowmen who went stolidly about their work -in the fields, looking as placid and unenterprising as their own oxen, -of having had any hand in the lawless practises which the soldiers and -the cutter’s men had been sent to quell. - -The cutter was generally cruising about, keeping a sharp lookout on the -coast for suspicious-looking craft, so that Tregenna got very little -time ashore. On the rare occasions when he did get as far inland as the -village of Hurst, he always felt a longing to call at the Parsonage and -twit Joan with her lawless behavior in helping a criminal to escape. - -He was returning to the shore one day, after paying a duty visit -to Hurst Court, where the ladies’ sympathy with him had been quite -overwhelming, though he shrewdly guessed that their silken frocks had -been cheaply come by, when he saw Mistress Joan, with a small flock of -sheep before her, and a long osier wand in her hand, coming across the -high ground from the marsh. - -She instantly checked her pace, as if to give him an opportunity to -pass before she and her flock came up with him. But he, of course, -checked his speed too, and raised his hat with a deep bow as soon as -she came near. - -Joan threw back the heavy folds of her hooded cloak, and curtsied -politely, but with a certain stately bashfulness which showed that his -anxiety to meet her had scarcely been reciprocated. - -Tregenna, however, was not to be daunted. He could not help feeling a -strong interest in the spirited young creature, and his heart had leapt -up at the chance of speaking with her again. - -“Turned shepherdess, I perceive, Mistress Joan!” said he, leaving the -road to meet her as he spoke. - -“And not a very skilful one, I fear,” replied she, keeping her gaze -fixed on the sheep, who showed a decided inclination to wander. “They -belong to an old dame that lives on the edge of the marsh yonder; and I -offered to bring them into the village, and to fold them for the night -in our own meadow, that they might go to market to-morrow morning with -those of a neighbor.” - -“May I not assist you in your task? ’Tis no easy one, I see.” - -“And have you no fear, sir, lest they should be the property of -smugglers, or lest the wool which covers them be the receptacle of -contraband goods, even as innocent hay may be?” asked she, with a -certain demure mischief in her tone which piqued him. - -“Well, madam, since you challenge me,” retorted Tregenna, “I own I may -have reason for such thoughts; for you have shown a marked tenderness, -if I must say so, towards the breakers of the law, even to assisting a -criminal to escape, that had a warrant out against him.” - -A change came over Joan’s handsome face. The look of mutinous mischief -in her eyes gave place to a certain wistful kindliness even more -attractive. And she spoke in such a tender, pleading, gentle voice -that, if Tregenna had harbored any resentful feelings towards her, he -must have been disarmed. - -“Ah, sir,” said she, “it is hard for you to understand, and I doubt -not we must seem perverse in your eyes. But do but place yourself in -imagination where we stand, and consider whether your own feelings -would not be the same as ours, did you but live our life, and have -your home among these poor folk as we have. Remember, sir, we have had -our abode here since I was but an infant. When my mother died, and my -father was left with me, a babe of but a few months old, on his hands, -all the country-folk for miles round offered to nurse me, tend me, do -what they could to help the pastor they already loved. I was taken to -a farmhouse where this very Tom, whom we sheltered from your soldiers, -was running about, a little lad who could scarce speak plain. He was my -companion ere I could walk; he would carry me in his arms to see the -ducks in the pond, fetch me the early primroses, rock me to sleep in -the cradle which was placed for warmth by the big farmhouse fireplace. -Think you, sir, those are memories one can ever forget? Think you I -would suffer the man who was my playmate all those years ago to be -imprisoned, hanged, while I could put out a hand to save him? No, sir. -Poor Tom’s no villain. And even if he were, I would not give him up, -no, nor the sons and brothers of the kind-hearted women who tended me -in my childhood!” - -And Joan’s proud eyes flashed on him a look of passionate defiance, of -noble enthusiasm, which for a moment struck him dumb. - -“Madam,” he said at last, almost humbly, “’tis very true we cannot look -upon these men, nay, nor even upon these deeds, with the same eyes. I -only pray that you will make allowance for my point of view, as I do -for yours; and that you will suffer that we may be foes, if we must be -foes, after the most indulgent manner.” - -Joan, who had suffered her attention to be diverted from her -troublesome charges during her harangue, now perceived that they had -wandered some distance away. She therefore curtsied hastily to the -lieutenant, and saying briefly, but with a merry laugh, “Ay, sir, we -will be the most generous of foes!” she ran off to gather her flock -together again. - -Tregenna would have liked to follow and help her in her task, but he -hardly dared, after the reception he had met with at her hands. Without -being positively unfriendly, she had been defiant, daring, audacious; -she had let him see that there was a barrier between them which she, at -least, regarded as insurmountable. And piqued more than ever, conscious -that he admired her more than he had done before, Tregenna was obliged -to turn reluctantly in the direction of the shore. - -October had come, bringing with it a succession of misty evenings when -the marshes were covered with a low-lying cloud of whitish vapor, while -a gray haze hung over sea and shore, making it difficult to keep a -proper lookout for smuggling craft, and for the experienced and cunning -natives in charge of them. - -Before Tregenna reached the creek where his boat was waiting, the sun -was going down red on his right, over the land, while on every side, -but especially on the left, where the marshes lay, the gray mist was -getting thicker, the outlines of tree and rock, cottage and passing -ship more blurred and faint. - -He was but a few hundred yards from the creek when there came to his -ears certain sounds, deadened and muffled by the fog, which woke him -with a start to the sudden knowledge that there was a conflict of some -sort going on a little way off, in the direction of the marshes. - -Shouts, oaths, the sharp report of a pistol, followed by a duller sound -like that of blows or the fall of a heavy body; all these struck upon -his ears as he ran, at the top of his speed, in the direction whence -the noise came. - -It was at a point where the cliff dipped gradually, to rise again in -one last frowning rock over the marshes beyond, that he came suddenly -upon the combatants, and found, as he had expected, that he was in the -midst of a fray between his own crew on the one hand and the smugglers -on the other. - -As he came over the crest of the hill towards the combatants, and, -drawing his sword, shouted to the smugglers to surrender, hoping they -might think he was supported by an approaching force behind, there -arose out of the mist, from among the struggling, scuffling mass of -cursing, fighting men, the figure of a lad, stalwart but supple, -clothed in loose fisherman’s clothes and cap, and surmounted by a pale -face, in which blazed a pair of steely gray eyes, surrounded by a -shoulder-length crop of raven-black hair. - -There was something so wild, so ferocious in the whole aspect of the -lad, young as he was, that Tregenna watched him even as he ran, with -singular interest. - -Springing down the slope at a great pace, he drew his pistol, and -pointed it at the lad, who was watching him intently with a lowering -face. - -“Surrender!” cried the lieutenant, as he ran. - -But, instead of answering, the lad, after waiting, motionless, for him -to come within range, suddenly leapt out from among the rest of the -struggling men with a bound like an antelope, knocked up the pistol, -and, with a savage cry, drew out a cutlass, and made a dash for -Tregenna’s throat. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - AN UGLY CUSTOMER. - - -Luckily for Tregenna, the ground was wet and slippery with the mist. As -the lad flew at him, therefore, the force with which he knocked up the -pistol in the lieutenant’s hand caused him to slip on the slimy ground. - -In a moment Tregenna had seized him by the wrist and flung him down. - -All this time the lad had not uttered a single word. The rest of the -smugglers never ceased shouting and swearing as they fought, using -their lungs quite as lustily as they did their arms and legs, and -making a deafening din. But the pale boy never uttered a sound, even -when he was flung down. He was up again in a second, attacked Tregenna -again, and succeeded this time in inflicting a slight wound on his arm. -But the lieutenant was ready with his sword, and, just as the lad aimed -a savage thrust at his breast, he parried it, and returned it by a cut -across the lad’s head, which brought the blood flowing in a blinding -stream down the side of his face. - -At that moment the hand-to-hand fight caught the attention of the rest -of the combatants, who were struggling and scuffling in the tangle of -gorse and bramble which choked up the dell at the bottom of the slope. - -And a second figure, as unlike as possible to the first, rose up out -of the _mêleé_, and came to help his young comrade. A giant he was, -this loose-limbed, heavy-built sea-dog, with grizzled hair and coarse, -sullen red face, who swore loud and deep as he came on, and made for -Tregenna with a run, pistol in one hand and cutlass in the other. - -“Hey, Jack! Bill! Up with ye, lads, and let the cursed hound have as -good as he’s given us! ’Tis the lubber that shot poor Tom! Up, lads!” - -Up started from the gorse bushes a fresh couple of ruffians, the one a -long, lean, lanky fellow in corduroy breeches and an old rug-coat, that -had rather the air of a highwayman than of a son of the sea; the other -a little, pimply-faced rogue in loose jacket and slops, who carried a -pipe in his mouth, and a bludgeon in one hand. - -This latter uttered a savage oath on perceiving who it was that they -were to attack. - -“’Tis the chief, the captain. Let’s cut his throat and carry him out, -and hang him to’s own bowsprit, mates!” cried he, in a hoarse rasping -voice, as he swung his bludgeon round his head and dashed up the slope -after his comrades. - -“Ay, that will we, and serve him well for his devotion to’s duty,” sang -out the burly giant who led the attack. - -“Have at ’un! Slash at ’un, Robin!” piped out the lean man, in a thin -high voice that had a tone of unspeakable savagery in it. - -Meanwhile, the lad, blinded by the blood that flowed from the wound in -his head, had staggered aside, out of the way of Tregenna and his new -assailants. - -On they all came, quickly, eagerly, thirsting for revenge on the man -who was, they considered, the leading spirit in the crusade carried on -against their nefarious enterprises. But Tregenna did not flinch. He -had the advantage of the ground, and his own men were within call. - -Planting his feet firmly in the soil, and grasping his sword, to which -he chose rather to trust than to his pistol, he shouted to his men in -the bushes below, and dealt a swashing blow at the burly giant, whom he -guessed to be the redoubtable “Robin Cursemother,” of whose exploits he -had heard. - -Robin parried the blow with his cutlass, while the small man with the -bludgeon, whom they addressed as Bill, came to his assistance with a -swinging blow, which would have felled the lieutenant to the earth had -he not sprung aside just in time to avoid the full force of it. - -At the same moment the tall, thin man, whom they called “Jack,” aimed -at him a blow, with the butt-end of the huge horse-pistol he carried in -his belt, which made Tregenna reel. - -Luckily for him, his own men had by this time seen him and recognized -his peril. His arrival had made the numbers on both sides more equal; -and the revenue-men, who had been getting the worst of it, took heart -from the courageous stand he was making single-handed against the -smugglers, and, racing up the slope in the rear of the assailants, -diverted their attack. - -There ensued a short, sharp hand-to-hand conflict, in which the -lieutenant found himself face to face with a fresh opponent in that -very “Ben the Blast” whom he had met in such strange circumstances in -front of the Frigate at Hurst some days before. - -Ben came up with the last batch, panting, roaring like a bull, his face -and hands dyed with blood, his teeth set hard, and his eyes blood-shot -and aflame. - -“The damned lubber that I caught with Ann! I’ll settle him! Let me but -get at him!” said he, furiously, as he came up. - -By this time, however, Tregenna had gathered his men round him, so -that they presented a strong front to the smugglers, who, being on -lower ground than they, and somewhat overmatched in skill, if not in -strength, began to give way. - -The lieutenant noted this, and presently gave the signal for a -simultaneous rush. Down they came, driving the cursing smugglers like -sheep before them over the rough, broken ground of the slope, until Ben -the Blast stumbled and fell over a stone, spraining his ankle in the -fall. - -He got up, turned once upon his foes, with a last vicious blow of his -cutlass, which inflicted a nasty cut on the forearm of one of the -revenue-men, and yelled out— - -“Off, mates, off! Game’s played!” - -Then there was a stampede. The smugglers threw away such weapons as -they found cumbersome, and took to flight with as much vigor as they -had shown in the fight. Making for the dell at the bottom, Ben the -Blast, the lithe, pimply-faced Bill, and two others who were evidently -seamen, made for their boats, which, still half-full of the cargo -they had been in the act of landing when they were disturbed by the -revenue-men, was lying snug among the rocks in charge of a lad. - -The tall, thin man in the rug-coat, with the rest of his companions, -went up the slope in a northeasterly direction, towards the road. - -As they were all far nimbler of foot over the ground, which they knew -well, than were their opponents, Lieutenant Tregenna stopped the -pursuit of the smugglers when he saw how fast they gained ground, and -directed his men to seize such of the contraband goods as were already -landed. - -When, however, they reached in their turn the bottom of the dell, where -they expected to find the booty, they discovered that it had all been -safely removed, under cover of the mist, and of the excitement of the -fight, and that the boat which had brought it had got out of sight also. - -In the meantime Tregenna had been looking about him for the lad who had -been the first to attack him, and whom he had himself, in self-defense, -somewhat severely wounded. He felt something like admiration of the -courage the boy had shown in attacking him single-handed, and was -sincerely anxious to learn whether the wound he had been forced to -inflict was likely to have lasting consequences. - -In answer to the lieutenant’s questions, one of the men said that -he had seen one man stagger down the slope some minutes before the -conclusion of the struggle, in the direction of the shore. - -“He looked, sir,” said the man, “as if he’d had enough of it. He -didn’t hardly fare to seem to know whither he was going.” - -Tregenna went down towards the shore, trying to find some track -which he might follow; but the mist and the darkness were creeping -on together, and the traces of the conflict being on all sides, in -trampled, blood-stained grass and roughened ground, he found nothing to -guide his steps. - -But when he got down to the beach he was more fortunate. He found -footmarks and little red spots on the broken sandstone rocks, and, -following these indications, he came round a jutting point of frowning -cliff, to a cave, partly hollowed out by the action of the sea, and -partly by human hands, the walls of which were green with the slime -left by the tides. - -Half in and half out of the cave, lying on the shingle and broken -rocks, lay the body of the lad of whom he was in search. - -It was with something like tenderness that Tregenna stooped, and, full -of dread that his own blow had killed him, raised the lad from the -ground, turning him, and looking into his white and livid face, with -the half-dried blood making disfiguring patches on one side of it. - -For the first moment he thought the boy was dead; but on further -examination he found that the heart was still beating, and at the same -moment the lad, who had been in danger of suffocation from the fact -that he had fallen face downwards, showed by a movement of the eyelids, -and by a quivering of the muscles of the mouth, that he was alive, and -recovering. - -Tregenna cleansed his face as well as he could from the blood and -sand with which it was disfigured. There was no need to loosen his -clothes, for his shirt was open at the neck, confined only by a flowing -neckerchief, which now hung wet and bedraggled on his breast. - -“What cheer, mate!” cried Tregenna, as he supported the lad by the -shoulders against his knee, and felt in his own pocket for the flask -he usually carried there, and which was as much a necessity of his -adventurous life as the pistol at his belt or the sword at his side. - -The lad opened his eyes, stared at him for a moment dully, then with a -gleam of returning consciousness. It was at that moment that Tregenna -put the flask of _aqua vitæ_ to his lips. - -“Drink, lad, drink. ’Twill bring thy senses together. And fear not. -We’ll not let a brave boy hang, smuggler though he may be! Drink, and -fear not. But take this warning, not to meddle with the affairs of -lawless folk again.” - -Still the boy maintained the dead silence which had been such a -strangely marked characteristic of him during the fight. He gulped down -the spirit put to his lips, and then sat, with his head bent upon his -hand, as if still half stupid, either from the blow which had wounded -him or from consequent loss of blood. - -Tregenna thought there was something of despair in his attitude, and -in the wild gaze with which he looked about him, staring first at the -gray sea, the edge of which was like a roll of white vapor, and then at -the frowning cliff above him. He seemed to be listening for some voice, -some footstep. - -“Come,” said the lieutenant, in a cheery tone, “don’t lose thy spirit, -boy; thou showedst enough and to spare but an hour since. Thy comrades -are gone, ’tis true, and thou art left alone. But, give but thy word to -refrain from such company for the future, and I’ll pardon thee, and see -thee on thy way, for the sake of the courage thou hast shown, ill as -thy cause was.” - -Still the lad said nothing in answer. But he looked around him with -returning intelligence, not at his captor indeed, but at everything -else, and particularly at the cliffs, with their jutting points and -scrubby growth of reed and flowering weed. - -Tregenna followed the direction of his eyes, but saw nothing in -particular to attract his attention. But as he took a step away the lad -suddenly sprang up, snatching up the lieutenant’s pistol, which he had -deposited on the ground while tending the wounded boy, and made for a -point where the cliff was steepest and apparently most inaccessible. - -As soon as he reached it he placed his foot on a ledge of the rock, -and, seizing a rope which was evidently well-known to him, began to -climb up the face of the cliff with astounding agility, considering his -recent dazed condition. - -Tregenna followed quickly. But the lad, who was by this time a good way -up, drew up the end of the rope after him, and fastened it into a knot -so that it was far out of his pursuer’s reach. To attempt to climb the -cliff without it was impossible and Tregenna could only stand and shake -his fist at the lad in impotent rage at the daring with which he had -been again outwitted. - -But the lad’s impudence and audacity did not stop there. The moment he -reached the summit of the cliff, he dislodged a loose mass of earth and -sandstone which was lying loose in one of the crevices at the edge, -and, with a deft kick, hurled it down upon his generous enemy below. - -Tregenna stepped back hastily, receiving thus only some fragments of -dust and earth upon his head, instead of the heavy mass which had been -intended for him. - -And he swore to himself, as he turned away and made for his own boat, -that he would never again be so soft-hearted as to spare one of these -ruffians, who, even in early youth, were dead to every generous human -feeling. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - REDE HALL. - - -As Tregenna went quickly along the shore, he was not too well pleased -to find that one of his own men had been a witness, at a little -distance, of his discomfiture at the lad’s hands. - -The man indeed had a grin on his face when the lieutenant first caught -sight of him, which changed to a look of supreme gravity when he caught -his captain’s eye. He pulled his forelock, and said the boat was ready. - -“I suppose you don’t know who that fellow is that’s got away over the -cliff?” said he, sharply. - -“Oh, ay, sir, I know who he be well enough,” answered the man, -promptly. “He be Jem Bax, by what I’ve heard tell, I’m pretty sure.” - -“Jem Bax! That bit of a lad!” - -“Ay, sir. And, by what I’ve heard tell, he be about the worst of the -whole lot of ’em, old or young!”. - -This certainly tallied with the experience Tregenna had had of the -young ruffian, so he swallowed his annoyance as well as he could, and, -turning again to the man, said shortly— - -“And it’s the old story, of course? Nobody knows anything about him, or -where he lives, or anything that could help to put us on his track?” - -The man appeared to glance about him cautiously, as if afraid that his -reply might be overheard by some unseen person. Then he answered, in a -low voice— - -“Well, sir, they do say he’s to be heard of somewheres about Rede Hall.” - -“Rede Hall?” echoed the lieutenant with interest. - -For this was, he knew, the home of the artful Ann Price, of whose wiles -he retained so vivid a remembrance. - -“Ay, sir.” - -And then it crossed Tregenna’s mind that this rascally lad must be some -relation of Ann’s, a younger brother, perhaps; for, looking back to -his impression of the boy’s pale, set face, he seemed now to be able to -trace a resemblance between his features and those of Ann, different as -was the expression of the calm, homely woman from that of the fierce -lad. - -It was clear, then, that Rede Hall must now be visited, and that in the -first place a warrant must be obtained for the apprehension of such of -the smugglers as he could identify; for Jem Bax, Ben the Blast, Robin, -nicknamed “Cursemother,” Bill, nicknamed “Plunder,” and for one other, -whom he could only describe as “Jack,” as there was, even among the -cutter’s crew, a certain strange reluctance to give him any further -name. - -When Tregenna called at Hurst Court to obtain the warrants, in company -with the brigadier, on the following morning, he found himself in the -midst of a very lively scene. The squire had given a breakfast to the -members of the hunt, and the guests were trooping out of the house, and -mounting their horses on the lawn in front. - -The scarlet coats of the men gave a pretty touch of bright color to the -scene; and the presence of ladies, in their silken skirts and velvet -hoods, added brilliancy to the gathering. Behind the scattered groups -on the grass, the white house and the red-brown trees on either side of -it formed a picturesque background, throwing up the gay colors of the -costumes in vivid relief. - -One figure, and one only, attracted Tregenna’s attention the moment he -entered the gates. This was Joan Langney, who, in her plain Sunday gown -of russet tabby, with a full black hood, looked, he thought, a very -queen of beauty among the more smartly dressed wives and daughters of -the country squires. - -He let the brigadier pass on alone up to the place where Squire Waldron -was standing, and, dismounting from his horse, lingered a moment to pay -his respects to Mistress Joan. He had always the excuse to himself that -she might be able to afford him some useful information. - -“Your servant, Miss Joan. ’Tis not necessary to ask if you are well -this morning.” - -“Your servant, Mr. Tregenna. I am quite well, I thank you,” replied -Joan, with a curtsey. - -It seemed to him there was in her brown eyes, as she looked quickly up -and down again, a malicious suggestion that she had heard all about -his unlucky encounter with the smugglers the day before. - -“You will bear me no good will to-day, Miss Joan, since I come to -obtain a warrant against your friends the free-traders,” said he, -perceiving that her glance wandered at once in the direction of the -brigadier. - -“I guessed as much, sir. Indeed, the doings yesterday put the village -in an uproar. They say you had a brush with some of the boldest spirits -about here?” - -“I’ faith, ’tis true, madam. I made acquaintance with Jem Bax, in -particular, and I do e’en propose that, in return, he shall make -acquaintance with the inside of a jail.” - -At his mention of the name, Joan suddenly smiled, as if with an -irresistible impulse to great amusement. She pursed up her lips again -in a moment, but Tregenna, much nettled, said dryly— - -“Doubtless, Miss Joan, you have some kindness for that young knave -also, though he played me the scurviest trick I have ever known.” - -And with that he proceeded to give her an account of his own -compassion upon the lad, and of Jem’s ungrateful return. - -There was some satisfaction, however, in seeing how Joan took this -recital. Her face clouded as she listened; and when he ended, there -were tears in her eyes. - -“’Twas infamous, sir, shameful, to treat you so, after what you had -done,” cried she, with a heightened color in her cheeks and the sparkle -of indignation in her eyes. “And if they treat you like that again, -I’ll be a turncoat myself, and do my best to help you against—Jem.” - -“You speak,” said Tregenna, with curiosity, “as if that bit of a lad -were the ringleader of the gang.” - -Again Joan shot at him a glance in which there was some amusement. But -she answered demurely— - -“He is old for his years, sir, I believe.” - -“Well, Miss Joan, I shall think my experience of yesterday worth the -risk if it but bring you to our side, the side of law and of justice.” - -By this time he saw that the brigadier had got the ear of the squire, -and that he had turned to see why his companion had deserted him. -Tregenna, therefore, with a low bow to Joan, re-mounted and rode across -the grass to join him. - -Squire Waldron, though by no means in the best of humors at this -interruption to the serious business of fox-hunting, made out the -warrants as desired by Tregenna and General Hambledon; but he took care -to twit them with their ill success against the smugglers, and with -their failure to catch “Gardener Tom.” - -Tregenna took these reproaches modestly, but the brigadier blustered, -and said that he was ready to be shot if he did not bring one or more -of the ringleaders among the smugglers back to Rye with him that -afternoon. - -“And, gads my life, sir,” he went on with emphasis which made him -purple in the face; “but I’ll warrant me I’ll have it out with Mistress -Ann, and make her give up this Jem Bax, if she’s harboring him.” - -The squire smiled a little, just as Joan had done at the mention of -Jem’s name. And Tregenna was confirmed in his belief that the young -ruffian was a relation of Ann’s, and that she would put every possible -obstacle in the way of his being given up. - -When General Hambledon and Tregenna came out of the house, where they -had been shut up with the squire during the formal making out of the -warrants, the lieutenant looked about in vain for Joan. Not only had -she herself disappeared; but Parson Langney, who had been prominent, -with his jolly face and jolly voice, among the red-coated groups on the -lawn, trotting about on his nag, and as eager for the sport as anybody -there, had taken his departure also. - -Tregenna pondered on this fact, which was the more strange, since not -one other of the assembled guests was missing. But it was not until -he and the general, and the score of mounted troopers who accompanied -them, had traversed the village, forded the river, ridden the two miles -to Rede Hall, and come in sight of that ancient dwelling, that the -mystery was solved. - -From the gates of the farmhouse, just as the soldiers came into view, -there issued Parson Langney on his nag, with his daughter Joan mounted -on a pillion behind him. - -The brigadier saw no significance in this; the parson was doing his -rounds, that was all. But to Tregenna the incident bore a very -different meaning. He jumped to the conclusion that Joan had set off -with her father to warn the inhabitants of Rede Hall of the visit which -was in store for them; and, on the instant, he decided that he and the -brigadier would be as unsuccessful on this occasion as they had been -hitherto. - -In the mean time, General Hambledon had caught sight of a lonely inn a -little way off the road, and directed his way thither, with the very -proper excuse that in these places one could hear all the gossip and -pick up valuable information. - -Tregenna ventured to make two suggestions—the one was that the sooner -they got to the farmhouse the more likely they were to effect a -capture; the other, that nobody about was likely to give information to -them, since their uniform betrayed the sort of errand on which they had -come. - -Of course he was overruled by the general; and, a few minutes later, -they found themselves at the bar of the rickety little timber erection, -with its battered sign creaking from a tree on the opposite side of the -road. - -“’Tis a vastly pretty view you have from hence,” remarked the -brigadier, in the course of making himself agreeable to the knot of -drovers, laborers, and nondescript wanderers who stood within the inn -doors, watching the soldiers. - -The landlord was the only person bold enough to answer the smart -soldier— - -“Ay, sir; ’tis, as you say, a pretty view.” - -“What call you that building yonder? Is’t a gentleman’s seat, or what?” - -“Nay, sir, ’tis no gentleman’s seat now; though methinks I’ve heard -’twas a considerable place once on a time. ’Tis but a farmhouse that -they call Rede Hall.” - -“Rede Hall—eh? And what sort of folk are they that live there now?” - -“’Tis kept by an old farmer, sir, that lives there with his wife, -his son, and his daughter. They be quiet folks, sir, and I know nowt -else about ’em,” said the landlord, who knew perfectly well on what -business the brigadier had come, as he remembered hearing of a similar -expedition which had come that way not many days before. - -“Quiet! Ay, but they be main queer folks,” piped out an old man, who -was enjoying his tankard of ale at the bar. “The place has had a -mighty odd name these long years past; and they do say, sir, ’tis -haunted. There was a wicked lord lived there in the orld toime, so they -say, and he killed his wife by flaying her to death in what was once -the chapel, and that now they call the Gray Barn.” - -“Hey, man, them’s but idle tales,” said the landlord quickly. - -“Ah doan’t knaw that, Ah doan’t knaw that,” chimed in another man, -taking up the running now that the first awe of the grand soldier had -worn off. “Ah’ve heeard the tale, too, and how they say he can’t rest -in’s grave, but works with his flail in the Gray Barn o’ nights e’en -now. And for sure Ah’ve heeard myself most fearsome noises, and seen -a blue light a-burning like to none other I ever see afore, as Ah’ve -crossed the bridge below there yonder o’ nights, when Ah’ve been late -home wi’ my wagon.” - -“Ay, and Farmer Price, hisself, he’ve seen—summat. He’s told as much -hisself,” said another man. “’Tis a place I’d not care to sleep in -while there was a hedge to lie under.” - -“Tales; naught but old wives’ tales!” said the landlord, -imperturbably. “The old lady would never ha’ lived all these years in -the place if so be there was aught to be afeared on under yon honest -roof.” - -The general opinion, however, seemed to be rather with the old man who -had first spoken than with the landlord on this matter. And Tregenna -felt more than ever convinced, as they came away from the inn and -crossed the stream by the little bridge that led to the farmhouse, that -this was the wasps’ nest to be smoked out. - -It was an ancient and picturesque pile of building, this Rede Hall, -standing on the slope of a hill, and presenting to the view of the -visitors a long south side of red brick, in the Tudor style, in a state -of indifferent repair, with a somewhat unkempt growth of ivy and other -creepers hanging about it and almost choking a small door, of later -date than the building, which was now the state entrance to the house. - -The grass-grown state of the narrow garden-path which led to this door -betrayed the fact that visits of state to the occupants of Rede Hall -were a great rarity. - -Beyond the main building, on the west side, was the Gray Barn, easily -to be distinguished both by its color and by the ecclesiastical -character of the blocked-up windows, in some of which the tracery was -still almost perfect. The roof, however, was now of thatch, well-grown -with moss and grass, lichen and tufts of wallflower; and the swallows -built their nests under the eaves. - -On this side of the house was the farmyard, surrounded by a high -sandstone wall; and the space between the big barn and the dwelling was -filled up by outbuildings, most of which were in a ruinous condition. - -It was when they rode up to the common entrance of the farmhouse, which -was on the east side of the house, that the visitors came to the most -interesting and ancient part of the building. All this portion was -built of sandstone, mellow with age and weather. And a huge, massive -porch, with a small lodge on one side and a room above, formed a -fitting entrance to what was now the farmhouse kitchen, but which had -been, in old times, the hall of the mansion. - -The door was open; and when the brigadier and his young companion had -dismounted from their horses and stood inside the porch, they had full -opportunity to note the details of one of the most picturesque scenes -it was possible to find, while the great bell clanged, and an old woman -came slowly forward to receive them. - -Anything more peaceful, more homely, more utterly irreconcilable with -the notion of lawlessness and nefarious deeds than the room and its -occupants presented it was impossible to imagine. - -At one end of the vast apartment, which was some forty feet long, and -broad and lofty in proportion, a fire was built up on the iron dogs in -the great open fireplace; and an iron pot hanging from a crane in the -chimney, gave forth a savory smell. - -Close by the fire, crouching in the warmest corner of the oak settle, -with her back to the light, sat a woman who never turned at the -visitors’ approach. On the opposite side of the hearth, but well in the -corner of the room, another woman, large-boned and gaunt, with gray -hair half-hidden by a large mob-cap, sat busy with her spinning-wheel. -On his knees before the fire, with a mongrel dog on each side of him, -was a withered and bent old man. - -These, and the old woman who came to the door to speak with the -strangers, were all the occupants of the huge apartment. - -Some other details Tregenna took in, such as the extreme cleanliness of -the uneven red-tiled floor, of the long deal table at the north end of -the room, of the yellow-washed, rough walls. He noted the brown-and-red -earthenware vessels on the tall oak dresser, the hams and bunches of -herbs dangling from dark beams above. - -The next moment he was saluting the old dame, in answer to her -respectful curtsey. - -A little, clean, bright-eyed woman she was, spotless as to cap and -apron, and as active as if the stick she carried were for ornament -rather than use. Recognizing the brigadier with a smile, she dropped a -curtsey to him, and asked his pleasure. - -“Faith, dame, ’tis no pleasure brings us here, but rather the reverse; -since I have reason to think you played me false t’other day, and that -you know more about those rascals the smugglers than you and Mistress -Ann would have me suppose!” - -“Smugglers! Nay, sir, I know naught of them! My good man and I have -always kept ourselves from such folks, and brought up our childer in -the same way. And if you please, sir, you can search where you like, if -that be your purpose, but you shall find no such villains here.” - -In spite of all he had heard, of all he knew, Tregenna was almost -inclined to believe her; for what could be more open, more honest, than -this manner of receiving them, with the door flung wide and this frank -invitation to enter where they would? The brigadier’s manner, however, -was rather short with her. - -“Let us hope it may prove as you say,” said he, as he beckoned his -troopers to enter. “We have a warrant for certain of these fellows, -ma’am, and we intend to search the place. But first I would speak with -your daughter, Mistress Ann.” - -“Ah, sir, you’ll be sorry to see her so bad as she is; for she’s been -nigh out of her wits with the toothache these two days and nights. But -she’ll speak with you, sir, I doubt not.” And the old woman led the -way the whole length of the room, and pausing in front of the settle, -cried, in a loud voice, “Ann, dost hear? ’Tis the soldier-gentleman -that was so polite when he came hither last Friday se’nnight! Dost -mind? Him that was so civil to thee, for all he came to look for -Gardener Tom, and could not find him.” The old woman turned again to -the brigadier, who was close behind, and added, with some irritation: -“I know not, sir, why ’tis always to us you come in your search for -these evil-doers!” - -“We come, dame, where we’re most like to find them!” retorted the -brigadier dryly, as he came clanking up the tiled floor, and planted -himself before the suffering Ann. “And now, mistress, I’d be glad to -have an explanation why you failed to come to Rye to see me, as you -gave me your word, to put me on the trail of the smugglers.” - -Ann, whose face was bound up in a handkerchief, with a huge flannel bag -against the right cheek, turned to him impatiently. - -“Sir, I have been in no fit state for visiting, as you may judge by the -size my face is swollen. I caught cold last market-day, and I have not -left the house since. Pray, sir, make your search of the place, if that -is your good pleasure, and leave me alone.” - -“As you please, Mistress Ann. And I shall know what to do next if we -fail to find the men,” replied the brigadier angrily, as he turned on -his spurred heel, and clanked down the great room again. - -Ann turned to Tregenna, who had followed modestly in the brigadier’s -steps. “And pray, sir, what may you want here? Have you a warrant too?” - -“Nay, Mistress Ann, I would fain have put some questions to you had you -been in better health to answer them. As it is, I cannot trouble you -now; I will come hither again at some more convenient season.” - -“Nay, sir, there’s no time like the present,” retorted Ann in a tone of -considerable irritation; “ask what questions you please.” - -“Well, then, I have heard talk that you have a barn that’s haunted, and -I would be glad to know whether ’tis by spirits or by men.” - -“Sure, the best way to answer that would be to see for yourself, sir,” -retorted Ann sharply. - -“Nay, there’s a time for such apparitions, and that’s not noonday,” -said Tregenna. - -“Come at what time you please, sir, and satisfy yourself by ear and -eye.” - -“You mean that?” - -“Faith, sir, I do.” - -And she turned her back upon him again, and crouched once more over the -fire, swaying backwards and forwards, with her hand to her swollen face. - -Tregenna saw that she was in pain, and made allowance for her -irritation. He retreated to the other end of the long apartment, and -awaited the return of the soldiers, who were now engaged in making an -exhaustive search of the premises. - -Not much to his surprise, they presently returned to the front of the -porch, while the brigadier re-entered the room, hot, flushed, and in a -very bad temper. - -They had hunted in every corner of the house, of the outbuildings, of -the barns, but not a man was to be found. - -They took a very cold leave of the old farmer’s wife, and of the -farmer himself, who came respectfully to the door to see them off. He -was about seventy years of age, and almost childish, and he obeyed -mechanically his wife’s instructions to salute the visitors. - -When the party had ridden off, before the eyes of the old couple, and -the last of the troopers’ horses had crossed the bridge over the stream -at the bottom of the hill, Ann looked across, with a laugh, to the -woman at the spinning-wheel. - -“’Twas lucky they were but men, Jack,” said she, “or they’d have found -out long since that, while thy wheel went round, there was nothing -spun!” - -And the woman at the spinning-wheel rose to a full height of some six -feet, took off the cap and the gray woman’s wig, and disclosed to -view the sallow, thin face and mouse-colored hair of “Long Jack,” the -smuggler. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - TRAITRESS OR FRIEND? - - -The October sunshine was bright; there was a pleasant, bracing breeze -coming from the sea; the brown trees were at their prettiest, as they -shed their showers of dead leaves at the lightest touch of the wind: -yet the brigadier and Lieutenant Tregenna, as they rode side by side -away from Rede Hall, noted none of these things: for to them the sky -was lowering and the wind whistled of failure and disappointment. - -“Did you search the great barn?” asked Tregenna, interrupting a -string of his companion’s curses upon things in general and women in -particular. - -“Ay, every corner of it, and poked into every cranny,” answered General -Hambledon, morosely. “There was naught in the whole place, but a couple -of rusty plowshares, a few sacks full of grain, and some lumber that -we turned inside out in search of contraband goods. But no, sir, not -so much as a keg of _aqua vitæ_, or a quid of tobacco was there in any -corner.” - -“They’re cunning folk,” said Tregenna, rather dismally. “I have small -faith in Mistress Ann’s toothache, for one thing.” - -“Nay, why should she feign?” said the brigadier, quickly. “The lass -looked vastly ill, to my thinking. Had she been herself, I warrant we -should have had some sport, at least; for I’ve found her ready with her -tongue, and as full of jests as she is of tricks.” - -“You think now that she’s a confederate of the smugglers?” - -“Damme, it seems like it. Wherever one asks about these cattle, one -hears talk of this Rede Hall, as if ’twere their headquarters. The -difficulty is to take the beggars unawares. They must have been -prepared this morning. Odds life!” The general started violently as he -uttered these words, evidently struck by a new idea. “The parson! He -was at the squire’s this morning, when we went to get the warrant! It’s -as like as not he’s friendly to the gang, like all the rest of them in -these parts. Mayhap he guessed our errand, and was away to put them on -their guard before we left the house! Eh, sir? What do you think about -it?” - -Tregenna was frowning gloomily. He was honest; biting his lips, he made -confession of his share in the mystery. - -“Ay, truly I fear so, and that I had a hand in bringing it about,” he -admitted, somewhat shamefacedly. “I had a few words to say to Mistress -Joan, little thinking——” - -The general interrupted him, breaking out into a laugh and an oath at -the same time. - -“Ay, you lads, there’s no keeping you away from the petticoats!” he -said mockingly. “Had you but held your tongue, and kept your mind on -your duty instead of blinking into the eyes of a handsome lass, we -might have surprised the villains, and not have come back with our -tails between our legs, like the fools we look now!” - -“Sir,” retorted Tregenna, not angrily, but still with spirit, “I have -but taken a leaf out of your own book. As you were tricked by Mistress -Ann Price so have I been befooled by Mistress Joan Langney. So that -neither of us can in fairness reproach the other!” - -For a few moments the brigadier seemed inclined to resent the view -taken of the case by the younger man. After a little reflection, -however, and the finding of some relief in a flow of his favorite -language, he allowed himself to laugh shortly. - -“Well,” grumbled he at last, “we can at least ease our minds by going -straight to the parson’s house, and bestowing upon him our opinion of -his conduct, and some advice as to the future. And thank the Lord he’s -lost his run with the hounds to-day!” - -Lieutenant Tregenna was not likely to object to any proposal which -promised to bring him within speaking distance of Mistress Joan; so -they set their horses at a smart trot, and were back in the village -without much loss of time. - -When they got to the Parsonage, it was the master himself who answered -their summons, with, they fancied, a rather guilty look on his face. - -“Can we speak a word with you, sir?” said the brigadier, in a short, -dry tone. “You know whence we come, as I think.” - -“Ay, come in, come in. You are both heartily welcome,” said the vicar, -pushing his wig to one side of his head, as his custom was when he was -troubled or perplexed. “You shall taste of my daughter’s currant wine, -and drink the health of his Majesty.” - -“’Twould be more to the purpose, sir, with all thanks to you for your -hospitality,” replied the brigadier, “if you would assist his Majesty’s -troops in the execution of their duty, instead of doing what you can to -impede them.” - -“How say you, sir? What mean you?” retorted the parson sturdily, as he -turned upon them, apparently glad to find that things had so quickly -come to a crisis. - -He had led his visitors into the little dining-parlor, which was -one-half of the lower part of what had once been a fine hall. The roof -was low, and the beams were roughly whitewashed like the rest of the -ceiling. A small window, with latticed panes, was set in the thickness -of the wall on the front side of the house. Opposite the door was the -old wide hearth, the upper part filled with curiously carved woodwork, -and a comfortable wooden armchair in the corner on each side. On the -high shelf above were a couple of brass candlesticks, each containing -a tallow candle, in that time of rushlights quite a luxurious -extravagance. On the oak dining-table in the middle of the room were -the parson’s writing materials, his bunch of quills, round jar of ink, -half a dozen rough sheets of paper, and a sand-box. And beside them was -his pipe, just laid down. - -Two strips of carpet laid on the stone floor; red window curtains; -half a dozen solid oak chairs with tapestry seats, and a couple of -ancient oak chests, completed the furniture of the room, which yet had -a comfortable and homely aspect. - -“What mean you by saying I impede his Majesty’s troops in the execution -of their duty?” repeated Parson Langney, standing in all the pugnacious -dignity of the church militant, with his back to the fire, and his wig -more on one side than ever. - -“You was in a mighty hurry, sir, this morning, to get to Rede Hall -before we could reach it with the warrants we hold for the arrest -of certain plunderers of his Majesty’s revenue,” blurted out the -brigadier, planting one hand on his hip, and thumping the table with -the other as he spoke. - -Parson Langney was no actor; the expression which clouded his jolly -face betrayed him. - -“Sir, I was at Rede Hall this morning, I admit,” said he, looking -defiantly at the officer. “But as for what I did there, you have no -right to put such an interpretation as you do upon my visit.” - -“Do you deny, sir, that you mentioned we were on our way thither?” -roared the brigadier. - -“I deny, sir, that you have any right to put such questions to me,” -retorted the parson quite as loudly. - -The gentlemen were both much heated; and it began to look, as they -advanced their excited faces nearer and nearer over the table, till the -tails of their bob-wigs stuck up quivering in the air, as if from mere -words they would ere long come to blows. - -When suddenly there appeared, in the doorway of the narrow little -entrance to the kitchen which filled the corner beyond the fireplace, a -peacemaker in the shape of handsome Joan. - -She had evidently been engaged in some culinary occupation, for there -were traces of flour still to be seen on her round arms, under the -long black mittens which she had hastily pulled on. She had exchanged -the smart tabby gown of the morning for a homelier dress, over which -her long white apron hung. Her pretty brown hair, without any cap, was -rolled high above her white brow. Her face was pale and anxious, as she -came quickly in and thrust one hand through her father’s arm. - -“Let me answer him, father,” said she in a low voice. - -The general drew himself up. “Well, madam, and what have you to say?” -said he, unconsciously softening his tone, as no man could help doing -when addressing a creature so fair. - -“It was I, sir, who begged my father to give up his hunting and to -come to Rede Hall with me; and if you have any fault to find with that -action, ’tis I should bear the blame of it.” - -“And pray, mistress, what need had you to go to the farm in such a -monstrous hurry?” - -“That, sir, frankly I would rather not tell.” - -“Ho, ho, ’tis told then! ’Twas without doubt to put these rascals on -their guard, and to enable them to get away ere we came up!” - -Joan made no answer. - -“You can’t deny it, madam! Remember, we have already had proof of your -sympathy with the ruffians, in that you let Gardener Tom escape from -your house when you knew we were after him!” - -“Sir, there was a higher duty before us then, than that of aiding in -the capture of a criminal. We would have done the same for you, had you -been staying under our roof, ay, had you been accused of murder,” said -the girl, with spirit. - -“Well said, my lass,” cried her father. - -But the brigadier’s chivalry was not proof against the provocation he -was receiving from this valiant and outspoken young woman. He gave her -one angry look, gulped down the words he dared not utter to her, and -turning hastily back to the parson, said shortly— - -“This, sir, is no affair to discuss with ladies. ’Tis with you I would -have my talk out, and ’tis your explanation I wish to hear. The lady -must pardon me, but this is an affair which touches my honor and my -fame as a commander.” - -“Go, my dear, go back to your work,” said her father, patting her hand -affectionately, and giving her a nod of command. “Leave these gentlemen -and me to settle this together.” - -Though with manifest reluctance, Joan obeyed, withdrawing her arm from -her father’s with one tender glance in his face, and curtseying low to -the visitors, with her eyes on the ground, ere retiring. - -No sooner was she gone back to the kitchen, than the two combatants -began again the old discussion, never getting much further with it—the -one reproaching, accusing, the other evading, excusing. But they seemed -perhaps a little calmer since that pleasant irruption of the sweet sex, -even when the gentle presence was withdrawn. - -So that it presently seemed good to Lieutenant Tregenna to leave them -to fight the matter out together, while he made the balance of parties -even by beating a retreat to that end of the room where the lady had -disappeared. The kitchen door was ajar, and, while the two elderly -gentlemen were still banging the table and growing purple in the face, -he took the liberty of peeping through the chink. The yellow-washed -walls looked bright in the sunlight; the deal table, scrubbed -beautifully white, was quite a picturesque object with the great red -earthenware dish lying upon it. The jugs on the walls, the metal -utensils on the dresser, made a charming picture. So did the tabby -cat, curled up in one corner; so, above all, did that particularly -neat figure in the gray homespun frock, with the graceful arms and the -clever hands, and with that delicious profile above it all. - -“I tell you, sir, you are no better than a traitor to the king if you -do not help his officers.” - -“I tell you, sir, you don’t know what you are talking about!” - -Thus the gentlemen jangled on; but their bickering had become an -unimportant incident to Tregenna. - -He made rather a nice picture himself in his smart uniform, with his -well-powdered wig surmounting a handsome, clean-cut face, his gray -hawks’ eyes, now filled with the light of the young and ardent, his -mouth softened by the suspicion of a smile. He held his sword with -one hand, that its clanking should not startle her; and his smart -three-cornered hat was cocked jauntily under his arm. - -Suddenly she turned; and by this time he was half inside the kitchen -door. Joan uttered a little cry; and, as if taking it for an -invitation, Tregenna hopped right in and came up to her. - -“Sir,” said she, “what business have you with me?” - -But she was not angry; she crossed her hands, one of which held a -rolling-pin, demurely in front of her, and looked down in a stately -fashion, not at all disturbed at being discovered in the act of making -a pudding, for those were domestic days. - -“Much the same business, Miss Joan, that the brigadier has with your -father,” said Tregenna. “There is no pretense, as you know, betwixt you -and me. We are foes avowed. I ask you no questions about your visit to -the farm this morning, because I _know_ what took you thither. Neither -will you need to ask why I am going again to Rede Hall, to inquire into -this mystery concerning the Gray Barn.” - -“You are going again?” said Joan, with interest, in which he thought he -detected fear also. - -“Yes. And I make no secret of saying I am not going to be fooled by the -innocent appearance of the place. I am going again and again, until -I have cleared them all out, like wasps out of a hole. Mistress Ann -Price and her confederates must find a fresh field for their practises; -I swear they shall not continue to carry them on in that part of the -coast that is under my vigilance.” - -“And you do not fear to tell me this, believing, as you do, that I am -in league with them myself?” - -“’Tis for that reason I tell you, that you may warn them they must go.” - -“Why did you not tell Mistress Ann herself?” asked Joan, with strange -quietness. “If you think, as you say, she is concerned with the gang?” - -“I will tell her when I meet her next,” said Tregenna, promptly. “She -has challenged me to go some night and find out for myself the truth of -the tales the folks tell about the haunted barn. She——” - -But Joan interrupted him, with a sudden look of intense anxiety— - -“She challenged you to go at night? To the great barn?” - -“Ay, that she did. And I accepted her invitation.” - -“But you will not go! You must not! ’Twould not be safe——” - -Joan uttered the words with great earnestness; but stopped, blushing, -when she had got so far. Tregenna took up her words— - -“Not safe! How mean you? Surely my safety is the last thing you would -concern yourself with. ’Tis for the safety of these smuggling folk -alone that you care.” - -Joan looked down, and said nothing. But it was plain by the heaving of -her breast and by her labored breathing, that she was much agitated. - -“Is it not so, Miss Joan?” - -“Nay, Mr. Tregenna, ’tis not so. I would not have you come to harm. If -you pursue those whom I have reason to hold in more esteem than you do, -I know that ’tis but your duty you are doing.” - -“And ’tis in the performance of my duty that I must visit Rede Hall -again.” - -“And I tell you again that you must not. Without saying aught against -the people that live there, I know there are others that frequent that -neighborhood that would not scruple to set upon you, perhaps to kill -you, for what you have done to their friends and confederates. No, Mr. -Tregenna, if you go, go with your men, or with the general, but go not -alone.” - -“I thank you for your warning. But ’tis alone I must go. Surely you do -not credit your friend Mistress Ann with any intention of luring me -into a danger she must know of.” - -But to his surprise, Joan’s face clearly betrayed that she did believe -Ann Price capable of such a proceeding. At least, this was what he read -in her perturbed expression. - -“Ann is a strange creature,” said she dubiously. “She is a most loyal -_friend_, but——” - -The pause which ensued was expressive. - -“But a dangerous enemy. Is that what you would say?” - -“Maybe,” said Joan, curtly. - -“Well, I must risk what she can do——” - -“Even though you know not how much that may be?” - -“Even then.” - -There was another pause. - -“When do you purpose going?” asked Joan, suddenly. - -“Ah, that I may not tell you.” - -“You trust me not, sir? You think I would betray you into the hands of -them that would do you harm?” - -“Nay, I do not say that. I do not think that. But, as you keep your own -counsel where these smugglers are concerned, so do I think it best to -keep mine own.” - -Joan bowed her head proudly, as if in assent. But she was not at her -ease; she glanced at him quickly, and he saw that there were tears in -her dark eyes, whether of mortification, of sympathy, or of some other -feeling, he could not tell. - -As they stood silent, he looking at her, and she turning towards the -ivy-hung window, the voice of the vicar startled them both, as he -called— - -“Joan, where art thou, child?” - -“Here, father,” cried she, as, with a rather startled, shamefaced look -at Tregenna, she ran into the dining-parlor, followed more slowly by -her companion. - -Neither of the young people had noticed, so much interested had they -been in their own conversation, that the voices of the two gentlemen -had gradually sunk to more friendly tones. But both were glad to see, -on re-entering the room where they had left the disputants, that the -battle of tongues was over, and that the general was sitting by the -fireside in an attitude indicative of a more friendly mood. - -And Joan was bidden to bring the currant wine, in which both the -brigadier and Tregenna pledged their host right heartily, whatever -suspicions they might have as to the existence of a stronger liquor in -the cellar. - -They all spent a pleasant ten minutes over the wine and discreet small -talk, and then the visitors took their leave. - -As the brigadier shook hands with his host, Joan found an opportunity -to exchange a few more words with the younger guest. - -“Will you not take one last word of warning, sir, and refrain from -visiting Rede Hall alone?” - -“I fear I can give you no such promise, though I thank you for your -kindness.” - -“Which, nevertheless, you trust not. Farewell then, sir; for if you -keep to your intention, I shall never see you again alive.” - - - - - CHAPTER X. - - THE MYSTERY OF THE GRAY BARN. - - -It was not without a chilly feeling down the marrow that Lieutenant -Tregenna heard these last words, which Joan uttered quickly indeed, but -with the most impressive earnestness, ere she turned her back upon the -departing visitors and hastily re-entered the house. - -Far from causing him to waver in his determination to get at the bottom -of the mystery of Rede Hall and its occupants, Joan’s words did but -make him more impatient for the adventure. He was ashamed of himself -for certain doubts which would arise in his mind as to her good faith -in giving him this warning. He hated the thought of believing her -treacherous; but, at the same time, it was impossible to deny that her -interest in the people he was pursuing was intensely strong, so that -it was pardonable to doubt whether her professed solicitude on his -account was genuine. - -And yet he hesitated to admit the possibility of her playing him false. -After all, he could make allowance for her feelings towards these -people, among whom she had spent her childhood, and from whom she had -received kindness from her earliest years. Was there not something -noble, rather than perverse, in her honest espousal of their cause, -even in her defiance of law and order in the persons of himself and the -soldiers? - -Tregenna, if the truth must be told, thought quite as much about Joan -as he did about the important affairs in which he was engaged. He -decided to pay his visit to Rede Hall on the night of the following -day. It was from no foolhardiness that he resolved to venture alone on -this expedition; it was from the certainty he felt that a sharp lookout -would be kept, and that any attempt to bring a force against the place -would be met by the same ignominious result as the visit of the morning. - -The following evening proved an admirable one for his purpose. It was -dark; it was wet; it was gloomy. After leaving orders that a sharp -lookout was to be kept for the smugglers, to whom such a night was as -propitious as it was to his own purpose, Tregenna went ashore, and -started alone and on foot across the cliffs for Rede Hall. - -He had taken care to procure a loose, rough countryman’s coat, -waistcoat, and breeches, which disguised him very effectually, and -which had the further advantage of enabling him to conceal a brace of -pistols and a cutlass, with which he thought it prudent to arm himself. -A brown George wig and an enormous three-cornered hat, in a high state -of shabbiness, completed his attire. And there was nothing but the -springy, elastic walk of youth about him to betray that he was not some -decent innkeeper or small farmer on a late trudge along the lanes. - -He took a short cut, and was in sight of the hall in less than an hour. - -He had kept a careful watch to see that he was not observed or -followed; and he was quite sure, when he first saw the faint lights of -the farmhouse through the drizzling rain, that so far he had passed -unsuspected and undetected by such wayfarers as he had met on the road. - -Instead of going straight up to the hall, he walked along at the -bottom of the hill, by the side of the stream, keeping his eyes upon -the building. And it was with a strange excitement that he heard, when -he had come well in sight of the gray barn, a dull sound, repeated at -intervals, like the noise of a descending flail. - -At the same time he became aware of a faint and flickering light, which -was just visible through certain slits and gaps in the boarding with -which the original chapel windows of the barn had been filled up. - -There was not a living creature in sight, though the slight noises -made by the animals in the farmyard came to Tregenna’s ears as he went -slowly and cautiously up the slope towards the barn. - -The wall was high, but easy to climb; he crossed the straw of the yard -quickly and without noise, while the muffled sounds from inside the -barn grew louder and more distinct. It was not until he was close under -the south wall of the barn that a hoarse murmur of men’s voices reached -his ears, deadened, muffled, scarcely audible above the steady sound of -blows. - -He looked about for some means of getting up to the level of the -slits in the boarding of the windows, by which the barn now received -ventilation and light. Only a sailor would have been able to avail -himself of such means as he found. A bit of straggling creeper, that -gave way under the touch of the foot; part of a wooden drain-pipe -rotten and broken; the crevices between the rough stones: such were the -footholds by which he was able to scramble up to the old east window; -and once at this level, he climbed by the help of the stone tracery -to the rose heading at the top, where there was a gap in the boarding -large enough for him to see the interior of the barn from end to end. - -It was a weird sight that met his astonished eyes. By the flaring light -of some half-dozen smoking torches, which threw a fantastic glare -upon the stone walls, upon the still perfect arcade at the base, upon -fragments of arch and pillar, corbel and broken groin, a dozen men were -at work upon the building of a boat some thirty feet long, which lay, -like some huge sprawling creature, on the floor below. - -Tregenna watched with fascinated eyes. He had heard of the secret -shipbuilding yards, where the smuggling craft were manufactured, -and whence they were drawn down to the sea on the farm wagons in the -darkest hours of the night; but no suspicion of the gray barn in -connection with such doings had ever entered his head; and it was clear -that even the country folk had been kept out of the secret. - -Clash! clash! upon his ears, in his place of vantage, came the sound -of the driving in of the iron bolts. He saw the brawny bare arms of -the men go up above their heads, hammer in hand, to come down with -a thud upon the ship’s groaning sides. He saw the great skeleton -monster shiver under the blows; heard the hoarse laugh, the muttered -oaths, which the men, cautious even at their toil, exchanged as they -worked. And presently, as he got used to the din, to the waving, -smoking lights, to the excitement of his strange position, he began to -distinguish the words they uttered, and presently to discover that he -himself was one of the subjects of their conversation. - -“Curse me if I think the boat’ll ever swim, with all these eyes afore -and behind us what we’ve got now!” cried one voice, which Tregenna knew -that he had heard before. - -It was a difficult matter to recognize faces and figures so much -foreshortened as they were from the lofty perch he occupied: but he -presently perceived that the speaker was the little mean-looking man -with the pimply face, who had taken part in the last fray, and who was -known as “Bill Plunder.” - -“Ods rabbit it! What matters the eyes?” sang out the burly giant, Robin -Cursemother, as he dealt a sounding blow on the head of the bolt he -was driving in. “There’s but one pair to signify, and we mean to close -them, don’t we, lads, so as they shan’t see naught to hurt no more!” - -Then up spoke a third man, who was seated on a barrel in a corner, with -a pipe between his lips, and holding a torch in one hand. He limped -when he moved, and Tregenna guessed that this was the “Gardener Tom” -whom he had himself wounded, and whom the parson and his daughter had -sheltered under their roof. He was a young fellow of not more than five -or six and twenty, well made and handsome, with an open, honest face -and manly voice: a man too good for a smuggler, Tregenna decided. - -“Nay, the young officer does but his duty in running us down. And I -don’t want to see no harm come to him, though ’twas he shot me through -the leg. So we can but keep clear of him,’tis all I want. Miss Joan ’ud -be main sorry any harm should come to him; and for her sake I’d have no -hand in doing him a hurt.” - -“Zoons, then we’ll do without thee, Tom, when we give the lubber his -deserts!” said Robin. “Though what you should want to spare him for I -know not, since you’re sweet on Ann; and ’tis ten chances to one she’ll -turn sheep’s eyes upon him if we don’t settle his business while she’s -hot against him, as she is now.” - -“Ay, Tom,” said the mean-looking Bill, coming close up to him, and -sniggering in his face, “you’ve already got Ben to settle with; you -don’t want no more rivals, my lad. You’d best let us do her bidding, -and carry him off and let him down the monks’ well, when he shows his -nose up here again!” - -“I won’t have no hand in it, mates,” said Tom, stubbornly. “I don’t -mind a fight, man to man; I like it when my blood’s up. But to land a -man over the head when he’s alone, and to bind him when he’s dazed and -can’t do naught to defend hisself, why, that’s no work for a man as is -a man, and it ain’t no work for me.” - -“Odso, man, we’ll do as well without thee!” retorted Robin, wiping the -sweat from his forehead with a huge red hand. - -“Ay, and better too!” piped out Bill. “For there’ll be one less to -share the plunder; and——” - -He was interrupted by a roar of mocking laughter from all the men -within hearing. - -“Ay, that’s Bill Plunder, true to’s name!” cried one. “Never no blows -gets struck but what he’s thinking whether there’s guineas to come out -of it, or but a matter of shillings! But there’ll be cursed little to -take from a fellow that’s but a lieutenant!” - -“There’s his laced coat, and his sword, and maybe somat handsome by way -of a pistol,” grumbled Bill, angrily. “Pickings worth having, any way, -and that ’ud not find me too proud to take ’em.” - -“Maybe you’ll not have the chance, Bill, after all,” said Tom. “Maybe -the young officer’ll know better nor to come.” - -“Not he!” retorted Bill. “He’s got the spirit, deuce take him. He’ll -walk into the lion’s mouth, sure as a die. And it’s us that has to take -care he don’t walk out again.” - -“No fear o’ that,” said Robin, with an oath. - -“What if he should come quiet?” suggested Tom. - -“Sneaking by like them king’s men do when they’re after us?” cried -Bill. “Dost think Ann won’t keep too good a lookout for him for that? -No. If he comes with the redcoats, she’ll know long afore they be here, -and they’ll find all taut as they did yesterday morn. And if he comes -alone, he’ll walk in right enough; but he’ll never walk out no more!” - -There was a hoarse laugh at this, which passed round the circle, as the -men repeated the words the one to the other. And then, quite suddenly, -there fell a silence upon them all. - -Tregenna felt that his heart almost stopped beating; for he was under -the impression, for the first moment, that he had been discovered. But -the hush had hardly fallen upon the group below, when a faint tapping -was heard upon one of the great doors of the barn. - -“Ay, ay,” sang out Robin. And turning to the others, as he rested from -his hammering, he made a gesture to them, with his brawny arm, to put -down their tools. “They’re back,” said he “back from the shore. Down -with the boat, mates, and let’s see what luck they’ve had!” - -Tregenna was furious on learning, as he did from these words, that on -this very night there had been a smugglers’ raid carried out in his -absence. - -But he had little time for reflection when a strange thing happened in -the great barn below. The men stood silent all round, each holding a -rope, which he had hastily untied from a post driven into the ground. -At a signal from Robin, who directed the proceedings, the boat was -slowly lowered until she had sunk below the level of the floor into the -ancient crypt beneath. - -For one moment the torches flashed and flared, as the men looked down -at the unfinished hull of their boat. Then, just as Tregenna was -wondering why the soldiers had not taken up the flooring-boards to look -beneath them, he witnessed what he could not but confess was a very -clever contrivance. A row of boards were placed, side by side, on high -trestles across the boat, at a distance of some five feet below the -chapel floor, which was then boarded over in the same way. On raising -one of these upper boards, therefore, a stranger would have seen the -false floor below, with a rough canvas thrown down upon it, which would -have looked, in the imperfect light of the barn, like the bare ground. - -So quickly, so quietly was this carried out, that it took but a few -minutes to transform the busy workshop into a bare, deserted place, -when the men extinguished their torches and filed out quietly by the -west door into the darkness and the drizzling rain. - -The last of them had gone; the great key had turned in the rusty lock; -and Tregenna was asking himself by which way it would be safest to -descend, so that he might get away undetected by any of the smugglers, -when he felt his left ankle gripped by a strong hand. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - - IN THE LION’S MOUTH. - - -It was impossible for Tregenna to see the face of the man who had -seized him by the leg; for his own body was thrust through the hole -between the boards which filled up the great east window. - -He kicked out, however, with all his might; and after a silent struggle -of a few moments’ duration, he managed to get rid of his assailant: and -the next minute he heard him drop with a thud to the ground. - -Tregenna saw on the left the smoldering torch of one of the men who -had been at work inside the barn: he dared not, therefore, get down -and cross the farmyard. Having withdrawn his shoulders from the hold -in which he had wedged himself, he saw that the roof of the nearest -outhouse was only some four feet away. He contrived, by a risky -spring, to reach the thatch; and then it was easy to cross by the -roofs of the outhouses to an open window of the farmhouse, through -which he peeped. - -It was dark outside, with the rain-clouds and the falling drizzle; -it was pitch dark within, so that he could not even tell whether the -window opened from a room or a passage. He listened; but at first there -was nothing to be heard but the wind among the tree-tops on the hill -above, and the sound of the tread of footsteps in the soft straw of the -farmyard. - -Presently there was a stifled laugh, a murmur of rough voices, and then -the tramp of horses’ hoofs coming nearer and nearer along the road. -Then there was a low whistle, which was answered by a voice close to -where he stood under the window. - -The men from the barn had gone out to meet their comrades returning -from the raid. - -On an instant the place seemed to be alive with unseen creatures, -whispering, laughing, singing softly. Sheltered from observation from -below, for the present at least, Tregenna crouched down in the thatch, -and wondered how long he would be safe from his late assailant. -The next moment he saw a head appear above the eaves of one of the -outhouses. - -There was only one thing to be done, and he did it. Springing erect, -he clutched at the sill of the open window, drew himself up to it, got -inside, and closed it fast. Just as he secured the latch he saw, dimly -indeed, but unmistakably, the figure of a rough-looking countryman on -the roof outside. The closed window, however, baffled the fellow, for -he went on crawling about over the thatch without any suspicion of the -way by which his prey had escaped him. - -Tregenna fancied, as he watched from behind the security of the -latticed window, that he recognized in the fellow a rough-looking lad -whom he had seen at work in the Parsonage garden. - -The question now was, having got safely into the house, to get safely -out again. - -He groped about him, found the opposite wall at a distance of some five -or six feet, and soon discovered that he was in a corridor, running -along the back wall of the house. Following it, he came to a corner, -where the corridor, now cutting through the house to the front, with -rooms on each side, led to a wide staircase with a handsome carved oak -railing. - -Here, however, he came to a standstill, not daring to go down. For the -hall below led straight into the farmhouse kitchen, and there was no -door. - -Tregenna caught sight of a couple of men who were busy rolling -spirit-kegs into a corner of the great room; and he was prone on the -floor on the instant, watching and listening. But though he heard -plenty of noise, the entrance of the smugglers fresh from the raid, the -greetings of their comrades from the Gray Barn, the rolling of barrels -across the rough tiled floor, he saw no more. The outer door was out -of his sight, and so was the fireplace; and it was between door and -fireplace that the movement of the company lay. - -When he became sure of this fact, he stole softly down the staircase, -which was entirely unlighted, and concealed himself behind the bend -in the massive oak railing at the bottom. By this time the noise of -tongues, of tramping feet, of the bringing in of heavy wares, had -become so loud that he was not afraid of his footsteps on the bare -boards being heard. - -As he stepped down upon the stone flags of the hall, the wavering light -from the flaring torches in the kitchen fell upon what was now the -front-door of the house; he took a step towards it, thinking that he -might escape by this way. But it was fastened by a heavy padlock, so -that egress in this direction was impossible. - -There was nothing to be done but to remain in concealment, and to hope -for a chance of escape when the occupants of the house should have -dispersed and gone to rest. - -For the present he was safe; and although he dared not advance far -enough to see what was going on, his ears kept him pretty well informed -of the course affairs were taking. - -In the first place, he recognized among the newcomers three voices: -those of Ben the Blast, of Long Jack, and of Ann Price, who, as he -judged by the words she uttered and those addressed to her, must have -been herself with the raiders that night. They were jubilant over the -skill with which they had evaded the king’s men, who, it seemed, had -not had a chance of coming up with them. - -“’Twas all owing to the luck of the capt’n’s being away!” said Ann’s -voice, in a decisive tone. “That fellow’s the hardest nut we have to -crack. The soldiers don’t count!” she added contemptuously. - -“Ay, but the question is, where was the capt’n, damn ’un!” retorted Ben -the Blast, ferociously. “If so be you say you invited him hither, maybe -he’s on’s way now, and that’s how we missed ’un. Hey, Robin, have you -seen any strangers about?” - -Robin answered first with a characteristic curse. - -“If so be as I had seen him,” said he savagely, “there’d be naught for -to trouble your head about him no more!” - -“Maybe, he’s gone up to the Parsonage!” suggested Tom, who had entered -the kitchen from the porch during Ben’s speech. “Folk’s say he allus -has an eye to the Parsonage when he goes by, spying to see if Mistress -Joan’s about.” - -“He’ll get no good by doing that!” cried Ann, sharply. “Miss Joan’ll -never tell aught to harm us, for my mother’s sake; ’twas she came -herself to tell us, t’other day, that the red-coats were on their way -hither.” - -“Ay,” said Tom, “but ’tis not for information ’gainst us the lieutenant -hangs about the Parsonage. ’Tis for Miss Joan’s bright eyes, I’m -thinking.” - -“Pshaw!” said Ann, contemptuously. - -“She’s a handsome, winsome lady,” went on Tom, “and all the gentlemen -be raving mad about her shape and her fine eyes. So ’tis no such wonder -if he’s struck, too.” - -“Miss Joan’s well enough,” returned Ann, though in a rather grudging -tone; “but I think the lieutenant’s got something better to do than -run after a lass just now. Leastways, if he hasn’t, we can find him -something!” she added with acerbity. - -“Ho, ho, ho! That can we!” roared Ben the Blast, laughing lustily. - -In the midst of his mirth, in which the other men joined, there was an -interruption. Some one ran in panting, and apparently in sufficient -disorder to warrant a feeling of alarm among the rest. - -“Well, how now, Bill? What has frighted thee?” said Robin Cursemother; -and his companions added their questions to the panting newcomer. - -At last, when there was a pause, he blurted out— - -“There’s spies about, mates; there’s eyes been a-watching us while we -was at our work in the barn to-night!” Instantly there was a confusion -of tongues, so great that for a few moments he was allowed to get -breath, while his companions pressed round him, with oaths and abrupt -questionings. When he was able to go on, he said, “’Twas a lad from the -village yonder as told me, young Will Bramley, that lives down by the -mash’es, and works up at Parsonage.” - -“Well!” - -“Well, Oi caught ’un as he were a getting off the roof of the little -shippen, and he got away, runnin’ as hard as he could towards the -village yonder. But Oi come oop with him, and Oi says, says Oi, ‘What -be tha doing of?’ says Oi. ‘Tha’ve been spying,’ says Oi. Then says he: -‘’Tain’t Oi as have been spying, Bill Plunder,’ says he. And he told as -how ’twere Miss Joan Langney as had sent him for to see if there was -spies about the barn, and as how he’d caught hold of a man’s leg that -was a looking through the slit in the big barn winder to-night.” - -As Bill Plunder uttered these words, a storm of curses and oaths burst -from the listening smugglers. There was a movement, a stamping of feet, -a rattling of weapons. And Tregenna, brave man though he was, felt the -blood run cold in his veins, as he thought of the fate which would be -his if he should fall into their hands that night. - -“’Twas the lieutenant, for sure! Curses on him!” cried Ben the Blast, -bringing his heavy heel down sharply on the tiled floor as he spoke. -“And whither did he go? Answer that! Whither, I say, whither?” - -“That the lad didn’t know no more’n you do. He said as how he caught -hold of the leg of the fellow that was spying, and as how he was flung -off and down to the ground. And as how he looked and looked, and -searched and hunted, but couldn’t get not so much as a sight of him no -more. And as how he dursn’t call to any of us, for fear as he should be -caught for a spy hisself. That’s the lad’s tale, and Oi believe it’s -the truth, for ’od’s fish, Oi made him tremble in’s shoes.” - -“Why didst not bring him hither?” asked Robin, shortly. “We’d have -knocked the truth out of’s maw, I’ll warrant! Which way did he go, -blockhead?” - -“’Tis no matter for the boy!” cried Ben, in a voice of thunder. “’Tis -for the man we must be looking! Do you, mates, search the yard and the -shippens, while Ann and me’ll do the bit of road, and the bushes in -front yonder!” - -“He’ll be gotten clear away by this,” grumbled Gardener Tom. - -“Not he. ’Tis for spying he’s come, and he’d not go back so soon, -and with all of us about, too. Nay, he’ll be on the premises still, -somewheres, and, odds my life, we’ll make short work of him when we -find him. We’ll tie him on the brown mare, and whip him till he swoons, -and then we’ll put his body down the Monks’ Well that lies t’other side -of the hill yonder.” - -Then the shrill, thin whining voice of Long Jack broke in upon the -thunder of the others. Almost sobbing, and speaking in accents of real -terror, he said, thickly, and with uncertain intonation— - -“How now, mates, how now? Best leave well alone. Besht leave well -alone, Oi say, and may Heaven Almoighty pardon us what we’ve done -this noight! It’s ill work is murder, and it’ll be murder if you come -against him this noight.” - -Ben the Blast gave a contemptuous grunt. “Ugh!” cried he, surlily; -“drop that sniveling, Jack! Thou are loike to a wolf with a knife in -thy hand and thy blood up: but no sooner art thou cold again, than -thy tears flow as fast as thy liquor. Get thee to bed, mate, so thou -doesn’t loike the sound of our singing, nor of the tune we shall sing -to.” - -But Long Jack, still sighing and moaning, got up and staggered down -the room. Tregenna, with his heart in his mouth, saw him lurch towards -the hall where he was in hiding. But Long Jack, who was unsteady on -his legs, had but taken a few steps out of his right course, Bill -Plunder ran after him, and fetched him back; and the tall, lean, -miserable-looking rascal and his small ferret-faced companion went -again out of sight together. - -They all trooped out quickly, leaving, as Tregenna knew by the lull, -only Ben the Blast and Ann in the kitchen. They had taken some of the -torches with them, too; for the light had become very dim, even on the -whitewashed lower walls; while the great timbered roof overhead was now -in pitchy blackness. - -There was a silence when Ben and Ann were alone together, after he -had gone to the door and slammed it. Then she began to hum softly to -herself. - -“What art a-singing for?” asked Ben, gruffly. - -“To keep up my spirits maybe,” returned she, saucily. - -“Thou didst not need for to keep up thy spirits till latterly; they -was allus up,” said Ben. “What’s come to thee these last days? Is’t -since what happened t’other day that thou’rt so down in the mouth? Is’t -that thou wouldst like to be even with them that’s done thee so ill a -turn—eh, lass?” - -“Ay, that would I,” answered Ann, savagely. “I do thirst to pay back as -good as I’ve been given. I’m none of your soft ones, as you know, Ben.” - -“Odso, Oi don’t know it? It’s why Oi loike thee, Ann. Give me a lass, -says Oi, as can deal you a blow with her fist if she’s a mind, loike -as you did t’other day, when Oi did but ask for a smack of the lips. -The day yon cursed lieutenant tried to come atween us, you mind, Ann?” - -“Ay, I remember,” said Ann, who, with native intelligence, spoke much -better than did any of her companions, and, indeed, nearly as well as -the country gentlefolk. “I played the poor lad a neat trick, and left -him to get back through the mud of the lanes as best he could.” - -“Serve him roight, too!” retorted Ben, roughly. “Oi should be main -sorry to think you had any sneaking loiking for a king’s man, Ann; a -lass of spirit loike you!” - -“I’ve no liking for anybody,” said Ann, impatiently; “but my own kin -and my own kind. Liking, indeed! What dost take me for, to speak as if -I’d aught of a feeling of kindness for the young rascal that’s done -more harm to us in a month than the rest of the king’s men have in half -a year!” - -“That’s roight, lass; spoke with spirit. Spoke loike my cousin, my good -cousin, that’s to be my woife!” - -“Time enough for talk of that, Ben, when we get the coast clear of the -cutter’s men and the red-coats!” said Ann, shortly. “And now, let’s to -our work; ’tis for us to search the road for this young spark. ’Tis but -a matter of form, though; for he’ll be back to his ship long ere this!” - -“You think so?” - -“I’m sure on’t.” - -“Still, you’ll have a hunt for him?” - -“Ay, and if I find him, I pray Heaven I may find him alone. I should -like to settle accounts with him—by myself—dearly, dearly!” - -She spoke between her clenched teeth. And Ben laughed. - -“Roight, Ann,” said he. “Oi’ll hand him over if he comes my way. ’Od’s -fish; Oi’d never wish a man worse than to come your way while you be in -that humor!” - -“I always have a mind to pay my own scores myself,” said Ann, -viciously. “So do you, Ben. Take to the right, down towards the -bridge, whilst I search in the bushes in front, yonder. There’s many a -hiding-place there the fellow might have chosen, if ’tis true that he’s -still on the watch.” - -“Oons, Oi’ll not thwart thee. So here’s for the bridge. Thou’lt not -give me a kiss before Oi go—eh, lass?” - -“Dost think I’m in the mood for kissing?” retorted Ann, sharply. - -And it was abundantly clear that she got rid of her too obtrusive -admirer with the physical violence he professed to admire so much; for -Tregenna heard a sort of scuffling going on, and then Ben’s tread and -his voice were heard no more; but the door was opened, letting in a -rush of cold air, and then slammed with great force. - -Ann did not at once follow her admirer to take up her own allotted -share in the search for the spy. Tregenna heard her somewhat heavy -tread in the great kitchen, as if she were slowly pacing up and down at -the end of the room near the fireplace. - -Should he disclose himself to her, to this enigmatical woman with the -calm manner and the fierce heart? Or should he wait and watch the -course of events, hoping for a chance of escape? - -As he put this question to himself, he heard a door open in the -corridor above, and saw the glimmer of a rushlight reflected on the -ceiling. The old woman who had received him and the brigadier on -their previous visit to the farm had come out into the corridor and -was moving slowly towards the back of the house. In a few moments -she returned with a much quicker step, and coming to the head of the -staircase, called, in an anxious whisper— - -“Ann!” - -From the kitchen, at that moment, there came the sound of the flinging -down of something heavy, with a noise that echoed in the old rafters -above. - -“Ann!” repeated the old woman more shrilly. - -Ann’s voice had a muffled sound, as she answered, as if she were -speaking from a great distance— - -“Hey, mother, is’t you?” - -“Ay, lass. There’s summat wrong. I minded a while ago to have left the -passage window open, with the rain coming in. And now I find it shut, -and marks of a man’s tread on the floor here!” - -Ann’s answer rang out sharp and clear— - -“Right, mother. I’ll see to’t! Go you back to bed!” - -The old woman lingered but for one instant, turning to the right and -to the left the iron stand which held her rushlight. Naturally the -feeble light showed her very little. The prints of muddy boots were -continued down the stairs, but she did not care to trace them out, -feeling, probably, that such investigations might safely be left to the -energetic Ann. - -With a grunt and a muttered grumble she retreated into her own room, -and Tregenna heard her draw the bolt on the inner side of the door. - -He heard the click of a pistol which, as he imagined, the intrepid Ann -was trying. But he felt that the moment for decisive action had come. -He would not be discovered hiding behind the staircase like a thief. - -Coming out of his corner, therefore, he went into the big kitchen, to -present himself to the redoubtable Ann. - -The great hall looked a weird place, with the flickering of the -log-fire and the glimmer of a dying torch for all illumination. Round -about the wide hearth were piled bales of goods and kegs of spirits, -while the table groaned under a weight of jugs and tankards, joints of -beef, and long, flat home-made loaves, generous preparation for the -smugglers’ supper. - -In front of the hearth and between the two wide oak settles there was -a gaping chasm, a hole in the floor of which Tregenna was not long in -guessing the meaning. The heavy wooden lid, by day artfully concealed -by a piece of rough matting, apparently placed there for the comfort of -the old people who sat on each side, was now thrown back; and it was -by this lid that the solitary occupant of the huge apartment was now -standing. - -Although he was in part prepared for the discovery, Tregenna gave a -slight start on finding himself face to face with this being. - -For he saw before him not Ann Price the decent farmer’s daughter, -with her neat cap and snow-white apron, her calm face and quiet -manners; but Jem Bax, the young smuggler, with the rough shock of -shoulder-length hair, the seamen’s breeches, and high boots, the loose -shirt, open jacket, and flowing tie, with the pale set face, and fierce -devil-may-care expression. - -And even now that he knew them to be one and the same person, he could -hardly be surprised that he had not guessed the truth before. For, as -there had seemed to be nothing masculine about Ann in her skirts and -cap: so now in Jem Bax, in coat and breeches, he could see no trace of -the woman. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - - SETTLING ACCOUNTS. - - -When Tregenna came in, with his wide hat under his arm, and with the -easy air of a casual caller, it was Ann who appeared more startled than -he did. - -She had had one foot on the nearest settle, and had been engaged in -priming one of her pistols. But on seeing the intruder she started -erect, drew from her belt a second pistol, which was already charged, -and leveled it at his head. - -It missed fire, however, and Tregenna sauntered up the room towards -her, as if such a trifle as the attempted discharge of a pistol at him -were the greeting he was most accustomed to. - -“Good evening, Mistress Ann,” said he, with a low bow, when he had come -within half a dozen paces of her. - -She replied by a scowl, and by a muttered whisper between her teeth of -a very unfeminine kind. Nothing daunted, he still came on; and knowing -perfectly the artful character of his opponent, and profiting by her -momentary confusion and annoyance at the failure of her weapon, he -seized her by both wrists, forced her into a seat and placed himself -beside her, still firmly holding both her hands. - -“Curse you! What are you going to do to me?” - -“Nothing but keep you quiet for a few minutes till I get a chance of -getting away.” - -She laughed scornfully. - -“You won’t get away. Not even if you kill me. We’ve got you fast this -time.” - -She glared at him, her face within a foot of his, with eyes full of -passionate hate. - -“In the mean time _I’ve got you fast_, for the moment, and I intend——” - -She interrupted him, breathing heavily, and almost snorting defiance. - -“To humble me, to humiliate me, to treat me as—as——” - -It was Tregenna’s turn to interrupt, which he did with a scorn as -steady as her own. - -“As a woman! Troth, no! There’s nothing less likely, nothing less -possible, I assure you. I intend to treat you—I am treating you—as Jem -Bax the smuggler, as hardened a ruffian as I’ve ever met, as ferocious -as a savage, and with naught of the other sex about him but the cunning -and the meanness!” - -“Meanness!” - -She quailed under the word. For the first time she flinched, and her -eyelids quivered. - -“Yes. ’Twould be vastly mean in a man to attempt to harm the enemy who -had come to his succor, had promised to pardon him, to let him escape. -In a woman ’twould be worse than meanness; but what ’tis accounted by a -creature of your sort, that’s neither honest man nor true woman, why, -in sooth, I know not!” - -Again her gray eyes flashed a steely fire as they met his. There was -a sudden touch of sex in the lowered eyelids, in the flush which came -into her cheek, as she felt the young man’s gaze full upon her, saw his -handsome features so near her own. She drew a deep, shuddering breath, -and then said, in a fierce whisper, turning away her head, and moving -nervously under the touch of his strong hands— - -“I care not to be helped, to be pardoned, by one who stands to me as -a foe! ’Twas the first time I’d had a check, the first time I’d been -hurt. The others—my comrades—might look at me askance, I thought, might -treat me as a mere woman, despise me, when once they found me hurt, -wounded, like one of themselves.” - -“Still, you need not have let your feminine spitefulness carry you so -far!” - -“Feminine spitefulness!” echoed she; and she made a sudden, vain -attempt to wrench her hands away. “Pshaw, you don’t understand! And in -truth I did you no hurt.” - -“’Twas the fault of your feminine arm!” retorted Tregenna. “The -intention was bad; so, thank Heaven, was your aim!” - -She clenched her teeth in rage and agony. Tregenna was interested, -excited, in spite of himself, by this sudden revelation of the woman -who looked upon herself as a sort of Joan of Arc, invulnerable, -triumphant, bringing good fortune to her friends and ill luck to her -enemies. He began to understand the movement of impotent rage which -had caused her to behave so ungenerously. And he saw, too, that she -now felt ashamed of her act of treachery, that she writhed beneath his -taunts. - -“Let me go,” cried she, suddenly. “You—you—— Damn it, you hurt me!” - -Unfeminine as the reproach was, Tregenna was not unaffected by it. Not -a very lovely or lovable side of a woman’s nature was this that she was -revealing to him; but a woman’s it was for all that. - -“Well,” said he, after a moment’s pause, “I will let you go.” - -“You’ll trust me?” cried she, quite eagerly. - -“No,” retorted he, coolly. “I won’t trust you. But I can trust to my -own limbs to hold my own in a struggle with you.” - -And he released her. She sprang up, drew back her shirt-sleeves, and -looked at the red marks on her wrists. - -“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” said Tregenna. - -“So am not I,” retorted Ann. “I’ll show these marks to my kinsmen, my -comrades; ’twill spur their spirits to see I have been so used.” - -“Egad, they need but little spurring! And in truth you would do better, -if you care for your kinsmen, to warn them to desist from their -unlawful practises. The king and the Government are alike resolved to -put them down. A handful of men—and women—be they never so bold, can -scarce hope to hold out long against such forces as they can bring.” - -Ann laughed derisively. - -“You know us not,” said she, disdainfully, “if you think we can be -cowed into submission either by red-coats on the land, or blue-jackets -on the water. ’Tis in our blood to like the fight as well as the booty. -There be spirits among us—and I own myself one of them—would care -little for the cargo but for the chance of a pistol-shot about our ears -in the landing of it!” - -“But one of these nights you may find the bullets whizz by a little too -near, and see your lover shot down by your side.” - -Ann, who, conscious that Tregenna was watching her narrowly, had -disdainfully withdrawn to some little distance, and was pacing up and -down, throwing from time to time a sidelong glance at him, turned, -planted her feet firmly, and put her hands on her hips in a defiant -manner. - -“My lover!” said she. “And pray who may he be?” - -“Well, I know not which is the favored one,” said Tregenna. “But I -gather from what I have heard—overheard, that there are two who crave -your favor: one Gardener Tom, a handsome lad, too good for his vile -trade, and he they call Ben the Blast, for whom, truly, I feel no great -liking.” - -“Well, then, sir, know this: little as your liking for him may be, ’tis -greater than mine. And as for young Tom, why, in truth I should be -sorry to see him fall, but, ’twould be for his mother’s sake, and not -for my own. As you said but some minutes since, I am ill-fitted to deal -in such small wares as kisses and caresses!” - -“Nay, I said not so, Mistress Ann.” - -“You said you looked not upon me as upon a woman.” - -“But there be other men that do so look upon you.” - -Ann came a little nearer, and smiled grimly. - -“Ay, there’s your friend the general. He looked upon me with a most -kindly eye. And there’s young Master Bertram at Hurst Court, that -craves a kiss whene’er he sees me. You cannot understand their taste, -sir, doubtless? For you a woman must have soft hands and black eyes, -like Mistress Joan Langney?” - -There was something surprising in the sort of curious scorn with -which she put these questions, as if interested, though somewhat -disdainfully, in his answer. Tregenna, who was leaning back on the -settle, as easily as if enjoying his rest in an inn, smiled a little. - -“Ay, truly I do not know where you would find a fairer specimen of -womanhood than the vicar’s daughter.” - -His face softened as he spoke. Ann came a few steps nearer to him, -watching him with a slight frown. - -“Yet she hath small liking for you. She is on our side, you know. ’Twas -she that warned us of your coming with the soldiers.” - -“She will no longer be on your side when she hears that you have -murdered me, Mistress Ann.” - -“Murdered you?” - -“I understood that to be your intention.” - -“You take it coolly.” - -“’Tis as well to save my heat till ’tis wanted.” - -“Maybe you don’t think I shall be as good as my word?” - -“I have no reason to doubt that you can be as good as your word when -you have promised to do something vile and mischievous!” - -Ann snorted with anger. - -“Yet you can admire a woman of spirit in the parson’s daughter!” - -“Spirit! Egad, it needs no spirit to call in half a score of your -villainous confederates to make an end to one man.” - -Ann came up and planted herself before him. - -“I wanted no confederates to help me with you. I did propose that task -for myself,” said she, “in return for the humbling you gave me t’other -day in sight of all my friends.” - -“Ay, so you did. But your pistol missed fire, and I was too quick for -you afterwards.” - -Even as he spoke his taunting words, he saw her hand go quickly towards -the cutlass she carried at her side. And he smiled as he sprang up and -changed his place to the other settle, thus putting the open trap-door -to the cellar below between himself and her. - -“Come,” said she, frowning and tossing back her short hair like a -fury, “you shall not say but I play you fair. Out with your sword and -fight me again, as you did that day. If you get the best of it this -time I’ll see you safe out of this, I give you my word.” - -Tregenna shook his head. - -“I can neither take your word, nor fight you,” said he, lightly. - -“You have fought me before! Did you find me such a contemptible foe?” - -“No, indeed. But—I knew you not then for a woman.” - -“Well, and you own me not for a woman now!” - -“Just too much of a woman for me to fight with you I will own you to -be.” - -“Well, then, since you find me too much of a woman to be fought with, -you shall find me woman enough to give me a kiss.” - -“Nay, madam, I would rather be excused from that mark of your favor -also. A kiss may be given with the lips and a stab with the hand at the -same time.” - -“You shall make fast my hands with this rope, sir, and then maybe you -will be satisfied of my harmlessness.” - -“Nay, madam, ’twould take more than a rope to satisfy me of that!” -retorted Tregenna. - -Ann laughed; and he was surprised to note the change which had come -over her countenance. This fierce creature, who but a moment ago had -looked like a fiend with her glittering eyes and frowning brows, had -been transformed, by a fresh gust of the passions which were so strong -in her, to a being gentle, mild, humble, and submissive; and all the -more dangerous on that account. - -“You are hard to please, sir,” said she, in a low voice; “harder to -please than any man I have ever met before!” - -And she gave him a steady glance of her glowing eyes which was a -fresh revelation as to her strongly emotional temperament. He began -to understand the hold she got on the men she met, high and low, her -equals and her superiors, as he noted the transformation from the -bold and daring front of the young buccaneer to the modest mien and -diffident voice of the more gracious members of her sex. - -And he acknowledged to himself that the two sides to her nature gave -her a fascination, an odd attractiveness, which made her a creature -unique, unapproachable, dangerous. - -“I think, Mistress Ann,” said he, “’twould be better for us if you -pleased us less easily.” - -She laughed again, showing her beautiful sound white teeth in a most -winning mirthfulness which seemed to be wholly without guile. Tregenna, -however, was still cautious. The very fact that she now seemed to him -to be handsome, whereas hitherto he had thought her features somewhat -homely, was enough to put him on his guard. - -“Nay, sir, I am not the foul foe you imagine. You shall not fare ill at -my hands, if ’twere but for the bold stand you have made against me!” -said she. “You shall pledge me in a cup of wine; and you shall find it -none the less invigorating that it has never paid duty!” - -The archness with which she spoke was charming, irresistible. Tregenna -watched her with amusement, interest, admiration, as she went to the -table and poured out a full tankard from a flagon that stood at one -end of the board. She turned to bring it to him, with a grave, rough -grace that was odd and subtly attractive, when there came on a sudden -a succession of sharp raps on the door. - -Tregenna sprang to his feet, thinking that the smugglers were at hand. - -Ann put the tankard hurriedly down on the table, and bounding forward -to the place where he stood beside the gaping hole in the floor, she -gave him a sudden push which sent him headlong into the cellar below, -and shut down the trap-door. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - A LATE VISITOR. - - -Tregenna was so much taken by surprise by the suddenness of the attack -made upon him by Ann, that he did not realize her intention until he -found himself lying on something which was luckily not very hard, on -the cellar floor, in complete darkness. - -He had not had far to fall; for the bales of silk which had been flung -in from above were piled high, and made, moreover, a more comfortable -resting-place than kegs of spirits would have done. - -He floundered about in the darkness, with difficulty finding a footing, -and wondered in what spirit Ann had made him thus a prisoner. Was it to -shield him from the attacks of her confederates? Or was it to prevent -his finding an opportunity for escape? - -This latter explanation seemed to him the more probable of the two. -The woman was crafty, passionate, not to be trusted; and she had seized -the first chance which presented itself for putting him completely in -her power. - -In the meantime, while he recovered from the momentarily stupefying -effects of his fall, he could at first make out nothing of what was -going on in the great kitchen above. A distant murmur, undoubtedly that -of voices did indeed reach his ears; but it was not until he had been -down there for some minutes that he heard heavy footsteps on the tiled -floor above him, and was able to distinguish the voice of Ann, and then -of the newcomer, whom, from his halting gait and from what he could -hear of his voice, he guessed to be Gardener Tom. - -Tregenna piled the bales up together, mounted on them, and having thus -brought his head near the level of the floor, listened intently. - -The two speakers had by this time come to the hearth, and it was -possible to distinguish most of their words. Tom was displeased with -her reception of himself. - -“Well, Ann, ’twas no such easy matter for me to get up the hill to tell -thee, and I reckoned for sure on a word of thanks. ’Tis well to be -prepared when visitors come so late; and, as I tell thee, he’ll be here -in a few minutes.” - -“’Tis but the parson, maybe, called out to see some one that’s ill or -dying.” - -“Ay, maybe ’tis he, for ’tis a horse that may be his by the look of -him. But it may be the lieutenant, come to see what’s toward; and, -in that case, you’d do well to put those kegs out of sight, and give -warning to the lads to keep close till he’s gone.” - -There was a pause. Ann made no answer. By the angry tone in which Tom -presently went on speaking, Tregenna guessed that she had smiled, or -made some gesture which aroused the lover’s suspicions. - -“Well, why dost thou not answer me? Art so sure ’tis not the -lieutenant? Hast seen him thyself? Hast——” - -“Nay, nay, Tom, are they not all out yonder looking for him?” - -“Ay, and maybe thou knowest where he is all the toime! Thou canst not -always be trusted, Ann, e’en by thy own friends. And I’d not trust thee -with a pretty fellow like yon lieutenant. Maybe you got rid of us all -that you moight have it out with him by yourself. Eh, lass, eh?” - -And Tregenna could tell, by the sound of moving feet, that Tom was -searching round the room. - -Ann, who was standing on the trap-door, laughed easily. - -“Jealous, eh, Tom? ’Tis late in the day, with me! First ’tis Ben the -Blast, and now a king’s man! Hast no better opinion of thyself, Tom, -than to think thou wouldst be ousted so easy?” - -“Oons, lass, I’ve a better opinion of myself than I have of thee, for -such a thing as constancy! And for being ousted, as thou calls it, -plague on me if I know I was ever in!” - -“Come, now, Tom, han’t I always been kind to thee?” - -“Ay, when you wanted to get summat from me. Other toimes, I’ve to take -thy kindness turn and turn about with Ben!” - -“Fie on you, Tom, fie on you! Get you gone, and learn better manners -than to speak to a woman so!” - -She gave him a push in the direction of the door; but Tom was firm. -Lame as he was, he managed to escape her, and came back to the -trap-door over the hearth, where a slight noise, made by Tregenna in -his endeavors to keep his footing on the bales in the dark, had caught -his trained ears. - -He stooped quickly, and tried to raise the door. There was the sound of -a scuffle, of a fall, and then Tom growled out— - -“Now, by the Lord, Mistress Innocence, I’ve got you! You’ve got some -one in hiding below there, and ’tis the lieutenant, I’ll stake my -loife!” - -“And what if ’twere?” retorted Ann, coolly. “Dost think I want a lesson -from thee how to treat folks? Canst not thou trust me to do the best -for us all?” - -“Most toimes, yes, Ann. But not where a handsome man’s in the business. -Oh, lass, I know thee! Thou’rt a monstrous foine lass, and I love thee. -But I wouldn’t trust thee with a fresh face too near thine, so ’twere -as handsome a one as the lieutenant’s, d—— him!” - -“And canst thou not trust me to know how to shut a man’s mouth, to stop -his ears, to bind his hands?” hissed out Ann, with her lips close to -his ear and her voice low and earnest. - -“Oons, no!” shouted Tom, with redoubled anger. “Not where thy fancy’s -caught, as I do believe ’tis caught now! I believe thou wouldst let us -all hang for him, while thy fancy lasted, and kill thyself for spite -and grief afterward. That’s what I think of thee, Ann Price, and oons! -to save thee from that grief, and to save all our necks, I’m going to -tell the rest of the lads who thy visitor is!” - -“You would dare!” - -But before the words were well out of her mouth, Gardener Tom, with a -fierce oath, had flung down a heavy wooden chair to impede her steps, -and swung out of the house at a gait which, considering his lameness, -was a rapid one. - -Ann dashed into the porch after him, but stopped short with a cry on -finding herself face to face with a tall figure enveloped in a long, -hooded riding-cloak. - -“Miss Joan!” cried she, in amazement. - -Joan, who was standing at the entrance of the porch, with her horse’s -bridle on her arm, held out her hand; but she sighed as she did so, for -she knew well the meaning of the attire Ann was wearing. - -“I like not to see you in that dress, Ann,” said she. “’Tis bad enough -for the men to be at these tricks; but ’tis worse in a woman!” - -“You be grown mighty moral, Miss Joan!” - -“Let me come in,” said her visitor, shortly. “I have something to say -to you.” - -And as she spoke, Joan made fast the horse’s bridle to an iron staple -in the wall of the porch, and entered the great kitchen. - -“You have no one here?” she asked, as she glanced around the big room, -and peered into the dim corners where the kegs were piled high. - -“You see I have no one, Miss Joan,” answered Ann, in a somewhat -constrained tone. “But you had better hasten, if you would not meet -some of our rough folks; they’ll be in here ere long.” - -“I know,” said Joan. And she turned abruptly to meet Ann’s eyes, with a -face full of anxiety. “They’re outside, searching the neighborhood on -all sides; and I can conjecture for whom they search.” - -Ann looked down on the floor. - -“Come, Ann, I can trust you to tell me what I would fain know,” went on -Joan, quickly. “Lieutenant Tregenna—know you aught of him? He said he -should come hither, by your invitation.” - -“Ay, and you were so anxious to know what I should do with him, that -you sent a lad, Will Bramley, to be on the watch against his coming! -Bill, that they call ‘Plunder,’ did find the lad, and learnt his -errand, ere he let him go back to you.” - -“’Tis true. I sent Will to see that he came to no harm. Even as I would -not suffer the lieutenant to do harm to you or to poor Tom, for your -mother’s sake and for the sake of Tom’s kindness when I was a child; so -would not I have you do harm to him, since I know him for a brave man, -and one that but does his duty in pursuing you and your kindred.” - -“And ’tis for him you have taken this journey, by yourself, on a night -like this? Sure, Miss Joan, the lieutenant would feel flattered did he -but know.” - -“I would do as much for any man, were it a matter of life or death, as -I do truly think ’tis in this case!” said Joan with spirit. - -“Ay, ’twill be death to him if he meets with Ben, or with Tom, either!” -said Ann, mockingly. - -“Tom! Oh, Tom would do him no harm if he did but know how much I care!” -burst out Joan, with sudden passion. - -There was a second’s pause; and then Ann put her hands to her hips, and -laughed long and loudly— - -“Ho—ho! How much you care! You have confessed, Miss Joan, you have -confessed! To be sure you would not be so eager if the lieutenant were -pockmarked, and of the age of your father!” - -Her tone was so offensive that Joan, who was accustomed to be treated -by her with deference and respect, was not only hurt but astonished. - -“I understand you not, Ann,” said she at last, with dignity. - -“Nay, Miss Joan, I should have thought ’twas as easy for you to -understand me, as ’tis for me to understand you. This young king’s -man, being a pretty fellow, has taken your fancy, ’tis easy to see! -Oh, blush not, Miss Joan: ’tis a common complaint you suffer from. The -young ladies at Hurst Court feel, I warrant me, much as you do yourself -on this matter.” - -Joan’s answer was given modestly, but with some dignity. - -“If I blush at your words, Ann, ’tis because of the tone in which you -utter them,” she said, in a low voice, but so distinctly that every -word reached Tregenna’s ears, as, indeed, they reached his heart also. -“’Tis no shame to have a liking for a brave man: and if all the world -has the same, there is the less reason for my concealing it.” - -“Well, ’tis a pity your kindness for him hath brought you so far, -alone, and by night,” said Ann, dryly. “For ’tis a bad road you have -to traverse on your way back, and none the safer for the rough fellows -that are abroad, and that will be by this scarce sober enough to tell -the parson’s daughter from a farm wench on her way back from market.” - -“I can take care of myself, Ann, I thank you,” answered Joan, coldly; -“so you will but give me your word that Lieutenant Tregenna is not here -to your knowledge, I’ll return at once.” - -There was a moment’s pause. Tregenna, who heard the question, waited -with interest for the answer. Ann gave it in solemn tones. - -“He is not here.” - -“’Tis well, then. I’ll return.” She took a step towards the door, and -then stopped. There was a sudden change to wistfulness in her tone -which touched Tregenna to the quick when he heard her next words, “Ann, -should he be brought hither: should your kinsmen find him and bring him -to you, as I know they would do, you’ll—you’ll spare him, you’ll do him -no hurt, for my sake, Ann, for the sake of what I have done for you?” - -Again there was a pause. Then Ann answered, with a mocking laugh— - -“Oh, he shall not be treated worse than his deserts, I’ll warrant you!” - -There was a bitterness in her tone which appalled both her hearers. -Joan stepped hurriedly back into the room, and cried, in a ringing -voice— - -“Then, troth, Ann, I will not leave this roof till your friends have -come back!” - -“You had better go, Miss Joan,” retorted Ann, dryly. “My mates, and -specially after a raid, are no companions for a gentlewoman.” - -“Nor are they to be trusted in their treatment of a gentleman. So, -faith, Ann, I will stay till I learn what has become of Lieutenant -Tregenna.” - -The girls’ unseen hearer could contain himself no longer. He had at -first thought that it would be safer for Joan to return to her home in -ignorance of his presence in the farmhouse. But on hearing her express -this brave resolution, he felt that there was nothing for it but to -make his presence known to her. He, therefore, dealt three sounding -blows on the trap-door above his head with one of his pistols. The -weight of the door was so great, especially as Ann was still standing -on it, that it did not move. But the noise he made arrested Joan’s -attention, and aroused her suspicion. - -“What’s that?” she cried, as she came nearer to Ann. - -The blows were repeated, and then Tregenna’s voice, muffled but -recognizable, reached her ears: - -“Lift up this door, Mistress Ann. Let me out, or I’ll put a bullet -through it.” - -And as he spoke, he succeeded in raising the trap-door a couple of -inches, and in thrusting the muzzle of his pistol through the aperture. - -Ann with a muttered oath, raised the trap-door, and flung it back upon -the settle. - -“Out with you, then!” cried she, defiantly, as she planted herself a -foot or so away from the chasm thus made, and stared down upon him -sullenly. “Out with you, and off with you! And may the devil catch your -heels!” - -Thus adjured, Tregenna proceeded to pile up the bales of silk in order -to reach the level of the kitchen floor. Joan, who was very white, and -who had never uttered a sound since hearing his voice, came forward to -help him. - -As she held out her firm white hand, he grasped it in his with a warm, -strong pressure, which brought the red blood back to her face. The next -moment they were standing side by side, and face to face with Ann, -whose gray eyes flashed in diabolical anger as she looked at them. - -Only for a moment. Recovering herself quickly, so that they might -almost have fancied that the evil expression they had seen on her -features was the effect of fancy only, she closed the trap-door, and -threw herself on the nearest settle, with a loud burst of laughter. - -“Well done, well done, both of you!” cried she, as she clapped her -hands in boisterous applause. “Sure, ’twas as fine a comedy as ever was -played up in London before the quality, to see Miss Joan’s face when -she heard your voice, Lieutenant.” - -While she laughed, Joan in her turn was slowly recovering her -self-possession. - -“’Tis well, Ann, that it went not so far as to become tragedy rather -than comedy,” she said, as she glanced hurriedly towards the door. Then -pointing towards it with a hand that was scarcely steady, she said -to Tregenna, “I beg, sir, you will mount my horse, that is waiting -outside, and make the best of your way back to your vessel. Nay, fear -not to leave me here. They’ll not harm me, as Ann will tell you.” - -“Miss Joan,” replied Tregenna, in a shaking voice, as he looked into -her noble face with eyes in which his admiration and gratitude glowed -like fire, “I’d not leave you in this nest of rascaldom if I were to be -torn in pieces for disobeying you.” - -“You do not understand. I am safe here: you are not,” replied she, in a -low voice, which scarcely reached the listening ears of Ann. - -“It may be so, but I’ll not risk it. I’ll not leave this house without -you.” - -“Leave it with me, then,” said Joan, making up her mind with -promptitude. “You shall mount my horse, and I’ll ride behind.” And -turning quickly to Ann, “Good night,” said she somewhat coldly. - -But she got no answer. Ann was watching them both with no very friendly -eyes. Sitting on the edge of the great table, and looking again to the -life the dare-devil buccaneer, as she tossed her short hair, threw back -her head, and swung one foot with great energy, she waved one hand -impatiently, as if to speed the departure of the lieutenant and Joan, -but uttered no word of farewell. - -Then Tregenna tried. Going back a step he held out his hand. - -“Come, Mistress Ann,” said he, “I’ll not credit that you would have -done me a hurt, here in your own house, however fierce a foe you might -be in a hand-to-hand conflict outside. Let us part friends here, even -if we meet as antagonists hereafter.” - -For answer Ann put down her hands, one on each side of her, grasping -the edge of the table; and tilted herself backwards, laughing -maliciously in his face. - -“My friendship is of no account to you, sir,” said she, very slowly, -in a low, deep, and full voice, “at present. You shall have it, maybe -later.” - -And she turned her head disdainfully in the direction of Joan, who was -by this time in the doorway, and signified to him by a haughty bend of -the head that he had better follow the young lady. - -Tregenna bowed and accepted the suggestion. - -A minute later he was on the back of the parson’s bay horse, with Joan -behind him, holding on by the belt round his waist. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - A PERILOUS RIDE. - - -Although so much had passed since Joan’s arrival at the farmhouse, it -had all taken place within the space of a few minutes. She herself, and -Ann and Tregenna, had all been at too great tension of the nerves to be -dilatory either in speech or action. - -When, therefore, Tregenna felt the touch of Joan’s hands on his belt, -he saw, at the same moment, the figure of Gardener Tom at a very short -distance away, between them and the bridge. He was going down the hill, -presumably in search of his comrades; but his lameness prevented his -getting along very fast. - -Tregenna was about to speak, when Joan uttered, very low in his ear, a -warning “Sh—sh,” and pointed upwards, in the direction of a road that -went past the farm and over the hill behind it. - -Understanding without any words that she thought it prudent to return -to Hurst by a different and less direct way than the road by which -they had come, he turned the horse’s head at once in the direction she -indicated. - -They rode for some distance in silence. The drizzling rain had now -almost ceased, and the moon was showing fitfully behind ragged, driving -clouds. Their way lay at first along a very bad road, which had the -merit of being open to the fields on either side, so that they were -sure at least that they could not be attacked without warning. They -thus remained for some time in sight of the farmhouse; but though Joan -watched the building as well as she could in the feeble and fitful -moonlight, she could make out no sign of any creature stirring near it, -until for a moment, as they neared the top of the hill, the moon shone -out for an instant brightly on the valley at their feet. - -Then a low cry escaped her lips. - -“There is a horse coming out from the farm stables,” said she, “and -going down the hill towards the bridge. Ay, and there is a second and a -third. But one of the three is mounted; and the others are led by the -rider of the first.” - -“Well,” said Tregenna, noticing the alarm in her tone. “And what think -you that portends?” - -“Why, ’tis that Ann has saddled them and is leading them forth, for -what purpose, unless it be to attack us on our way to Hurst, I cannot -imagine. I would now we had kept the straight, short road, and risked -passing the searchers. Now I fear they may come up with us, since they -will be mounted, and will lie in wait.” - -The suggestion was not a pleasant one. But Tregenna was at first rather -incredulous. - -“Surely,” said he, “she would not have let us go forth unmolested, -if she had meant ill by us! And they would not touch your father’s -daughter, villains though they be. You and he are both too well known, -and too much respected even by the wrong-doers.” - -“Nay, sir, I fear you exaggerate our powers and our position. These men -do truly show us some respect, in return for my father’s labors among -them. But the least thing will turn them from kindness to savagery. -And Ann is in that respect but little better than they, I fear.” - -“She is a most extraordinary woman!” - -“You may well say that. The more extraordinary, the more one knows of -her. She can be as tender as a woman ought to be, as I have proved many -a time, when I have besought her kindness for the poor and sick in her -neighborhood or in ours. But she can also be as fierce as the fiercest -man, as you, sir, have, I believe, already proved.” - -“Ay, that have I. And truly I think her fierceness is more to be -depended on than her kindness. She hates me for having, as she -considers, humbled her in the fight t’other day. And I am much inclined -to think she would never have suffered me to go forth from the -farmhouse alive, had you not most happily come to my rescue.” - -As he uttered these last words, in a tone which betrayed the depth of -his feeling, he was conscious of a tremor which ran through Joan’s arms -and communicated a thrill to his own frame. - -“You now see, sir,” said she, quickly, “that I did well to warn you -against accepting her invitation to Rede Hall!” - -“It was more than I deserved that you should concern yourself with me -and my folly!” - -“Nay, sir, if ’twas a folly, I understand that you felt bound, in the -exercise of your duty, to commit it. But now that you have learnt so -much of their secrets as you have done to-night, I greatly fear they -will make a strong effort to make your knowledge of no avail. It was -with that fear in my mind I did suggest we should go by a less direct -way than the one by which we came. You must now, sir, take that path to -the left, and get down to the marsh, which we must cross on the way to -the shore. Where will your boat be in waiting for you?” - -“Down in a little creek near the cliff’s end. But I will not let you -accompany me so far. I am but endangering your safety. Let me descend -when we reach the foot of this hill. Trust me, I shall be able to -reach the shore without encountering the ‘free-traders.’ And for your -kindness I can never sufficiently thank you.” - -“If you must thank me, sir, I must do something to merit your thanks: -I must see you in safety on your own element,” replied Joan, lightly. - -“What! And then return alone to Hurst? Nay, indeed, Miss Joan, I’ll not -suffer that.” - -“Then, sir, you must pass the night under my father’s roof. He will be -pleased to have you. He was abroad when I left home, visiting a sick -woman. But he will be home again by this, and will, I am sure, receive -you with a hearty greeting.” - -“You are both all goodness, all kindness. I know not how to thank you!” - -His voice trembled, and when he had said these words there was silence -between them. - -Prosaic as their conversation had been since they left the farmhouse, -there was an undercurrent of deep feeling in both their hearts which -lent a vivid interest to their commonplace words. To Tregenna there -was thrilling, sweetest music in every tone of the voice of this -young girl, who had exposed herself so undauntedly to danger in the -determination to save him from the results of his own daring. While to -Joan, careful as she was to speak stiffly and even coldly, there was a -secret delight in the knowledge of the real peril from which she had -saved her handsome companion. - -He was, however, loth to accept her invitation to stay at the -Parsonage, fearing that he might, by so doing, bring the vengeance of -the smugglers on the heads of both father and daughter. She made light -of this fear; but finally, at her urgent entreaties, he agreed to go -home with her in the first place, and to take Parson Langney’s advice -as to going further that night or not. - -Hardly had this been settled between the two young people, when the -horse they rode pricked up his ears, rousing the attention of his -riders. - -They had now left the open fields, and were passing through a wild -bit of country where knots of trees, well-grown hedges, and clumps of -bramble made it difficult for them to see far in any direction, and -formed, moreover, safe hiding-places where an enemy might lie in ambush -unperceived and unsuspected. - -In the distance, before them a little to the left, lay the marshes, -with the white vapor rolling over them from the sea. - -Tregenna reined in the horse to reconnoiter. Trees on the right, a -hedge on the left of the miry road. Not a living creature to be seen. -In the copse, however, there was a rustling and crackling to be heard, -which might be the result of the night-wind, or might not. - -“Let us draw back,” said Joan, in a whisper “and go straight down to -the marsh and up to Hurst that way!” - -Tregenna assented, and was in the very act of turning the horse, when -there was a shout, a hoarse cry, and a man sprang out from the copse: -the next moment the lieutenant’s bridle was seized by Ben the Blast, -who was no horseman, and who chose, therefore, to do his part of the -work on foot. At the very moment, however, that he sprang out from his -ambush, a couple of horsemen appeared, the one behind, the other in -front of Tregenna; while a third, galloping up the road, joined his -comrades, and, presenting a pistol at the lieutenant, shouted to his -comrades to shoot him down. - -The newcomer was Jack Price, whose tears and maudlin protests at the -farmhouse had excited the derision of his comrades. - -“Hold your hands!” shouted Tregenna back. “Do you not see whom I -have with me? There is none here, I am very sure, would harm Parson -Langney’s daughter?” - -“Nay,” cried out one of the horsemen, whom, by the voice, Tregenna knew -to be Tom; “we’ll not harm her. But thou shalt not shelter thyself -behind a woman’s petticoats!” - -But before he could finish his speech Tregenna had deftly disengaged -himself from the clasp of Joan’s arms, and springing to the ground -struck Ben the Blast such a violent blow with the muzzle of one of -his pistols that that burly ruffian released his hold on the horse’s -bridle. Then, before any one had time to stop him, or even to realize -his intention, Tregenna thrust the reins into Joan’s hands, and bidding -her “Hold on! Ride on quickly!” gave the horse a smart cut which sent -him galloping forward clear away from the throng. - -Then, springing to the side of the road, he put his back against a -tree, drew his cutlass, and prepared to make the best defense he could. - -Jack Price, with a fearful oath, rode at him, but missed his aim with -the knife he held, and narrowly escaped being dismounted, as the horse -swerved on nearing the tree. Robin Cursemother, who was one of the -mounted ones, took warning by this, and swung himself off his horse. - -In truth, none of them were more efficient as horsemen than kegs of -their own contraband spirits would have been; and Gardener Tom, who -kept his saddle on account of his lameness, contented himself with a -passive share in the business, by standing in the road with his pistol -cocked, waiting for a chance of aiming at Tregenna without risking the -maiming of his own comrades. - -Meantime, however, Robin had attacked the lieutenant fiercely in front, -while little mean-faced Bill Plunder, creeping through the brushwood, -struck at him from behind. - -Tregenna, thus attacked by the two, defended himself with vigor, -and had dealt an effective blow at Bill’s shoulder, when a strange -diversion occurred. - -There was the sound of a galloping horse’s hoofs, of the splashing and -churning up of the mud and water in the road. The next moment Joan’s -horse dashed into the midst of the group, causing the animal Jack Price -rode to start off at a smart pace; and Joan herself, alighting in the -very midst of the fray, made straight for Tregenna, heedless of the -knives and pistols with which the smugglers were armed, and of the vile -curses which assailed her ears. - -“Go back, go back!” cried he. - -“I’ll not go back!” retorted Joan, as she still came on, and daringly -thrust aside the arm of Jack Price, who had by this time dismounted in -his turn. “I’ll not see you murdered before my eyes. If they will kill -you, they shall kill me too!” - -And she sprang through the group and reached Tregenna, while the -smugglers, for the moment disconcerted, hung back and looked at her. - -“And you, Tom, I’m amazed to see you taking part in an attack like -this, half a dozen men against one! Oh, shame on you, shame!” cried she. - -Robin Cursemother recovered from his discomfiture before the others. - -“’Tis easy to talk!” said he, roughly. “We mean no harm to you, -mistress, but we have accounts to settle with this fellow, and that -to-night. If so be he’s your friend, you should have taught him better -manners than to interfere with us. So now, mistress, off with you, and -leave him to us!” - -But for answer Joan crept a step nearer to Tregenna, who touched her -arm gently. - -“Go, Miss Joan, go,” said he, earnestly. “I can hold my own with these -fellows, believe me!” - -“Curse you! You shall not bear that boast away with you,” said Robin, -fiercely. - -And he made a lunge at Tregenna. - -Joan uttered a faint cry as she caught sight of the gleaming knife -in the smuggler’s hand, turned quickly, and flung her arms round -Tregenna’s neck. - -“Off with you, away with you! We’ll not touch you, mistress, but you -must leave him to us!” cried Gardener Tom, reining in his horse behind -the pair, and seizing Joan’s mount by the bridle. - -“Touch him if you dare!” cried Joan, fiercely, as she turned her head, -panting, and looked full in Tom’s face. - -“Why, what call have you to tell us to let him go, mistress? He’s a -stranger, he is, and naught to you!” - -“Oons, mistress, if so be you can make out he’s aught to you, we’ll -let him go!” roared Ben the Blast, in his thick, hoarse voice, which -seemed to carry whiffs of sea-fog wherever he went. “Come, now, what is -he to thee?” - -For one moment Joan hesitated, while Tregenna in vain tried to -disengage her arms, and whispered to her to go, to leave him. But she -would pay no heed to his protests. In answer to Ben, her voice, after a -moment’s pause, rang out clearly— - -“You will let him go, you say, if I tell you what he is to me? Well, -then, you must let him go. For I tell you—he’s—he’s the man I love!” - -For a moment there fell a silence upon the rough men. There was -something in the tones of the maidenly voice which reached even the -hearts of the smugglers, and awed them for an instant into quietness. -The horses stamped, splashing up the mud; the wind whistled in the -trees; but the men, for the space of a few seconds, were still as mice. - -Then Tom, the most easily moved, the least hardened amongst them, -leaned down from his horse, and touched Tregenna, not ungently, on the -shoulder— - -“Off with you then, master, and get out of sight and out of hearing -before we change our minds!” said he in a low and somewhat mocking -voice. - -Tregenna took the hint. Lifting Joan on to the saddle of her father’s -horse, he swung himself into it in a twinkling, and digging his heels -into the animal’s flanks, urged him forward without a moment’s delay, -in the direction of Hurst. - -There was an outbreak of oaths and curses, bloodcurdling to hear. And a -pistol was discharged after them, without, however, doing any harm. - -But luckily for the lieutenant and the lady, this incident had already -bred a quarrel among the smugglers; and before the fugitives were out -of earshot, they heard the unmistakable sounds of a conflict which kept -the “free-traders” occupied until Hurst was reached by the parson’s -horse and his riders. - -Then, slackening his pace when they entered the straggling village -street, Tregenna, whose heart was full, turned so that he might catch -a glimpse of the face of his companion. They had ridden thus far in -complete silence. - -“What shall I say to you?” whispered he, in a vibrating voice, as he -bent his head to be near hers. - -But the answer came back cold and clear, with a light laugh that -chilled him to the soul: - -“What shall you say? You had best say nothing, sir. I said what I did -say but to save your life!” - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - - THE SMUGGLERS’ SHIP. - - -Tregenna must have been harder than stone if he had not been stirred to -the depths of his being by the courage and devotion shown on his behalf -by the parson’s beautiful daughter. - -From the first moment of meeting her, when he had seen her winsome -face and sparkling eyes in the moonlight, on board his own vessel, he -had been struck with admiration for her person, her modest, unaffected -manners, her spirit, and her devotion. This feeling had grown with -every meeting. So it was not wonderful that, on this evening, when she -had braved such perils on his behalf, Joan should have inspired him -with a passion exalted on the one hand, strong on the other, such as he -had never believed it possible that he could feel for any woman. - -All the greater, therefore, was his mortification, his sudden -revulsion of feeling to despair, when she replied to his stammering -attempt at thanks with mocking words, and a chilling laugh. - -It was some minutes before he recovered himself sufficiently to speak. -By that time they had reached the lane that led from the end of the -village street up to the Parsonage. As soon as the glimmering light -in the ivied window caught his eye, he said, in a tone which he tried -to make as indifferent as her own, but in which it was easy to detect -traces of the emotion from which he was suffering— - -“You will not suffer me to thank you for your goodness on my behalf. I -trust your father may be more complaisant.” - -“My father, sir, will make as much light of it as I do,” replied Joan, -as she relaxed her hold on her companion’s belt, and alighted in the -mud of the lane. - -Parson Langney’s voice, hearty, cheery, but not without a touch of -anxiety, rang out pleasantly, at this moment, upon their ears. - -“Hey, Miss Madcap, is’t you? By what Nance told me, I had begun to fear -your wild expedition had turned out ill!” - -“Nay, father, it has turned out very well!” cried she; “for I have -carried off Mr. Tregenna from those that would have harmed him, and -have thereby made him vastly civil!” - -“Nay, sir, Miss Joan will not suffer my civility or my gratitude. She, -who is so proud herself, will not allow me to acquit my own debt to her -even by a word of thanks.” - -“Tut-tut, there is no need!” said the parson. - -“And the less, sir,” put in Joan, quickly, “since I own I had some -hand in bringing about your discomfiture before, at the hands of -the—h’m—‘free-traders.’ Father,” she went on quickly, turning to the -vicar, “I’ll never do aught for Ann or her friends again! ’Twas she put -them on our track; and they had a mind to murder Mr. Tregenna, I verily -believe!” - -She was speaking very quickly, with a certain frivolous air which -was new in her, and less becoming than her usual straightforward -simplicity. Tregenna, who was too inexperienced in the ways of women to -understand the cause of this change in her, was hurt and grieved by it. -He could not understand how strong her anxiety must be to try to efface -from his mind the remembrance of her action in so boldly declaring to -the smugglers that it was for love she protected him. - -Chagrined on the one hand, yet still shaken to the very depths by the -adoration he felt for the beautiful girl whose touch he seemed still -to feel on his breast, Tregenna stammered out again some hesitating -words of thanks, as he held out his hand to Parson Langney, with a shy -sidelong glance at his daughter. - -“I must hasten back to my ship,” said he. “And in the morning I shall -hope to pay my respects to you, and to induce Miss Joan to give me a -better hearing than she will grant to-night.” - -At these words, Joan, who had been moving restlessly from the horse to -her father and back again, apparently unable to keep still one moment -now that the tension of the evening’s events was over, became suddenly -as motionless as a statue. Then, in a voice which was as earnest as a -moment before it had been affectedly gay, she said quickly— - -“Father, bid Mr. Tregenna stay here till the morning. These fellows may -still be on the watch for him.” - -“Sh-sh!” said her father, raising his hand to enforce silence. - -In the pause which followed, both Joan and Tregenna were aware of a -loud, rumbling noise in the village street below, coming gradually -nearer. And in a few minutes, during which they all stood silent and -wondering, without exchanging a word, they perceived a huge black mass, -dim, shadowy, like some mammoth beast whose bulk makes rapid motion -impossible, creeping slowly by in the obscurity of the trees at the -bottom of the hill. - -Slow, phantom-like, it crept along with no sound but the rumbling and -creaking that had at first arrested the vicar’s attention. - -Tregenna, on the alert at once, would have descended the hill to find -out what the monster was. But at a sign from his daughter, Parson -Langney laid a restraining hand upon the young man’s arm. - -“What can you do—alone?” said he, warningly. “Keep your heart in your -breast for to-night, at least. In the morning—why, you must do your -duty. Come, a tankard will do you no harm. You shall drink ‘confusion -to free-traders’ if you will. And, egad, I’m inclined, after what I’ve -heard, to drink the same toast myself!” - -Tregenna agreed, anxious for another chance of a word with Joan. But -he saw no more of her that night. Even while the vicar was giving -this invitation, his daughter had slipped quietly into the house, and -disappeared for the night. - -This left Tregenna free to tell his host, over the nut-brown ale -which the vicar poured out with loving hands, the whole story of the -adventures of the evening. Astounded, enthralled, marveling at his -daughter’s courage, and furious at the smugglers’ daring outrage, the -vicar listened with all his ears. - -And when the young man’s tone grew lower, his eyes more passionate, as -he declared his love and admiration for the girl who had risked so much -for him, Parson Langney listened sympathetically, and with tears in his -eyes, to the tale he had often indeed heard before, but never from such -eager lips. - -“Ay, ay, she’s a good girl, a good girl, my bonnie Joan!” said he, in a -tremulous voice, when Tregenna paused. “You’re not the first that has -come to me with this tale, sir, though you’re the first she’s shown -such kindness to as she’s shown to you. But reckon not too much on -that, I warn you. She’s not your ordinary lass, that minces and mouths, -like the girls at Hurst Court we’re going to dine with to-morrow.” -Tregenna made a mental note of this fact, and determined that he would -be invited too. “And what she did and what she said she’d have done -and said for any other man in such a plight as yours, I doubt not! But -we’ll see, we’ll see. I’m in no hurry to lose my Joan, I promise you, -sir. The day must come when she’ll go forth from me as a bride; but -there’s time enough for that, time enough for that! And I would not -have you hope too much, though I do not bid you despair.” - -Tregenna was forced to be content with this vague encouragement, and -with the comfort of having unburdened his heart to a sympathetic ear. -It was not long before he took his leave, and having followed the -vicar’s advice to concern himself for that night with nothing but his -own safety, reached the boat in the creek without accident, and was -soon on board the _Sea-Gull_. - -Next morning he was early astir. He had already, on arriving on board, -sent a trusty messenger to Rye, to beg the brigadier to lose no time -in making a second expedition against Rede Hall; he promised to meet -him there, and to put him in possession of some facts he had learnt -concerning its hiding-places. - -But although it was no later than nine o’clock in the morning when he -and General Hambledon met at the farmyard gates, they found that the -smugglers had been beforehand with them. - -Not a man or a woman was to be found on the premises; not a cow or a -horse; not a pig or a hen. And though the trap-door to the cellar had -been flung wide to assist them in their search, it was in vain they -sought for the bales among which Tregenna had stood on the previous -night. - -Not a keg or a bale was there in the whole place, though they searched -it from garret to cellar! - -The brigadier was ferociously facetious, tauntingly jocose. - -“Hey-day, Tregenna, I fear they gave thee too much of their contraband -_aqua vitæ_, and that it has bred visions in thy brain!” said he, with -an ugly smile on his red face, and a vicious look in his eyes. He was -in no very good humor with the young man for having outrun himself in -zeal, and was at heart rather pleased that this expedition, designed by -his rival, should have been as complete a failure as the last. - -“Well, at any rate, you see, General, that there was something wrong -with the place, for them all to have deserted it like this,” said the -lieutenant, reasonably enough. - -“More like they have deserted it from fear of quarter-day!” retorted -the brigadier. “’Tis a common thing enough a flitting like to this, at -such seasons!” - -“A least,” said Tregenna, who was hot and furious at this fresh rebuff, -“you will find the ship under the barn-floor!” - -But even as he uttered the words, a chill seized him as he remembered, -in a fresh light, a mysterious incident of the previous evening. He -was, therefore, more disgusted than surprised when, in searching the -barn, the soldiers discovered that the flooring was indeed loose, as -he had said, and that there was a crypt beneath: but that though there -were traces of the cradle in which the smugglers’ boat had been hauled -up and down, and some tools lying about in dark corners with logs and -screws, ropes and mallets, the vessel itself had disappeared. - -Tregenna took almost in silence the taunts with which the brigadier now -saluted him. Leaving the soldiers to return to Rye, the young man, with -a shrewd suspicion that the mammoth beast he had dimly seen crawling -through the village in the dark on the previous evening was the -smugglers’ boat, resolved to try to track it to its new resting-place. - -Such a weighty thing as the unfinished vessel, and the wagon or wagons -on which it must have been removed, could not, he argued, but have left -its mark on the roads it traversed. - -And so it proved. Following the deep wheelmarks which were easily -discernible even now in the mire of the Hurst road, he arrived at that -village, went through it, still tracing the wheelmarks; and finally, to -his consternation, tracked the wagons to the stables of Hurst Court. - -It was a disconcerting discovery enough, but Tregenna, furious at the -conspiracy thus formed against the representatives of law and order, -did not scruple to follow it up. It was evident that the hiding-place -they had found for their vessel had been looked upon by the smugglers -as safe and sacred, for no steps had been taken to guard it. Tregenna -opened the wide door of the coach-house; and inside, as he had -expected, he saw the hull of the unfinished boat. - -Without a moment’s loss of time he went straight up to the house, where -he fancied that the butler who admitted him looked at him askance, as -if with some suspicion of his errand. - -The squire himself, however, while affecting the greatest astonishment -and indignation on hearing that the smugglers’ boat had been placed in -his stables, was evidently in a state of extreme trepidation as to the -course Tregenna meant to pursue with regard to himself. - -The lieutenant, however, thought it better to receive his assurances of -innocence as if he believed them, thinking that this would be a lesson -strong enough to cure the squire of complicity with the smugglers. - -Squire Waldron was, of course, particularly civil to his unwelcome -guest, pressing him to stay to dinner; an invitation which Tregenna -accepted at once, in the hope of meeting Joan. - -Then the squire made haste to rid himself of his guest by presenting -him to the ladies in the music-room, who again, as on a previous -occasion, loaded him with hypocritical expressions of horror at the -smugglers and their conduct. Certain rumors of the adventures of the -previous evening had reached their ears from the Parsonage, and they -all endeavored to worm out of Tregenna the exact details of his visit -to Rede Hall, and of Joan’s late ride. - -“They do say, you must know, dear Mr. Tregenna,” lisped one young lady, -with a prim little ghost of a malicious smile, “that Joan Langney was -so afraid you were gone to make love to Ann Price, who is reckoned a -great beauty in these parts (though I am sure I ha’n’t a notion why), -that she cantered after you on horseback!” - -“The forward thing!” cried Miss Lucy. - -“But maybe ’tis not true!” said Mrs. Waldron inquisitively. - -“Do, pray, tell us how ’twas, sir,” went on Miss Alathea, playing -affectedly with her fan. “’Tis no breach of confidence; for you and -she were seen to return to the Parsonage together, late in the -evening. So ’twill make the best of a bad business to let us know the -circumstances!” - -“A bad business!” echoed Tregenna hotly. “Nay, madam, ’twas a very good -business for me! Since, if Miss Joan had not been good enough, knowing -I was going thither, to ride to Rede Hall and release me from what was -practically imprisonment at the hands of the scoundrels who infest that -place, I should scarce have got hither alive!” - -The young ladies both went off into a series of little twittering -shrieks, raising their hands and turning up their eyes towards the -painted ceiling, with every mild expression of horror and affright. - -“So she _knew_ you was going thither!” chirped Miss Lucy presently. -“You are great friends at the Parsonage then, Mr. Tregenna?” - -“I hope I am, madam,” returned Tregenna promptly. “For there’s no -friendship in the world I value more than that of Miss Joan and her -father.” - -This prompt declaration seemed rather to damp the spirits of the -two little pink-eyed girls, and they desisted from their attacks in -this direction; and having obtained his assurance that music was his -passion, they proceeded to the harpsichord and warbled monotonous -little duets to him until the arrival of Parson Langney and his -daughter brought a welcome relief from the infliction. - -Poor Tregenna, however, rather regretted that he had been so prompt -in accepting the squire’s invitation, when he found how very frigid -Miss Joan was to him. She made him a stately curtsey, with her eyelids -lowered, and without taking any notice of his proffered hand. And when -the parson, who had heard already of the doings of the morning, twitted -Tregenna about the escape of the smugglers, Joan joined heartily in his -ironical comments while the squire was not long in adding his taunts; -so that the young man found himself assailed on all sides with no ally -save the chirruping young Waldron ladies, whose advocacy irritated him -more than did the attacks of Joan. - -So mortified was he, indeed, that when the ladies withdrew from the -table, he felt that he could not bear the society of the other three -gentlemen—his host, Bertram Waldron, and the parson—any longer. He -therefore made the excuse of his duties calling him away, and left -them to their wine. - -Just as he was taking his three-cornered hat from the peg in the hall -where it hung, he caught sight of one of the maids of the house, in -her smart frilled cap and neat muslin kerchief and apron, in a corner -of the hall. On seeing him she started and turned to go back and this -action arrested his attention, and caused him to look at her again. - -The first look made him start; the second made him stare; the third -caused him to run lightly across the hall, and to seize her by the -apron as she tried to escape into one of the rooms. - -“Ann Price—masquerading as a housemaid, by all that’s audacious!” cried -he, as they came face to face. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - A TRAITRESS. - - -Finding escape impossible, Ann turned and put a bold face on the -matter. Or rather, she turned indeed, and faced him, but with the same -air of modest womanliness which he had before remarked in her when she -wore her sex’s clothes—a manner which altered so completely as soon as -she assumed the costume of “Jem Bax.” - -“And what are you pleased to want with me, sir?” she asked -respectfully, after the short silence which had followed Tregenna’s -exclamation. - -“Well, I want to know, in the first place, what you are doing here?” - -“Sure, sir, there’s no harm in my taking a place as housemaid, now I’m -turned out of my mother’s home by your pryings of last night.” - -“’Tis rather a bad thing for the squire and his lady,” said Tregenna, -dryly, “to be harboring any of your kin, Ann, more especially after my -discovery in the coach-house this morning!” - -“I am not here, sir, as a smuggler, but as a homeless farmer’s -daughter,” returned Ann, in the same modest, even tone. “I believe I -am reckoned worth my salt with a broom in my hand, as well as in the -dairy.” - -“Nay, nay, ’tis not for your services with mop and churn they take you -in, Ann, I know that,” said Tregenna. “You would have done best to keep -out of my way a few days, after your doings of last night. ’Tis not -your fault your rascally crew did not make an end to me, when you sent -them in pursuit of me, as you did!” - -“Nay, sir, if I did,” answered Ann, with a sudden change to a soft -voice and a pleading manner which had in it something strangely -attractive, by reason of its unexpectedness, “’twas done in the heat of -unreasoning passion, and without a thought of what grave consequences -it might bring upon you. If they had really harmed you, by my troth I -would never have spoke to one of them again.” - -“A very fair explanation, to be sure!” said Tregenna, dryly. “But ’twas -well I had the luck to meet with a woman more womanly, to counteract -the effects of your solicitude on my account.” - -“You mean Miss Joan,” said Ann, in a very quiet tone, as she played -with the corner of her apron, keeping her eyes fixed upon it all the -time. - -“Whom should I mean but that most sweet woman?” cried Tregenna, with -the more enthusiasm that Ann was evidently displeased by his praise of -the lady. “Had it not been for her goodness, I should most surely have -been murdered last night, either by you or some one of your villainous -confederates.” - -“Nay, nay, sir, you would not,” returned Ann, earnestly. “They would -not have dared, I say, not one of them, to do a hurt to one in whom—in -whom”—her voice faltered a little, and she looked down, bending her -head, so that he could not see her face—“in whom I had an interest!” - -“An interest! Ay, truly, an interest so strong that, at first sight of -me, you did show it at once by presenting a pistol at my head!” - -Ann suddenly raised her head, and looked into his face with a steadfast -earnestness which could not but arrest his attention. In her gray eyes -there was a strange light, in her whole manner a softness, both new and -surprising. Even her voice seemed to have lost every trace of robust -peasant harshness, and to have become tender and melting. - -“Sir, sir, you don’t understand! How can I make you understand?” cried -she passionately. - -Then, as he looked into her face with astonishment and curiosity, she -suddenly turned, walked a few steps towards a door in the darkest part -of the hall, and beckoned him to follow her. - -“Come hither, sir, out into the air!” said she, in a low voice. “I am -stifling here; I want to feel the fresh wind on my face while I speak.” - -Her voice was full of strong emotion. Tregenna paused an instant, -suspecting treachery in the strange woman; but she divined the cause of -his hesitation, and with a sudden change to fire and pride, she said— - -“You need not fear me. See, there is no ambush prepared for you!” And -as she spoke, she threw open the door, and showed the way into the -beautiful old garden behind the house. - -Tregenna followed her in silence as she went out, and took, without -looking behind her, the path that led, through winding walks, and -between quaint, stiff yew hedges, to the Italian garden. There a broad -terrace, with a stone balustrade, led down to bright beds of late -autumn flowers, still pretty and fragrant, though they were growing -tall and straggling at this late season, and were, in places, nipped -with the early frosts of the coming winter. - -Ann stopped on the terrace, and waited for Tregenna to come up to her. -When he did so, she turned abruptly, and he was surprised to see that -she was in tears. - -The discovery, in a woman of her fierce attributes, was startling, -amazing; and Tregenna was disconcerted by it. - -“You are astonished, I see, sir,” she began, in the same gentle voice -that he had last heard from her, “to see a creature you have always -looked upon as masculine and hard, with aught so feminine as a tear -upon her face!” - -“Well, Miss Ann, I confess it, I am surprised. I thought you were made -of stuff too stern for such weakness!” - -“Did you but know more of me,” said she, sadly, “you would not think -so. We are all, as you know, sir, made by our surroundings; and see -what mine have been! Brought up from my earliest childhood among rough -folk, hearing of scenes that ’twould make your blood run cold to -relate, what chance had I to grow into your soft and tender woman, that -sits and smiles, and screams at sight of a spider?” - -“But surely there’s a wide difference between screaming at a spider, on -the one hand, and using the weapons, ay, and the oaths of a man, on the -other?” - -At this reproach, Ann became suddenly red, and hung her head as if in -shame. - -“Nay, sir, ’tis true,” said she, almost below her breath, “and I am -shocked myself, when I have leisure to reflect on’t, at the work I do, -and the words I utter, when my kinsmen have stirred me up to fight -their battles and to do the deeds they demand of me!” - -“Nay, ’tis, I think, rather they that do the deeds you command. Jem Bax -has the name of being a leader on these occasions, and indeed your own -words have confirmed this!” - -“’Tis true I have thrown in my lot with them, hating myself the -while; but ’tis not true, sir, to say I have had aught but misery and -wretchedness in the doing of these deeds. Does not your fine lady -friend Miss Joan speak well of me? Come, now, has she spoke never a -good word for me, in the discussions I doubt not you have had on these -matters?” - -“Yes, she says you can be kind and womanly, when you please; that you -are good to the poor and the sick; and that she has a kind of liking -for you, besides that she feels for you as the daughter of one whom she -remembers tender to her in her childhood.” - -Ann’s mobile face had grown, as she listened to this speech, as happy -and soft as a child’s. - -“Ay, sir,” said she, “and ’tis the real Ann of whom she speaks, the -natural woman that I would fain always be!” - -“Give up your dealings with these folk, then,” said Tregenna, eagerly, -as he sat on the balustrade, and looked at her with earnest eyes. -“Listen to the promptings of your better nature, and in yielding to -your own good instincts you will be helping not only yourself, but your -kinsfolk out of harm! Remember, you cannot fight forever such forces as -will be brought against you and your lawless traffic. Yield then while -there is a grace in yielding, and wait not for the strong hand of the -law to get hold of you, and to mow you down!” - -While he spoke with fire and excitement, moved by her emotion and -deeply interested in the wayward woman, Ann had drawn gradually nearer -to him, until her strong hand touched his as it lay on the balustrade. -Her eyes, still soft and dewy with tears, sought his for an instant -from time to time, as if in shyness, all the more attractive from her -reputed character for fierce disdain. - -When he ceased speaking, she sighed deeply, and then seemed to become -suddenly possessed by a spirit of daring and desperation. - -Drawing herself up, and peering closely into his handsome face, she -said quickly— - -“Sir, sir, you know not how you move me! I have never felt before as -I feel in listening to you. You make me hate my own folk, with their -villainies and their rough ways, kinswoman and confederate of theirs -though I have been! Oh, sir, I feel, I know, that you are better than -we, that we are but the nest of robbers and pirates you say, that we -deserve no mercy at your hands!” - -Passionate, earnest as she was, Tregenna kept his head sufficiently to -be skeptical about this sudden appearance of conversion. - -He drew back, almost imperceptibly, a little way, and said, in a cooler -tone— - -“And I fear ’tis little mercy some of you will get, when a stronger -force is sent down to ferret your leaders out!” - -“But you would make distinctions, sir, would you not?” said she, with -tremulous eagerness. “You would not, for sure, deal with the lad Tom, -poor Tom that you have lamed for life, as hardly as with some others?” - -“Those that have done the worst will be the most harshly dealt with, -certainly,” said Tregenna. - -“Ay, and none too harshly either, for some of them! villains, thieves, -plunderers that they be! See here, sir”—and her tone dropped again to -a whisper, as she came quite close to him, and laid one hand almost -caressingly on his sleeve—“there’s no sympathy in my heart for them -that would have done you harm, no, nor for the man that murdered that -poor coastguardsman when first you came hither! I love not such folks, -sir, whatever you may think of me! And see, sir, to prove to you how -earnestly I do grieve for the ill they have done, I am ready to give -you up the murderer of the coastguardsman into your hand, ay, for I -know who ’twas that did it, and I can put you in the way of evidence to -prove it too!” - -Tregenna started and flushed. He had not the least doubt that this -woman could indeed do as she offered to do, that she could deliver the -murderer into the hands of justice. But he shrank from accepting her -suggestion, not only with instinctive mistrust of a woman who was ready -to deliver up her own lover, but with not unnatural suspicion that she -might be a traitress to both sides. - -So he got off the balustrade, and said coldly— - -“I thank you, Mistress, for your offer: but I believe the hands of -justice will need no more aid than they have got!” - -Then Ann, without any appearance of ill-feeling, laughed softly. - -“Maybe the hands of justice are less powerful than you think, sir,” -said she. “But, at any rate, I hope you will think kindly of the woman -who, for your sake, was ready to risk her safety, nay, her life maybe, -to help you!” - -As she spoke, in a tone of inexpressible tenderness, she came very -near to the young lieutenant, and gazed into his face with a look so -melting, so passionate, that he was stirred, fascinated, in a very -high degree. It was impossible to be cold to her, however great his -innermost disapproval of her might be. He had bent his head to reply, -when a footstep on the gravel behind the yew-hedge, followed by a loud -outburst of laughter, caused him to start, and to look round. - -Peering at the pair through a gap in the hedge he saw the face of young -Bertram Waldron, flushed with wine, twisted into malevolent contortions -of coarse amusement. - -“Ho, ho, ho!” laughed the young cub, “here’s sport, egad! I’ll wager -she gives you a smack o’ the face before she’s done, like to the one -she gave me but this morning.” - -Tregenna made but one step in his direction when Bertram prudently -retired; and they heard his cracked laugh as he went rapidly back to -the house. - -It was some moments before Tregenna and Ann could resume their -interrupted conversation. Indeed, Tregenna was anxious to break it -off altogether, but Ann persisted, following him as he turned to move -away, and detaining him with a gesture which was half peremptory, half -imploring. - -“Nay, nay, sir, you’ll give me a hearing, at least,” said she, -earnestly, “if ’twere but for the safety of your friends. And I could -tell you of a plot that’s been formed whereby your crew would be the -sufferers, to an extent would rend your heart. Ay, ’tis true!” she -added, as he turned incredulously towards her. - -“There’s little need of a special plot,” said he, “since we all know -the whole neighborhood’s in league against us!” - -“And for that reason you should be all the more willing to lend -your ear, when you have at last found a friend ready to afford you -assistance!” persisted Ann. “And better assistance than your Miss Joan -could give, I’ll warrant me!” - -Just as she spoke these words, in a tone which betrayed some pique, -Tregenna raised his head on hearing the sound of a rustling silken gown -on the walk above: and there, between the hedges, with the malicious -face of Bertram Waldron appearing behind her, he saw Joan Langney -herself, with a look of proud astonishment on her beautiful face. - -The mischievous young man had brought her out into the garden on some -pretext, evidently; for it was plain she had not expected to see either -Tregenna or Ann. - -The moment he caught sight of her, Tregenna made a hasty excuse to Ann, -and mounting the stone steps from the terrace in a couple of strides, -addressed Joan just as she was in the act of turning away. - -“Miss Joan, a moment, I beg!” said he. - -Bertram giggled; but on Tregenna’s turning sharply to him with a -gesture of angry dismissal, the cub retreated, and, with a clumsy air -of being at his ease, retired quickly to the house. Ann also, with a -short, hard laugh, disappeared among the yew-hedges. - -Thus left alone with the girl he loved, the young lieutenant was not -slow in seizing the opportunity he had so long wished for; and although -she tried to leave him and to return to the house, he gave her a look -so full of entreaty, as he mutely placed himself in her way, and gazed -at her with an expression there was no mistaking, that she faltered, -paused, and asked, in a low voice— - -“What have you, sir, to say to me? I had no notion of meeting you here.” - -“Surely, Miss Joan, if you could give ten minutes of your conversation -to that booby young Waldron, you might bestow the same favor on me!” - -“’Twas from no liking for Mr. Waldron I came out,” said Joan, hastily. -“He lured me hither by saying I should see something very interesting -in the Italian garden; and I thought he had some rare flower or bird -to show me. I should scarce have come, as you may guess, to see you in -such interesting converse with Ann Price!” - -In her voice, Tregenna was delighted to notice a tone of pique which -seemed to be of good augury. - -“There was naught of great import in my talk with her,” said he, -quickly. He was trembling so much that his sword rattled at his side, -and his voice was as hoarse as a raven’s. “But ’tis true I have -something of great import to me on my mind, and I cannot but think, -Miss Joan, you must know what it is!” - -“Indeed, sir, I cannot guess your thoughts!” said Joan, though the -heightened color in her cheeks belied her words. - -“Can you not imagine what I feel—what I could not—dared not, say last -night? Oh, you do, you must, I think! Sure a man cannot feel what I -feel for you without its getting from his heart into his eyes! Don’t -you know I love you, Joan?” - -The change came about in the space of a second. When the last hurried -words, husky, tremulous, half whispered, came bursting from his lips, -Joan shivered, gave him one glance, and had betrayed herself before she -was aware. - -“You—you care for Ann!” she faltered between two long-drawn breaths. - -“Pshaw! Not I! I care for Joan. I care for Joan, only Joan!” - -And at the last word, as she hardly resisted him, he kissed her. - -It was growing cold even in the sheltered garden, now that the late -autumn sun was descending in the sky, and the wind was rising and -sending the red leaves fluttering from the boughs of the trees to the -earth. But they never heeded it: they would have gone on sitting on -that terrace, and walking round and round those flower-beds, for an -hour and more, had not Parson Langney’s voice presently startled them -by calling— - -“Joan, Joan, my lass, where art thou?” - -The girl gave one frightened glance at her lover, forbade him to follow -her and speak to her father till she had prepared the way, and fled -away like an arrow from a bow. - -Happy and excited with the joy of successful love, Tregenna was -sauntering round the house towards a side-gate out of the park, when -Ann’s voice startled him. - -He knew not whence she had sprung; but she was looking at him from out -a clump of bushes with a strange smile on her pallid face. - -As he started, she burst into a low, mocking laugh. - -“Ay, sir, kiss while you can; speak low when there’s a fair maid to -listen. But the game’s not played out yet!” - -Upon those words, with a flashing look from her great somber gray eyes, -she disappeared abruptly. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - AN INNOCENT RIVAL. - - -Now, although Harry Tregenna was in a state of mind more nearly -approaching perfect bliss than he had ever been before, with the -knowledge that Joan Langney loved him fresh upon him, he could not -but feel an uncanny chill when Ann Price uttered her mocking words of -warning. - -“The game’s not played out yet!” - -He would have followed her, questioned her. But she knew every turn in -the park much better than he; and after a few moments spent in looking -for her, he gave up the search as an idle one. - -After all, what could she do? Desperate and vindictive as he -knew her to be, she could hardly go the length of trying to harm -generous-hearted Joan. And as for what she might choose to attempt on -his own person, Tregenna was ready to take the risks of war, which, -indeed, could hardly be greater in the future than they had been in the -past. - -So he presently dismissed all thought of her, and gave himself up, -heart and soul, to joyful thoughts of the beautiful, brave girl he had -won. He lingered about for a little while, to give her time to break -the news to her father, as she had herself wished to do. And when he -thought they must have reached home, he turned his steps also in the -direction of the Parsonage. - -By the wistful look of emotion on Parson Langney’s rugged, kindly face, -by the moisture in his eyes, the young man guessed that he had already -been made aware that he was threatened with the loss of his fair -daughter: and the first words he uttered, as he held out a shaking hand -in welcome, confirmed this impression: - -“So you’re going to take her away from me! Well, well, ’tis the way of -all flesh!” - -Tregenna assured him that they were in no hurry, that he was ready -to wait any reasonable time: a week, a month, any period they might -choose. He further assured the vicar that he would leave the service, -and promised to settle down with his wife at no very great distance -from Hurst Parsonage. - -And although Parson Langney shook his head very lugubriously, and -grumbled at the folly of a woman’s marrying before she was thirty, -his jolly face soon grew brighter when Joan came in, and, putting her -arms round his neck under her lover’s very nose, assured him that he -was the nicest and handsomest man in the whole world, and that, if she -were driven to get married, it should only be on compulsion, and on -receiving her future husband’s assurance that she was her father’s girl -still, and might be with him as much as she liked. - -So they had a happy evening together, and when the young lieutenant -bade them good night, and started on his way back to his boat, it was -with never a thought of smugglers, or wreckers, builders of secret -boats, or treacherous farmers’ daughters, to damp his spirits. - -There was a lull in the contraband traffic after these events, and -Tregenna and the brigadier began to flatter themselves that their -energy had at last awed the smugglers into submission, when one day the -news was brought to the lieutenant that the same sloop which had been -in sight on the occasion of the last raid, was hovering about in the -distance. - -A sharp lookout was accordingly kept that night, but nothing happened -to justify their suspicions. On the following day, however, a light -mist sprang up, and not long afterwards they were able to discover -that, under cover of it, there was a boat making at a great rate for -the beach at Hastings. - -The smugglers—for Tregenna had little doubt of the nature of the boat’s -errand—had a good start of the cutter’s men; but the latter gave chase -at once in one of their own boats, and were soon justified in their -surmise; for, on grounding their craft as soon as they could on the -pebbly shore, the occupants of the pursued boat deliberately emptied -it of its contents in sight of their pursuers, and leaving it to its -fate, ran up the beach towards the narrow streets of the old town, each -with a couple of kegs slung round him, the one in front, and the other -behind. - -They did not fail, as they went, to bid a graceful adieu to Tregenna -and his men, waving their rough knitted caps and shouting “Good-by” as -they disappeared through the openings between the houses. - -Straining every nerve, the cutter’s men grounded their own boat in -an incredibly short time; and, profiting by the precious moments -the smugglers had lost in emptying their cargo, they raced up the -stony beach in pursuit, believing that, encumbered as they were, the -“free-traders” would find it impossible to keep ahead of them long. - -But alas! they had reckoned without their host; for while they, the -representatives of law and order, were fighting alone and unaided, the -smugglers had each a brother or a mother, a sister or a sweetheart, -in one or other of the mean, picturesque little hovels that nestled -together in the shelter of the tall cliffs beneath the castle, and -lined the narrow, tortuous streets of the ancient town. - -No sooner had the first of the revenue-men turned the corner into the -High Street, up which the smugglers were making their way towards some -chosen haunt of their own, than the hindermost of the rascals, who -alone carried no burden, gave a peculiar kind of shrill whistle. - -This was evidently the recognized method of giving an alarm to the -rest, and was also the signal for the inhabitants of the squalid little -houses to be on the alert. - -Already every door was standing open, showing, to the exasperation of -the king’s men, a group of eager, grinning faces, intent on the sport. - -The moment the whistle sounded, the smugglers who carried the kegs -divested themselves each of one of his burdens, and rolled it towards -the nearest open cottage-door. The moment the keg was safe inside, the -door closed. - -The smuggler, having thus got rid of one of his kegs, went on at a -quicker pace for a few steps, and then, on the sounding of a second -whistle, got rid of the remaining one in the same way. - -Well used to this maneuver, which was a common one at the time, those -of the cottage-folk who had not received one of the contraband kegs, -closed their doors also; so that Tregenna and his men, on reaching -the point in the street where this trick had been played, found it -impossible to identify any particular house as one of those which had -lent the use of its portal to the smugglers. - -A few half frightened, half mocking children stood about in the road; -but at the windows not a single face was to be seen. - -Tregenna, who was at the head of the pursuing force, saw, to his -chagrin, that it was now impossible for him to hope to come up with the -smugglers. Lightened of their burdens, and already well ahead of their -pursuers, they flew like the wind up the steep street towards the old -church, without so much as looking behind them to give the cutter’s men -a chance of seeing and remembering their faces. - -At this point in the route, however, they all somewhat abruptly -disappeared, with the exception of the one who had given the signal. - -From his limping gait, Tregenna had long since recognized him as -“Gardener Tom,” and he felt at the first moment rather sorry that this -man, the only one of the “free-traders” for whom he felt the slightest -kindness, should be the only one to fall into his hands. - -It was not until he had reached the queer little irregular group of -nestling houses clustering round the church, that Tom suddenly turned, -put his back against the steep wall which banked up the houses on one -side of the roadway, folded his arms, and waited for Tregenna to come -up to him. - -The lieutenant, expecting that Tom had a pistol ready for him, put his -hand to one of his own. The smuggler, however, shook his head, and held -up his hands. - -“Where are the rest?” cried Tregenna, more by instinct than because he -expected a useful answer. - -Tom, whose handsome, open face was flushed with his exertions, smiled -mockingly at him. - -“Wheer? Wheer?” asked he, with a shake of the head. “Nay, master, look -round, and see if ’twill be easy for you to light upon ’em now!” - -Tregenna did look round. He saw the close-packed cottages, some prim -and neat, with a sort of look about them as if no creature within -had ever heard of so terrible a thing as a smuggler: some dirty and -neglected, and capable of anything: but all shut up, and without a -human face at any window. One mean-looking little alehouse at the -corner did certainly bear a sort of rakish, contraband look. But a -peep within its doors showed that the landlord and one old man had it, -to all appearances, to themselves. - -Tregenna sighed, and frowned. - -“Well, I must arrest you, Tom, and carry you off at least,” said he. - -“I be smuggling naught, master!” objected Tom, quite mildly. - -“You were signalman to the others,” answered Tregenna. “You’re one of -the gang.” - -Tom took this very quietly. - -“All roight, take me if you will,” said he. “’Twas you, sir, that gave -me the hurt makes me too lame to get away!” said he. - -Tregenna frowned, and looked uneasily round at his own men, who, -deeming him quite able to cope with this, the only one of the ruffians -whom they had in their power, had dispersed in various directions, -engaged in the rather hopeless task of ferreting out their lost enemies. - -“I’d sooner have caught any one of the others, Tom,” said Tregenna, -“than laid hands on thee.” - -“And I,” replied Tom, with a glance round in his tone, and a lowering -of the voice, “I’d sooner I was caught by you, sir, than as any of the -others was! For I’ve summat for to say to you, sir, summat for to arst -you!” - -And over Tom’s open ruddy face there passed an expression of deep -anxiety. - -“To ask me, Tom? Well?” - -“Oons, sir you’d tell me the truth, wouldn’t you? You’d be above -telling lies to a poor fellow loike me!” went on the young man, -wistfully. - -Tregenna looked amazed, as well he might, at this most unexpected -speech. - -“I hope, Tom,” said he, “I’m above telling lies to any one.” - -“Well, sir, it’s loike to this ’ere: you han’t forgot, sir, that noight -as you came to Rede Hall, have you?” - -“No, I’m not likely to forget that quickly!” - -“You’ll moind, sir, how ’twas Ann Price sent us after thee, in a -passion.” - -“Ay, I’m not like to forget that either, Tom, nor your treatment of me -when you came up with me!” - -Tom looked down, reddening. - -“Oons, sir,” said he, gruffly, “we’re rough customers, I know. But we -had more than one account to settle with you, sir; and you see, you’d -found out a bit too much to be let off loight! We had to turn out of -the place where we’d met together for years, all along of you and your -findings. And that wasn’t all neither!” - -And a significant frown puckered his brows once more. - -“Why, what other harm have I done you, than what I had to do in the -course of my duty?” asked Tregenna. - -“You’d gotten the roight side of Ann!” growled Ann’s lover, angrily. - -“The right side! Nay, then I know not what getting the wrong side -would be like!” retorted Tregenna, lightly. “For there’s no sort of -ill treatment, short of actual murder, that I have not received at -her hands, and I own I never meet her without watching her hands, to -be sure she holds not a knife concealed in some fold of her dress, -wherewith to stab me!” - -“Ay, that’s Ann all over!” said her lover, admiringly. “She’s got such -a spirit, has Ann! But it’s just them ways of hers with you that makes -me know she looks upon you with too koind an eye, sir. She loikes you, -and she hates herself for loiking a king’s man, that’s what it is!” - -“Indeed!” said the young lieutenant, with a laugh. “Then I assure you, -Tom, she’s vastly welcome to transfer her liking to some one else; for -it’s wasted on me!” - -Tom scanned the speaker’s face narrowly, and then drew a long breath of -relief. - -“You speak as if it was truth,” said he, at last, in a muttering tone. -“Then, maybe, sir,” he went on, with deep earnestness, still keeping an -anxious gaze upon Tregenna’s face, “maybe you don’t know where she is -now?” - -He seemed to wait with breathless eagerness for the answer. - -“Most surely I do not,” replied Tregenna, promptly, “if she be not at -Hurst Court, where I saw her near ten days ago.” - -Tom shook his head. - -“She ben’t there now, sir. Nobody hereabouts has a notion where she’s -got to; so I thought as maybe it was you had spirited her away.” - -“God forbid!” said Tregenna, heartily. “My good fellow, set your mind -at rest. If there’s one man in the world less likely than another to -spirit away your friend Ann Price, or indeed to have aught to do with -her, ’gad, ’tis I!” - -Tom passed his hand over his chin reflectively: he did not yet seem -satisfied. - -“Faith, man, what further assurance do you want?” said Tregenna, amused -at the fellow’s persistency. “Dost still think I’m in love with thy -fair friend the amazon?” - -“Nay, sir that I do not,” replied Tom, slowly. “But ’tis her that’s in -love with thee! And, sure, she’s more loike to have her way with thee, -than ever thou wouldst ha’ been to make way with her, if so be it had -been t’other way round!” - -“Make yourself easy on that point also,” answered Tregenna, now -laughing heartily at the young man’s fears. “Mistress Ann would get no -soft words from me, no loving looks, and no fond embraces, were I the -only man left on the earth, and she the only woman!” - -“Sir,” said Tom, not a bit relieved by the assurance, “I do believe -you mean what you say. But she’s no common woman, isn’t Ann; and since -she’s sworn she’ll have your kisses within the month, why, I do surely -believe she’ll get them, whether you will or no.” - -“Sworn to have my kisses!” echoed the lieutenant, in amazement. “Egad, -then, she’ll be forsworn. Fear not, man; thy fair one has no charms -for me, and truly she hath never met a man less like to bestow his -kisses upon her. Where she is gone I know not: and if I were in thy -shoes, I should be thankful she’d disappeared, and I should look about -for something softer, something more like a woman, to whom to give my -kindness!” - -“Sir, one cannot give love where one will!” said poor Tom, rather -ruefully. “If I do know why I love her, ’tis on account of her not -being loike to every other lass in the parish; to her being so -different from herself, as from all other women, that one never knows -how she’s going for to be two hours together! So it ain’t no good of -talking, sir; for, oons! I’ve loved her too long to go trapesing after -another now!” - -At that moment Tregenna caught sight of the first of his own men -returning from a fruitless search for the rest of the smugglers. He -turned quickly to Tom. - -“Tom,” said he, “I cannot deal harshly with thee; get away with thee -ere it be too late. For these fellows of mine dare not show so much -leniency as I am doing.” - -Tom took the hint. He was artful enough to make a feint of striking -the lieutenant, making a movement which caused the latter to take an -instinctive step backward, as if he had really been pushed aside. Tom -then made a dash for the nearest opening between the houses; and being -still wonderfully active when he chose to exert himself, he was lost to -the sight of the cutter’s men in a few seconds. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - - A PRISONER. - - -It was useless to pursue the smugglers any longer, and equally useless -to make any plans for seizing them on land on their way back to the -sloop. As they had friends all along the coast, it was very certain -that they would make no attempt to re-embark from the beach at -Hastings, but would reach the ship from some other point of the shore. - -All that Tregenna could do, therefore, was to seize the boat they had -left upon the beach, and then to return to the cutter. Here he learnt -that the sloop had sailed away under cover of the mist, so that there -was nothing for it but to take their chance of falling in with her crew -on their way back to her. - -When night came on, therefore, a couple of boats, with Tregenna in one -of them, left the cutter and cruised about, the one on the Hastings -side, the other in the direction of the marshes. - -Tregenna was in the former boat; but it had not got very far when one -of the men at the oars raised his head, as if listening intently. - -“Did you hear that, sir?” asked he, in a low voice. - -“What? I heard nothing.” - -The man rested on his oar, and his example was followed by the others. -There was a moment of dead silence, no sounds reaching their straining -ears but the cry of a sea-bird and the soft plash of the calm water as -it lapped the sides of the boat. It was a beautiful night, the sea as -smooth as a lake, and the moon, which was almost at the full, making a -bright path of silvery yellow on the still water. There was nothing to -tell of early winter save for a touch of frost in the air, and a thin -line of November fog along the shore. - -Suddenly there rang out in the keen night air the sharp report of a -pistol, followed by a cry, which sounded shrill in the distance. - -“Turn,” said Tregenna, “and row hard for the other boat.” - -As they went, pulling with all their strength, they heard nothing more -for some time. It was not until they had come in sight of their second -boat that they perceived that a stern chase was in progress. - -Well out to sea, and rowing out at a rapid rate, was a long, low craft -which was painted a light color, and which it was easy to guess was the -property of the “free-traders.” It was much longer than either of the -pursuing craft, lightly built, and well manned. So that singly one of -the cutter’s boats and its small crew would have had little chance with -it, had the two come to close quarters. - -Nevertheless, the revenue-men were giving chase with a will, and at -sight of their comrades on the way to join them they gave forth a cheer -which rang out over the water, putting spirit into the heart of their -comrades, and vigor into their strokes. - -As the answering cheer came forth from the throats of Tregenna and -his crew, a shout of hoarse, mocking laughter, mingled with oaths and -foul threats, came in a volley from the smugglers’ craft; and the next -moment, finding that the two opposing boats were gaining on her, she -swung round and waited for them to come up with her. - -Tregenna’s boat was now the nearer of the two. In the moonlight the -lieutenant saw a face, coarse, evil, with eyes aflame, peering over the -side of the smuggler’s craft from under one of the knitted caps the -most of them wore: it was that of Ben the Blast. The next moment the -rascal raised his right arm, and pointed a pistol at him. - -The rest of the smugglers were all crouching, like Ben, round the -sides of the boat. Suddenly there sprang up above their heads the -slighter, more lithe figure, in open jacket and loose shirt-collar, -which Tregenna had so much reason to remember. Even at that moment of -excitement, the thought that this was a woman who stood exposed to his -own fire and that of his men made Tregenna feel for a moment sick and -faint. Before he had recovered from the effects of his recognition of -Ann Price in the guise of “Jem Bax,” he saw her strike a violent blow -at Ben’s right arm: and the upraised pistol dropped into the water. - -Then there came a cry from the crew of the second cutter’s boat; in the -last few moments they had gained on their comrades, and it was they -who first came up with the smugglers. - -Over Tregenna there had suddenly come a frightful sense of a new and -sickening danger, that of killing a woman in open fight. Unsexed -creature as she had seemed, when he had heard her cursing and uttering -threats against him at the farmhouse, he could not but remember, at -this fearful moment, how she had conversed with him in the garden at -Hurst Court, with all the sweet tones and soft looks, the pleading -words and winning ways, of a very woman. - -The feeling was paralyzing; it went near to making a coward of him. -Then, just as his boat was drawing in its turn alongside that of the -smugglers, he saw one of his own men, from the other boat, in actual -conflict with “Jem.” - -He saw the gleam of knives; he saw the two boats rocking like cradles -on the surface of the water. Then it was “Jem” who uttered a cry; the -red blood gushed forth over the white shirt she wore, and the next -moment she staggered, and fell, not back into her comrades’ boat but -into that of the revenue-men. - -At that moment Tregenna’s attention was recalled to his own situation -by his receiving a blow on the breast from a weapon in the hands of one -of the smugglers. The attack recalled him to himself, roused again the -savage instinct which is the best for a man to feel at such a time, and -nerved his arm to retaliation. - -He saw no more of “Jem;” he was able, therefore, in the excitement of -the fight, to forget her. And, although the smuggler’s boat presently -succeeded in sheering off, after having inflicted some damage on their -opponents, it was with more than one of their number hurt and disabled -that they made off in the direction of the sloop. - -Tregenna would have followed; but to the signals he made to his second -boat to accompany him, the crew replied that they were unable to do so. -He had, therefore, to be content with the damage he had undoubtedly -inflicted upon the “free-traders,” and to return to the cutter, which -he reached some minutes before the second boat did. - -When this came up, in its turn, the boatswain, who was in charge of it, -saluted, in some triumph, as he drew alongside. - -Tregenna was looking over the side, anxious to learn whether his men -had suffered much. - -“Sir,” called out the boatswain, cheerily, “I’ve good news for you!” - -“Well, and what is it?” asked the lieutenant, as he scanned, with some -bewilderment, a sort of heap which lay in the bows of the little boat. - -“Oons, sir, we’ve brought a prisoner along,” answered the boatswain, in -a ringing voice. “And wounded beside. And ’tis none other than Jem Bax, -that’s long been known as the biggest rascal of the lot!” - -Instead of receiving this intelligence with the delight and -congratulations which the hero of the capture evidently expected, -Tregenna uttered a sound which was very like a groan, and exclaimed, in -a most lugubrious voice— - -“The devil you have!” - -The boatswain, startled and disappointed, looked at his captain in -astonishment. - -“Plague on’t, sir, but I thought I’d done the smartest night’s work -ever fell to my lot!” cried he. - -“Take him back!” roared Tregenna, as soon as he caught the first sight -of the white face he had so much reason to remember. - -The boatswain had uncovered the heap in the bows, exposing to view -the prostrate form of “Jem Bax,” who lay, with closed eyes, and with -blood-stains on face and breast, limp, motionless, helpless, without -giving a sign of life. - -Tregenna’s face and voice changed at the sight. - -“Well, haul him up,” said he, with a sudden change to anxiety, as the -thought struck him that Ann was perhaps already dead. “We’ll see what -we can do for the fellow!” - -None of the others had, apparently, the least suspicion that “Jem Bax” -was a woman; and Tregenna intended to keep the secret to himself if he -could, and to get rid of her as fast as possible. - -There was something so ridiculous in having caught such a prisoner that -he would not for worlds have had the truth suspected. - -They raised the still motionless body to the level of the cutter’s -deck, and Tregenna himself knelt down to examine the injuries of the -seemingly unconscious prisoner. The men would have taken her below; -but Tregenna, whose great anxiety was, after seeing to her wounds, to -get rid of her as quickly as he could, without discovery of her sex, -desired them to leave her where she lay, at any rate for the time, -and threw his own cloak over her, while he sought the wound which had -reduced her to this condition. - -He could find nothing but a superficial cut near the collar-bone, which -had indeed bled freely, but scarcely to such an extent, to judge by -appearances, as to have produced insensibility. Further examination -disclosed a large bruise on the upper part of the right arm; but this -seemed to be the full extent of her injuries. - -It was not unnatural that Tregenna, knowing the artful character of -the woman, should come to the conclusion that she was shamming sick to -some extent, and that her injuries were not alone the cause of this -excessive prostration. - -He dismissed his men, therefore, and performed for her the same office -that had fallen to him before, by producing his flask of _aqua vitæ_, -and holding it to her lips. - -He did not, however, on this occasion, bestow so much patience or so -much tenderness upon her as he had done before. As soon as the men had -retired far enough for him not to risk being overheard, he said in her -ear— - -“Come, Jem, ’tis vastly well done, but ’tis wasted on me this time!” - -Very little to his surprise, she opened her eyes immediately, and said, -but in a faint husky voice— - -“I did but wait till I could speak with you alone, sir. I am dying—I am -bleeding within—I know it, I feel it—But I care not. So I die in your -arms, or, at least, with you by me, I care naught: I shall die happy!” - -As she spoke, her great, weird gray eyes unnaturally large in -appearance through the drawn expression of her features and the utter -absence of color from her cheeks and lips, were fixed intently upon his -face. - -Although he reproached himself for the suspicion, Tregenna did at first -ask himself whether this speech, moving as it was meant to be, were not -part of the deception she had intended throughout to play upon him. -But before he could utter a word in answer, she said, looking at him -reproachfully the while— - -“You doubt me, sir; I can see it in your face! But, tell me, did I not -stay the hand of Ben the Blast, when he would have shot you down? Did -you not see how I caused his pistol to fall into the water? Wherefore -should I have acted so, I, who can fight as well as I— can love, but -for some feeling for you which was not that of an enemy.” - -“’Tis true you saved me from that bullet, and I am grateful, Ann,” said -Tregenna. “And I will hope you think too gravely of your own case, and -that I may soon be able to send you back on shore. Drink this, drink -it, and it will, I hope, put some life into you, some warmth, as it did -before!” - -The reminder brought a tinge of color to Ann’s white face. - -“Raise my head with your arm then, sir,” said she, “and I will drink, -since ’tis you who bid me!” - -She gave him another long look, passionate, earnest, full of a strange, -mysterious pain. Then, having sipped the cordial, she drew a long -breath, as if its potency were too great for her in her weakened -state, and whispered— - -“I have something to ask you, sir, before—I—die!” Her voice failed -her on the last words, and he had to wait a little before she gained -strength enough to go on. “Will you promise that, when the breath has -gone out of my body, you will let me lie here, in the open air, and -with your cloak over me, till the morning? Nay, sure, sir,” she went on -feebly, as Tregenna would have spoken, “you can’t refuse me so small a -boon!” - -She clutched at his hand as she spoke, and held it with a convulsive -grip, as he answered her. - -“You shall stay here, if you please,” said he. “But do not give way. -You are young, and strong: you will live yet, I doubt not. I can see no -wound upon you that should lead to your death!” - -“None the less,” said she, as she tried to shake her head, “I shall -die. And I am glad of it, since my body, in death, shall lie where I -would have it lie, in Heaven’s sweet air, and on your ship, yours.” -She pronounced the last word with inexpressible tenderness, and -turned upon him, as she spoke, a look so moving, so piercing in its -wistfulness, that the tears sprang to Tregenna’s eyes. - -“Kiss me,” said she quickly. “Kiss me, once, kiss me twice, and -thrice—before I die!” - -As she uttered these words, in a hoarse and broken voice, she strove to -raise herself, and lifted her white and eager face to his. - -He obeyed her, kissing her three times, not with the feeling that it -was a dying woman whose lips touched his, but with a horrible, uncanny -sense of contact with some being that was not honest flesh and blood. -It seemed to him that her dry lips burned, seared his, as if he had -been touched by red-hot coals. - -It was with difficulty that he repressed a shudder as she let him go. -She fixed upon him her dark gray eyes, to which the black lines sunk -beneath gave a strange brilliancy; then suddenly her head fell forward -upon his breast and she lay limp and motionless in his arms. - -He laid her down, looked long at the white face, fixed and ghastly in -the moonlight. Then he felt himself seized once more with that sick -horror which had taken possession of him once before that evening. As -he turned his head away, the boatswain came up, and looked curiously -down at the prostrate body. - -“Why, sir, he’s dead!” cried he. - -Tregenna nodded. - -“Leave—him lying there—till morning!” stammered he. - -And as he spoke, he replaced his cloak, as he had promised Ann that he -would do, upon her quiet limbs. - -It was a moment of intense horror for him: although the passion the -woman had felt, or professed to feel for him had left him almost cold, -it was impossible not to be moved by the sight of that form, which he -had seen so full of life and fire and energy, cold and still at his -feet. - -He could not shake off the chilly feeling of having held converse with -a creature of weird and supernatural attributes. Even when he retired -to rest, leaving a sailor to watch by the corpse till morning, the -thought of the woman and her strange end haunted him, would not let him -rest. - -It was long before he slept, and his slumber was disturbed by many an -uneasy dream. - -When he awoke, in the early morning light, there was a good deal of -commotion on deck. On going to see what was the matter, he found that -the body of Ann Price, alias “Jem Bax,” had disappeared. - -At first the man who had been left in the position of watcher professed -to know nothing about the strange disappearance. But, upon being -questioned with some shrewdness by Tregenna, he confessed that a small -boat had come alongside about two hours before daybreak, with a couple -of men whom he did not know, who asked what had become of “Jem.” - -With a sailor’s superstition, he had been only too glad to tell them of -what had happened, and to let them carry away the body in their boat, -still covered with Tregenna’s cloak. - -The last he had seen of them was that, in the gray dawn, they had -reached the shore, and landed their silent burden with difficulty on -the beach, when the tide was out and the rocks lay bare and cold in the -morning mist. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX. - - A VERY WOMAN. - - -It was with strangely mixed feelings that Tregenna heard this story of -the carrying away of the body of “Jem Bax,” the smuggler. Knowing, as -he did, that it was a woman who had been thus borne across the water to -her last resting-place, and with the memory of that farewell interview -strong upon him, he was stirred, in spite of himself, by the thought -of that swift and silent passage across the water to the shore; and he -seemed to be able to see, as he strained his eyes in the cold morning -light, the smugglers’ boat with its quiet burden, gliding over the gray -sea to the dim line of rocks and foam which marked the edge of the -shore. - -The sloop had disappeared. - -Later in the day the lieutenant went ashore, and lost no time in making -his way to the parsonage, as usual. - -To his surprise and dismay, he was informed by old Nance, who opened -the door to him, that Miss Joan had gone away that very morning. - -“Gone away!” repeated Tregenna, in stupefaction. “But whither?” - -“That’s more’n I can tell you, sir,” grumbled Nance, who seemed in -an ill-humor, as if resenting her own position of ignorance. “But if -you’ll step in, maybe the master’ll be able to tell you more.” - -So Tregenna went into the little dining-parlor, where he found the good -vicar looking rather gloomy. - -“Hey-day!” cried Parson Langney, as soon as the young man entered, -“what’s this thou hast been about, Harry, to disturb thy sweetheart’s -peace as thou hast done?” - -“I disturb her peace!” exclaimed Tregenna. “Nay, sir, I know not. I -parted with her but last night the best of friends, as indeed you very -well know, since it was here I passed the evening!” - -“Well, she’s taken herself away, this morning, to her aunt’s at -Hastings, and charged me not to tell you how to find the house.” - -“But, sir, how know you that I am the cause of this freak?” - -“Aye freak you may well call it, as indeed I told her myself. But she -is as stubborn and as proud as can be on this matter, and all she would -say was that no man was worth a thought, save her old father, and she -begged me give her a few days away, to collect herself, ere she wrote -to tell you you must see her no more!” - -The lieutenant, whose limbs were shaking very much, sat down quietly, -with his head spinning round. What cause of offense he could have -given Joan, to induce her to treat him in this apparently heartless -manner, he had not the remotest notion. The parson easily perceived how -bewildered he was, and presently he said— - -“’Twas after a visit from poor Gardener Tom, who came to the door after -breakfast this morning, that she flew into so great a passion. She -would not tell me what he said, save that no man was to be trusted by -any woman. Does that give you any clue to her behavior?” - -“Gardener Tom!” echoed Tregenna, at first without an idea as to any -connection between the smuggler’s visit and Joan’s abrupt departure. - -“Had it naught to do with your conduct towards another woman, think -you?” suggested Parson Langney, watching him with keen eyes. “It was at -the same time that Tom told us of the death of poor Ann Price.” - -At the mention of the name Tregenna started up. - -“What did he tell her about that?” asked he quickly. - -“Ah!” said the vicar, with meaning. “Then it had something to do with -that, eh?” - -“Surely, surely, sir, Joan has too much sense, too much generosity, to -be angry with me for showing kindness towards a dying woman!” cried the -young man, with fire. - -“Nay,” said the parson, “I know not. A lass is a strange creature: how -far did thy kindness go, Harry?” - -Tregenna frowned. It flashed across his mind now that perhaps one of -the smugglers’ boats had been hovering about the cutter at the time -of Ann’s death, unnoticed in the excitement and commotion caused by -the return of the boats’ crews and the capture of a prisoner. If this -were so, and if Gardener Tom had been one of the occupants, it was very -possible that he had seen the kiss Tregenna had given the dying woman, -and that he had recounted the incidents of that passionate farewell of -hers to Joan. - -Since Tom was jealous himself, it was not likely that he would let the -story lose in the telling. This seemed the only possible explanation of -Joan’s strange flight, and it was a most disquieting one. - -“’Tis true I did kiss her, sir, at her request,” said Tregenna, after a -short pause. “But there was never a kiss given in this world that was -less cause for jealousy!” - -“Well, I believe you, Harry, for I know you to be most truly attached -to my daughter. But whether she will believe, is another question. A -woman looks not at these things with a man’s eyes, nor does she listen -to the recital of them with a man’s ears.” - -“Sir,” said Tregenna, proudly, “I hope she will come round to a -sensible state within a few days, and send me some message to say so. -For otherwise I will not humble myself to write and demand one. I -could not trust the discretion of a woman who would show so little -confidence in her lover!” - -“Nay, let not your spirit carry you too far, or maybe you’ll lose her -altogether!” said the vicar. “And I would not have that; for though I -would fain have kept my daughter with me a little longer, had it been -possible, I should not hope to find for her an honester man than I -believe you to be!” - -“’Twill be the cruelest loss I have ever known, if I do lose her,” -answered Tregenna, with emotion. “But yet I shall have no choice if she -is so hard as to let me go without one word!” - -“You will not take with you the name of the house where her aunt -resides?” suggested Parson Langney, wistfully. - -“No, sir. Let her send me a message, or I will not go to her!” retorted -Tregenna. “I intrude, sir. You are engaged upon your sermon, I see. Let -me wish you a good day!” - -And with a bow, and an air of great spirit, the young man left the -house. - -Hard though it was to be stern and constant to his determination, -Tregenna kept his word. He did not call again at the Parsonage, nor -did he attempt to find out the address of Joan’s aunt. But he did -certainly wander pretty frequently, in the course of the next few days, -both in the direction of Hurst and of the town of Hastings, not without -a secret hope that he would meet his offended sweetheart. - -He felt that he had a right to consider himself aggrieved, since she -was condemning him unheard. But at the same time, his glances towards -the Parsonage grew more and more wistful as the days went by, and he -still received no letter, no message. Had the vindictive and merciless -Ann done him an injury in death greater than any she had tried to do -him in life? It seemed so; and the lieutenant, though he assumed a more -and more jaunty air as the time passed, hid a heart of lead underneath. - -It was on the fourth day after the morning, when Ann’s body had been -so mysteriously conveyed away, nobody knew whither, that Tregenna, on -arriving at the village one morning, found the inhabitants all astir -with some great excitement. They were congregating in groups about one -particular cottage in the village; and on inquiry as to the reason, he -learnt that it was the day of Ann Price’s funeral and that they were -waiting for the body to be brought out. - -Tregenna lingered, on hearing this, and hoped that he might have an -opportunity of meeting Tom, and of questioning him as to the mischief -he had done. - -When the coffin, covered with a deep black pall, was brought out of the -house, however, the lieutenant found no one he recognized among the -four bearers. - -They were all rough-looking men, of the rather sinister type he had -begun to know so well, but neither Bill Plunder, nor Robin Cursemother, -Ben the Blast, Jack Price, nor Gardener Tom, was among them. - -“How comes it her brother is not one of the bearers?” asked he of a -bystander. - -“Sure, sir, ’tis you should know the reason of that better than -anybody,” returned the woman, saucily. - -For the person of the lieutenant was now well known in the -neighborhood, and there was a sort of lively warfare carried on -between him on the one side, and the women of the place, with their -free-trading sympathies, on the other. - -By this time the little procession had started towards the churchyard, -and Tregenna, bare-headed, joined it on its way. - -Slowly they went, past the few remaining houses of the village, and up -the hill where the Parsonage stood. The church, a weather-beaten little -structure, innocent of any sort of restoration except whitewash, stood -beyond, on a somewhat lower level, and nearer to the marsh. - -Under the building, at the east end of the church, there was a vault, -which had belonged to the family at Rede Hall for nearly a century. The -way to it was by a flight of worn steps, damp, uneven and overgrown -with weeds, behind the east window. - -Here the vicar stood, with the great key of the vault in his hand, -waiting for the arrival of the solemn little procession. - -Very weird, very awe-inspiring it seemed to Tregenna—the brief service -held in the keen frosty air, under the lee of the old church, whose -stones had been gray and old before the ancient Faith gave place to -the new. There was a dead calm that day over land and sea, and the -sea-birds flew inland, screaming, over the brown fields. - -A strange contrast all the calm, the peace seemed to make, to the image -of fire and passion, restless energy and feverish struggle which was -called up by the name of Ann. - -When the service was over, and the coffin had been locked away in the -great bare vault, Tregenna left the rest of the company, and took a -straight cut across the cliffs towards the Hastings road. - -It was with no definite object of going in the direction of Joan’s -present residence, yet there was doubtless some thought of her hovering -in his mind; so that when, at a distance of some mile and a half from -Hurst, he came suddenly face to face with her at a turning in the road, -he flushed indeed, but without much surprise, as if the person who had -been in his thoughts had become on the instant present to him in the -flesh. - -She was in the company of a stout country lass, who was carrying a -parcel under her cloak. - -Tregenna bowed, but, except for the space of half a second, did not -stop. And in return for the slightly resentful, cold and distant -curtsey she gave him, he held his head very high in the air, and looked -her full in the face with a defiant expression. - -Perceiving this, Joan went suddenly white; and as he went on, she -presently halted, and turned to look after him. Now, it happened that -Tregenna, although he had made up his mind that he would not be guilty -of such a weakness, did in his turn stop and give a hasty glance back -at her. - -Joan, seeing that he instantly went on again, could bear it no longer; -he should not go like that, without knowing how little she cared. So -she hastily bade her companion walk on, saying that she would overtake -her shortly; and then she called, in a haughty and distant tone— - -“Mr. Tregenna!” - -And of course he had not gone far enough not to hear her. - -He turned, however, in the most leisurely way possible, and walked back -with a very lofty air of doing something he was much disinclined to do. - -“Madam,” said he, when he had come quite near, “you called to me, I -believe.” - -“I did, sir,” said Joan, in a tone as lofty as his own. “I did but wish -to ask you—whether the stage-wagon has passed this way.” - -“I have not seen it, madam,” replied he, more superbly than ever. - -“I thank you, sir.” - -She dropped him a stately, dignified curtsey, to which he responded -with a profound bow. Then he turned again and resumed his walk. This -was more than Joan could bear. - -“How can you, Harry?” burst from her lips. - -“Nay, ’tis I should ask that!” retorted Tregenna, who was back again by -her side in a moment. “’Tis I should want to know how a woman can treat -her lover as you have treated me this last five days!” - -“They told me—they told me——” stammered Joan, who was now in tears. - -He interrupted her quickly. - -“Nay, then, if you are content to quarrel with me on account of what -others tell you, without a word to me, ’tis time we should bid each -other farewell, madam!” - -“Oh, Harry, you are too hard, too cruel! And when ’tis your fault, all -your fault! For Tom saw you with—with—her in your arms! You kissed -her, once, twice, thri-i-i-ce! And—and when you told me you cared not -for her! Nay, sir!” She drew herself erect, and looked at him with a -challenge in her eyes. - -“Deny it if you can. You know you dare not, you cannot!” - -“Most certainly I do not deny that I held Ann Price in my arms, nor -that I did kiss her, as you say. And, if you hold that I did wrongly -in suffering the caprice of a dying woman, why, madam, I must tell you -that ’tis you that err, not I.” - -“But—but—but she had sworn you should kiss her!” whimpered Joan, -falteringly. “Gardener Tom told me so.” - -“Madam, could I help that? She was sick to death, as you know. Whether -’twas for affection, which I doubt, or for spite, or for some other -motive, I could do naught but that which I did. I will neither deny the -action, nor excuse myself for it: since there was naught to be done but -humor her.” - -Joan looked at him through her tears; but although she still endeavored -to maintain her cold and haughty demeanor, it was plain both that -she was longing to find some way of getting out of the position she -had taken up, and that she was rejoiced at seeing her lover again. -Tregenna, on his side, was just as feverishly happy in this meeting as -she, and just as eager to go on with the quarrel, if that were the only -way of holding converse with her. - -She uttered another sob. - -“I thought you cared for me!” sighed she. - -“Madam, I thought I did also.” - -“But I see plainly you do not!” - -“Nay, madam, then your eyes are keen to see the thing which is not!” - -“If—if you cared for me, you would have been to visit me—while I was at -my aunt’s!” - -“If you had cared for me, you would not have gone away!” - -“Then this is to be farewell indeed, sir?” - -“If such is your pleasure, madam!” - -“Oh, Harry, you are too, too cruel!” - -“And you,” whispered Tregenna, his tone suddenly melting to tenderness, -as he seized her in his arms, “are too foolish, my dear! Come, dry -your eyes and confess that never had a maiden so little cause to doubt -her lover as you! Oh, Joan, Joan, and I thought you were so wise, so -sober-minded a person! I never guessed you were subject to caprices, -like other women! I’m disappointed in you, Joan.” - -“Will you swear,” said Joan, in a tremulous voice, “you had never any -thoughts of love for her, but only for me?” - -“I will swear it again, as I have sworn before. But you should not -doubt me, Joan!” - -She was looking rather ashamed of herself, and it was easy to see that -it would be no difficult matter to convince her of his truth. - -“’Twas only,” said she meekly, “that all men say she was so resistless -a creature—that no man could stand against her wiles. But I’ll be -content, so you assure me with your own lips you loved her not, but -were kind to her out of pity!” - -Tregenna did give her assurance with his lips, in very impressive -fashion. And they walked back together to Hurst, where Parson Langney, -espying them from his gate while they were yet at some distance, -greeted them with derisive roars of laughter. - -“Nay, nay,” said he. “What a flighty, wayward creature is a lover, -male or female! If sober married folk did fly off at a tangent like to -sweethearts in their courting, there would be never a household on the -earth with both master and mistress within its doors at the same time!” - -“Wherefore are you not busy with your sermon, father?” asked Joan, -saucily, to turn the conversation and draw attention from her guilty -blushes. - -“’Tis too early in the week,” retorted the vicar, with a twinkle of his -merry eyes. “I was going to the churchyard to look for the key of the -vault I opened this morning. I know not how I can have mislaid it.” - -They accompanied him on his search, but their efforts were in vain; and -at last Tregenna suggested that the key might have been stolen. - -“Nay, but who should steal the key of a burial vault?” objected the -vicar, incredulously. “’Tis the last thing a man would covet, I -imagine.” - -But though Tregenna did not press the point, the notion he had -suggested did not leave his mind. And even after he had had tea with -Joan and her father, and had started on his way back to his vessel, it -recurred to him again and again. - -So that at last he stopped short, turned back, and made his way once -more to the churchyard. - - - - - CHAPTER XX. - - THE FREE-TRADERS’ FAREWELL. - - -What if one of Ann’s friends, her poor lover Tom for instance, had -stolen the key of the vault, in order to be able to pass an hour by the -coffin which held the remains of one who had been so dear to him? - -This seemed so likely, that Tregenna was resolved to put his notion -to the test. But he found the door of the vault safely locked, and no -signs about of any recent visitor. - -As, however, on the following day, the vicar confessed that the key had -not yet been discovered, Tregenna made up his mind to keep an eye on -the church; and he regularly, for the next ten days, paid a visit to -the spot before returning to the cutter after his call at the Parsonage. - -And on the tenth evening, just as he was entering the churchyard by the -little wooden gate on the north side, he caught sight of a human head -disappearing rapidly, apparently into the bowels of the earth, behind -the east end of the church. - -Going rapidly and noiselessly in that direction, Tregenna reached the -steps which led down to the vault, and saw that the door was open some -inches. Descending cautiously, he could distinguish certain sounds -within the vault, which betrayed the presence of live human beings; the -mutterings and shufflings of feet grew louder, until he was able to -distinguish the voice of Jack Price the smuggler, and another which he -did not recognize. - -After the lapse of a few seconds they began to make such a noise, as -they pushed certain heavy loads about, to the accompaniment of much -scraping of the stone floor, that Tregenna ventured to open the door a -little farther, and to peep in. - -A weird sight met his eyes. By the light of a torch, which smoked and -flared, throwing a red light on the faces and figures of the men, and -making a great patch of sooty blackness upon the green slime on the -roof, Jack Price, long, lean, and woebegone of face, and Bill Plunder, -short, crooked, and evil-looking, were busily engaged in piling up -against the walls of the vault a huge quantity of kegs and bales of -goods, in order to make them occupy the least possible space, and so -make room for more. - -Tregenna, hardened as he was to the smugglers and their villainies, -could scarcely believe his eyes. Not a sign of a coffin was to be seen. -Apparently the dead had been turned out of their resting-place, to make -way for the merchandise of the “free-traders.” - -As he thought of the callousness which could thus make an opportunity -out of the death of an old comrade like Ann, to find a new nest for -their contraband wares, the lieutenant felt that he could restrain -himself no longer. Casting all prudence to the winds, and unmindful of -the fact that these two might have comrades within call, he dashed open -the door of the vault, and seizing the tall Jack Price, by a clever -movement flung him sprawling on the stone floor. - -Bill Plunder, though taken aback for the moment, recovered himself, and -planting himself behind a breastwork of contraband merchandise, leveled -his pistol at Tregenna. - -The lieutenant whipped out his own weapon at the same moment, received -a bullet in his right shoulder, and answered by firing with his left -a shot which made Bill leap up in the air with a loud cry. The next -moment Tregenna found himself grappling with Jack, who had risen from -the ground and seized a broken piece of metal which was lying on the -stone floor. - -Jack fought like a madman, slashing and plunging at his opponent with a -vigor and ferocity which seemed to render the combat a hopeless one for -the lieutenant, whose wound was bleeding freely, when, just as Tregenna -felt his head growing dizzy and his eyes becoming dim, the smuggler, in -making a desperate lunge at him, tripped in some ropes which were lying -on the floor, and stumbled headlong over a couple of the smuggled kegs -of spirit. - -Quick as thought Tregenna seized one of the kegs, sprang to the door, -got outside, and wedged the door tightly with the barrel, which he had -rolled out in front of him. - -The space at the bottom of the steps was just wide enough to allow of -this being done; and then, without waiting to see whether the men -would make any attempt to escape from their imprisonment, he started -for the Parsonage. - -Before he got there, however, he found himself staggering, and knew -that he would not have strength left to reach the house. As he stood -swaying to and fro for a few seconds on the footpath, he caught the -sound of a wagon going along slowly at the foot of the hill. There was -a man walking beside the horses, cracking his whip and urging them on. -It was too dark for Tregenna to see either wagon or man; but the frosty -air carried the sounds to him clearly, and carried back his fainting -cry— - -“Help, help!” - -Then he fell down on the grass beside the footpath. - -When he came to himself, after a curious experience of being in the -sea, swimming for life, with a dozen faces he knew around him, he found -that he was still lying on the grass, but that there was at least one -face he knew bending over him, looking very weird and strange by the -light of a heavy lantern, which had been placed on the ground beside -him. And the face was that of Gardener Tom! - -“Tom?” cried he faintly. - -The great boorish fellow watching over him burst into a great -blubbering and sobbing like an overgrown child. - -“Ay, ’tis me, sir, and glad am I to see you look at me again. For oons, -sir, I thought you’d shut your eyes forever! You’re hurt, sir—badly -hurt. And for sure ’tis one of them rascally smugglers that’s done it!” - -Ill as he was, Tregenna smiled and raised his eyebrows. - -“Smugglers, Tom! Nay, sure you mean ‘free-traders.’” - -“I means _smugglers_, domn ’em!” roared Tom, energetically. “And if -ever I carry a keg again, or help ’em in their wicked ways, may I be -riddled through and through, loike as if I was a target!” - -“Since—when have you—become so virtuous?” panted out Tregenna feebly. - -“Since one of ’em, nay two of ’em served me a dirty trick, sir,” -answered Tom, fiercely. “Ask me no more, sir; for sure I don’t want for -to let out what I’ve in my moind!” - -“How long—have I lain here?” - -“Not more’n the space of half a minute, sir. And no more you mustn’t. I -be going for to call them at the Parsonage.” - -“Nay, nay, Tom, I should alarm them, in this plight.” - -“Never fear for that, sir. It would alarm ’em more for you to die!” - -And Tom hobbled away in the direction of the vicar’s house at a great -rate. - -As he lay there in the cold air, Tregenna was vaguely conscious of a -feeling of satisfaction that Gardener Tom had turned to honest ways. -And then his mind began to wander again. He was recalled to full -consciousness by a delicious sense of ease and peace, and by feeling -the touch of the hand he loved the best in the world on his forehead. - -A few minutes afterwards he was lying on a hastily made bed in the -vicarage parlor. - -Tregenna lay ill for some weeks; for the wound inflicted by Bill’s -bullet was a serious one, and he had lost so much blood before he was -discovered by Tom, that there was a fear lest he might not be able to -stand the drain. - -Thanks to the tender nursing he received, however, at Joan’s loving -hands, he presently began to mend. And it was when all danger was past -that he learnt the fate of the two smugglers whom he had imprisoned in -the vault beneath the church. - -Jack Price had managed to escape, but had had the misfortune to run -straight into the arms of the brigadier and his soldiers, who now -patrolled the country round Hurst with more assiduity than before. -Being recognized as one of the most prominent of the smugglers, he -was seized, carried to Rye, and hanged within a fortnight; for such -offenders as he had scant shrift in those times. - -Bill Plunder was found dead in the vault, having been killed by the -shot Tregenna had fired at him in exchange for his own. - -An enormous quantity of smuggled goods which had been secreted in the -vault, were confiscated by the authorities: for even Squire Waldron had -begun to see that his reign of laxity was over. - -Not a sign of the coffins was to be found, however; and a thrill of -horror ran through every one at the thought that the smugglers had -even got rid of these in order to make way for more plunder. - -A deep peace seemed to fall over the whole neighborhood after the death -of Jack Price and Bill Plunder. The brigadier flattered himself that he -should get promotion for his energy, and Tregenna felt that his task -was done, and that the time was convenient for the retirement he had -promised the vicar. - -So fully satisfied were the authorities in London that the mission -of soldiers and revenue-men had been thoroughly and effectively -accomplished, that the brigade was shortly withdrawn from the -neighborhood, and the cutter was sent to another part of the coast. - -It was not until after his withdrawal from the service, when the -snowdrops were peeping above the ground, that Tregenna came down to -Hurst, and put up at the best inn, ready for his marriage with Joan on -the morrow. It was to have been a very quiet wedding; but Joan had made -herself so much beloved in the countryside that, long before the time -for the ceremony had arrived, the whole churchyard and the grass round -were thick with a dense throng of people. - -Gardener Tom was there with a huge nosegay of hothouse flowers, -speaking loudly his hatred and detestation of the whole sex, with the -exception of Miss Joan. - -Squire Waldron and Bertram were there, in smart hunt colors, waiting to -welcome the bride. - -The ladies from Hurst Court were there, simpering and wondering how -the vicar’s daughter could be so selfish as to leave her father! They -wouldn’t have done it, not they! - -Men, women, and children from Hurst and the villages round were there -with their snowdrops, to strew on the path before sweet Mistress Joan. - -All was peace, and brightness, and happiness; and the winter sun came -out in her honor as blushing Joan, tall and handsome, in her plain -white dress and veil, came from the Parsonage, leaning on her father’s -arm. - -The service was over; the blessing had been spoken on the young people, -and Tregenna was leading his bride down the little aisle, when a sound -reached the ears of all present which froze the blood of some of them. - -It was a peal of loud, mocking laughter, in a well-known voice. - -It came into the church from the wide porch, and echoed through the -building. - -“Ann!” cried Tregenna, under his breath. - -“No, no, not Ann; but Jem Bax!” cried the well-known voice, in clear -and ringing tones. - -And into the bright light of the doorway strode Ann, in her lad’s -dress, with a keg slung in front and one behind, in approved smuggler -fashion. - -“Heaven bless you both, for a pair of innocent lambs,” she cried, -raising one hand as if in benediction. “See, Ben, do not they make a -monstrous pretty pair? Prettier than you and me, when they made us one!” - -And the burly form of Ben the Blast, with his kegs slung over his -shoulder, came into view behind her. - -Everybody was too much taken aback, too much amazed at the deception -Ann had practised, and at her unflagging audacity, to attempt to touch -either her or the smuggler at her side. With another laugh and a wave -of the hand, they both left the church porch, sprang on the back of a -stout horse which was waiting at the gate, and were away over the marsh -to the new haunt they had made, before Tregenna had had time to recover -his wits. - -He had done with her, forever; but there was still trouble in store for -the representatives of law and order, while the daring, wicked spirit -walked the earth in the flesh. - -“Are you jealous still, Joan?” whispered Tregenna, in his bride’s ear. - -“No. But—I’m thankful she’s married, Harry,” was the fervent answer. - -“And I,” returned Tregenna with equal fervor, “am thankful ’tis no -longer my duty to cope with her and her tricks. For, faith, I believe -she’s in league with the very powers of darkness!” - - THE END. - - - —————————————————— End of Book —————————————————— - - Transcriber’s Note (continued) - -Minor typographical errors that appear in the book have been corrected -in this transcription. - -Unusual or variable spelling and hyphenation have been left unchanged -except as noted below. - - Page 91 — “oft” changed to “off” (a little way off, in the - direction of) - - Page 127 — “fain” changed to “feign” (“Nay, why should she feign?”) - - Page 148 — “vantange” changed to “vantage” (in his place of vantage) - - Page 168 — “O’dsfish” changed to “’Od’s fish” (’Od’s fish; Oi’d never - wish a man worse) - - Page 175 — “I’ve got you fast” is all italic. - - Page 225 — “celler” changed to “cellar” (the trap-door to the cellar) - - Page 290 — “courtsey” changed to “curtsey” (cold and distant curtsey - she gave him) - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOAN, THE CURATE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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