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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9504-0.txt b/9504-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..55d57a9 --- /dev/null +++ b/9504-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17884 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Micah Clarke, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Micah Clarke + His Statement as made to his three Grandchildren Joseph, + Gervas and Reuben During the Hard Winter of 1734 + +Author: Arthur Conan Doyle + +Posting Date: March 11, 2009 [EBook #9504] +Release Date: December, 2005 +Last Updated: September 30, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MICAH CLARKE *** + + + + +Produced by Lionel G. Sear + + + + + +MICAH CLARKE + +HIS STATEMENT AS MADE TO HIS THREE GRANDCHILDREN JOSEPH, GERVAS, AND +REUBEN DURING THE HARD WINTER OF 1734 + + +By Arthur Conan Doyle + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER. + +I. OF CORNET JOSEPH CLARKE OF THE IRONSIDES. + +II. OF MY GOING TO SCHOOL AND OF MY COMING THENCE. + +III. OF TWO FRIENDS OF MY YOUTH. + +IV. OF THE STRANGE FISH THAT WE CAUGHT AT SPITHEAD. + +V. OF THE MAN WITH THE DROOPING LIDS. + +VI. OF THE LETTER THAT CAME FROM THE LOWLANDS. + +VII. OF THE HORSEMAN WHO RODE FROM THE WEST. + +VIII. OF OUR START FOR THE WARS. + +IX. OF A PASSAGE OF ARMS AT THE BLUE BOAR. + +X. OF OUR PERILOUS ADVENTURE ON THE PLAIN. + +XI. OF THE LONELY MAN AND THE GOLD CHEST. + +XII. OF CERTAIN PASSAGES UPON THE MOOR. + +XIII. OF SIR GERVAS JEROME, KNIGHT BANNERET OF THE COUNTY OF SURREY. + +XIV. OF THE STIFF-LEGGED PARSON AND HIS FLOCK. + +XV. OF OUR BRUSH WITH THE KING’S DRAGOONS. + +XVI. OF OUR COMING TO TAUNTON. + +XVII. OF THE GATHERING IN THE MARKET-SQUARE. + +XVIII. OF MASTER STEPHEN TIMEWELL, MAYOR OF TAUNTON. + +XIX. OF A BRAWL IN THE NIGHT. + +XX. OF THE MUSTER OF THE MEN OF THE WEST. + +XXI. OF MY HAND-GRIPS WITH THE BRANDENBURGER. + +XXII. OF THE NEWS FROM HAVANT. + +XXIII. OF THE SNARE ON THE WESTON ROAD. + +XXIV. OF THE WELCOME THAT MET ME AT BADMINTON. + +XXV. OF STRANGE DOINGS IN THE BOTELER DUNGEON. + +XXVI. OF THE STRIFE IN THE COUNCIL. + +XXVII OF THE AFFAIR NEAR KEYNSHAM BRIDGE. + +XXVIII OF THE FIGHT IN WELLS CATHEDRAL. + +XXIX. OF THE GREAT CRY FROM THE LONELY HOUSE. + +XXX OF THE SWORDSMAN WITH THE BROWN JACKET. + +XXXI. OF THE MAID OF THE MARSH AND THE BUBBLE WHICH ROSE FROM THE + BOG. + +XXXII. OF THE ONFALL AT SEDGEMOOR. + +XXXIII. OF MY PERILOUS ADVENTURE AT THE MILL. + +XXXIV. OF THE COMING OF SOLOMON SPRENT. + +XXXV. OF THE DEVIL IN WIG AND GOWN. + +XXXVI. OF THE END OF IT ALL. + + APPENDIX + + + + + +Chapter I. Of Cornet Joseph Clarke of the Ironsides + +It may be, my dear grandchildren, that at one time or another I +have told you nearly all the incidents which have occurred during my +adventurous life. To your father and to your mother, at least, I know +that none of them are unfamiliar. Yet when I consider that time wears +on, and that a grey head is apt to contain a failing memory, I am +prompted to use these long winter evenings in putting it all before +you from the beginning, that you may have it as one clear story in your +minds, and pass it on as such to those who come after you. For now that +the house of Brunswick is firmly established upon the throne and that +peace prevails in the land, it will become less easy for you every +year to understand how men felt when Englishmen were in arms against +Englishmen, and when he who should have been the shield and the +protector of his subjects had no thought but to force upon them what +they most abhorred and detested. + +My story is one which you may well treasure up in your memories, and +tell again to others, for it is not likely that in this whole county of +Hampshire, or even perhaps in all England, there is another left alive +who is so well able to speak from his own knowledge of these events, +or who has played a more forward part in them. All that I know I shall +endeavour soberly and in due order to put before you. I shall try to +make these dead men quicken into life for your behoof, and to call back +out of the mists of the past those scenes which were brisk enough in +the acting, though they read so dully and so heavily in the pages of the +worthy men who have set themselves to record them. Perchance my words, +too, might, in the ears of strangers, seem to be but an old man’s +gossip. To you, however, who know that these eyes which are looking at +you looked also at the things which I describe, and that this hand has +struck in for a good cause, it will, I know, be different. Bear in mind +as you listen that it was your quarrel as well as our own in which +we fought, and that if now you grow up to be free men in a free land, +privileged to think or to pray as your consciences shall direct, you may +thank God that you are reaping the harvest which your fathers sowed in +blood and suffering when the Stuarts were on the throne. + +I was born then in the year 1664, at Havant, which is a flourishing +village a few miles from Portsmouth off the main London road, and there +it was that I spent the greater part of my youth. It is now as it was +then, a pleasant, healthy spot, with a hundred or more brick cottages +scattered along in a single irregular street, each with its little +garden in front, and maybe a fruit tree or two at the back. In the +middle of the village stood the old church with the square tower, and +the great sun-dial like a wrinkle upon its grey weather-blotched face. +On the outskirts the Presbyterians had their chapel; but when the Act of +Uniformity was passed, their good minister, Master Breckinridge, whose +discourses had often crowded his rude benches while the comfortable pews +of the church were empty, was cast into gaol, and his flock dispersed. +As to the Independents, of whom my father was one, they also were under +the ban of the law, but they attended conventicle at Emsworth, whither +we would trudge, rain or shine, on every Sabbath morning. These meetings +were broken up more than once, but the congregation was composed of such +harmless folk, so well beloved and respected by their neighbours, that +the peace officers came after a time to ignore them, and to let them +worship in their own fashion. There were Papists, too, amongst us, who +were compelled to go as far as Portsmouth for their Mass. Thus, you see, +small as was our village, we were a fair miniature of the whole country, +for we had our sects and our factions, which were all the more bitter +for being confined in so narrow a compass. + +My father, Joseph Clarke, was better known over the countryside by the +name of Ironside Joe, for he had served in his youth in the Yaxley +troop of Oliver Cromwell’s famous regiment of horse, and had preached +so lustily and fought so stoutly that old Noll himself called him out +of the ranks after the fight at Dunbar, and raised him to a cornetcy. +It chanced, however, that having some little time later fallen into an +argument with one of his troopers concerning the mystery of the Trinity, +the man, who was a half-crazy zealot, smote my father across the face, a +favour which he returned by a thrust from his broadsword, which sent his +adversary to test in person the truth of his beliefs. In most armies +it would have been conceded that my father was within his rights +in punishing promptly so rank an act of mutiny, but the soldiers of +Cromwell had so high a notion of their own importance and privileges, +that they resented this summary justice upon their companion. A +court-martial sat upon my father, and it is likely that he would have +been offered up as a sacrifice to appease the angry soldiery, had not +the Lord Protector interfered, and limited the punishment to dismissal +from the army. Cornet Clarke was accordingly stripped of his buff +coat and steel cap, and wandered down to Havant, where he settled into +business as a leather merchant and tanner, thereby depriving Parliament +of as trusty a soldier as ever drew blade in its service. Finding +that he prospered in trade, he took as wife Mary Shepstone, a young +Churchwoman, and I, Micah Clarke, was the first pledge of their union. + +My father, as I remember him first, was tall and straight, with a great +spread of shoulder and a mighty chest. His face was craggy and stern, +with large harsh features, shaggy over-hanging brows, high-bridged +fleshy nose, and a full-lipped mouth which tightened and set when he +was angry. His grey eyes were piercing and soldier-like, yet I have seen +them lighten up into a kindly and merry twinkle. His voice was the most +tremendous and awe-inspiring that I have ever listened to. I can well +believe what I have heard, that when he chanted the Hundredth Psalm as +he rode down among the blue bonnets at Dunbar, the sound of him rose +above the blare of trumpets and the crash of guns, like the deep roll of +a breaking wave. Yet though he possessed every quality which was +needed to raise him to distinction as an officer, he had thrown off his +military habits when he returned to civil life. As he prospered and grew +rich he might well have worn a sword, but instead he would ever bear a +small copy of the Scriptures bound to his girdle, where other men hung +their weapons. He was sober and measured in his speech, and it was +seldom, even in the bosom of his own family, that he would speak of the +scenes which he had taken part in, or of the great men, Fleetwood and +Harrison, Blake and Ireton, Desborough and Lambert, some of whom had +been simple troopers like himself when the troubles broke out. He was +frugal in his eating, backward in drinking, and allowed himself no +pleasures save three pipes a day of Oronooko tobacco, which he kept ever +in a brown jar by the great wooden chair on the left-hand side of the +mantelshelf. + +Yet for all his self-restraint the old leaven would at times begin to +work in him, and bring on fits of what his enemies would call fanaticism +and his friends piety, though it must be confessed that this piety +was prone to take a fierce and fiery shape. As I look back, one or two +instances of that stand out so hard and clear in my recollection that +they might be scenes which I had seen of late in the playhouse, instead +of memories of my childhood more than threescore years ago, when the +second Charles was on the throne. + +The first of these occurred when I was so young that I can remember +neither what went before nor what immediately after it. It stuck in my +infant mind when other things slipped through it. We were all in the +house one sultry summer evening, when there came a rattle of kettledrums +and a clatter of hoofs, which brought my mother and my father to the +door, she with me in her arms that I might have the better view. It was +a regiment of horse on their way from Chichester to Portsmouth, with +colours flying and band playing, making the bravest show that ever my +youthful eyes had rested upon. With what wonder and admiration did I +gaze at the sleek prancing steeds, the steel morions, the plumed hats +of the officers, the scarfs and bandoliers. Never, I thought, had such +a gallant company assembled, and I clapped my hands and cried out in my +delight. My father smiled gravely, and took me from my mother’s arms. +‘Nay, lad,’ he said, ‘thou art a soldier’s son, and should have more +judgment than to commend such a rabble as this. Canst thou not, child as +thou art, see that their arms are ill-found, their stirrup-irons rusted, +and their ranks without order or cohesion? Neither have they thrown out +a troop in advance, as should even in times of peace be done, and their +rear is straggling from here to Bedhampton. Yea,’ he continued, suddenly +shaking his long arm at the troopers, and calling out to them, ‘ye are +corn ripe for the sickle and waiting only for the reapers!’ Several of +them reined up at this sudden out-flame. ‘Hit the crop-eared rascal over +the pate, Jack!’ cried one to another, wheeling his horse round; but +there was that in my father’s face which caused him to fall back into +the ranks again with his purpose unfulfilled. The regiment jingled on +down the road, and my mother laid her thin hands upon my father’s arm, +and lulled with her pretty coaxing ways the sleeping devil which had +stirred within him. + +On another occasion which I can remember, about my seventh or eighth +year, his wrath burst out with more dangerous effect. I was playing +about him as he worked in the tanning-yard one spring afternoon, when +in through the open doorway strutted two stately gentlemen, with +gold facings to their coats and smart cockades at the side of their +three-cornered hats. They were, as I afterwards understood, officers of +the fleet who were passing through Havant, and seeing us at work in the +yard, designed to ask us some question as to their route. The younger of +the pair accosted my father and began his speech by a great clatter of +words which were all High Dutch to me, though I now see that they were a +string of such oaths as are common in the mouth of a sailor; though why +the very men who are in most danger of appearing before the Almighty +should go out of their way to insult Him, hath ever been a mystery to +me. My father in a rough stern voice bade him speak with more reverence +of sacred things, on which the pair of them gave tongue together, +swearing tenfold worse than before, and calling my father a canting +rogue and a smug-faced Presbytery Jack. What more they might have said I +know not, for my father picked up the great roller wherewith he smoothed +the leather, and dashing at them he brought it down on the side of one +of their heads with such a swashing blow, that had it not been for his +stiff hat the man would never have uttered oath again. As it was, he +dropped like a log upon the stones of the yard, while his companion +whipped out his rapier and made a vicious thrust; but my father, who was +as active as he was strong, sprung aside, and bringing his cudgel down +upon the outstretched arm of the officer, cracked it like the stem of +a tobacco-pipe. This affair made no little stir, for it occurred at +the time when those arch-liars, Oates, Bedloe, and Carstairs, were +disturbing the public mind by their rumours of plots, and a rising of +some sort was expected throughout the country. Within a few days all +Hampshire was ringing with an account of the malcontent tanner of +Havant, who had broken the head and the arm of two of his Majesty’s +servants. An inquiry showed, however, that there was no treasonable +meaning in the matter, and the officers having confessed that the first +words came from them, the Justices contented themselves with imposing a +fine upon my father, and binding him over to keep the peace for a period +of six months. + +I tell you these incidents that you may have an idea of the fierce and +earnest religion which filled not only your own ancestor, but most of +those men who were trained in the parliamentary armies. In many ways +they were more like those fanatic Saracens, who believe in conversion by +the sword, than the followers of a Christian creed. Yet they have this +great merit, that their own lives were for the most part clean and +commendable, for they rigidly adhered themselves to those laws which +they would gladly have forced at the sword’s point upon others. It is +true that among so many there were some whose piety was a shell for +their ambition, and others who practised in secret what they denounced +in public, but no cause however good is free from such hypocritical +parasites. That the greater part of the saints, as they termed +themselves, were men of sober and God-fearing lives, may be shown by the +fact that, after the disbanding of the army of the Commonwealth, the old +soldiers flocked into trade throughout the country, and made their mark +wherever they went by their industry and worth. There is many a wealthy +business house now in England which can trace its rise to the thrift and +honesty of some simple pikeman of Ireton or Cromwell. + +But that I may help you to understand the character of your +great-grandfather, I shall give an incident which shows how fervent and +real were the emotions which prompted the violent moods which I have +described. I was about twelve at the time, my brothers Hosea and Ephraim +were respectively nine and seven, while little Ruth could scarce have +been more than four. It chanced that a few days before a wandering +preacher of the Independents had put up at our house, and his religious +ministrations had left my father moody and excitable. One night I had +gone to bed as usual, and was sound asleep with my two brothers beside +me, when we were roused and ordered to come downstairs. Huddling on our +clothes we followed him into the kitchen, where my mother was sitting +pale and scared with Ruth upon her knee. + +‘Gather round me, my children,’ he said, in a deep reverent voice, ‘that +we may all appear before the throne together. The kingdom of the Lord is +at hand-oh, be ye ready to receive Him! This very night, my loved ones, +ye shall see Him in His splendour, with the angels and the archangels in +their might and their glory. At the third hour shall He come-that very +third hour which is now drawing upon us.’ + +‘Dear Joe,’ said my mother, in soothing tones, ‘thou art scaring thyself +and the children to no avail. If the Son of Man be indeed coming, what +matters it whether we be abed or afoot?’ + +‘Peace, woman,’ he answered sternly; ‘has He not said that He will come +like a thief in the night, and that it is for us to await Him? Join +with me, then, in prayerful outpourings that we may be found as those in +bridal array. Let us offer up thanks that He has graciously vouchsafed +to warn us through the words of His servant. Oh, great Lord, look down +upon this small flock and lead it to the sheep fold! Mix not the +little wheat with the great world of chaff. Oh, merciful Father! look +graciously upon my wife, and forgive her the sin of Erastianism, she +being but a woman and little fitted to cast off the bonds of antichrist +wherein she was born. And these too, my little ones, Micah and Hosea, +Ephraim and Ruth, all named after Thy faithful servants of old, oh let +them stand upon Thy right hand this night!’ Thus he prayed on in a wild +rush of burning, pleading words, writhing prostrate upon the floor +in the vehemence of his supplication, while we, poor trembling mites, +huddled round our mother’s skirts and gazed with terror at the contorted +figure seen by the dim light of the simple oil lamp. On a sudden the +clang of the new church clock told that the hour had come. My father +sprang from the floor, and rushing to the casement, stared up with wild +expectant eyes at the starry heavens. Whether he conjured up some vision +in his excited brain, or whether the rush of feeling on finding that his +expectations were in vain, was too much for him, it is certain that +he threw his long arms upwards, uttered a hoarse scream, and tumbled +backwards with foaming lips and twitching limbs upon the ground. For an +hour or more my poor mother and I did what we could to soothe him, while +the children whimpered in a corner, until at last he staggered slowly to +his feet, and in brief broken words ordered us to our rooms. From that +time I have never heard him allude to the matter, nor did he ever give +us any reason why he should so confidently have expected the second +coming upon that particular night. I have learned since, however, +that the preacher who visited us was what was called in those days a +fifth-monarchy man, and that this particular sect was very liable to +these premonitions. I have no doubt that something which he had said had +put the thought into my father’s head, and that the fiery nature of the +man had done the rest. + +So much for your great-grandfather, Ironside Joe. I have preferred to +put these passages before you, for on the principle that actions speak +louder than words, I find that in describing a man’s character it is +better to give examples of his ways than to speak in broad and general +terms. Had I said that he was fierce in ins religion and subject to +strange fits of piety, the words might have made little impression +upon you; but when I tell you of his attack upon the officers in the +tanning-yard, and his summoning us down in the dead of the night to +await the second coming, you can judge for yourselves the lengths to +which his belief would carry him. For the rest, he was an excellent man +of business, fair and even generous in his dealings, respected by all +and loved by few, for his nature was too self-contained to admit of much +affection. To us he was a stern and rigid father, punishing us heavily +for whatever he regarded as amiss in our conduct. He bad a store of such +proverbs as ‘Give a child its will and a whelp its fill, and neither +will strive,’ or ‘Children are certain cares and uncertain comforts,’ +wherewith he would temper my mother’s more kindly impulses. He could not +bear that we should play trick-track upon the green, or dance with the +other children upon the Saturday night. + +As to my mother, dear soul, it was her calm, peaceful influence which +kept my father within bounds, and softened his austere rule. Seldom +indeed, even in his darkest moods, did the touch of her gentle hand and +the sound of her voice fail to soothe his fiery spirit. She came of a +Church stock, and held to her religion with a quiet grip which was proof +against every attempt to turn her from it. I imagine that at one time +her husband had argued much with her upon Arminianism and the sin of +simony, but finding his exhortations useless, he had abandoned the +subject save on very rare occasions. In spite of her Episcopacy, +however, she remained a staunch Whig, and never allowed her loyalty to +the throne to cloud her judgment as to the doings of the monarch who sat +upon it. + +Women were good housekeepers fitly years ago, but she was conspicuous +among the best. To see her spotless cuffs and snowy kirtle one would +scarce credit how hard she laboured. It was only the well ordered house +and the dustless rooms which proclaimed her constant industry. She +made salves and eyewaters, powders and confects, cordials and persico, +orangeflower water and cherry brandy, each in its due season, and all of +the best. She was wise, too, in herbs and simples. The villagers and the +farm labourers would rather any day have her advice upon their ailments +than that of Dr. Jackson of Purbrook, who never mixed a draught under +a silver crown. Over the whole countryside there was no woman more +deservedly respected and more esteemed both by those above her and by +those beneath. + +Such were my parents as I remember them in my childhood. As to myself, I +shall let my story explain the growth of my own nature. My brothers and +my sister were all brownfaced, sturdy little country children, with no +very marked traits save a love of mischief controlled by the fear of +their father. These, with Martha the serving-maid, formed our whole +household during those boyish years when the pliant soul of the child +is hardening into the settled character of the man. How these influences +affected me I shall leave for a future sitting, and if I weary you by +recording them, you must remember that I am telling these things rather +for your profit than for your amusement; that it may assist you in your +journey through life to know how another has picked out the path before +you. + + + +Chapter II. Of my going to school and of my coming thence. + + +With the home influences which I have described, it may be readily +imagined that my young mind turned very much upon the subject of +religion, the more so as my father and mother took different views upon +it. The old Puritan soldier held that the bible alone contained all +things essential to salvation, and that though it might be advisable +that those who were gifted with wisdom or eloquence should expound the +Scriptures to their brethren, it was by no means necessary, but rather +hurtful and degrading, that any organised body of ministers or of +bishops should claim special prerogatives, or take the place of +mediators between the creature and the Creator. For the wealthy +dignitaries of the Church, rolling in their carriages to their +cathedrals, in order to preach the doctrines of their Master, who wore +His sandals out in tramping over the countryside, he professed the most +bitter contempt; nor was he more lenient to those poorer members of the +clergy who winked at the vices of their patrons that they might secure +a seat at their table, and who would sit through a long evening of +profanity rather than bid good-bye to the cheesecakes and the wine +flask. That such men represented religious truth was abhorrent to +his mind, nor would he even give his adhesion to that form of church +government dear to the Presbyterians, where a general council of the +ministers directed the affairs of their church. Every man was, in his +opinion, equal in the eyes of the Almighty, and none had a right to +claim any precedence over his neighbour in matters of religion. The book +was written for all, and all were equally able to read it, provided that +their minds were enlightened by the Holy Spirit. + +My mother, on the other hand, held that the very essence of a church +was that it should have a hierarchy and a graduated government within +itself, with the king at the apex, the archbishops beneath him, the +bishops under their control, and so down through the ministry to the +common folk. Such was, in her opinion, the Church as established in the +beginning, and no religion without these characteristics could lay any +claim to being the true one. Ritual was to her of as great importance +as morality, and if every tradesman and farmer were allowed to invent +prayers, and change the service as the fancy seized him, it would be +impossible to preserve the purity of the Christian creed. She agreed +that religion was based upon the Bible, but the Bible was a book which +contained much that was obscure, and unless that obscurity were +cleared away by a duly elected and consecrated servant of God, a +lineal descendant of the Disciples, all human wisdom might not serve to +interpret it aright. That was my mother’s position, and neither argument +nor entreaty could move her from it. The only question of belief on +which my two parents were equally ardent was their mutual dislike +and distrust of the Roman Catholic forms of worship, and in this the +Churchwoman was every whit as decided as the fanatical Independent. + +It may seem strange to you in these days of tolerance, that the +adherents of this venerable creed should have met with such universal +ill-will from successive generations of Englishmen. We recognise now +that there are no more useful or loyal citizens in the state than our +Catholic brethren, and Mr. Alexander Pope or any other leading Papist is +no more looked down upon for his religion than was Mr. William Penn +for his Quakerism in the reign of King James. We can scarce credit how +noblemen like Lord Stafford, ecclesiastics like Archbishop Plunkett, +and commoners like Langhorne and Pickering, were dragged to death on +the testimony of the vilest of the vile, without a voice being raised in +their behalf; or how it could be considered a patriotic act on the part +of an English Protestant to carry a flail loaded with lead beneath his +cloak as a menace against his harmless neighbours who differed from +him on points of doctrine. It was a long madness which has now happily +passed off, or at least shows itself in a milder and rarer form. + +Foolish as it appears to us, there were some solid reasons to account +for it. You have read doubtless how, a century before I was born, the +great kingdom of Spain waxed and prospered. Her ships covered every +sea. Her troops were victorious wherever they appeared. In letters, in +learning, in all the arts of war and peace they were the foremost nation +in Europe. You have heard also of the ill-blood which existed between +this great nation and ourselves; how our adventurers harried their +possessions across the Atlantic, while they retorted by burning such +of our seamen as they could catch by their devilish Inquisition, and by +threatening our coasts both from Cadiz and from their provinces in the +Netherlands. At last so hot became the quarrel that the other nations +stood off, as I have seen the folk clear a space for the sword-players +at Hockley-in-the-Hole, so that the Spanish giant and tough little +England were left face to face to fight the matter out. Throughout all +that business it was as the emissary of the Pope, and as the avenger of +the dishonoured Roman Church, that King Philip professed to come. It +is true that Lord Howard and many another gentleman of the old religion +fought stoutly against the Dons, but the people could never forget that +the reformed faith had been the flag under which they had conquered, and +that the blessing of the Pontiff had rested with their opponents. Then +came the cruel and foolish attempt of Mary to force upon them a creed +for which they had no sympathy, and at the heels of it another great +Roman Catholic power menaced our liberty from the Continent. The growing +strength of France promoted a corresponding distrust of Papistry in +England, which reached a head when, at about the time of which I write, +Louis XIV. threatened us with invasion at the very moment when, by +the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, he showed his intolerant spirit +towards the faith which we held dear. The narrow Protestantism of +England was less a religious sentiment than a patriotic reply to +the aggressive bigotry of her enemies. Our Catholic countrymen were +unpopular, not so much because they believed in Transubstantiation, as +because they were unjustly suspected of sympathising with the Emperor or +with the King of France. Now that our military successes have secured us +against all fear of attack, we have happily lost that bitter religious +hatred but for which Oates and Dangerfield would have lied in vain. + +In the days when I was young, special causes had inflamed this dislike +and made it all the more bitter because there was a spice of fear +mingled with it. As long as the Catholics were only an obscure faction +they might be ignored, but when, towards the close of the reign of the +second Charles, it appeared to be absolutely certain that a Catholic +dynasty was about to fill the throne, and that Catholicism was to be the +court religion and the stepping-stone to preferment, it was felt that +a day of vengeance might be at hand for those who had trampled upon +it when it was defenceless. There was alarm and uneasiness amongst all +classes. The Church of England, which depends upon the monarch as an +arch depends upon the keystone; the nobility, whose estates and coffers +had been enriched by the plunder of the abbeys; the mob, whose ideas of +Papistry were mixed up with thumbscrews and Fox’s Martyrology, were all +equally disturbed. Nor was the prospect a hopeful one for their cause. +Charles was a very lukewarm Protestant, and indeed showed upon his +deathbed that he was no Protestant at all. There was no longer any +chance of his having legitimate offspring. The Duke of York, his younger +brother, was therefore heir to the throne, and he was known to be an +austere and narrow Papist, while his spouse, Mary of Modena, was +as bigoted as himself. Should they have children, there could be +no question but that they would be brought up in the faith of their +parents, and that a line of Catholic monarchs would occupy the throne +of England. To the Church, as represented by my mother, and to +Nonconformity, in the person of my father, this was an equally +intolerable prospect. + +I have been telling you all this old history because you will find, as +I go on, that this state of things caused in the end such a seething and +fermenting throughout the nation that even I, a simple village lad, was +dragged into the whirl and had my whole life influenced by it. If I did +not make the course of events clear to you, you would hardly understand +the influences which had such an effect upon my whole history. In the +meantime, I wish you to remember that when King James II. ascended the +throne he did so amid a sullen silence on the part of a large class of +his subjects, and that both my father and my mother were among those who +were zealous for a Protestant succession. + +My childhood was, as I have already said, a gloomy one. Now and again +when there chanced to be a fair at Portsdown Hill, or when a passing +raree showman set up his booth in the village, my dear mother would +slip a penny or two from her housekeeping money into my hand, and with +a warning finger upon her lip would send me off to see the sights. These +treats were, however, rare events, and made such a mark upon my mind, +that when I was sixteen years of age I could have checked off upon my +fingers all that I had ever seen. There was William Harker the strong +man, who lifted Farmer Alcott’s roan mare; and there was Tubby Lawson +the dwarf, who could fit himself into a pickle jar--these two I well +remember from the wonder wherewith they struck my youthful soul. Then +there was the show of the playing dolls, and that of the enchanted +island and Mynheer Munster from the Lowlands, who could turn himself +round upon a tight-rope while playing most sweetly upon a virginal. +Last, but far the best in my estimation, was the grand play at the +Portsdown Fair, entitled ‘The true and ancient story of Maudlin, the +merchant’s daughter of Bristol, and of her lover Antonio. How they were +cast away on the shores of Barbary, where the mermaids are seen floating +upon the sea and singing in the rocks, foretelling their danger.’ This +little piece gave me keener pleasure than ever in after years I received +from the grandest comedies of Mr. Congreve and of Mr. Dryden, though +acted by Kynaston, Betterton, and the whole strength of the King’s own +company. At Chichester once I remember that I paid a penny to see the +left shoe of the youngest sister of Potiphar’s wife, but as it looked +much like any other old shoe, and was just about the size to have fitted +the show-woman, I have often feared that my penny fell into the hands of +rogues. + +There were other shows, however, which I might see for nothing, and yet +were more real and every whit as interesting as any for which I +paid. Now and again upon a holiday I was permitted to walk down to +Portsmouth--once I was even taken in front of my father upon his pad +nag, and there I wandered with him through the streets with wondering +eyes, marvelling over the strange sights around me. The walls and the +moats, the gates and the sentinels, the long High Street with the great +government buildings, and the constant rattle of drums and blare of +trumpets; they made my little heart beat quicker beneath my sagathy +stuff jacket. Here was the house in which some thirty years before the +proud Duke of Buckingham had been struck down by the assassin’s dagger. +There, too, was the Governor’s dwelling, and I remember that even as I +looked he came riding up to it, red-faced and choleric, with a nose such +as a Governor should have, and his breast all slashed with gold. ‘Is he +not a fine man?’ I said, looking up at my father. He laughed and drew +his hat down over his brows. ‘It is the first time that I have seen Sir +Ralph Lingard’s face,’ said he, ‘but I saw his back at Preston fight. +Ah, lad, proud as he looks, if he did but see old Noll coming in through +the door he would not think it beneath him to climb out through the +window!’ The clank of steel or the sight of a buff-coat would always +serve to stir up the old Roundhead bitterness in my father’s breast. + +But there were other sights in Portsmouth besides the red-coats and +their Governor. The yard was the second in the kingdom, after Chatham, +and there was ever some new war-ship ready upon the slips. Then there +was a squadron of King’s ships, and sometimes the whole fleet at +Spithead, when the streets would be full of sailors, with their faces as +brown as mahogany and pigtails as stiff and hard as their cutlasses. To +watch their rolling gait, and to hear their strange, quaint talk, +and their tales of the Dutch wars, was a rare treat to me; and I have +sometimes when I was alone fastened myself on to a group of them, and +passed the day in wandering from tavern to tavern. It chanced one day, +however, that one of them insisted upon my sharing his glass of Canary +wine, and afterwards out of roguishness persuaded me to take a second, +with the result that I was sent home speechless in the carrier’s cart, +and was never again allowed to go into Portsmouth alone. My father was +less shocked at the incident than I should have expected, and reminded +my mother that Noah had been overtaken in a similar manner. He also +narrated how a certain field-chaplain Grant, of Desborough’s regiment, +having after a hot and dusty day drunk sundry flagons of mum, had +thereafter sung certain ungodly songs, and danced in a manner unbecoming +to his sacred profession. Also, how he had afterwards explained that +such backslidings were not to be regarded us faults of the individual, +but rather as actual obsessions of the evil one, who contrived in this +manner to give scandal to the faithful, and selected the most godly for +his evil purpose. This ingenious defence of the field-chaplain was the +saving of my back, for my father, who was a believer in Solomon’s axiom, +had a stout ash stick and a strong arm for whatever seemed to him to be +a falling away from the true path. + +From the day that I first learned my letters from the horn-book at my +mother’s knee I was always hungry to increase my knowledge, and never a +piece of print came in my way that I did not eagerly master. My father +pushed the sectarian hatred of learning to such a length that he was +averse to having any worldly books within his doors. (Note A, Appendix) +I was dependent therefore for my supply upon one or two of my friends in +the village, who lent me a volume at a time from their small libraries. +These I would carry inside my shirt, and would only dare to produce when +I could slip away into the fields, and lie hid among the long grass, or +at night when the rushlight was still burning, and my father’s snoring +assured me that there was no danger of his detecting me. In this way +I worked up from Don Bellianis of Greece and the ‘Seven Champions,’ +through Tarleton’s ‘Jests’ and other such books, until I could take +pleasure in the poetry of Waller and of Herrick, or in the plays of +Massinger and Shakespeare. How sweet were the hours when I could lay +aside all thought of freewill and of predestination, to lie with my +heels in the air among the scented clover, and listen to old Chaucer +telling the sweet story of Grisel the patient, or to weep for the chaste +Desdemona, and mourn over the untimely end of her gallant spouse. There +were times as I rose up with my mind full of the noble poetry, and +glanced over the fair slope of the countryside, with the gleaming sea +beyond it, and the purple outline of the Isle of Wight upon the horizon; +when it would be borne in upon me that the Being who created all this, +and who gave man the power of pouring out these beautiful thoughts, was +not the possession of one sect or another, or of this nation or that, +but was the kindly Father of every one of the little children whom +He had let loose on this fair playground. It grieved me then, and it +grieves me now, that a man of such sincerity and lofty purpose as your +great grandfather should have been so tied down by iron doctrines, and +should imagine his Creator to be so niggard of His mercy as to withhold +it from nine-and-ninety in the hundred. Well, a man is as he is trained, +and if my father bore a narrow mind upon his broad shoulders, he has at +least the credit that he was ready to do and to suffer all things +for what he conceived to be the truth. If you, my dears, have more +enlightened views, take heed that they bring you to lead a more +enlightened life. + +When I was fourteen years of age, a yellow-haired, brown-faced lad, I +was packed off to a small private school at Petersfield, and there I +remained for a year, returning home for the last Saturday in each month. +I took with me only a scanty outfit of schoolbooks, with Lilly’s ‘Latin +Grammar,’ and Rosse’s ‘View of all the Religions in the World from the +Creation down to our own Times,’ which was shoved into my hands by my +good mother as a parting present. With this small stock of letters I +might have fared badly, had it not happened that my master, Mr. Thomas +Chillingfoot, had himself a good library, and took a pleasure in +lending his books to any of his scholars who showed a desire to improve +themselves. Under this good old man’s care I not only picked up some +smattering of Latin and Greek, but I found means to read good English +translations of many of the classics, and to acquire a knowledge of the +history of my own and other countries. I was rapidly growing in mind as +well as in body, when my school career was cut short by no less an event +than my summary and ignominious expulsion. How this unlooked-for ending +to my studies came about I must now set before you. + +Petersfield had always been a great stronghold of the Church, having +hardly a Nonconformist within its bounds. The reason of this was that +most of the house property was owned by zealous Churchmen, who refused +to allow any one who differed from the Established Church to settle +there. The Vicar, whose name was Pinfold, possessed in this manner great +power in the town, and as he was a man with a high inflamed countenance +and a pompous manner, he inspired no little awe among the quiet +inhabitants. I can see him now with his beaked nose, his rounded +waistcoat, and his bandy legs, which looked as if they had given way +beneath the load of learning which they were compelled to carry. Walking +slowly with right hand stiffly extended, tapping the pavement at every +step with his metal-headed stick, he would pause as each person passed +him, and wait to see that he was given the salute which he thought due +to his dignity. This courtesy he never dreamed of returning, save in +the case of some of his richer parishioners; but if by chance it were +omitted, he would hurry after the culprit, and, shaking his stick in his +face, insist upon his doffing his cap to him. We youngsters, if we met +him on our walks, would scuttle by him like a brood of chickens passing +an old turkey cock, and even our worthy master showed a disposition to +turn down a side-street when the portly figure of the Vicar was seen +rolling in our direction. This proud priest made a point of knowing the +history of every one within his parish, and having learnt that I was the +son of an Independent, he spoke severely to Mr. Chillingfoot upon the +indiscretion which he had shown in admitting me to his school. Indeed, +nothing but my mother’s good name for orthodoxy prevented him from +insisting upon my dismissal. + +At the other end of the village there was a large day-school. A constant +feud prevailed between the scholars who attended it and the lads who +studied under our master. No one could tell how the war broke out, but +for many years there had been a standing quarrel between the two, which +resulted in skirmishes, sallies, and ambuscades, with now and then a +pitched battle. No great harm was done in these encounters, for the +weapons were usually snowballs in winter and pine-cones or clods of +earth in the summer. Even when the contest got closer and we came to +fisticuffs, a few bruises and a little blood was the worst that could +come of it. Our opponents were more numerous than we, but we had the +advantage of being always together and of having a secure asylum upon +which to retreat, while they, living in scattered houses all over the +parish, had no common rallying-point. A stream, crossed by two bridges, +ran through the centre of the town, and this was the boundary which +separated our territories from those of our enemies. The boy who crossed +the bridge found himself in hostile country. + +It chanced that in the first conflict which occurred after my arrival at +the school I distinguished myself by singling out the most redoubtable +of our foemen, and smiting him such a blow that he was knocked helpless +and was carried off by our party as a prisoner. This feat of arms +established my good name as a warrior, so I came at last to be regarded +as the leader of our forces, and to be looked up to by bigger boys than +myself. This promotion tickled my fancy so much, that I set to work to +prove that I deserved it by devising fresh and ingenious schemes for the +defeat of our enemies. + +One winter’s evening news reached us that our rivals were about to make +a raid upon us under cover of night, and that they proposed coming by +the little used plank bridge, so as to escape our notice. This bridge +lay almost out of the town, and consisted of a single broad piece of +wood without a rail, erected for the good of the town clerk, who lived, +just opposite to it. We proposed to hide ourselves amongst the bushes on +our side of the stream, and make an unexpected attack upon the invaders +as they crossed. As we started, however, I bethought me of an ingenious +stratagem which I had read of as being practised in the German wars, and +having expounded it to the great delight of my companions, we took Mr. +Chillingfoot’s saw, and set off for the seat of action. + +On reaching the bridge all was quiet and still. It was quite dark and +very cold, for Christmas was approaching. There were no signs of our +opponents. We exchanged a few whispers as to who should do the daring +deed, but as the others shrank from it, and as I was too proud to +propose what I dare not execute, I gripped the saw, and sitting +astraddle upon the plank set to work upon the very centre of it. + +My purpose was to weaken it in such a way that, though it would bear the +weight of one, it would collapse when the main body of our foemen were +upon it, and so precipitate them into the ice-cold stream. The water was +but a couple of feet deep at the place, so that there was nothing for +them but a fright and a ducking. So cool a reception ought to deter +them from ever invading us again, and confirm my reputation as a daring +leader. Reuben Lockarby, my lieutenant, son of old John Lockarby of the +Wheatsheaf, marshalled our forces behind the hedgerow, whilst I sawed +vigorously at the plank until I had nearly severed it across. I had no +compunction about the destruction of the bridge, for I knew enough of +carpentry to see that a skilful joiner could in an hour’s work make +it stronger than ever by putting a prop beneath the point where I had +divided it. When at last I felt by the yielding of the plank that I had +done enough, and that the least strain would snap it, I crawled quietly +off, and taking up my position with my schoolfellows, awaited the coming +of the enemy. + +I had scarce concealed myself when we heard the steps of some one +approaching down the footpath which led to the bridge. We crouched +behind the cover, convinced that the sound must come from some scout +whom our foemen had sent on in front--a big boy evidently, for his step +was heavy and slow, with a clinking noise mingling with it, of which we +could make nothing. Nearer came the sound and nearer, until a shadowy +figure loomed out of the darkness upon the other side, and after pausing +and peering for a moment, came straight for the bridge. It was only as +he was setting foot upon the plank and beginning gingerly to pick his +way across it, that we discerned the outlines of the familiar form, and +realised the dreadful truth that the stranger whom we had taken for the +advance guard of our enemy was in truth none other than Vicar Pinfold, +and that it was the rhythmic pat of his stick which we heard mingling +with his footfalls. Fascinated by the sight, we lay bereft of all power +to warn him--a line of staring eyeballs. One step, two steps, three +steps did the haughty Churchman take, when there was a rending crack, +and he vanished with a mighty splash into the swift-flowing stream. He +must have fallen upon his back, for we could see the curved outline +of his portly figure standing out above the surface as he struggled +desperately to regain his feet. At last he managed to get erect, and +came spluttering for the bank with such a mixture of godly ejaculations +and of profane oaths that, even in our terror, we could not keep from +laughter. Rising from under his feet like a covey of wild-fowl, we +scurried off across the fields and so back to the school, where, as you +may imagine, we said nothing to our good master of what had occurred. + +The matter was too serious, however, to be hushed up. The sudden chill +set up some manner of disturbance in the bottle of sack which the Vicar +had just been drinking with the town clerk, and an attack of gout set in +which laid him on his back for a fortnight. Meanwhile an examination of +the bridge had shown that it had been sawn across, and an inquiry traced +the matter to Mr. Chillingfoot’s boarders. To save a wholesale expulsion +of the school from the town, I was forced to acknowledge myself as both +the inventor and perpetrator of the deed. Chillingfoot was entirely in +the power of the Vicar, so he was forced to read me a long homily +in public--which he balanced by an affectionate leave-taking in +private--and to expel me solemnly from the school. I never saw my old +master again, for he died not many years afterwards; but I hear that his +second son William is still carrying on the business, which is larger +and more prosperous than of old. His eldest son turned Quaker and went +out to Penn’s settlement, where he is reported to have been slain by the +savages. + +This adventure shocked my dear mother, but it found great favour in the +eyes of my father, who laughed until the whole village resounded +with his stentorian merriment. It reminded him, he said, of a similar +stratagem executed at Market Drayton by that God-fearing soldier Colonel +Pride, whereby a captain and three troopers of Lunsford’s own regiment +of horse had been drowned, and many others precipitated into a river, to +the great glory of the true Church and to the satisfaction of the +chosen people. Even of the Church folk many were secretly glad at the +misfortune which had overtaken the Vicar, for his pretensions and his +pride had made him hated throughout the district. + +By this time I had grown into a sturdy, broad-shouldered lad, and every +month added to my strength and my stature. When I was sixteen I could +carry a bag of wheat or a cask of beer against any man in the village, +and I could throw the fifteen-pound putting-stone to a distance of +thirty-six feet, which was four feet further than could Ted Dawson, the +blacksmith. Once when my father was unable to carry a bale of skins out +of the yard, I whipped it up and bare it away upon my shoulders. The +old man would often look gravely at me from under his heavy thatched +eyebrows, and shake his grizzled head as he sat in his arm-chair puffing +his pipe. ‘You grow too big for the nest, lad,’ he would say. ‘I doubt +some of these days you’ll find your wings and away!’ In my heart I +longed that the time would come, for I was weary of the quiet life of +the village, and was anxious to see the great world of which I had heard +and read so much. I could not look southward without my spirit stirring +within me as my eyes fell upon those dark waves, the white crests of +which are like a fluttering signal ever waving to an English youth and +beckoning him to some unknown but glorious goal. + + + +Chapter III. Of Two Friends of my Youth + + +I fear, my children, that you will think that the prologue is over long +for the play; but the foundations must be laid before the building is +erected, and a statement of this sort is a sorry and a barren thing +unless you have a knowledge of the folk concerned. Be patient, then, +while I speak to you of the old friends of my youth, some of whom you +may hear more of hereafter, while others remained behind in the country +hamlet, and yet left traces of our early intercourse upon my character +which might still be discerned there. + +Foremost for good amongst all whom I knew was Zachary Palmer, the +village carpenter, a man whose aged and labour-warped body contained the +simplest and purest of spirits. Yet his simplicity was by no means the +result of ignorance, for from the teachings of Plato to those of Hobbes +there were few systems ever thought out by man which he had not studied +and weighed. Books were far dearer in my boyhood than they are now, +and carpenters were less well paid, but old Palmer had neither wife nor +child, and spent little on food or raiment. Thus it came about that on +the shelf over his bed he had a more choice collection of books--few as +they were in number--than the squire or the parson, and these books he +had read until he not only understood them himself, but could impart +them to others. + +This white-bearded and venerable village philosopher would sit by his +cabin door upon a summer evening, and was never so pleased as when +some of the young fellows would slip away from their bowls and their +quoit-playing in order to lie in the grass at his feet, and ask him +questions about the great men of old, their words and their deeds. But +of all the youths I and Reuben Lockarby, the innkeeper’s son, were his +two favourites, for we would come the earliest and stop the latest to +hear the old man talk. No father could have loved his children better +than he did us, and he would spare no pains to get at our callow +thoughts, and to throw light upon whatever perplexed or troubled us. +Like all growing things, we had run our heads against the problem of +the universe. We had peeped and pryed with our boyish eyes into those +profound depths in which the keenest-sighted of the human race had seen +no bottom. Yet when we looked around us in our own village world, and +saw the bitterness and rancour which pervaded every sect, we could not +but think that a tree which bore such fruit must have something amiss +with it. This was one of the thoughts unspoken to our parents which +we carried to good old Zachary, and on which he had much to say which +cheered and comforted us. + +‘These janglings and wranglings,’ said he, ‘are but on the surface, +and spring from the infinite variety of the human mind, which will ever +adapt a creed to suit its own turn of thought. It is the solid core that +underlies every Christian creed which is of importance. Could you +but live among the Romans or the Greeks, in the days before this new +doctrine was preached, you would then know the change that it has +wrought in the world. How this or that text should be construed is a +matter of no moment, however warm men may get over it. What is of the +very greatest moment is, that every man should have a good and solid +reason for living a simple, cleanly life. This the Christian creed has +given us.’ + +‘I would not have you be virtuous out of fear,’ he said upon another +occasion. ‘The experience of a long life has taught me, however, that +sin is always punished in this world, whatever may come in the next. +There is always some penalty in health, in comfort, or in peace of +mind to be paid for every wrong. It is with nations as it is with +individuals. A book of history is a book of sermons. See how the +luxurious Babylonians were destroyed by the frugal Persians, and how +these same Persians when they learned the vices of prosperity were put +to the sword by the Greeks. Read on and mark how the sensual Greeks were +trodden down by the more robust and hardier Romans, and finally how the +Romans, having lost their manly virtues, were subdued by the nations +of the north. Vice and destruction came ever hand in hand. Thus did +Providence use each in turn as a scourge wherewith to chastise the +follies of the other. These things do not come by chance. They are part +of a great system which is at work in your own lives. The longer you +live the more you will see that sin and sadness are never far apart, and +that no true prosperity can exist away from virtue.’ + +A very different teacher was the sea-dog Solomon Sprent, who lived in +the second last cottage on the left-hand side of the main street of the +village. He was one of the old tarpaulin breed, who had fought under +the red cross ensign against Frenchman, Don, Dutchman, and Moor, until a +round shot carried off his foot and put an end to his battles for ever. +In person he was thin, and hard, and brown, as lithe and active as a +cat, with a short body and very long arms, each ending in a great hand +which was ever half closed as though shutting on a rope. From head to +foot he was covered with the most marvellous tattooings, done in blue, +red, and green, beginning with the Creation upon his neck and winding up +with the Ascension upon his left ankle. Never have I seen such a walking +work of art. He was wont to say that had he been owned and his body cast +up upon some savage land, the natives might have learned the whole of +the blessed gospel from a contemplation of his carcass. Yet with sorrow +I must say that the seaman’s religion appeared to have all worked into +his skin, so that very little was left for inner use. It had broken out +upon the surface, like the spotted fever, but his system was clear of +it elsewhere. He could swear in eleven languages and three-and-twenty +dialects, nor did he ever let his great powers rust for want of +practice. He would swear when he was happy or when he was sad, when he +was angry or when he was loving, but this swearing was so mere a trick +of speech, without malice or bitterness, that even my father could +hardly deal harshly with the sinner. As time passed, however, the old +man grew more sober and more thoughtful, until in his latter days he +went back to the simple beliefs of his childhood, and learned to fight +the devil with the same steady courage with which he had faced the +enemies of his country. + +Old Solomon was a never-failing source of amusement and of interest to +my friend Lockarby and myself. On gala days he would have us in to dine +with him, when he would regale us with lobscouse and salmagundi, or +perhaps with an outland dish, a pillaw or olla podrida, or fish broiled +after the fashion of the Azores, for he had a famous trick of cooking, +and could produce the delicacies of all nations. And all the time that +we were with him he would tell us the most marvellous stories of Rupert, +under whom he served; how he would shout from the poop to his squadron +to wheel to the right, or to charge, or to halt, as the case might be, +as if he were still with his regiment of horse. Of Blake, too, he had +many stories to tell. But even the name of Blake was not so dear to our +old sailor as was that of Sir Christopher Mings. Solomon had at one time +been his coxswain, and could talk by the hour of those gallant deeds +which had distinguished him from the day that he entered the navy as a +cabin boy until he fell upon his own quarter-deck, a full admiral of the +red, and was borne by his weeping ship’s company to his grave in Chatham +churchyard. ‘If so be as there’s a jasper sea up aloft,’ said the old +seaman, ‘I’ll wager that Sir Christopher will see that the English flag +has proper respect paid to it upon it, and that we are not fooled by +foreigners. I’ve served under him in this world, and I ask nothing +better than to be his coxswain in the next--if so be as he should chance +to have a vacancy for such.’ These remembrances would always end in the +brewing of an extra bowl of punch, and the drinking of a solemn bumper +to the memory of the departed hero. + +Stirring as were Solomon Sprent’s accounts of his old commanders, their +effect upon us was not so great as when, about his second or third +glass, the floodgates of his memory would be opened, and he would pour +out long tales of the lands which he had visited, and the peoples which +he had seen. Leaning forward in our seats with our chins resting upon +our hands, we two youngsters would sit for hours, with our eyes fixed +upon the old adventurer, drinking in his words, while he, pleased at the +interest which he excited, would puff slowly at his pipe and reel off +story after story of what he had seen or done. In those days, my dears, +there was no Defoe to tell us the wonders of the world, no _Spectator_ +to lie upon our breakfast table, no Gulliver to satisfy our love of +adventure by telling us of such adventures as never were. Not once in +a month did a common newsletter fall into our hands. Personal hazards, +therefore, were of more value then than they are now, and the talk of a +man like old Solomon was a library in itself. To us it was all real. His +husky tones and ill-chosen words were as the voice of an angel, and our +eager minds filled in the details and supplied all that was wanting in +his narratives. In one evening we have engaged a Sallee rover off the +Pillars of Hercules; we have coasted down the shores of the African +continent, and seen the great breakers of the Spanish Main foaming upon +the yellow sand; we have passed the black ivory merchants with their +human cargoes; we have faced the terrible storms which blow ever around +the Cape de Boa Esperanza; and finally, we have sailed away out over the +great ocean beyond, amid the palm-clad coral islands, with the knowledge +that the realms of Prester John lie somewhere behind the golden haze +which shimmers upon the horizon. After such a flight as that we would +feel, as we came back to the Hampshire village and the dull realities +of country life, like wild birds who had been snared by the fowler and +clapped into narrow cages. Then it was that the words of my father, ‘You +will find your wings some day and fly away,’ would come back to me, and +set up such a restlessness as all the wise words of Zachary Palmer could +not allay. + + +Chapter IV. Of the Strange Fish that we Caught at Spithead + +One evening in the month of May 1685, about the end of the first week +of the month, my friend Reuben Lockarby and I borrowed Ned Marley’s +pleasure boat, and went a-fishing out of Langston Bay. At that time I +was close on one-and-twenty years of age, while my companion was one +year younger. A great intimacy had sprung up between us, founded on +mutual esteem, for he being a little undergrown man was proud of my +strength and stature, while my melancholy and somewhat heavy spirit took +a pleasure in the energy and joviality which never deserted him, and +in the wit which gleamed as bright and as innocent as summer lightning +through all that he said. In person he was short and broad, round-faced, +ruddy-cheeked, and in truth a little inclined to be fat, though he would +never confess to more than a pleasing plumpness, which was held, he +said, to be the acme of manly beauty amongst the ancients. The stern +test of common danger and mutual hardship entitle me to say that no +man could have desired a stauncher or more trusty comrade. As he was +destined to be with me in the sequel, it was but fitting that he should +have been at my side on that May evening which was the starting-point of +our adventures. + +We pulled out beyond the Warner Sands to a place half-way between them +and the Nab, where we usually found bass in plenty. There we cast the +heavy stone which served us as an anchor overboard, and proceeded to +set our lines. The sun sinking slowly behind a fog-bank had slashed the +whole western sky with scarlet streaks, against which the wooded slopes +of the Isle of Wight stood out vaporous and purple. A fresh breeze was +blowing from the south-east, flecking the long green waves with crests +of foam, and filling our eyes and lips with the smack of the salt spray. +Over near St. Helen’s Point a King’s ship was making her way down the +channel, while a single large brig was tacking about a quarter of a mile +or less from where we lay. So near were we that we could catch a glimpse +of the figures upon her deck as she heeled over to the breeze, and could +bear the creaking of her yards and the flapping of her weather-stained +canvas as she prepared to go about. + +‘Look ye, Micah,’ said my companion, looking up from his fishing-line. +‘That is a most weak-minded ship--a ship which will make no way in the +world. See how she hangs in the wind, neither keeping on her course nor +tacking. She is a trimmer of the seas--the Lord Halifax of the ocean.’ + +‘Why, there is something amiss with her,’ I replied, staring across with +hand-shaded eyes. ‘She yaws about as though there were no one at the +helm. Her main-yard goes aback! Now it is forward again! The folk on her +deck seem to me to be either fighting or dancing. Up with the anchor, +Reuben, and let us pull to her.’ + +‘Up with the anchor and let us get out of her way,’ he answered, still +gazing at the stranger. ‘Why will you ever run that meddlesome head of +yours into danger’s way? She flies Dutch colours, but who can say whence +she really comes? A pretty thing if we were snapped up by a buccaneer +and sold in the Plantations!’ + +‘A buccaneer in the Solent!’ cried I derisively. ‘We shall be seeing the +black flag in Emsworth Creek next. But hark! What is that?’ + +The crack of a musket sounded from aboard the brig. Then came a moment’s +silence and another musket shot rang out, followed by a chorus of shouts +and cries. Simultaneously the yards swung round into position, the sails +caught the breeze once more, and the vessel darted away on a course +which would take her past Bembridge Point out to the English Channel. As +she flew along her helm was put hard down, a puff of smoke shot out +from her quarter, and a cannon ball came hopping and splashing over +the waves, passing within a hundred yards of where we lay. With this +farewell greeting she came up into the wind again and continued her +course to the southward. + +‘Heart o’ grace!’ ejaculated Reuben in loose lipped astonishment. ‘The +murdering villains!’ + +‘I would to the Lord that King’s ship would snap them up!’ cried I +savagely, for the attack was so unprovoked that it stirred my bile. +‘What could the rogues have meant? They are surely drunk or mad!’ + +‘Pull at the anchor, man, pull at the anchor!’ my companion shouted, +springing up from the seat. ‘I understand it! Pull at the anchor!’ + +‘What then?’ I asked, helping him to haul the great stone up, hand over +hand, until it came dripping over the side. + +‘They were not firing at us, lad. They were aiming at some one in the +water between us and them. Pull, Micah! Put your back into it! Some poor +fellow may he drowning.’ + +‘Why, I declare!’ said I, looking over my shoulder as I rowed, ‘there +is his head upon the crest of a wave. Easy, or we shall be over him! Two +more strokes and be ready to seize him! Keep up, friend! There’s help at +hand!’ + +‘Take help to those who need help’ said a voice out of the sea. ‘Zounds, +man, keep a guard on your oar! I fear a pat from it very much more than +I do the water.’ + +These words were delivered in so calm and self-possessed a tone that all +concern for the swimmer was set at rest. Drawing in our oars we faced +round to have a look at him. The drift of the boat had brought us so +close that he could have grasped the gunwale had he been so minded. + +‘Sapperment!’ he cried in a peevish voice; ‘to think of my brother Nonus +serving me such a trick! What would our blessed mother have said could +she have seen it? My whole kit gone, to say nothing of my venture in +the voyage! And now I have kicked off a pair of new jack boots that +cost sixteen rix-dollars at Vanseddar’s at Amsterdam. I can’t swim in +jack-boots, nor can I walk without them.’ + +‘Won’t you come in out of the wet, sir?’ asked Reuben, who could scarce +keep serious at the stranger’s appearance and address. A pair of long +arms shot out of the water, and in a moment, with a lithe, snake-like +motion, the man wound himself into the boat and coiled his great length +upon the stern-sheets. Very lanky he was and very thin, with a craggy +hard face, clean-shaven and sunburned, with a thousand little wrinkles +intersecting it in every direction. He had lost his hat, and his short +wiry hair, slightly flecked with grey, stood up in a bristle all over +his head. It was hard to guess at his age, but he could scarce have been +under his fiftieth year, though the ease with which he had boarded our +boat proved that his strength and energy were unimpaired. Of all his +characteristics, however, nothing attracted my attention so much as his +eyes, which were almost covered by their drooping lids, and yet looked +out through the thin slits which remained with marvellous brightness and +keenness. A passing glance might give the idea that he was languid and +half asleep, but a closer one would reveal those glittering, shifting +lines of light, and warn the prudent man not to trust too much to his +first impressions. + +‘I could swim to Portsmouth,’ he remarked, rummaging in the pockets of +his sodden jacket; ‘I could swim well-nigh anywhere. I once swam from +Gran on the Danube to Buda, while a hundred thousand Janissaries +danced with rage on the nether bank. I did, by the keys of St. Peter! +Wessenburg’s Pandours would tell you whether Decimus Saxon could +swim. Take my advice, young men, and always carry your tobacco in a +water-tight metal box.’ + +As he spoke he drew a flat box from his pocket, and several wooden +tubes, which he screwed together to form a long pipe. This he stuffed +with tobacco, and having lit it by means of a flint and steel with a +piece of touch-paper from the inside of his box, he curled his legs +under him in Eastern fashion, and settled down to enjoy a smoke. There +was something so peculiar about the whole incident, and so preposterous +about the man’s appearance and actions, that we both broke into a roar +of laughter, which lasted until for very exhaustion we were compelled +to stop. He neither joined in our merriment nor expressed offence at +it, but continued to suck away at his long wooden tube with a perfectly +stolid and impassive face, save that the half-covered eyes glinted +rapidly backwards and forwards from one to the other of us. + +‘You will excuse our laughter, sir,’ I said at last; ‘my friend and I +are unused to such adventures, and are merry at the happy ending of it. +May we ask whom it is that we have picked up?’ + +‘Decimus Saxon is my name,’ the stranger answered; ‘I am the tenth child +of a worthy father, as the Latin implies. There are but nine betwixt me +and an inheritance. Who knows? Small-pox might do it, or the plague!’ + +‘We heard a shot aboard of the brig,’ said Reuben. + +‘That was my brother Nonus shooting at me,’ the stranger observed, +shaking his head sadly. + +‘But there was a second shot.’ + +‘Ah, that was me shooting at my brother Nonus.’ + +‘Good lack!’ I cried. ‘I trust that thou hast done him no hurt.’ + +‘But a flesh wound, at the most,’ he answered. ‘I thought it best to +come away, however, lest the affair grow into a quarrel. I am sure that +it was he who trained the nine-pounder on me when I was in the water. +It came near enough to part my hair. He was always a good shot with a +falconet or a mortar-piece. He could not have been hurt, however, to get +down from the poop to the main-deck in the time.’ + +There was a pause after this, while the stranger drew a long knife from +his belt, and cleaned out his pipe with it. Reuben and I took up our +oars, and having pulled up our tangled fishing-lines, which had been +streaming behind the boat, we proceeded to pull in towards the land. + +‘The question now is,’ said the stranger, ‘where we are to go to?’ + +‘We are going down Langston Bay,’ I answered. + +‘Oh, we are, are we?’ he cried, in a mocking voice; ‘you are sure of it +eh? You are certain we are not going to France? We have a mast and sail +there, I see, and water in the beaker. All we want are a few fish, +which I hear are plentiful in these waters, and we might make a push for +Barfleur.’ + +‘We are going down Langston Bay,’ I repeated coldly. + +‘You see might is right upon the waters,’ he explained, with a smile +which broke his whole face up into crinkles. ‘I am an old soldier, a +tough fighting man, and you are two raw lads. I have a knife, and you +are unarmed. D’ye see the line of argument? The question now is, Where +are we to go?’ + +I faced round upon him with the oar in my hand. ‘You boasted that you +could swim to Portsmouth,’ said I, ‘and so you shall. Into the water +with you, you sea-viper, or I’ll push you in as sure as my name is Micah +Clarke.’ + +‘Throw your knife down, or I’ll drive the boat hook through you,’ cried +Reuben, pushing it forward to within a few inches of the man’s throat. + +‘Sink me, but this is most commendable!’ he said, sheathing his weapon, +and laughing softly to himself. ‘I love to draw spirit out of the young +fellows. I am the steel, d’ye see, which knocks the valour out of your +flint. A notable simile, and one in every way worthy of that most witty +of mankind, Samuel Butler. This,’ he continued, tapping a protuberance +which I had remarked over his chest, ‘is not a natural deformity, but is +a copy of that inestimable “Hudibras,” which combines the light touch +of Horace with the broader mirth of Catullus. Heh! what think you of the +criticism?’ + +‘Give up that knife,’ said I sternly. + +‘Certainly,’ he replied, handing it over to me with a polite bow. ‘Is +there any other reasonable matter in which I can oblige ye? I will +give up anything to do ye pleasure-save only my good name and soldierly +repute, or this same copy of “Hudibras,” which, together with a Latin +treatise upon the usages of war, written by a Fleming and printed in +Liege in the Lowlands, I do ever bear in my bosom.’ + +I sat down beside him with the knife in my hand. ‘You pull both oars,’ +I said to Reuben; ‘I’ll keep guard over the fellow and see that he plays +us no trick. I believe that you are right, and that he is nothing better +than a pirate. He shall be given over to the justices when we get to +Havant.’ + +I thought that our passenger’s coolness deserted him for a moment, and +that a look of annoyance passed over his face. + +‘Wait a bit!’ he said; ‘your name, I gather is Clarke, and your home is +Havant. Are you a kinsman of Joseph Clarke, the old Roundhead of that +town?’ + +‘He is my father,’ I answered. + +‘Hark to that, now!’ he cried, with a throb of laughter; ‘I have a +trick of falling on my feet. Look at this, lad! Look at this!’ He drew +a packet of letters from his inside pocket, wrapped in a bit of tarred +cloth, and opening it he picked one out and placed it upon my knee. +‘Read!’ said he, pointing at it with his long thin finger. + +It was inscribed in large plain characters, ‘To Joseph Clarke, leather +merchant of Havant, by the hand of Master Decimus Saxon, part-owner of +the ship _Providence_, from Amsterdam to Portsmouth.’ At each side it +was sealed with a massive red seal, and was additionally secured with a +broad band of silk. + +‘I have three-and-twenty of them to deliver in the neighbourhood,’ he +remarked. ‘That shows what folk think of Decimus Saxon. Three-and-twenty +lives and liberties are in my hands. Ah, lad, invoices and bills of +lading are not done up in that fashion. It is not a cargo of Flemish +skins that is coming for the old man. The skins have good English hearts +in them; ay, and English swords in their fists to strike out for freedom +and for conscience. I risk my life in carrying this letter to your +father; and you, his son, threaten to hand me over to the justices! For +shame! For shame! I blush for you!’ + +‘I don’t know what you are hinting at,’ I answered. ‘You must speak +plainer if I am to understand you.’ + +‘Can we trust him?’ he asked, jerking his head in the direction of +Reuben. + +‘As myself.’ + +‘How very charming!’ said he, with something between a smile and +a sneer. ‘David and Jonathan--or, to be more classical and less +scriptural, Damon and Pythias--eh?’ These papers, then, are from the +faithful abroad, the exiles in Holland, ye understand, who are thinking +of making a move and of coming over to see King James in his own country +with their swords strapped on their thighs. The letters are to those +from whom they expect sympathy, and notify when and where they will make +a landing. Now, my dear lad, you will perceive that instead of my being +in your power, you are so completely in mine that it needs but a word +from me to destroy your whole family. Decimus Saxon is staunch, though, +and that word shall never be spoken.’ + +‘If all this be true,’ said I, ‘and if your mission is indeed as you +have said, why did you even now propose to make for France?’ + +‘Aptly asked, and yet the answer is clear enough,’ he replied; ‘sweet +and ingenuous as are your faces, I could not read upon them that ye +would prove to be Whigs and friends of the good old cause. Ye might have +taken me to where excisemen or others would have wanted to pry and peep, +and so endangered my commission. Better a voyage to France in an open +boat than that.’ + +‘I will take you to my father,’ said I, after a few moments’ thought. +‘You can deliver your letter and make good your story to him. If you +are indeed a true man, you will meet with a warm welcome; but should you +prove, as I shrewdly suspect, to be a rogue, you need expect no mercy.’ + +‘Bless the youngster! he speaks like the Lord High Chancellor of +England! What is it the old man says? + + “He could not ope + His mouth, but out there fell a trope.” + +But it should be a threat, which is the ware in which you are fond of +dealing. + + “He could not let + A minute pass without a threat.” + +How’s that, eh? Waller himself could not have capped the couplet +neater.’ + +All this time Reuben had been swinging away at his oars, and we had made +our way into Langston Bay, down the sheltered waters of which we were +rapidly shooting. Sitting in the sheets, I turned over in my mind +all that this waif had said. I had glanced over his shoulder at the +addresses of some of the letters--Steadman of Basingstoke, Wintle +of Alresford, Fortescue of Bognor, all well-known leaders of the +Dissenters. If they were what he represented them to be, it was no +exaggeration to say that he held the fortunes and fates of these men +entirely in his hands. Government would be only too glad to have a valid +reason for striking hard at the men whom they feared. On the whole it +was well to tread carefully in the matter, so I restored our prisoner’s +knife to him, and treated him with increased consideration. It was +well-nigh dark when we beached the boat, and entirely so before we +reached Havant, which was fortunate, as the bootless and hatless state +of our dripping companion could not have failed to set tongues wagging, +and perhaps to excite the inquiries of the authorities. As it was, we +scarce met a soul before reaching my father’s door. + + + +Chapter V. Of the Man with the Drooping Lids + +My mother and my father were sitting in their high-backed chairs on +either side of the empty fireplace when we arrived, he smoking his +evening pipe of Oronooko, and she working at her embroidery. The moment +that I opened the door the man whom I had brought stepped briskly in, +and bowing to the old people began to make glib excuses for the lateness +of his visit, and to explain the manner in which we had picked him up. I +could not help smiling at the utter amazement expressed upon my mother’s +face as she gazed at him, for the loss of his jack-boots exposed a pair +of interminable spindle-shanks which were in ludicrous contrast to the +baggy low country knee-breeches which surmounted them. His tunic was +made of coarse sad-coloured kersey stuff with flat new gilded brass +buttons, beneath which was a whitish callamanca vest edged with silver. +Round the neck of his coat was a broad white collar after the Dutch +fashion, out of which his long scraggy throat shot upwards with his +round head and bristle of hair balanced upon the top of it, like the +turnip on a stick at which we used to throw at the fairs. In this guise +he stood blinking and winking in the glare of light, and pattering out +his excuses with as many bows and scrapes as Sir Peter Witling in the +play. I was in the act of following him into the room, when Reuben +plucked at my sleeve to detain me. + +‘Nay, I won’t come in with you, Micah,’ said he; ‘there’s mischief +likely to come of all this. My father may grumble over his beer jugs, +but he’s a Churchman and a Tantivy for all that. I’d best keep out of +it.’ + +‘You are right,’ I answered. ‘There is no need for you to meddle in the +business. Be mum as to all that you have heard.’ + +‘Mum as a mouse,’ said he, and pressing my hand turned away into the +darkness. When I returned to the sitting-room I found that my mother had +hurried into the kitchen, where the crackling of sticks showed that she +was busy in building a fire. Decimus Saxon was seated at the edge of +the iron-bound oak chest at the side of my father, and was watching him +keenly with his little twinkling eyes, while the old man was fixing +his horn glasses and breaking the seals of the packet which his strange +visitor had just handed to him. + +I saw that when my father looked at the signature at the end of the +long, closely written letter he gave a whiff of surprise and sat +motionless for a moment or so staring at it. Then he turned to the +commencement and read it very carefully through, after which he turned +it over and read it again. Clearly it brought no unwelcome news, for his +eyes sparkled with joy when he looked up from his reading, and more than +once he laughed aloud. Finally he asked the man Saxon how it had come +into his possession, and whether he was aware of the contents. + +‘Why, as to that,’ said the messenger, ‘it was handed to me by no less +a person than Dicky Rumbold himself, and in the presence of others whom +it’s not for me to name. As to the contents, your own sense will tell +you that I would scarce risk my neck by bearing a message without I +knew what the message was. I am no chicken at the trade, sir. Cartels, +_pronunciamientos_, challenges, flags of truce, and proposals for +waffenstillstands, as the Deutschers call it--they’ve all gone through +my hands, and never one, gone awry.’ + +‘Indeed!’ quoth my father. ‘You are yourself one of the faithful?’ + +‘I trust that I am one of those who are on the narrow and thorny track,’ +said he, speaking through his nose, as was the habit of the extreme +sectaries. + +‘A track upon which no prelate can guide us,’ said my father. + +‘Where man is nought and the Lord is all,’ rejoined Saxon. + +‘Good! good!’ cried my father. ‘Micah, you shall take this worthy man +to my room, and see that he hath dry linen, and my second-best suit of +Utrecht velvet. It may serve until his own are dried. My boots, too, +may perchance be useful--my riding ones of untanned leather. A hat with +silver braiding hangs above them in the cupboard. See that he lacks for +nothing which the house can furnish. Supper will be ready when he hath +changed his attire. I beg that you will go at once, good Master Saxon, +lest you take a chill.’ + +‘There is but one thing that we have omitted,’ said our visitor, +solemnly rising up from his chair and clasping his long nervous hands +together. ‘Let us delay no longer to send up a word of praise to the +Almighty for His manifold blessings, and for the mercy wherewith He +plucked me and my letters out of the deep, even as Jonah was saved from +the violence of the wicked ones who hurled him overboard, and it may be +fired falconets at him, though we are not so informed in Holy Writ. Let +us pray, my friends!’ Then in a high-toned chanting voice he offered up +a long prayer of thanksgiving, winding up with a petition for grace and +enlightenment for the house and all its inmates. Having concluded by a +sonorous amen, he at last suffered himself to be led upstairs; while +my mother, who had slipped in and listened with much edification to his +words, hurried away to prepare him a bumper of green usquebaugh with ten +drops of Daffy’s Elixir therein, which was her sovereign recipe against +the effects of a soaking. There was no event in life, from a christening +to a marriage, but had some appropriate food or drink in my mother’s +vocabulary, and no ailment for which she had not some pleasant cure in +her well-stocked cupboards. + +Master Decimus Saxon in my father’s black Utrecht velvet and untanned +riding boots looked a very different man to the bedraggled castaway who +had crawled like a conger eel into our fishing-boat. It seemed as if he +had cast off his manner with his raiment, for he behaved to my mother +during supper with an air of demure gallantry which sat upon him better +than the pert and flippant carriage which he had shown towards us in the +boat. Truth to say, if he was now more reserved, there was a very good +reason for it, for he played such havoc amongst the eatables that there +was little time for talk. At last, after passing from the round of cold +beef to a capon pasty, and topping up with a two-pound perch, washed +down by a great jug of ale, he smiled upon us all and told us that his +fleshly necessities were satisfied for the nonce. ‘It is my rule,’ he +remarked, ‘to obey the wise precept which advises a man to rise from +table feeling that he could yet eat as much as he has partaken of.’ + +‘I gather from your words, sir, that you have yourself seen hard +service,’ my father remarked when the board had been cleared and my +mother had retired for the night. + +‘I am an old fighting man,’ our visitor answered, screwing his pipe +together, ‘a lean old dog of the hold-fast breed. This body of mine +bears the mark of many a cut and slash received for the most part in +the service of the Protestant faith, though some few were caught for the +sake of Christendom in general when warring against the Turk. There is +blood of mine, sir, Spotted all over the map of Europe. Some of it, I +confess, was spilled in no public cause, but for the protection of mine +own honour in the private duello or holmgang, as it was called among the +nations of the north. It is necessary that a cavaliero of fortune, being +for the greater part a stranger in a strange land, should be somewhat +nice in matters of the sort, since he stands, as it were, as the +representative of his country, whose good name should be more dear to +him than his own.’ + +‘Your weapon on such occasions was, I suppose, the sword?’ my father +asked, shifting uneasily in his seat, as he would do when his old +instincts were waking up. + +‘Broadsword, rapier, Toledo, spontoon, battle-axe, pike or half-pike, +morgenstiern, and halbert. I speak with all due modesty, but with +backsword, sword and dagger, sword and buckler, single falchion, case of +falchions, or any other such exercise, I will hold mine own against any +man that ever wore neat’s leather, save only my elder brother Quartus.’ + +‘By my faith,’ said my father with his eyes shining, ‘were I twenty +years younger I should have at you! My backsword play hath been thought +well of by stout men of war. God forgive me that my heart should still +turn to such vanities.’ + +‘I have heard godly men speak well of it,’ remarked Saxon. ‘Master +Richard Rumbold himself spake of your deeds of arms to the Duke of +Argyle. Was there not a Scotsman, one Storr or Stour?’ + +‘Ay, ay! Storr of Drumlithie. I cut him nigh to the saddle-bow in a +skirmish on the eve of Dunbar. So Dicky Rumbold had not forgotten it, +eh? He was a hard one both at praying and at fighting. We have ridden +knee to knee in the field, and we have sought truth together in the +chamber. So, Dick will be in harness once again! He could not be still +if a blow were to be struck for the trampled faith. If the tide of war +set in this direction, I too--who knows? who knows?’ + +‘And here is a stout man-at-arms,’ said Saxon, passing his hand down my +arm.’ He hath thew and sinew, and can use proud words too upon occasion, +as I have good cause to know, even in our short acquaintance. Might it +not be that he too should strike in this quarrel?’ + +‘We shall discuss it,’ my father answered, looking thoughtfully at me +from under his heavy brows. ‘But I pray you, friend Saxon, to give us +some further account upon these matters. My son Micah, as I understand, +hath picked you out of the waves. How came you there?’ + +Decimus Saxon puffed at his pipe for a minute or more in silence, as one +who is marshalling facts each in its due order. + +‘It came about in this wise,’ he said at last. ‘When John of Poland +chased the Turk from the gates of Vienna, peace broke out in the +Principalities, and many a wandering cavaliero like myself found his +occupation gone. There was no war waging save only some petty Italian +skirmish, in which a soldier could scarce expect to reap either dollars +or repute, so I wandered across the Continent, much cast down at the +strange peace which prevailed in every quarter. At last, however, on +reaching the Lowlands, I chanced to hear that the _Providence_, owned +and commanded by my two brothers, Nonus and Quartus, was about to start +from Amsterdam for an adventure to the Guinea coast. I proposed to them +that I should join them, and was accordingly taken into partnership on +condition that I paid one-third of the cost of the cargo. While waiting +at the port I chanced to come across some of the exiles, who, having +heard of my devotion to the Protestant cause, brought me to the Duke and +to Master Rumbold, who committed these letters to my charge. This makes +it clear how they came into my possession.’ + +‘But not how you and they came into the water,’ my father suggested. + +‘Why, that was but the veriest chance,’ the adventurer answered with +some little confusion of manner. ‘It was the _fortuna belli_, or more +properly _pacis_. I had asked my brothers to put into Portsmouth that I +might get rid of these letters, on which they replied in a boorish and +unmannerly fashion that they were still waiting for the thousand guineas +which represented my share of the venture. To this I answered with +brotherly familiarity that it was a small thing, and should be paid +for out of the profits of our enterprise. Their reply was I that I had +promised to pay the money down, and that money down they must have. I +then proceeded to prove, both by the Aristotelian and by the Platonic +or deductive method, that having no guineas in my possession it was +impossible for me to produce a thousand of them, at the same time +pointing out that the association of an honest man in the business was +in itself an ample return for the money, since their own reputations had +been somewhat blown on. I further offered in the same frank and friendly +spirit to meet either of them with sword or with pistol, a proposal +which should have satisfied any honour-loving Cavaliero. Their base +mercantile souls prompted them, however, to catch up two muskets, one of +which Nonus discharged at me, and it is likely that Quartus would have +followed suit had I not plucked the gun from his hand and unloaded it to +prevent further mischief. In unloading it I fear that one of the slugs +blew a hole in brother Nonus. Seeing that there was a chance of further +disagreements aboard the vessel, I at once decided to leave her, in +doing which I was forced to kick off my beautiful jack-boots, which were +said by Vanseddars himself to be he finest pair that ever went out of +his shop, square-toed, double-soled--alas! alas!’ + +‘Strange that you should have been picked up by the son of the very man +to whom you had a letter.’ + +‘The working of Providence,’ Saxon answered. ‘I have two-and-twenty +other letters which must all be delivered by hand. If you will permit me +to use your house for a while, I shall make it my headquarters.’ + +‘Use it as though it were your own,’ said my father. + +‘Your most grateful servant, sir,’ he cried, jumping up and bowing +with his hand over his heart. ‘This is indeed a haven of rest after the +ungodly and profane company of my brothers. Shall we then put up a hymn, +and retire from the business of the day?’ + +My father willingly agreed, and we sang ‘Oh, happy land!’ after which +our visitor followed me to his room, bearing with him the unfinished +bottle of usquebaugh which my mother had left on the table. He took it +with him, he explained, as a precaution against Persian ague, contracted +while battling against the Ottoman, and liable to recur at strange +moments. I left him in our best spare bedroom, and returned to my +father, who was still seated, heavy with thought, in his old corner. + +‘What think you of my find, Dad?’ I asked. + +‘A man of parts and of piety,’ he answered; ‘but in truth he has brought +me news so much after my heart, that he could not be unwelcome were he +the Pope of Rome.’ + +‘What news, then?’ + +‘This, this!’ he cried joyously, plucking the letter out of his bosom. +‘I will read it to you, lad. Nay, perhaps I had best sleep the night +upon it, and read it to-morrow when our heads are clearer. May the Lord +guide my path, and confound the tyrant! Pray for light, boy, for my life +and yours may be equally at stake.’ + + + + +Chapter VI. Of the Letter that came from the Lowlands + +In the morning I was up betimes, and went forthwith, after the country +fashion, to our quest’s room to see if there was aught in which I could +serve him. On pushing at his door, I found that it was fastened, which +surprised me the more as I knew that there was neither key nor bolt upon +the inside. On my pressing against it, however, it began to yield, and +I could then see that a heavy chest which was used to stand near the +window had been pulled round in order to shut out any intrusion. This +precaution, taken under my father’s roof, as though he were in a den of +thieves, angered me, and I gave a butt with my shoulder which cleared +the box out of the way, and enabled me to enter the room. + +The man Saxon was sitting up in bed, staring about him as though he +were not very certain for the moment where he was. He had tied a white +kerchief round his head by way of night bonnet, and his hard-visaged, +clean-shaven face, looking out through this, together with his bony +figure, gave him some resemblance to a gigantic old woman. The bottle +of usquebaugh stood empty by his bedside. Clearly his fears had been +realised, and he had had an attack of the Persian ague. + +‘Ah, my young friend!’ he said at last. ‘Is it, then, the custom of this +part of the country to carry your visitor’s rooms by storm or escalado +in the early hours of the morning?’ + +‘Is it the custom,’ I answered sternly, ‘to barricade up your door when +you are sleeping under the roof-tree of an honest man? What did you +fear, that you should take such a precaution?’ + +‘Nay, you are indeed a spitfire,’ he replied, sinking back upon the +pillow, and drawing the clothes round him, ‘a feuerkopf as the Germans +call it, or sometimes tollkopf, which in its literal significance +meaneth a fool’s head. Your father was, as I have heard, a strong and a +fierce man when the blood of youth ran in his veins; but you, I should +judge, are in no way behind him. Know, then, that the bearer of papers +of import, _documenta preciosa sed periculosa_, is bound to leave +nought to chance, but to guard in every way the charge which hath been +committed to him. True it is that I am in the house of an honest man, +but I know not who may come or who may go during the hours of the night. +Indeed, for the matter of that--but enough is said. I shall be with you +anon.’ + +‘Your clothes are dry and are ready for you,’ I remarked. + +‘Enough! enough!’ he answered. ‘I have no quarrel with the suit which +your father has lent me. It may be that I have been used to better, but +they will serve my turn. The camp is not the court.’ + +It was evident to me that my father’s suit was infinitely better, both +in texture and material, than that which our visitor had brought +with him. As he had withdrawn his head, however, entirely beneath the +bedclothes, there was nothing more to be said, so I descended to the +lower room, where I found toy father busily engaged fastening a new +buckle to his sword-belt while my mother and the maid were preparing the +morning meal. + +‘Come into the yard with me, Micah,’ quoth my father; ‘I would have +a word with you.’ The workmen had not yet come to their work, so we +strolled out into the sweet morning air, and seated ourselves on the low +stone bankment on which the skins are dressed. + +‘I have been out here this morning trying my hand at the broadsword +exercise, ‘said he; ‘I find that I am as quick as ever on a thrust, but +my cuts are sadly stiff. I might be of use at a pinch, but, alas! I +am not the same swordsman who led the left troop of the finest horse +regiment that ever followed a kettledrum. The Lord hath given, and the +Lord hath taken away! Yet, if I am old and worn, there is the fruit of +my loins to stand in my place and to wield the same sword in the same +cause. You shall go in my place, Micah.’ + +‘Go! Go whither?’ + +‘Hush, lad, and listen! Let not your mother know too much, for the +hearts of women are soft. When Abraham offered up his eldest born, I +trow that he said little to Sarah on the matter. Here is the letter. +Know you who this Dicky Rumbold is?’ + +‘Surely I have heard you speak of him as an old companion of yours.’ + +‘The same--a staunch man and true. So faithful was he--faithful even to +slaying--that when the army of the righteous dispersed, he did not lay +aside his zeal with his buff-coat. He took to business as a maltster at +Hoddesdon, and in his house was planned the famous Rye House Plot, in +which so many good men were involved.’ + +‘Was it not a foul assassination plot?’ I asked. + +‘Nay, nay, be not led away by terms! It is a vile invention of the +malignants that these men planned assassination. What they would do they +purposed doing in broad daylight, thirty of them against fifty of the +Royal Guard, when Charles and James passed on their way to Newmarket. If +the royal brothers got pistol-bullet or sword-stab, it would be in open +fight, and at the risk of their attackers. It was give and take, and no +murder.’ + +He paused and looked inquiringly at me; but I could not truthfully +say that I was satisfied, for an attack upon the lives of unarmed and +unsuspecting men, even though surrounded by a bodyguard, could not, to +my mind, be justified. + +‘When the plot failed,’ my father continued, ‘Rumbold had to fly for his +life, but he succeeded in giving his pursuers the slip and in making his +way to the Lowlands. There he found that many enemies of the Government +had gathered together. Repeated messages from England, especially from +the western counties and from London, assured them that if they would +but attempt an invasion they might rely upon help both in men and in +money. They were, however, at fault for some time for want of a leader +of sufficient weight to carry through so large a project; but now +at last they have one, who is the best that could have been singled +out--none other than the well-beloved Protestant chieftain James, Duke +of Monnmouth, son of Charles II.’ + +‘Illegitimate son,’ I remarked. + +‘That may or may not be. There are those who say that Lucy Walters was +a lawful wife. Bastard or no, he holds the sound principles of the true +Church, and he is beloved by the people. Let him appear in the West, and +soldiers will rise up like the flowers in the spring time.’ + +He paused, and led me away to the farther end of the yard, for the +workmen had begun to arrive and to cluster round the dipping trough. + +‘Monmouth is coming over,’ he continued, ‘and he expects every brave +Protestant man to rally to his standard. The Duke of Argyle is to +command a separate expedition, which will set the Highlands of Scotland +in a blaze. Between them they hope to bring the persecutor of the +faithful on his knees. But I hear the voice of the man Saxon, and I must +not let him say that I have treated him in a churlish fashion. Here is +the letter, lad. Read it with care, and remember that when brave men are +striving for their rights it is fitting that one of the old rebel house +of Clarke should be among them.’ + +I took the letter, and wandering off into the fields, I settled myself +under a convenient tree, and set myself to read it. This yellow sheet +which I now hold in my hand is the very one which was brought by Decimus +Saxon, and read by me that bright May morning under the hawthorn shade. +I give it to you as it stands; + + +‘To my friend and companion in the cause of the Lord, Joseph +Clarke.--Know, friend, that aid and delivery is coming upon Israel, +and that the wicked king and those who uphold him shall be smitten and +entirely cast down, until their place in the land shall know them no +more. Hasten, then, to testify to thy own faith, that in the day of +trouble ye be not found wanting. + +‘It has chanced from time to time that many of the suffering Church, +both from our own land and from among the Scots, have assembled in this +good Lutheran town of Amsterdam, until enough are gathered together to +take a good work in hand. For amongst our own folk there are my +Lord Grey of Wark, Wade, Dare of Taunton, Ayloffe, Holmes, Hollis, +Goodenough, and others whom thou shalt know. Of the Scots there are the +Duke of Argyle, who has suffered sorely for the Covenant, Sir Patrick +Hume, Fletcher of Saltoun, Sir John Cochrane, Dr. Ferguson, Major +Elphinstone, and others. To these we would fain have added Locke and old +Hal Ludlow, but they are, as those of the Laodicean Church, neither cold +nor warm. + +‘It has now come to pass, however, that Monmouth, who has long lived in +dalliance with the Midianitish woman known by the name of Wentworth, has +at last turned him to higher things, and has consented to make a bid for +the crown. It was found that the Scots preferred to follow a chieftain +of their own, and it has therefore been determined that Argyle--M’Callum +More, as the breechless savages of Inverary call him--shall command a +separate expedition landing upon the western coast of Scotland. There +he hopes to raise five thousand Campbells, and to be joined by all the +Covenanters and Western Whigs, men who would make troops of the old +breed had they but God-fearing officers with an experience of the chance +of fields and the usages of war. With such a following he should be able +to hold Glasgow, and to draw away the King’s force to the north. Ayloffe +and I go with Argyle. It is likely that our feet may be upon Scottish +ground before thy eyes read these words. + +‘The stronger expedition starts with Monmouth, and lands at a fitting +place in the West, where we are assured that we have many friends. I +cannot name the spot lest this letter miscarry, but thou shalt hear +anon. I have written to all good men along the coast, bidding them to +be prepared to support the rising. The King is weak, and hated by the +greater part of his subjects. It doth but need one good stroke to bring +his crown in the dust. Monmouth will start in a few weeks, when his +equipment is finished and the weather favourable. If thou canst come, +mine old comrade, I know well that thou wilt need no bidding of mine to +bring thee to our banner. Should perchance a peaceful life and waning +strength forbid thy attendance, I trust that thou wilt wrestle for us +in prayer, even as the holy prophet of old; and perchance, since I hear +that thou hast prospered according to the things of this world, thou +mayst be able to fit out a pikeman or two, or to send a gift towards the +military chest, which will be none too plentifully lined. We trust +not to gold, but to steel and to our own good cause, yet gold will be +welcome none the less. Should we fall, we fall like men and Christians. +Should we succeed, we shall see how the perjured James, the persecutor +of the saints with the heart like a nether millstone, the man who smiled +when the thumbs of the faithful were wrenched out of their sockets at +Edinburgh--we shall see how manfully he can bear adversity when it falls +to his lot. May the hand of the Almighty be over us! + +‘I know little of the bearer of this, save that he professes to be of +the elect. Shouldst thou go to Monmouth’s camp, see that thou take him +with thee, for I hear that he hath had good experience in the German, +Swedish, and Otttoman wars.--Yours in the faith of Christ, Richard +Rumbold. + +‘Present my services to thy spouse. Let her read Timothy chapter two, +ninth to fifteenth verses.’ + + +This long letter I read very carefully, and then putting it in my pocket +returned indoors to my breakfast. My father looked at me, as I entered, +with questioning eyes, but I had no answer to return him, for my own +mind was clouded and uncertain. + +That day Decimus Saxon left us, intending to make a round of the country +and to deliver his letters, but promising to be back again ere long. We +had a small mishap ere he went, for as we were talking of his journey +my brother Hosea must needs start playing with my father’s powder-flask, +which in some way went off with a sudden fluff, spattering the walls +with fragments of metal. So unexpected and loud was the explosion, +that both my father and I sprang to our feet; but Saxon, whose back +was turned to my brother, sat four-square in his chair without a glance +behind him or a shade of change in his rugged face. As luck would have +it, no one was injured, not even Hosea, but the incident made me think +more highly of our new acquaintance. As he started off down the village +street, his long stringy figure and strange gnarled visage, with my +father’s silver-braided hat cocked over his eye, attracted rather +more attention than I cared to see, considering the importance of the +missives which he bore, and the certainty of their discovery should he +be arrested as a masterless man. Fortunately, however, the curiosity +of the country folk did but lead them to cluster round their doors and +windows, staring open-eyed, while he, pleased at the attention which +he excited, strode along with his head in the air and a cudgel of +mine twirling in his hand. He had left golden opinions behind him. My +father’s good wishes had been won by his piety and by the sacrifices +which he claimed to have made for the faith. My mother he had taught how +wimples are worn amongst the Serbs, and had also demonstrated to her a +new method of curing marigolds in use in some parts of Lithuania. For +myself, I confess that I retained a vague distrust of the man, and +was determined to avoid putting faith in him more than was needful. At +present, however, we had no choice hut to treat him as an ambassador +from friends. + +And I? What was I to do? Should I follow my father’s wishes, and draw +my maiden sword on behalf of the insurgents, or should I stand aside and +see how events shaped themselves? It was more fitting that I should +go than he. But, on the other hand, I was no keen religious zealot. +Papistry, Church, Dissent, I believed that there was good in all of +them, but that not one was worth the spilling of human blood. James +might be a perjurer and a villain, but he was, as far as I could see, +the rightful king of England, and no tales of secret marriages or black +boxes could alter the fact that his rival was apparently an illegitimate +son, and as such ineligible to the throne. Who could say what evil act +upon the part of a monarch justified his people in setting him aside? +Who was the judge in such a case? Yet, on the other hand, the man had +notoriously broken his own pledges, and that surely should absolve +his subjects from their allegiance. It was a weighty question for a +country-bred lad to have to settle, and yet settled it must be, and that +speedily. I took up my hat and wandered away down the village street, +turning the matter over in my head. + +But it was no easy thing for me to think seriously of anything in the +hamlet; for I was in some way, my dear children, though I say it myself, +a favourite with the young and with the old, so that I could not walk +ten paces without some greeting or address. There were my own brothers +trailing behind me, Baker Mitford’s children tugging at my skirts, and +the millwright’s two little maidens one on either hand. Then, when I had +persuaded these young rompers to leave me, out came Dame Fullarton the +widow, with a sad tale about how her grindstone had fallen out of its +frame, and neither she nor her household could lift it in again. That +matter I set straight and proceeded on my way; but I could not pass the +sign of the Wheatsheaf without John Lockarby, Reuben’s father, plunging +out at me and insisting upon my coming in with him for a morning cup. + +‘The best glass of mead in the countryside, and brewed under my own +roof,’ said he proudly, as he poured it into the flagon. ‘Why, bless +you, master Micah, a man with a frame like yours wants store o’ good +malt to keep it up wi’.’ + +‘And malt like this is worthy of a good frame to contain it,’ quoth +Reuben, who was at work among the flasks. + +‘What think ye, Micah?’ said the landlord. ‘There was the Squire o’ +Milton over here yester morning wi’ Johnny Ferneley o’ the Bank side, +and they will have it that there’s a man in Fareham who could wrestle +you, the best of three, and find your own grip, for a good round stake.’ + +‘Tut! tut!’ I answered; ‘you would have me like a prize mastiff, showing +my teeth to the whole countryside. What matter if the man can throw me, +or I him?’ + +‘What matter? Why, the honour of Havant,’ quoth he. ‘Is that no matter? +But you are right,’ he continued, draining off his horn. ‘What is all +this village life with its small successes to such as you? You are as +much out of your place as a vintage wine at a harvest supper. The whole +of broad England, and not the streets of Havant, is the fit stage for +a man of your kidney. What have you to do with the beating of skins and +the tanning of leather?’ + +‘My father would have you go forth as a knight-errant, Micah,’ said +Reuben, laughing. ‘You might chance to get your own skin beaten and your +own leather tanned.’ + +‘Who ever knew so long a tongue in so short a body?’ cried the +innkeeper. ‘But in good sooth, Master Micah, I am in sober earnest when +I say that you are indeed wasting the years of your youth, when life is +sparkling and clear, and that you will regret it when you have come to +the flat and flavourless dregs of old age.’ + +‘There spoke the brewer,’ said Reuben; ‘but indeed, Micah, my father is +right, for all that he hath such a hops-and-water manner of putting it.’ + +‘I will think over it,’ I answered, and with a nod to the kindly couple +proceeded on my way. + +Zachariah Palmer was planing a plank as I passed. Looking up he bade me +good-morrow. + +‘I have a book for you, lad,’ he said. + +‘I have but now finished the “Comus,”’ I answered, for he had lent me +John Milton’s poem. ‘But what is this new book, daddy?’ + +‘It is by the learned Locke, and treateth of states and statecraft. It +is but a small thing, but if wisdom could show in the scales it would +weigh down many a library. You shall have it when I have finished it, +to-morrow mayhap or the day after. A good man is Master Locke. Is he not +at this moment a wanderer in the Lowlands, rather than bow his knee to +what his conscience approved not of?’ + +‘There are many good men among the exiles, are there not?’ said I. + +‘The pick of the country,’ he answered. ‘Ill fares the land that drives +the highest and bravest of its citizens away from it. The day is coming, +I fear, when every man will have to choose betwixt his beliefs and his +freedom. I am an old man, Micah boy, but I may live long enough to see +strange things in this once Protestant kingdom.’ + +‘But if these exiles had their way,’ I objected, ‘they would place +Monmouth upon the throne, and so unjustly alter the succession.’ + +‘Nay, nay,’ old Zachary answered, laying down his plane. ‘If they use +Monmouth’s name, it is but to strengthen their cause, and to show that +they have a leader of repute. Were James driven from the throne, the +Commons of England in Parliament assembled would be called upon to +name his successor. There are men at Monmouth’s back who would not stir +unless this were so.’ + +‘Then, daddy,’ said I, ‘since I can trust you, and since you will tell +me what you do really think, would it be well, if Monmouth’s standard be +raised, that I should join it?’ + +The carpenter stroked his white beard and pondered for a while. ‘It is a +pregnant question,’ he said at last, ‘and yet methinks that there is but +one answer to it, especially for your father’s son. Should an end be put +to James’s rule, it is not too late to preserve the nation in its old +faith; but if the disease is allowed to spread, it may be that even the +tyrant’s removal would not prevent his evil seed from sprouting. I hold, +therefore, that should the exiles make such an attempt, it is the duty +of every man who values liberty of conscience to rally round them. And +you, my son, the pride of the village, what better use could you make +of your strength than to devote it to helping to relieve your country +of this insupportable yoke? It is treasonable and dangerous +counsel--counsel which might lead to a short shrift and a bloody +death--but, as the Lord liveth, if you were child of mine I should say +the same.’ + +So spoke the old carpenter with a voice which trembled with earnestness, +and went to work upon his plank once more, while I, with a few words of +gratitude, went on my way pondering over what he had said to me. I had +not gone far, however, before the hoarse voice of Solomon Sprent broke +in upon my meditations. + +‘Hoy there! Ahoy!’ he bellowed, though his mouth was but a few yards +from my ear. ‘Would ye come across my hawse without slacking weigh? Clew +up, d’ye see, clew up!’ + +‘Why, Captain,’ I said, ‘I did not see you. I was lost in thought.’ + +‘All adrift and without look-outs,’ quoth he, pushing his way through +the break in the garden hedge. ‘Odd’s niggars, man! friends are not +so plentiful, d’ye see, that ye need pass ‘em by without a dip o’ the +ensign. So help me, if I had had a barker I’d have fired a shot across +your bows.’ + +‘No offence, Captain,’ said I, for the veteran appeared to be nettled; +‘I have much to think of this morning.’ + +‘And so have I, mate,’ he answered, in a softer voice. ‘What think ye of +my rig, eh?’ He turned himself slowly round in the sunlight as he spoke, +and I perceived that he was dressed with unusual care. He had a blue +suit of broadcloth trimmed with eight rows of buttons, and breeches of +the same material with great bunches of ribbon at the knee. His vest +was of lighter blue picked out with anchors in silver, and edged with +a finger’s-breadth of lace. His boot was so wide that he might have had +his foot in a bucket, and he wore a cutlass at his side suspended from a +buff belt, which passed over his right shoulder. + +‘I’ve had a new coat o’ paint all over,’ said he, with a wink. +‘Carramba! the old ship is water-tight yet. What would ye say, now, were +I about to sling my hawser over a little scow, and take her in tow?’ + +‘A cow!’ I cried. + +‘A cow! what d’ye take me for? A wench, man, and as tight a little craft +as ever sailed into the port of wedlock.’ + +‘I have heard no better news for many a long day,’ said I; ‘I did not +even know that you were betrothed. When thou is the wedding to be?’ + +‘Go slow, friend--go slow, and heave your lead-line! You have got out +of your channel, and are in shoal water. I never said as how I was +betrothed.’ + +‘What then?’ I asked. + +‘I am getting up anchor now, to run down to her and summon her. Look +ye, lad,’ he continued, plucking off his cap and scratching his +ragged locks; ‘I’ve had to do wi’ wenches enow from the Levant to the +Antilles--wenches such as a sailorman meets, who are all paint and +pocket. It’s but the heaving of a hand grenade, and they strike their +colours. This is a craft of another guess build, and unless I steer wi’ +care she may put one in between wind and water before I so much as +know that I am engaged. What think ye, heh? Should I lay myself boldly +alongside, d’ye see, and ply her with small arms, or should I work +myself clear and try a long range action? I am none of your slippery, +grease-tongued, long-shore lawyers, but if so be as she’s willing for a +mate, I’ll stand by her in wind and weather while my planks hold out.’ + +‘I can scarce give advice in such a case,’ said I, ‘for my experience is +less than yours. I should say though that you had best speak to her from +your heart, in plain sailor language.’ + +‘Aye, aye, she can take it or leave it. Phoebe Dawson it is, the sister +of the blacksmith. Let us work back and have a drop of the right Nants +before we go. I have an anker newly come, which never paid the King a +groat.’ + +‘Nay, you had best leave it alone,’ I answered. + +‘Say you so? Well, mayhap you are right. Throw off your moorings, then, +and clap on sail, for we must go.’ + +‘But I am not concerned,’ said I. + +‘Not concerned! Not--’ he was too much overcome to go on, and could +but look at me with a face full of reproach. ‘I thought better of you, +Micah. Would you let this crazy old hulk go into action, and not stand +by to fire a broadside?’ + +‘What would you have me do then?’ + +‘Why, I would have you help me as the occasion may arise. If I start +to board her, I would have you work across the bows so as to rake +her. Should I range, up on the larboard quarter, do you lie, on the +starboard. If I get crippled, do you draw her fire until I refit. What, +man, you would not desert me!’ + +The old seaman’s tropes and maritime conceits were not always +intelligible to me, but it was clear that he had set his heart upon my +accompanying him, which I was equally determined not to do. At last +by much reasoning I made him understand that my presence would be more +hindrance than help, and would probably be fatal to his chances of +success. + +‘Well, well,’ he grumbled at last, ‘I’ve been concerned in no such +expedition before. An’ it be the custom for single ships to engage, I’ll +stand to it alone. You shall come with me as consort, though, and stand +to and fro in the offing, or sink me if I stir a step.’ + +My mind was full of my father’s plans and of the courses which lay +before me. There seemed to be no choice, however, as old Solomon was +in dead earnest, but to lay the matter aside for the moment and see the +upshot of this adventure. + +‘Mind, Solomon,’ said I, ‘I don’t cross the threshold.’ + +‘Aye, aye, mate. You can please yourself. We have to beat up against the +wind all the way. She’s on the look-out, for I hailed her yesternight, +and let her know as how I should bear down on her about seven bells of +the morning watch.’ + +I was thinking as we trudged down the road that Phoebe would need to be +learned in sea terms to make out the old man’s meaning, when he pulled +up short and clapped his hands to his pockets. + +‘Zounds!’ he cried, ‘I have forgot to bring a pistol.’ + +‘In Heaven’s name!’ I said in amazement, ‘what could you want with a +pistol?’ + +‘Why, to make signals with,’ said he. ‘Odds me that I should have forgot +it! How is one’s consort to know what is going forward when the flagship +carries no artillery? Had the lass been kind I should have fired one +gun, that you might know it.’ + +‘Why,’ I answered, ‘if you come not out I shall judge that all is well. +If things go amiss I shall see you soon.’ + +‘Aye--or stay! I’ll hoist a white jack at the port-hole. A white jack +means that she hath hauled down her colours. Nombre de Dios, when I +was a powder-boy in the old ship _Lion_, the day that we engaged the +_Spiritus Sanctus_ of two tier o’ guns--the first time that ever I heard +the screech of ball--my heart never thumped as it does now. What say ye +if we run back with a fair wind and broach that anker of Nants?’ + +‘Nay, stand to it, man,’ said I; for by this time, we had come to the +ivy-clad cottage behind which was the village smithy. ‘What, Solomon! +an English seaman never feared a foe, either with petticoats or without +them.’ + +‘No, curse me if he did!’ quoth Solomon, squaring his shoulders, ‘never +a one, Don, Devil, or Dutchman; so here goes for her!’ So saying he made +his way into the cottage, leaving me standing by the garden wicket, half +amused and half annoyed at this interruption to my musings. + +As it proved, the sailor had no very great difficulty with his suit, and +soon managed to capture his prize, to use his own language. I heard from +the garden the growling of his gruff voice, and a good deal of shrill +laughter ending in a small squeak, which meant, I suppose, that he was +coming to close quarters. Then there was silence for a little while, and +at last I saw a white kerchief waving from the window, and perceived, +moreover, that it was Phoebe herself who was fluttering it. Well, she +was a smart, kindly-hearted lass, and I was glad in my heart that the +old seaman should have such a one to look after him. + +Here, then, was one good friend settled down finally for life. Another +warned me that I was wasting my best years in the hamlet. A third, the +most respected of all, advised me openly to throw in my lot with the +insurgents, should the occasion arise. If I refused, I should have +the shame of seeing my aged father setting off for the wars, whilst +I lingered at home. And why should I refuse? Had it not long been the +secret wish of my heart to see something of the great world, and what +fairer chance could present itself? My wishes, my friend’s advice, and +my father’s hopes all pointed in the one direction. + +‘Father,’ said I, when I returned home, ‘I am ready to go where you +will.’ + +‘May the Lord be glorified!’ he cried solemnly. ‘May He watch over +your young life, and keep your heart steadfast to the cause which is +assuredly His!’ + +And so, my dear grandsons, the great resolution was taken, and I found +myself committed to one side in the national quarrel. + + + +Chapter VII. Of the Horseman who rode from the West + +My father set to work forthwith preparing for our equipment, furnishing +Saxon out as well as myself on the most liberal scale, for he was +determined that the wealth of his age should be as devoted to the cause +as was the strength of his youth. These arrangements had to be carried +out with the most extreme caution, for there were many Prelatists in +the village, and in the present disturbed state of the public mind any +activity on the part of so well known a man would have at once attracted +attention. So carefully did the wary old soldier manage matters, +however, that we soon found ourselves in a position to start at an +hour’s notice, without any of our neighbours being a whit the wiser. + +His first move was to purchase through an agent two suitable horses at +Chichester fair, which were conveyed to the stables of a trusty Whig +farmer living near Portchester, who was ordered to keep them until +they were called for. Of these animals one was a mottled grey, of great +mettle and power, standing seventeen and a half hands high, and well up +to my weight, for in those days, my dears, I had not laid on flesh, and +weighed a little under sixteen stone for all my height and strength. +A critic might have said that Covenant, for so I named my steed, was a +trifle heavy about the head and neck, but I found him a trusty, willing +brute, with great power and endurance. Saxon, who when fully accoutred +could scarce have weighed more than twelve stone, had a light bay +Spanish jennet, of great speed and spirit. This mare he named Chloe, +‘after a godly maiden of his acquaintance,’ though, as my father +remarked, there was a somewhat ungodly and heathenish smack about the +appellation. These horses and their harness were bought and held ready +without my father appearing in the matter in any way. + +This important point having been settled, there was the further question +of arms to be discussed, which gave rise to much weighty controversy +between Decimus Saxon and my father, each citing many instances from +their own experiences where the presence or absence of some taslet +or arm-guard had been of the deepest import to the wearer. Your +great-grandfather had set his heart upon my wearing the breastplate +which still bore the dints of the Scottish spears at Dunbar, but on +trying it on we found it was too small for me. I confess that this was a +surprise, for when I looked back at the awe with which I had regarded +my father’s huge proportions, it was marvellous to me to have +this convincing proof that I had outgrown him. By ripping down the +side-leather and piercing holes through which a lace could be passed, my +mother managed to arrange it so that I could wear it without discomfort. +A pair of taslets or thigh-pieces, with guards for the upper arm and +gauntlets, were all borrowed from the old Parliamentary equipment, +together with the heavy straight sword and pair of horse pistols which +formed the usual weapons of a cavalier. My father had chosen me a +head-piece in Portsmouth, fluted, with good barrets, padded inside with +soft leather, very light and yet very strong. When fully equipped, +both Saxon and my father agreed that I had all that was requisite for +a well-appointed soldier. Saxon had purchased a buff-coat, a steel cap, +and a pair of jack-boots, so that with the rapier and pistols which my +father had presented him with, he was ready to take the field at any +time. + +There would, we hoped, be no great difficulty in our reaching Monmouth’s +forces when the hour came. In those troublous times the main roads were +so infested by highwaymen and footpads, that it was usual for travellers +to carry weapons and even armour for their protection. There was no +reason therefore why our appearance should excite suspicion. Should +questions be asked, Saxon had a long story prepared, to the effect that +we were travelling to join Henry Somerset, Duke of Beaufort, to whose +household we belonged. This invention he explained to me, with many +points of corroboration which I was to furnish, but when I said +positively that I should rather be hanged as a rebel than speak a +falsehood, he looked at me open-eyed, and shook his head as one much +shocked. A few weeks of campaigning, he said, would soon cure me of my +squeamishness. For himself, no more truthful child had ever carried a +horn-book, but he had learned to lie upon the Danube, and looked upon +it as a necessary part of the soldier’s upbringing. ‘For what are all +stratagems, ambuscades, and outfalls but lying upon a large scale?’ he +argued. ‘What is an adroit commander but one who hath a facility for +disguising the truth? When, at the battle of Senlac, William the Norman +ordered his men to feign flight in order that they might break his +enemy’s array, a wile much practised both by the Scythians of old and by +the Croats of our own day, pray what is it but the acting of a lie? Or +when Hannibal, having tied torches to the horns of great droves of oxen, +caused the Roman Consuls to imagine that his army was in retreat, was it +not a deception or infraction of the truth?--a point well brought out +by a soldier of repute in the treatise “An in bello dolo uti liceat; +an apud hostes falsiloquio uti liceat.” And so if, after these great +models, I in order to gain mine ends do announce that we are bound to +Beaufort when we are in truth making for Monmouth, is it not in accord +with the usages of war and the customs of great commanders?’ All which +specious argument I made no attempt to answer, beyond repeating that he +might avail himself of the usage, but that he must not look to me for +corroboration. On the other hand, I promised to hold my speech and to +say nothing which might hamper him, with which pledge he was forced to +be contented. + +And now at last, my patient listeners, I shall be able to carry you out +of the humble life of the village, and to cease my gossip of the men who +were old when I was young, and who are now lying this many a year in +the Bedhampton churchyard. You shall come with me now, and you shall see +England as it was in those days, and you shall hear of how we set forth +to the wars, and of all the adventures which overtook us. And if what +I tell you should ever chance to differ from what you have read in the +book of Mr. Coke or of Mr. Oldmixon, or of any one else who has set +these matters down in print, do ye bear in mind that I am telling of +what I saw with these very eyes, and that I have helped to make history, +which is a higher thing than to write it. + +It was, then, towards nightfall upon the twelfth day of June 1685 that +the news reached our part of the country that Monmouth had landed the +day before at Lyme, a small seaport on the boundary between Dorsetshire +and Devonshire. A great beacon blaze upon Portsdown Hill was the first +news that we had of it, and then came a rattling and a drumming +from Portsmouth, where the troops were assembled under arms. Mounted +messengers clattered through the village street with their heads low on +their horses’ necks, for the great tidings must be carried to London, +that the Governor of Portsmouth might know how to act. (Note B, +Appendix.) We were standing at our doorway in the gloaming, watching +the coming and the going, and the line of beacon fires which were +lengthening away to the eastward, when a little man galloped up to the +door and pulled his panting horse up. + +‘Is Joseph Clarke here?’ he asked. + +‘I am he,’ said my father. + +‘Are these men true?’ he whispered, pointing with his whip at Saxon and +myself. ‘Then the trysting-place is Taunton. Pass it on to all whom ye +know. Give my horse a bait and a drink, I beg of ye, for I must get on +my way.’ + +My young brother Hosea looked to the tired creature, while we brought +the rider inside and drew him a stoup of beer. A wiry, sharp-faced man +he was, with a birth-mark upon his temple. His face and clothes were +caked with dust, and his limbs were so stiff from the saddle that he +could scarce put one foot before another. + +‘One horse hath died under me,’ he said, ‘and this can scarce last +another twenty miles. I must be in London by morning, for we hope that +Danvers and Wildman may be able to raise the city. Yester-evening I left +Monmouth’s camp. His blue flag floats over Lyme.’ + +‘What force hath he?’ my father asked anxiously. + +‘He hath but brought over leaders. The force must come from you folk at +home. He has with him Lord Grey of Wark, with Wade, the German Buyse, +and eighty or a hundred more. Alas! that two who came are already lost +to us. It is an evil, evil omen.’ + +‘What is amiss, then?’ + +‘Dare, the goldsmith of Taunton, hath been slain by Fletcher of Saltoun +in some child’s quarrel about a horse. The peasants cried out for the +blood of the Scot, and he was forced to fly aboard the ships. A sad +mishap it is, for he was a skilful leader and a veteran soldier.’ + +‘Aye, aye,’ cried Saxon impatiently, ‘there will be some more skilful +leaders and veteran soldiers in the West presently to take his place. +But if he knew the usages of war, how came it that he should fight upon +a private quarrel at such a time?’ He drew a flat brown book from +his bosom, and ran his long thin finger down the table of contents. +‘Subisectio nona’--‘here is the very case set forth, “An in hello +publico provocatus ad duellum privatae amicitiae causa declinare +possit,” in which the learned Fleming layeth it down that a man’s +private honour must give way to the good of the cause. Did it not happen +in my own case that, on the eve of the raising of the Anlagerung of +Vienna, we stranger officers having been invited to the tent of the +General, it chanced that a red-headed Irisher, one O’Daffy, an ancient +in the regiment of Pappenheimer, did claim precedence of me on the +ground of superiority of blood? On this I drew my glove across his face, +not, mark ye, in anger, but as showing that I differed in some degree +from his opinion. At which dissent he did at once offer to sustain his +contention, but I, having read this subsection to him, did make it clear +to him that we could not in honour settle the point until the Turk was +chased from the city. So after the onfall--’ + +‘Nay, sir, I may hear the narrative some future day,’ said the +messenger, staggering to his feet. ‘I hope to find a relay at +Chichester, and time presses. Work for the cause now, or be slaves for +ever. Farewell!’ He clambered into his saddle, and we heard the clatter +of his hoofs dying away down the London road. + +‘The time hath come for you to go, Micah,’ said my father solemnly.’ +Nay, wife, do not weep, but rather hearten the lad on his way by a +blithe word and a merry face. I need not tell you to fight manfully +and fearlessly in this quarrel. Should the tide of war set in this +direction, you may find your old father riding by your side. Let us now +bow down and implore the favour of the Almighty upon this expedition.’ + +We all knelt down in the low-roofed, heavy-raftered room while the old +man offered up an earnest, strenuous prayer for our success. Even now, +as I speak to ye, that group rises up before mine eyes. I see once +again your ancestor’s stern, rugged face, with his brows knitted and +his corded hands writhed together in the fervour of his supplication. My +mother kneels beside him with the tears trickling down her sweet, placid +face, stifling her sobs lest the sound of them make my leave-taking more +bitter. The children are in the sleeping-room upstairs, and we hear the +patter of their bare feet upon the floor. The man Saxon sprawls across +one of the oaken chairs, half kneeling, half reclining, with his long +legs trailing out behind, and his face buried in his hands. All round +in the flickering light of the hanging lamp I see the objects which have +been so familiar to me from childhood--the settle by the fireplace, +the high-back stiff-elbowed chairs, the stuffed fox above the door, the +picture of Christian viewing the Promised Land from the summit of the +Delectable Mountains--all small trifles in themselves, but making up +among them the marvellous thing we call home, the all-powerful lodestone +which draws the wanderer’s heart from the farther end of the earth. +Should I ever see it again save in my dreams--I, who was leaving this +sheltered cove to plunge into the heart of the storm? + +The prayer finished, we all rose with the exception of Saxon, who +remained with his face buried in his hands for a minute or so before +starting to his feet. I shrewdly suspect that he had been fast asleep, +though he explained that he had paused to offer up an additional +supplication. My father placed his hands upon my head and invoked the +blessing of Heaven upon me. He then drew my companion aside, and I +heard the jingling of coin, from which I judge that he was giving him +something wherewith to start upon his travels. My mother clasped me to +her heart, and slipped a small square of paper into my hand, saying that +I was to look at it at my leisure, and that I should make her happy if +I would but conform to the instructions contained in it. This I promised +to do, and tearing myself away I set off down the darkened village +street, with my long-limbed companion striding by my side. + +It was close upon one in the morning, and all the country folk had been +long abed. Passing the Wheatsheaf and the house of old Solomon, I could +not but wonder what they would think of my martial garb were they afoot. +I had scarce time to form the same thought before Zachary Palmer’s +cottage when his door flew open, and the carpenter came running out with +his white hair streaming in the fresh night breeze. + +‘I have been awaiting you, Micah,’ he cried. ‘I had heard that Monmouth +was up, and I knew that you would not lose a night ere starting. God +bless you, lad, God bless you! Strong of arm and soft of heart, tender +to the weak and stern to the oppressor, you have the prayers and the +love of all who know you.’ I pressed his extended hands, and the last +I saw of my native hamlet was the shadowy figure of the carpenter as he +waved his good wishes to me through the darkness. + +We made our way across the fields to the house of Whittier, the Whig +farmer, where Saxon got into his war harness. We found our horses ready +saddled and bridled, for my father had at the first alarm sent a message +across that we should need them. By two in the morning we were breasting +Portsdown Hill, armed, mounted, and fairly started on our journey to the +rebel camp. + + +Chapter VIII. Of our Start for the Wars + +All along the ridge of Portsdown Hill we had the lights of Portsmouth +and of the harbour ships twinkling beneath us on the left, while on +the right the Forest of Bere was ablaze with the signal fires which +proclaimed the landing of the invader. One great beacon throbbed upon +the summit of Butser, while beyond that, as far as eye could reach, +twinkling sparks of light showed how the tidings were being carried +north into Berkshire and eastward into Sussex. Of these fires, some were +composed of faggots piled into heaps, and others of tar barrels set upon +poles. We passed one of these last just opposite to Portchester, and the +watchers around it, hearing the tramp of our horses and the clank of +our arms, set up a loud huzza, thinking doubtless that we were King’s +officers bound for the West. + +Master Decimus Saxon had flung to the winds the precise demeanour which +he had assumed in the presence of my father, and rattled away with many +a jest and scrap of rhyme or song as we galloped through the darkness. + +‘Gadzooks!’ said he frankly, ‘it is good to be able to speak freely +without being expected to tag every sentence with a hallelujah or an +amen.’ + +‘You were ever the leader in those pious exercises,’ I remarked drily. + +‘Aye, indeed. You have nicked it there! If a thing must be done, then +take a lead in it, whatever it may be. A plaguy good precept, which has +stood me in excellent stead before now. I cannot bear in mind whether I +told you how I was at one time taken prisoner by the Turks and conveyed +to Stamboul. There were a hundred of us or more, but the others either +perished under the bastinado, or are to this day chained to an oar in +the Imperial Ottoman galleys, where they are like to remain until they +die under the lash, or until some Venetian or Genoese bullet finds its +way into their wretched carcasses. I alone came off with my freedom.’ + +‘And pray, how did you make your escape?’ I asked. + +‘By the use of the wit wherewith Providence hath endowed me,’ he +answered complacently; ‘for, seeing that their accursed religion is the +blind side of these infidels, I did set myself to work upon it. To this +end I observed the fashion in which our guard performed their morning +and evening exercises, and having transformed my doublet into a praying +cloth, I did imitate them, save only that I prayed at greater length and +with more fervour.’ + +‘What!’ I cried in horror. ‘You did pretend to be a Mussulman?’ + +‘Nay, there was no pretence. I became a Mussulman. That, however, +betwixt ourselves, as it might not stand me in very good stead with some +Reverend Aminadab Fount-of-Grace in the rebel camp, who is no admirer of +Mahmoud.’ + +I was so astounded at the impudence of this confession, coming from the +mouth of one who had been leading the exercises of a pious Christian +family, that I was fairly bereft of speech. Decimus Saxon whistled a few +bars of a sprightly tune, and then continued-- + +‘My perseverance in these exercises soon led to my being singled out +from among the other prisoners, until I so prevailed upon my gaolers +that the doors were opened for me, and I was allowed out on condition +of presenting myself at the prison gates once a day. What use, think ye, +did I make of my freedom?’ + +‘Nay, you are capable of anything,’ said I. + +‘I set off forthwith to their chief mosque--that of St. Sophia. When the +doors opened and the muezzin called, I was ever the first to hurry into +devotions and the last to leave them. Did I see a Mussulman strike his +head upon the pavement, I would strike mine twice. Did I see him bend +and bow, I was ready to prostrate myself. In this way ere long the piety +of the converted Giaour became the talk of the city, and I was provided +with a hut in which to make my sacred meditations. Here I might have +done well, and indeed I had well-nigh made up my mind to set up as +a prophet and write an extra chapter to the Koran, when some foolish +trifle made the faithful suspicious of my honesty. It was but some +nonsense of a wench being found in my hut by some who came to consult +me upon a point of faith, but it was enough to set their heathen tongues +wagging; so I thought it wisest to give them the slip in a Levantine +coaster and leave the Koran uncompleted. It is perhaps as well, for it +would be a sore trial to have to give up Christian women and pork, for +their garlic-breathing houris and accursed kybobs of sheep’s flesh.’ + +We had passed through Fareham and Botley during this conversation, and +were now making our way down the Bishopstoke road. The soil changes +about here from chalk to sand, so that our horses’ hoofs did but make +a dull subdued rattle, which was no bar to our talk--or rather to my +companion’s, for I did little more than listen. In truth, my mind was so +full of anticipations of what was before us, and of thoughts of the +home behind, that I was in no humour for sprightly chatter. The sky was +somewhat clouded, but the moon glinted out between the rifts, showing +us the long road which wound away in front of us. On either side were +scattered houses with gardens sloping down toward the road. The heavy, +sickly scent of strawberries was in the air. + +‘Hast ever slain a man in anger?’ asked Saxon, as we galloped along. + +‘Never,’ I answered. + +‘Ha! You will find that when you hear the clink of steel against steel, +and see your foeman’s eyes, you will straightway forget all rules, +maxims, and precepts of the fence which your father or others may have +taught you.’ + +‘I have learned little of the sort,’ said I. My father did but teach +me to strike an honest downright blow. This sword can shear through a +square inch of iron bar.’ + +‘Scanderbeg’s sword must have Scanderbeg’s arm,’ he remarked. ‘I +have observed that it is a fine piece of steel. One of the real old +text-compellers and psalm-expounders which the faithful drew in the days +of yore, when they would: + + “Prove their religion orthodox, + By Apostolic blows and knocks.” + +You have not fenced much, then?’ + +‘Scarce at all,’ said I. + +‘It is as well. With an old and tried swordsman like myself, knowledge +of the use of his weapon is everything; but with a young Hotspur of your +temper, strength and energy go for much. I have oft remarked that those +who are most skilled at the shooting of the popinjay, the cleaving of +the Turk’s head, and other such sports, are ever laggards in the field. +Had the popinjay a crossbow as well, and an arrow on the string, or +had the Turk a fist as well as a head, our young gallant’s nerves would +scarce be as steady over the business. I make no doubt, Master Clarke, +that we shall make trusty comrades. What saith old Butler? + + “Never did trusty squire with knight, + Or knight with squire ere jump more right.” + +I have scarce dared to quote “Hudibras” for these weeks past, lest I +should set the Covenant fermenting in the old man’s veins.’ + +‘If we are indeed to be comrades,’ said I sternly, ‘you must learn to +speak with more reverence and less flippancy of my father, who would +assuredly never have harboured you had he heard the tale which you have +told me even now.’ + +‘Belike not,’ the adventurer answered, chuckling to himself. ‘It is a +long stride from a mosque to a conventicle. But be not so hot-headed, +my friend. You lack that repose of character which will come to you, +no doubt, in your more mature years. What, man! within five minutes of +seeing me you would have smitten me on the head with an oar, and ever +since you have been like a bandog at my heels, ready to hark if I do but +set my foot over what you regard as the straight line. Remember that you +go now among men who fight on small occasion of quarrel. A word awry may +mean a rapier thrust.’ + +‘Do you bear the same in mind,’ I answered hotly; ‘my temper is +peaceful, but covert threats and veiled menace I shall not abide.’ + +‘Odd’s mercy!’ he cried. ‘I see that you will start carving me anon, and +take me to Monmouth’s camp in sections. Nay, nay, we shall have fighting +enow without falling out among ourselves. What houses are those on the +left?’ + +‘The village of Swathling,’ I replied. ‘The lights of Bishopstoke lie to +the right, in the hollow.’ + +‘Then we are fifteen miles on our way, and methinks there is already +some faint flush of dawn in the east. Hullo, what have we here? Beds +must be scarce if folks sleep on the highways.’ + +A dark blur which I had remarked upon the roadway in front of us had +resolved itself as we approached into the figure of a man, stretched +at full length, with his face downwards, and his head resting upon his +crossed arms. + +‘Some reveler, mayhap, from the village inn,’ I remarked. + +‘There’s blood in the air,’ said Saxon, raising up his beak-like nose +like a vulture which scents carrion. ‘Methinks he sleeps the sleep which +knows no waking.’ + +He sprang down from his saddle, and turned the figure over upon his +back. The cold pale light of the early dawn shimmering upon his staring +eyes and colourless face showed that the old soldier’s instinct was +correct, and that he had indeed drawn his last breath. + +‘Here’s a pretty piece of work,’ said Saxon, kneeling by the dead man’s +side and passing his hands over his pockets. ‘Footpads, doubtless. Not a +stiver in his pockets, nor as much as a sleeve-link to help pay for the +burial.’ + +‘How was he slain!’ I asked in horror, looking down at the poor vacant +face, the empty house from which the tenant had departed. + +‘A stab from behind and a tap on the head from the butt of a pistol. +He cannot have been dead long, and yet every groat is gone. A man of +position, too, I should judge from his dress--broadcloth coat by the +feel, satin breeches, and silver buckles on his shoes. The rogues must +have had some plunder with him. Could we but run across them, Clarke, it +would be a great and grand thing.’ + +‘It would indeed,’ said I heartily. ‘What greater privilege than to +execute justice upon such cowardly murderers!’ + +‘Pooh! pooh!’ he cried. ‘Justice is a slippery dame, and hath a +two-edged sword in her hand. We may have enough of justice in our +character as rebels to give us a surfeit of it. I would fain overtake +these robbers that we may relieve them of their _spolia opima_, together +with any other wealth which they may have unlawfully amassed. My learned +friend the Fleming layeth it down that it is no robbery to rob a robber. +But where shall we conceal this body?’ + +‘Wherefore should we conceal it?’ I asked. + +‘Why, man, unused to war or the precautions of a warrior, you must yet +see that should this body be found here, there will be a hue and cry +through the country, and that strangers like ourselves will be arrested +on suspicion. Should we clear ourselves, which is no very easy matter, +the justice will at least want to know whence we come and whither we +go, which may lead to inquiries that may bode us little good. I shall +therefore take the liberty, mine unknown and silent friend, of dragging +you into yon bushes, where for a day or two at least you are like to lie +unobserved, and so bring no harm upon honest men.’ + +‘For God’s sake do not treat it so unkindly,’ I cried, springing down +from my horse and laying my hand upon my companion’s arm. ‘There is no +need to trail it in so unseemly a fashion. If it must be moved hence, I +shall carry it with all due reverence. ‘So saying, I picked the body up +in my arms, and bearing it to a wayside clump of yellow gorse bushes, I +laid it solemnly down and drew the branches over it to conceal it. + +‘You have the thews of an ox and the heart of a woman, ‘muttered my +companion. ‘By the Mass, that old white-headed psalm-singer was right; +for if my memory serves me, he said words to that effect. A few handfuls +of dust will hide the stains. Now we may jog upon our way without any +fear of being called upon to answer for another man’s sins. Let me but +get my girth tightened and we may soon be out of danger’s way.’ + +‘I have had to do,’ said Saxon, as we rode onwards, ‘with many gentry +of this sort, with Albanian brigands, the banditti of Piedmont, the +Lanzknechte and Freiritter of the Rhine, Algerine picaroons, and other +such folk. Yet I cannot call to mind one who hath ever been able to +retire in his old age on a sufficient competence. It is but a precarious +trade, and must end sooner or later in a dance on nothing in a tight +cravat, with some kind friend tugging at your legs to ease you of any +breath that you might have left.’ + +‘Nor does that end all,’ I remarked. + +‘No. There is Tophet behind and the flames of hell. So our good friends +the parsons tell us. Well, if a man is to make no money in this world, +be hanged at the end of it, and finally burn for ever, he hath assuredly +wandered on to a thorny track. If, on the other hand, one could always +lay one’s hands on a well-lined purse, as those rogues have done +to-night, one might be content to risk something in the world to come.’ + +‘But what can the well-filled purse do for them?’ said I. ‘What will +the few score pieces which these bloodthirsty wretches have filched from +this poor creature avail them when their own hour of death comes round?’ + +‘True,’ said Saxon dryly; ‘they may, however, prove useful in the +meantime. This you say is Bishopstoke. What are the lights over yonder?’ + +‘They come, I think, from Bishop’s Waltham,’ I answered. + +‘We must press on, for I would fain be in Salisbury before it is broad +day. There we shall put our horses up until evening and have some rest, +for there is nothing gained by man or beast coming jaded to the wars. +All this day the western roads will be crowded with couriers, and mayhap +patrolled by cavalry as well, so that we cannot show our faces upon it +without a risk of being stopped and examined. Now if we lie by all day, +and push on at dusk, keeping off the main road and making our way across +Salisbury Plain and the Somersetshire downs, we shall be less likely to +come to harm.’ + +‘But what if Monmouth be engaged before we come up to him?’ I asked. + +‘Then we shall have missed a chance of getting our throats cut. Why, +man, supposing that he has been routed and entirely dispersed, would +it not be a merry conceit for us to appear upon the scene as two loyal +yeomen, who had ridden all the way from Hampshire to strike in against +the King’s enemies? We might chance to get some reward in money or in +land for our zeal. Nay, frown not, for I was but jesting. Breathe our +horses by walking them up this hill. My jennet is as fresh as when we +started, but those great limbs of thine are telling upon the grey.’ + +The patch of light in the east had increased and broadened, and the sky +was mottled with little pink feathers of cloud. As we passed over +the low hills by Chandler’s Ford and Romsey we could see the smoke of +Southampton to the south-east, and the broad dark expanse of the New +Forest with the haze of morning hanging over it. A few horsemen passed +us, pricking along, too much engrossed in their own errand to inquire +ours. A couple of carts and a long string of pack-horses, laden +principally with bales of wool, came straggling along a byroad, and +the drivers waved their broad hats to us and wished us God-speed. At +Dunbridge the folk were just stirring, and paused in taking down the +cottage shutters to come to the garden railings and watch us pass. As we +entered Dean, the great red sun pushed its rosy rim over the edge of the +horizon, and the air was filled with the buzz of insects and the sweet +scent of the morning. We dismounted at this latter village, and had a +cup of ale while resting and watering the horses. The landlord could +tell us nothing about the insurgents, and indeed seemed to care very +little about the matter one way or the other. ‘As long as brandy pays a +duty of six shillings and eightpence a gallon, and freight and leakage +comes to half a crown, while I am expected to sell it at twelve +shillings, it matters little to me who is King of England. Give me a +king that will prevent the hop-blight and I am his man.’ Those were the +landlord’s politics, and I dare say a good many more were of his way of +thinking. + +From Dean to Salisbury is all straight road with moor, morass, and +fenland on either side, broken only by the single hamlet of Aldersbury, +just over the Wiltshire border. Our horses, refreshed by the short rest, +stepped out gallantly, and the brisk motion, with the sunlight and the +beauty of the morning, combined to raise our spirits and cheer us after +the depression of the long ride through the darkness, and the incident +of the murdered traveller. Wild duck, widgeon, and snipe flapped up from +either side of the road at the sound of the horses’ hoofs, and once a +herd of red deer sprang to their feet from among the ferns and scampered +away in the direction of the forest. Once, too, when passing a dense +clump of trees, we saw a shadowy white creature half hidden by the +trunks, which must, I fancy, have been one of those wild cattle of +which I have heard the peasants speak, who dwell in the recesses of +the southern woods, and are so fierce and intractable that none dare +approach them. The breadth of the view, the keenness of the air, and the +novelty of the sense of having great work to do, all combined to send a +flush of life through my veins such as the quiet village existence +had never been able to give. My more experienced companion felt the +influence too, for he lifted up a cracked voice and broke into a droning +chant, which he assured me was an Eastern ode which had been taught him +by the second sister of the Hospodar of Wallachia. + +‘Anent Monmouth,’ he remarked, coming back suddenly to the realities of +our position. ‘It is unlikely that he can take the field for some days, +though much depends upon his striking a blow soon, and so raising the +courage of his followers before the King’s troops can come down upon +him. He has, mark ye, not only his troops to find, but their weapons, +which is like to prove a more difficult matter. Suppose he can raise +five thousand men--and he cannot stir with less--he will not have one +musket in five, so the rest must do as they can with pikes and bills, or +such other rude arms as they can find. All this takes time, and though +there may be skirmishes, there can scarce be any engagement of import +before we arrive.’ + +‘He will have been landed three or four days ere we reach him,’ said I. + +‘Hardly time for him with his small staff of officers to enrol his men +and divide them into regiments. I scarce expect to find him at Taunton, +though we were so directed. Hast ever heard whether there are any rich +Papists in those parts?’ + +‘I know not,’ I replied. + +‘If so there might be plate chests and silver chargers, to say nothing +of my lady’s jewels and other such trifles to reward a faithful soldier. +What would war be without plunder! A bottle without the wine--a shell +without the oyster. See the house yonder that peeps through the trees. +I warrant there is a store of all good things under that roof, which you +and I might have for the asking, did we but ask with our swords in our +grip. You are my witness that your father did give and not lend me this +horse.’ + +‘Why say you that, then?’ + +‘Lest he claim a half of whatever booty I may chance to gain. What saith +my learned Fleming under the heading “an qui militi equum praebuit, +praedae ab eo captae particeps esse debeat?” which signifieth “whether +he who lendeth a horse hath a claim on the plunder of him who borroweth +it.” In this discourse he cites a case wherein a Spanish commander +having lent a steed to one of his captains, and the said captain having +captured the general of the enemy, the commander did sue him for a +half share of the twenty thousand crowns which formed the ransom of the +prisoner. A like case is noted by the famous Petrinus Bellus in his book +“De Re Militari,” much read by leaders of repute.’ (Note C. Appendix.) + +‘I can promise you,’ I answered, ‘that no such claim shall ever be made +by my father upon you. See yonder, over the brow of the hill, how the +sun shines upon the high cathedral tower, which points upwards with its +great stone finger to the road that every man must travel.’ + +‘There is good store of silver and plate in these same churches,’ quoth +my companion. ‘I remember that at Leipsic, when I was serving my first +campaign, I got a candlestick, which I was forced to sell to a Jew +broker for a fourth of its value; yet even at his price it sufficed to +fill my haversack with broad pieces.’ + +It chanced that Saxon’s mare had gained a stride or two upon mine whilst +he spoke, so that I was able to get a good view of him without turning +my head. I had scarce had light during our ride to see how his harness +sat upon him, but now I was amazed on looking at him to mark the change +which it had wrought in the man. In his civil dress his lankiness and +length of limb gave him an awkward appearance, but on horse-back, with +his lean, gaunt face looking out from his steel cap, his breastplate +and buff jacket filling out his figure, and his high boots of untanned +leather reaching to the centre of his thighs, he looked the veteran +man-at-arms which he purported to be. The ease with which he sat his +horse, the high, bold expression upon his face, and the great length of +his arms, all marked him as one who could give a good account of himself +in a fray. In his words alone I could have placed little trust, but +there was that in his bearing which assured even a novice like myself +that he was indeed a trained man of war. + +‘That is the Avon which glitters amongst the trees,’ I remarked. ‘We are +about three miles from Salisbury town.’ + +‘It is a noble spire,’ said he, glancing at the great stone spire in +front of us. ‘The men of old would seem to have spent all their days in +piling stones upon stones. And yet we read of tough battles and shrewd +blows struck, showing that they had some time for soldierly relaxation, +and were not always at this mason work.’ + +‘The Church was rich in those days,’ I answered, shaking my bridle, for +Covenant was beginning to show signs of laziness. ‘But here comes one +who might perhaps tell us something of the war.’ + +A horseman who bore traces of having ridden long and hard was rapidly +approaching us. Both rider and steed were grey with dust and splashed +with mire, yet he galloped with loosened rein and bent body, as one to +whom every extra stride is of value. + +‘What ho, friend!’ cried Saxon, reining his mare across the road so as +to bar the man’s passage. ‘What news from the West?’ + +‘I must not tarry,’ the messenger gasped, slackening his speed for an +instant. ‘I bear papers of import from Gregory Alford, Mayor of Lyme, to +Ins Majesty’s Council. The rebels make great head, and gather together +like bees in the swarming time. There are some thousands in arms +already, and all Devonshire is on the move. The rebel horse under Lord +Grey hath been beaten back from Bridport by the red militia of Dorset, +but every prickeared Whig from the Channel to the Severn is making his +way to Monmouth.’ With this brief summary of the news he pushed his way +past us and clattered on in a cloud of dust upon his mission. + +‘The broth is fairly on the fire, then,’ quoth Decimus Saxon, as we rode +onwards. ‘Now that skins have been slit the rebels may draw their swords +and fling away their scabbards, for it’s either victory for them or +their quarters will be dangling in every market town of the county. Heh, +lad? we throw a main for a brave stake.’ + +‘Marked ye that Lord Grey had met with a check,’ said I. + +‘Pshaw! it is of no import. A cavalry skirmish at the most, for it is +impossible that Monmouth could have brought his main forces to Bridport; +nor would he if he could, for it is out of his track. It was one of +those three-shots-and-a-gallop affrays, where each side runs away and +each claims the victory. But here we are in the streets of Salisbury. +Now leave the talking to me, or your wrong-headed truthfulness may lay +us by the heels before our time.’ + +Passing down the broad High Street we dismounted in front of the Blue +Boar inn, and handed our tired horses over to the ostler, to whom +Saxon, in a loud voice, and with many rough military oaths, gave strict +injunctions as to their treatment. He then clanked into the inn parlour, +and throwing himself into one chair with his feet upon another, he +summoned the landlord up before him, and explained our needs in a tone +and manner which should give him a due sense of our quality. + +‘Of your best, and at once,’ quoth he. ‘Have your largest double-couched +chamber ready with your softest lavender-scented sheets, for we have had +a weary ride and must rest. And hark ye, landlord, no palming off your +stale, musty goods as fresh, or of your washy French wines for the true +Hainault vintage. I would have you to understand that my friend here and +I are men who meet with some consideration in the world, though we +care not to speak our names to every underling. Deserve well of us, +therefore, or it may be the worse for you.’ + +This speech, combined with my companion’s haughty manner and fierce +face, had such an effect upon the landlord that he straightway sent +us in the breakfast which had been prepared for three officers of the +Blues, who were waiting for it in the next apartment. This kept them +fasting for another half-hour, and we could hear their oaths and +complaints through the partition while we were devouring their capon and +venison pie. Having eaten a hearty meal and washed it down with a bottle +of Burgundy we sought our room, and throwing our tired limbs upon the +bed, were soon in a deep slumber. + + + +Chapter IX. Of a Passage of Arms at the Blue Boar + +I had slept several hours when I was suddenly aroused by a prodigious +crash, followed by the clash of arms and shrill cries from the lower +floor. Springing to my feet I found that the bed upon which my comrade +had lain was vacant, and that the door of the apartment was opened. As +the uproar still continued, and as I seemed to discern his voice in the +midst of it, I caught up my sword, and without waiting to put on either +head-piece, steel-breast, or arm-plates, I hurried to the scene of the +commotion. + +The hall and passage were filled with silly maids and staring drawers, +attracted, like myself, by the uproar. Through these I pushed my way +into the apartment where we had breakfasted in the morning, which was +a scene of the wildest disorder. The round table in the centre had +been tilted over upon its side, and three broken bottles of wine, with +apples, pears, nuts, and the fragments of the dishes containing them, +were littered over the floor. A couple of packs of cards and a dice-box +lay amongst the scattered feast. Close by the door stood Decimus Saxon, +with his drawn rapier in his hand and a second one beneath his feet, +while facing him there was a young officer in a blue uniform, whose face +was reddened with shame and anger, and who looked wildly about the room +as though in search of some weapon to replace that of which he had been +deprived. He might have served Cibber or Gibbons as a model for a statue +of impotent rage. Two other officers dressed in the same blue uniform +stood by their comrade, and as I observed that they had laid their hands +upon the hilts of their swords, I took my place by Saxon’s side, and +stood ready to strike in should the occasion arise. + +‘What would the maitre d’armes say--the maitre d’escrime?’ cried my +companion. ‘Methinks he should lose his place for not teaching you to +make a better show. Out on him! Is this the way that he teaches the +officers of his Majesty’s guard to use their weapons?’ + +‘This raillery, sir,’ said the elder of the three, a squat, brown, +heavy-faced man, ‘is not undeserved, and yet might perchance be +dispensed with. I am free to say that our friend attacked you somewhat +hastily, and that a little more deference should have been shown by so +young a soldier to a cavalier of your experience.’ + +The other officer, who was a fine-looking, noble-featured man, expressed +himself in much the same manner. ‘If this apology will serve,’ said he, +‘I am prepared to join in it. If, however, more is required, I shall be +happy to take the quarrel upon myself.’ + +‘Nay, nay, take your bradawl!’ Saxon answered good-humouredly, kicking +the sword towards his youthful opponent. ‘But, mark you! when you would +lunge, direct your point upwards rather than down, for otherwise you +must throw your wrist open to your antagonist, who can scarce fail to +disarm you. In quarte, tierce, or saccoon the same holds good.’ + +The youth sheathed his sword, but was so overcome by his own easy defeat +and the contemptuous way in which his opponent had dismissed him, that +he turned and hurried out of the room. Meanwhile Decimus Saxon and the +two officers set to work getting the table upon its legs and restoring +the room to some sort of order, in which I did what I could to assist +them. + +‘I held three queens for the first time to-day,’ grumbled the soldier of +fortune. ‘I was about to declare them when this young bantam flew at my +throat. He hath likewise been the cause of our losing three flasks of +most excellent muscadine. When he hath drunk as much bad wine as I have +been forced to do, he will not be so hasty in wasting the good.’ + +‘He is a hot-headed youngster,’ the older officer replied, ‘and a little +solitary reflection added to the lesson which you have taught him may +bring him profit. As for the muscadine, that loss will soon be repaired, +the more gladly as your friend here will help us to drink it.’ + +‘I was roused by the crash of weapons,’ said I, ‘and I scarce know now +what has occurred.’ + +‘Why, a mere tavern brawl, which your friend’s skill and judgment +prevented from becoming serious. I prythee take the rush-bottomed chair, +and do you, Jack, order the wine. If our comrade hath spilled the last +it is for us to furnish this, and the best the cellars contain. We have +been having a hand at basset, which Mr. Saxon here playeth as skilfully +as he wields the small-sword. It chanced that the luck ran against young +Horsford, which doubtless made him prone to be quick in taking offence. +Your friend in conversation, when discoursing of his experiences in +foreign countries, remarked that the French household troops were to +his mind brought to a higher state of discipline than any of our own +regiments, on which Horsford fired up, and after a hot word or two they +found themselves, as you have seen, at drawn bilbo. The boy hath seen no +service, and is therefore over-eager to give proof of his valour.’ + +‘Wherein,’ said the tall officer, ‘he showed a want of thought towards +me, for had the words been offensive it was for me, who am a senior +captain and brevet-major, to take it up, and not for a slip of a cornet, +who scarce knows enough to put his troop through the exercise.’ + +‘You say right, Ogilvy,’ said the other, resuming his seat by the table +and wiping the cards which had been splashed by the wine.’ Had the +comparison been made by an officer of Louis’s guard for the purpose +of contumely and braggadocio, it would then indeed have become us to +venture a passado. But when spoken by an Englishman of ripe experience +it becomes a matter of instructive criticism, which should profit rather +than annoy.’ + +‘True, Ambrose,’ the other answered. ‘Without such criticism a force +would become stagnant, and could never hope to keep level with those +continental armies, which are ever striving amongst themselves for +increased efficacy.’ + +So pleased was I at these sensible remarks on the part of the strangers, +that I was right glad to have the opportunity of making their closer +acquaintance over a flask of excellent wine. My father’s prejudices +had led me to believe that a King’s officer was ever a compound of the +coxcomb and the bully, but I found on testing it that this idea, like +most others which a man takes upon trust, had very little foundation +upon truth. As a matter of fact, had they been dressed in less warlike +garb and deprived of their swords and jack-boots, they would have passed +as particularly mild-mannered men, for their conversation ran in the +learned channels, and they discussed Boyle’s researches in chemistry and +the ponderation of air with much gravity and show of knowledge. At +the same time, their brisk bearing and manly carriage showed that in +cultivating the scholar they hail not sacrificed the soldier. + +‘May I ask, sir,’ said one of them, addressing Saxon, ‘whether in +your wide experiences you have ever met with any of those sages and +philosophers who have conferred such honour and fame upon France and +Germany?’ + +My companion looked ill at ease, as one who feels that he has been taken +off his ground. ‘There was indeed one such at Nurnberg,’ he answered, +‘one Gervinus or Gervanus, who, the folk said, could turn an ingot of +iron into an ingot of gold as easily as I turn this tobacco into ashes. +Old Pappenheimer shut him up with a ton of metal, and threatened to put +the thumbikins upon him unless he changed it into gold pieces. I can +vouch for it that there was not a yellow boy there, for I was captain of +the guard and searched the whole dungeon through. To my sorrow I say it, +for I had myself added a small iron brazier to the heap, thinking that +if there should be any such change it would be as well that I should +have some small share in the experiment.’ + +‘Alchemy, transmutation of metals, and the like have been set aside by +true science,’ remarked the taller officer. ‘Even old Sir Thomas Browne +of Norwich, who is ever ready to plead the cause of the ancients, can +find nothing to say in favour of it. From Trismegistus downwards through +Albertus Magnus, Aquinas, Raymond Lullius, Basil Valentine, Paracelsus, +and the rest, there is not one who has left more than a cloud of words +behind him.’ + +‘Nor did the rogue I mention,’ said Saxon. ‘There was another, +Van Helstatt, who was a man of learning, and cast horoscopes in +consideration of some small fee or honorarium. I have never met so wise +a man, for he would talk of the planets and constellations as though he +kept them all in his own backyard. He made no more of a comet than if it +were a mouldy china orange, and he explained their nature to us, saying +that they were but common stars which had had a hole knocked in them, so +that their insides or viscera protruded. He was indeed a philosopher!’ + +‘And did you ever put his skill to the test?’ asked one of the officers, +with a smile. + +‘Not I, forsooth, for I have ever kept myself clear of black magic or +diablerie of the sort. My comrade Pierce Scotton, who was an Oberst +in the Imperial cavalry brigade, did pay him a rose noble to have his +future expounded. If I remember aright, the stars said that he was +over-fond of wine and women--he had a wicked eye and a nose like a +carbuncle. ‘They foretold also that he would attain a marshal’s baton +and die at a ripe age, which might well have come true had he not been +unhorsed a month later at Ober-Graustock, and slain by the hoofs of his +own troop. Neither the planets nor even the experienced farrier of +the regiment could have told that the brute would have foundered so +completely.’ + +The officers laughed heartily at my companion’s views, and rose from +their chairs, for the bottle was empty and the evening beginning to +draw in. ‘We have work to do here,’ said the one addressed as Ogilvy. +‘Besides, we must find this foolish boy of ours, and tell him that it is +no disgrace to be disarmed by so expert a swordsman. We have to prepare +the quarters for the regiment, who will be up to join Churchill’s +forces not later than to-night. Ye are yourselves bound for the West, I +understand?’ + +‘We belong to the Duke of Beaufort’s household,’ said Saxon. + +‘Indeed! I thought ye might belong to Portman’s yellow regiment of +militia. I trust that the Duke will muster every man he can, and make +play until the royal forces come up.’ + +‘How many will Churchill bring?’ asked my companion carelessly. + +‘Eight hundred horse at the most, but my Lord Feversham will follow +after with close on four thousand foot.’ + +‘We may meet on the field of battle, if not before,’ said I, and we bade +our friendly enemies a very cordial adieu. + +‘A skilful equivoque that last of yours, Master Micah,’ quoth Decimus +Saxon, ‘though smacking of double dealing in a truth-lover like +yourself. If we meet them in battle I trust that it may be with +chevaux-de-frise of pikes and morgenstierns before us, and a litter of +caltrops in front of them, for Monmouth has no cavalry that could stand +for a moment against the Royal Guards.’ + +‘How came you to make their acquaintance?’ I asked. + +‘I slept a few hours, but I have learned in camps to do with little +rest. Finding you in sound slumber, and hearing the rattle of the +dice-box below, I came softly down and found means to join their +party--whereby I am a richer man by fifteen guineas, and might have +had more had that young fool not lugged out at me, or had the talk not +turned afterwards upon such unseemly subjects as the laws of chemistry +and the like. Prythee, what have the Horse Guards Blue to do with the +laws of chemistry? Wessenburg of the Pandours would, even at his own +mess table, suffer much free talk--more perhaps than fits in with the +dignity of a leader. Had his officers ventured upon such matter as +this, however, there would have been a drum-head court-martial, or a +cashiering at the least.’ + +Without stopping to dispute either Master Saxon’s judgment or that of +Wessenburg of the Pandours, I proposed that we should order an evening +meal, and should employ the remaining hour or two of daylight in looking +over the city. The principal sight is of course the noble cathedral, +which is built in such exact proportion that one would fail to +understand its great size did one not actually enter it and pace round +the long dim aisles. So solemn were its sweeping arches and the long +shafts of coloured light which shone through the stained-glass windows, +throwing strange shadows amongst the pillars, that even my companion, +albeit not readily impressed, was silent and subdued. It was a great +prayer in stone. + +On our way back to the inn we passed the town lock-up, with a railed +space in front of it, in which three great black-muzzled bloodhounds +were stalking about, with fierce crimsoned eyes and red tongues lolling +out of their mouths. They were used, a bystander told us, for the +hunting down of criminals upon Salisbury Plain, which had been a refuge +for rogues and thieves, until this means had been adopted for following +them to their hiding-places. It was well-nigh dark before we returned to +the hostel, and entirely so by the time that we had eaten our suppers, +paid our reckoning, and got ready for the road. + +Before we set off I bethought me of the paper which my mother had +slipped into my hand on parting, and drawing it from my pouch I read +it by the rushlight in our chamber. It still bore the splotches of the +tears which she had dropped on it, poor soul, and ran in this wise:-- + +‘Instructions from Mistress Mary Clarke to her son Micah, on the twelfth +day of June in the year of our Lord sixteen hundred and eighty-five. + +‘On occasion of his going forth, like David of old, to do battle +with the Goliath of Papistry, which hath overshadowed and thrown into +disrepute that true and reverent regard for ritual which should exist in +the real Church of England, as ordained by law. + +‘Let these points be observed by him, namely, to wit: + +‘1. Change your hosen when the occasion serves. You have two pairs in +your saddle-bag, and can buy more, for the wool work is good in the +West. + +‘2. A hare’s foot suspended round the neck driveth away colic. + +‘3. Say the Lord’s Prayer night and morning. Also read the scriptures, +especially Job, the Psalms, and the Gospel according to St. Matthew. + +‘4. Daffy’s elixir possesses extraordinary powers in purifying the blood +and working off all phlegms, humours, vapours, or rheums. The dose is +five drops. A small phial of it will be found in the barrel of your left +pistol, with wadding around it lest it come to harm. + +‘5. Ten golden pieces are sewn into the hem of your under doublet. Touch +them not, save as a last resource. + +‘6. Fight stoutly for the Lord, and yet I pray you, Micah, be not too +forward in battle, but let others do their turn also. + +Press not into the heart of the fray, and yet flinch not from the +standard of the Protestant faith. + +‘And oh, Micah, my own bright boy, come back safe to your mother, or my +very heart will break! + +‘And the deponent will ever pray.’ + + +The sudden gush of tenderness in the last few lines made the tears +spring to my eyes, and yet I could scarce forbear from smiling at the +whole composition, for my dear mother had little time to cultivate the +graces of style, and it was evidently her thought that in order to make +her instructions binding it was needful to express them in some sort of +legal form. I had little time to think over her advice, however, for I +had scarce finished reading it before the voice of Decimus Saxon, and +the clink of the horses’ hoofs upon the cobble-stones of the yard, +informed me that all was ready for our departure. + + + + +Chapter X. Of our Perilous Adventure on the Plain + +We were not half a mile from the town before the roll of kettledrums and +the blare of bugles swelling up musically through the darkness announced +the arrival of the regiment of horse which our friends at the inn had +been expecting. + +‘It is as well, perhaps,’ said Saxon, ‘that we gave them the slip, +for that young springald might have smelled a rat and played us some +ill-turn. Have you chanced to see my silken kerchief?’ + +‘Not I,’ I answered. + +‘Nay, then, it must have fallen from my bosom during our ruffle. I +can ill afford to leave it, for I travel light in such matters. Eight +hundred men, quoth the major, and three thousand to follow. Should I +meet this same Oglethorpe or Ogilvy when the little business is over, +I shall read him a lesson on thinking less of chemistry and more of +the need of preserving military precautions. It is well always to be +courteous to strangers and to give them information, but it is well also +that the information should be false.’ + +‘As his may have been,’ I suggested. + +‘Nay, nay, the words came too glibly from his tongue. So ho, Chloe, so +ho! She is full of oats and would fain gallop, but it is so plaguy dark +that we can scarce see where we are going.’ + +We had been trotting down the broad high-road shimmering vaguely white +in the gloom, with the shadowy trees dancing past us on either side, +scarce outlined against the dark background of cloud. We were now coming +upon the eastern edge of the great plain, which extends forty miles one +way and twenty the other, over the greater part of Wiltshire and past +the boundaries of Somersetshire. The main road to the West skirts this +wilderness, but we had agreed to follow a less important track, +which would lead us to our goal, though in a more tedious manner. Its +insignificance would, we hoped, prevent it from being guarded by the +King’s horse. We had come to the point where this byroad branches off +from the main highway when we heard the clatter of horses’ hoofs behind +us. + +‘Here comes some one who is not afraid to gallop,’ I remarked. + +‘Halt here in the shadow!’ cried Saxon, in a short, quick whisper. ‘Have +your blade loose in the scabbard. He must have a set errand who rides so +fast o’ nights.’ + +Looking down the road we could make out through the darkness a shadowy +blur which soon resolved itself into man and horse. The rider was +well-nigh abreast of us before he was aware of our presence, when he +pulled up his steed in a strange, awkward fashion, and faced round in +our direction. + +‘Is Micah Clarke there?’ he said, in a voice which was strangely +familiar to my ears. + +‘I am Micah Clarke,’ said I. + +‘And I am Reuben Lockarby,’ cried our pursuer, in a mock heroic voice. +‘Ah, Micah lad, I’d embrace you were it not that I should assuredly fall +out of the saddle if I attempted it, and perchance drag you along. That +sudden pull up well-nigh landed me on the roadway. I have been sliding +off and clambering on ever since I bade goodbye to Havant. Sure, such a +horse for slipping from under one was never bestridden by man.’ + +‘Good Heavens, Reuben!’ I cried in amazement, ‘what brings you all this +way from home?’ + +‘The very same cause which brings you, Micah, and also Don Decimo Saxon, +late of the Solent, whom methinks I see in the shadow behind you. How +fares it, oh illustrious one?’ + +‘It is you, then, young cock of the woods!’ growled Saxon, in no very +overjoyed voice. + +‘No less a person,’ said Reuben. ‘And now, my gay cavalieros, round with +your horses and trot on your way, for there is no time to be lost. We +ought all to be at Taunton to-morrow.’ + +‘But, my dear Reuben,’ said I, ‘it cannot be that you are coming with us +to join Monmouth. What would your father say? This is no holiday jaunt, +but one that may have a sad and stern ending. At the best, victory can +only come through much bloodshed and danger. At the worst, we are as +like to wind up upon a scaffold as not.’ + +‘Forwards, lads, forwards!’ cried he, spurring on his horse, ‘it is all +arranged and settled. I am about to offer my august person, together +with a sword which I borrowed and a horse which I stole, to his most +Protestant highness, James, Duke of Monmouth.’ + +‘But how comes it all?’ I asked, as we rode on together. ‘It warms my +very heart to see you, but you were never concerned either in religion +or in politics. Whence, then, this sudden resolution?’ + +‘Well, truth to tell,’ he replied, ‘I am neither a king’s man nor a +duke’s man, nor would I give a button which sat upon the throne. I do +not suppose that either one or the other would increase the custom of +the Wheatsheaf, or want Reuben Lockarby for a councillor. I am a Micah +Clarke man, though, from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet; +and if he rides to the wars, may the plague strike me if I don’t stick +to his elbow!’ He raised his hand excitedly as he spoke, and instantly +losing his balance, he shot into a dense clump of bushes by the roadside +whence his legs flapped helplessly in the darkness. + +‘That makes the tenth,’ said he, scrambling out and clambering into +his saddle once more. ‘My father used to tell me not to sit a horse too +closely. “A gentle rise and fall,” said the old man. Egad, there is more +fall than rise, and it is anything but gentle.’ + +‘Odd’s truth!’ exclaimed Saxon. ‘How in the name of all the saints in +the calendar do you expect to keep your seat in the presence of an enemy +if you lose it on a peaceful high-road?’ + +‘I can but try, my illustrious,’ he answered, rearranging his ruffled +clothing. ‘Perchance the sudden and unexpected character of my movements +may disconcert the said enemy.’ + +‘Well, well, there may be more truth in that than you are aware of,’ +quoth Saxon, riding upon Lockarby’s bridle arm, so that there was scarce +room for him to fall between us. ‘I had sooner fight a man like that +young fool at the inn, who knew a little of the use of his weapon, than +one like Micah here, or yourself, who know nothing. You can tell what +the one is after, but the other will invent a system of his own which +will serve his turn for the nonce. Ober-hauptmann Muller was reckoned to +be the finest player at the small-sword in the Kaiser’s army, and could +for a wager snick any button from an opponent’s vest without cutting the +cloth. Yet was he slain in an encounter with Fahnfuhrer Zollner, who was +a cornet in our own Pandour corps, and who knew as much of the rapier as +you do of horsemanship. For the rapier, be it understood, is designed +to thrust and not to cut, so that no man wielding it ever thinks of +guarding a side-stroke. But Zollner, being a long-armed man, smote his +antagonist across the face with his weapon as though it had been a +cane, and then, ere he had time to recover himself, fairly pinked him. +Doubtless if the matter were to do again, the Oberhauptmann would have +got his thrust in sooner, but as it was, no explanation or excuse could +get over the fact that the man was dead.’ + +‘If want of knowledge maketh a dangerous swordsman,’ quoth Reuben, ‘then +am I even more deadly than the unpronounceable gentleman whom you have +mentioned. To continue my story, however, which I broke off in order to +step down from my horse, I found out early in the morning that ye were +gone, and Zachary Palmer was able to tell me whither. I made up my mind, +therefore, that I would out into the world also. To this end I borrowed +a sword from Solomon Sprent, and my father having gone to Gosport, +I helped myself to the best nag in his stables--for I have too much +respect for the old man to allow one of his flesh and blood to go +ill-provided to the wars. All day I have ridden, since early morning, +being twice stopped on suspicion of being ill-affected, but having the +good luck to get away each time. I knew that I was close at your heels, +for I found them searching for you at the Salisbury Inn.’ + +Decimus whistled. ‘Searching for us?’ said he. + +‘Yes. It seems that they had some notion that ye were not what ye +professed to be, so the inn was surrounded as I passed, but none knew +which road ye had taken.’ + +‘Said I not so?’ cried Saxon. ‘That young viper hath stirred up the +regiment against us. We must push on, for they may send a party on our +track.’ + +‘We are off the main road now, ‘I remarked; ‘even should they pursue us, +they would be unlikely to follow this side track.’ + +‘Yet it would be wise to show them a clean pair of heels,’ said Saxon, +spurring his mare into a gallop. Lockarby and I followed his example, +and we all three rode swiftly along the rough moorland track. + +We passed through scattered belts of pinewood, where the wild cat howled +and the owl screeched, and across broad stretches of fenland and moor, +where the silence was only broken by the booming cry of the bittern or +the fluttering of wild duck far above our heads. The road was in parts +overgrown with brambles, and was so deeply rutted and so studded with +sharp and dangerous hollows, that our horses came more than once upon +their knees. In one place the wooden bridge which led over a stream had +broken down, and no attempt had been made to repair it, so that we were +compelled to ride our horses girth deep through the torrent. At first +some scattered lights had shown that we were in the neighbourhood of +human habitations, but these became fewer as we advanced, until the last +died away and we found ourselves upon the desolate moor which stretched +away in unbroken solitude to the shadowy horizon. The moon had broken +through the clouds and now shone hazily through wreaths of mist, +throwing a dim light over the wild scene, and enabling us to keep to +the track, which was not fenced in in any way and could scarce be +distinguished from the plain around it. + +We had slackened our pace under the impression that all fear of pursuit +was at an end, and Reuben was amazing us by an account of the excitement +which had been caused in Havant by our disappearance, when through the +stillness of the night a dull, muffled rat-tat-tat struck upon my ear. +At the same moment Saxon sprang from his horse and listened intently +with sidelong head. + +‘Boot and saddle!’ he cried, springing into his seat again. ‘They are +after us as sure as fate. A dozen troopers by the sound. We must shake +them off, or goodbye to Monmouth.’ + +‘Give them their heads,’ I answered, and striking spurs into our steeds, +we thundered on through the darkness. Covenant and Chloe were as fresh +as could be wished, and soon settled down into a long springy gallop. +Our friend’s horse however, had been travelling all day, and its +long-drawn, laboured breathing showed that it could not hold out for +long. Through the clatter of our horses’ hoofs I could still from time +to time hear the ominous murmur from behind us. + +‘This will never do, Reuben,’ said I anxiously, as the weary creature +stumbled, and the rider came perilously near to shooting over its head. + +‘The old horse is nearly foundered,’ he answered ruefully. ‘We are off +the road now, and the rough ground is too much for her.’ + +‘Yes, we are off the track,’ cried Saxon over his shoulder--for he led +us by a few paces. ‘Bear in mind that the Bluecoats have been on the +march all day, so that their horses may also be blown. How in Himmel +came they to know which road we took?’ + +As if in answer to his ejaculation, there rose out of the still night +behind us a single, clear, bell-like note, swelling and increasing in +volume until it seemed to fill the whole air with its harmony. + +‘A bloodhound!’ cried Saxon. + +A second sharper, keener note, ending in an unmistakable howl, answered +the first. + +‘Another of them,’ said he. ‘They have loosed the brutes that we saw +near the Cathedral. Gad! we little thought when we peered over the rails +at them, a few hours ago, that they would so soon be on our own track. +Keep a firm knee and a steady seat, for a slip now would be your last.’ + +‘Holy mother!’ cried Reuben, ‘I had steeled myself to die in battle--but +to be dogsmeat! It is something outside the contract.’ + +‘They hold them in leash,’ said Saxon, between his teeth, ‘else they +would outstrip the horses and be lost in the darkness. + +Could we but come on running water we might put them off our track.’ + +‘My horse cannot hold on at this pace for more than a very few minutes,’ +Reuben cried. ‘If I break down, do ye go on, for ye must remember +that they are upon your track and not mine. They have found cause for +suspicion of the two strangers of the inn, but none of me.’ + +‘Nay, Reuben, we shall stand or fall together,’ said I sadly, for at +every step his horse grew more and more feeble. ‘In this darkness they +will make little distinction between persons.’ + +‘Keep a good heart,’ shouted the old soldier, who was now leading us by +twenty yards or more. ‘We can hear them because the wind blows from that +way, but it’s odds whether they have heard us. Methinks they slacken in +their pursuit.’ + +‘The sound of their horses has indeed grown fainter,’ said I joyfully. + +‘So faint that I can hear it no longer,’ my companion cried. + +We reined up our panting steeds and strained our ears, but not a +sound could we hear save the gentle murmur of the breeze amongst the +whin-bushes, and the melancholy cry of the night-jar. Behind us the +broad rolling plain, half light and half shadow, stretched away to +the dim horizon without sign of life or movement. ‘We have either +outstripped them completely, or else they have given up the chase,’ said +I. ‘What ails the horses that they should tremble and snort?’ + +‘My poor beast is nearly done for,’ Reuben remarked, leaning forward and +passing his hand down the creature’s reeking neck. + +‘For all that we cannot rest,’ said Saxon. ‘We may not be out of danger +yet. Another mile or two may shake us clear. But I like it not.’ + +‘Like not what?’ + +‘These horses and their terrors. The beasts can at times both see and +hear more than we, as I could show by divers examples drawn from mine +own experience on the Danube and in the Palatinate, were the time and +place more fitting. Let us on, then, before we rest.’ + +The weary horses responded bravely to the call, and struggled onwards +over the broken ground for a considerable time. At last we were thinking +of pulling up in good earnest, and of congratulating ourselves upon +having tired out our pursuers, when of a sudden the bell-like baying +broke upon our ears far louder than it had been before--so loud, indeed, +that it was evident that the dogs were close upon our heels. + +‘The accursed hounds!’ cried Saxon, putting spurs to his horse and +shooting ahead of us; ‘I feared as much. They have freed them from the +leash. There is no escape from the devils, but we can choose the spot +where we shall make our stand.’ + +‘Come on, Reuben,’ I shouted. ‘We have only to reckon with the dogs now. +Their masters have let them loose, and turned back for Salisbury.’ + +‘Pray heaven they break their necks before they get there!’ he cried. +‘They set dogs on us as though we were rats in a cock-pit. Yet they call +England a Christian country! It’s no use, Micah. Poor Dido can’t stir +another step.’ + +As he spoke, the sharp fierce bay of the hounds rose again, clear and +stern on the night air, swelling up from a low hoarse growl to a high +angry yelp. There seemed to be a ring of exultation in their wild cry, +as though they knew that their quarry was almost run to earth. + +‘Not another step!’ said Reuben Lockarby, pulling up and drawing his +sword. ‘If I must fight, I shall fight here.’ + +‘There could be no better place,’ I replied. Two great jagged rocks rose +before us, jutting abruptly out of the ground, and leaving a space of +twelve or fifteen feet between them. Through this gap we rode, and +I shouted loudly for Saxon to join us. His horse, however, had been +steadily gaining upon ours, and at the renewed alarm had darted off +again, so that he was already some hundred yards from us. It was useless +to summon him, even could he hear our voices, for the hounds would be +upon us before he could return. + +‘Never heed him,’ I said hurriedly. ‘Do you rein your steed behind +that rock, and I behind this. They will serve to break the force of the +attack. Dismount not, but strike down, and strike hard.’ + +On either side in the shadow of the rock we waited in silence for our +terrible pursuers. Looking back at it, my dear children, I cannot but +think that it was a great trial on such young soldiers as Reuben and +myself to be put, on the first occasion of drawing our swords, into such +a position. For I have found, and others have confirmed my opinion, +that of all dangers that a man is called upon to face, that arising from +savage and determined animals is the most unnerving. For with men there +is ever the chance that some trait of weakness or of want of courage may +give you an advantage over them, but with fierce beasts there is no such +hope. We knew that the creatures to whom we were opposed could never +be turned from our throats while there was breath in their bodies. One +feels in one’s heart, too, that the combat is an unequal one, for your +life is precious at least to your friends, while their lives, what are +they? All this and a great deal more passed swiftly through our minds +as we sat with drawn swords, soothing our trembling horses as best we +might, and waiting for the coming of the hounds. + +Nor had we long to wait. Another long, deep, thunderous bay sounded +in our ears, followed by a profound silence, broken only by the quick +shivering breathing of the horses. Then suddenly, and noiselessly, a +great tawny brute, with its black muzzle to the earth, and its overhung +cheeks napping on either side, sprang into the band of moonlight between +the rocks, and on into the shadow beyond. It never paused or swerved for +an instant, but pursued its course straight onwards without a glance +to right or to left. Close behind it came a second, and behind that a +third, all of enormous size, and looking even larger and more terrible +than they were in the dim shifting light. Like the first, they took no +notice of our presence, but bounded on along the trail left by Decimus +Saxon. + +The first and second I let pass, for I hardly realised that they so +completely overlooked us. When the third, however, sprang out into the +moonlight, I drew my right-hand pistol from its holster, and resting +its long barrel across my left forearm, I fired at it as it passed. The +bullet struck the mark, for the brute gave a fierce howl of rage and +pain, but true to the scent it never turned or swerved. Lockarby fired +also as it disappeared among the brushwood, but with no apparent effect. +So swiftly and so noiselessly did the great hounds pass, that they might +have been grim silent spirits of the night, the phantom dogs of Herne +the hunter, but for that one fierce yelp which followed my shot. + +‘What brutes!’ my companion ejaculated; ‘what shall we do, Micah?’ + +‘They have clearly been laid on Saxon’s trail,’ said I. ‘We must follow +them up, or they will be too many for him. Can you hear anything of our +pursuers?’ + +‘Nothing.’ + +‘They have given up the chase, then, and let the dogs loose as a last +resource. Doubtless the creatures are trained to return to the town. But +we must push on, Reuben, if we are to help our companion.’ + +‘One more spurt, then, little Dido,’ cried Reuben; ‘can you muster +strength for one more? Nay, I have not the heart to put spurs to you. If +you can do it, I know you will.’ + +The brave mare snorted, as though she understood her riders words, and +stretched her weary limbs into a gallop. So stoutly did she answer the +appeal that, though I pressed Covenant to his topmost speed, she was +never more than a few strides behind him. + +‘He took this direction,’ said I, peering anxiously out into the +darkness. ‘He can scarce have gone far, for he spoke of making a stand. +Or, perhaps, finding that we are not with him, he may trust to the speed +of his horse.’ + +‘What chance hath a horse of outstripping these brutes?’ Reuben +answered. ‘They must run him to earth, and he knows it. Hullo! what have +we here?’ + +A dark dim form lay stretched in the moonlight in front of us. It was +the dead body of a hound--the one evidently at which I had fired. + +‘There is one of them disposed of, ‘I cried joyously; ‘we have but two +to settle with now.’ + +‘As I spoke we heard the crack of two pistol-shots some little distance +to the left. Heading our steeds in that direction, we pressed on at the +top of our speed. Presently out of the darkness in front of us there +arose such a roaring and a yelping as sent the hearts into our mouths. +It was not a single cry, such as the hounds had uttered when they were +on the scent, but a continuous deep-mouthed uproar, so fierce and so +prolonged, that we could not doubt that they had come to the end of +their run. + +‘Pray God that they have not got him down!’ cried Reuben, in a faltering +voice. + +The same thought had crossed my own mind, for I have heard a similar +though lesser din come from a pack of otter hounds when they had +overtaken their prey and were tearing it to pieces. Sick at heart, I +drew my sword with the determination that, if we were too late to save +our companion, we should at least revenge him upon the four-footed +fiends. Bursting through a thick belt of scrub and tangled gorse bushes, +we came upon a scene so unlike what we had expected that we pulled up +our horses in astonishment. + +A circular clearing lay in front of us, brightly illuminated by the +silvery moonshine. In the centre of this rose a giant stone, one +of those high dark columns which are found all over the plain, and +especially in the parts round Stonehenge. It could not have been less +than fifteen feet in height, and had doubtless been originally straight, +but wind and weather, or the crumbling of the soil, had gradually +suffered it to tilt over until it inclined at such an angle that an +active man might clamber up to the summit. On the top of this ancient +stone, cross-legged and motionless, like some strange carved idol of +former days, sat Decimus Saxon, puffing sedately at the long pipe which +was ever his comfort in moments of difficulty. Beneath him, at the base +of the monolith, as our learned men call them, the two great bloodhounds +were rearing and springing, clambering over each other’s backs in their +frenzied and futile eagerness to reach the impassive figure perched +above them, while they gave vent to their rage and disappointment in the +hideous uproar which had suggested such terrible thoughts to our mind. + +We had little time, however, to gaze at this strange scene, for upon our +appearance the hounds abandoned their helpless attempts to reach Saxon, +and flew, with a fierce snarl of satisfaction, at Reuben and myself. +One great brute, with flaring eyes and yawning mouth, his white fangs +glistening in the moonlight, sprang at my horse’s neck; but I met him +fair with a single sweeping cut, which shore away his muzzle, and left +him wallowing and writhing in a pool of blood. Reuben, meanwhile, had +spurred his horse forward to meet his assailant; but the poor tired +steed flinched at the sight of the fierce hound, and pulled up suddenly, +with the result that her rider rolled headlong into the very jaws of the +animal. It might have gone ill with Reuben had he been left to his own +resources. At the most he could only have kept the cruel teeth from +his throat for a very few moments; but seeing the mischance, I drew my +remaining pistol, and springing from my horse, discharged it full into +the creature’s flank while it struggled with my friend. With a last +yell of rage and pain it brought its fierce jaws together in one wild +impotent snap, and then sank slowly over upon its side, while Reuben +crawled from beneath it, scared and bruised, but none the worse +otherwise for his perilous adventure. + +‘I owe you one for that, Micah,’ he said gratefully. ‘I may live to do +as much for you.’ + +‘And I owe ye both one,’ said Saxon, who had scrambled down from his +place of refuge. ‘I pay my debts, too, whether for good or evil. I might +have stayed up there until I had eaten my jack-boots, for all the chance +I had of ever getting down again. Sancta Maria! but that was a shrewd +blow of yours, Clarke! The brute’s head flew in halves like a rotten +pumpkin. No wonder that they stuck to my track, for I have left both my +spare girth and my kerchief behind me, which would serve to put them on +Chloe’s scent as well as mine own.’ + +‘And where is Chloe?’ I asked, wiping my sword. + +‘Chloe had to look out for herself. I found the brutes gaining on me, +you see, and I let drive at them with my barkers; but with a horse +flying at twenty mile an hour, what chance is there for a single slug +finding its way home?’ Things looked black then, for I had no time to +reload, and the rapier, though the king of weapons in the duello, is +scarce strong enough to rely upon on an occasion like this. As luck +would have it, just as I was fairly puzzled, what should I come across +but this handy stone, which the good priests of old did erect, as far as +I can see, for no other purpose than to provide worthy cavalieros with +an escape from such ignoble and scurvy enemies. I had no time to spare +in clambering up it, for I had to tear my heel out of the mouth of the +foremost of them, and might have been dragged down by it had he not +found my spur too tough a morsel for his chewing. But surely one of my +bullets must have readied its mark.’ Lighting the touch-paper in his +tobacco-box, he passed it over the body of the hound which had attacked +me, and then of the other. + +‘Why, this one is riddled like a sieve,’ he cried. ‘What do you load +your petronels with, good Master Clarke?’ + +‘With two leaden slugs.’ + +‘Yet two leaden slugs have made a score of holes at the least! And of +all things in this world, here is the neck of a bottle stuck in the +brute’s hide!’ + +‘Good heavens!’ I exclaimed. ‘I remember. My dear mother packed a bottle +of Daffy’s elixir in the barrel of my pistol.’ + +‘And you have shot it into the bloodhound!’ roared Reuben. ‘Ho! ho! When +they hear that tale at the tap of the Wheatsheaf, there will be some +throats dry with laughter. Saved my life by shooting a dog with a bottle +of Daffy’s elixir!’ + +‘And a bullet as well, Reuben, though I dare warrant the gossips will +soon contrive to leave that detail out. It is a mercy the pistol did not +burst. But what do you propose to do now, Master Saxon?’ + +‘Why, to recover my mare if it can anywise be done,’ said the +adventurer.’ Though on this vast moor, in the dark, she will be as +difficult to find as a Scotsman’s breeches or a flavourless line in +“Hudibras.”’ + +‘And Reuben Lockarby’s steed can go no further,’ I remarked. ‘But do +mine eyes deceive me, or is there a glimmer of light over yonder?’ + +‘A Will-o’-the-wisp,’ said Saxon. + + “An _ignis fatuus_ that bewitches, + And leads men into pools and ditches.” + +Yet I confess that it burns steady and clear, as though it came from +lamp, candle, rushlight, lanthorn, or other human agency.’ + +‘Where there is light there is life,’ cried Reuben. ‘Let us make for it, +and see what chance of shelter we may find there.’ + +‘It cannot come from our dragoon friends,’ remarked Decimus. ‘A murrain +on them! how came they to guess our true character; or was it on the +score of some insult to the regiment that that young Fahnfuhrer has set +them on our track? If I have him at my sword’s point again, he shall +not come off so free. Well, do ye lead your horses, and we shall explore +this light, since no better course is open to us.’ + +Picking our way across the moor, we directed our course for the bright +point which twinkled in the distance; and as we advanced we hazarded +a thousand conjectures as to whence it could come. If it were a human +dwelling, what sort of being could it be who, not content with living in +the heart of this wilderness, had chosen a spot so far removed from the +ordinary tracks which crossed it? The roadway was miles behind us, and +it was probable that no one save those driven by such a necessity as +that which had overtaken us would ever find themselves in that desolate +region. No hermit could have desired an abode more completely isolated +from all communion with his kind. + +As we approached we saw that the light did indeed come from a small +cottage, which was built in a hollow, so as to be invisible from any +quarter save that from which we approached it. In front of this humble +dwelling a small patch of ground had been cleared of shrub, and in the +centre of this little piece of sward our missing steed stood grazing at +her leisure upon the scanty herbage. The same light which had attracted +us had doubtless caught her eye, and drawn her towards it by hopes of +oats and of water. With a grunt of satisfaction Saxon resumed possession +of his lost property, and leading her by the bridle, approached the door +of the solitary cottage. + + + +Chapter XI. Of the Lonely Man and the Gold Chest + +The strong yellow glare which had attracted us across the moor found its +way out through a single narrow slit alongside the door which served the +purpose of a rude window. As we advanced towards it the light changed +suddenly to red, and that again to green, throwing a ghastly pallor over +our faces, and especially heightening the cadaverous effect of Saxon’s +austere features. At the same time we became aware of a most subtle +and noxious odour which poisoned the air all round the cottage. +This combination of portents in so lonely a spot worked upon the old +man-at-arms’ superstitious feelings to such an extent that he paused +and looked back at us inquiringly. Both Reuben and I were determined, +however, to carry the adventure through, so he contented himself with +falling a little behind us, and pattering to himself some exorcism +appropriate to the occasion. Walking up to the door, I rapped upon it +with the hilt of my sword and announced that we were weary travellers +who were seeking a night’s shelter. + +The first result of my appeal was a sound as of some one bustling +rapidly about, with the clinking of metal and noise of the turning of +locks. This died away into a hush, and I was about to knock once more +when a crackling voice greeted us from the other side of the door. + +‘There is little shelter here, gentlemen, and less provisions,’ it said. +‘It is but six miles to Amesbury, where at the Cecil Arms ye shall find, +I doubt not, all that is needful for man and for beast.’ + +‘Nay, nay, mine invisible friend,’ quoth Saxon, who was much reassured +by the sound of a human voice, ‘this is surely but a scurvy reception. +One of our horses is completely foundered, and none of them are in +very good plight, so that we could no more make for the Cecil Arms at +Amesbury than for the Gruner Mann at Lubeck. I prythee, therefore, that +you will allow us to pass the remainder of the night under your roof.’ + +At this appeal there was much creaking of locks and rasping of bolts, +which ended in the door swinging slowly open, and disclosing the person +who had addressed us. + +By the strong light which shone out from behind him we could see that +he was a man of venerable aspect, with snow-white hair and a countenance +which bespoke a thoughtful and yet fiery nature. The high pensive brow +and flowing beard smacked of the philosopher, but the keen sparkling +eye, the curved aquiline nose, and the lithe upright figure which the +weight of years had been unable to bend, were all suggestive of the +soldier. His lofty bearing, and his rich though severe costume of black +velvet, were at strange variance with the humble nature of the abode +which he had chosen for his dwelling-place. + +‘Ho!’ said he, looking keenly at us. ‘Two of ye unused to war, and the +other an old soldier. Ye have been pursued, I see!’ + +‘How did you know that, then?’ asked Decimus Saxon. + +‘Ah, my friend, I too have served in my time. My eyes are not so old but +that they can tell when horses have been spurred to the utmost, nor is +it difficult to see that this young giant’s sword hath been employed in +something less innocent than toasting bacon. Your story, however, can +keep. Every true soldier thinks first of his horse, so I pray that you +will tether yours without, since I have neither ostler nor serving man +to whom I may entrust them.’ + +The strange dwelling into which we presently entered had been prolonged +into the side of the little hill against which it had been built, so +as to form a very long narrow hall. The ends of this great room, as we +entered, were wrapped in shadow, but in the centre was a bright glare +from a brazier full of coals, over which a brass pipkin was suspended. +Beside the fire a long wooden table was plentifully covered with curved +glass flasks, basins, tubings, and other instruments of which I knew +neither the name nor the purpose. A long row of bottles containing +various coloured liquids and powders were arranged along a shelf, whilst +above it another shelf bore a goodly array of brown volumes. For the +rest there was a second rough-hewn table, a pair of cupboards, three or +four wooden settles, and several large screens pinned to the walls +and covered all over with figures and symbols, of which I could make +nothing. The vile smell which had greeted us outside was very much worse +within the chamber, and arose apparently from the fumes of the boiling, +bubbling contents of the brazen pot. + +‘Ye behold in me,’ said our host, bowing courteously to us, ‘the last of +an ancient family. I am Sir Jacob Clancing of Snellaby Hall.’ + +‘Smellaby it should be, methinks,’ whispered Reuben, in a voice which +fortunately did not reach the ears of the old knight. + +‘I pray that ye be seated,’ he continued, ‘and that ye lay aside your +plates and headpieces, and remove your boots. Consider this to be your +inn, and behave as freely. Ye will hold me excused if for a moment I +turn my attention from you to this operation on which I am engaged, +which will not brook delay.’ + +Saxon began forthwith to undo his buckles and to pull off his harness, +while Reuben, throwing himself into a chair, appeared to be too weary +to do more than unfasten his sword-belt. For my own part, I was glad +to throw off my gear, but I kept my attention all the while upon the +movements of our host, whose graceful manners and learned appearance had +aroused my curiosity and admiration. + +He approached the evil-smelling pot, and stirred it up with a face +which indicated so much anxiety that it was clear that he had pushed his +courtesy to us so far as to risk the ruin of some important experiment. +Dipping his ladle into the compound, he scooped some up, and then poured +it slowly back into the vessel, showing a yellow turbid fluid. The +appearance of it evidently reassured him, for the look of anxiety +cleared away from his features, and he uttered an exclamation of relief. +Taking a handful of a whitish powder from a trencher at his side he +threw it into the pipkin, the contents of which began immediately to +seethe and froth over into the fire, causing the flames to assume +the strange greenish hue which we had observed before entering. This +treatment had the effect of clearing the fluid, for the chemist was +enabled to pour off into a bottle a quantity of perfectly watery +transparent liquid, while a brownish sediment remained in the vessel, +and was emptied out upon a sheet of paper. This done, Sir Jacob Clancing +pushed aside all his bottles, and turned towards us with a smiling face +and a lighter air. + +‘We shall see what my poor larder can furnish forth,’ said he. +‘Meanwhile, this odour may be offensive to your untrained nostrils, so +we shall away with it. He threw a few grains of some balsamic resin +into the brazier, which at once filled the chamber with a most agreeable +perfume. He then laid a white cloth upon the table, and taking from a +cupboard a dish of cold trout and a large meat pasty, he placed them +upon it, and invited us to draw up our settles and set to work. + +‘I would that I had more toothsome fare to offer ye,’ said he. ‘Were +we at Snellaby Hall, ye should not be put off in this scurvy fashion, I +promise ye. This may serve, however, for hungry men, and I can still +lay my hands upon a brace of bottles of the old Alicant.’ So saying, he +brought a pair of flasks out from a recess, and having seen us served +and our glasses filled, he seated himself in a high-backed oaken chair +and presided with old-fashioned courtesy over our feast. As we supped, I +explained to him what our errand was, and narrated the adventures of the +night, without making mention of our destination. + +‘You are bound for Monmouth’s camp,’ he said quietly, when I had +finished, looking me full in the face with his keen dark eyes. ‘I know +it, but ye need not fear lest I betray you, even were it in my power. +What chance, think ye, hath the Duke against the King’s forces?’ + +‘As much chance as a farmyard fowl against a spurred gamecock, did he +rely only on those whom he hath with him,’ Saxon answered. ‘He hath +reason to think, however, that all England is like a powder magazine, +and he hopes to be the spark to set it alight.’ + +The old man shook his head sadly. ‘The King hath great resources,’ he +remarked. ‘Where is Monmouth to get his trained soldiers?’ + +‘There is the militia,’ I suggested. + +‘And there are many of the old parliamentary breed, who are not too far +gone to strike a blow for their belief,’ said Saxon. ‘Do you but get +half-a-dozen broad-brimmed, snuffle-nosed preachers into a camp, and the +whole Presbytery tribe will swarm round them like flies on a honey-pot. +No recruiting sergeants will ever raise such an army as did Noll’s +preachers in the eastern counties, where the promise of a seat by the +throne was thought of more value than a ten-pound bounty. I would I +could pay mine own debts with these same promises.’ + +‘I should judge from your speech, sir,’ our host observed, ‘that you are +not one of the sectaries. How comes it, then, that you are throwing the +weight of your sword and your experience into the weaker scale?’ + +‘For the very reason that it is the weaker scale,’ said the soldier of +fortune. ‘I should gladly have gone with my brother to the Guinea coast +and had no say in the matter one way or the other, beyond delivering +letters and such trifles. Since I must be doing something, I choose to +fight for Protestantism and Monmouth. It is nothing to me whether James +Stuart or James Walters sits upon the throne, but the court and army of +the King are already made up. Now, since Monmouth hath both courtiers +and soldiers to find, it may well happen that he may be glad of my +services and reward them with honourable preferment.’ + +‘Your logic is sound,’ said our host, ‘save only that you have omitted +the very great chance which you will incur of losing your head if the +Duke’s party are borne down by the odds against them.’ + +‘A man cannot throw a main without putting a stake on the board,’ said +Saxon. + +‘And you, young sir,’ the old man asked, ‘what has caused you to take a +hand in so dangerous a game?’ + +‘I come of a Roundhead stock,’ I answered, ‘and my folk have always +fought for the liberty of the people and the humbling of tyranny. I come +in the place of my father.’ + +‘And you, sir?’ our questioner continued, looking at Reuben. + +‘I have come to see something of the world, and to be with my friend and +companion here,’ he replied. + +‘And I have stronger reasons than any of ye,’ Sir Jacob cried, ‘for +appearing in arms against any man who bears the name of Stuart. Had I +not a mission here which cannot be neglected, I might myself be tempted +to hie westward with ye, and put these grey hairs of mine once more into +the rough clasp of a steel headpiece. For where now is the noble castle +of Snellaby, and where those glades and woods amidst which the Clancings +have grown up, and lived and died, ere ever Norman William set his +foot on English soil? A man of trade--a man who, by the sweat of his +half-starved workers, had laid by ill-gotten wealth, is now the owner +of all that fair property. Should I, the last of the Clancings, show +my face upon it, I might be handed over to the village beadle as a +trespasser, or scourged off it perhaps by the bowstrings of insolent +huntsmen.’ + +‘And how comes so sudden a reverse of fortune?’ I asked. + +‘Fill up your glasses!’ cried the old man, suiting the action to the +word. ‘Here’s a toast for you! Perdition to all faithless princes! +How came it about, ye ask? Why, when the troubles came upon the first +Charles, I stood by him as though he had been mine own brother. At +Edgehill, at Naseby, in twenty skirmishes and battles, I fought stoutly +in his cause, maintaining a troop of horse at my own expense, formed +from among my own gardeners, grooms, and attendants. Then the military +chest ran low, and money must be had to carry on the contest. My silver +chargers and candlesticks were thrown into the melting-pot, as were +those of many another cavalier. They went in metal and they came out +as troopers and pikemen. So we tided over a few months until again the +purse was empty, and again we filled it amongst us. This time it was the +home farm and the oak trees that went. Then came Marston Moor, and every +penny and man was needed to repair that great disaster. I flinched not, +but gave everything. This boiler of soap, a prudent, fat-cheeked man, +had kept himself free from civil broils, and had long had a covetous eye +upon the castle. It was his ambition, poor worm, to be a gentleman, as +though a gabled roof and a crumbling house could ever make him that. I +let him have his way, however, and threw the sum received, every guinea +of it, into the King’s coffers. And so I held out until the final ruin +of Worcester, when I covered the retreat of the young prince, and may +indeed say that save in the Isle of Man I was the last Royalist who +upheld the authority of the crown. The Commonwealth had set a price upon +my head as a dangerous malignant, so I was forced to take my passage in +a Harwich ketch, and arrived in the Lowlands with nothing save my sword +and a few broad pieces in my pocket.’ + +‘A cavalier might do well even then,’ remarked Saxon. ‘There are ever +wars in Germany where a man is worth his hire. When the North Germans +are not in arms against the Swedes or French, the South Germans are sure +to be having a turn with the janissaries.’ + +‘I did indeed take arms for a time in the employ of the United +Provinces, by which means I came face to face once more with mine old +foes, the Roundheads. Oliver had lent Reynolds’s brigade to the French, +and right glad was Louis to have the service of such seasoned troops. +‘Fore God, I stood on the counterscarp at Dunkirk, and I found myself, +when I should have been helping the defence, actually cheering on the +attack. My very heart rose when I saw the bull-dog fellows clambering up +the breach with their pikes at the trail, and never quavering in their +psalm-tune, though the bullets sung around them as thick as bees in the +hiving time. And when they did come to close hugs with the Flemings, I +tell you they set up such a rough cry of soldierly joy that my pride +in them as Englishmen overtopped my hatred of them as foes. However, my +soldiering was of no great duration, for peace was soon declared, and +I then pursued the study of chemistry, for which I had a strong turn, +first with Vorhaager of Leyden, and later with De Huy of Strasburg, +though I fear that these weighty names are but sounds to your ears.’ + +‘Truly,’ said Saxon, ‘there seemeth to be some fatal attraction in this +same chemistry, for we met two officers of the Blue Guards in Salisbury, +who, though they were stout soldierly men in other respects, had also a +weakness in that direction.’ + +‘Ha!’ cried Sir Jacob, with interest. ‘To what school did they belong?’ + +‘Nay, I know nothing of the matter,’ Saxon answered, ‘save that they +denied that Gervinus of Nurnberg, whom I guarded in prison, or any other +man, could transmute metals.’ + +‘For Gervinus I cannot answer,’ said our host, ‘but for the possibility +of it I can pledge my knightly word. However, of that anon. The time +came at last when the second Charles was invited back to his throne, +and all of us, from Jeffrey Hudson, the court dwarf, up to my Lord +Clarendon, were in high feather at the hope of regaining our own once +more. For my own claim, I let it stand for some time, thinking that it +would be a more graceful act for the King to help a poor cavalier who +had ruined himself for the sake of his family without solicitation on +his part. I waited and waited, but no word came, so at last I betook +myself to the levee and was duly presented to him. “Ah,” said he, +greeting me with the cordiality which he could assume so well, “you +are, if I mistake not, Sir Jasper Killigrew?” “Nay, your Majesty,” + I answered, “I am Sir Jacob Clancing, formerly of Snellaby Hall, in +Staffordshire;” and with that I reminded him of Worcester fight and of +many passages which had occurred to us in common. “Od’s fish!” he cried, +“how could I be so forgetful! And how are all at Snellaby?” I then +explained to him that the Hall had passed out of my hands, and told him +in a few words the state to which I had been reduced. His face clouded +over and his manner chilled to me at once. “They are all on to me for +money and for places,” he said, “and truly the Commons are so niggardly +to me that I can scarce be generous to others. However, Sir Jacob, we +shall see what can be done for thee,” and with that he dismissed me. +That same night the secretary of my Lord Clarendon came to me, and +announced with much form and show that, in consideration of my long +devotion and the losses which I had sustained, the King was graciously +pleased to make me a lottery cavalier.’ + +‘And pray, sir, what is a lottery cavalier?’ I asked. + +‘It is nothing else than a licensed keeper of a gambling-house. This +was his reward to me. I was to be allowed to have a den in the piazza +of Covent Garden, and there to decoy the young sparks of the town and +fleece them at ombre. To restore my own fortunes I was to ruin others. +My honour, my family, my reputation, they were all to weigh for +nothing so long as I had the means of bubbling a few fools out of their +guineas.’ + +‘I have heard that some of the lottery cavaliers did well,’ remarked +Saxon reflectively. + +‘Well or ill, it way no employment for me. I waited upon the King and +implored that his bounty would take another form. His only reply was +that for one so poor I was strangely fastidious. For weeks I hung about +the court--I and other poor cavaliers like myself, watching the royal +brothers squandering upon their gaming and their harlots sums which +would have restored us to our patrimonies. I have seen Charles put upon +one turn of a card as much as would have satisfied the most exacting of +us. In the parks of St. James, or in the Gallery at Whitehall, I still +endeavoured to keep myself before his eyes, in the hope that some +provision would be made for me. At last I received a second message from +him. It was that unless I could dress more in the mode he could dispense +with my attendance. That was his message to the old broken soldier who +had sacrificed health, wealth, position, everything in the service of +his father and himself.’ + +‘Shameful!’ we cried, all three. + +‘Can you wonder, then, that I cursed the whole Stuart race, +false-hearted, lecherous, and cruel? For the Hall, I could buy it back +to-morrow if I chose, but why should I do so when I have no heir?’ + +‘Ho, you have prospered then!’ said Decimus Saxon, with one of his +shrewd sidelong looks. ‘Perhaps you have yourself found out how to +convert pots and pans into gold in the way you have spoken of. But that +cannot be, for I see iron and brass in this room which would hardly +remain there could you convert it to gold.’ + +‘Gold has its uses, and iron has its uses,’ said Sir Jacob oracularly. +‘The one can never supplant the other.’ + +‘Yet these officers,’ I remarked, ‘did declare to us that it was but a +superstition of the vulgar.’ + +‘Then these officers did show that their knowledge was less than their +prejudice. Alexander Setonius, a Scot, was first of the moderns to +achieve it. In the month of March 1602 he did change a bar of lead into +gold in the house of a certain Hansen, at Rotterdam, who hath testified +to it. He then not only repeated the same process before three learned +men sent by the Kaiser Rudolph, but he taught Johann Wolfgang Dienheim +of Freibourg, and Gustenhofer of Strasburg, which latter taught it to my +own illustrious master--’ + +‘Who in turn taught it to you,’ cried Saxon triumphantly. ‘I have no +great store of metal with me, good sir, but there are my head-piece, +back and breast-plate, taslets and thigh-pieces, together with my +sword, spurs, and the buckles of my harness. I pray you to use your most +excellent and praiseworthy art upon these, and I will promise within a +few days to bring round a mass of metal which shall be more worthy of +your skill.’ + +‘Nay, nay,’ said the alchemist, smiling and shaking his head. ‘It can +indeed be done, but only slowly and in order, small pieces at a time, +and with much expenditure of work and patience. For a man to enrich +himself at it he must labour hard and long; yet in the end I will not +deny that he may compass it. And now, since the flasks are empty and +your young comrade is nodding in his chair, it will perhaps be as well +for you to spend as much of the night as is left in repose.’ He drew +several blankets and rugs from a corner and scattered them over the +floor. ‘It is a soldier’s couch,’ he remarked; ‘but ye may sleep on +worse before ye put Monmouth on the English throne. For myself, it is +my custom to sleep in an inside chamber, which is hollowed out of the +hill.’ With a few last words and precautions for our comfort he withdrew +with the lamp, passing through a door which had escaped our notice at +the further end of the apartment. + +Reuben, having had no rest since he left Havant, had already dropped +upon the rugs, and was fast asleep, with a saddle for a pillow. Saxon +and I sat for a few minutes longer by the light of the burning brazier. + +‘One might do worse than take to this same chemical business,’ my +companion remarked, knocking the ashes out of his pipe. ‘See you yon +iron-bound chest in the corner?’ + +‘What of it?’ + +‘It is two thirds full of gold, which this worthy gentleman hath +manufactured.’ + +‘How know you that?’ I asked incredulously. + +‘When you did strike the door panel with the hilt of your sword, as +though you would drive it in, you may have heard some scuttling about, +and the turning of a lock. Well, thanks to my inches, I was able to look +through yon slit in the wall, and I saw our friend throw something into +the chest with a chink, and then lock it. It was but a glance at the +contents, yet I could swear that that dull yellow light could come from +no metal but gold. Let us see if it be indeed locked.’ Rising from his +seat he walked over to the box and pulled vigorously at the lid. + +‘Forbear, Saxon, forbear!’ I cried angrily. ‘What would our host say, +should he come upon you?’ + +‘Nay, then, he should not keep such things beneath his roof. With a +chisel or a dagger now, this might be prized open.’ + +‘By Heaven!’ I whispered, ‘if you should attempt it I shall lay you on +your back.’ + +‘Well, well, young Anak! it was but a passing fancy to see the treasure +again. Now, if he were but well favoured to the King, this would be +fair prize of war. Marked ye not that he claimed to have been the last +Royalist who drew sword in England? and he confessed that he had been +proscribed as a malignant. Your father, godly as he is, would have +little compunction in despoiling such an Amalekite. Besides, bethink +you, he can make more as easily as your good mother maketh cranberry +dumplings.’ + +‘Enough said!’ I answered sternly. ‘It will not bear discussion. Get ye +to your couch, lest I summon our host and tell him what manner of man he +hath entertained.’ + +With many grumbles Saxon consented at last to curl his long limbs up +upon a mat, whilst I lay by his side and remained awake until the mellow +light of morning streamed through the chinks between the ill-covered +rafters. Truth to tell, I feared to sleep, lest the freebooting habits +of the soldier of fortune should be too strong for him, and he should +disgrace us in the eyes of our kindly and generous entertainer. At last, +however, his long-drawn breathing assured me that he was asleep, and I +was able to settle down to a few hours of welcome rest. + + + +Chapter XII. Of certain Passages upon the Moor + +In the morning, after a breakfast furnished by the remains of our +supper, we looked to our horses and prepared for our departure. Ere we +could mount, however, our kindly host came running out to us with a load +of armour in his arms. + +‘Come hither,’ said he, beckoning to Reuben. ‘It is not meet, lad, that +you should go bare-breasted against the enemy when your comrades are +girt with steel. I have here mine own old breastplate and head-piece, +which should, methinks, fit you, for if you have more flesh than I, I am +a larger framework of a man. Ah, said I not so! Were’t measured for you +by Silas Thomson, the court armourer, it could not grip better. Now +on with the head-piece. A close fit again. You are now a cavalier whom +Monmouth or any other leader might be proud to see ride beneath his +banner.’ + +Both helmet and body-plates were of the finest Milan steel, richly +inlaid with silver and with gold, and carved all over in rare and +curious devices. So stern and soldierly was the effect, that the +ruddy, kindly visage of our friend staring out of such a panoply had an +ill-matched and somewhat ludicrous appearance. + +‘Nay, nay,’ cried the old cavalier, seeing a smile upon our features, +‘it is but right that so precious a jewel as a faithful heart should +have a fitting casket to protect it.’ + +‘I am truly beholden to you, sir,’ said Reuben; ‘I can scarce find words +to express my thanks. Holy mother! I have a mind to ride straight back +to Havant, to show them how stout a man-at-arms hath been reared amongst +them.’ + +‘It is steel of proof,’ Sir Jacob remarked; ‘a pistol-bullet might +glance from it. And you,’ he continued, turning to me, ‘here is a small +gift by which you shall remember this meeting. I did observe that you +did cast a wistful eye upon my bookshelf. It is Plutarch’s lives of the +ancient worthies, done into English by the ingenious Mr. Latimer. Carry +this volume with you, and shape your life after the example of the giant +men whose deeds are here set forth. In your saddle-bag I place a small +but weighty packet, which I desire you to hand over to Monmouth upon +the day of your arrival in his camp. As to you, sir,’ addressing Decimus +Saxon, ‘here is a slug of virgin gold for you, which may fashion into a +pin or such like ornament. You may wear it with a quiet conscience, for +it is fairly given to you and not filched from your entertainer whilst +he slept.’ + +Saxon and I shot a sharp glance of surprise at each other at this +speech, which showed that our words of the night before were not unknown +to him. Sir Jacob, however, showed no signs of anger, but proceeded to +point out our road and to advise us as to our journey. + +‘You must follow this sheep-track until you come on another and broader +pathway which makes for the West,’ said he. ‘It is little used, and +there is small chance of your falling in with any of your enemies upon +it. This path will lead you between the villages of Fovant and Hindon, +and soon to Mere, which is no great distance from Bruton, upon the +Somersetshire border.’ + +Thanking our venerable host for his great kindness towards us we gave +rein to our horses, and left him once more to the strange solitary +existence in which we had found him. So artfully had the site of +his cottage been chosen, that when we looked back to give him a last +greeting both he and his dwelling had disappeared already from our view, +nor could we, among the many mounds and hollows, determine where the +cottage lay which had given us such welcome shelter. In front of us and +on either side the great uneven dun-coloured plain stretched away to the +horizon, without a break in its barren gorse-covered surface. Over the +whole expanse there was no sign of life, save for an occasional rabbit +which whisked into its burrow on hearing our approach, or a few thin and +hungry sheep, who could scarce sustain life by feeding on the coarse and +wiry grass which sprang from the unfruitful soil. + +The pathway was so narrow that only one of us could ride upon it at a +time, but we presently abandoned it altogether, using it simply as a +guide, and galloping along side by side over the rolling plain. We were +all silent, Reuben meditating upon his new corslet, as I could see from +his frequent glances at it; while Saxon, with his eyes half closed, was +brooding over some matter of his own. For my own part, my thoughts ran +upon the ignominy of the old soldier’s designs upon the gold chest, and +the additional shame which rose from the knowledge that our host had in +some way divined his intention. No good could come of an alliance with a +man so devoid of all feelings of honour or of gratitude. So strongly did +I feel upon it that I at last broke the silence by pointing to a +cross path, which turned away from the one which we were pursuing, and +recommending him to follow it, since he had proved that he was no fit +company for honest men. + +‘By the living rood!’ he cried, laying his hand upon the hilt of his +rapier,’ have you taken leave of your senses? These are words such as no +honourable cavaliero can abide.’ + +‘They are none the less words of truth,’ I answered. + +His blade flashed out in an instant, while his mare bounded twice her +length under the sharp dig of his spurs. + +‘We have here,’ he cried, reining her round, with his fierce lean face +all of a quiver with passion, ‘an excellent level stretch on which to +discuss the matter. Out with your bilbo and maintain your words.’ + +‘I shall not stir a hair’s-breadth to attack you,’ I answered. ‘Why +should I, when I bear you no ill-will? If you come against me, however, +I will assuredly beat you out of your saddle, for all your tricky sword +play.’ I drew my broadsword as I spoke, and stood upon my guard, for I +guessed that with so old a soldier the onset would be sharp and sudden. + +‘By all the saints in heaven!’ cried Reuben, ‘which ever of ye strikes +first at the other I’ll snap this pistol at his head. None of your +jokes, Don Decimo, for by the Lord I’ll let drive at you if you were my +own mother’s son. Put up your sword, for the trigger falls easy, and my +finger is a twitching.’ + +‘Curse you for a spoil-sport!’ growled Saxon, sulkily sheathing his +weapon. ‘Nay, Clarke,’ he added, after a few moments of reflection, +‘this is but child’s play, that two camarados with a purpose in view +should fall out over such a trifle. I, who am old enough to be your +father, should have known better than to have drawn upon you, for a +boy’s tongue wags on impulse and without due thought. Do but say that +you have said more than you meant.’ + +‘My way of saying it may have been over plain and rough,’ I answered, +for I saw that he did but want a little salve where my short words had +galled him. ‘At the same time, our ways differ from your ways, and that +difference must be mended, or you can be no true comrade of ours.’ + +‘All right, Master Morality,’ quoth he, ‘I must e’en unlearn some of the +tricks of my trade. Od’s feet, man, if ye object to me, what the henker +would ye think of some whom I have known? However, let that pass. It +is time that we were at the wars, for our good swords will not bide in +their scabbards. + + “The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty, + For want of fighting was grown rusty, + And ate into itself for lack + Of somebody to hew and hack.” + +You cannot think a thought but old Samuel hath been before you.’ + +‘Surely we shall be at the end of this dreary plain presently,’ Reuben +cried. ‘Its insipid flatness is enough to set the best of friends by the +ears. We might be in the deserts of Libya instead of his most graceless +Majesty’s county of Wiltshire.’ + +‘There is smoke over yonder, upon the side of that hill,’ said Saxon, +pointing to the southward. + +‘Methinks I see one straight line of houses there,’ I observed, shading +my eyes with my hand. ‘But it is distant, and the shimmer of the sun +disturbs the sight.’ + +‘It must be the hamlet of Hindon,’ said Reuben. ‘Oh, the heat of this +steel coat! I wonder if it were very un-soldierly to slip it off and tie +it about Dido’s neck. I shall be baked alive else, like a crab in its +shell. How say you, illustrious, is it contravened by any of those +thirty-nine articles of war which you bear about in your bosom?’ + +‘The bearing of the weight of your harness, young man,’ Saxon answered +gravely, ‘is one of the exercises of war, and as such only attainable by +such practice as you are now undergoing. You have many things to learn, +and one of them is not to present petronels too readily at folk’s heads +when you are on horseback. The jerk of your charger’s movement even now +might have drawn your trigger, and so deprived Monmouth of an old and +tried soldier.’ + +‘There would be much weight in your contention,’ my friend answered, +‘were it not that I now bethink me that I had forgot to recharge my +pistol since discharging it at that great yellow beast yesternight.’ + +Decimus Saxon shook his head sadly. ‘I doubt we shall never make a +soldier of you,’ he remarked. ‘You fall from your horse if the brute +does bit change his step, you show a levity which will not jump with the +gravity of the true soldado, you present empty petronels as a menace, +and finally, you crave permission to tie your armour--armour which the +Cid himself might be proud to wear--around the neck of your horse. Yet +you have heart and mettle, I believe, else you would not be here.’ + +‘Gracias, Signor!’ cried Reuben, with a bow which nearly unhorsed him; +‘the last remark makes up for all the rest, else had I been forced to +cross blades with you, to maintain my soldierly repute.’ + +‘Touching that same incident last night,’ said Saxon, ‘of the chest +filled, as I surmise, with gold, which I was inclined to take as lawful +plunder, I am now ready to admit that I may have shown an undue haste +and precipitance, considering that the old man treated us fairly.’ + +‘Say no more of it,’ I answered, ‘if you will but guard against such +impulses for the future.’ + +‘They do not properly come from me,’ he replied, ‘but from Will +Spotterbridge, who was a man of no character at all.’ + +‘And how comes he to be mixed up in the matter?’ I asked curiously. + +‘Why, marry, in this wise. My father married the daughter of this same +Will Spotterbridge, and so weakened a good old stock by an unhealthy +strain. Will was a rake-hell of Fleet Street in the days of James, a +chosen light of Alsatia, the home of bullies and of brawlers. His blood +hath through his daughter been transmitted to the ten of us, though I +rejoice to say that I, being the tenth, it had by that time lost much +of its virulence, and indeed amounts to little more than a proper pride, +and a laudable desire to prosper.’ + +‘How, then, has it affected the race?’ I asked. + +‘Why,’ he answered, ‘the Saxons of old were a round-faced, contented +generation, with their ledgers in their hands for six days and their +bibles on the seventh. If my father did but drink a cup of small beer +more than his wont, or did break out upon provocation into any fond +oath, as “Od’s niggers!” or “Heart alive!” he would mourn over it as +though it were the seven deadly sins. Was this a man, think ye, in the +ordinary course of nature to beget ten long lanky children, nine of +whom might have been first cousins of Lucifer, and foster-brothers of +Beelzebub?’ + +‘It was hard upon him,’ remarked Reuben. + +‘On him! Nay, the hardship was all with us. If he with his eyes +open chose to marry the daughter of an incarnate devil like Will +Spotterbridge, because she chanced to be powdered and patched to his +liking, what reason hath he for complaint? It is we, who have the blood +of this Hector of the taverns grafted upon our own good honest stream, +who have most reason to lift up our voices.’ + +‘Faith, by the same chain of reasoning,’ said Reuben, ‘one of my +ancestors must have married a woman with a plaguy dry throat, for both +my father and I are much troubled with the complaint.’ + +‘You have assuredly inherited a plaguy pert tongue,’ growled Saxon. +‘From what I have told you, you will see that our whole life is a +conflict between our natural Saxon virtue and the ungodly impulses of +the Spotterbridge taint. That of which you have had cause to complain +yesternight is but an example of the evil to which I am subjected.’ + +‘And your brothers and sisters?’ I asked; ‘how hath this circumstance +affected them?’ The road was bleak and long, so that the old soldier’s +gossip was a welcome break to the tedium of the journey. + +‘They have all succumbed,’ said Saxon, with a groan. ‘Alas, alas! they +were a goodly company could they have turned their talents to better +uses. Prima was our eldest born. She did well until she attained +womanhood. Secundus was a stout seaman, and owned his own vessel when +he was yet a young man. It was remarked, however, that he started on a +voyage in a schooner and came back in a brig, which gave rise to some +inquiry. It may be, as he said, that he found it drifting about in the +North Sea, and abandoned his own vessel in favour of it, but they hung +him before he could prove it. Tertia ran away with a north-country +drover, and hath been on the run ever since. Quartus and Nonus have been +long engaged in busying themselves over the rescue of the black folk +from their own benighted and heathen country, conveying them over by the +shipload to the plantations, where they may learn the beauties of the +Christian religion. They are, however, men of violent temper and profane +speech, who cherish no affection for their younger brother. Quintus was +a lad of promise, but he found a hogshead of rumbo which was thrown up +from a wreck, and he died soon afterwards. Sextus might have done well, +for he became clerk to Johnny Tranter the attorney; but he was of an +enterprising turn, and he shifted the whole business, papers, cash, and +all to the Lowlands, to the no small inconvenience of his employer, who +hath never been able to lay hands either on one or the other from that +day to this. Septimus died young. As to Octavius, Will Spotterbridge +broke out early in him, and he was slain in a quarrel over some dice, +which were said by his enemies to be so weighted that the six must ever +come upwards. Let this moving recital be a warning to ye, if ye are +fools enough to saddle yourselves with a wife, to see that she hath +no vice in her, for a fair face is a sorry make-weight against a foul +mind.’ + +Reuben and I could not but laugh over this frank family confession, +which our companion delivered without a sign of shame or embarrassment. +‘Ye have paid a heavy price for your father’s want of discretion,’ I +remarked. ‘But what in the name of fate is this upon our left?’ + +‘A gibbet, by the look of it,’ said Saxon, peering across at the gaunt +framework of wood, which rose up from a little knoll. ‘Let us ride past +it, for it is little out of our way. They are rare things in England, +though by my faith there were more gallows than milestones when Turenne +was in the Palatinate. What between the spies and traitors who were bred +by the war, the rascally Schwartzritter and Lanzknechte, the Bohemian +vagabonds, and an occasional countryman who was put out of the way lest +he do something amiss, there was never such a brave time for the crows.’ + +As we approached this lonely gibbet we saw that a dried-up wisp of a +thing which could hardly be recognised as having once been a human being +was dangling from the centre of it. This wretched relic of mortality +was secured to the cross-bar by an iron chain, and flapped drearily +backwards and forwards in the summer breeze. We had pulled up our +horses, and were gazing in silence at this sign-post of death, when what +had seemed to us to be a bundle of rags thrown down at the foot of the +gallows began suddenly to move, and turned towards us the wizened face +of an aged woman, so marked with evil passions and so malignant in its +expression that it inspired us with even more horror than the unclean +thing which dangled above her head. + +‘Gott in Himmel!’ cried Saxon, ‘it is ever thus! A gibbet draws witches +as a magnet draws needles. All the hexerei of the country side will sit +round one, like cats round a milk-pail. Beware of her! she hath the evil +eye!’ + +‘Poor soul! It is the evil stomach that she hath,’ said Reuben, walking +his horse up to her. ‘Whoever saw such a bag of bones! I warrant that +she is pining away for want of a crust of bread.’ + +The creature whined, and thrust out two skinny claws to grab the piece +of silver which our friend had thrown down to her. Her fierce dark +eyes and beak-like nose, with the gaunt bones over which the yellow +parchment-like skin was stretched tightly, gave her a fear-inspiring +aspect, like some foul bird of prey, or one of those vampires of whom +the story-tellers write. + +‘What use is money in the wilderness?’ I remarked; ‘she cannot feed +herself upon a silver piece.’ + +She tied the coin hurriedly into the corner of her rags, as though she +feared that I might try to wrest it from her. ‘It will buy bread,’ she +croaked. + +‘But who is there to sell it, good mistress?’ I asked. + +‘They sell it at Fovant, and they sell it at Hindon,’ she answered. ‘I +bide here o’ days, but I travel at night.’ + +‘I warrant she does, and on a broomstick,’ quoth Saxon; ‘but tell us, +mother, who is it who hangs above your head?’ + +‘It is he who slew my youngest born,’ cried the old woman, casting a +malignant look at the mummy above her, and shaking a clenched hand at it +which was hardly more fleshy than its own. ‘It is he who slew my bonny +boy. Out here upon the wide moor he met him, and he took his young life +from him when no kind hand was near to stop the blow. On that ground +there my lad’s blood was shed, and from that watering hath grown this +goodly gallows-tree with its fine ripe fruit upon it. And here, come +rain, come shine, shall I, his mother, sit while two bones hang together +of the man who slow my heart’s darling.’ She nestled down in her rags +as she spoke, and leaning her chin upon her hands stared up with an +intensity of hatred at the hideous remnant. + +‘Come away, Reuben,’ I cried, for the sight was enough to make one +loathe one’s kind. ‘She is a ghoul, not a woman.’ + +‘Pah! it gives one a foul taste in the mouth,’ quoth Saxon. ‘Who is for +a fresh gallop over the Downs? Away with care and carrion! + + “Sir John got on his bonny brown steed, + To Monmouth for to ride--a. + A brave buff coat upon his back, + A broadsword by his side--a. + Ha, ha, young man, we rebels can + Pull down King James’s pride--a!” + +Hark away, lads, with a loose rein and a bloody heel!’ + +We spurred our steeds and galloped from the unholy spot as fast as our +brave beasts could carry us. To all of us the air had a purer flavour +and the heath a sweeter scent by contrast with the grim couple whom we +had left behind us. What a sweet world would this be, my children, were +it not for man and his cruel ways! + +When we at last pulled up we had set some three or four miles between +the gibbet and ourselves. Right over against us, on the side of a gentle +slope, stood a bright little village, with a red-roofed church rising up +from amidst a clump of trees. To our eyes, after the dull sward of the +plain, it was a glad sight to see the green spread of the branches and +the pleasant gardens which girt the hamlet round. All morning we had +seen no sight of a human being, save the old hag upon the moor and a few +peat-cutters in the distance. Our belts, too, were beginning to be loose +upon us, and the remembrance of our breakfast more faint. + +‘This,’ said I, ‘must be the village of Mere, which we were to pass +before coming to Bruton. We shall soon be over the Somersetshire +border.’ + +‘I trust that we shall soon be over a dish of beefsteaks,’ groaned +Reuben. ‘I am well-nigh famished. So fair a village must needs have a +passable inn, though I have not seen one yet upon my travels which would +compare with the old Wheatsheaf.’ + +‘Neither inn nor dinner for us just yet,’ said Saxon. ‘Look yonder to +the north, and tell me what you see.’ + +On the extreme horizon there was visible a long line of gleaming, +glittering points, which shone and sparkled like a string of diamonds. +These brilliant specks were all in rapid motion, and yet kept their +positions to each other. + +‘What is it, then?’ we both cried. + +‘Horse upon the march,’ quoth Saxon. ‘It may be our friends of +Salisbury, who have made a long day’s journey; or, as I am inclined +to think, it may be some other body of the King’s horse. They are far +distant, and what we see is but the sun shining on their casques; yet +they are bound for this very village, if I mistake not. It would be +wisest to avoid entering it, lest the rustics set them upon our track. +Let us skirt it and push on for Bruton, where we may spare time for bite +and sup.’ + +‘Alas, alas! for our dinners!’ cried Reuben ruefully. ‘I have fallen +away until my body rattles about, inside this shell of armour, like a +pea in a pod. However, lads, it is all for the Protestant faith.’ + +‘One more good stretch to Bruton, and we may rest in peace,’ said Saxon. +‘It is ill dining when a dragoon may be served up as a grace after meat. +Our horses are still fresh, and we should be there in little over an +hour.’ + +We pushed on our way accordingly, passing at a safe distance from Mere, +which is the village where the second Charles did conceal himself after +the battle of Worcester. The road beyond was much crowded by peasants, +who were making their way out of Somersetshire, and by farmers’ waggons, +which were taking loads of food to the West, ready to turn a few guineas +either from the King’s men or from the rebels. We questioned many as to +the news from the war, but though we were now on the outskirts of the +disturbed country, we could gain no clear account of how matters stood, +save that all agreed that the rising was on the increase. The country +through which we rode was a beautiful one, consisting of low swelling +hills, well tilled and watered by numerous streamlets. Crossing over the +river Brue by a good stone bridge, we at last reached the small country +town for which we had been making, which lies embowered in the midst of +a broad expanse of fertile meadows, orchards, and sheep-walks. From the +rising ground by the town we looked back over the plain without seeing +any traces of the troopers. We learned, too, from an old woman of the +place, that though a troop of the Wiltshire Yeomanry had passed through +the day before, there were no soldiers quartered at present in the +neighbourhood. Thus assured we rode boldly into the town, and soon found +our way to the principal inn. I have some dim remembrance of an +ancient church upon an eminence, and of a quaint stone cross within the +market-place, but assuredly, of all the recollections which I retain of +Bruton there is none so pleasing as that of the buxom landlady’s face, +and of the steaming dishes which she lost no time in setting before us. + + + +Chapter XIII. Of Sir Gervas Jerome, Knight Banneret of the County of +Surrey + +The inn was very full of company, being occupied not only by many +Government agents and couriers on their way to and from the seat of +the rising, but also by all the local gossips, who gathered there to +exchange news and consume Dame Hobson the landlady’s home-brewed. In +spite, however, of this stress of custom and the consequent uproar, the +hostess conducted us into her own private room, where we could consume +her excellent cheer in peace and quietness. This favour was due, I +think, to a little sly manoeuvring and a few whispered words from Saxon, +who amongst other accomplishments which he had picked up during his +chequered career had a pleasing knack of establishing friendly relations +with the fair sex, irrespective of age, size, or character. Gentle +and simple, Church and Dissent, Whig and Tory, if they did but wear a +petticoat our comrade never failed, in spite of his fifty years, to make +his way into their good graces by the help of his voluble tongue mid +assured manner. + +‘We are your grateful servants, mistress,’ said he, when the smoking +joint and the batter pudding had been placed upon the table. ‘We have +robbed you of your room. Will you not honour us so far as to sit down +with us and share our repast?’ + +‘Nay, kind sir,’ said the portly dame, much flattered by the proposal; +‘it is not for me to sit with gentles like yourselves.’ + +‘Beauty has a claim which persons of quality, and above all cavalieros +of the sword, are the first to acknowledge,’ cried Saxon, with his +little twinkling eyes fixed in admiration upon her buxom countenance. +‘Nay, by my troth, you shall not leave us. I shall lock the door first. +If you will not eat, you shall at least drink a cup of Alicant with me.’ + +‘Nay, sir, it is too much honour,’ cried Dame Hobson, with a simper. ‘I +shall go down into the cellars and bring a flask of the best.’ + +‘Nay, by my manhood, you shall not,’ said Saxon, springing up from his +seat. ‘What are all these infernal lazy drawers here for if you are to +descend to menial offices?’ Handing the widow to a chair he clanked away +into the tap-room, where we heard him swearing at the men-servants, and +cursing them for a droning set of rascals who had taken advantage of +the angelic goodness of their mistress and her incomparable sweetness of +temper. + +‘Here is the wine, fair mistress,’ said he, returning presently with a +bottle in either hand. ‘Let me fill your glass. Ha! it flows clear and +yellow like a prime vintage. These rogues can stir their limbs when they +find that there is a man to command them.’ + +‘Would that there were ever such,’ said the widow meaningly, with a +languishing look at our companion. ‘Here is to you, sir--and to ye, too, +young sirs,’ she added, sipping at her wine. ‘May there be a speedy end +to the insurrection, for I judge, from your gallant equipment, that ye +be serving the King.’ + +‘His business takes us to the West,’ said Reuben, ‘and we have every +reason to hope that there will be a speedy end to the insurrection.’ + +‘Aye, aye, though blood will be shed first,’ she said, shaking her head. +‘They tell me that the rebels are as many as seven thousand, and that +they swear to give an’ take no quarter, the murderous villains! Alas! +how any gentleman can fall to such bloody work when he might have a +clean honourable occupation, such as innkeeping or the like, is more +than my poor mind can understand. There is a sad difference betwixt the +man who lieth on the cold ground, not knowing how long it may be before +he is three feet deep in it, and he who passeth his nights upon a warm +feather bed, with mayhap a cellar beneath it stocked with even such +wines as we are now drinking.’ She again looked hard at Saxon as she +spoke, while Reuben and I nudged each other beneath the table. + +‘This business hath doubtless increased your trade, fair mistress,’ +quoth Saxon. + +‘Aye, and in the way that payeth best,’ said she. ‘The few kilderkins of +beer which are drunk by the common folk make little difference one way +or the other. But now, when we have lieutenants of counties, officers, +mayors, and gentry spurring it for very life down the highways, I have +sold more of my rare old wines in three days than ever I did before in +a calendar month. It is not ale, or strong waters, I promise you, that +those gentles drink, but Priniac, Languedoc, Tent, Muscadine, Chiante, +and Tokay--never a flask under the half-guinea.’ + +‘So indeed!’ quoth Saxon thoughtfully. ‘A snug home and a steady +income.’ + +‘Would that my poor Peter had lived to share it with me,’ said Dame +Hobson, laying down her glass, and rubbing her eyes with a corner of +her kerchief. ‘He was a good man, poor soul, though in very truth and +between friends he did at last become as broad and as thick as one of +his own puncheons. All well, the heart is the thing! Marry come up! if a +woman were ever to wait until her own fancy came her way, there would be +more maids than mothers in the land.’ + +‘Prythee, good dame, how runs your own fancy?’ asked Reuben +mischievously. + +‘Not in the direction of fat, young man,’ she answered smartly, with a +merry glance at our plump companion. + +‘She has hit you there, Reuben,’ said I. + +‘I would have no pert young springald,’ she continued, ‘but one who hath +knowledge of the world, and ripe experience. Tall he should be, and of +sinewy build, free of speech that he might lighten the weary hours, and +help entertain the gentles when they crack a flagon of wine. Of business +habits he must be, too, forsooth, for is there not a busy hostel and two +hundred good pounds a year to pass through his fingers? If Jane Hobson +is to be led to the altar again it must be by such a man as this.’ + +Saxon had listened with much attention to the widow’s words, and had +just opened his mouth to make some reply to her when a clattering and +bustle outside announced the arrival of some traveller. Our +hostess drank off her wine and pricked up her ears, but when a loud +authoritative voice was heard in the passage, demanding a private room +and a draught of sack, her call to duty overcame her private concerns, +and she bustled off with a few words of apology to take the measure of +the new-comer. + +‘Body o’ me, lads!’ quoth Decimus Saxon the moment that she disappeared, +‘ye can see how the land lies. I have half a mind to let Monmouth carve +his own road, and to pitch my tent in this quiet English township.’ + +‘Your tent, indeed!’ cried Reuben; ‘it is a brave tent that is furnished +with cellars of such wine as we are drinking. And as to the quiet, my +illustrious, if you take up your residence here I’ll warrant that the +quiet soon comes to an end.’ + +‘You have seen the woman,’ said Saxon, with his brow all in a wrinkle +with thought. ‘She hath much to commend her. A man must look to himself. +Two hundred pounds a year are not to be picked off the roadside every +June morning. It is not princely, but it is something for an old soldier +of fortune who hath been in the wars for five-and-thirty years, and +foresees the time when his limbs will grow stiff in his harness. What +sayeth our learned Fleming--“an mulier--” but what in the name of the +devil have we here?’ + +Our companion’s ejaculation was called forth by a noise as of a slight +scuffle outside the door, with a smothered ‘Oh, sir!’ and ‘What will the +maids think?’ The contest was terminated by the door being opened, and +Dame Hobson re-entering the room with her face in a glow, and a slim +young man dressed in the height of fashion at her heels. + +‘I am sure, good gentlemen,’ said she, ‘that ye will not object to this +young nobleman drinking his wine in the same room with ye, since all the +others are filled with the townsfolk and commonalty.’ + +‘Faith! I must needs be mine own usher,’ said the stranger, sticking his +gold-laced cap under his left arm and laying his hand upon his heart, +while he bowed until his forehead nearly struck the edge of the table. +‘Your very humble servant, gentlemen, Sir Gervas Jerome, knight banneret +of his Majesty’s county of Surrey, and at one time custos rotulorum of +the district of Beacham Ford.’ + +‘Welcome, sir,’ quoth Reuben, with a merry twinkle in his eye. ‘You have +before you Don Decimo Saxon of the Spanish nobility, together with Sir +Micah Clarke and Sir Reuben Lockarby, both of his Majesty’s county of +Hampshire.’ + +‘Proud and glad to meet ye, gentlemen!’ cried the newcomer, with a +flourish. ‘But what is this upon the table? Alicant? Fie, fie, it is a +drink for boys. Let us have some good sack with plenty of body in it. +Claret for youth, say I, sack for maturity, and strong waters in old +age. Fly, my sweetest, move those dainty feet of thine, for egad! my +throat is like leather. Od’s ‘oons, I drank deep last night, and yet +it is clear that I could not have drunk enough, for I was as dry as a +concordance when I awoke.’ + +Saxon sat silently at the table, looking so viciously at the stranger +out of his half-closed glittering eyes that I feared that we should +have another such brawl as occurred at Salisbury, with perhaps a more +unpleasant ending. Finally, however, his ill-humour at the gallant’s +free and easy attention to our hostess spent itself in a few muttered +oaths, and he lit his long pipe, the never-failing remedy of a ruffled +spirit. As to Reuben and myself, we watched our new companion half in +wonder and half in amusement, for his appearance and manners were novel +enough to raise the interest of inexperienced youngsters like ourselves. + +I have said that he was dressed in the height of fashion, and such +indeed was the impression which a glance would give. His face was thin +and aristocratic, with a well-marked nose, delicate features, and gay +careless expression. Some little paleness of the cheeks and darkness +under the eyes, the result of hard travel or dissipation, did but add a +chastening grace to his appearance. His white periwig, velvet and silver +riding coat, lavender vest and red satin knee-breeches were all of the +best style and cut, but when looked at closely, each and all of these +articles of attire bore evidence of having seen better days. Beside the +dust and stains of travel, there was a shininess or a fading of colour +here and there which scarce accorded with the costliness of their +material or the bearing of their wearer. His long riding-boots had a +gaping seam in the side of one of them, whilst his toe was pushing +its way through the end of the other. For the rest, he wore a handsome +silver-hilted rapier at his side, and had a frilled cambric shirt +somewhat the worse for wear and open at the front, as was the mode with +the gallants of those days. All the time he was speaking he mumbled a +toothpick, which together with his constant habit of pronouncing his +o’s as a’s made his conversation sound strange to our ears. (Note D +Appendix) Whilst we were noting these peculiarities he was reclining +upon Dame Hobson’s best taffatta-covered settee, tranquilly combing his +wig with a delicate ivory comb which he had taken from a small satin bag +which hung upon the right of his sword-belt. + +‘Lard preserve us from country inns!’ he remarked. ‘What with the boors +that swarm in every chamber, and the want of mirrors, and jasmine water, +and other necessaries, blister me if one has not to do one’s toilet +in the common room. ‘Oons! I’d as soon travel in the land of the Great +Mogul!’ + +‘When you shall come to be my age, young sir,’ Saxon answered, ‘you may +know better than to decry a comfortable country hostel.’ + +‘Very like, sir, very like!’ the gallant answered, with a careless +laugh. ‘For all that, being mine own age, I feel the wilds of Wiltshire +and the inns of Bruton to be a sorry change after the Mall, and the fare +of Pontack’s or the Coca Tree. Ah, Lud! here comes the sack! Open it, my +pretty Hebe, and send a drawer with fresh glasses, for these gentlemen +must do me the honour of drinking with me. A pinch of snuff, sirs? Aye, +ye may well look hard at the box. A pretty little thing, sirs, from a +certain lady of title, who shall be nameless; though, if I were to say +that her title begins with a D and her name with a C, a gentleman of the +Court might hazard a guess.’ + +Our hostess, having brought fresh glasses, withdrew, and Decimus +Saxon soon found an opportunity for following her. Sir Gervas Jerome +continued, however, to chatter freely to Reuben and myself over +the wine, rattling along as gaily and airily as though we were old +acquaintances. + +‘Sink me, if I have not frighted your comrade away!’ he remarked, ‘Or is +it possible that he hath gone on the slot of the plump widow? Methought +he looked in no very good temper when I kissed her at the door. Yet it +is a civility which I seldom refuse to anything which wears a cap. Your +friend’s appearance smacked more of Mars than of Venus, though, indeed, +those who worship the god are wont to be on good terms with the goddess. +A hardy old soldier, I should judge, from his feature and attire.’ + +‘One who hath seen much service abroad,’ I answered. + +‘Ha! ye are lucky to ride to the wars in the company of so accomplished +a cavalier. For I presume that it is to the wars that ye are riding, +since ye are all so armed and accoutred.’ + +‘We are indeed bound for the West,’ I replied, with some reserve, for in +Saxon’s absence I did not care to be too loose-tongued. + +‘And in what capacity?’ he persisted. ‘Will ye risk your crowns in +defence of King James’s one, or will ye strike in, hit or miss, with +these rogues of Devon and Somerset? Stop my vital breath, if I would not +as soon side with the clown as with the crown, with all due respect to +your own principles!’ + +‘You are a daring man,’ said I, ‘if you air your opinions thus in every +inn parlour. Dost not know that a word of what you have said, whispered +to the nearest justice of the peace, might mean your liberty, if not +your life?’ + +‘I don’t care the rind of a rotten orange for life or liberty either,’ +cried our acquaintance, snapping his finger and thumb. ‘Burn me if +it wouldn’t be a new sensation to bandy words with some heavy-chopped +country justice, with the Popish plot still stuck in his gizzard, and +be thereafter consigned to a dungeon, like the hero in John Dryden’s +latest. I have been round-housed many a time by the watch in the old +Hawkubite days; but this would be a more dramatic matter, with high +treason, block, and axe all looming in the background.’ + +‘And rack and pincers for a prologue,’ said Reuben. ‘This ambition is +the strangest that I have ever heard tell of.’ + +‘Anything for a change,’ cried Sir Gervas, filling up a bumper. ‘Here’s +to the maid that’s next our heart, and here’s to the heart that loves +the maids! War, wine, and women, ‘twould be a dull world without them. +But you have not answered my question.’ + +‘Why truly, sir,’ said I, ‘frank as you have been with us, I can scarce +be equally so with you, without the permission of the gentleman who has +just left the room. He is the leader of our party. Pleasant as our short +intercourse has been, these are parlous times, and hasty confidences are +apt to lead to repentance.’ + +‘A Daniel come to judgment!’ cried our new acquaintance. ‘What ancient, +ancient words from so young a head! You are, I’ll warrant, five years +younger than a scatterbrain like myself, and yet you talk like the seven +wise men of Greece. Wilt take me as a valet?’ + +‘A valet!’ I exclaimed. + +‘Aye, a valet, a man-servant. I have been waited upon so long that it is +my turn to wait now, and I would not wish a more likely master. By the +Lard! I must, in applying for a place, give an account of my character +and a list of my accomplishments. So my rascals ever did with me, though +in good truth I seldom listened to their recital. Honesty--there I +score a trick. Sober--Ananias himself could scarce say that I am +that. Trustworthy--indifferently so. Steady--hum! about as much so +as Garraway’s weathercock. Hang it, man, I am choke full of good +resolutions, but a sparkling glass or a roguish eye will deflect me, as +the mariners say of the compass. So much for my weaknesses. Now let me +see what qualifications I can produce. A steady nerve, save only when I +have my morning qualms, and a cheerful heart; I score two on that. I +can dance saraband, minuet, or corranto; fence, ride, and sing French +chansons. Good Lard! who ever heard a valet urge such accomplishments? I +can play the best game of piquet in London. So said Sir George Etherege +when I won a cool thousand off him at the Groom Parter. But that won’t +advance me much, either. What is there, then, to commend me? Why, marry, +I can brew a bowl of punch, and I can broil a devilled fowl. It is not +much, but I can do it well.’ + +‘Truly, good sir,’ I said, with a smile, ‘neither of these +accomplishments is like to prove of much use to us on our present +errand. You do, however, but jest, no doubt, when you talk of descending +to such a position.’ + +‘Not a whit! not a whit!’ he replied earnestly. ‘“To such base uses do +we come,” as Will Shakespeare has it. If you would be able to say that +you have in your service Sir Gervas Jerome, knight banneret, and sole +owner of Beacham Ford Park, with a rent-roll of four thousand good +pounds a year, he is now up for sale, and will be knocked down to the +bidder who pleases him best. Say but the word, and we’ll have another +flagon of sack to clinch the bargain.’ + +‘But,’ said I, ‘if you are indeed owner of this fair property, why +should you descend to so menial an occupation?’ + +‘The Jews, the Jews, oh most astute and yet most slow-witted master! The +ten tribes have been upon me, and I have been harried and wasted, bound, +ravished, and despoiled. Never was Agag, king of Amalek, more completely +in the hands of the chosen, and the sole difference is that they have +hewed into pieces mine estate instead of myself.’ + +‘Have you lost all, then?’ Reuben asked, open-eyed. + +‘Why no--not all--by no means all!’ he answered, with a merry laugh; ‘I +have a gold Jacobus and a guinea or two in my purse. ‘Twill serve for +a flask or so yet. There is my silver-hilted rapier, my rings, my gold +snuff-box, and my watch by Tompion at the sign of the Three Crowns. +It was never bought under a hundred, I’ll warrant. Then there are such +relics of grandeur as you see upon my person, though they begin to +look as frail and worn as a waiting-woman’s virtue. In this bag, too, +I retain the means for preserving that niceness and elegance of person +which made me, though I say it, as well groomed a man as ever set foot +in St. James’s Park. Here are French scissors, eyebrow brush, toothpick +case, patch-box, powder-bag, comb, puff, and my pair of red-heeled +shoes. What could a man wish for more? These, with a dry throat, a +cheerful heart, and a ready hand, are my whole stock in trade.’ + +Reuben and I could not forbear from laughing at the curious inventory of +articles which Sir Gervas had saved from the wreck of his fortunes. He +upon seeing our mirth was so tickled at his own misfortunes, that he +laughed in a high treble key until the whole house resounded with his +merriment. ‘By the Mass,’ he cried at last, ‘I have never had so much +honest amusement out of my prosperity as hath been caused in me by my +downfall. Fill up your glasses!’ + +‘We have still some distance to travel this evening, and must not drink +more,’ I observed, for prudence told me that it was dangerous work for +two sober country lads to keep pace with an experienced toper. + +‘So!’ said he in surprise. ‘I should have thought that would be a +“raison de plus,” as the French say. But I wish your long-legged friend +would come back, even if he were intent upon slitting my weazand for my +attention to the widow. He is not a man to flinch from his liquor, I’ll +warrant. Curse this Wiltshire dust that clings to my periwig!’ + +‘Until my comrade returns, Sir Gervas,’ said I, ‘you might, since the +subject does not appear to be a painful one to you, let us know how +these evil times, which you bear with such philosophy, came upon you.’ + +‘The old story!’ he answered, flicking away a few grains of snuff with +his deeply-laced cambric handkerchief. ‘The old, old story! My father, a +good, easy country baronet, finding the family purse somewhat full, must +needs carry me up to town to make a man of me. There as a young lad I +was presented at Court, and being a slim active youngster with a pert +tongue and assured manner, I caught the notice of the Queen, who made +me one of her pages of honour. This post I held until I grew out of +it, when I withdrew from town, but egad! I found I must get back to it +again, for Beacham Ford Park was as dull as a monastery after the life +which I had been living. In town I stayed then with such boon companions +as Tommy Lawson, my Lord Halifax, Sir Jasper Lemarck, little Geordie +Chichester, aye, and old Sidney Godolphin of the Treasury; for with all +his staid ways and long-winded budgets he could drain a cup with the +best of us, and was as keen on a main of cocks as on a committee of ways +and means. Well, it was rare sport while it lasted, and sink me if +I wouldn’t do the same again if I had my time once more. It is like +sliding down a greased plank though, for at first a man goes slow +enough, and thinks he can pull himself up, but presently he goes faster +and faster, until he comes with a crash on to the rocks of ruin at the +bottom.’ + +‘And did you run through four thousand pounds a year?’ I exclaimed. + +‘Od’s bodikins, man, you speak as if this paltry sum were all the +wealth of the Indies. Why, from Ormonde or Buckingham, with their twenty +thousand, down to ranting Dicky Talbot, there was not one of my set who +could not have bought me out. Yet I must have my coach and four, my town +house, my liveried servants, and my stable full of horses. To be in the +mode I must have my poet, and throw him a handful of guineas for his +dedication. Well, poor devil, he is one who will miss me. I warrant his +heart was as heavy as his verses when he found me gone, though perchance +he has turned a few guineas by this time by writing a satire upon me. +It would have a ready sale among my friends. Gad’s life! I wonder how +my levees get on, and whom all my suitors have fastened on to now. There +they were morning after morning, the French pimp, the English bully, the +needy man o’ letters, the neglected inventor--I never thought to have +got rid of them, but indeed I have shaken them off very effectually now. +When the honey-pot is broken it is farewell to the flies.’ + +‘And your noble friends?’ I asked. ‘Did none of them stand by you in +your adversity?’ + +‘Well, well, I have nought to complain of!’ exclaimed Sir Gervas. ‘They +were brave-hearted boys for the most part. I might have had their names +on my bills as long as their fingers could hold a pen, but slit me if I +like bleeding my own companions. They might have found a place for me, +too, had I consented to play second-fiddle where I had been used to lead +the band. I’ faith, I care not what I turn my hand to amongst strangers, +but I would fain leave my memory sweet in town.’ + +‘As to what you proposed, of serving us as a valet,’ said I, ‘it is not +to be thought of. We are, in spite of my friend’s waggishness, but two +plain blunt countrymen, and have no more need of a valet than one of +those poets which you have spoken of. On the other hand, if you should +care to attach yourself to our party, we shall take you where you +will see service which shall be more to your taste than the curling of +periwigs or the brushing of eyebrows.’ + +‘Nay, nay, my friend. Speak not with unseemly levity of the mysteries +of the toilet,’ he cried. ‘Ye would yourselves be none the worse for +a touch of mine ivory comb, and a closer acquaintance with the famous +skin-purifying wash of Murphy which I am myself in the habit of using.’ + +‘I am beholden to you, sir,’ said Reuben, ‘but the famous spring water +wash by Providence is quite good enough for the purpose.’ + +‘And Dame Nature hath placed a wig of her own upon me,’ I added, ‘which +I should be very loth to change.’ + +‘Goths! Perfect Goths!’ cried the exquisite, throwing up his white +hands. ‘But here comes a heavy tread and the clink of armour in the +passage. ‘Tis our friend the knight of the wrathful countenance, if I +mistake not.’ + +It was indeed Saxon, who strode into the room to tell us that our horses +were at the door, and that all was ready for our departure. Taking +him aside I explained to him in a whisper what had passed between the +stranger and ourselves, with the circumstances which had led me to +suggest that he should join our party. The old soldier frowned at the +news. + +‘What have we to do with such a coxcomb?’ he said. ‘We have hard fare +and harder blows before us. He is not fit for the work.’ + +‘You said yourself that Monmouth will be weak in horse,’ I answered. +‘Here is a well-appointed cavalier, who is to all appearance a desperate +man and ready for anything. Why should we not enrol him?’ + +‘I fear,’ said Saxon, ‘that his body may prove to be like the bran of +a fine cushion, of value only for what it has around it. However, it is +perhaps for the best. The handle to his name may make him welcome in the +camp, for from what I hear there is some dissatisfaction at the way in +which the gentry stand aloof from the enterprise.’ + +‘I had feared,’ I remarked, still speaking in a whisper, ‘that we were +about to lose one of our party instead of gaining one in this Bruton +inn.’ + +‘I have thought better of it,’ he answered, with a smile. ‘Nay, I’ll +tell you of it anon. Well, Sir Gervas Jerome,’ he added aloud, turning +to our new associate, ‘I hear that you are coming with us. For a day you +must be content to follow without question or remark. Is that agreed!’ + +‘With all my heart,’ cried Sir Gervas. + +‘Then here’s a bumper to our better acquaintance,’ cried Saxon, raising +his glass. + +‘I pledge ye all,’ quoth the gallant. ‘Here’s to a fair fight, and may +the best men win.’ + +‘Donnerblitz, man!’ said Saxon. ‘I believe there’s mettle in you for all +your gay plumes. I do conceive a liking for you. Give me your hand!’ + +The soldier of fortune’s great brown grip enclosed the delicate hand +of our new friend in a pledge of comradeship. Then, having paid our +reckoning and bade a cordial adieu to Dame Hobson, who glanced methought +somewhat reproachfully or expectantly at Saxon, we sprang on our steeds +and continued our journey amidst a crowd of staring villagers, who +huzzaed lustily as we rode out from amongst them. + + + +Chapter XIV. Of the Stiff-legged Parson and his Flock + +Our road lay through Castle Carey and Somerton, which are small towns +lying in the midst of a most beautiful pastoral country, well wooded and +watered by many streams. The valleys along the centre of which the road +lies are rich and luxuriant, sheltered from the winds by long rolling +hills, which are themselves highly cultivated. Here and there we passed +the ivy-clad turret of an old castle or the peaked gables of a rambling +country house, protruding from amongst the trees and marking the country +seat of some family of repute. More than once, when these mansions were +not far from the road, we were able to perceive the unrepaired dints and +fractures on the walls received during the stormy period of the civil +troubles. Fairfax it seems had been down that way, and had left abundant +traces of his visit. I have no doubt that my father would have had much +to say of these signs of Puritan wrath had he been riding at our side. + +The road was crowded with peasants who were travelling in two strong +currents, the one setting from east to west, and the other from west to +east. The latter consisted principally of aged people and of children, +who were being sent out of harm’s way to reside in the less disturbed +counties until the troubles should be over. Many of these poor folk were +pushing barrows in front of them, in which a few bedclothes and some +cracked utensils represented the whole of their worldly goods. Others +more prosperous had small carts, drawn by the wild shaggy colts which +are bred on the Somerset moors. What with the spirit of the half-tamed +beasts and the feebleness of the drivers, accidents were not uncommon, +and we passed several unhappy groups who had been tumbled with their +property into a ditch, or who were standing in anxious debate round a +cracked shaft or a broken axle. + +The countrymen who were making for the West were upon the other hand +men in the prime of life, with little or no baggage. Their brown faces, +heavy boots, and smockfrocks proclaimed most of them to be mere hinds, +though here and there we overtook men who, by their top-boots and +corduroys, may have been small farmers or yeomen. These fellows walked +in gangs, and were armed for the most part with stout oak cudgels, +which were carried as an aid to their journey, but which in the hands of +powerful men might become formidable weapons. From time to time one +of these travellers would strike up a psalm tune, when all the others +within earshot would join in, until the melody rippled away down the +road. As we passed some scowled angrily at us, while others whispered +together and shook their heads, in evident doubt as to our character and +aims. Now and again among the people we marked the tall broad-brimmed +hat and Geneva mantle which were the badges of the Puritan clergy. + +‘We are in Monmouth’s country at last,’ said Saxon to me, for Reuben +Lockarby and Sir Gervas Jerome had ridden on ahead. ‘This is the raw +material which we shall have to lick into soldiership.’ + +‘And no bad material either,’ I replied, taking note of the sturdy +figures and bold hearty faces of the men. ‘Think ye that they are bound +for Monmouth’s camp, then?’ + +‘Aye, are they. See you yon long-limbed parson on the left--him with the +pent-house hat. Markest thou not the stiffness wherewith he moves his +left leg!’ + +‘Why, yes; he is travel-worn doubtless.’ + +‘Ho! ho!’ laughed my companion. ‘I have seen such a stiffness before +now. The man hath a straight sword within he leg of his breeches. A +regular Parliamentary tuck, I’ll warrant. When he is on safe ground he +will produce it, aye, and use it too, but until he is out of all danger +of falling in with the King’s horse he is shy of strapping it to his +belt. He is one of the old breed by his cut, who: + + “Call fire and sword and desolation, + A godly thorough reformation.” + +Old Samuel hath them to a penstroke! There is another ahead of him +there, with the head of a scythe inside his smock. Can you not see the +outline? I warrant there is not one of the rascals but hath a pike-head +or sickle-blade concealed somewhere about him. I begin to feel the +breath of war once more, and to grow younger with it. Hark ye, lad! I am +glad that I did not tarry at the inn.’ + +‘You seemed to be in two minds about it,’ said I. + +‘Aye, aye. She was a fine woman, and the quarters were comfortable. I do +not gainsay it. But marriage, d’ye see, is a citadel that it is plaguy +easy to find one’s way into, but once in old Tilly himself could not +bring one out again with credit, I have known such a device on the +Danube, where at the first onfall the Mamelukes have abandoned the +breach for the very purpose of ensnaring the Imperial troops in the +narrow streets beyond, from which few ever returned. Old birds are not +caught with such wiles. I did succeed in gaining the ear of one of the +gossips, and asking him what he could tell me of the good dame and her +inn. It seemeth that she is somewhat of a shrew upon occasion, and that +her tongue had more to do with her husband’s death than the dropsy which +the leech put it down to. Again, a new inn hath been started in the +village, which is well-managed, and is like to draw the custom from +her. It is, too, as you have said, a dull sleepy spot. All these reasons +weighed with me, and I decided that it would be best to raise my siege +of the widow, and to retreat whilst I could yet do so with the credit +and honours of war.’ + +‘’Tis best so,’ said I; ‘you could not have settled down to a life of +toping and ease. But our new comrade, what think you of him?’ + +‘Faith!’ Saxon answered, ‘we shall extend into a troop of horse if we +add to our number every gallant who is in want of a job. As to this Sir +Gervas, however, I think, as I said at the inn, that he hath more mettle +in him than one would judge at first sight. These young sprigs of the +gentry will always fight, but I doubt if he is hardened enough or +hath constancy enough for such a campaign as this is like to be. His +appearance, too, will be against him in the eyes of the saints; and +though Monmouth is a man of easy virtue, the saints are like to have the +chief voice in his councils. Now do but look at him as he reins up that +showy grey stallion and gazes back at us. Mark his riding-hat tilted +over his eye, his open bosom, his whip dangling from his button-hole, +his hand on his hip, and as many oaths in his mouth as there are ribbons +to his doublet. Above all, mark the air with which he looks down upon +the peasants beside him. He will have to change his style if he is to +fight by the side of the fanatics. But hark! I am much mistaken if they +have not already got themselves into trouble.’ + +Our friends had pulled up their horses to await our coming. They had +scarce halted, however, before the stream of peasants who had been +moving along abreast of them slackened their pace, and gathered round +them with a deep ominous murmur and threatening gestures. Other +rustics, seeing that there was something afoot, hurried up to help their +companions. Saxon and I put spurs to our horses, and pushing through the +throng, which was becoming every instant larger and more menacing, made +our way to the aid of our friends, who were hemmed in on every side by +the rabble. Reuben had laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword, while +Sir Gervas was placidly chewing his toothpick and looking down at the +angry mob with an air of amused contempt. + +‘A flask or two of scent amongst them would not be amiss,’ he remarked; +‘I would I had a casting bottle.’ + +‘Stand on your guard, but do not draw,’ cried Saxon. ‘What the henker +hath come over the chaw-bacons? They mean mischief. How now, friends, +why this uproar?’ + +This question instead of allaying the tumult appeared to make it tenfold +worse. All round us twenty deep were savage faces and angry eyes, +with the glint here and there of a weapon half drawn from its place of +concealment. The uproar, which had been a mere hoarse growl, began to +take shape and form. ‘Down with the Papists!’ was the cry. ‘Down with +the Prelatists!’ ‘Smite the Erastian butchers!’ ‘Smite the Philistine +horsemen!’ ‘Down with them!’ + +A stone or two had already whistled past our ears, and we had been +forced in self-defence to draw our swords, when the tall minister whom +we had already observed shoved his way through the crowd, and by dint of +his lofty stature and commanding voice prevailed upon them to be silent. + +‘How say ye,’ he asked, turning upon us, ‘fight ye for Baal or for the +Lord? He who is not with us is against us.’ + +‘Which is the side of Baal, most reverend sir, and which of the Lord?’ +asked Sir Gervas Jerome. ‘Methinks if you were to speak plain English +instead of Hebrew we might come to an understanding sooner.’ + +‘This is no time for light words,’ the minister cried, with a flush of +anger upon his face. ‘If ye would keep your skins whole, tell me, are ye +for the bloody usurper James Stuart, or are ye for his most Protestant +Majesty King Monmouth?’ + +‘What! He hath come to the title already!’ exclaimed Saxon. ‘Know then +that we are four unworthy vessels upon our way to offer our services to +the Protestant cause.’ + +‘He lies, good Master Pettigrue, he lies most foully,’ shouted a burly +fellow from the edge of the crowd. ‘Who ever saw a good Protestant in +such a Punchinello dress as yonder? Is not Amalekite written upon his +raiment? Is he not attired as becometh the bridegroom of the harlot of +Rome? Why then should we not smite him?’ + +‘I thank you, my worthy friend,’ said Sir Gervas, whose attire had moved +this champion’s wrath. ‘If I were nearer I should give you some return +for the notice which you have taken of me.’ + +‘What proof have we that ye are not in the pay of the usurper, and on +your way to oppress the faithful?’ asked the Puritan divine. + +‘I tell you, man,’ said Saxon impatiently, ‘that we have travelled all +the way from Hampshire to fight against James Stuart. We will ride with +ye to Monmouth’s camp, and what better proof could ye desire than that?’ + +‘It may be that ye do but seek an opportunity of escaping from our +bondage,’ the minister observed, after conferring with one or two of the +leading peasants. ‘It is our opinion, therefore, that before coming +with us ye must deliver unto us your swords, pistols, and other carnal +weapons.’ + +‘Nay, good sir, that cannot be,’ our leader answered. ‘A cavalier may +not with honour surrender his blade or his liberty in the manner ye +demand. Keep close to my bridle-arm, Clarke, and strike home at any +rogue who lays hands on you.’ + +A hum of anger rose from the crowd, and a score of sticks and +scythe-blades were raised against us, when the minister again interposed +and silenced his noisy following. + +‘Did I hear aright?’ he asked. ‘Is your name Clarke?’ + +‘It is,’ I answered. + +‘Your Christian name?’ + +‘Micah.’ + +‘Living at?’ + +‘Havant.’ + +The clergyman conferred for a few moments with a grizzly-bearded, +harsh-faced man dressed in black buckram who stood at his elbow. + +‘If you are really Micah Clarke of Havant,’ quoth he, ‘you will be able +to tell us the name of an old soldier, skilled in the German wars, who +was to have come with ye to the camp of the faithful.’ + +‘Why, this is he,’ I answered; ‘Decimus Saxon is his name.’ + +‘Aye, aye, Master Pettigrue,’ cried the old man. ‘The very name given by +Dicky Rumbold. He said that either the old Roundhead Clarke or his son +would go with him. But who are these?’ + +‘This is Master Reuben Lockarby, also of Havant, and Sir Gervas Jerome +of Surrey,’ I replied. ‘They are both here as volunteers desiring to +serve under the Duke of Monmouth.’ + +‘Right glad I am to see ye, then,’ said the stalwart minister heartily. +‘Friends, I can answer for these gentlemen that they favour the honest +folk and the old cause.’ + +At these words the rage of the mob turned in an instant into the most +extravagant adulation and delight. They crowded round us, patting our +riding-boots, pulling at the skirts of our dress, pressing our hands and +calling down blessings upon our heads, until their pastor succeeded +at last in rescuing us from their attentions and in persuading them to +resume their journey. We walked our horses in the midst of them whilst +the clergyman strode along betwixt Saxon and myself. He was, as Reuben +remarked, well fitted to be an intermediary between us, for he was +taller though not so broad as I was, and broader though not so tall as +the adventurer. His face was long, thin, and hollow-cheeked, with a pair +of great thatched eyebrows and deep sunken melancholy eyes, which lit up +upon occasion with a sudden quick flash of fiery enthusiasm. + +‘Joshua Pettigrue is my name, gentlemen,’ said he; ‘I am an unworthy +worker in the Lord’s vineyard, testifying with voice and with arm to His +holy covenant. These are my faithful flock, whom I am bringing westward +that they may be ready for the reaping when it pleases the Almighty to +gather them in.’ + +‘And why have you not brought them into some show of order or +formation?’ asked Saxon. ‘They are straggling along the road like a line +of geese upon a common when Michaelmas is nigh. Have you no fears? Is +it not written that your calamity cometh suddenly--suddenly shall you be +broken down without remedy?’ + +‘Aye, friend, but is it not also written, “Trust in the Lord with all +thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding!” Mark ye, if I +were to draw up my men in military fashion it would invite attention and +attack from any of James Stuart’s horse who may come our way. It is my +desire to bring my flock to the camp and obtain pieces for them before +exposing them to so unequal a contest.’ + +‘Truly, sir, it is a wise resolution,’ said Saxon grimly, ‘for if a +troop of horse came down upon these good people the pastor would find +himself without his flock.’ + +‘Nay, that could never be!’ cried Master Pettigrue with fervour. ‘Say +rather that pastor, flock, and all would find their way along the thorny +track of martyrdom to the new Jerusalem. Know, friend, that I have come +from Monmouth in order to conduct these men to his standard. I received +from him, or rather from Master Ferguson, instructions to be on the +lookout for ye and for several others of the faithful we expect to join +us from the East. By what route came ye?’ + +‘Over Salisbury Plain and so through Bruton.’ + +‘And saw ye or met ye any of our people upon the way?’ + +‘None,’ Saxon answered. ‘We left the Blue Guards at Salisbury, however, +and we saw either them or some other horse regiment near this side of +the Plain at the village of Mere.’ + +‘Ah, there is a gathering of the eagles,’ cried Master Joshua Pettigrue, +shaking his head. ‘They are men of fine raiment, with war-horses and +chariots and trappings, like the Assyrians of old, yet shall the angel +of the Lord breathe upon them in the night. Yea, He shall cut them off +utterly in His wrath, and they shall be destroyed.’ + +‘Amen! Amen!’ cried as many of the peasants as were within earshot. + +‘They have elevated their horn, Master Pettigrue,’ said the +grizzly-haired Puritan. ‘They have set up their candlestick on high--the +candlestick of a perverse ritual and of an idolatrous service. Shall it +not be dashed down by the hands of the righteous?’ + +‘Lo, this same candle waxed big and burned sooty, even as an offence to +the nostrils, in the days of our fathers,’ cried a burly red-faced man, +whose dress proclaimed him to be one of the yeoman class. ‘So was it +when Old Noll did get his snuffing shears to work upon it. It is a wick +which can only be trimmed by the sword of the faithful.’ A grim laugh +from the whole party proclaimed their appreciation of the pious waggery +of their companion. + +‘Ah, Brother Sandcroft,’ cried the pastor, ‘there is much sweetness and +manna hidden in thy conversation. But the way is long and dreary. Shall +we not lighten it by a song of praise? Where is Brother Thistlethwaite, +whose voice is as the cymbal, the tabor, and the dulcimer?’ + +‘Lo, most pious Master Pettigrue,’ said Saxon, ‘I have myself at times +ventured to lift up my voice before the Lord.’ Without any further +apology he broke out in stentorian tones into the following hymn, the +refrain of which was caught up by pastor and congregation. + + The Lord He is a morion + That guards me from all wound; + The Lord He is a coat of mail + That circles me all round. + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord? + + The Lord He is the buckler true + That swings on my left arm; + The Lord He is the plate of proof + That shieldeth me from harm. + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord? + + Who then dreads the violent, + Or fears the man of pride? + Or shall I flee from two or three + If He be by my side? + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord! + + My faith is like a citadel + Girt round with moat and wall, + No mine, or sap, or breach, or gap + Can ere prevail at all. + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord? + +Saxon ceased, but the Reverend Joshua Pettigrue waved his long arms and +repeated the refrain, which was taken up again and again by the long +column of marching peasants. + +‘It is a godly hymn,’ said our companion, who had, to my disgust and +to the evident astonishment of Reuben and Sir Gervas, resumed the +snuffling, whining voice which he had used in the presence of my father. +‘It hath availed much on the field of battle.’ + +‘Truly,’ returned the clergyman, ‘if your comrades are of as sweet +a savour as yourself, ye will be worth a brigade of pikes to the +faithful,’ a sentiment which raised a murmur of assent from the Puritans +around. ‘Since, sir,’ he continued, ‘you have had much experience in the +wiles of war, I shall be glad to hand over to you the command of this +small body of the faithful, until such time as we reach the army.’ + +‘It is time, too, in good faith, that ye had a soldier at your head,’ +Decimus Saxon answered quietly. ‘My eyes deceive me strangely if I +do not see the gleam of sword and cuirass upon the brow of yonder +declivity. Methinks our pious exercises have brought the enemy upon us.’ + + + +Chapter XV. Of our Brush with the King’s Dragoons + +Some little distance from us a branch road ran into that along which we +and our motley assemblage of companions-in-arms were travelling. This +road curved down the side of a well-wooded hill, and then over the level +for a quarter of a mile or so before opening on the other. Just at the +brow of the rising ground there stood a thick bristle of trees, amid the +trunks of which there came and went a bright shimmer of sparkling steel, +which proclaimed the presence of armed men. Farther back, where the road +took a sudden turn and ran along the ridge of the hill, several horsemen +could be plainly seen outlined against the evening sky. So peaceful, +however, was the long sweep of countryside, mellowed by the golden light +of the setting sun, with a score of village steeples and manor-houses +peeping out from amongst the woods, that it was hard to think that the +thundercloud of war was really lowering over that fair valley, and that +at any instant the lightning might break from it. + +The country folk, however, appeared to have no difficulty at all in +understanding the danger to which they were exposed. The fugitives from +the West gave a yell of consternation, and ran wildly down the road or +whipped up their beasts of burden in the endeavour to place as safe a +distance as possible between themselves and the threatened attack. The +chorus of shrill cries and shouts, with the cracking of whips, creaking +of wheels, and the occasional crash when some cart load of goods came to +grief, made up a most deafening uproar, above which our leader’s voice +resounded in sharp, eager exhortation and command. When, however, the +loud brazen shriek from a bugle broke from the wood, and the head of +a troop of horse began to descend the slope, the panic became greater +still, and it was difficult for us to preserve any order at all amidst +the wild rush of the terrified fugitives. + +‘Stop that cart, Clarke,’ cried Saxon vehemently, pointing with his +sword to an old waggon, piled high with furniture and bedding, which was +lumbering along drawn by two raw-boned colts. At the same moment I saw +him drive his horse into the crowd and catch at the reins of another +similar one. + +Giving Covenant’s bridle a shake I was soon abreast of the cart which +he had indicated, and managed to bring the furious young horses to a +stand-still. + +‘Bring it up!’ cried our leader, working with the coolness which only a +long apprenticeship to war can give. ‘Now, friends, cut the traces!’ +A dozen knives were at work in a moment, and the kicking, struggling +animals scampered off, leaving their burdens behind them. Saxon sprang +off his horse and set the example in dragging the waggon across the +roadway, while some of the peasants, under the direction of Reuben +Lockarby and of Master Joshua Pettigrue, arranged a couple of other +carts to block the way fifty yards further down. The latter precaution +was to guard against the chance of the royal horse riding through +the fields and attacking us from behind. So speedily was the scheme +conceived and carried out, that within a very few minutes of the first +alarm we found ourselves protected front and rear by a lofty barricade, +while within this improvised fortress was a garrison of a hundred and +fifty men. + +‘What firearms have we amongst us?’ asked Saxon hurriedly. + +‘A dozen pistols at the most,’ replied the elderly Puritan, who was +addressed by his companions as Hope-above Williams. ‘John Rodway, +the coachman, hath his blunderbuss. There are also two godly men from +Hungerford, who are keepers of game, and who have brought their pieces +with them.’ + +‘They are here, sir,’ cried another, pointing to two stout, bearded +fellows, who were ramming charges into their long-barrelled muskets. +‘Their names are Wat and Nat Millman.’ + +‘Two who can hit their mark are worth a battalion who shoot wide,’ our +leader remarked, ‘Get under the waggon, my friends, and rest your pieces +upon the spokes. Never draw trigger until the sons of Belial are within +three pikes’ length of ye.’ + +‘My brother and I,’ quoth one of them, ‘can hit a running doe at two +hundred paces. Our lives are in the hands of the Lord, but two, at +least, of these hired butchers we shall send before us.’ + +‘As gladly as ever we slew stoat or wild-cat,’ cried the other, slipping +under the waggon. ‘We are keeping the Lord’s preserves now, brother Wat, +and truly these are some of the vermin that infest them.’ + +‘Let all who have pistols line the waggon,’ said Saxon, tying his mare +to the hedge--an example which we all followed. ‘Clarke, do you take +charge upon the right with Sir Gervas, while Lockarby assists Master +Pettigrue upon the left. Ye others shall stand behind with stones. +Should they break through our barricades, slash at the horses with your +scythes. Once down, the riders are no match for ye.’ + +A low sullen murmur of determined resolution rose from the peasants, +mingled with pious ejaculations and little scraps of hymn or of prayer. +They had all produced from under their smocks rustic weapons of some +sort. Ten or twelve had petronels, which, from their antique look and +rusty condition, threatened to be more dangerous to their possessors +than to the enemy. Others had sickles, scythe-blades, flails, +half-pikes, or hammers, while the remainder carried long knives and +oaken clubs. Simple as were these weapons, history has proved that in +the hands of men who are deeply stirred by religious fanaticism they are +by no means to be despised. One had but to look at the stern, set faces +of our followers, and the gleam of exultation and expectancy which shone +from their eyes, to see that they were not the men to quail, either from +superior numbers or equipment. + +‘By the Mass!’ whispered Sir Gervas, ‘it is magnificent! An hour of this +is worth a year in the Mall. The old Puritan bull is fairly at bay. Let +us see what sort of sport the bull-pups make in the baiting of him! I’ll +lay five pieces to four on the chaw-bacons!’ + +‘Nay, it’s no matter for idle betting,’ said I shortly, for his +light-hearted chatter annoyed me at so solemn a moment. + +‘Five to four on the soldiers, then!’ he persisted. ‘It is too good a +match not to have a stake on it one way or the other.’ + +‘Our lives are the stake,’ said I. + +‘Faith, I had forgot it!’ he replied, still mumbling his toothpick. ‘“To +be or not to be?” as Will of Stratford says. Kynaston was great on the +passage. But here is the bell that rings the curtain up.’ + +Whilst we had been making our dispositions the troop of horse--for there +appeared to be but one--had trotted down the cross-road, and had drawn +up across the main highway. They numbered, as far as I could judge, +about ninety troopers, and it was evident from their three-cornered +hats, steel plates, red sleeves, and bandoliers, that they were dragoons +of the regular army. The main body halted a quarter of a mile from us, +while three officers rode to the front and held a short consultation, +which ended in one of them setting spurs to his horse and cantering down +in our direction. A bugler followed a few paces behind him, waving a +white kerchief and blowing an occasional blast upon his trumpet. + +‘Here comes an envoy,’ cried Saxon, who was standing up in the waggon. +‘Now, my brethren, we have neither kettle-drum nor tinkling brass, but +we have the instrument wherewith Providence hath endowed us. Let us show +the redcoats that we know how to use it. + + “Who then dreads the violent, + Or fears the man of pride? + Or shall I flee from two or three + If He be by my side?”’ + +Seven score voices broke in, in a hoarse roar, upon the chorus-- + + ‘Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord?’ + +I could well believe at that moment that the Spartans had found the lame +singer Tyrtaeus the most successful of their generals, for the sound of +their own voices increased the confidence of the country folk, while the +martial words of the old hymn roused the dogged spirit in their breasts. +So high did their courage run that they broke off their song with a +loud warlike shout, waving their weapons above their heads, and ready I +verily believe to march out from their barricades and make straight for +the horsemen. In the midst of this clamour and turmoil the young dragoon +officer, a handsome, olive-faced lad, rode fearlessly up to the barrier, +and pulling up his beautiful roan steed, held up his hand with an +imperious gesture which demanded silence. + +‘Who is the leader of this conventicle?’ he asked. + +‘Address your message to me, sir,’ said our leader from the top of +the waggon, ‘but understand that your white flag will only protect you +whilst you use such language as may come from one courteous adversary to +another. Say your say or retire.’ + +‘Courtesy and honour,’ said the officer, with a sneer, ‘are not extended +to rebels who are in arms against their lawful sovereign. If you are the +leader of this rabble, I warn you if they are not dispersed within five +minutes by this watch’--he pulled out an elegant gold time-piece--‘we +shall ride down upon them and cut them to pieces.’ + +‘The Lord can protect His own,’ Saxon answered, amid a fierce hum of +approval from the crowd. ‘Is this all thy message?’ + +‘It is all, and you will find it enough, you Presbyterian traitor,’ +cried the dragoon cornet. ‘Listen to me, misguided fools,’ he continued, +standing up upon his stirrups and speaking to the peasants at the +other side of the waggon. ‘What chance have ye with your whittles and +cheese-scrapers? Ye may yet save your skins if ye will but deliver up +your leaders, throw down what ye are pleased to call your arms, and +trust to the King’s mercy.’ + +‘This exceedeth the limitations of your privileges,’ said Saxon, drawing +a pistol from his belt and cocking it. ‘If you say another word to +seduce these people from their allegiance, I fire.’ + +‘Hope not to benefit Monmouth,’ cried the young officer, disregarding +the threat, and still addressing his words to the peasants. ‘The whole +royal army is drawing round him and--’ + +‘Have a care!’ shouted our leader, in a deep harsh voice. + +‘His head within a month shall roll upon the scaffold.’ + +‘But you shall never live to see it,’ said Saxon, and stooping over +he fired straight at the cornet’s head. At the flash of the pistol the +trumpeter wheeled round and galloped for his life, while the roan horse +turned and followed with its master still seated firmly in the saddle. + +‘Verily you have missed the Midianite!’ cried Hope-above Williams. + +‘He is dead,’ said our leader, pouring a fresh charge into his pistol. +‘It is the law of war, Clarke,’ he added, looking round at me. ‘He hath +chosen to break it, and must pay forfeit.’ + +As he spoke I saw the young officer lean gradually over in his saddle, +until, when about half-way back to his friends, he lost his balance and +fell heavily in the roadway, turning over two or three times with +the force of his fall, and lying at last still and motionless, a +dust-coloured heap. A loud yell of rage broke from the troopers at +the sight, which was answered by a shout of defiance from the Puritan +peasantry. + +‘Down on your faces!’ cried Saxon; ‘they are about to fire.’ + +The crackle of musketry and a storm of bullets, pinging on the hard +ground, or cutting twigs from the hedges on either side of us, lent +emphasis to our leader’s order. Many of the peasants crouched behind the +feather beds and tables which had been pulled out of the cart. Some lay +in the waggon itself, and some sheltered themselves behind or underneath +it. Others again lined the ditches on either side or lay flat upon the +roadway, while a few showed their belief in the workings of Providence +by standing upright without flinching from the bullets. Amongst these +latter were Saxon and Sir Gervas, the former to set an example to his +raw troops, and the latter out of pure laziness and indifference. +Reuben and I sat together in the ditch, and I can assure you, my dear +grandchildren, that we felt very much inclined to bob our heads when we +heard the bullets piping all around them. If any soldier ever told you +that he did not the first time that he was under fire, then that soldier +is not a man to trust. After sitting rigid and silent, however, as if +we had both stiff necks, for a very few minutes, the feeling passed +completely away, and from that day to this it has never returned to me. +You see familiarity breeds contempt with bullets as with other things, +and though it is no easy matter to come to like them, like the King of +Sweden or my Lord Cutts, it is not so very hard to become indifferent to +them. + +The cornet’s death did not remain long unavenged. A little old man with +a sickle, who had been standing near Sir Gervas, gave a sudden sharp +cry, and springing up into the air with a loud ‘Glory to God!’ fell flat +upon his face dead. A bullet had struck him just over the right eye. +Almost at the same moment one of the peasants in the waggon was shot +through the chest, and sat up coughing blood all over the wheel. I saw +Master Joshua Pettigrue catch him in his long arms, and settle some +bedding under his head, so that he lay breathing heavily and pattering +forth prayers. The minister showed himself a man that day, for amid the +fierce carbine fire he walked boldly up and down, with a drawn rapier in +his left hand--for he was a left-handed man--and his Bible in the other. +‘This is what you are dying for, dear brothers,’ he cried continually, +holding the brown volume up in the air; ‘are ye not ready to die for +this?’ And every time he asked the question a low eager murmur of assent +rose from the ditches, the waggon, and the road. + +‘They aim like yokels at a Wappenschaw,’ said Saxon, seating himself +on the side of the waggon. ‘Like all young soldiers they fire too high. +When I was an adjutant it was my custom to press down the barrels of the +muskets until my eye told me that they were level. These rogues think +that they have done their part if they do but let the gun off, though +they are as like to hit the plovers above us as ourselves.’ + +‘Five of the faithful have fallen,’ said Hope-above Williams. ‘Shall we +not sally forth and do battle with the children of Antichrist? Are we to +lie here like so many popinjays at a fair for the troopers to practise +upon?’ + +‘There is a stone barn over yonder on the hill-side,’ I remarked. ‘If +we who have horses, and a few others, were to keep the dragoons in +play, the people might be able to reach it, and so be sheltered from the +fire.’ + +‘At least let my brother and me have a shot or two back at them,’ cried +one of the marksmen beside the wheel. + +To all our entreaties and suggestions, however, our leader only replied +by a shake of the head, and continued to swing his long legs over the +side of the waggon with his eyes fixed intently upon the horsemen, many +of whom had dismounted and were leaning their carbines over the cruppers +of their chargers. + +‘This cannot go on, sir,’ said the pastor, in a low earnest voice; ‘two +more men have just been hit.’ + +‘If fifty more men are hit we must wait until they charge,’ Saxon +answered. ‘What would you do, man? If you leave this shelter you will +be cut off and utterly destroyed. When you have seen as much of war as +I have done, you will learn to put up quietly with what is not to be +avoided. I remember on such another occasion when the rearguard or +nachhut of the Imperial troops was followed by Croats, who were in +the pay of the Grand Turk, I lost half my company before the mercenary +renegades came to close fighting. Ha, my brave boys, they are mounting! +We shall not have to wait long now.’ + +The dragoons were indeed climbing into their saddles again, and forming +across the road, with the evident intention of charging down upon us. +At the same time about thirty men detached themselves from the main body +and trotted away into the fields upon our right. Saxon growled a hearty +oath under his breath as he observed them. + +‘They have some knowledge of warfare after all,’ said he. ‘They mean to +charge us flank and front. Master Joshua, see that your scythesmen +line the quickset hedge upon the right. Stand well up, my brothers, and +flinch not from the horses. You men with the sickles, lie in the ditch +there, and cut at the legs of the brutes. A line of stone throwers +behind that. A heavy stone is as sure as a bullet at close quarters. If +ye would see your wives and children again, make that hedge good against +the horsemen. Now for the front attack. Let the men who carry petronels +come into the waggon. Two of yours, Clarke, and two of yours, Lockarby. +I can spare one also. That makes five. Now here are ten others of a sort +and three muskets. Twenty shots in all. Have you no pistols, Sir Gervas? + +‘No, but I can get a pair,’ said our companion, and springing upon his +horse he forced his way through the ditch, past the barrier, and so down +the road in the direction of the dragoons. + +The movement was so sudden and so unexpected that there was a dead +silence for a few seconds, which was broken by a general howl of hatred +and execration from the peasants. ‘Shoot upon him! Shoot down the false +Amalekite!’ they shrieked. ‘He hath gone to join his kind! He hath +delivered us up into the hands of the enemy! Judas! Judas!’ As to the +horsemen, who were still forming up for a charge and waiting for the +flanking party to get into position, they sat still and silent, not +knowing what to make of the gaily-dressed cavalier who was speeding +towards them. + +We were not left long in doubt, however. He had no sooner reached the +spot where the cornet had fallen than he sprang from his horse and +helped himself to the dead man’s pistols, and to the belt which +contained his powder and ball. Mounting at his leisure, amid a shower of +bullets which puffed up the white dust all around him, he rode onwards +towards the dragoons and discharged one of his pistols at them. Wheeling +round he politely raised his cap, and galloped back to us, none the +worse for his adventure, though a ball had grazed his horse’s fetlock +and another had left a hole in the skirt of his riding-coat. The +peasants raised a shout of jubilation as he rode in, and from that day +forward our friend was permitted to wear his gay trappings and to bear +himself as he would, without being suspected of having mounted the +livery of Satan or of being wanting in zeal for the cause of the saints. + +‘They are coming,’ cried Saxon. ‘Let no man draw trigger until he sees +me shoot. If any does, I shall send a bullet through him, though it was +my last shot and the troopers were amongst us.’ + +As our leader uttered this threat and looked grimly round upon us with +an evident intention of executing it, a shrill blare of a bugle burst +from the horsemen in front of us, and was answered by those upon our +flank. At the signal both bodies set spurs to their horses and dashed +down upon us at the top of their speed. Those in the field were delayed +for a few moments, and thrown into some disorder, by finding that the +ground immediately in front of them was soft and boggy, but having +made their way through it they re-formed upon the other side and rode +gallantly at the hedge. Our own opponents, having a clear course before +them, never slackened for an instant, but came thundering down with a +jingling of harness and a tempest of oaths upon our rude barricades. + +Ah, my children! when a man in his age tries to describe such things as +these, and to make others see what he has seen, it is only then that he +understands what a small stock of language a plain man keeps by him for +his ordinary use in the world, and how unfit it is to meet any call +upon it. For though at this very moment I can myself see that white +Somersetshire road, with the wild whirling charge of the horsemen, the +red angry faces of the men, and the gaping nostrils of the horses all +wreathed and framed in clouds of dust, I cannot hope to make it clear +to your young eyes, which never have looked, and, I trust, never shall +look, upon such a scene. When, too, I think of the sound, a mere rattle +and jingle at first, but growing in strength and volume with every step, +until it came upon us with a thunderous rush and roar which gave the +impression of irresistible power, I feel that that too is beyond the +power of my feeble words to express. To inexperienced soldiers like +ourselves it seemed impossible that our frail defence and our feeble +weapons could check for an instant the impetus and weight of the +dragoons. To right and left I saw white set faces, open-eyed and rigid, +unflinching, with a stubbornness which rose less from hope than from +despair. All round rose exclamations and prayers. ‘Lord, save Thy +people!’ ‘Mercy, Lord, mercy!’ ‘Be with us this day!’ ‘Receive our +souls, O merciful Father!’ Saxon lay across the waggon with his eyes +glinting like diamonds and his petronel presented at the full length +of his rigid arm. Following his example we all took aim as steadily as +possible at the first rank of the enemy. Our only hope of safety lay +in making that one discharge so deadly that our opponents should be too +much shaken to continue their attack. + +Would the man never fire? They could not be more than ten paces from us. +I could see the buckles of the men’s plates and the powder charges in +their bandoliers. One more stride yet, and at last our leader’s pistol +flashed and we poured in a close volley, supported by a shower of heavy +stones from the sturdy peasants behind. I could hear them splintering +against casque and cuirass like hail upon a casement. The cloud of smoke +veiling for an instant the line of galloping steeds and gallant riders +drifted slowly aside to show a very different scene. A dozen men and +horses were rolling in one wild blood-spurting heap, the unwounded +falling over those whom our balls and stones had brought down. +Struggling, snorting chargers, iron-shod feet, staggering figures rising +and falling, wild, hatless, bewildered men half stunned by a fall, and +not knowing which way to turn--that was the foreground of the picture, +while behind them the remainder of the troop were riding furiously back, +wounded and hale, all driven by the one desire of getting to a place of +safety where they might rally their shattered formation. A great shout +of praise and thanksgiving rose from the delighted peasants, and +surging over the barricade they struck down or secured the few uninjured +troopers who had boon unable or unwilling to join their companions in +their flight. The carbines, swords, and bandoliers were eagerly pounced +upon by the victors, some of whom had served in the militia, and knew +well how to handle the weapons which they had won. + +The victory, however, was by no means completed. The flanking squadron +had ridden boldly at the hedge, and a dozen or more had forced their way +through, in spite of the showers of stones and the desperate thrusts of +the pikemen and scythemen. Once amongst the peasants, the long swords +and the armour of the dragoons gave them a great advantage, and though +the sickles brought several of the horses to the ground the soldiers +continued to lay about them freely, and to beat back the fierce but +ill-armed resistance of their opponents. A dragoon sergeant, a man of +great resolution and of prodigious strength, appeared to be the leader +of the party, and encouraged his followers both by word and example. +A stab from a half-pike brought his horse to the ground, but he +sprang from the saddle as it fell, and avenged its death by a sweeping +back-handed cut from his broadsword. Waving his hat in his left hand he +continued to rally his men, and to strike down every Puritan who came +against him, until a blow from a hatchet brought him on his knees and +a flail stroke broke his sword close by the hilt. At the fall of their +leader his comrades turned and fled through the hedge, but the gallant +fellow, wounded and bleeding, still showed fight, and would assuredly +have been knocked upon the head for his pains had I not picked him up +and thrown him into the waggon, where he had the good sense to lie quiet +until the skirmish was at an end. Of the dozen who broke through, not +more than four escaped, and several others lay dead or wounded upon the +other side of the hedge, impaled by scythe-blades or knocked off +their horses by stones. Altogether nine of the dragoons were slain +and fourteen wounded, while we retained seven unscathed prisoners, ten +horses fit for service, and a score or so of carbines, with good store +of match, powder, and ball. The remainder of the troop fired a +single, straggling, irregular volley, and then galloped away down the +cross-road, disappearing amongst the trees from which they had emerged. + +All this, however, had not been accomplished without severe loss upon +our side. Three men had been killed and six wounded, one of them +very seriously, by the musketry fire. Five had been cut down when +the flanking party broke their way in, and only one of these could be +expected to recover. In addition to this, one man had lost his life +through the bursting of an ancient petronel, and another had his arm +broken by the kick of a horse. Our total losses, therefore, were eight +killed and the same wounded, which could not but be regarded as a very +moderate number when we consider the fierceness of the skirmish, and the +superiority of our enemy both in discipline and in equipment. + +So elated were the peasants by their victory, that those who had secured +horses were clamorous to be allowed to follow the dragoons, the more so +as Sir Gervas Jerome and Reuben were both eager to lead them. Decimus +Saxon refused, however, to listen to any such scheme, nor did he show +more favour to the Reverend Joshua Pettigrue’s proposal, that he should +in his capacity as pastor mount immediately upon the waggon, and improve +the occasion by a few words of healing and unction. + +‘It is true, good Master Pettigrue, that we owe much praise and much +outpouring, and much sweet and holy contending, for this blessing which +hath come upon Israel,’ said he, ‘but the time hath not yet arrived. +There is an hour for prayer and an hour for labour. Hark ye, friend’--to +one of the prisoners--‘to what regiment do you belong?’ + +‘It is not for me to reply to your questions,’ the man answered sulkily. + +Nay, then, we’ll try if a string round your scalp and a few twists of a +drumstick will make you find your tongue,’ said Saxon, pushing his face +up to that of the prisoner, and staring into his eyes with so savage an +expression that the man shrank away affrighted. + +‘It is a troop of the second dragoon regiment,’ he said. + +‘Where is the regiment itself?’ + +‘We left it on the Ilchester and Langport road.’ + +‘You hear,’ said our leader. ‘We have not a moment to spare, or we may +have the whole crew about our ears. Put our dead and wounded in the +carts, and we can harness two of these chargers to them. We shall not be +in safety until we are in Taunton town.’ + +Even Master Joshua saw that the matter was too pressing to permit of +any spiritual exercises. The wounded men were lifted into the waggon and +laid upon the bedding, while our dead were placed in the cart which had +defended our rear. The peasants who owned these, far from making any +objection to this disposal of their property, assisted us in every way, +tightening girths and buckling traces. Within an hour of the ending of +the skirmish we found ourselves pursuing our way once more, and looking +back through the twilight at the scattered black dots upon the white +road, where the bodies of the dragoons marked the scene of our victory. + + + + +Chapter XVI. Of our Coming to Taunton + +The purple shadows of evening had fallen over the countryside, and the +sun had sunk behind the distant Quantock and Brendon Hills, as our rude +column of rustic infantry plodded through Curry Rivell, Wrantage, and +Henlade. At every wayside cottage and red-tiled farmhouse the people +swarmed out us we passed, with jugs full of milk or beer, shaking hands +with our yokels, and pressing food and drink upon them. In the little +villages old and young came buzzing to greet us, and cheered long and +loud for King Monmouth and the Protestant cause. The stay-at-homes were +mostly elderly folks and children, but here and there a young labourer, +whom hesitation or duties had kept back, was so carried away by our +martial appearance, and by the visible trophies of our victory, that he +snatched up a weapon and joined our ranks. + +The skirmish had reduced our numbers, but it had done much to turn our +rabble of peasants into a real military force. The leadership of Saxon, +and his stern, short words of praise or of censure had done even more. +The men kept some sort of formation, and stepped together briskly in a +compact body. The old soldier and I rode at the head of the column, with +Master Pettigrue still walking between us. Then came the cartful of +our dead, whom we were carrying with us to insure their decent burial. +Behind this walked two score of scythe and sickle men, with their rude +weapons over their shoulders, preceding the waggon in which the wounded +were carried. This was followed by the main body of the peasants, +and the rear was brought up by ten or twelve men under the command of +Lockarby and Sir Gervas, mounted upon captured chargers, and wearing the +breastplates, swords, and carbines of the dragoons. + +I observed that Saxon rode with his chin upon his shoulder, casting +continual uneasy glances behind him, and halting at every piece of +rising ground to make sure that there were no pursuers at our heels. It +was not until, after many weary miles of marching, the lights of Taunton +could be seen twinkling far off in the valley beneath us that he at last +heaved a deep sigh of relief, and expressed his belief that all danger +was over. + +‘I am not prone to be fearful upon small occasion,’ he remarked, ‘but +hampered as we are with wounded men and prisoners, it might have puzzled +Petrinus himself to know what we should have done had the cavalry +overtaken us. I can now, Master Pettigrue, smoke my pipe in peace, +without pricking up my ears at every chance rumble of a wheel or shout +of a village roisterer.’ + +‘Even had they pursued us,’ said the minister stoutly, ‘as long as the +hand of the Lord shall shield us, why should we fear them?’ + +‘Aye, aye!’ Saxon answered impatiently, ‘but the devil prevaileth at +times. Were not the chosen people themselves overthrown and led into +captivity? How say you, Clarke?’ + +‘One such skirmish is enough for a day,’ I remarked. ‘Faith! if instead +of charging us they had continued that carbine fire, we must either have +come forth or been shot where we lay.’ + +‘For that reason I forbade our friends with the muskets to answer it,’ +said Saxon. ‘Our silence led them to think that we had but a pistol or +two among us, and so brought them to charge us. Thus our volley became +the more terrifying since it was unexpected. I’ll wager there was not a +man amongst them who did not feel that he had been led into a trap. Mark +you how the rogues wheeled and fled with one accord, as though it had +been part of their daily drill!’ + +‘The peasants stood to it like men,’ I remarked. + +‘There is nothing like a tincture of Calvinism for stiffening a line of +battle,’ said Saxon. ‘Look at the Swede when he is at home. What more +honest, simple-hearted fellow could you find, with no single soldierly +virtue, save that he could put away more spruce beer than you would care +to pay for. Yet if you do but cram him with a few strong, homely texts, +place a pike in his hand, and give him a Gustavus to lead him, there is +no infantry in the world that can stand against him. On the other hand, +I have seen young Turks, untrained to arms, strike in on behalf of the +Koran as lustily as these brave fellows behind us did for the Bible +which Master Pettigrue held up in front of them.’ + +‘I trust, sir,’ said the minister gravely, ‘that you do not, by +these remarks, intend to institute any comparison between our sacred +scriptures and the writings of the impostor Mahomet, or to infer that +there is any similarity between the devil-inspired fury of the infidel +Saracens and the Christian fortitude of the struggling faithful!’ + +‘By no means,’ Saxon answered, grinning at me over the minister’s head. +‘I was but showing how closely the Evil One can imitate the workings of +the Spirit.’ + +‘Too true, Master Saxon, too true!’ the clergyman answered sadly. ‘Amid +the conflict and discord it is hard to pick out the true path. But +I marvel much that amidst the snares and temptations that beset a +soldier’s life you have kept yourself unsullied, with your heart still +set upon the true faith.’ + +‘It was through no strength of mine own,’ said Saxon piously. + +‘In very truth, such men as you are much needed in Monmouth’s army,’ +Master Joshua exclaimed. ‘They have there several, as I understand, from +Holland, Brandenburg, and Scotland, who have been trained in arms, but +who care so little for the cause which we uphold that they curse and +swear in a manner that affrights the peasants, and threatens to call +down a judgment upon the army. Others there are who cling close to the +true faith, and have been born again among the righteous; but alas! they +have had no experience of camps and fields. Our blessed Master can work +by means of weak instruments, yet the fact remains that a man may be +a chosen light in a pulpit, and yet be of little avail in an onslaught +such as we have seen this day. I can myself arrange my discourse to the +satisfaction of my flock, so that they grieve when the sand is run out; +(Note E. Appendix) but I am aware that this power would stand me in +little stead when it came to the raising of barricades and the use of +carnal weapons. In this way it comes about, in the army of the faithful, +that those who are fit to lead are hateful to the people, while those to +whose words the people will hearken know little of war. Now we have this +day seen that you are ready of head and of hand, of much experience of +battle, and yet of demure and sober life, full of yearnings after the +word, and strivings against Apollyon. I therefore repeat that you shall +be as a very Joshua amongst them, or as a Samson, destined to tear +down the twin pillars of Prelacy and Popery, so as to bury this corrupt +government in its fall.’ + +Decimus Saxon’s only reply to this eulogy was one of those groans which +were supposed, among the zealots, to be the symbol of intense inner +conflict and emotion. So austere and holy was his expression, so solemn +his demeanour, and so frequent the upturnings of his eyes, clasping +of his hands, and other signs which marked the extreme sectary, that +I could not but marvel at the depths and completeness of the hypocrisy +which had cast so complete a cloak over his rapacious self. For very +mischief’s sake I could not refrain from reminding him that there was +one at least who valued his professions at their real value. + +‘Have you told the worthy minister,’ said I, ‘of your captivity amongst +the Mussulmans, and of the noble way in which you did uphold the +Christian faith at Stamboul?’ + +‘Nay,’ cried our companion, ‘I would fain hear the tale. I marvel much +that one so faithful and unbending as thyself was ever let loose by the +unclean and bloodthirsty followers of Mahomet.’ + +‘It does not become me to tell the tale,’ Saxon answered with great +presence of mind, casting at the same time a most venomous sidelong +glance at me. ‘It is for my comrades in misfortune and not for me to +describe what I endured for the faith. I have little doubt, Master +Pettigrue, that you would have done as much had you been there. The town +of Taunton lies very quiet beneath us, and there are few lights for so +early an hour, seeing that it has not yet gone ten. It is clear that +Monmouth’s forces have not reached it yet, else had there been some show +of camp-fires in the valley; for though it is warm enough to lie out in +the open, the men must have fires to cook their victual.’ + +‘The army could scarce have come so far,’ said the pastor. ‘They have, +I hear, been much delayed by the want of arms and by the need of +discipline. Bethink ye, it was on the eleventh day of the month that +Monmouth landed at Lyme, and it is now but the night of the fourteenth. +There was much to be done in the time.’ + +‘Four whole days!’ growled the old soldier. ‘Yet I expected no better, +seeing that they have, so far as I can hear, no tried soldiers amongst +them. By my sword, Tilly or Wallenstein would not have taken four days +to come from Lyme to Taunton, though all James Stuart’s cavalry barred +the way. Great enterprises are not pushed through in this halting +fashion. The blow should be sharp and sudden. But tell me, worthy sir, +all that you know about the matter, for we have heard little upon the +road save rumour and surmise. Was there not some fashion of onfall at +Bridport?’ + +‘There was indeed some shedding of blood at that place. The first two +days were consumed, as I understand, in the enrolling of the faithful +and the search for arms wherewith to equip them. You may well shake your +head, for the hours were precious. At last five hundred men were broken +into some sort of order, and marched along the coast under command of +Lord Grey of Wark and Wade the lawyer. At Bridport they were opposed +by the red Dorset militia and part of Portman’s yellow coats. If all +be true that is said, neither side had much to boast of. Grey and his +cavalry never tightened bridle until they were back in Lyme once more, +though it is said their flight had more to do with the hard mouths +of their horses than with the soft hearts of the riders. Wade and his +footmen did bravely, and had the best of it against the King’s troops. +There was much outcry against Grey in the camp, but Monmouth can +scarce afford to be severe upon the only nobleman who hath joined his +standard.’ + +‘Pshaw!’ cried Saxon peevishly. ‘There was no great stock of noblemen in +Cromwell’s army, I trow, and yet they held their own against the King, +who had as many lords by him as there are haws in a thicket. If ye have +the people on your side, why should ye crave for these bewigged fine +gentlemen, whose white hands and delicate rapiers are of as much service +as so many ladies’ bodkins?’ + +‘Faith!’ said I, ‘if all the fops are as careless for their lives as our +friend Sir Gervas, I could wish no better comrades in the field.’ + +‘In good sooth, yes!’ cried Master Pettigrue heartily. ‘What though he +be clothed in a Joseph’s coat of many colours, and hath strange turns +of speech! No man could have fought more stoutly or shown a bolder front +against the enemies of Israel. Surely the youth hath good in his heart, +and will become a seat of grace and a vessel of the Spirit, though +at present he be entangled in the net of worldly follies and carnal +vanities.’ + +‘It is to be hoped so,’ quoth Saxon devoutly. ‘And what else can you +tell us of the revolt, worthy sir?’ + +‘Very little, save that the peasants have flocked in in such numbers +that many have had to be turned away for want of arms. Every tithing-man +in Somersetshire is searching for axes and scythes. There is not +a blacksmith but is at his forge from morn to night at work upon +pike-heads. There are six thousand men of a sort in the camp, but +not one in five carries a musket. They have advanced, I hear, upon +Axminster, where they must meet the Duke of Albemarle, who hath set out +from Exeter with four thousand of the train bands.’ + +‘Then we shall be too late, after all,’ I exclaimed. + +‘You will have enough of battles before Monmouth exchanges his +riding-hat for a crown, and his laced roquelaure for the royal purple,’ +quoth Saxon. ‘Should our worthy friend here be correctly informed and +such an engagement take place, it will but be the prologue to the play. +When Feversham and Churchill come up with the King’s own troops, it is +then that Monmouth takes the last spring, that lands him either on the +throne or the scaffold.’ + +Whilst this conversation had been proceeding we had been walking our +horses down the winding track which leads along the eastern slope of +Taunton Deane. For some time past we had been able to see in the valley +beneath us the lights of Taunton town and the long silver strip of +the river Tone. The moon was shining brightly in a cloudless heaven, +throwing a still and peaceful radiance over the fairest and richest of +English valleys. Lordly manorial houses, pinnacled towers, clusters of +nestling thatch-roofed cottages, broad silent stretches of cornland, +dark groves with the glint of lamp-lit windows shining from their +recesses--it all lay around us like the shadowy, voiceless landscapes +which stretch before us in our dreams. So calm and so beautiful was the +scene that we reined up our horses at the bend of the pathway, the tired +and footsore peasants came to a halt, while even the wounded raised +themselves in the waggon in order to feast their eyes upon this land of +promise. Suddenly, in the stillness, a strong fervent voice was heard +calling upon the source of all life to guard and preserve that which +He had created. It was Joshua Pettigrue, who had flung himself upon his +knees, and who, while asking for future guidance, was returning thanks +for the safe deliverance which his flock had experienced from the many +perils which had beset them upon their journey. I would, my children, +that I had one of those magic crystals of which we have read, that I +might show you that scene. The dark figures of the horsemen, the grave, +earnest bearing of the rustics as they knelt in prayer or leaned upon +their rude weapons, the half-cowed, half-sneering expression of the +captive dragoons, the line of white pain-drawn faces that peeped +over the side of the waggon, and the chorus of groans, cries, and +ejaculations which broke in upon the steady earnest voice of the pastor. +Above us the brilliant heavens, beneath us the beautiful sloping valley, +stretching away in the white moonlight as far as the eye could reach. +Could I but paint such a scene with the brush of a Verrio or Laguerre, I +should have no need to describe it in these halting and feeble words. + +Master Pettigrue had concluded his thanksgiving, and was in the act of +rising to his feet, when the musical peal of a bell rose up from the +sleeping town before us. For a minute or more it rose and fell in its +sweet clear cadence. Then a second with a deeper, harsher note joined +in, and then a third, until he air was filled with the merry jangling. +At the same time a buzz of shouting or huzzaing could be heard, which +increased and spread until it swelled into a mighty uproar. Lights +flashed in the windows, drums beat, and the whole place was astir. These +sudden signs of rejoicing coming at the heels of the minister’s prayer +were seized upon as a happy omen by the superstitious peasants, who set +up a glad cry, and pushing onwards were soon within the outskirts of the +town. + +The footpaths and causeway were black with throngs of the townsfolk, +men, women, and children, many of whom were bearing torches and +lanthorns, all flocking in the same direction. Following them we found +ourselves in the market-place, where crowds of apprentice lads were +piling up faggots for a bonfire, while others were broaching two or +three great puncheons of ale. The cause of this sudden outbreak of +rejoicing was, we learned, that news had just come in that Albemarle’s +Devonshire militia had partly deserted and partly been defeated at +Axminster that very morning. On hearing of our own successful skirmish +the joy of the people became more tumultuous than ever. They rushed in +amongst us, pouring blessings on our heads, in their strange burring +west-country speech, and embracing our horses as well as ourselves. +Preparations were soon made for our weary companions. A long empty wool +warehouse, thickly littered with straw, was put at their disposal, with +a tub of ale and a plentiful supply of cold meats and wheaten bread. +For our own part we made our way down East Street through the clamorous +hand-shaking crowd to the White Hart Inn, where after a hasty meal we +were right glad to seek our couches. Late into the night, however, our +slumbers were disturbed by the rejoicings of the mob, who, having burned +the effigies of Lord Sunderland and of Gregory Alford, Mayor of Lyme, +continued to sing west-country songs and Puritan hymns into the small +hours of the morning. + + + +Chapter XVII. Of the Gathering in the Market-square + +The fair town in which we now found ourselves was, although Monmouth +had not yet reached it, the real centre of the rebellion. It was a +prosperous place, with a great woollen and kersey trade, which gave +occupation to as many as seven thousand inhabitants. It stood high, +therefore, amongst English boroughs, being inferior only to Bristol, +Norwich, Bath, Exeter, York, Worcester, and Nottingham amongst the +country towns. Taunton had long been famous not only for its own +resources and for the spirit of its inhabitants, but also for the +beautiful and highly cultivated country which spread around it, and gave +rise to a gallant breed of yeomen. From time immemorial the town had +been a rallying-point for the party of liberty, and for many years it +had leaned to the side of Republicanism in politics and of Puritanism +in religion. No place in the kingdom had fought more stoutly for +the Parliament, and though it had been twice besieged by Goring, the +burghers, headed by the brave Robert Blake, had fought so desperately, +that the Royalists had been compelled each time to retire discomfited. +On the second occasion the garrison had been reduced to dog’s-flesh and +horse-flesh, but no word of surrender had come either from them or +their heroic commander, who was the same Blake under whom the old seaman +Solomon Sprent had fought against the Dutch. After the Restoration the +Privy Council had shown their recollection of the part played by the +Somersetshire town, by issuing a special order that the battlements +which fenced round the maiden stronghold should be destroyed. Thus, +at the time of which I speak, nothing but a line of ruins and a few +unsightly mounds represented the massive line of wall which had been +so bravely defended by the last generation of townsmen. There were not +wanting, however, many other relics of those stormy times. The houses on +the outskirts were still scarred and splintered from the effects of +the bombs and grenades of the Cavaliers. Indeed, the whole town bore a +grimly martial appearance, as though she were a veteran among boroughs +who had served in the past, and was not averse to seeing the flash of +guns and hearing the screech of shot once more. + +Charles’s Council might destroy the battlements which his soldiers had +been unable to take, but no royal edict could do away with the resolute +spirit and strong opinions of the burghers. Many of them, born and bred +amidst the clash of civil strife, had been fired from their infancy by +the tales of the old war, and by reminiscences of the great assault when +Lunsford’s babe-eaters were hurled down the main breach by the strong +arms of their fathers. In this way there was bred in Taunton a fiercer +and more soldierly spirit than is usual in an English country town, and +this flame was fanned by the unwearied ministerings of a chosen band +of Nonconformist clergymen, amongst whom Joseph Alleine was the most +conspicuous. No better focus for a revolt could have been chosen, for +no city valued so highly those liberties and that creed which was in +jeopardy. + +A large body of the burghers had already set out to join the rebel army, +but a good number had remained behind to guard the city, and these were +reinforced by gangs of peasants, like the one to which we had attached +ourselves, who had trooped in from the surrounding country, and now +divided their time between listening to their favourite preachers and +learning to step in line and to handle their weapons. In yard, street, +and market-square there was marching and drilling, night, morning, and +noon. As we rode out after breakfast the whole town was ringing with the +shouting of orders and the clatter of arms. Our own friends of yesterday +marched into the market-place at the moment we entered it, and no sooner +did they catch sight of us than they plucked off their hats and cheered +lustily, nor would they desist until we cantered over to them and took +our places at their head. + +‘They have vowed that none other should lead them,’ said the minister, +standing by Saxon’s stirrup. + +‘I could not wish to lead stouter fellows,’ said he. ‘Let them deploy +into double line in front of the town-hall. So, so, smartly there, rear +rank!’ he shouted, facing his horse towards them. ‘Now swing round into +position. Keep your ground, left flank, and let the others pivot upon +you. So--as hard and as straight as an Andrea Ferrara. I prythee, +friend, do not carry your pike as though it were a hoe, though I trust +you will do some weeding in the Lord’s vineyard with it. And you, sir, +your musquetoon should be sloped upon your shoulder, and not borne under +your arm like a dandy’s cane. Did ever an unhappy soldier find himself +called upon to make order among so motley a crew! Even my good friend +the Fleming cannot so avail here, nor does Petrinus, in his “De re +militari,” lay down any injunctions as to the method of drilling a man +who is armed with a sickle or a scythe.’ + +‘Shoulder scythe, port scythe, present scythe--mow!’ whispered Reuben to +Sir Gervas, and the pair began to laugh, heedless of the angry frowns of +Saxon. + +‘Let us divide them,’ he said, ‘into three companies of eighty men. Or +stay--how many musketeers have we in all? Five-and-fifty. Let them stand +forward, and form the first line or company. Sir Gervas Jerome, you have +officered the militia of your county, and have doubtless some knowledge +of the manual exercise. If I am commandant of this force I hand over the +captaincy of this company to you. It shall be the first line in battle, +a position which I know you will not be averse to.’ + +‘Gad, they’ll have to powder their heads,’ said Sir Gervas, with +decision. + +‘You shall have the entire ordering of them,’ Saxon answered. ‘Let the +first company take six paces to the front--so! Now let the pikemen stand +out. Eighty-seven, a serviceable company! Lockarby, do you take these +men in hand, and never forget that the German wars have proved that the +best of horse has no more chance against steady pikemen than the waves +against a crag. Take the captaincy of the second company, and ride at +their head.’ + +‘Faith! If they don’t fight better than their captain rides,’ whispered +Reuben, ‘it will be an evil business. I trust they will be firmer in the +field than I am in the saddle.’ + +‘The third company of scythesmen I commit to your charge, Captain Micah +Clarke,’ continued Saxon. ‘Good Master Joshua Pettigrue will be our +field-chaplain. Shall not his voice and his presence be to us as +manna in the wilderness, and as springs of water in dry places? The +under-officers I see that you have yourselves chosen, and your captains +shall have power to add to the number from those who smite boldly and +spare not. Now one thing I have to say to you, and I speak it that all +may hear, and that none may hereafter complain that the rules he serves +under were not made clear to him. For I tell you now that when the +evening bugle calls, and the helm and pike are laid aside, I am as you +and you as I, fellow-workers in the same field, and drinkers from the +same wells of life. Lo, I will pray with you, or preach with you, or +hearken with you, or expound to you, or do aught that may become a +brother pilgrim upon the weary road. But hark you, friends! when we are +in arms and the good work is to be done, on the march, in the field, or +on parade, then let your bearing be strict, soldierly, and scrupulous, +quick to hear and alert to obey, for I shall have no sluggards or +laggards, and if there be any such my hand shall be heavy upon them, +yea, even to the cutting of them off. I say there shall be no mercy for +such,’ here he paused and surveyed his force with a set face and his +eyelids drawn low over his glinting, shifting eyes. ‘If, then,’ he +continued, ‘there is any man among you who fears to serve under a hard +discipline, let him stand forth now, and let him betake him to some +easier leader, for I say to you that whilst I command this corps, +Saxon’s regiment of Wiltshire foot shall be worthy to testify in this +great and soul-raising cause.’ + +The Colonel stopped and sat silent upon his mare. The long lines of +rustic faces looked up, some stolidly, some admiringly, some with an +expression of fear at his stern, gaunt face and baneful eyes. None +moved, however, so he continued. + +‘Worthy Master Timewell, the Mayor of this fair town of Taunton, who +has been a tower of strength to the faithful during these long and +spirit-trying times, is about to inspect us when the others shall have +assembled. Captains, to your companies then! Close up there on the +musqueteers, with three paces between each line. Scythesmen, take ground +to your left. Let the under-officers stand on the flanks and rear. So! +‘tis smartly done for a first venture, though a good adjutant with a +prugel after the Imperial fashion might find work to do.’ + +Whilst we were thus rapidly and effectively organising ourselves into a +regiment, other bodies of peasantry more or less disciplined had marched +into the market-square, and had taken up their position there. Those +on our right had come from Frome and Radstock, in the north of +Somersetshire, and were a mere rabble armed with flails, hammers, and +other such weapons, with no common sign of order or cohesion save the +green boughs which waved in their hat-bands. The body upon our left, who +bore a banner amongst them announcing that they were men of Dorset, were +fewer in number but better equipped, having a front rank, like our own, +entirely armed with muskets. + +The good townsmen of Taunton, with their wives and their daughters, +had meanwhile been assembling on the balconies and at the windows which +overlooked the square, whence they might have a view of the pageant. The +grave, square-bearded, broadclothed burghers, and their portly dames in +velvet and three-piled taffeta, looked down from every post of vantage, +while here and there a pretty, timid face peeping out from a Puritan +coif made good the old claim, that Taunton excelled in beautiful women +as well as in gallant men. The side-walks were crowded with the commoner +folk--old white-bearded wool-workers, stern-faced matrons, country +lasses with their shawls over their heads, and swarms of children, who +cried out with their treble voices for King Monmouth and the Protestant +succession. + +‘By my faith!’ said Sir Gervas, reining back his steed until he was +abreast of me, ‘our square-toed friends need not be in such post-haste +to get to heaven when they have so many angels among them on earth. +Gad’s wounds, are they not beautiful? Never a patch or a diamond amongst +them, and yet what would not our faded belles of the Mall or the Piazza +give for their innocence and freshness?’ + +‘Nay, for Heaven’s sake do not smile and bow at them,’ said I. ‘These +courtesies may pass in London, but they may be misunderstood among +simple Somerset maidens and their hot-headed, hard-handed kinsfolk.’ + +I had hardly spoken before the folding-doors of the town-hall were +thrown open, and a procession of the city fathers emerged into the +market-place. Two trumpeters in parti-coloured jerkins preceded them, +who blew a flourish upon their instruments as they advanced. Behind came +the aldermen and councilmen, grave and reverend elders, clad in their +sweeping gowns of black silk, trimmed and tippeted with costly furs. +In rear of these walked a pursy little red-faced man, the town clerk, +bearing a staff of office in his hand, while the line of dignitaries +was closed by the tall and stately figure of Stephen Timewell, Mayor of +Taunton. + +There was much in this magistrate’s appearance to attract attention, for +all the characteristics of the Puritan party to which he belonged were +embodied and exaggerated in his person. Of great height he was and very +thin, with a long-drawn, heavy eyelidded expression, which spoke of +fasts and vigils. The bent shoulders and the head sunk upon the breast +proclaimed the advances of age, but his bright steel-grey eyes and the +animation of his eager face showed how the enthusiasm of religion +could rise superior to bodily weakness. A peaked, straggling grey beard +descended half-way to his waist, and his long snow-white hairs fluttered +out from under a velvet skull-cap. The latter was drawn tightly down +upon his head, so as to make his ears protrude in an unnatural manner +on either side, a custom which had earned for his party the title of +‘prickeared,’ so often applied to them by their opponents. His attire +was of studious plainness and sombre in colour, consisting of his black +mantle, dark velvet breeches, and silk hosen, with velvet bows upon his +shoes instead of the silver buckles then in vogue. A broad chain of gold +around his neck formed the badge of his office. In front of him strutted +the fat red-vested town clerk, one hand upon his hip, the other extended +and bearing his wand of office, looking pompously to right and left, +and occasionally bowing as though the plaudits were entirely on his own +behalf. This little man had tied a huge broadsword to his girdle, which +clanked along the cobble stones when he walked and occasionally inserted +itself between his legs, when he would gravely cock his foot over it +again and walk on without any abatement of his dignity. At last, finding +these interruptions become rather too frequent, he depressed the hilt of +his great sword in order to elevate the point, and so strutted onwards +like a bantam cock with a tingle straight feather in its tail. + +Having passed round the front and rear of the various bodies, and +inspected them with a minuteness and attention which showed that his +years had not dulled his soldier’s faculties, the Mayor faced round with +the evident intention of addressing us. His clerk instantly darted in +front of him, and waving his arms began to shout ‘Silence, good people! +Silence for his most worshipful the Mayor of Taunton! Silence for +the worthy Master Stephen Timewell!’ until in the midst of his +gesticulations and cries he got entangled once more with his overgrown +weapon, and went sprawling on his hands and knees in the kennel. + +‘Silence yourself, Master Tetheridge,’ said the chief magistrate +severely. ‘If your sword and your tongue were both clipped, it would be +as well for yourself and us. Shall I not speak a few words in season +to these good people but you must interrupt with your discordant +bellowings?’ + +The busybody gathered himself together and slunk behind the group of +councilmen, while the Mayor slowly ascended the steps of the market +cross. From this position he addressed us, speaking in a high piping +voice which gathered strength as he proceeded, until it was audible at +the remotest corners of the square. + +‘Friends in the faith,’ he said, ‘I thank the Lord that I have been +spared in my old age to look down upon this goodly assembly. For we of +Taunton have ever kept the flame of the Covenant burning amongst us, +obscured it may be at times by time-servers and Laodiceans, but none the +less burning in the hearts of our people. All round us, however, +there was a worse than Egyptian darkness, where Popery and Prelacy, +Arminianism, Erastianism, and Simony might rage and riot unchecked and +unconfined. But what do I see now? Do I see the faithful cowering +in their hiding-places and straining their ears for the sound of the +horsehoof’s of their oppressors? Do I see a time-serving generation, +with lies on their lips and truth buried in their hearts? No! I see +before me godly men, not from this fair city only, but from the broad +country round, and from Dorset, and from Wiltshire, and some even as I +hear from Hampshire, all ready and eager to do mighty work in the cause +of the Lord. And when I see these faithful men, and when I think that +every broad piece in the strong boxes of my townsmen is ready to support +them, and when I know that the persecuted remnant throughout the country +is wrestling hard in prayer for us, then a voice speaks within me and +tells me that we shall tear down the idols of Dagon, and build up in +this England of ours such a temple of the true faith that not Popery, +nor Prelacy, nor idolatry, nor any other device of the Evil One shall +ever prevail against it.’ + +A deep irrepressible hum of approval burst from the close ranks of +the insurgent infantry, with a clang of arms as musquetoon or pike was +grounded upon the stone pavement. + +Saxon half-turned his fierce face, raising an impatient hand, and the +hoarse murmur died away among our men, though our less-disciplined +companions to right and left continued to wave their green boughs and to +clatter their arms. The Taunton men opposite stood grim and silent, but +their set faces and bent brows showed that their townsman’s oratory had +stirred the deep fanatic spirit which distinguished them. + +‘In my hands,’ continued the Mayor, drawing a roll of paper from his +bosom, ‘is the proclamation which our royal leader hath sent in advance +of him. In his great goodness and self-abnegation he had, in his early +declaration given forth at Lyme, declared that he should leave the +choice of a monarch to the Commons of England, but having found that +his enemies did most scandalously and basely make use of this his +self-denial, and did assert that he had so little confidence in his own +cause that he dared not take publicly the title which is due to him, he +hath determined that this should have an end. Know, therefore, that it +is hereby proclaimed that James, Duke of Monmouth, is now and henceforth +rightful King of England; that James Stuart, the Papist and fratricide, +is a wicked usurper, upon whose head, dead or alive, a price of five +thousand guineas is affixed; and that the assembly now sitting at +Westminster, and calling itself the Commons of England, is an illegal +assembly, and its acts are null and void in the sight of the law. God +bless King Monmouth and the Protestant religion!’ + +The trumpeters struck up a flourish and the people huzzaed, but the +Mayor raised his thin white hands as a signal for silence. ‘A messenger +hath reached me this morning from the King,’ he continued. ‘He sends a +greeting to all his faithful Protestant subjects, and having halted at +Axminster to rest after his victory, he will advance presently and be +with ye in two days at the latest. + +‘Ye will grieve to hear that good Alderman Rider was struck down in the +thick of the fray. He hath died like a man and a Christian, leaving all +his worldly goods, together with his cloth-works and household property, +to the carrying on of the war. Of the other slain there are not more +than ten of Taunton birth. Two gallant young brothers have been cut off, +Oliver and Ephraim Hollis, whose poor mother--’ + +‘Grieve not for me, good Master Timewell,’ cried a female voice from the +crowd. ‘I have three others as stout, who shall all be offered in the +same quarrel.’ + +‘You are a worthy woman, Mistress Hollis,’ the Mayor answered, ‘and your +children shall not be lost to you. The next name upon my list is Jesse +Trefail, then come Joseph Millar, and Aminadab Holt--’ + +An elderly musqueteer in the first line of the Taunton foot pulled his +hat down over his brows and cried out in a loud steady voice, ‘The Lord +hath given and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the +Lord.’ + +‘It is your only son, Master Holt,’ said the Mayor, ‘but the Lord also +sacrificed His only Son that you and I might drink the waters of eternal +life. The others are Path of Light Regan, James Fletcher, Salvation +Smith, and Robert Johnstone.’ + +The old Puritan gravely rolled up his papers, and having stood for a +few moments with his hands folded across his breast in silent prayer, he +descended from the market cross, and moved off, followed by the aldermen +and councilmen. The crowd began likewise to disperse in sedate and sober +fashion, with grave earnest faces and downcast eyes. A large number of +the countryfolk, however, more curious or less devout than the citizens, +gathered round our regiment to see the men who had beaten off the +dragoons. + +‘See the mon wi’ a face like a gerfalcon,’ cried one, pointing to Saxon; +‘’tis he that slew the Philistine officer yestreen, an’ brought the +faithful off victorious.’ + +‘Mark ye yon other one,’ cried an old dame, ‘him wi’ the white face an’ +the clothes like a prince. He’s one o’ the Quality, what’s come a’ the +way froe Lunnon to testify to the Protestant creed. He’s a main pious +gentleman, he is, an’ if he had bided in the wicked city they’d ha’ had +his head off, like they did the good Lord Roossell, or put him in chains +wi’ the worthy Maister Baxter.’ + +‘Marry come up, gossip,’ cried a third. ‘The girt mun on the grey horse +is the soldier for me. He has the smooth cheeks o’ a wench, an’ limbs +like Goliath o’ Gath. I’ll war’nt he could pick up my old gaffer Jones +an’ awa’ wi’ him at his saddle-bow, as easy as Towser does a rotten! But +here’s good Maister Tetheridge, the clerk, and on great business too, +for he’s a mun that spares ne time ne trooble in the great cause.’ + +‘Room, good people, room! ‘cried the little clerk, bustling up with an +air of authority. ‘Hinder not the high officials of the Corporation in +the discharge of their functions. Neither should ye hamper the flanks +of fighting men, seeing that you thereby prevent that deploying and +extending of the line which is now advocated by many high commanders. +I prythee, who commands this cohort, or legion rather, seeing that you +have auxiliary horse attached to it?’ + +‘’Tis a regiment, sirrah,’ said Saxon sternly. ‘Colonel Saxon’s regiment +of Wiltshire foot, which I have the honour to command.’ + +‘I beg your Colonelship’s pardon, ‘cried the clerk nervously, edging +away from the swarthy-faced soldier. ‘I have heard speak of your +Colonelship, and of your doings in the German wars. I have myself +trailed a pike in my youth and have broken a head or two, aye, and a +heart or two also, when I wore buff and bandolier.’ + +‘Discharge your message,’ said our Colonel shortly. + +‘’Tis from his most worshipful the Mayor, and is addressed to yourself +and to your captains, who are doubtless these tall cavaliers whom I see +on either side of me. Pretty fellows, by my faith! but you and I know +well, Colonel, that a little trick of fence will set the smallest of us +on a level with the brawniest. Now I warrant that you and I, being +old soldiers, could, back to back, make it good against these three +gallants.’ + +‘Speak, fellow,’ snarled Saxon, and reaching out a long sinewy arm he +seized the loquacious clerk by the lappet of his gown, and shook him +until his long sword clattered again. + +‘How, Colonel, how?’ cried Master Tetheridge, while his vest seemed to +acquire a deeper tint from the sudden pallor of his face. ‘Would you +lay an angry hand upon the Mayor’s representative? I wear a bilbo by my +side, as you can see. I am also somewhat quick and choleric, and warn +you therefore not to do aught which I might perchance construe into a +personal slight. As to my message, it was that his most worshipful +the Mayor did desire to have word with you and your captains in the +town-hall.’ + +‘We shall be there anon,’ said Saxon, and turning to the regiment he set +himself to explain some of the simpler movements and exercises, teaching +his officers as well as his men, for though Sir Gervas knew something of +the manual, Lockarby and I brought little but our good-will to the task. +When the order to dismiss was at last given, our companies marched back +to their barracks in the wool warehouse, while we handed over our horses +to the grooms from the White Hart, and set off to pay our respects to +the Mayor. + + + +Chapter XVIII. Of Master Stephen Timewell, Mayor of Taunton + +Within the town-hall all was bustle and turmoil. At one side behind a +low table covered with green baize sat two scriveners with great rolls +of paper in front of them. A long line of citizens passed slowly before +them, each in turn putting down a roll or bag of coins which was duly +noted by the receivers. A square iron-bound chest stood by their side, +into which the money was thrown, and we noted as we passed that it was +half full of gold pieces. We could not but mark that many of the givers +were men whose threadbare doublets and pinched faces showed that the +wealth which they were dashing down so readily must have been hoarded up +for such a purpose, at the cost of scanty fare and hard living. Most of +them accompanied their gift by a few words of prayer, or by some pithy +text anent the treasure which rusteth not, or the lending to the Lord. +The town clerk stood by the table giving forth the vouchers for each +sum, and the constant clack of his tongue filled the hall, as he read +aloud the names and amounts, with his own remarks between. + +‘Abraham Willis,’ he shouted as we entered; ‘put him down twenty-six +pounds and ten shillings. You shall receive ten per centum upon this +earth, Master Willis, and I warrant that it shall not be forgotten +hereafter. John Standish, two pounds. William Simons, two guineas. +Stand-fast Healing, forty-five pounds. That is a rare blow which you +have struck into the ribs of Prelacy, good Master Healing. Solomon +Warren, five guineas. James White, five shillings--the widow’s mite, +James! Thomas Bakewell, ten pounds. Nay, Master Bakewell, surely out of +three farms on the banks of Tone, and grazing land in the fattest part +of Athelney, you can spare more than this for the good cause. We shall +doubtless see you again. Alderman Smithson, ninety pounds. Aha! There is +a slap for the scarlet woman! A few more such and her throne shall be a +ducking-stool. We shall break her down, worthy Master Smithson, even as +Jehu, the son of Nimshi, broke down the house of Baal.’ So he babbled on +with praise, precept, and rebuke, though the grave and solemn burghers +took little notice of his empty clamour. + +At the other side of the hall were several long wooden drinking-troughs, +which were used for the storing of pikes and scythes. Special messengers +and tithing-men had been sent out to scour the country for arms, who, +as they returned, placed their prizes here under the care of the +armourer-general. Besides the common weapons of the peasants there was a +puncheon half full of pistols and petronels, together with a good number +of muskets, screw-guns, snaphances, birding-pieces, and carbines, with +a dozen bell-mouthed brass blunderbusses, and a few old-fashioned +wall-pieces, such as sakers and culverins taken from the manor-houses of +the county. From the walls and the lumber-rooms of these old dwellings +many other arms had been brought to light which were doubtless esteemed +as things of price by our forefathers, but which would seem strange to +your eyes in these days, when a musket may be fired once in every two +minutes, and will carry a ball to a distance of four hundred paces. +There were halberds, battle-axes, morning stars, brown bills, maces, and +ancient coats of chain mail, which might even now save a man from sword +stroke or pike thrust. + +In the midst of the coming and the going stood Master Timewell, the +Mayor, ordering all things like a skilful and provident commander. I +could understand the trust and love which his townsmen had for him, as +I watched him labouring with all the wisdom of an old man and the +blithesomeness of a young one. He was hard at work as we approached in +trying the lock of a falconet; but perceiving us, he came forward and +saluted us with much kindliness. + +‘I have heard much of ye,’ said he; ‘how ye caused the faithful to +gather to a head, and so beat off the horsemen of the usurper. It will +not be the last time, I trust, that ye shall see their backs. I hear, +Colonel Saxon, that ye have seen much service abroad.’ + +‘I have been the humble tool of Providence in much good work,’ +said Saxon, with a bow. ‘I have fought with the Swedes against the +Brandenburgers, and again with the Brandenburgers against the Swedes, my +time and conditions with the latter having been duly carried out. I +have afterwards in the Bavarian service fought against Swedes and +Brandenburgers combined, besides having undergone the great wars on the +Danube against the Turk, and two campaigns with the Messieurs in the +Palatinate, which latter might be better termed holiday-making than +fighting.’ + +‘A soldierly record in very truth,’ cried the Mayor, stroking his white +beard. ‘I hear that you are also powerfully borne onwards in prayer and +song. You are, I perceive, one of the old breed of ‘44, Colonel--the men +who were in the saddle all day, and on their knees half the night. When +shall we see the like of them again? A few such broken wrecks as I are +left, with the fire of our youth all burned out and nought left but the +ashes of lethargy and lukewarmness.’ + +‘Nay, nay,’ said Saxon, ‘your position and present business will scarce +jump with the modesty of your words. But here are young men who will +find the fire if their elders bring the brains. This is Captain Micah +Clarke, and Captain Lockarby, and Captain the Honourable Sir Gervas +Jerome, who have all come far to draw their swords for the downtrodden +faith.’ + +‘Taunton welcomes ye, young sirs,’ said the Mayor, looking a +trifle askance, as I thought, at the baronet, who had drawn out his +pocket-mirror, and was engaged in the brushing of his eyebrows. ‘I trust +that during your stay in this town ye will all four take up your abode +with me. ‘Tis a homely roof and simple fare, but a soldier’s wants are +few. And now, Colonel, I would fain have your advice as to these three +drakes, whether if rehooped they may be deemed fit for service; and also +as to these demi-cannons, which were used in the old Parliamentary days, +and may yet have a word to say in the people’s cause.’ + +The old soldier and the Puritan instantly plunged into a deep +and learned disquisition upon the merits of wall-pieces, drakes, +demi-culverins, sakers, minions, mortar-pieces, falcons, and +pattereroes, concerning all which pieces of ordnance Saxon had strong +opinions to offer, fortified by many personal hazards and experiences. +He then dwelt upon the merits of fire-arrows and fire-pikes in the +attack or defence of places of strength, and had finally begun to +descant upon sconces, ‘directis lateribus,’ and upon works, semilunar, +rectilineal, horizontal, or orbicular, with so many references to his +Imperial Majesty’s lines at Gran, that it seemed that his discourse +would never find an end. We slipped away at last, leaving him still +discussing the effects produced by the Austrian grenadoes upon a +Bavarian brigade of pikes at the battle of Ober-Graustock. + +‘Curse me if I like accepting this old fellow’s offer,’ said Sir Gervas, +in an undertone. ‘I have heard of these Puritan households. Much grace +to little sack, and texts flying about as hard and as jagged as flint +stones. To bed at sundown, and a sermon ready if ye do but look kindly +at the waiting-wench or hum the refrain of a ditty.’ + +‘His home may be larger, but it could scarce be stricter than that of my +own father,’ I remarked. + +‘I’ll warrant that,’ cried Reuben. ‘When we have been a morris-dancing, +or having a Saturday night game of “kiss-in-the-ring,” or +“parson-has-lost-his-coat,” I have seen Ironside Joe stride past us, and +cast a glance at us which hath frozen the smile upon our lips. I warrant +that he would have aided Colonel Pride to shoot the bears and hack down +the maypoles.’ + +‘’Twere fratricide for such a man to shoot a bear,’ quoth Sir Gervas, +‘with all respect, friend Clarke, for your honoured progenitor.’ + +‘No more than for you to shoot at a popinjay,’ I answered, laughing; +‘but as to the Mayor’s offer, we can but go to meat with him now, and +should it prove irksome it will be easy for you to plead some excuse, +and so get honourably quit of it. But bear in mind, Sir Gervas, that +such households are in very truth different to any with which you are +acquainted, so curb your tongue or offence may come of it. Should I cry +“hem!” or cough, it will be a sign to you that you had best beware.’ + +‘Agreed, young Solomon!’ cried he. ‘It is, indeed, well to have a pilot +like yourself who knows these godly waters. For my own part, I should +never know how near I was to the shoals. But our friends have finished +the battle of Ober what’s its name, and are coming towards us. I trust, +worthy Mr. Mayor, that your difficulties have been resolved?’ + +‘They are, sir,’ replied the Puritan. ‘I have been much edified by your +Colonel’s discourse, and I have little doubt that by serving under him +ye will profit much by his ripe experience.’ + +‘Very like, sir, very like,’ said Sir Gervas carelessly. + +‘But it is nigh one o’clock,’ the Mayor continued, ‘our frail flesh +cries aloud for meat and drink. I beg that ye will do me the favour to +accompany me to my humble dwelling, where we shall find the household +board already dressed.’ + +With these words he led the way out of the hall and paced slowly down +Fore Street, the people falling back to right and to left as he passed, +and raising their caps to do him reverence. Here and there, as he +pointed out to us, arrangements had been made for barring the road with +strong chains to prevent any sudden rush of cavalry. In places, too, at +the corner of a house, a hole had been knocked in the masonry through +which peeped the dark muzzle of a carronade or wall-piece. These +precautions were the more necessary as several bodies of the Royal +Horse, besides the one which we had repulsed, were known to be within +the Deane, and the town, deprived of its ramparts, was open to an +incursion from any daring commander. + +The chief magistrate’s house was a squat square-faced stone building +within a court which opened on to East Street. The peaked oak door, +spangled with broad iron nails, had a gloomy and surly aspect, but +the hall within was lightful and airy, with a bright polished cedar +planking, and high panelling of some dark-grained wood which gave forth +a pleasant smell as of violets. A broad night of steps rose up from the +farther end of the hall, down which as we entered a young sweet-faced +maid came tripping, with an old dame behind her, who bore in her hands a +pile of fresh napery. At the sight of us the elder one retreated up the +stairs again, whilst the younger came flying down three steps at a +time, threw her arms round the old Mayor’s neck, and kissed him fondly, +looking hard into his face the while, as a mother gazes into that of a +child with whom she fears that aught may have gone amiss. + +‘Weary again, daddy, weary again,’ she said, shaking her head anxiously, +with a small white hand upon each of his shoulders. ‘Indeed, and indeed, +thy spirit is greater than thy strength.’ + +‘Nay, nay, lass,’ said he, passing his hand fondly over her rich brown +hair. The workman must toil until the hour of rest is rung. This, +gentlemen, is my granddaughter Ruth, the sole relic of my family and the +light of mine old age. The whole grove hath been cut down, and only the +oldest oak and the youngest sapling left. These cavaliers, little one, +have come from afar to serve the cause, and they have done us the honour +to accept of our poor hospitality.’ + +‘Ye are come in good time, gentlemen,’ she answered, looking us straight +in the eyes with a kindly smile as a sister might greet her brothers. +‘The household is gathered round the table and the meal is ready.’ + +‘But not more ready than we,’ cried the stout old burgher. ‘Do thou +conduct our guests to their places, whilst I seek my room and doff these +robes of office, with my chain and tippet, ere I break my fast.’ + +Following our fair guide we passed into a very large and lofty room, the +walls of which were wainscoted with carved oak, and hung at either end +with tapestry. The floor was tesselated after the French fashion, and +plentifully strewn with skins and rugs. At one end of the apartment +stood a great white marble fireplace, like a small room in itself, +fitted up, as was the ancient custom, with an iron stand in the centre, +and with broad stone benches in the recess on either side. Lines of +hooks above the chimneypiece had been used, as I surmise, to support +arms, for the wealthy merchants of England were wont to keep enough in +their houses to at least equip their apprentices and craftsmen. They +had now, however, been removed, nor was there any token of the troublous +times save a single heap of pikes and halberds piled together in a +corner. + +Down the centre of this room there ran a long and massive table, which +was surrounded by thirty or forty people, the greater part of whom were +men. They were on their feet as we entered, and a grave-faced man at the +farther end was drawling forth an interminable grace, which began as a +thanksgiving for food, but wandered away into questions of Church and +State, and finally ended in a supplication for Israel now in arms to do +battle for the Lord. While this was proceeding we stood in a group +by the door with our caps doffed, and spent our time in observing the +company more closely than we could have done with courtesy had their +eyes not been cast down and their thoughts elsewhere. + +They were of all ages, from greybeards down to lads scarce out of their +teens, all with the same solemn and austere expression of countenance, +and clad in the same homely and sombre garb. Save their wide white +collars and cuffs, not a string of any colour lessened the sad severity +of their attire. Their black coats and doublets were cut straight and +close, and their cordovan leather shoes, which in the days of our youth +were usually the seat of some little ornament, were uniformly square +toed and tied with sad-coloured ribbon. Most of them wore plain +sword-belts of untanned hide, but the weapons themselves, with their +broad felt hats and black cloaks, were laid under the benches or placed +upon the settles which lined the walls. They stood with their hands +clasped and their heads bent, listening to the untimely address, and +occasionally by some groan or exclamation testifying that the preacher’s +words had moved them. + +The overgrown grace came at last to an end, when the company sat +silently down, and proceeded without pause or ceremony to attack the +great joints which smoked before them. Our young hostess led us to the +end of the table, where a high carded chair with a black cushion upon it +marked the position of the master of the house. Mistress Timewell seated +herself upon the right of the Mayor’s place, with Sir Gervas beside her, +while the post of honour upon the left was assigned to Saxon. On my left +sat Lockarby, whose eyes I observed had been fixed in undisguised and +all-absorbing admiration upon the Puritan maiden from the first moment +that he had seen her. The table was of no great breadth, so that we +could talk across in spite of the clatter of plates and dishes, the +bustle of servants, and the deep murmur of voices. + +‘This is my father’s household,’ said our hostess, addressing herself to +Saxon. ‘There is not one of them who is not in his employ. He hath many +apprentices in the wool trade. We sit down forty to meat every day in +the year.’ + +‘And to right good fare, too,’ quoth Saxon, glancing down the table. +‘Salmon, ribs of beef, loin of mutton, veal, pasties--what could man +wish for more? Plenty of good home-brewed, too, to wash it down. If +worthy Master Timewell can arrange that the army be victualled after the +same fashion, I for one shell be beholden to him. A cup of dirty water +and a charred morsel cooked on a ramrod over the camp fire are like to +take the place of these toothsome dainties.’ + +‘Is it not best to have faith?’ said the Puritan maiden. ‘Shall not the +Almighty feed His soldiers even as Elisha was fed in the wilderness and +Hagar in the desert?’ + +‘Aye,’ exclaimed a lanky-haired, swarthy young man who sat upon the +right of Sir Gervas, ‘he will provide for us, even as the stream of +water gushed forth out of dry places, even as the quails and the manna +lay thick upon barren soil.’ + +‘So I trust, young sir,’ quoth Saxon, ‘but we must none the less arrange +a victual-train, with a staff of wains, duly numbered, and an intendant +over each, after the German fashion. Such things should not be left to +chance.’ + +Pretty Mistress Timewell glanced up with a half startled look at this +remark, as though shocked at the want of faith implied in it. Her +thoughts might have taken the form of words had not her father entered +the room at the moment, the whole company rising and bowing to him as he +advanced to his seat. + +‘Be seated, friends,’ said he, with a wave of his hand; ‘we are a homely +folk, Colonel Saxon, and the old-time virtue of respect for our elders +has not entirely forsaken us. I trust, Ruth,’ he continued, ‘that thou +hast seen to the wants of our guests.’ + +We all protested that we had never received such attention and +hospitality. + +‘’Tis well, ‘tis well,’ said the good wool-worker. ‘But your plates are +clear and your glasses empty. William, look to it! A good workman +is ever a good trencherman. If a ‘prentice of mine cannot clean his +platter, I know that I shall get little from him with carder and teazel. +Thew and sinew need building up. A slice from that round of beef, +William! Touching that same battle of Ober-Graustock, Colonel, what part +was played in the fray by that regiment of Pandour horse, in which, as I +understand, thou didst hold a commission?’ + +This was a question on which, as may be imagined, Saxon had much to say, +and the pair were soon involved in a heated discussion, in which the +experiences of Roundway Down and Marston Moor were balanced against the +results of a score of unpronounceable fights in the Styrian Alps and +along the Danube. Stephen Timewell in his lusty youth had led first +a troop and then a regiment through the wars of the Parliament, from +Chalgrove Field to the final battle at Worcester, so that his warlike +passages, though less varied and extensive than those of our companion, +were enough to enable him to form and hold strong opinions. These were +in the main the same as those of the soldier of fortune, but when their +ideas differed upon any point, there arose forthwith such a cross-fire +of military jargon, such speech of estacados and palisados, such +comparisons of light horse and heavy, of pikemen and musqueteers, +of Lanzknechte, Leaguers, and on-falls, that the unused ear became +bewildered with the babble. At last, on some question of fortification, +the Mayor drew his outworks with the spoons and knives, on which Saxon +opened his parallels with lines of bread, and pushing them rapidly +up with traverses and covered ways, he established himself upon the +re-entering angle of the Mayor’s redoubt. This opened up a fresh +question as to counter-mines, with the result that the dispute raged +with renewed vigour. + +Whilst this friendly strife was proceeding between the elders, Sir +Gervas Jerome and Mistress Ruth had fallen into conversation at the +other side of the table. I have seldom seen, my dear children, so +beautiful a face as that of this Puritan damsel; and it was beautiful +with that sort of modest and maidenly comeliness where the features +derive their sweetness from the sweet soul which shines through them. +The perfectly-moulded body appeared to be but the outer expression of +the perfect spirit within. Her dark-brown hair swept back from a broad +and white forehead, which surmounted a pair of well-marked eyebrows and +large blue thoughtful eyes. The whole cast of her features was gentle +and dove-like, yet there was a firmness in the mouth and delicate +prominence of the chin which might indicate that in times of trouble and +danger the little maid would prove to be no unworthy descendant of the +Roundhead soldier and Puritan magistrate. I doubt not that where more +loud-tongued and assertive dames might be cowed, the Mayor’s soft-voiced +daughter would begin to cast off her gentler disposition, and to show +the stronger nature which underlay it. It amused me much to listen to +the efforts which Sir Gervas made to converse with her, for the damsel +and he lived so entirely in two different worlds, that it took all his +gallantry and ready wit to keep on ground which would be intelligible to +her. + +‘No doubt you spend much of your time in reading, Mistress Ruth,’ he +remarked. ‘It puzzles me to think what else you can do so far from +town?’ + +‘Town!’ said she in surprise. ‘What is Taunton but a town?’ + +‘Heaven forbid that I should deny it,’ replied Sir Gervas, ‘more +especially in the presence of so many worthy burghers, who have the name +of being somewhat jealous of the honour of their native city. Yet the +fact remains, fair mistress, that the town of London so far transcends +all other towns that it is called, even as I called it just now, _the_ +town.’ + +‘Is it so very large, then?’ she cried, with pretty wonder. ‘But new +louses are building in Taunton, outside the old walls, and beyond +Shuttern, and some even at the other side of the river. Perhaps in time +it may be as large.’ + +‘If all the folks in Taunton were to be added to London,’ said Sir +Gervas, ‘no one there would observe that there had been any increase.’ + +‘Nay, there you are laughing at me. That is against all reason,’ cried +the country maiden. + +‘Your grandfather will bear out my words,’ said Sir Gervas. ‘But to +return to your reading, I’ll warrant that there is not a page of +Scudery and her “Grand Cyrus” which you have not read. You are familiar, +doubtless, with every sentiment in Cowley, or Waller, or Dryden?’ + +‘Who are these?’ she asked. ‘At what church do they preach?’ + +‘Faith!’ cried the baronet, with a laugh, ‘honest John preaches at the +church of Will Unwin, commonly known as Will’s, where many a time it +is two in the morning before he comes to the end of his sermon. But why +this question? Do you think that no one may put pen to paper unless they +have also a right to wear a gown and climb up to a pulpit? I had thought +that all of your sex had read Dryden. Pray, what are your own favourite +books?’ + +‘There is Alleine’s “Alarm to the Unconverted,”’ said she. ‘It is a +stirring work, and one which hath wrought much good. Hast thou not found +it to fructify within thee?’ + +‘I have not read the book you name,’ Sir Gervas confessed. + +‘Not read it?’ she cried, with raised eyebrows. ‘Truly I had thought +that every one had read the “Alarm.” What dost thou think, then, of +“Faithful Contendings”?’ + +‘I have not read it.’ + +‘Or of Baxter’s Sermons?’ she asked. + +‘I have not read them.’ + +‘Of Bull’s “Spirit Cordial,” then?’ + +‘I have not read it.’ + +Mistress Ruth Timewell stared at him in undisguised wonder. ‘You may +think me ill-bred to say it, sir,’ she remarked, ‘but I cannot but +marvel where you have been, or what you have done all your life. Why, +the very children in the street have read these books.’ + +‘In truth, such works come little in our way in London,’ Sir Gervas +answered. ‘A play of George Etherege’s, or a jingle of Sir John +Suckling’s is lighter, though mayhap less wholesome food for the mind. +A man in London may keep pace with the world of letters without +much reading, for what with the gossip of the coffee-houses and the +news-letters that fall in his way, and the babble of poets or wits +at the assemblies, with mayhap an evening or two in the week at the +playhouse, with Vanbrugh or Farquhar, one can never part company for +long with the muses. Then, after the play, if a man is in no humour for +a turn of luck at the green table at the Groom Porter’s, he may stroll +down to the Coca Tree if he be a Tory, or to St. James’s if he be a +Whig, and it is ten to one if the talk turn not upon the turning of +alcaics, or the contest between blank verse or rhyme. Then one may, +after an arriere supper, drop into Will’s or Slaughter’s and find Old +John, with Tickell and Congreve and the rest of them, hard at work +on the dramatic unities, or poetical justice, or some such matter. I +confess that my own tastes lay little in that line, for about that hour +I was likely to be worse employed with wine-flask, dice-box, or--’ + +‘Hem! hem!’ cried I warningly, for several of the Puritans were +listening with faces which expressed anything but approval. + +‘What you say of London is of much interest to me,’ said the Puritan +maiden, ‘though these names and places have little meaning to my +ignorant ears. You did speak, however, of the playhouse. Surely no +worthy man goes near those sinks of iniquity, the baited traps of the +Evil One? Has not the good and sanctified Master Bull declared from +the pulpit that they are the gathering-place of the froward, the chosen +haunts of the perverse Assyrians, as dangerous to the soul as any +of those Papal steeple-houses wherein the creature is sacrilegiously +confounded with the Creator?’ + +‘Well and truly spoken, Mistress Timewell,’ cried the lean young +Puritan upon the right, who had been an attentive listener to the whole +conversation. ‘There is more evil in such houses than even in the cities +of the plain. I doubt not that the wrath of the Lord will descend +upon them, and destroy them, and wreck them utterly, together with the +dissolute men and abandoned women who frequent them.’ + +‘Your strong opinions, friend,’ said Sir Gervas quietly, ‘are borne out +doubtless by your full knowledge of the subject. How often, prythee, +have you been in these playhouses which you are so ready to decry?’ + +‘I thank the Lord that I have never been so far tempted from the +straight path as to set foot within one,’ the Puritan answered, ‘nor +have I ever been in that great sewer which is called London. I trust, +however, that I with others of the faithful may find our way thither +with our tucks at our sides ere this business is finished, when we shall +not be content, I’ll warrant, with shutting these homes of vice, as +Cromwell did, but we shall not leave one stone upon another, and shall +sow the spot with salt, that it may be a hissing and a byword amongst +the people.’ + +‘You are right, John Derrick,’ said the Mayor, who had overheard the +latter part of his remarks. ‘Yet methinks that a lower tone and a more +backward manner would become you better when you are speaking with your +master’s guests. Touching these same playhouses, Colonel, when we have +carried the upper hand this time, we shall not allow the old tares to +check the new wheat. We know what fruit these places have borne in the +days of Charles, the Gwynnes, the Palmers, and the whole base crew of +foul lecherous parasites. Have you ever been in London, Captain Clarke?’ + +‘Nay, sir; I am country born and bred.’ + +‘The better man you,’ said our host. ‘I have been there twice. The first +time was in the days of the Rump, when Lambert brought in his division +to overawe the Commons. I was then quartered at the sign of the Four +Crosses in Southwark, then kept by a worthy man, one John Dolman, with +whom I had much edifying speech concerning predestination. All was +quiet and sober then, I promise you, and you might have walked from +Westminster to the Tower in the dead of the night without hearing aught +save the murmur of prayer and the chanting of hymns. Not a ruffler or +a wench was in the streets after dark, nor any one save staid citizens +upon their business, or the halberdiers of the watch. The second visit +which I made was over this business of the levelling of the ramparts, +when I and neighbour Foster, the glover, were sent at the head of a +deputation from this town to the Privy Council of Charles. Who could +have credited that a few years would have made such a change? Every evil +thing that had been stamped underground had spawned and festered until +its vermin brood flooded the streets, and the godly wore themselves +driven to shun the light of day. Apollyon had indeed triumphed for a +while. A quiet man could not walk the highways without being elbowed +into the kennel by swaggering swashbucklers, or accosted by painted +hussies. Padders and michers, laced cloaks, jingling spurs, slashed +boots, tall plumes, bullies and pimps, oaths and blasphemies--I promise +you hell was waxing fat. Even in the solitude of one’s coach one was not +free from the robber.’ + +‘How that, sir?’ asked Reuben. + +‘Why marry, in this wise. As I was the sufferer I have the best right +to tell the tale. Ye must know that after our reception--which was +cold enough, for we were about as welcome to the Privy Council as the +hearth-tax man is to the village housewife--we were asked, more as +I guess from derision than from courtesy, to the evening levee at +Buckingham Palace. We would both fain have been excused from going but +we feared that our refusal might give undue offence, and so hinder the +success of our mission. My homespun garments ware somewhat rough for +such an occasion, yet I determined to appear in them, with the addition +of a new black baize waistcoat faced with silk, and a good periwig, for +which I gave three pounds ten shillings in the Haymarket.’ + +The young Puritan opposite turned up his eyes and murmured something +about ‘sacrificing to Dagon,’ which fortunately for him was inaudible to +the high-spirited old man. + +‘It was but a worldly vanity,’ quoth the Mayor; ‘for, with all +deference, Sir Gervas Jerome, a man’s own hair arranged with some taste, +and with perhaps a sprinkling of powder, is to my mind the fittest +ornament to his head. It is the contents and not the case which +availeth. Having donned this frippery, good Master Foster and I hired +a calash and drove to the Palace. We were deep in grave and, I trust, +profitable converse speeding through the endless streets, when of a +sudden I felt a sharp tug at my head, and my hat fluttered down on to my +knees. I raised my hands, and lo! they came upon my bare pate. The wig +had vanished. We were rolling down Fleet Street at the moment, and there +was no one in the calash save neighbour Foster, who sat as astounded as +I. We looked high and low, on the seats and beneath them, but not a sign +of the periwig was there. It was gone utterly and without a trace.’ + +‘Whither then?’ we asked with one voice. + +‘That was the question which we set ourselves to solve. For a moment I +do assure ye that we bethought us that it might be a judgment upon us +for our attention to such carnal follies. Then it crossed my mind +that it might be the doing of some malicious sprite, as the Drummer of +Tedworth, or those who occasioned the disturbances no very long time +since at the old Gast House at Little Burton here in Somersetshire. +(Note F. Appendix.) With this thought we hallooed to the coachman, and +told him what had occurred to us. The fellow came down from his +perch, and having heard our story, he burst straightway into much foul +language, and walking round to the back of his calash, showed us that +a slit had been made in the leather wherewith it was fashioned. Through +this the thief had thrust his hand and had drawn my wig through the +hole, resting the while on the crossbar of the coach. It was no uncommon +thing, he said, and the wig-snatchers were a numerous body who waited +beside the peruke-maker’s shops, and when they saw a customer come forth +with a purchase which was worth their pains they would follow him, and, +should he chance to drive, deprive him of it in this fashion. Be that as +it may, I never saw my wig again, and had to purchase another before I +could venture into the royal presence.’ + +‘A strange adventure truly,’ exclaimed Saxon. ‘How fared it with you for +the remainder of the evening?’ + +‘But scurvily, for Charles’s face, which was black enough at all +times, was blackest of all to us; nor was his brother the Papist more +complaisant. They had but brought us there that they might dazzle us +with their glitter and gee-gaws, in order that we might bear a fine +report of them back to the West with us. There were supple-backed +courtiers, and strutting nobles, and hussies with their shoulders bare, +who should for all their high birth have been sent to Bridewell as +readily as any poor girl who ever walked at the cart’s tail. Then there +were the gentlemen of the chamber, with cinnamon and plum-coloured +coats, and a brave show of gold lace and silk and ostrich feather. +Neighbour Foster and I felt as two crows might do who have wandered +among the peacocks. Yet we bare in mind in whose image we were +fashioned, and we carried ourselves, I trust, as independent English +burghers. His Grace of Buckingham had his flout at us, and Rochester +sneered, and the women simpered; but we stood four square, my friend +and I, discussing, as I well remember, the most precious doctrines of +election and reprobation, without giving much heed either to those who +mocked us, or to the gamesters upon our left, or to the dancers upon +our right. So we stood throughout the evening, until, finding that they +could get little sport from us, my Lord Clarendon, the Chancellor, gave +us the word to retire, which we did at our leisure after saluting the +King and the company.’ + +‘Nay, that I should never have done!’ cried the young Puritan, who had +listened intently to his elder’s narrative. ‘Would it not have been +more fitting to have raised up your hands and called down vengeance upon +them, as the holy man of old did upon the wicked cities?’ + +‘More fitting, quotha!’ said the Mayor impatiently. ‘It is most fitting +that youth should be silent until his opinion is asked on such matters. +God’s wrath comes with leaden feet, but it strikes with iron hands. In +His own good time He has judged when the cup of these men’s iniquities +is overflowing. It is not for us to instruct Him. Curses have, as the +wise man said, a habit of coming home to roost. Bear that in mind, +Master John Derrick, and be not too liberal with them.’ + +The young apprentice, for such he was, bowed his head sullenly to the +rebuke, whilst the Mayor, after a short pause, resumed his story. + +‘Being a fine night,’ said he, ‘we chose to walk back to our lodgings; +but never shall I forget the wicked scenes wherewith we were encountered +on the way. Good Master Bunyan, of Elstow, might have added some +pages to his account of Vanity Fair had he been with us. The women, +be-patched, be-ruddled, and brazen; the men swaggering, roistering, +cursing--the brawling, the drabbing, and the drunkenness! It was a fit +kingdom to be ruled over by such a court. At last we had made our way to +more quiet streets, and were hoping that our adventures were at an end, +when of a sudden there came a rush of half-drunken cavaliers from a side +street, who set upon the passers-by with their swords, as though we had +fallen into an ambuscade of savages in some Paynim country. They were, +as I surmise, of the same breed as those of whom the excellent John +Milton wrote: “The sons of Belial, flown with insolence and wine.” Alas! +my memory is not what it was, for at one time I could say by rote whole +books of that noble and godly poem.’ + +‘And, pray, how fared ye with these rufflers, sir?’ I asked. + +‘They beset us, and some few other honest citizens who were wending +their ways homewards, and waving their naked swords they called upon us +to lay down our arms and pay homage. “To whom?” I asked. They pointed +to one of their number who was more gaudily dressed and somewhat +drunker than the rest. “This is our most sovereign liege,” they cried. +“Sovereign over whom?” I asked. “Over the Tityre Tus,” they answered. +“Oh, most barbarous and cuckoldy citizen, do you not recognise that you +have fallen into the hands of that most noble order?” “This is not your +real monarch,” said I, “for he is down beneath us chained in the pit, +where some day he will gather his dutiful subjects around him.” “Lo, he +hath spoken treason!” they cried, on which, without much more ado, they +set upon us with sword and dagger. Neighbour Foster and I placed our +backs against a wall, and with our cloaks round our left arms we made +play with our tucks, and managed to put in one or two of the old Wigan +Lane raspers. In particular, friend Foster pinked the King in such wise +that his Majesty ran howling down the street like a gored bull-pup. We +were beset by numbers, however, and might have ended our mission then +and there had not the watch appeared upon the scene, struck up our +weapons with their halberds, and so arrested the whole party. Whilst the +fray lasted the burghers from the adjoining houses were pouring water +upon us, as though we were cats on the tiles, which, though it did +not cool our ardour in the fight, left us in a scurvy and unsavoury +condition. In this guise we were dragged to the round-house, where we +spent the night amidst bullies, thieves, and orange wenches, to whom I +am proud to say that both neighbour Foster and myself spoke some words +of joy and comfort. In the morning we were released, and forthwith shook +the dust of London from our feet; nor do I ever wish to return thither, +unless it be at the head of our Somersetshire regiments, to see King +Monmouth don the crown which he had wrested in fair fight from the +Popish perverter.’ + +As Master Stephen Timewell ended his tale a general shuffling and rising +announced the conclusion of the meal. The company filed slowly out in +order of seniority, all wearing the same gloomy and earnest expression, +with grave gait and downcast eyes. These Puritan ways were, it is true, +familiar to me from childhood, yet I had never before seen a large +household conforming to them, or marked their effect upon so many young +men. + +‘You shall bide behind for a while,’ said the Mayor, as we were about +to follow the others. ‘William, do you bring a flask of the old green +sealed sack. These creature comforts I do not produce before my lads, +for beef and honest malt is the fittest food for such. On occasion, +however, I am of Paul’s opinion, that a flagon of wine among friends is +no bad thing for mind or for body. You can away now, sweetheart, if you +have aught to engage you.’ + +‘Do you go out again?’ asked Mistress Ruth. + +‘Presently, to the town-hall. The survey of arms is not yet complete.’ + +‘I shall have your robes ready, and also the rooms of our guests,’ she +answered, and so, with a bright smile to us, tripped away upon her duty. + +‘I would that I could order our town as that maiden orders this house,’ +said the Mayor. ‘There is not a want that is not supplied before it is +felt. She reads my thoughts and acts upon them ere my lips have time to +form them. If I have still strength to spend in the public service, it +is because my private life is full of restful peace. Do not fear the +sack, sirs. It cometh from Brooke and Hellier’s of Abchurch Lane, and +may be relied upon.’ + +‘Which showeth that one good thing cometh out of London,’ remarked Sir +Gervas. + +‘Aye, truly,’ said the old man, smiling. ‘But what think ye of my young +men, sir? They must needs be of a very different class to any with +whom you are acquainted, if, as I understand, you have frequented court +circles.’ + +‘Why, marry, they are good enough young men, no doubt,’ Sir Gervas +answered lightly. ‘Methinks, however, that there is a want of sap about +them. It is not blood, but sour buttermilk that flows in their veins.’ + +‘Nay, nay,’ the Mayor responded warmly. ‘There you do them an injustice. +Their passions and feelings are under control, as the skilful rider +keeps his horse in hand; but they are as surely there as is the speed +and endurance of the animal. Did you observe the godly youth who sat +upon your right, whom I had occasion to reprove more than once for +over-zeal? He is a fit example of how a man may take the upper hand of +his feelings, and keep them in control.’ + +‘And how has he done so?’ I asked. + +‘Why, between friends,’ quoth the Mayor, ‘it was but last Lady-day that +he asked the hand of my granddaughter Ruth in marriage. His time is +nearly served, and his father, Sam Derrick, is an honourable craftsman, +so that the match would have been no unfitting one. The maiden turned +against him, however--young girls will have their fancies--and the +matter came to an end. Yet here he dwells under the same roof-tree, at +her elbow from morn to night, with never a sign of that passion which +can scarce have died out so soon. Twice my wool warehouse hath been +nigh burned to the ground since then, and twice he hath headed those who +fought the flames. There are not many whose suit hath been rejected who +would bear themselves in so resigned and patient a fashion.’ + +‘I am prepared to find that your judgment is the correct one,’ said Sir +Gervas Jerome. ‘I have learned to distrust too hasty dislikes, and bear +in mind that couplet of John Dryden-- + + “Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow. + He who would search for pearls must dive below.”’ + +‘Or worthy Dr. Samuel Butler,’ said Saxon, ‘who, in his immortal poem of +“Hudibras,” says-- + + “The fool can only see the skin: + The wise man tries to peep within.”’ + +‘I wonder, Colonel Saxon,’ said our host severely, ‘that you should +speak favourably of that licentious poem, which is composed, as I have +heard, for the sole purpose of casting ridicule upon the godly. I should +as soon have expected to hear you praise the wicked and foolish work of +Hobbes, with his mischievous thesis, “A Deo rex, a rege lex.”’ + +‘It is true that I contemn and despise the use which Butler hath made of +his satire,’ said Saxon adroitly; ‘yet I may admire the satire itself, +just as one may admire a damascened blade without approving of the +quarrel in which it is drawn.’ + +‘These distinctions are, I fear, too subtle for my old brain,’ said the +stout old Puritan. ‘This England of ours is divided into two camps, that +of God and that of Antichrist. He who is not with us is against us, nor +shall any who serve under the devil’s banner have anything from me save +my scorn and the sharp edge of my sword.’ + +‘Well, well,’ said Saxon, filling up his glass, ‘I am no Laodicean or +time-server. The cause shall not find me wanting with tongue or with +sword.’ + +‘Of that I am well convinced, my worthy friend,’ the Mayor answered, +‘and if I have spoken over sharply you will hold me excused. But I +regret to have evil tidings to announce to you. I have not told the +commonalty lest it cast them down, but I know that adversity will be +but the whetstone to give your ardour a finer edge. Argyle’s rising has +failed, and he and his companions are prisoners in the hands of the man +who never knew what pity was.’ + +We all started in our chairs at this, and looked at one another aghast, +save only Sir Gervas Jerome, whose natural serenity was, I am well +convinced, proof against any disturbance. For you may remember, my +children, that I stated when I first took it in hand to narrate to you +these passages of my life, that the hopes of Monmouth’s party rested +very much upon the raid which Argyle and the Scottish exiles had +made upon Ayrshire, where it was hoped that they would create such a +disturbance as would divert a good share of King James’s forces, and so +make our march to London less difficult. This was the more confidently +expected since Argyle’s own estates lay upon that side of Scotland, +where he could raise five thousand swordsmen among his own clansmen. +The western counties abounded, too, in fierce zealots who were ready to +assert the cause of the Covenant, and who had proved themselves in many +a skirmish to be valiant warriors. With the help of the Highlanders and +of the Covenanters it seemed certain that Argyle would be able to hold +his own, the more so since he took with him to Scotland the English +Puritan Rumbold, and many others skilled in warfare. This sudden news +of his total defeat and downfall was therefore a heavy blow, since it +turned the whole forces of the Government upon ourselves. + +‘Have you the news from a trusty source?’ asked Decimus Saxon, after a +long silence. + +‘It is beyond all doubt or question,’ Master Stephen Timewell answered. +‘Yet I can well understand your surprise, for the Duke had trusty +councillors with him. There was Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth--’ + +‘All talk and no fight,’ said Saxon. + +‘And Richard Rumbold.’ + +‘All fight and no talk,’ quoth our companion. ‘He should, methinks, have +rendered a better account of himself.’ + +‘Then there was Major Elphinstone.’ + +‘A bragging fool!’ cried Saxon.’ + +‘And Sir John Cochrane.’ + +‘A captious, long-tongued, short-witted sluggard,’ said the soldier of +fortune. ‘The expedition was doomed from the first with such men at +its head. Yet I had thought that could they have done nought else, they +might at least have flung themselves into the mountain country, where +these bare-legged caterans could have held their own amid their native +clouds and mists. All taken, you say! It is a lesson and a warning +to us. I tell you that unless Monmouth infuses more energy into his +councils, and thrusts straight for the heart instead of fencing and +foining at the extremities, we shall find ourselves as Argyle and +Rumbold. What mean these two days wasted at Axminster at a time when +every hour is of import? Is he, every time that he brushes a party +of militia aside, to stop forty-eight hours and chant “Te Deums” when +Churchill and Feversham are, as I know, pushing for the West with every +available man, and the Dutch grenadiers are swarming over like rats into +a granary?’ + +‘You are very right, Colonel Saxon,’ the Mayor answered. ‘And I trust +that when the King comes here we may stir him up to more prompt action. +He has much need of more soldierly advisers, for since Fletcher hath +gone there is hardly a man about him who hath been trained to arms.’ + +‘Well,’ said Saxon moodily, ‘now that Argyle hath gone under we are face +to face with James, with nothing but our own good swords to trust to.’ + +‘To them and to the justice of our cause. How like ye the news, young +sirs? Has the wine lost its smack on account of it? Are ye disposed to +flinch from the standard of the Lord?’ + +‘For my own part I shall see the matter through,’ said I. + +‘And I shall bide where Micah Clarke bides,’ quoth Reuben Lockarby. + +‘And to me,’ said Sir Gervas, ‘it is a matter of indifference, so long +as I am in good company and there is something stirring.’ + +‘In that case,’ said the Mayor, ‘we had best each turn to his own work, +and have all ready for the King’s arrival. Until then I trust that ye +will honour my humble roof.’ + +‘I fear that I cannot accept your kindness,’ Saxon answered. ‘When I am +in harness I come and go early and late. I shall therefore take up my +quarters in the inn, which is not very well furnished with victual, +and yet can supply me with the simple fare, which with a black Jack of +October and a pipe of Trinidado is all I require.’ + +As Saxon was firm in this resolution the Mayor forbore to press it upon +him, but my two friends gladly joined with me in accepting the worthy +wool-worker’s offer, and took up our quarters for the time under his +hospitable roof. + + + +Chapter XIX. Of a Brawl in the Night + +Decimus Saxon refused to avail himself of Master Timewell’s house and +table for the reason, as I afterwards learned, that, the Mayor being a +firm Presbyterian, he thought it might stand him in ill stead with the +Independents and other zealots were he to allow too great an intimacy +to spring up between them. Indeed, my dears, from this time onward this +cunning man framed his whole life and actions in such a way as to make +friends of the sectaries, and to cause them to look upon him as their +leader. For he had a firm belief that in all such outbreaks as that in +which we were engaged, the most extreme party is sure in the end to gain +the upper hand. ‘Fanatics,’ he said to me one day, ‘mean fervour, and +fervour means hard work, and hard work means power.’ That was the centre +point of all his plotting and scheming. + +And first of all he set himself to show how excellent a soldier he was, +and he spared neither time nor work to make this apparent. From morn +till midday, and from afternoon till night, we drilled and drilled until +in very truth the shouting of the orders and the clatter of the arms +became wearisome to our ears. The good burghers may well have +thought that Colonel Saxon’s Wiltshire foot were as much part of the +market-place as the town cross or the parish stocks. There was much to +be done in very little time, so much that many would have thought it +hopeless to attempt it. Not only was there the general muster of the +regiment, but we had each to practise our own companies in their several +drills, and to learn as best we could the names and the wants of the +men. Yet our work was made easier to us by the assurance that it was not +thrown away, for at every gathering our bumpkins stood more erect, +and handled their weapons more deftly. From cock-crow to sun-down the +streets resounded with ‘Poise your muskets! Order your muskets! Rest +your muskets! Handle your primers!’ and all the other orders of the old +manual exercise. + +As we became more soldierly we increased in numbers, for our smart +appearance drew the pick of the new-comers into our ranks. My own +company swelled until it had to be divided, and others enlarged in +proportion. The baronet’s musqueteers mustered a full hundred, skilled +for the most part in the use of the gun. Altogether we sprang from +three hundred to four hundred and fifty, and our drill improved until we +received praise from all sides on the state of our men. + +Late in the evening I was riding slowly back to the house of Master +Timewell when Reuben clattered after me, and besought me to turn back +with him to see a noteworthy sight. Though feeling little in the mood +for such things, I turned Covenant and rode with him down the length of +High Street, and into the suburb which is known as Shuttern, where my +companion pulled up at a bare barn-like building, and bade me look in +through the window. + +The interior, which consisted of a single great hall, the empty +warehouse in which wool had used to be stored, was all alight with lamps +and candles. A great throng of men, whom I recognised as belonging to +my own company, or that of my companion, lay about on either side, some +smoking, some praying, and some burnishing their arms. Down the middle a +line of benches had been drawn up, on which there were seated astraddle +the whole hundred of the baronet’s musqueteers, each engaged in plaiting +into a queue the hair of the man who sat in front of him. A boy walked +up and down with a pot of grease, by the aid of which with some whipcord +the work was going forward merrily. Sir Gervas himself with a great +flour dredger sat perched upon a bale of wool at the head of the line, +and as quickly as any queue was finished he examined it through his +quizzing glass, and if it found favour in his eyes, daintily powdered it +from his dredger, with as much care and reverence as though it were some +service of the Church. No cook seasoning a dish could have added +his spices with more nicety of judgment than our friend displayed in +whitening the pates of his company. Glancing up from his labours he saw +our two smiling faces looking in at him through the window, but his work +was too engrossing to allow him to leave it, and we rode off at last +without having speech with him. + +By this time the town was very quiet and still, for the folk in those +parts were early bed-goers, save when some special occasion kept them +afoot. We rode slowly together through the silent streets, our horses’ +hoofs ringing out sharp against the cobble stones, talking about such +light matters as engage the mind of youth. The moon was shining very +brightly above us, silvering the broad streets, and casting a fretwork +of shadows from the peaks and pinnacles of the churches. At Master +Timewell’s courtyard I sprang from my saddle, but Reuben, attracted by +the peace and beauty of the scene, rode onwards with the intention of +going as far as the town gate. + +I was still at work upon my girth buckles, undoing my harness, when of +a sudden there came from the street a shouting and a rushing, with the +clinking of blades, and my comrade’s voice calling upon me for help. +Drawing my sword I ran out. Some little way down there was a clear +space, white with the moonshine, in the centre of which I caught a +glimpse of the sturdy figure of my friend springing about with an +activity for which I had never given him credit, and exchanging sword +thrusts with three or four men who were pressing him closely. On the +ground there lay a dark figure, and behind the struggling group Reuben’s +mare reared and plunged in sympathy with her master’s peril. As I rushed +down, shouting and waving my sword, the assailants took flight down +a side street, save one, a tall sinewy swordsman, who rushed in upon +Reuben, stabbing furiously at him, and cursing him the while for a +spoil-sport. To my horror I saw, as I ran, the fellow’s blade slip +inside my friend’s guard, who threw up his arms and fell prostrate, +while the other with a final thrust dashed off down one of the narrow +winding lanes which lead from East Street to the banks of the Tone. + +‘For Heaven’s sake where are you hurt?’ I cried, throwing myself upon my +knees beside his prostrate body. ‘Where is your injury, Reuben?’ + +‘In the wind, mostly,’ quoth he, blowing like a smithy bellows; +‘likewise on the back of my pate. Give me your hand, I pray.’ + +‘And are you indeed scathless?’ I cried, with a great lightening of +the heart as I helped him to his feet. ‘I thought that the villain had +stabbed you.’ + +‘As well stab a Warsash crab with a bodkin,’ said he. ‘Thanks to good +Sir Jacob Clancing, once of Snellaby Hall and now of Salisbury Plain, +their rapiers did no more than scratch my plate of proof. But how is it +with the maid?’ + +‘The maid?’ said I. + +‘Aye, it was to save her that I drew. She was beset by these night +walkers. See, she rises! They threw her down when I set upon them.’ + +‘How is it with you, Mistress?’ I asked; for the prostrate figure +had arisen and taken the form of a woman, young and graceful to all +appearance, with her face muffled in a mantle. ‘I trust that you have +met with no hurt.’ + +‘None, sir,’ she answered, in a low, sweet voice, ‘but that I have +escaped is due to the ready valour of your friend, and the guiding +wisdom of Him who confutes the plots of the wicked. Doubtless a true man +would have rendered this help to any damsel in distress, and yet it may +add to your satisfaction to know that she whom you have served is no +stranger to you.’ With these words she dropped her mantle and turned her +face towards us in the moonlight. + +‘Good lack! it is Mistress Timewell!’ I cried, in amazement. + +‘Let us homewards,’ she said, in firm, quick tones. ‘The neighbours are +alarmed, and there will be a rabble collected anon. Let us escape from +the babblement.’ + +Windows had indeed begun to clatter up in every direction, and loud +voices to demand what was amiss. Far away down the street we could +see the glint of lanthorns swinging to and fro as the watch hurried +thitherwards. We slipped along in the shadow, however, and found +ourselves safe within the Mayor’s courtyard without let or hindrance. + +‘I trust, sir, that you have really met with no hurt,’ said the maiden +to my companion. + +Reuben had said not a word since she had uncovered her face, and bore +the face of a man who finds himself in some pleasant dream and is vexed +only by the fear lest he wake up from it. ‘Nay, I am not hurt,’ he +answered, ‘but I would that you could tell us who these roving blades +may be, and where they may be found.’ + +‘Nay, nay,’ said she, with uplifted finger, ‘you shall not follow the +matter further. As to the men, I cannot say with certainty who they +may have been. I had gone forth to visit Dame Clatworthy, who hath the +tertian ague, and they did beset me on my return. Perchance they are +some who are not of my grandfather’s way of thinking in affairs of +State, and who struck at him through me. But ye have both been so kind +that ye will not refuse me one other favour which I shall ask ye?’ + +We protested that we could not, with our hands upon our sword-hilts. + +‘Nay, keep them for the Lord’s quarrel,’ said she, smiling at the +action. ‘All that I ask is that ye will say nothing if this matter to my +grandsire. He is choleric, and a little matter doth set him in a flame, +so old as he is. I would not have his mind turned from the public needs +to a private trifle of this sort. Have I your promises?’ + +‘Mine,’ said I, bowing. + +‘And mine,’ said Lockarby. + +‘Thanks, good friends. Alack! I have dropped my gauntlet in the street. +But it is of no import. I thank God that no harm has come to any one. My +thanks once more, and may pleasant dreams await ye.’ She sprang up the +steps and was gone in an instant. + +Reuben and I unharnessed our horses and saw them cared for in silence. +We then entered the house and ascended to our chambers, still without a +word. Outside his room door my friend paused. + +‘I have heard that long man’s voice before, Micah,’ said he. + +‘And so have I,’ I answered. ‘The old man must beware of his ‘prentices. +I have half a mind to go back for the little maiden’s gauntlet.’ + +A merry twinkle shot through the cloud which hid gathered on Reuben’s +brow. He opened his left hand and showed me the doe-skin glove crumpled +up in his palm. + +‘I would not barter it for all the gold in her grandsire’s coffers,’ +said he, with a sudden outflame, and then half-laughing, half-blushing +at his own heat, he whisked in and left me to my thoughts. + +And so I learned for the first time, my dears, that my good comrade had +been struck by the little god’s arrows. When a man’s years number one +score, love springs up in him, as the gourd grew in the Scriptures, in a +single night. I have told my story ill if I have not made you understand +that my friend was a frank, warm-hearted lad of impulse, whose reason +seldom stood sentry over his inclinations. Such a man can no more draw +away from a winning maid than the needle can shun the magnet. He loves +as the mavis sings or the kitten plays. Now, a slow-witted, heavy fellow +like myself, in whose veins the blood has always flowed somewhat coolly +and temperately, may go into love as a horse goes into a shelving +stream, step by step, but a man like Reuben is kicking his heels upon +the bank one moment, and is over ears in the deepest pool the nest. + +Heaven only knows what match it was that had set the tow alight. I can +but say that from that day on my comrade was sad and cloudy one hour, +gay and blithesome the next. His even flow of good spirits had deserted +him, and he became as dismal as a moulting chicken, which has ever +seemed to me to be one of the strangest outcomes of what poets have +called the joyous state of love. But, indeed, pain and pleasure are so +very nearly akin in this world, that it is as if they were tethered +in neighbouring stalls, and a kick would at any time bring down the +partition. Here is a man who is as full of sighs as a grenade is of +powder, his face is sad, his brow is downcast, his wits are wandering; +yet if you remark to him that it is an ill thing that he should be +in this state, he will answer you, as like as not, that he would not +exchange it for all the powers and principalities. Tears to him are +golden, and laughter is but base coin. Well, my dears, it is useless +for me to expound to you that which I cannot myself understand. If, as I +have heard, it is impossible to get the thumb-marks of any two men to +be alike, how can we expect their inmost thoughts and feelings to tally? +Yet this I can say with all truth, that when I asked your grandmother’s +hand I did not demean myself as if I were chief mourner at a funeral. +She will bear me out that I walked up to her with a smile upon my face, +though mayhap there was a little flutter at my heart, and I took her +hand and I said--but, lack-a-day, whither have I wandered? What has all +this to do with Taunton town and the rising of 1685? + +On the night of Wednesday, June 17, we learned that the King, as +Monmouth was called throughout the West, was lying less than ten miles +off with his forces, and that he would make his entry into the loyal +town of Taunton the next morning. Every effort was made, as ye may well +guess, to give him a welcome which should be worthy of the most Whiggish +and Protestant town in England. An arch of evergreens had already +been built up at the western gate, bearing the motto, ‘Welcome to King +Monmouth!’ and another spanned the entrance to the market-place from the +upper window of the White Hart Inn, with ‘Hail to the Protestant Chief!’ +in great scarlet letters. A third, if I remember right, bridged the +entrance to the Castle yard, but the motto on it has escaped me. The +cloth and wool industry is, as I have told you, the staple trade of +the town, and the merchants had no mercy on their wares, but used them +freely to beautify the streets. Rich tapestries, glossy velvets, and +costly brocades fluttered from the windows or lined the balconies. East +Street, High Street, and Fore Street were draped from garret to basement +with rare and beautiful fabrics, while gay flags hung from the roofs +on either side, or fluttered in long festoons from house to house. +The royal banner of England floated from the lofty tower of St. Mary +Magdalene, while the blue ensign of Monmouth waved from the sister +turret of St. James. Late into the night there was planing and +hammering, working and devising, until when the sun rose upon Thursday, +June 18, it shone on as brave a show of bunting and evergreen as ever +graced a town. Taunton had changed as by magic from a city into a flower +garden. + +Master Stephen Timewell had busied himself in these preparations, but he +had borne in mind at the same time that the most welcome sight which +he could present to Monmouth’s eyes was the large body of armed men who +were prepared to follow his fortunes. There were sixteen hundred in the +town, two hundred of which were horse, mostly well armed and equipped. +These were disposed in such a way that the King should pass them in his +progress. The townsmen lined the market-place three deep from the +Castle gate to the entrance to the High Street; from thence to Shuttern, +Dorsetshire, and Frome peasants were drawn up on either side of the +street; while our own regiment was stationed at the western gate. With +arms well burnished, serried ranks, and fresh sprigs of green in every +bonnet, no leader could desire a better addition to his army. When +all were in their places, and the burghers and their wives had arrayed +themselves in their holiday gear, with gladsome faces and baskets of +new-cut flowers, all was ready for the royal visitor’s reception. + +‘My orders are,’ said Saxon, riding up to us as we sat our horses reside +our companions, ‘that I and my captains should fall in with the King’s +escort as he passes, and so accompany him to the market-place. Your men +shall present arms, and shall then stand their ground until we return.’ + +We all three drew our swords and saluted. + +‘If ye will come with me, gentlemen, and take position to the right of +the gate here,’ said he, ‘I may be able to tell ye something of these +folk as they pass. Thirty years of war in many climes should give me the +master craftsman’s right to expound to his apprentices.’ + +We all very gladly followed his advice, and passed out through the gate, +which was now nothing more than a broad gap amongst the mounds which +marked the lines of the old walls. ‘There is no sign of them yet,’ I +remarked, as we pulled up upon a convenient hillock. ‘I suppose that +they must come by this road which winds through the valley before us.’ + +‘There are two sorts of bad general,’ quoth Saxon, ‘the man who is too +fast and the man who is too slow. His Majesty’s advisers will never be +accused of the former failing, whatever other mistakes they may fall +into. There was old Marshal Grunberg, with whom I did twenty-six months’ +soldiering in Bohemia. He would fly through the country pell-mell, +horse, foot, and artillery, as if the devil were at his heels. He might +make fifty blunders, but the enemy had never time to take advantage. I +call to mind a raid which we made into Silesia, when, after two days or +so of mountain roads, his Oberhauptmann of the staff told him that it +was impossible for the artillery to keep up. “Lass es hinter!” says he. +So the guns were left, and by the evening of the next day the foot were +dead-beat. “They cannot walk another mile!” says the Oberhauptmann. +“Lassen Sie hinter!” says he. So on we went with the horse--I was in his +Pandour regiment, worse luck! But after a skirmish or two, what with the +roads and what with the enemy, our horses were foundered and useless. +“The horses are used up!” says the Oberhauptmann. “Lassen Sie hinter!” + he cries; and I warrant that he would have pushed on to Prague with his +staff, had they allowed him. “General Hinterlassen” we called him after +that.’ + +‘A dashing commander, too,’ cried Sir Gervas. ‘I would fain have served +under him.’ + +‘Aye, and he had a way of knocking his recruits into shape which would +scarce be relished by our good friends here in the west country,’ said +Saxon. ‘I remember that after the leaguer of Salzburg, when we had taken +the castle or fortalice of that name, we were joined by some thousand +untrained foot, which had been raised in Dalmatia in the Emperor’s +employ. As they approached our lines with waving of hands and blowing of +bugles, old Marshal Hinterlassen discharged a volley of all the cannon +upon the walls at them, killing three score and striking great panic +into the others. “The rogues must get used to standing fire sooner +or later,” said he, “so they may as well commence their education at +once.”’ + +‘He was a rough schoolmaster,’ I remarked. ‘He might have left that part +of the drill to the enemy.’ + +‘Yet his soldiers loved him,’ said Saxon. ‘He was not a man, when a city +had been forced, to inquire into every squawk of a woman, or give ear to +every burgess who chanced to find his strong-box a trifle the lighter. +But as to the slow commanders, I have known none to equal Brigadier +Baumgarten, also of the Imperial service. He would break up his +winter-quarters and sit down before some place of strength, where he +would raise a sconce here, and sink a sap there, until his soldiers were +sick of the very sight of the place. So he would play with it, as a cat +with a mouse, until at last it was about to open its gates, when, +as like as not, he would raise the leaguer and march back into his +winter-quarters. I served two campaigns under him without honour, sack, +plunder, or emolument, save a beggarly stipend of three gulden a day, +paid in clipped money, six months in arrear. But mark ye the folk upon +yonder tower! They are waving their kerchiefs as though something were +visible to them.’ + +‘I can see nothing,’ I answered, shading my eyes and gazing down the +tree-sprinkled valley which rose slowly in green uplands to the grassy +Blackdown hills. + +‘Those on the housetops are waving and pointing,’ said Reuben. ‘Methinks +I can myself see the flash of steel among yonder woods.’ + +‘There it is,’ cried Saxon, extending his gauntleted hand, ‘on the +western bank of the Tone, hard by the wooden bridge. Follow my finger, +Clarke, and see if you cannot distinguish it.’ + +‘Yes, truly,’ I exclaimed, ‘I see a bright shimmer coming and going. And +there to the left, where the road curves over the hill, mark you that +dense mass of men! Ha! the head of the column begins to emerge from the +trees.’ + +There was not a cloud in the sky, but the great heat had caused a haze +to overlie the valley, gathering thickly along the winding course of +the river, and hanging in little sprays and feathers over the woodlands +which clothe its banks. Through this filmy vapour there broke from time +to time fierce sparkles of brilliant light as the sun’s rays fell upon +breastplate or headpiece. Now and again the gentle summer breeze +wafted up sudden pulses of martial music to our ears, with the blare of +trumpets and the long deep snarl of the drums. As we gazed, the van of +the army began to roll out from the cover of the trees and to darken the +white dusty roads. The long line slowly extended itself, writhing out of +the forest land like a dark snake with sparkling scales, until the whole +rebel army--horse, foot, and ordnance--were visible beneath us. The +gleam of the weapons, the waving of numerous banners, the plumes of the +leaders, and the deep columns of marching men, made up a picture which +stirred the very hearts of the citizens, who, from the housetops and +from the ruinous summit of the dismantled walls, were enabled to gaze +down upon the champions of their faith. If the mere sight of a passing +regiment will cause a thrill in your bosoms, you can fancy how it is +when the soldiers upon whom you look are in actual arms for your own +dearest and most cherished interests, and have just come out victorious +from a bloody struggle. If every other man’s hand was against us, these +at least were on our side, and our hearts went out to them as to friends +and brothers. Of all the ties that unite men in this world, that of a +common danger is the strongest. + +It all appeared to be most warlike and most imposing to my inexperienced +eyes, and I thought as I looked at the long array that our cause was as +good as won. To my surprise, however, Saxon pished and pshawed under his +breath, until at last, unable to contain his impatience, he broke out in +hot discontent. + +‘Do but look at that vanguard as they breast the slope,’ he cried. +‘Where is the advance party, or Vorreiter, as the Germans call them? +Where, too, is the space which should be left between the fore-guard and +the main battle? By the sword of Scanderbeg, they remind me more of a +drove of pilgrims, as I have seen them approaching the shrine of St. +Sebaldus of Nurnberg with their banners and streamers. There in +the centre, amid that cavalcade of cavaliers, rides our new monarch +doubtless. Pity he hath not a man by him who can put this swarm of +peasants into something like campaign order. Now do but look at those +four pieces of ordnance trailing along like lame sheep behind the flock. +Caracco, I would that I were a young King’s officer with a troop of +light horse on the ridge yonder! My faith, how I should sweep down yon +cross road like a kestrel on a brood of young plover! Then heh for cut +and thrust, down with the skulking cannoniers, a carbine fire to cover +us, round with the horses, and away go the rebel guns in a cloud of +dust! How’s that, Sir Gervas?’ + +‘Good sport, Colonel,’ said the baronet, with a touch of colour in his +white cheeks. ‘I warrant that you did keep your Pandours on the trot.’ + +‘Aye, the rogues had to work or hang--one or t’other. But methinks our +friends here are scarce as numerous as reported. I reckon them to be a +thousand horse, and mayhap five thousand two hundred foot. I have been +thought a good tally-man on such occasions. With fifteen hundred in the +town that would bring us to close on eight thousand men, which is no +great force to invade a kingdom and dispute a crown.’ + +‘If the West can give eight thousand, how many can all the counties of +England afford?’ I asked. ‘Is not that the fairer way to look at it?’ + +‘Monmouth’s popularity lies mostly in the West,’ Saxon answered. ‘It +was the memory of that which prompted him to raise his standard in these +counties.’ + +‘His standards, rather,’ quoth Reuben. ‘Why, it looks as though they had +hung their linen up to dry all down the line.’ + +‘True! They have more ensigns than ever I saw with so small a force,’ +Saxon answered, rising in his stirrups. ‘One or two are blue, and the +rest, as far as I can see for the sun shining upon them, are white, with +some motto or device.’ + +Whilst we had been conversing, the body of horse which formed the +vanguard of the Protestant army had approached within a quarter of a +mile or less of the town, when a loud, clear bugle-call brought them to +a halt. In each successive regiment or squadron the signal was repeated, +so that the sound passed swiftly down the long array until it died away +in the distance. As the coil of men formed up upon the white road, with +just a tremulous shifting motion along the curved and undulating line, +its likeness to a giant serpent occurred again to my mind. + +‘I could fancy it a great boa,’ I remarked, ‘which was drawing its coils +round the town.’ + +‘A rattlesnake, rather,’ said Reuben, pointing to the guns in the rear. +‘It keeps all its noise in its tail.’ + +‘Here comes its head, if I mistake not,’ quoth Saxon. ‘It were best +perhaps that we stand at the side of the gate.’ + +As he spoke a group of gaily dressed cavaliers broke away from the main +body and rode straight for the town. Their leader was a tall, slim, +elegant young man, who sat his horse with the grace of a skilled rider, +and who was remarkable amongst those around him for the gallantry of his +bearing and the richness of his trappings. As he galloped towards the +gate a roar of welcome burst from the assembled multitude, which was +taken up and prolonged by the crowds behind, who, though unable to see +what was going forward, gathered from the shouting that the King was +approaching. + + + +Chapter XX. Of the Muster of the Men of the West + +Monmouth was at that time in his thirty-sixth year, and was remarkable +for those superficial graces which please the multitude and fit a man to +lead in a popular cause. He was young, well-spoken, witty, and skilled +in all martial and manly exercises. On his progress in the West he had +not thought it beneath him to kiss the village maidens, to offer prizes +at the rural sports, and to run races in his boots against the fleetest +of the barefooted countrymen. (Note G., Appendix) His nature was vain +and prodigal, but he excelled in that showy magnificence and careless +generosity which wins the hearts of the people. Both on the Continent +and at Bothwell Bridge, in Scotland, he had led armies with success, and +his kindness and mercy to the Covenanters after his victory had caused +him to be as much esteemed amongst the Whigs as Dalzell and Claverhouse +were hated. As he reined up his beautiful black horse at the gate of the +city, and raised his plumed montero cap to the shouting crowd, the grace +and dignity of his bearing were such as might befit the knight-errant +in a Romance who is fighting at long odds for a crown which a tyrant has +filched from him. + +He was reckoned well-favoured, but I cannot say that I found him so. His +face was, I thought, too long and white for comeliness, yet his features +were high and noble, with well-marked nose and clear, searching eyes. In +his mouth might perchance be noticed some trace of that weakness which +marred his character, though the expression was sweet and amiable. He +wore a dark purple roquelaure riding-jacket, faced and lapelled with +gold lace, through the open front of which shone a silver breastplate. +A velvet suit of a lighter shade than the jacket, a pair of high yellow +Cordovan boots, with a gold-hilted rapier on one side, and a poniard +of Parma on the other, each hung from the morocco-leather sword-belt, +completed his attire. A broad collar of Mechlin lace flowed over his +shoulders, while wristbands of the same costly material dangled from his +sleeves. Again and again he raised his cap and bent to the saddle-bow in +response to the storm of cheering. ‘A Monmouth! A Monmouth!’ cried +the people; ‘Hail to the Protestant chief!’ ‘Long live the noble King +Monmouth!’ while from every window, and roof, and balcony fluttering +kerchief or waving hat brightened the joyous scene. The rebel van caught +fire at the sight and raised a great deep-chested shout, which was taken +up again and again by the rest of the army, until the whole countryside +was sonorous. + +In the meanwhile the city elders, headed by our friend the Mayor, +advanced from the gate in all the dignity of silk and fur to pay homage +to the King. Sinking upon one knee by Monmouth’s stirrup, he kissed the +hand which was graciously extended to him. + +‘Nay, good Master Mayor,’ said the King, in a clear, strong voice, ‘it +is for my enemies to sink before me, and not for my friends. Prythee, +what is this scroll which you do unroll?’ + +‘It is an address of welcome and of allegiance, your Majesty, from your +loyal town of Taunton.’ + +‘I need no such address,’ said King Monmouth, looking round. ‘It is +written all around me in fairer characters than ever found themselves +upon parchment. My good friends have made me feel that I was welcome +without the aid of clerk or scrivener. Your name, good Master Mayor, is +Stephen Timewell, as I understand?’ + +‘The same, your Majesty.’ + +‘Too curt a name for so trusty a man,’ said the King, drawing his sword +and touching him upon the shoulder with it. ‘I shall make it longer by +three letters. Rise up, Sir Stephen, and may I find that there are many +other knights in my dominions as loyal and as stout.’ + +Amidst the huzzahs which broke out afresh at this honour done to the +town, the Mayor withdrew with the councilmen to the left side of the +gate, whilst Monmouth with his staff gathered upon the right. At a +signal a trumpeter blew a fanfare, the drums struck up a point of war, +and the insurgent army, with serried ranks and waving banners, resumed +its advance upon the town. As it approached, Saxon pointed out to us the +various leaders and men of note who surrounded the King, giving us their +names and some few words as to their characters. + +‘That is Lord Grey of Wark,’ said he; ‘the little middle-aged lean man +at the King’s bridle arm. He hath been in the Tower once for treason. +‘Twas he who fled with the Lady Henrietta Berkeley, his wife’s sister. A +fine leader truly for a godly cause! The man upon his left, with the +red swollen face and the white feather in his cap, is Colonel Holmes. +I trust that he will never show the white feather save on his head. The +other upon the high chestnut horse is a lawyer, though, by my soul, he +is a better man at ordering a battalion than at drawing a bill of costs. +He is the republican Wade who led the foot at the skirmish at Bridport, +and brought them off with safety. The tall heavy-faced soldier in the +steel bonnet is Anthony Buyse, the Brandenburger, a soldado of fortune, +and a man of high heart, as are most of his countrymen. I have fought +both with him and against him ere now.’ + +‘Mark ye the long thin man behind him?’ cried Reuben. ‘He hath drawn his +sword, and waves it over his head. ‘Tis a strange time and place for the +broadsword exercise. He is surely mad.’ + +‘Perhaps you are not far amiss,’ said Saxon. ‘Yet, by my hilt, were it +not for that man there would be no Protestant army advancing upon us +down yonder road. ‘Tis he who by dangling the crown before Monmouth’s +eyes beguiled him away from his snug retreat in Brabant. There is not +one of these men whom he hath not tempted into this affair by some bait +or other. With Grey it was a dukedom, with Wade the woolsack, with Buyse +the plunder of Cheapside. Every one hath his own motive, but the clues +to them all are in the hands of yonder crazy fanatic, who makes the +puppets dance as he will. He hath plotted more, lied more, and suffered +less than any Whig in the party.’ + +‘It must be that Dr. Robert Ferguson of whom I have heard my father +speak,’ said I. + +‘You are right. ‘Tis he. I have but seen him once in Amsterdam, and yet +I know him by his shock wig and crooked shoulders. It is whispered +that of late his overweening conceit hath unseated his reason. See, the +German places his hand upon his shoulder and persuades him to sheathe +his weapon. King Monmouth glances round too, and smiles as though he +were the Court buffoon with a Geneva cloak instead of the motley. But +the van is upon us. To your companies, and mind that ye raise your +swords to the salute while the colours of each troop go by.’ + +Whilst our companion had been talking, the whole Protestant army had +been streaming towards the town, and the head of the fore-guard was +abreast with the gateway. Four troops of horse led the way, badly +equipped and mounted, with ropes instead of bridles, and in some cases +squares of sacking in place of saddles. The men were armed for the most +part with sword and pistol, while a few had the buff-coats, plates, and +headpieces taken at Axminster, still stained sometimes with the blood of +the last wearer. In the midst of them rode a banner-bearer, who carried +a great square ensign hung upon a pole, which was supported upon a +socket let into the side of the girth. Upon it was printed in golden +letters the legend, ‘Pro libertate et religione nostra.’ These +horse-soldiers were made up of yeomen’s and farmers’ sons, unused to +discipline, and having a high regard for themselves as volunteers, which +caused them to cavil and argue over every order. For this cause, though +not wanting in natural courage, they did little service during the war, +and were a hindrance rather than a help to the army. + +Behind the horse came the foot, walking six abreast, divided into +companies of varying size, each company bearing a banner which gave the +name of the town or village from which it had been raised. This manner +of arranging the troops had been chosen because it had been found to be +impossible to separate men who were akin and neighbours to each other. +They would fight, they said, side by side, or they would not fight at +all. For my own part, I think that it is no bad plan, for when it comes +to push of pike, a man stands all the faster when he knows that he +hath old and tried friends on either side of him. Many of these country +places I came to know afterwards from the talk of the men, and many +others I have travelled through, so that the names upon the banners have +come to have a real meaning with me. Homer hath, I remember, a chapter +or book wherein he records the names of all the Grecian chiefs and +whence they came, and how many men they brought to the common muster. It +is pity that there is not some Western Homer who could record the names +of these brave peasants and artisans, and recount what each did or +suffered in upholding a noble though disastrous cause. Their places of +birth at least shall not be lost as far as mine own feeble memory can +carry me. + +The first foot regiment, if so rudely formed a band could be so called, +consisted of men of the sea, fishers and coastmen, clad in the +heavy blue jerkins and rude garb of their class. They were bronzed, +weather-beaten tarpaulins, with hard mahogany faces, variously armed +with birding pieces, cutlasses, or pistols. I have a notion that it +was not the first time that those weapons had been turned against +King James’s servants, for the Somerset and Devon coasts were famous +breeding-places for smugglers, and many a saucy lugger was doubtless +lying up in creek or in bay whilst her crew had gone a-soldiering to +Taunton. As to discipline, they had no notion of it, but rolled along in +true blue-water style, with many a shout and halloo to each other or to +the crowd. From Star Point to Portland Roads there would be few nets +for many weeks to come, and fish would swim the narrow seas which should +have been heaped on Lyme Cobb or exposed for sale in Plymouth market. +Each group, or band, of these men of the sea bore with it its own +banner, that of Lyme in the front, followed by Topsham, Colyford, +Bridport, Sidmouth, Otterton, Abbotsbury, and Charmouth, all southern +towns, which are on or near the coast. So they trooped past us, rough +and careless, with caps cocked, and the reek of their tobacco rising +up from them like the steam from a tired horse. In number they may have +been four hundred or thereabouts. + +The peasants of Rockbere, with flail and scythe, led the next column, +followed by the banner of Honiton, which was supported by two hundred +stout lacemakers from the banks of the Otter. These men showed by the +colour of their faces that their work kept them within four walls, yet +they excelled their peasant companions in their alert and soldierly +bearing. Indeed, with all the troops, we observed that, though the +countrymen were the stouter and heartier, the craftsmen were the most +ready to catch the air and spirit of the camp. Behind the men of Honiton +came the Puritan clothworkers of Wellington, with their mayor upon +a white horse beside their standard-bearer, and a band of twenty +instruments before him. Grim-visaged, thoughtful, sober men, they were +for the most part clad in grey suits and wearing broad-brimmed hats. +‘For God and faith’ was the motto of a streamer which floated from +amongst them. The clothworkers formed three strong companies, and the +whole regiment may have numbered close on six hundred men. + +The third regiment was headed by five hundred foot from Taunton, men +of peaceful and industrious life, but deeply imbued with those great +principles of civil and religious liberty which were three years later +to carry all before them in England. As they passed the gates they were +greeted by a thunderous welcome from their townsmen upon the walls and +at the windows. Their steady, solid ranks, and broad, honest burgher +faces, seemed to me to smack of discipline and of work well done. Behind +them came the musters of Winterbourne, Ilminster, Chard, Yeovil, and +Collumpton, a hundred or more pikesmen to each, bringing the tally of +the regiment to a thousand men. + +A squadron of horse trotted by, closely followed by the fourth regiment, +bearing in its van the standards of Beaminster, Crewkerne, Langport, +and Chidiock, all quiet Somersetshire villages, which had sent out their +manhood to strike a blow for the old cause. Puritan ministers, with +their steeple hats and Geneva gowns, once black, but now white with +dust, marched sturdily along beside their flocks. Then came a strong +company of wild half-armed shepherds from the great plains which extend +from the Blackdowns on the south to the Mendips on the north--very +different fellows, I promise you, from the Corydons and Strephons of +Master Waller or Master Dryden, who have depicted the shepherd as ever +shedding tears of love, and tootling upon a plaintive pipe. I fear that +Chloe or Phyllis would have met with rough wooing at the hands of these +Western savages. Behind them were musqueteers from Dorchester, pikemen +from Newton Poppleford, and a body of stout infantry from among the +serge workers of Ottery St. Mary. This fourth regiment numbered rather +better than eight hundred, but was inferior in arms and in discipline to +that which preceded it. + +The fifth regiment was headed by a column of fen men from the dreary +marches which stretch round Athelney. These men, in their sad and sordid +dwellings, had retained the same free and bold spirit which had made +them in past days the last resource of the good King Alfred and the +protectors of the Western shires from the inroads of the Danes, who +were never able to force their way into their watery strongholds. Two +companies of them, towsy-headed and bare-legged, but loud in hymn and +prayer, had come out from their fastnesses to help the Protestant cause. +At their heels came the woodmen and lumberers of Bishop’s Lidiard, big, +sturdy men in green jerkins, and the white-smocked villagers of Huish +Champflower. The rear of the regiment was formed by four hundred men in +scarlet coats, with white cross-belts and well-burnished muskets. +These were deserters from the Devonshire Militia, who had marched with +Albemarle from Exeter, and who had come over to Monmouth on the field +at Axminster. These kept together in a body, but there were many other +militiamen, both in red and in yellow coats, amongst the various bodies +which I have set forth. This regiment may have numbered seven hundred +men. + +The sixth and last column of foot was headed by a body of peasants +bearing ‘Minehead’ upon their banner, and the ensign of the three +wool-bales and the sailing ship, which is the sign of that ancient +borough. They had come for the most part from the wild country which +lies to the north of Dunster Castle and skirts the shores of the Bristol +Channel. Behind them were the poachers and huntsmen of Porlock Quay, who +had left the red deer of Exmoor to graze in peace whilst they followed +a nobler quarry. They were followed by men from Dulverton, men from +Milverton, men from Wiveliscombe and the sunny slopes of the Quantocks, +swart, fierce men from the bleak moors of Dunkerry Beacon, and tall, +stalwart pony rearers and graziers from Bampton. The banners of +Bridgewater, of Shepton Mallet, and of Nether Stowey swept past us, with +that of the fishers of Clovelly and the quarrymen of the Blackdowns. In +the rear were three companies of strange men, giants in stature, though +somewhat bowed with labour, with long tangled beards, and unkempt hair +hanging over their eyes. These were the miners from the Mendip hills and +from the Oare and Bagworthy valleys, rough, half-savage men, whose eyes +rolled up at the velvets and brocades of the shouting citizens, or fixed +themselves upon their smiling dames with a fierce intensity which scared +the peaceful burghers. So the long line rolled in until three squadrons +of horse and four small cannon, with the blue-coated Dutch cannoniers as +stiff as their own ramrods, brought up the rear. A long train of carts +and of waggons which had followed the army were led into the fields +outside the walls and there quartered. + +When the last soldier had passed through the Shuttern Gate, Monmouth and +his leaders rode slowly in, the Mayor walking by the King’s charger. +As we saluted they all faced round to us, and I saw a quick flush of +surprise and pleasure come over Monmouth’s pale face as he noted our +close lines and soldierly bearing. + +‘By my faith, gentlemen,’ he said, glancing round at his staff, ‘our +worthy friend the Mayor must have inherited Cadmus’s dragon teeth. Where +raised ye this pretty crop, Sir Stephen? How came ye to bring them +to such perfection too, even, I declare, to the hair powder of the +grenadiers?’ + +‘I have fifteen hundred in the town,’ the old wool-worker answered +proudly; ‘though some are scarce as disciplined. + +These men come from Wiltshire, and the officers from Hampshire. As to +their order, the credit is due not to me, but to the old soldier Colonel +Decimus Saxon, whom they have chosen as their commander, as well as to +the captains who serve under him.’ + +‘My thanks are due to you, Colonel,’ said the King, turning to Saxon, +who bowed and sank the point of his sword to the earth, ‘and to you +also, gentlemen. I shall not forget the warm loyalty which brought you +from Hampshire in so short a time. Would that I could find the same +virtue in higher places! But, Colonel Saxon, you have, I gather, seen +much service abroad. What think you of the army which hath just passed +before you?’ + +‘If it please your Majesty,’ Saxon answered, ‘it is like so much +uncarded wool, which is rough enough in itself, and yet may in time come +to be woven into a noble garment.’ + +‘Hem! There is not much leisure for the weaving,’ said Monmouth. ‘But +they fight well. You should have seen them fall on at Axminster! We hope +to see you and to hear your views at the council table. But how is this? +Have I not seen this gentleman’s face before?’ + +‘It is the Honourable Sir Gervas Jerome of the county of Surrey,’ quoth +Saxon. + +‘Your Majesty may have seen me at St. James’s,’ said the baronet, +raising his hat, ‘or in the balcony at Whitehall. I was much at Court +during the latter years of the late king.’ + +‘Yes, yes. I remember the name as well as the face,’ cried Monmouth. +‘You see, gentlemen,’ he continued, turning to his staff, ‘the courtiers +begin to come in at last. Were you not the man who did fight Sir Thomas +Killigrew behind Dunkirk House? I thought as much. Will you not attach +yourself to my personal attendants?’ + +‘If it please your Majesty,’ Sir Gervas answered, ‘I am of opinion +that I could do your royal cause better service at the head of my +musqueteers.’ + +‘So be it! So be it!’ said King Monmouth. Setting spurs to his horse, he +raised his hat in response to the cheers of the troops and cantered down +the High Street under a rain of flowers, which showered from roof and +window upon him, his staff, and his escort. We had joined in his train, +as commanded, so that we came in for our share of this merry crossfire. +One rose as it fluttered down was caught by Reuben, who, I observed, +pressed it to his lips, and then pushed it inside his breastplate. +Glancing up, I caught sight, of the smiling face of our host’s daughter +peeping down at us from a casement. + +‘Well caught, Reuben!’ I whispered. ‘At trick-track or trap and ball you +were ever our best player.’ + +‘Ah, Micah,’ said he, ‘I bless the day that ever I followed you to the +wars. I would not change places with Monmouth this day.’ + +‘Has it gone so far then!’ I exclaimed. ‘Why, lad, I thought that you +were but opening your trenches, and you speak as though you had carried +the city.’ + +‘Perhaps I am over-hopeful,’ he cried, turning from hot to cold, as a +man doth when he is in love, or hath the tertian ague, or other bodily +trouble. ‘God knows that I am little worthy of her, and yet--’ + +‘Set not your heart too firmly upon that which may prove to be beyond +your reach,’ said I. ‘The old man is rich, and will look higher.’ + +‘I would he were poor!’ sighed Reuben, with all the selfishness of a +lover. ‘If this war last I may win myself some honour or title. Who +knows? Others have done it, and why not I!’ + +‘Of our three from Havant,’ I remarked, ‘one is spurred onwards by +ambition, and one by love. Now, what am I to do who care neither for +high office nor for the face of a maid? What is to carry me into the +fight?’ + +‘Our motives come and go, but yours is ever with you,’ said Reuben. +‘Honour and duty are the two stars, Micah, by which you have ever +steered your course.’ + +‘Faith, Mistress Ruth has taught you to make pretty speeches,’ said I, +‘but methinks she ought to be here amid the beauty of Taunton.’ + +As I spoke we were riding into the market-place, which was now crowded +with our troops. Round the cross were grouped a score of maidens clad in +white muslin dresses with blue scarfs around their waists. As the King +approached, these little maids, with much pretty nervousness, advanced +to meet him, and handed him a banner which they had worked for him, and +also a dainty gold-clasped Bible. Monmouth handed the flag to one of his +captains, but he raised the book above his head, exclaiming that he +had come there to defend the truths contained within it, at which the +cheerings and acclamations broke forth with redoubled vigour. It had +been expected that he might address the people from the cross, but he +contented himself with waiting while the heralds proclaimed his titles +to the Crown, when he gave the word to disperse, and the troops marched +off to the different centres where food had been provided for them. The +King and his chief officers took up their quarters in the Castle, while +the Mayor and richer burgesses found bed and board for the rest. As to +the common soldiers, many were billeted among the townsfolk, many others +encamped in the streets and Castle grounds, while the remainder took up +their dwelling among the waggons in the fields outside the city, where +they lit up great fires, and had sheep roasting and beer flowing as +merrily as though a march on London were but a holiday outing. + + + +Chapter XXI. Of my Hand-grips with the Brandenburger + +King Monmouth had called a council meeting for the evening, and summoned +Colonel Decimus Saxon to attend it, with whom I went, bearing with me +the small package which Sir Jacob Clancing had given over to my keeping. +On arriving at the Castle we found that the King had not yet come out +from his chamber, but we were shown into the great hall to await him, a +fine room with lofty windows and a noble ceiling of carved woodwork. At +the further end the royal arms had been erected without the bar sinister +which Monmouth had formerly worn. Here were assembled the principal +chiefs of the army, with many of the inferior commanders, town officers, +and others who had petitions to offer. Lord Grey of Wark stood silently +by the window, looking out over the countryside with a gloomy face. Wade +and Holmes shook their heads and whispered in a corner. Ferguson strode +about with his wig awry, shouting out exhortations and prayers in a +broad Scottish accent. A few of the more gaily dressed gathered round +the empty fireplace, and listened to a tale from one of their number +which appeared to be shrouded in many oaths, and which was greeted with +shouts of laughter. In another corner a numerous group of zealots, clad +in black or russet gowns, with broad white bands and hanging mantles, +stood round some favourite preacher, and discussed in an undertone +Calvinistic philosophy and its relation to statecraft. A few plain +homely soldiers, who were neither sectaries nor courtiers, wandered up +and down, or stared out through the windows at the busy encampment upon +the Castle Green. To one of these, remarkable for his great size and +breadth of shoulder, Saxon led me, and touching him on the sleeve, he +held out his hand as to an old friend. ‘Mein Gott!’ cried the German +soldier of fortune, for it was the same man whom my companion had +pointed out in the morning, ‘I thought it was you, Saxon, when I saw you +by the gate, though you are even thinner than of old. How a man could +suck up so much good Bavarian beer as you have done, and yet make so +little flesh upon it, is more than I can verstehen. How have all things +gone with you?’ + +‘As of old,’ said Saxon. ‘More blows than thalers, and greater need of +a surgeon than of a strong-box. When did I see you last, friend? Was +it not at the onfall at Nurnberg, when I led the right and you the left +wing of the heavy horse?’ + +‘Nay,’ said Buyse. ‘I have met you in the way of business since then. +Have you forgot the skirmish on the Rhine bank, when you did flash your +snapphahn at me? Sapperment! Had some rascally schelm not stabbed my +horse I should have swept your head off as a boy cuts thistles mit a +stick.’ + +‘Aye, aye,’ Saxon answered composedly, ‘I had forgot it. You were taken, +if I remember aright, but did afterwards brain the sentry with your +fetters, and swam the Rhine under the fire of a regiment. Yet, I think +that we did offer you the same terms that you were having with the +others.’ + +‘Some such base offer was indeed made me,’ said the German sternly. ‘To +which I answered that, though I sold my sword, I did not sell my honour. +It is well that cavaliers of fortune should show that an engagement is +with them--how do ye say it?--unbreakable until the war is over. Then by +all means let him change his paymaster. Warum nicht?’ + +‘True, friend, true!’ replied Saxon. ‘These beggarly Italians and Swiss +have made such a trade of the matter, and sold themselves so freely, +body and soul, to the longest purse, that it is well that we should be +nice upon points of honour. But you remember the old hand-grip which no +man in the Palatinate could exchange with you? Here is my captain, Micah +Clarke. Let him see how warm a North German welcome may be.’ + +The Brandenburger showed his white teeth in a grin as he held out his +broad brown hand to me. The instant that mine was enclosed in it he +suddenly bent his whole strength upon it, and squeezed my fingers +together until the blood tingled in the nails, and the whole hand was +limp and powerless. + +‘Donnerwetter!’ he cried, laughing heartily at my start of pain and +surprise. ‘It is a rough Prussian game, and the English lads have not +much stomach for it.’ + +‘Truly, sir,’ said I, ‘it is the first time that I have seen the +pastime, and I would fain practise it under so able a master.’ + +‘What, another!’ he cried. ‘Why, you must be still pringling from the +first. Nay, if you will I shall not refuse you, though I fear it may +weaken your hold upon your sword-hilt.’ + +He held out his hand as he spoke, and I grasped it firmly, thumb to +thumb, keeping my elbow high so as to bear all my force upon it. His own +trick was, as I observed, to gain command of the other hand by a great +output of strength at the onset. This I prevented by myself putting out +all my power. For a minute or more we stood motionless, gazing into each +other’s faces. Then I saw a bead of sweat trickle down his forehead, and +I knew that he was beaten. Slowly his grip relaxed, and his hand grew +limp and slack while my own tightened ever upon it, until he was forced +in a surly, muttering voice to request that I should unhand him. + +‘Teufel und hexerei!’ he cried, wiping away the blood which oozed from +under his nails, ‘I might as well put my fingers in a rat-trap. You +are the first man that ever yet exchanged fair hand-grips with Anthony +Buyse.’ + +‘We breed brawn in England as well as in Brandenburg,’ said Saxon, who +was shaking with laughter over the German soldier’s discomfiture. ‘Why, +I have seen that lad pick up a full-size sergeant of dragoons and throw +him into a cart as though he had been a clod of earth.’ + +‘Strong he is,’ grumbled Buyse, still wringing his injured hand, ‘strong +as old Gotz mit de iron grip. But what good is strength alone in the +handling of a weapon? It is not the force of a blow, but the way in +which it is geschlagen, that makes the effect. Your sword now is heavier +than mine, by the look of it, and yet my blade would bite deeper. Eh? Is +not that a more soldierly sport than kinderspiel such as hand-grasping +and the like?’ + +‘He is a modest youth,’ said Saxon. ‘Yet I would match his stroke +against yours.’ + +‘For what?’ snarled the German. + +‘For as much wine as we can take at a sitting. + +‘No small amount, either,’ said Buyse; ‘a brace of gallons at the least. +Well, be it so. Do you accept the contest?’ + +‘I shall do what I may,’ I answered, ‘though I can scarce hope to strike +as heavy a blow as so old and tried a soldier.’ + +‘Henker take your compliments,’ he cried gruffly. ‘It was with sweet +words that you did coax my fingers into that fool-catcher of yours. Now, +here is my old headpiece of Spanish steel. It has, as you can see, one +or two dints of blows, and a fresh one will not hurt it. I place it here +upon this oaken stool high enough to be within fair sword-sweep. Have at +it, Junker, and let us see if you can leave your mark upon it!’ + +‘Do you strike first, sir,’ said I, ‘since the challenge is yours.’ + +‘I must bruise my own headpiece to regain my soldierly credit,’ he +grumbled. ‘Well, well, it has stood a cut or two in its day.’ Drawing +his broadsword, he waved back the crowd who had gathered around us, +while he swung the great weapon with tremendous force round his head, +and brought it down with a full, clean sweep on to the smooth cap of +steel. The headpiece sprang high into the air and then clattered down +upon the oaken floor with a long, deep line bitten into the solid metal. + +‘Well struck!’ ‘A brave stroke!’ cried the spectators. ‘It is proof +steel thrice welded, and warranted to turn a sword-blade,’ one remarked, +raising up the helmet to examine it, and then replacing it upon the +stool. + +‘I have seen my father cut through proof steel with this very sword,’ +said I, drawing the fifty-year-old weapon. ‘He put rather more of his +weight into it than you have done. I have heard him say that a good +stroke should come from the back and loins rather than from the mere +muscles of the arm.’ + +‘It is not a lecture we want, but a beispiel or example,’ sneered the +German. ‘It is with your stroke that we have to do, and not with the +teaching of your father.’ + +‘My stroke,’ said I, ‘is in accordance with his teaching;’ and, +whistling round the sword, I brought it down with all my might and +strength upon the German’s helmet. The good old Commonwealth blade shore +through the plate of steel, cut the stool asunder, and buried its point +two inches deep in the oaken floor. ‘It is but a trick,’ I explained. ‘I +have practised it in the winter evenings at home.’ + +‘It is not a trick that I should care to have played upon me,’ said Lord +Grey, amid a general murmur of applause and surprise. ‘Od’s bud, man, +you have lived two centuries too late. What would not your thews have +been worth before gunpowder put all men upon a level!’ + +‘Wunderbar!’ growled Buyse, ‘wunderbar! I am past my prime, young sir, +and may well resign the palm of strength to you. It was a right noble +stroke. It hath cost me a runlet or two of canary, and a good old +helmet; but I grudge it not, for it was fairly done. I am thankful +that my head was not darin. Saxon, here, used to show us some brave +schwertspielerei, but he hath not the weight for such smashing blows as +this.’ + +‘My eye is still true and my hand firm, though both are perhaps a trifle +the worse for want of use,’ said Saxon, only too glad at the chance +of drawing the eyes of the chiefs upon him. ‘At backsword, sword and +dagger, sword and buckler, single falchion and case of falchions, mine +old challenge still holds good against any comer, save only my brother +Quartus, who plays as well as I do, but hath an extra half-inch in reach +which gives him the vantage.’ + +‘I studied sword-play under Signor Contarini of Paris,’ said Lord Grey. +‘Who was your master?’ + +‘I have studied, my lord, under Signer Stern Necessity of Europe,’ quoth +Saxon. ‘For five-and-thirty years my life has depended from day to day +upon being able to cover myself with this slip of steel. Here is a +small trick which showeth some nicety of eye: to throw this ring to the +ceiling and catch it upon a rapier point. It seems simple, perchance, +and yet is only to be attained by some practice.’ + +‘Simple!’ cried Wade the lawyer, a square-faced, bold-eyed man. ‘Why, +the ring is but the girth of your little finger. A man might do it once +by good luck, but none could ensure it.’ + +‘I will lay a guinea a thrust on it,’ said Saxon; and tossing the little +gold circlet up into the air, he flashed out his rapier and made a pass +at it. The ring rasped down the steel blade and tinkled against the +hilt, fairly impaled. By a sharp motion of the wrist he shot it up +to the ceiling again, where it struck a carved rafter and altered its +course; but again, with a quick step forward, he got beneath it and +received it on his sword-point. ‘Surely there is some cavalier present +who is as apt at the trick as I am,’ he said, replacing the ring upon +his finger. + +‘I think, Colonel, that I could venture upon it,’ said a voice; and +looking round, we found that Monmouth had entered the room and was +standing quietly on the outskirts of the throng, unperceived in +the general interest which our contention had excited. ‘Nay, nay, +gentlemen,’ he continued pleasantly, as we uncovered and bowed with +some little embarrassment; ‘how could my faithful followers be better +employed than by breathing themselves in a little sword-play? I prythee +lend me your rapier, Colonel.’ He drew a diamond ring from his finger, +and spinning it up into the air, he transfixed it as deftly as Saxon +had done. ‘I practised the trick at The Hague, where, by my faith, I had +only too many hours to devote to such trifles. But how come these steel +links and splinters of wood to be littered over the floor?’ + +‘A son of Anak hath appaired amang us,’ said Ferguson, turning his +face, all scarred and reddened with the king’s evil, in my direction. ‘A +Goliath o’ Gath, wha hath a stroke like untae a weaver’s beam. Hath he +no the smooth face o’ a bairn and the thews’ o’ Behemoth?’ + +‘A shrewd blow indeed,’ King Monmouth remarked, picking up half the +stool. ‘How is our champion named?’ + +‘He is my captain, your Majesty,’ Saxon answered, resheathing the sword +which the King had handed to him; ‘Micah Clarke, a man of Hampshire +birth.’ + +‘They breed a good old English stock in those parts,’ said Monmouth; +‘but how comes it that you are here, sir? I summoned this meeting for my +own immediate household, and for the colonels of the regiments. If every +captain is to be admitted into our councils, we must hold our meetings +on the Castle Green, for no apartment could contain us.’ + +‘I ventured to come here, your Majesty,’ I replied, ‘because on my way +hither I received a commission, which was that I should deliver this +small but weighty package into your hands. I therefore thought it my +duty to lose no time in fulfilling my errand.’ + +‘What is in it?’ he asked. + +‘I know not,’ I answered. + +Doctor Ferguson whispered a few words into the King’s ear, who laughed +and held out his hand for the packet. + +‘Tut! tut!’ said he. ‘The days of the Borgias and the Medicis are over, +Doctor. Besides, the lad is no Italian conspirator, but hath honest blue +eyes and flaxen hair as Nature’s certificate to his character. This +is passing heavy--an ingot of lead, by the feel. Lend me your dagger, +Colonel Holmes. It is stitched round with packthread. Ha! it is a bar +of gold--solid virgin gold by all that is wonderful. Take charge of it, +Wade, and see that it is added to the common fund. This little piece +of metal may furnish ten pikemen. What have we here? A letter and an +enclosure. “To James, Duke of Monmouth”--hum! It was written before we +assumed our royal state. “Sir Jacob Glancing, late of Snellaby Hall, +sends greeting and a pledge of affection. Carry out the good work. +A hundred more such ingots await you when you have crossed Salisbury +Plain.” Bravely promised, Sir Jacob! I would that you had sent them. +Well, gentlemen, ye see how support and tokens of goodwill come pouring +in upon us. Is not the tide upon the turn? Can the usurper hope to hold +his own? Will his men stand by him? Within a month or less I shall see +ye all gathered round me at Westminster, and no duty will then be +so pleasing to me as to see that ye are all, from the highest to the +lowest, rewarded for your loyalty to your monarch in this the hour of +his darkness and his danger.’ + +A murmur of thanks rose up from the courtiers at this gracious speech, +but the German plucked at Saxon’s sleeve and whispered, ‘He hath his +warm fit upon him. You shall see him cold anon.’ + +‘Fifteen hundred men have joined me here where I did but expect a +thousand at the most,’ the King continued. ‘If we had high hopes when +we landed at Lyme Cobb with eighty at our back, what should we think now +when we find ourselves in the chief city of Somerset with eight thousand +brave men around us? ‘Tis but one other affair like that at Axminster, +and my uncle’s power will go down like a house of cards. But gather +round the table, gentlemen, and we shall discuss matters in due form.’ + +‘There is yet a scrap of paper which you have not read, sire,’ said +Wade, picking up a little slip which had been enclosed in the note. + +‘It is a rhyming catch or the posy of a ring,’ said Monmouth, glancing +at it. ‘What are we to make of this? + + “When thy star is in trine, + Between darkness and shine, + Duke Monmouth, Duke Monmouth, + Beware of the Rhine!” + +Thy star in trine! What tomfoolery is this?’ + +‘If it please your Majesty,’ said I, ‘I have reason to believe that the +man who sent you this message is one of those who are deeply skilled +in the arts of divination, and who pretend from the motions of the +celestial bodies to foretell the fates of men.’ + +‘This gentleman is right, sir,’ remarked Lord Grey. ‘“Thy star in trine” + is an astrological term, which signifieth when your natal planet shall +be in a certain quarter of the heavens. The verse is of the nature of a +prophecy. The Chaldeans and Egyptians of old are said to have attained +much skill in the art, but I confess that I have no great opinion of +those latter-day prophets who busy themselves in answering the foolish +questions of every housewife.’ + + ‘And tell by Venus and the moon, + Who stole a thimble or a spoon.’ +muttered Saxon, quoting from his favourite poem. + +‘Why, here are our Colonels catching the rhyming complaint,’ said the +King, laughing. ‘We shall be dropping the sword and taking to the harp +anon, as Alfred did in these very parts. Or I shall become a king of +bards and trouveurs, like good King Rene of Provence. But, gentlemen, +if this be indeed a prophecy, it should, methinks, bode well for our +enterprise. It is true that I am warned against the Rhine, but there is +little prospect of our fighting this quarrel upon its banks.’ + +‘Worse luck!’ murmured the German, under his breath. + +‘We may, therefore, thank this Sir Jacob and his giant messenger for +his forecast as well as for his gold. But here comes the worthy Mayor of +Taunton, the oldest of our councillors and the youngest of our knights. +Captain Clarke, I desire you to stand at the inside of the door and to +prevent intrusion. What passes amongst us will, I am well convinced, be +safe in your keeping.’ + +I bowed and took up my post as ordered, while the council-men and +commanders gathered round the great oaken table which ran down the +centre of the hall. The mellow evening light was streaming through the +three western windows, while the distant babble of the soldiers upon the +Castle Green sounded like the sleepy drone of insects. Monmouth paced +with quick uneasy steps up and down the further end of the room until +all were seated, when he turned towards them and addressed them. + +‘You will have surmised, gentlemen,’ he said, ‘that I have called you +together to-day that I might have the benefit of your collective wisdom +in determining what our next steps should be. We have now marched some +forty miles into our kingdom, and we have met wherever we have gone with +the warm welcome which we expected. Close upon eight thousand men follow +our standards, and as many more have been turned away for want of +arms. We have twice met the enemy, with the effect that we have armed +ourselves with their muskets and field-pieces. From first to last there +hath been nothing which has not prospered with us. We must look to it +that the future be as successful as the past. To insure this I have +called ye together, and I now ask ye to give me your opinions of our +situation, leaving me after I have listened to your views to form our +plan of action. There are statesmen among ye, and there are soldiers +among ye, and there are godly men among ye who may chance to get a flash +of light when statesman and soldier are in the dark. Speak fearlessly, +then, and let me know what is in your minds.’ + +From my central post by the door I could see the lines of faces on +either side of the board, the solemn close-shaven Puritans, sunburned +soldiers, and white-wigged moustachioed courtiers. My eyes rested +particularly upon Ferguson’s scorbutic features, Saxon’s hard aquiline +profile, the German’s burly face, and the peaky thoughtful countenance +of the Lord of Wark. + +‘If naebody else will gie an opeenion,’ cried the fanatical Doctor, +‘I’ll een speak mysel’ as led by the inward voice. For have I no worked +in the cause and slaved in it, much enduring and suffering mony things +at the honds o’ the froward, whereby my ain speerit hath plentifully +fructified? Have I no been bruised as in a wine-press, and cast oot wi’ +hissing and scorning into waste places?’ + +‘We know your merits and your sufferings, Doctor,’ said the King. ‘The +question before us is as to our course of action.’ + +‘Was there no a voice heard in the East?’ cried the old Whig. ‘Was there +no a soond as o’ a great crying, the crying for a broken covenant and a +sinful generation? Whence came the cry? Wha’s was the voice? Was it no +that o’ the man Robert Ferguson, wha raised himsel’ up against the great +ones in the land, and wouldna be appeased?’ + +‘Aye, aye, Doctor,’ said Monmouth impatiently. ‘Speak to the point, or +give place to another.’ + +‘I shall mak’ mysel’ clear, your Majesty. Have we no heard that Argyle +is cutten off? And why was he cutten off? Because he hadna due faith +in the workings o’ the Almighty, and must needs reject the help o’ the +children o’ light in favour o’ the bare-legged spawn o’ Prelacy, wha are +half Pagan, half Popish. Had he walked in the path o’ the Lord he wudna +be lying in the Tolbooth o’ Edinburgh wi’ the tow or the axe before +him. Why did he no gird up his loins and march straight onwards wi’ +the banner o’ light, instead o’ dallying here and biding there like a +half-hairted Didymus? And the same or waur will fa’ upon us if we dinna +march on intae the land and plant our ensigns afore the wicked toun o’ +London--the toun where the Lord’s wark is tae be done, and the tares tae +be separated frae the wheat, and piled up for the burning.’ + +‘Your advice, in short, is that we march on!’ said Monmouth. + +‘That we march on, your Majesty, and that we prepare oorselves tae be +the vessels o’ grace, and forbear frae polluting the cause o’ the Gospel +by wearing the livery o’ the devil’--here he glared at a gaily attired +cavalier at the other side of the table--‘or by the playing o’ cairds, +the singing o’ profane songs and the swearing o’ oaths, all which are +nichtly done by members o’ this army, wi’ the effect o’ giving much +scandal tae God’s ain folk.’ + +A hum of assent and approval rose up from the more Puritan members of +the council at this expression of opinion, while the courtiers glanced +at each other and curled their lips in derision. Monmouth took two or +three turns and then called for another opinion. + +‘You, Lord Grey,’ he said, ‘are a soldier and a man of experience. What +is your advice? Should we halt here or push forward towards London?’ + +‘To advance to the East would, in my humble judgment, be fatal to us,’ +Grey answered, speaking slowly, with the manner of a man who has thought +long and deeply before delivering an opinion. ‘James Stuart is strong +in horse, and we have none. We can hold our own amongst hedgerows or in +broken country, but what chance could we have in the middle of Salisbury +Plain? With the dragoons round us we should be like a flock of sheep +amid a pack of wolves. Again, every step which we take towards London +removes us from our natural vantage ground, and from the fertile country +which supplies our necessities, while it strengthens our enemy by +shortening the distance he has to convey his troops and his victuals. +Unless, therefore, we hear of some great outbreak elsewhere, or of some +general movement in London in our favour, we would do best to hold our +ground and wait an attack.’ + +‘You argue shrewdly and well, my Lord Grey,’ said the King. ‘But how +long are we to wait for this outbreak which never comes, and for this +support which is ever promised and never provided? We have now been +seven long days in England, and during that time of all the House of +Commons no single man hath come over to us, and of the lords none gave +my Lord Grey, who was himself an exile. Not a baron or an earl, and only +one baronet, hath taken up arms for me. Where are the men whom Danvers +and Wildman promised me from London? Where are the brisk boys of the +City who were said to be longing for me? Where are the breakings out +from Berwick to Portland which they foretold? Not a man hath moved +save only these good peasants. I have been deluded, ensnared, +trapped--trapped by vile agents who have led me into the shambles.’ He +paced up and down, wringing his hands and biting his lips, with despair +stamped upon his face. I observed that Buyse smiled and whispered +something to Saxon--a hint, I suppose, that this was the cold fit of +which he spoke. + +‘Tell me, Colonel Buyse,’ said the King, mastering his emotion by a +strong effort. ‘Do you, as a soldier, agree with my Lord Grey?’ + +‘Ask Saxon, your Majesty,’ the German answered. ‘My opinion in a +Raths-Versammlung is, I have observed, ever the same as his.’ + +‘Then we turn to you, Colonel Saxon,’ said Monmouth. ‘We have in this +council a party who are in favour of an advance and a party who wish +to stand their ground. Their weight and numbers are, methinks, nearly +equal. If you had the casting vote how would you decide?’ All eyes were +bent upon our leader, for his martial bearing, and the respect shown to +him by the veteran Buyse, made it likely that his opinion might really +turn the scale. He sat for a few moments in silence with his hands +before his face. + +‘I will give my opinion, your Majesty,’ he said at last. ‘Feversham and +Churchill are making for Salisbury with three thousand foot, and they +have pushed on eight hundred of the Blue Guards, and two or three +dragoon regiments. We should, therefore, as Lord Grey says, have to +fight on Salisbury Plain, and our foot armed with a medley of weapons +could scarce make head against their horse. All is possible to the Lord, +as Dr. Ferguson wisely says. We are as grains of dust in the hollow of +His hand. Yet He hath given us brains wherewith to choose the better +course, and if we neglect it we must suffer the consequence of our +folly.’ + +Ferguson laughed contemptuously, and breathed out a prayer, but many of +the other Puritans nodded their heads to acknowledge that this was not +an unreasonable view to take of it. + +‘On the other hand, sire,’ Saxon continued, ‘it appears to me that to +remain here is equally impossible. Your Majesty’s friends throughout +England would lose all heart if the army lay motionless and struck no +blow. The rustics would flock off to their wives and homes. Such an +example is catching. I have seen a great army thaw away like an icicle +in the sunshine. Once gone, it is no easy matter to collect them again. +To keep them we must employ them. Never let them have an idle minute. +Drill them. March them. Exercise them. Work them. Preach to them. Make +them obey God and their Colonel. This cannot be done in snug quarters. +They must travel. We cannot hope to end this business until we get +to London. London, then, must be our goal. But there are many ways of +reaching it. You have, sire, as I have heard, many friends at Bristol +and in the Midlands. If I might advise, I should say let us march round +in that direction. Every day that passes will serve to swell your forces +and improve your troops, while all will feel something is astirring. +Should we take Bristol--and I hear that the works are not very +strong--it would give us a very good command of shipping, and a rare +centre from which to act. If all goes well with us, we could make +our way to London through Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. In the +meantime I might suggest that a day of fast and humiliation be called to +bring down a blessing on the cause.’ + +This address, skilfully compounded of worldly wisdom and of spiritual +zeal, won the applause of the whole council, and especially that of King +Monmouth, whose melancholy vanished as if by magic. + +‘By my faith, Colonel,’ said he, ‘you make it all as clear as day. +Of course, if we make ourselves strong in the West, and my uncle is +threatened with disaffection elsewhere, he will have no chance to hold +out against us. Should he wish to fight us upon our own ground, he must +needs drain his troops from north, south, and east, which is not to be +thought of. We may very well march to London by way of Bristol.’ + +‘I think that the advice is good,’ Lord Grey observed; ‘but I should +like to ask Colonel Saxon what warrant he hath for saying that Churchill +and Feversham are on their way, with three thousand regular foot and +several regiments of horse?’ + +‘The word of an officer of the Blues with whom I conversed at +Salisbury,’ Saxon answered. ‘He confided in me, believing me to be one +of the Duke of Beaufort’s household. As to the horse, one party pursued +us on Salisbury Plain with bloodhounds, and another attacked us not +twenty miles from here and lost a score of troopers and a cornet.’ + +‘We heard something of the brush,’ said the King. ‘It was bravely done. +But if these men are so close we have no great time for preparation.’ + +‘Their foot cannot be here before a week,’ said the Mayor. ‘By that time +we might be behind the walls of Bristol.’ + +‘There is one point which might be urged,’ observed Wade the lawyer. ‘We +have, as your Majesty most truly says, met with heavy discouragement in +the fact that no noblemen and few commoners of repute have declared for +us. The reason is, I opine, that each doth wait for his neighbour to +make a move. Should one or two come over the others would soon follow. +How, then, are we to bring a duke or two to our standards?’ + +‘There’s the question, Master Wade,’ said Monmouth, shaking his head +despondently. + +‘I think that it might be done,’ continued the Whig lawyer. ‘Mere +proclamations addressed to the commonalty will not catch these gold +fish. They are not to be angled for with a naked hook. I should +recommend that some form of summons or writ be served upon each of them, +calling upon them to appear in our camp within a certain date under pain +of high treason.’ + +‘There spake the legal mind,’ quoth King Monmouth, with a laugh. ‘But +you have omitted to tell us how the said writ or summons is to be +conveyed to these same delinquents.’ + +‘There is the Duke of Beaufort,’ continued Wade, disregarding the King’s +objection. ‘He is President of Wales, and he is, as your Majesty knows, +lieutenant of four English counties. His influence overshadows the whole +West. He hath two hundred horses in his stables at Badminton, and a +thousand men, as I have heard, sit down at his tables every day. Why +should not a special effort be made to gain over such a one, the more so +as we intend to march in his direction?’ + +‘Henry, Duke of Beaufort, is unfortunately already in arms against his +sovereign,’ said Monmouth gloomily. + +‘He is, sire, but he may be induced to turn in your favour the weapon +which he hath raised against you. He is a Protestant. He is said to be a +Whig. Why should we not send a message to him? Flatter his pride. Appeal +to his religion. Coax and threaten him. Who knows? He may have private +grievances of which we know nothing, and may be ripe for such a move.’ + +‘Your counsel is good, Wade,’ said Lord Grey, ‘but methinks his Majesty +hath asked a pertinent question. Your messenger would, I fear, find +himself swinging upon one of the Badminton oaks if the Duke desired to +show his loyalty to James Stuart. Where are we to find a man who is wary +enough and bold enough for such a mission, without risking one of our +leaders, who could be ill-spared at such a time?’ + +‘It is true,’ said the King. ‘It were better not to venture it at all +than to do it in a clumsy and halting fashion. Beaufort would think that +it was a plot not to gain him over, but to throw discredit upon him. But +what means our giant at the door by signing to us?’ + +‘If it please your Majesty,’ I asked, ‘have I permission to speak?’ + +‘We would fain hear you, Captain,’ he answered graciously. ‘If your +understanding is in any degree correspondent to your strength, your +opinion should be of weight.’ + +‘Then, your Majesty,’ said I, ‘I would offer myself as a fitting +messenger in this matter. My father bid me spare neither life nor limb +in this quarrel, and if this honourable council thinks that the Duke +may be gained over, I am ready to guarantee that the message shall be +conveyed to him if man and horse can do it.’ + +‘I’ll warrant that no better herald could be found,’ cried Saxon. ‘The +lad hath a cool head and a staunch heart.’ + +‘Then, young sir, we shall accept your loyal and gallant offer,’ said +Monmouth. ‘Are ye all agreed, gentlemen, upon the point?’ A murmur of +assent rose from the company. + +‘You shall draw up the paper, Wade. Offer him money, a seniority amongst +the dukes, the perpetual Presidentship of Wales--what you will, if you +can but shake him. If not, sequestration, exile, and everlasting infamy. +And, hark ye! you can enclose a copy of the papers drawn up by Van +Brunow, which prove the marriage of my mother, together with the +attestations of the witnesses. Have them ready by to-morrow at daybreak, +when the messenger may start.’ (Note H, Appendix.) + +‘They shall be ready, your Majesty,’ said Wade. + +‘In that case, gentlemen,’ continued King Monmouth, ‘I may now dismiss +ye to your posts. Should anything fresh arise I shall summon ye again, +that I may profit by your wisdom. Here we shall stay, if Sir Stephen +Timewell will have us, until the men are refreshed and the recruits +enrolled. We shall then make our way Bristolwards, and see what luck +awaits us in the North. If Beaufort comes over all will be well. +Farewell, my kind friends! I need not tell ye to be diligent and +faithful.’ + +The council rose at the King’s salutation, and bowing to him they began +to file out of the Castle hall. Several of the members clustered round +me with hints for my journey or suggestions as to my conduct. + +‘He is a proud, froward man,’ said one. ‘Speak humbly to him or he will +never hearken to your message, but will order you to be scourged out of +his presence.’ + +‘Nay, nay!’ cried another. ‘He is hot, but he loves a man that is a +man. Speak boldly and honestly to him, and he is more like to listen to +reason.’ + +‘Speak as the Lord shall direct you,’ said a Puritan. ‘It is His message +which you bear as well as the King’s.’ + +‘Entice him out alone upon some excuse,’ said Buyse, ‘then up and away +mit him upon your crupper. Hagelsturm! that would be a proper game.’ + +‘Leave him alone,’ cried Saxon. ‘The lad hath as much sense as any of +ye. He will see which way the cat jumps. Come, friend, let us make our +way back to our men.’ + +‘I am sorry, indeed, to lose you,’ he said, as we threaded our way +through the throng of peasants and soldiers upon the Castle Green. ‘Your +company will miss you sorely. Lockarby must see to the two. If all goes +well you should be back in three or four days. I need not tell you that +there is a real danger. If the Duke wishes to prove to James that +he would not allow himself to be tampered with, he can only do it by +punishing the messenger, which as lieutenant of a county he hath power +to do in times of civil commotion. He is a hard man if all reports be +true. On the other hand, if you should chance to succeed it may lay the +foundations of your fortunes and be the means of saving Monmouth. He +needs help, by the Lord Harry! Never have I seen such a rabble as this +army of his. Buyse says that they fought lustily at this ruffle at +Axminster, but he is of one mind with me, that a few whiffs of shot and +cavalry charges would scatter them over the countryside. Have you any +message to leave?’ + +‘None, save my love to my mother,’ said I. + +‘It is well. Should you fall in any unfair way, I shall not forget his +Grace of Beaufort, and the next of his gentlemen who comes in my way +shall hang as high as Haman. And now you had best make for your chamber, +and have as good a slumber as you may, since to-morrow at cock-crow +begins your new mission.’ + + + +Chapter XXII. Of the News from Havant + +Having given my orders that Covenant should be saddled and bridled by +daybreak, I had gone to my room and was preparing for a long night’s +rest, when Sir Gervas, who slept in the same apartment, came dancing in +with a bundle of papers waving over his head. + +‘Three guesses, Clarke!’ he cried. ‘What would you most desire?’ + +‘Letters from Havant,’ said I eagerly. + +‘Right,’ he answered, throwing them into my lap. ‘Three of them, and not +a woman’s hand among them. Sink me, if I can understand what you have +been doing all your life. + + “How can youthful heart resign + Lovely woman, sparkling wine?” + +But you are so lost in your news that you have not observed my +transformation.’ + +‘Why, wherever did you get these?’ I asked in astonishment, for he +was attired in a delicate plum-coloured suit with gold buttons and +trimmings, set off by silken hosen and Spanish leather shoes with roses +on the instep. + +‘It smacks more of the court than of the camp,’ quoth Sir Gervas, +rubbing his hands and glancing down at himself with some satisfaction. +‘I am also revictualled in the matter of ratafia and orange-flower +water, together with two new wigs, a bob and a court, a pound of the +Imperial snuff from the sign of the Black Man, a box of De Crepigny’s +hair powder, my foxskin muff, and several other necessaries. But I +hinder you in your reading.’ + +‘I have seen enough to tell me that all is well at home,’ I answered, +glancing over my father’s letter. ‘But how came these things?’ + +‘Some horsemen have come in from Petersfield, bearing them with them. As +to my little box, which a fair friend of mine in town packed for me, +it was to be forwarded to Bristol, where I am now supposed to be, and +should be were it not for my good fortune in meeting your party. It +chanced to find its way, however, to the Bruton inn, and the good woman +there, whom I had conciliated, found means to send it after me. It is a +good rule to go upon, Clarke, in this earthly pilgrimage, always to +kiss the landlady. It may seem a small thing, and yet life is made up +of small things. I have few fixed principles, I fear, but two there are +which I can say from my heart that I never transgress. I always carry a +corkscrew, and I never forget to kiss the landlady.’ + +‘From what I have seen of you,’ said I, laughing, ‘I could be warranty +that those two duties are ever fulfilled.’ + +‘I have letters, too,’ said he, sitting on the side of the bed and +turning over a sheaf of papers. ‘“Your broken-hearted Araminta.” Hum! +The wench cannot know that I am ruined or her heart would speedily be +restored. What’s this? A challenge to match my bird Julius against my +Lord Dorchester’s cockerel for a hundred guineas. Faith! I am too busy +backing the Monmouth rooster for the champion stakes. Another asking me +to chase the stag at Epping. Zounds! had I not cleared off I should +have been run down myself, with a pack of bandog bailiffs at my heels. +A dunning letter from my clothier. He can afford to lose this bill. +He hath had many a long one out of me. An offer of three thousand from +little Dicky Chichester. No, no, Dicky, it won’t do. A gentleman can’t +live upon his friends. None the less grateful. How now? From Mrs. +Butterworth! No money for three weeks! Bailiffs in the house! Now, curse +me, if this is not too bad!’ + +‘What is the matter?’ I asked, glancing up from my own letters. The +baronet’s pale face had taken a tinge of red, and he was striding +furiously up and down the bedroom with a letter crumpled up in his hand. + +‘It is a burning shame, Clarke,’ he cried. ‘Hang it, she shall have my +watch. It is by Tompion, of the sign of the Three Crowns in Paul’s +Yard, and cost a hundred when new. It should keep her for a few months. +Mortimer shall measure swords with me for this. I shall write villain +upon him with my rapier’s point.’ + +‘I have never seen you ruffled before,’ said I. + +‘No,’ he answered, laughing. ‘Many have lived with me for years and +would give me a certificate for temper. But this is too much. Sir Edward +Mortimer is my mother’s younger brother, Clarke, but he is not many +years older than myself. A proper, strait-laced, soft-voiced lad he has +ever been, and, as a consequence, he throve in the world, and joined +land to land after the scriptural fashion. I had befriended him from my +purse in the old days, but he soon came to be a richer man than I, for +all that he gained he kept, whereas all I got--well, it went off like +the smoke of the pipe which you are lighting. When I found that all was +up with me I received from Mortimer an advance, which was sufficient to +take me according to my wish over to Virginia, together with a horse and +a personal outfit. There was some chance, Clarke, of the Jerome acres +going to him should aught befall me, so that he was not averse to +helping me off to a land of fevers and scalping knives. Nay, never shake +your head, my dear country lad, you little know the wiles of the world.’ + +‘Give him credit for the best until the worst is proved,’ said I, +sitting up in bed smoking, with my letters littered about in front of +me. + +‘The worst _is_ proved,’ said Sir Gervas, with a darkening face. ‘I +have, as I said, done Mortimer some turns which he might remember, +though it did not become me to remind him of them. This Mistress +Butterworth is mine old wet-nurse, and it hath been the custom of the +family to provide for her. I could not bear the thought that in the ruin +of my fortune she should lose the paltry guinea or so a week which stood +between her and hunger. My only request to Mortimer, therefore, made on +the score of old friendship, was that he should continue this pittance, +I promising that should I prosper I would return whatever he should +disburse. The mean-hearted villain wrung my hand and swore that it +should be so. How vile a thing is human nature, Clarke! For the sake of +this paltry sum he, a rich man, hath broken his pledge, and left this +poor woman to starve. But he shall answer to me for it. He thinks that +I am on the Atlantic. If I march back to London with these brave boys +I shall disturb the tenor of his sainted existence. Meanwhile I shall +trust to sun-dials, and off goes my watch to Mother Butterworth. Bless +her ample bosoms! I have tried many liquors, but I dare bet that the +first was the most healthy. But how of your own letters? You have been +frowning and smiling like an April day.’ + +‘There is one from my father, with a few words attached from my mother,’ +said I. ‘The second is from an old friend of mine, Zachariah Palmer, the +village carpenter. The third is from Solomon Sprent, a retired seaman, +for whom I have an affection and respect.’ + +‘You have a rare trio of newsmen. I would I knew your father, Clarke, he +must, from what you say, be a stout bit of British oak. I spoke even now +of your knowing little of the world, but indeed it may be that in your +village you can see mankind without the varnish, and so come to learn +more of the good of human nature. Varnish or none, the bad will ever +peep through. Now this carpenter and seaman show themselves no doubt for +what they are. A man might know my friends of the court for a lifetime, +and never come upon their real selves, nor would it perhaps repay the +search when you had come across it. Sink me, but I wax philosophical, +which is the old refuge of the ruined man. Give me a tub, and I shall +set up in the Piazza of Covent Garden, and be the Diogenes of London. I +would not be wealthy again, Micah! How goes the old lilt?-- + + “Our money shall never indite us + Or drag us to Goldsmith Hall, + No pirates or wrecks can affright us. + We that have no estates + Fear no plunder or rates, + Nor care to lock gates. + He that lies on the ground cannot fall!” + +That last would make a good motto for an almshouse.’ + +‘You will have Sir Stephen up,’ said I warningly, for he was carolling +away at the pitch of his lungs. + +‘Never fear! He and his ‘prentices were all at the broad-sword exercise +in the hall as I came by. It is worth something to see the old fellow +stamp, and swing his sword, and cry, “Ha!” on the down-cut. Mistress +Ruth and friend Lockarby are in the tapestried room, she spinning and he +reading aloud one of those entertaining volumes which she would have me +read. Methinks she hath taken his conversion in hand, which may end in +his converting her from a maid into a wife. And so you go to the Duke of +Beaufort! Well, I would that I could travel with you, but Saxon will not +hear of it, and my musqueteers must be my first care. God send you safe +back! Where is my jasmine powder and the patch-box? Read me your letters +if there be aught in them of interest. I have been splitting a flask +with our gallant Colonel at his inn, and he hath told me enough of your +home at Havant to make me wish to know more.’ + +‘This one is somewhat grave,’ said I. + +‘Nay, I am in the humour for grave things. Have at it, if it contain the +whole Platonic philosophy.’ + +‘’Tis from the venerable carpenter who hath for many years been my +adviser and friend. He is one who is religious without being sectarian, +philosophic without being a partisan, and loving without being weak.’ + +‘A paragon, truly!’ exclaimed Sir Gervas, who was busy with his eyebrow +brush. + +‘This is what he saith,’ I continued, and proceeded to read the very +letter which I now read to you. + +‘“Having heard from your father, my dear lad, that there was some chance +of being able to send a letter to you, I have written this, and am +now sending it under the charge of the worthy John Packingham, of +Chichester, who is bound for the West. I trust that you are now safe +with Monmouth’s army, and that you have received honourable appointment +therein. I doubt not that you will find among your comrades some who +are extreme sectaries, and others who are scoffers and disbelievers. +Be advised by me, friend, and avoid both the one and the other. For the +zealot is a man who not only defends his own right of worship, wherein +he hath justice, but wishes to impose upon the consciences of others, +by which he falls into the very error against which he fights. The mere +brainless scoffer is, on the other hand, lower than the beast of +the field, since he lacks the animal’s self-respect and humble +resignation.”’ + +‘My faith!’ cried the Baronet, ‘the old gentleman hath a rough side to +his tongue.’ + +‘“Let us take religion upon its broadest base, for the truth must be +broader than aught which we can conceive. The presence of a table doth +prove the existence of a carpenter, and so the presence of a universe +proves the existence of a universe Maker, call Him by what name +you will. So far the ground is very firm beneath us, without either +inspiration, teaching, or any aid whatever. Since, then, there _must_ be +a world Maker, let us judge of His nature by His work. We cannot observe +the glories of the firmament, its infinite extent, its beauty, and the +Divine skill wherewith every plant and animal hath its wants cared for, +without seeing that He is full of wisdom, intelligence, and power. We +are still, you will perceive, upon solid ground, without having to call +to our aid aught save pure reason.”’ + +‘“Having got so far, let us inquire to what end the universe was made, +and we put upon it. The teaching of all nature shows that it must be to +the end of improvement and upward growth, the increase in real virtue, +in knowledge, and in wisdom. Nature is a silent preacher which holds +forth upon week-days as on Sabbaths. We see the acorn grow into the oak, +the egg into the bird, the maggot into the butterfly. Shall we doubt, +then, that the human soul, the most precious of all things, is also +upon the upward path? And how can the soul progress save through the +cultivation of virtue and self-mastery? What other way is there? There +is none. We may say with confidence, then, that we are placed here to +increase in knowledge and in virtue.”’ + +‘“This is the core of all religion, and this much needs no faith in +the acceptance. It is as true and as capable of proof as one of those +exercises of Euclid which we have gone over together. On this common +ground men have raised many different buildings. Christianity, the creed +of Mahomet, the creed of the Easterns, have all the same essence. The +difference lies in the forms and the details. Let us hold to our own +Christian creed, the beautiful, often-professed, and seldom-practised +doctrine of love, but let us not despise our fellow-men, for we are all +branches from the common root of truth.”’ + +‘“Man comes out of darkness into light. He tarries awhile and then +passes into darkness again. Micah, lad, the days are passing, mine as +well as thine. Let them not be wasted. They are few in number. What says +Petrarch?’ To him that enters, life seems infinite; to him that +departs, nothing.’ Let every day, every hour, be spent in furthering the +Creator’s end--in getting out whatever power for good there is in you. +What is pain, or work, or trouble? The cloud that passes over the sun. +But the result of work well done is everything. It is eternal. It lives +and waxes stronger through the centuries. Pause not for rest. The rest +will come when the hour of work is past.”’ + +‘“May God protect and guard you! There is no great news. The Portsmouth +garrison hath marched to the West. Sir John Lawson, the magistrate, hath +been down here threatening your father and others, but he can do little +for want of proofs. Church and Dissent are at each other’s throats as +ever. Truly the stern law of Moses is more enduring than the sweet words +of Christ. Adieu, my dear lad! All good wishes from your grey-headed +friend, ZACHARIAH PALMER.”’ + +‘Od’s fish!’ cried Sir Gervas, as I folded up the letter, ‘I have heard +Stillingfleet and Tenison, but I never listened to a better sermon. This +is a bishop disguised as a carpenter. The crozier would suit his hand +better than the plane. But how of our seaman friend? Is he a tarpaulin +theologian--a divine among the tarry-breeks?’ + +‘Solomon Sprent is a very different man, though good enough in his way,’ +said I. ‘But you shall judge him from his letter.’ + +‘“Master Clarke. Sir,--When last we was in company I had run in under +the batteries on cutting-out service, while you did stand on and off in +the channel and wait signals. Having stopped to refit and to overhaul my +prize, which proved to be in proper trim alow and aloft--“’ + +‘What the devil doth he mean?’ asked Sir Gervas. + +‘It is a maid of whom he talks--Phoebe Dawson, the sister of the +blacksmith. He hath scarce put foot on land for nigh forty years, and +can as a consequence only speak in this sea jargon, though he fancies +that he uses as pure King’s English as any man in Hampshire.’ + +‘Proceed, then,’ quoth the Baronet. + +‘“Having also read her the articles of war, I explained to her the +conditions under which we were to sail in company on life’s voyage, +namely:”’ + +‘“First. She to obey signals without question as soon as received.”’ + +‘“Second. She to steer by my reckoning.”’ + +‘“Third. She to stand by me as true consort in foul weather, battle, or +shipwreck.”’ + +‘“Fourth. She to run under my guns if assailed by picaroons, +privateeros, or garda-costas.”’ + +‘“Fifth. Me to keep her in due repair, dry-dock her at intervals, +and see that she hath her allowance of coats of paint, streamers, and +bunting, as befits a saucy pleasure boat.”’ + +‘“Sixth. Me to take no other craft in tow, and if any be now attached, +to cut their hawsers.”’ + +‘“Seventh. Me to revictual her day by day.”’ + +‘“Eighth. Should she chance to spring a leak, or be blown on her beam +ends by the winds of misfortune, to stand by her and see her pumped out +or righted.”’ + +‘“Ninth. To fly the Protestant ensign at the peak during life’s voyage, +and to lay our course for the great harbour, in the hope that moorings +and ground to swing may be found for two British-built crafts when laid +up for eternity.”’ + +‘“‘Twas close on eight-bells before these articles were signed and +sealed. When I headed after you I could not so much as catch a glimpse +of your topsail. Soon after I heard as you had gone a-soldiering, +together with that lean, rakish, long-sparred, picaroon-like craft which +I have seen of late in the village. I take it unkind of you that you +have not so much as dipped ensign to me on leaving. But perchance +the tide was favourable, and you could not tarry. Had I not been +jury-rigged, with one of my spars shot away, I should have dearly loved +to have strapped on my hanger and come with you to smell gunpowder once +more. I would do it now, timber-toe and all, were it not for my consort, +who might claim it as a breach of the articles, and so sheer off. I must +follow the light on her poop until we are fairly joined.”’ + +‘“Farewell, mate! In action, take an old sailor’s advice. Keep the +weather-gauge and board! Tell that to your admiral on the day of battle. +Whisper it in his ear. Say to him, ‘Keep the weather-gauge and board!’ +Tell him also to strike quick, strike hard, and keep on striking. That’s +the word of Christopher Mings, and a better man has not been launched, +though he did climb in through the hawse-pipe.--Yours to command, +SOLOMON SPRENT.”’ + +Sir Gervas had been chuckling to himself during the reading of this +epistle, but at the last part we both broke out a-laughing. + +‘Land or sea, he will have it that battles are fought in ships,’ +said the Baronet. ‘You should have had that sage piece of advice for +Monmouth’s council to-day. Should he ever ask your opinion it must be, +“Keep the weather-gauge and board!”’ + +‘I must to sleep,’ said I, laying aside my pipe. ‘I should be on the +road by daybreak.’ + +‘Nay, I prythee, complete your kindness by letting me have a glimpse of +your respected parent, the Roundhead.’ + +‘’Tis but a few lines,’ I answered. ‘He was ever short of speech. But +if they interest you, you shall hear them. “I am sending this by a godly +man, my dear son, to say that I trust that you are bearing yourself as +becomes you. In all danger and difficulty trust not to yourself, but +ask help from on high. If you are in authority, teach your men to sing +psalms when they fall on, as is the good old custom. In action give +point rather than edge. A thrust must beat a cut. Your mother and the +others send their affection to you. Sir John Lawson hath been down +here like a ravening wolf, but could find no proof against me. John +Marchbank, of Bedhampton, is cast into prison. Truly Antichrist reigns +in the land, but the kingdom of light is at hand. Strike lustily for +truth and conscience.--Your loving father, JOSEPH CLARKE.”’ + +‘“Postscriptum (from my mother).--I trust that you will remember what I +have said concerning your hosen and also the broad linen collars, which +you will find in the bag. It is little over a week since you left, yet +it seems a year. When cold or wet, take ten drops of Daffy’s elixir in a +small glass of strong waters. Should your feet chafe, rub tallow on the +inside of your boots. Commend me to Master Saxon and to Master Lockarby, +if he be with you. His father was mad at his going, for he hath a great +brewing going forward, and none to mind the mash-tub. Ruth hath baked a +cake, but the oven hath played her false, and it is lumpy in the inside. +A thousand kisses, dear heart, from your loving mother, M. C.”’ + +‘A right sensible couple,’ quoth Sir Gervas, who, having completed his +toilet, had betaken him to his couch. ‘I now begin to understand your +manufacture, Clarke. I see the threads that are used in the weaving of +you. Your father looks to your spiritual wants. Your mother concerns +herself with the material. Yet the old carpenter’s preaching is, +methinks, more to your taste. You are a rank latitudinarian, man. Sir +Stephen would cry fie upon you, and Joshua Pettigrue abjure you! Well, +out with the light, for we should both be stirring at cock-crow. That is +our religion at present.’ + +‘Early Christians,’ I suggested, and we both laughed as we settled down +to sleep. + + + +Chapter XXIII. Of the Snare on the Weston Road + +Just after sunrise I was awoke by one of the Mayor’s servants, who +brought word that the Honourable Master Wade was awaiting me downstairs. +Having dressed and descended, I found him seated by the table in the +sitting-room with papers and wafer-box, sealing up the missive which I +was to carry. He was a small, worn, grey-faced man, very erect in his +bearing and sudden in his speech, with more of the soldier than of the +lawyer in his appearance. + +‘So,’ said he, pressing his seal above the fastening of the string, ‘I +see that your horse is ready for you outside. You had best make your way +round by Nether Stowey and the Bristol Channel, for we have heard that +the enemy’s horse guard the roads on the far side of Wells. Here is your +packet.’ + +I bowed and placed it in the inside of my tunic. + +‘It is a written order as suggested in the council. The Duke’s reply may +be written, or it may be by word of mouth. In either case guard it well. +This packet contains also a copy of the depositions of the clergyman at +The Hague, and of the other witnesses who saw Charles of England marry +Lucy Walters, the mother of his Majesty. Your mission is one of such +importance that the whole success of our enterprise may turn upon it. +See that you serve the paper upon Beaufort in person, and not through +any intermediary, or it might not stand in a court of law.’ + +I promised to do so if possible. + +‘I should advise you also,’ he continued, ‘to carry sword and pistol as +a protection against the chance dangers of the road, but to discard your +head-piece and steel-front as giving you too warlike an aspect for a +peaceful messenger.’ + +‘I had already come to that resolve,’ said I. + +‘There is nothing more to be said, Captain,’ said the lawyer, giving me +his hand. ‘May all good fortune go with you. Keep a still tongue and a +quick ear. Watch keenly how all things go. Mark whose face is gloomy and +whose content. The Duke may be at Bristol, but you had best make for his +seat at Badminton. Our sign of the day is Tewkesbury.’ + +Thanking my instructor for his advice I went out and mounted Covenant, +who pawed and champed at his bit in his delight at getting started +once more. Few of the townsmen were stirring, though here and there +a night-bonneted head stared out at me through a casement. I took the +precaution of walking the horse very quietly until we were some distance +from the house, for I had told Reuben nothing of my intended journey, +and I was convinced that if he knew of it neither discipline, nor even +his new ties of love, would prevent him from coming with me. Covenant’s +iron-shod feet rang sharply, in spite of my care, upon the cobblestones, +but looking back I saw that the blinds of my faithful friend’s room +were undrawn, and that all seemed quiet in the house. I shook my bridle, +therefore, and rode at a brisk trot through the silent streets, which +were still strewn with faded flowers and gay with streamers. At the +north gate a guard of half a company was stationed, who let me pass upon +hearing the word. Once beyond the old walls I found myself out on the +country side, with my face to the north and a clear road in front of me. + +It was a blithesome morning. The sun was rising over the distant hills, +and heaven and earth were ruddy and golden. The trees in the wayside +orchards were full of swarms of birds, who chattered and sang until the +air was full of their piping. There was lightsomeness and gladness in +every breath. The wistful-eyed red Somerset kine stood along by the +hedgerows, casting great shadows down the fields and gazing at me as +I passed. Farm horses leaned over wooden gates, and snorted a word of +greeting to their glossy-coated brother. A great herd of snowy-fleeced +sheep streamed towards us over the hillside and frisked and gambolled in +the sunshine. All was innocent life, from the lark which sang on high +to the little shrew-mouse which ran amongst the ripening corn, or the +martin which dashed away at the sound of my approach. All alive and all +innocent. What are we to think, my dear children, when we see the beasts +of the field full of kindness and virtue and gratitude? Where is this +superiority of which we talk? + +From the high ground to the north I looked back upon the sleeping town, +with the broad edging of tents and waggons, which showed how suddenly +its population had outgrown it. The Royal Standard still fluttered +from the tower of St. Mary Magdalene, while close by its beautiful +brother-turret of St. James bore aloft the blue flag of Monmouth. As +I gazed the quick petulant roll of a drum rose up on the still morning +air, with the clear ringing call of the bugles summoning the troops from +their slumbers. Beyond the town, and on either side of it, stretched a +glorious view of the Somersetshire downs, rolling away to the distant +sea, with town and hamlet, castle turret and church tower, wooded coombe +and stretch of grain-land--as fair a scene as the eye could wish to rest +upon. As I wheeled my horse and sped upon my way I felt, my dears, that +this was a land worth fighting for, and that a man’s life was a small +thing if he could but aid, in however trifling a degree, in working out +its freedom and its happiness. At a little village over the hill I fell +in with an outpost of horse, the commander of which rode some distance +with me, and set me on my road to Nether Stowey. It seemed strange to +my Hampshire eyes to note that the earth is all red in these parts--very +different to the chalk and gravel of Havant. The cows, too, are mostly +red. The cottages are built neither of brick nor of wood, but of some +form of plaster, which they call cob, which is strong and smooth so +long as no water comes near it. They shelter the walls from the rain, +therefore, by great overhanging thatches. There is scarcely a steeple in +the whole country-side, which also seems strange to a man from any other +part of England. Every church hath a square tower, with pinnacles upon +the top, and they are mostly very large, with fine peals of bells. + +My course ran along by the foot of the beautiful Quantock Hills, where +heavy-wooded coombes are scattered over the broad heathery downs, deep +with bracken and whortle-bushes. On either side of the track steep +winding glens sloped downwards, lined with yellow gorse, which blazed +out from the deep-red soil like a flame from embers. Peat-coloured +streams splashed down these valleys and over the road, through which +Covenant ploughed fetlock deep, and shied to see the broad-backed trout +darting from between his fore feet. + +All day I rode through this beautiful country, meeting few folk, for +I kept away from the main roads. A few shepherds and farmers, a +long-legged clergyman, a packman with his mule, and a horseman with a +great bag, whom I took to be a buyer of hair, are all that I can recall. +A black jack of ale and the heel of a loaf at a wayside inn were all my +refreshments. Near Combwich, Covenant cast a shoe, and two hours were +wasted before I found a smithy in the town and had the matter set right. +It was not until evening that I at last came out upon the banks of the +Bristol Channel, at a place called Shurton Bars, where the muddy Parret +makes its way into the sea. At this point the channel is so broad that +the Welsh mountains can scarcely be distinguished. The shore is flat +and black and oozy, flecked over with white patches of sea-birds, but +further to the east there rises a line of hills, very wild and rugged, +rising in places into steep precipices. These cliffs run out into the +sea, and numerous little harbours and bays are formed in their broken +surface, which are dry half the day, but can float a good-sized boat at +half-tide. The road wound over these bleak and rocky hills, which are +sparsely inhabited by a wild race of fishermen, or shepherds, who came +to their cabin doors on hearing the clatter of my horse’s hoofs, and +shot some rough West-country jest at me as I passed. As the night drew +in the country became bleaker and more deserted. An occasional light +twinkling in the distance from some lonely hillside cottage was the only +sign of the presence of man. The rough track still skirted the sea, and +high as it was, the spray from the breakers drifted across it. The salt +prinkled on my lips, and the air was filled with the hoarse roar of the +surge and the thin piping of curlews, who flitted past in the darkness +like white, shadowy, sad-voiced creatures from some other world. The +wind blew in short, quick, angry puffs from the westward, and far out on +the black waters a single glimmer of light rising and falling, tossing +up, and then sinking out of sight, showed how fierce a sea had risen in +the channel. + +Riding through the gloaming in this strange wild scenery my mind +naturally turned towards the past. I thought of my father and my mother, +of the old carpenter and of Solomon Sprent. Then I pondered over Decimus +Saxon, his many-faced character having in it so much to be admired and +so much to be abhorred. Did I like him or no? It was more than I could +say. From him I wandered off to my faithful Reuben, and to his love +passage with the pretty Puritan, which in turn brought me to Sir Gervas +and the wreck of his fortunes. My mind then wandered to the state of the +army and the prospects of the rising, which led me to my present mission +with its perils and its difficulties. Having turned over all these +things in my mind I began to doze upon my horse’s back, overcome by the +fatigue of the journey and the drowsy lullaby of the waves. I had just +fallen into a dream in which I saw Reuben Lockarby crowned King of +England by Mistress Ruth Timewell, while Decimus Saxon endeavoured to +shoot him with a bottle of Daffy’s elixir, when in an instant, +without warning, I was dashed violently from my horse, and left lying +half-conscious on the stony track. + +So stunned and shaken was I by the sudden fall, that though I had a dim +knowledge of shadowy figures bending over me, and of hoarse laughter +sounding in my ears, I could not tell for a few minutes where I was nor +what had befallen me. When at last I did make an attempt to recover my +feet I found that a loop of rope had been slipped round my arms and my +legs so as to secure them. With a hard struggle I got one hand free, and +dashed it in the face of one of the men who were holding me down; but +the whole gang of a dozen or more set upon me at once, and while some +thumped and kicked at me, others tied a fresh cord round my elbows, and +deftly fastened it in such a way as to pinion me completely. Finding +that in my weak and dazed state all efforts were of no avail, I lay +sullen and watchful, taking no heed of the random blows which were still +showered upon me. So dark was it that I could neither see the faces of +my attackers, nor form any guess as to who they might be, or how they +had hurled me from my saddle. The champing and stamping of a horse hard +by showed me that Covenant was a prisoner as well as his master. + +‘Dutch Pete’s got as much as he can carry,’ said a rough, harsh voice. +‘He lies on the track as limp as a conger.’ + +‘Ah, poor Pete!’ muttered another. ‘He’ll never deal a card or drain a +glass of the right Cognac again.’ + +‘There you lie, mine goot vriend,’ said the injured man, in weak, +quavering tones. ‘And I will prove that you lie if you have a flaschen +in your pocket.’ + +‘If Pete were dead and buried,’ the first speaker said, ‘a word about +strong waters would bring him to. Give him a sup from your bottle, +Dicon.’ + +There was a great gurgling and sucking in the darkness, followed by a +gasp from the drinker. ‘Gott sei gelobt,’ he exclaimed in a stronger +voice, ‘I have seen more stars than ever were made. Had my kopf not +been well hooped he would have knocked it in like an ill-staved cask. He +shlags like the kick of a horse.’ + +As he spoke the edge of the moon peeped over a cliff and threw a flood +of cold clear light upon the scene. Looking up I saw that a strong rope +had been tied across the road from one tree trunk to another about eight +feet above the ground. This could not be seen by me, even had I been +fully awake, in the dusk; but catching me across the breast as Covenant +trotted under it, it had swept me off and dashed me with great force to +the ground. Either the fall or the blows which I had received had cut me +badly, for I could feel the blood trickling in a warm stream past my +ear and down my neck. I made no attempt to move, however, but waited in +silence to find out who these men were into whose hands I had fallen. +My one fear was lest my letters should be taken away from me, and my +mission rendered of no avail. That in this, my first trust, I should be +disarmed without a blow and lose the papers which had been confided to +me, was a chance which made me flush and tingle with shame at the very +thought. + +The gang who had seized me were rough-bearded fellows in fur caps and +fustian jackets, with buff belts round their waists, from which hung +short straight whinyards. Their dark sun-dried faces and their great +boots marked them as fishermen or seamen, as might be guessed from their +rude sailor speech. A pair knelt on either side with their hands upon +my arms, a third stood behind with a cocked pistol pointed at my head, +while the others, seven or eight in number, were helping to his feet the +man whom I had struck, who was bleeding freely from a cut over the eye. + +‘Take the horse up to Daddy Mycroft’s,’ said a stout, black-bearded man, +who seemed to be their leader. ‘It is no mere dragooner hack,(Note +I. Appendix) but a comely, full-blooded brute, which will fetch sixty +pieces at the least. Your share of that, Peter, will buy salve and +plaster for your cut.’ + +‘Ha, houndsfoot!’ cried the Dutchman, shaking his fist at me. ‘You +would strike Peter, would you? You would draw Peter’s blood, would you? +Tausend Teufel, man! if you and I were together upon the hillside we +should see vich vas the petter man.’ + +‘Slack your jaw tackle, Pete,’ growled one of his comrades. ‘This fellow +is a limb of Satan for sure, and doth follow a calling that none but a +mean, snivelling, baseborn son of a gun would take to. Yet I warrant, +from the look of him, that he could truss you like a woodcock if he had +his great hands upon you. And you would howl for help as you did last +Martinmas, when you did mistake Cooper Dick’s wife for a gauger.’ + +‘Truss me, would he? Todt und Holle!’ cried the other, whom the blow +and the brandy had driven to madness. ‘We shall see. Take that, thou +deyvil’s spawn, take that!’ He ran at me, and kicked me as hard as he +could with his heavy sea-boots. + +Some of the gang laughed, but the man who had spoken before gave +the Dutchman a shove that sent him whirling. ‘None of that,’ he said +sternly. ‘We’ll have British fair-play on British soil, and none of your +cursed longshore tricks. I won’t stand by and see an Englishman +kicked, d’ye see, by a tub-bellied, round-starned, schnapps-swilling, +chicken-hearted son of an Amsterdam lust-vrouw. Hang him, if the skipper +likes. That’s all above board, but by thunder, if it’s a fight that you +will have, touch that man again.’ + +‘All right, Dicon,’ said their leader soothingly. ‘We all know that +Pete’s not a fighting man, but he’s the best cooper on the coast, eh, +Pete? There is not his equal at staving, hooping, and bumping. He’ll +take a plank of wood and turn it into a keg while another man would be +thinking of it.’ + +‘Oh, you remember that, Captain Murgatroyd,’ said the Dutchman sulkily. +‘But you see me knocked about and shlagged, and bullied, and called +names, and what help have I? So help me, when the _Maria_ is in the +Texel next, I’ll take to my old trade, I will, and never set foot on her +again.’ + +‘No fear,’ the Captain answered, laughing. ‘While the _Maria_ brings in +five thousand good pieces a year, and can show her heels to any cutter +on the coast, there is no fear of greedy Pete losing his share of her. +Why, man, at this rate you may have a lust-haus of your own in a year or +two, with a trimmed lawn, and the trees all clipped like peacocks, and +the flowers in pattern, and a canal by the door, and a great bouncing +house-wife just like any Burgomeister. There’s many such a fortune been +made out of Mechlin and Cognac.’ + +‘Aye, and there’s many a broken kopf got over Mechlin and Cognac,’ +grumbled my enemy. ‘Donner! There are other things beside lust-houses +and flower-beds. There are lee-shores and nor’-westers, beaks and +preventives.’ + +‘And there’s where the smart seaman has the pull over the herring buss, +or the skulking coaster that works from Christmas to Christmas with all +the danger and none of the little pickings. But enough said! Up with the +prisoner, and let us get him safely into the bilboes.’ + +I was raised to my feet and half carried, half dragged along in the +midst of the gang. My horse had already been led away in the opposite +direction. Our course lay off the road, down a very rocky and rugged +ravine which sloped away towards the sea. There seemed to be no trace of +a path, and I could only stumble along over rocks and bushes as best I +might in my fettered and crippled state. The blood, however, had +dried over my wounds, and the cool sea breeze playing upon my forehead +refreshed me, and helped me to take a clearer view of my position. + +It was plain from their talk that these men were smugglers. As such, +they were not likely to have any great love for the Government, or +desire to uphold King James in any way. On the contrary, their goodwill +would probably be with Monmouth, for had I not seen the day before a +whole regiment of foot in his army, raised from among the coaster folk? +On the other hand, their greed might be stronger than their loyalty, and +might lead them to hand me over to justice in the hope of reward. On the +whole it would be best, I thought, to say nothing of my mission, and to +keep my papers secret as long as possible. + +But I could not but wonder, as I was dragged along, what had led these +men to lie in wait for me as they had done. The road along which I had +travelled was a lonely one, and yet a fair number of travellers bound +from the West through Weston to Bristol must use it. The gang could +not lie in perpetual guard over it. Why had they set a trap on this +particular night, then? The smugglers were a lawless and desperate body, +but they did not, as a rule, descend to foot-paddery or robbery. As long +as no one interfered with them they were seldom the first to break the +peace. Then, why had they lain in wait for me, who had never injured +them? Could it possibly be that I had been betrayed? I was still turning +over these questions in my mind when we all came to a halt, and the +Captain blew a shrill note on a whistle which hung round his neck. + +The place where we found ourselves was the darkest and most rugged spot +in the whole wild gorge. On either side great cliffs shot up, which +arched over our heads, with a fringe of ferns and bracken on either lip, +so that the dark sky and the few twinkling stars were well-nigh hid. +Great black rocks loomed vaguely out in the shadowy light, while in +front a high tangle of what seemed to be brushwood barred our road. At a +second whistle, however, a glint of light was seen through the branches, +and the whole mass was swung to one side as though it moved upon a +hinge. Beyond it a dark winding passage opened into the side of the +hill, down which we went with our backs bowed, for the rock ceiling was +of no great height. On every side of us sounded the throbbing of the +sea. + +Passing through the entrance, which must have been dug with great labour +through the solid rock, we came out into a lofty and roomy cave, lit +up by a fire at one end, and by several torches. By their smoky yellow +glare I could see that the roof was, at least, fifty feet above us, and +was hung by long lime-crystals, which sparkled and gleamed with great +brightness. The floor of the cave was formed of fine sand, as soft and +velvety as a Wilton carpet, sloping down in a way which showed that the +cave must at its mouth open upon the sea, which was confirmed by the +booming and splashing of the waves, and by the fresh salt air which +filled the whole cavern. No water could be seen, however, as a sharp +turn cut off our view of the outlet. + +In this rock-girt space, which may have been sixty paces long and +thirty across, there were gathered great piles of casks, kegs and cases; +muskets, cutlasses, staves, cudgels, and straw were littered about upon +the floor. At one end a high wood fire blazed merrily, casting strange +shadows along the walls, and sparkling like a thousand diamonds among +the crystals on the roof. The smoke was carried away through a great +cleft in the rocks. Seated on boxes, or stretched on the sand round the +fire, there were seven or eight more of the band, who sprang to their +feet and ran eagerly towards us as we entered. + +Have ye got him?’ they cried. ‘Did he indeed come? Had he attendants?’ + +‘He is here, and he is alone,’ the Captain answered. ‘Our hawser fetched +him off his horse as neatly as ever a gull was netted by a cragsman. +What have ye done in our absence, Silas!’ + +‘We have the packs ready for carriage,’ said the man addressed, a +sturdy, weather-beaten seaman of middle age. ‘The silk and lace are done +in these squares covered over with sacking. The one I have marked “yarn” + and the other “jute”--a thousand of Mechlin to a hundred of the shiny. +They will sling over a mule’s back. Brandy, schnapps, Schiedam, and +Hamburg Goldwasser are all set out in due order. The ‘baccy is in the +flat cases over by the Black Drop there. A plaguey job we had carrying +it all out, but here it is ship-shape at last, and the lugger floats +like a skimming dish, with scarce ballast enough to stand up to a +five-knot breeze.’ + +‘Any signs of the _Fairy Queen_?’ asked the smuggler. + +‘None. Long John is down at the water’s edge looking out for her +flash-light. This wind should bring her up if she has rounded +Combe-Martin Point. There was a sail about ten miles to the +east-nor’-east at sundown. She might have been a Bristol schooner, or +she might have been a King’s fly-boat.’ + +‘A King’s crawl-boat,’ said Captain Murgatroyd, with a sneer. ‘We cannot +hang the gauger until Venables brings up the _Fairy Queen_, for after +all it was one of his hands that was snackled. Let him do his own dirty +work.’ + +‘Tausend Blitzen!’ cried the ruffian Dutchman, ‘would it not be a kindly +grass to Captain Venables to chuck the gauger down the Black Drop ere he +come? He may have such another job to do for us some day.’ + +‘Zounds, man, are you in command or am I?’ said the leader angrily. +‘Bring the prisoner forward to the fire! Now, hark ye, dog of a +land-shark; you are as surely a dead man as though you were laid out +with the tapers burning. See here’--he lifted a torch, and showed by +its red light a great crack in the floor across the far end of the +cave--‘you can judge of the Black Drop’s depth!’ he said, raising an +empty keg and tossing it over into the yawning gulf. For ten seconds +we stood silent before a dull distant clatter told that it had at last +reached the bottom. + +‘It will carry him half-way to hell before the breath leaves him,’ said +one. + +‘It’s an easier death than the Devizes gallows!’ cried a second. + +‘Nay, he shall have the gallows first!’ a third shouted. ‘It is but his +burial that we are arranging.’ + +‘He hath not opened his mouth since we took him,’ said the man who was +called Dicon. ‘Is he a mute, then? Find your tongue, my fine fellow, and +let us hear what your name is. It would have been well for you if you +had been born dumb, so that you could not have sworn our comrade’s life +away.’ + +‘I have been waiting for a civil question after all this brawling and +brabbling,’ said I. ‘My name is Micah Clarke. Now, pray inform me who ye +may be, and by what warrant ye stop peaceful travellers upon the public +highway?’ + +‘This is our warrant,’ Murgatroyd answered, touching the hilt of his +cutlass. ‘As to who we are, ye know that well enough. Your name is +not Clarke, but Westhouse, or Waterhouse, and you are the same cursed +exciseman who snackled our poor comrade, Cooper Dick, and swore away his +life at Ilchester.’ + +‘I swear that you are mistaken,’ I replied. ‘I have never in my life +been in these parts before.’ + +‘Fine words! Fine words!’ cried another smuggler. ‘Gauger or no, you +must jump for it, since you know the secret of our cave.’ + +‘Your secret is safe with me,’ I answered. ‘But if ye wish to murder me, +I shall meet my fate as a soldier should. I should have chosen to die on +the field of battle, rather than to lie at the mercy of such a pack of +water-rats in their burrow.’ + +‘My faith!’ said Murgatroyd. ‘This is too tall talk for a gauger. He +bears himself like a soldier, too. It is possible that in snaring the +owl we have caught the falcon. Yet we had certain token that he would +come this way, and on such another horse.’ + +‘Call up Long John,’ suggested the Dutchman. ‘I vould not give a plug of +Trinidado for the Schelm’s word. Long John was with Cooper Dick when he +was taken.’ + +‘Aye,’ growled the mate Silas. ‘He got a wipe over the arm from the +gauger’s whinyard. He’ll know his face, if any will.’ + +‘Call him, then,’ said Murgatroyd, and presently a long, loose-limbed +seaman came up from the mouth of the cave, where he had been on watch. +He wore a red kerchief round his forehead, and a blue jerkin, the sleeve +of which he slowly rolled up as he came nigh. + +‘Where is Gauger Westhouse?’ he cried; ‘he has left his mark on my arm. +Rat me, if the scar is healed yet. The sun is on our side of the wall +now, gauger. But hullo, mates! Who be this that ye have clapped into +irons? This is not our man!’ + +‘Not our man!’ they cried, with a volley of curses. + +‘Why, this fellow would make two of the gauger, and leave enough over +to fashion a magistrate’s clerk. Ye may hang him to make sure, but still +he’s not the man.’ + +‘Yes, hang him!’ said Dutch Pete. ‘Sapperment! is our cave to be the +talk of all the country? Vere is the pretty _Maria_ to go then, vid her +silks and her satins, her kegs and her cases’? Are we to risk our +cave for the sake of this fellow? Besides, has he not schlagged my +kopf--schlagged your cooper’s kopf--as if he had hit me mit mine own +mallet? Is that not vorth a hemp cravat?’ + +‘Worth a jorum of rumbo,’ cried Dicon. ‘By your leave, Captain, I would +say that we are not a gang of padders and michers, but a crew of honest +seamen, who harm none but those who harm us. Exciseman Westhouse hath +slain Cooper Dick, and it is just that he should die for it; but as to +taking this young soldier’s life, I’d as soon think of scuttling the +saucy _Maria_, or of mounting the Jolly Roger at her peak.’ + +What answer would have been given to this speech I cannot tell, for +at that moment a shrill whistle resounded outside the cave, and two +smugglers appeared bearing between them the body of a man. It hung so +limp that I thought at first that he might be dead, but when they threw +him on the sand he moved, and at last sat up like one who is but half +awoken from a swoon. He was a square dogged-faced fellow, with a long +white scar down his cheek, and a close-fitting blue coat with brass +buttons. + +‘It’s Gauger Westhouse!’ cried a chorus of voices. ‘Yes, it is Gauger +Westhouse,’ said the man calmly, giving his neck a wriggle as though he +were in pain. ‘I represent the King’s law, and in its name I arrest ye +all, and declare all the contraband goods which I see around me to be +confiscate and forfeited, according to the second section of the first +clause of the statute upon illegal dealing. If there are any honest men +in this company, they will assist me in the execution of my duty.’ He +staggered to his feet as he spoke, but his spirit was greater than his +strength, and he sank back upon the sand amid a roar of laughter from +the rough seamen. + +‘We found him lying on the road when we came from Daddy Mycroft’s,’ said +one of the new-comers, who were the same men who had led away my horse. +‘He must have passed just after you left, and the rope caught him under +the chin and threw him a dozen paces. We saw the revenue button on his +coat, so we brought him down. Body o’ me, but he kicked and plunged for +all that he was three-quarters stunned.’ + +‘Have ye slacked the hawser?’ the Captain asked. + +‘We cast one end loose and let it hang.’ + +‘’Tis well. We must keep him for Captain Venables. But now, as to our +other prisoner: we must overhaul him and examine his papers, for so many +craft are sailing under false colours that we must needs be careful. +Hark ye, Mister Soldier! What brings you to these parts, and what king +do you serve? for I hear there’s a mutiny broke out, and two skippers +claim equal rating in the old British ship.’ + +‘I am serving under King Monmouth,’ I answered, seeing that the proposed +search must end in the finding of my papers. + +‘Under King Monmouth!’ cried the smuggler. ‘Nay, friend, that rings +somewhat false. The good King hath, I hear, too much need of his friends +in the south to let an able soldier go wandering along the sea coast +like a Cornish wrecker in a sou’-wester.’ + +‘I bear despatches,’ said I, ‘from the King’s own hand to Henry Duke +of Beaufort, at his castle at Badminton. Ye can find them in my inner +pocket, but I pray ye not to break the seal, lest it bring discredit +upon my mission.’ + +‘Sir,’ cried the gauger, raising himself upon his elbow, ‘I do hereby +arrest you on the charge of being a traitor, a promoter of treason, a +vagrant, and a masterless man within the meaning of the fourth statute +of the Act. As an officer of the law I call upon you to submit to my +warrant.’ + +‘Brace up his jaw with your scarf, Jim,’ said Murgatroyd. ‘When Venables +comes he will soon find a way to check his gab. Yes,’ he continued, +looking at the back of my papers, ‘it is marked, as you say, “From James +the Second of England, known lately as the Duke of Monmouth, to Henry +Duke of Beaufort, President of Wales, by the hand of Captain Micah +Clarke, of Saxon’s regiment of Wiltshire foot.” Cast off the lashings, +Dicon. So, Captain, you are a free man once more, and I grieve that we +should have unwittingly harmed you. We are good Lutherans to a man, and +would rather speed you than hinder you on this mission.’ + +‘Could we not indeed help him on his way!’ said the mate Silas. ‘For +myself, I don’t fear a wet jacket or a tarry hand for the cause, and +I doubt not ye are all of my way of thinking. Now with this breeze we +could run up to Bristol and drop the Captain by morning, which would +save him from being snapped up by any land-sharks on the road.’ + +‘Aye, aye,’ cried Long John. ‘The King’s horse are out beyond Weston, +but he could give them the slip if he had the _Maria_ under him.’ + +‘Well,’ said Murgatroyd, ‘we could get back by three long tacks. +Venables will need a day or so to get his goods ashore. If we are to +sail back in company we shall have time on our hands. How would the plan +suit you, Captain?’ + +‘My horse!’ I objected. + +‘It need not stop us. I can rig up a handy horse-stall with my spare +spars and the grating. The wind has died down. The lugger could be +brought to Dead Man’s Edge, and the horse led down to it. Run up to +Daddy’s, Jim; and you, Silas, see to the boat. Here is some cold junk +and biscuit--seaman’s fare, Captain--and a glass o’ the real Jamaica to +wash it down an’ thy stomach be not too dainty for rough living.’ + +I seated myself on a barrel by the fire, and stretched my limbs, which +were cramped and stiffened by their confinement, while one of the seamen +bathed the cut on my head with a wet kerchief, and another laid out some +food on a case in front of me. The rest of the gang had trooped away to +the mouth of the cave to prepare the lugger, save only two or three who +stood on guard round the ill-fated gauger. He lay with his back resting +against the wall of the cave, and his arms crossed over his breast, +glancing round from time to time at the smugglers with menacing eyes, as +a staunch old hound might gaze at a pack of wolves who had overmatched +him. I was turning it over in my own mind whether aught could be done to +help him, when Murgatroyd came over, and dipping a tin pannikin into the +open rum tub, drained it to the success of my mission. + +‘I shall send Silas Bolitho with you,’ said he, ‘while I bide here to +meet Venables, who commands my consort. If there is aught that I can do +to repay you for your ill usage--’ + +‘There is but one thing, Captain,’ I broke in eagerly. ‘It is as much, +or more, for your own sake than mine that I ask it. Do not allow this +unhappy man to be murdered.’ + +Murgatroyd’s face flushed with anger. ‘You are a plain speaker, Captain +Clarke,’ said he. ‘This is no murder. It is justice. What harm do we +here? There is not an old housewife over the whole countryside who does +not bless us. Where is she to buy her souchong, or her strong waters, +except from us! We charge little, and force our goods on no one. We are +peaceful traders. Yet this man and his fellows are ever yelping at our +heels, like so many dogfish on a cod bank. We have been harried, and +chivied, and shot at until we are driven into such dens as this. A month +ago, four of our men were bearing a keg up the hillside to Farmer Black, +who hath dealt with us these five years back. Of a sudden, down came +half a score of horse, led by this gauger, hacked and slashed with their +broad-swords, cut Long John’s arm open, and took Cooper Dick prisoner. +Dick was haled to Ilchester Gaol, and hung up after the assizes like +a stoat on a gamekeeper’s door. This night we had news that this very +gauger was coming this way, little knowing that we should be on the +look-out for him. Is it a wonder that we should lay a trap for him, and +that, having caught him, we should give him the same justice as he gave +our comrades?’ + +‘He is but a servant, I argued. ‘He hath not made the law. It is his +duty to enforce it. It is with the law itself that your quarrel is.’ + +‘You are right,’ said the smuggler gloomily. ‘It is with Judge Moorcroft +that we have our chief account to square. He may pass this road upon his +circuit. Heaven send he does! But we shall hang the gauger too. He knows +our cave now, and it would be madness to let him go.’ + +I saw that it was useless to argue longer, so I contented myself with +dropping my pocket-knife on the sand within reach of the prisoner, in +the hope that it might prove to be of some service to him. His guards +were laughing and joking together, and giving little heed to their +charge, but the gauger was keen enough, for I saw his hand close over +it. + +I had walked and smoked for an hour or more, when Silas the mate +appeared, and said that the lugger was ready and the horse aboard. +Bidding Murgatroyd farewell, I ventured a few more words in favour of +the gauger, which were received with a frown and an angry shake of the +head. A boat was drawn up on the sand, inside the cave, at the water’s +edge. Into this I stepped, as directed, with my sword and pistols, which +had been given back to me, while the crew pushed her off and sprang in +as she glided into deep water. + +I could see by the dim light of the single torch which Murgatroyd held +upon the margin, that the roof of the cave sloped sheer down upon us as +we sculled slowly out towards the entrance. So low did it come at last +that there was only a space of a few feet between it and the water, and +we had to bend our heads to avoid the rocks above us. The boatmen gave +two strong strokes, and we shot out from under the overhanging ledge, +and found ourselves in the open with the stars shining murkily above +us, and the moon showing herself dimly and cloudily through a gathering +haze. Right in front of us was a dark blur, which, as we pulled towards +it, took the outline of a large lugger rising and falling with the pulse +of the sea. Her tall thin spars and delicate network of cordage towered +above us as we glided under the counter, while the creaking of blocks +and rattle of ropes showed that she was all ready to glide off upon her +journey. Lightly and daintily she rode upon the waters, like some giant +seafowl, spreading one white pinion after another in preparation for +her flight. The boatmen ran us alongside and steadied the dinghy while I +climbed over the bulwarks on to the deck. + +She was a roomy vessel, very broad in the beam, with a graceful curve in +her bows, and masts which were taller than any that I had seen on such +a boat on the Solent. She was decked over in front, but very deep in the +after part, with ropes fixed all round the sides to secure kegs when the +hold should be full. In the midst of this after-deck the mariners had +built a strong stall, in which my good steed was standing, with a bucket +full of oats in front of him. My old friend shoved his nose against my +face as I came aboard, and neighed his pleasure at finding his master +once more. We were still exchanging caresses when the grizzled head of +Silas Bolitho the mate popped out of the cabin hatchway. + +‘We are fairly on our way now, Captain Clarke,’ said he. ‘The breeze +has fallen away to nothing, as you can see, and we may be some time in +running down to our port. Are you not aweary?’ + +‘I am a little tired,’ I confessed. ‘My head is throbbing from the crack +I got when that hawser of yours dashed me from my saddle.’ + +‘An hour or two of sleep will make you as fresh as a Mother Carey’s +chicken,’ said the smuggler. ‘Your horse is well cared for, and you can +leave him without fear. I will set a man to tend him, though, truth to +say, the rogues know more about studding-sails and halliards than they +do of steeds and their requirements. Yet no harm can come to him, so you +had best come down and turn in.’ + +I descended the steep stairs which led down into the low-roofed cabin of +the lugger. On either side a recess in the wall had been fitted up as a +couch. + +‘This is your bed,’ said he, pointing to one of them. ‘We shall call +you if there be aught to report.’ I needed no second invitation, but +flinging myself down without undressing, I sank in a few minutes into +a dreamless sleep, which neither the gentle motion of the boat nor the +clank of feet above my head could break off. + + + +Chapter XXIV. Of the Welcome that met me at Badminton + +When I opened my eyes I had some ado to recall where I was, but on +sitting up it was brought home to me by my head striking the low ceiling +with a sharp rap. On the other side of the cabin Silas Bolitho was +stretched at full length with a red woollen nightcap upon his head, fast +asleep and snoring. In the centre of the cabin hung a swing-table, +much worn, and stained all over with the marks of countless glasses +and pannikins. A wooden bench, screwed to the floor, completed the +furniture, with the exception of a stand of muskets along one side. +Above and below the berths in which we lay were rows of lockers, in +which, doubtless, some of the more choice laces and silks were stowed. +The vessel was rising and falling with a gentle motion, but from the +flapping of canvas I judged that there was little wind. Slipping quietly +from my couch, so as not to wake the mate, I stole upon deck. + +We were, I found, not only becalmed, but hemmed in by a dense fog-bank +which rolled in thick, choking wreaths all round us, and hid the very +water beneath us. We might have been a ship of the air riding upon +a white cloud-bank. Now and anon a little puff of breeze caught the +foresail and bellied it out for a moment, only to let it flap back +against the mast, limp and slack, once more. A sunbeam would at times +break through the dense cloud, and would spangle the dead grey wall with +a streak of rainbow colour, but the haze would gather in again and shut +off the bright invader. Covenant was staring right and left with great +questioning eyes. The crew were gathered along the bulwarks and smoking +their pipes while they peered out into the dense fog. + +‘God den, Captain,’ said Dicon, touching his fur cap. ‘We have had a +rare run while the breeze lasted, and the mate reckoned before he turned +in that we were not many miles from Bristol town.’ + +‘In that case, my good fellow,’ I answered, ‘ye can set me ashore, for I +have not far to go.’ + +‘We must e’en wait till the fog lifts,’ said Long John. ‘There’s only +one place along here, d’ye see, where we can land cargoes unquestioned. +When it clears we shall turn her head for it, but until we can take our +bearings it is anxious work wi’ the sands under our lee.’ + +‘Keep a look-out there, Tom Baldock!’ cried Dicon to a man in the bows. +‘We are in the track of every Bristol ship, and though there’s so little +wind, a high-sparred craft might catch a breeze which we miss.’ + +‘Sh!’ said Long John suddenly, holding up his hand in warning. ‘Sh!’ + +We listened with all our ears, but there was no sound, save the gentle +wash of the unseen waves against our sides. + +‘Call the mate!’ whispered the seaman. ‘There’s a craft close by us. I +heard the rattle of a rope upon her deck.’ + +Silas Bolitho was up in an instant, and we all stood straining our ears, +and peering through the dense fog-bank. We had well-nigh made up our +minds that it was a false alarm, and the mate was turning back in no +very good humour, when a clear loud bell sounded seven times quite +close to us, followed by a shrill whistle and a confused shouting and +stamping. + +‘It’s a King’s ship,’ growled the mate. ‘That’s seven bells, and the +bo’sun is turning out the watch below.’ + +‘It was on our quarter,’ whispered one. + +‘Nay, I think it was on our larboard bow,’ said another. + +The mate held up his hand, and we all listened for some fresh sign +of the whereabouts of our scurvy neighbour. The wind had freshened a +little, and we were slipping through the water at four or five knots +an hour. Of a sudden a hoarse voice was heard roaring at our very side. +‘’Bout ship!’ it shouted. ‘Bear a hand on the lee-braces, there! Stand +by the halliards! Bear a hand, ye lazy rogues, or I’ll be among ye with +my cane, with a wannion to ye!’ + +‘It is a King’s ship, sure enough, and she lies just there,’ said Long +John, pointing out over the quarter. ‘Merchant adventurers have +civil tongues. It’s your blue-coated, gold-braided, swivel-eyed, +quarter-deckers that talk of canes. Ha! did I not tell ye!’ + +As he spoke, the white screen of vapour rolled up like the curtain in +a playhouse, and uncovered a stately war-ship, lying so close that we +could have thrown a biscuit aboard. Her long, lean, black hull rose +and fell with a slow, graceful rhythm, while her beautiful spars and +snow-white sails shot aloft until they were lost in the wreaths of fog +which still hung around her. Nine bright brass cannons peeped out at us +from her portholes. Above the line of hammocks, which hung like carded +wool along her bulwarks, we could see the heads of the seamen staring +down at us, and pointing us out to each other. On the high poop stood an +elderly officer with cocked hat and trim white wig, who at once whipped +up his glass and gazed at us through it. + +‘Ahoy, there!’ he shouted, leaning over the taffrail. ‘What lugger is +that?’ + +‘The _Lucy_,’ answered the mate, ‘bound from Porlock Quay to Bristol +with hides and tallow. Stand ready to tack!’ he added in a lower voice, +‘the fog is coming down again.’ + +‘Ye have one of the hides with the horse still in it,’ cried the +officer. ‘Run down under our counter. We must have a closer look at ye.’ + +‘Aye, aye, sir!’ said the mate, and putting his helm hard down the boom +swung across, and the _Maria_ darted off like a scared seabird into the +fog. Looking back there was nothing but a dim loom to show where we had +left the great vessel. We could hear, however, the hoarse shouting of +orders and the bustle of men. + +‘Look out for squalls, lads!’ cried the mate. ‘He’ll let us have it +now.’ + +He had scarcely spoken before there were half-a-dozen throbs of flame in +the mist behind, and as many balls sung among our rigging. One cut away +the end of the yard, and left it dangling; another grazed the bowsprit, +and sent a puff of white splinters into the air. + +‘Warm work, Captain, eh?’ said old Silas, rubbing his hands. ‘Zounds, +they shoot better in the dark than ever they did in the light. There +have been more shots fired at this lugger than she could carry wore she +loaded with them. And yet they never so much as knocked the paint off +her before. There they go again!’ + +A fresh discharge burst from the man-of-war, but this time they had lost +all trace of us, and were firing by guess. + +‘That is their last bark, sir,’ said Dicon. + +‘No fear. They’ll blaze away for the rest of the day,’ growled another +of the smugglers. ‘Why, Lor’ bless ye, it’s good exercise for the crew, +and the ‘munition is the King’s, so it don’t cost nobody a groat.’ + +‘It’s well the breeze freshened,’ said Long John. ‘I heard the creak o’ +davits just after the first discharge. She was lowering her boats, or +I’m a Dutchman.’ + +‘The petter for you if you vas, you seven-foot stock-fish,’ cried my +enemy the cooper, whose aspect was not improved by a great strip of +plaster over his eye. ‘You might have learned something petter than to +pull on a rope, or to swab decks like a vrouw all your life.’ + +‘I’ll set you adrift in one of your own barrels, you skin of lard,’ said +the seaman. ‘How often are we to trounce you before we knock the sauce +out of you?’ + +‘The fog lifts a little towards the land,’ Silas remarked. ‘Methinks I +see the loom of St. Austin’s Point. It rises there upon the starboard +bow.’ + +‘There it is, sure enough, sir!’ cried one of the seamen, pointing to a +dark cape which cut into the mist. + +‘Steer for the three-fathom creek then,’ said the mate. ‘When we are on +the other side of the point, Captain Clarke, we shall be able to land +your horse and yourself. You will then be within a few hours’ ride of +your destination.’ + +I led the old seaman aside, and having thanked him for the kindness +which he had shown me, I spoke to him of the gauger, and implored him to +use his influence to save the man. + +‘It rests with Captain Venables,’ said he gloomily. ‘If we let him go +what becomes of our cave?’ + +‘Is there no way of insuring his silence?’ I asked. ‘Well, we might ship +him to the Plantations,’ said the mate. ‘We could take him to the Texel +with us, and get Captain Donders or some other to give him a lift across +the western ocean.’ + +‘Do so,’ said I, ‘and I shall take care that King Monmouth shall hear of +the help which ye have given his messenger.’ + +‘Well, we shall be there in a brace of shakes,’ he remarked. ‘Let us go +below and load your ground tier, for there is nothing like starting well +trimmed with plenty of ballast in the hold.’ + +Following the sailor’s advice I went down with him and enjoyed a rude +but plentiful meal. By the time that we had finished, the lugger had +been run into a narrow creek, with shelving sandy banks on either side. +The district was wild and marshy, with few signs of any inhabitants. +With much coaxing and pushing Covenant was induced to take to the water, +and swam easily ashore, while I followed in the smuggler’s dinghy. A +few words of rough, kindly leave-taking were shouted after me; I saw the +dinghy return, and the beautiful craft glided out to sea and faded away +once more into the mists which still hung over the face of the waters. + +Truly Providence works in strange ways, my children, and until a +man comes to the autumn of his days he can scarce say what hath been +ill-luck and what hath been good. For of all the seeming misfortunes +which have befallen me during my wandering life, there is not one which +I have not come to look upon as a blessing. And if you once take this +into your hearts, it is a mighty help in enabling you to meet all +troubles with a stiff lip; for why should a man grieve when he hath not +yet determined whether what hath chanced may not prove to be a cause of +rejoicing. Now here ye will perceive that I began by being dashed upon +a stony road, beaten, kicked, and finally well-nigh put to death in +mistake for another. Yet it ended in my being safely carried to my +journey’s end, whereas, had I gone by land, it is more than likely that +I should have been cut off at Weston; for, as I heard afterwards, a +troop of horse were making themselves very active in those parts by +blocking the roads and seizing all who came that way. + +Being now alone, my first care was to bathe my face and hands in a +stream which ran down to the sea, and to wipe away any trace of my +adventures of the night before. My cut was but a small one, and was +concealed by my hair. Having reduced myself to some sort of order I next +rubbed down my horse as best I could, and rearranged his girth and his +saddle. I then led him by the bridle to the top of a sandhill hard by, +whence I might gain some idea as to my position. + +The fog lay thick upon the Channel, but all inland was very clear and +bright. Along the coast the country was dreary and marshy, but at the +other side a goodly extent of fertile plain lay before me, well tilled +and cared for. A range of lofty hills, which I guessed to be the +Mendips, bordered the whole skyline, and further north there lay a +second chain in the blue distance. The glittering Avon wound its way +over the country-side like a silver snake in a flower-bed. Close to its +mouth, and not more than two leagues from where I stood, rose the spires +and towers of stately Bristol, the Queen of the West, which was and +still may be the second city in the kingdom. The forests of masts which +shot up like a pinegrove above the roofs of the houses bore witness to +the great trade both with Ireland and with the Plantations which had +built up so flourishing a city. + +As I knew that the Duke’s seat was miles on the Gloucestershire side of +the city, and as I feared lest I might be arrested and examined should I +attempt to pass the gates, I struck inland with intent to ride round the +walls and so avoid the peril. The path which I followed led me into a +country lane, which in turn opened into a broad highway crowded with +travellers, both on horseback and on foot. As the troublous times +required that a man should journey with his arms, there was naught in +my outfit to excite remark, and I was able to jog on among the other +horsemen without question or suspicion. From their appearance they were, +I judged, country farmers or squires for the most part, who were riding +into Bristol to hear the news, and to store away their things of price +in a place of safety. + +‘By your leave, zur!’ said a burly, heavy-faced man in a velveteen +jacket, riding up upon my bridle-arm. ‘Can you tell me whether his Grace +of Beaufort is in Bristol or at his house o’ Badminton?’ + +I answered that I could not tell, but that I was myself bound for his +presence. + +‘He was in Bristol yestreen a-drilling o’ the train-bands,’ said the +stranger; ‘but, indeed, his Grace be that loyal, and works that hard for +his Majesty’s cause, that he’s a’ ower the county, and it is but chance +work for to try and to catch him. But if you are about to zeek him, +whither shall you go?’ + +‘I will to Badminton,’ I answered, ‘and await him there. Can you tell me +the way?’ + +‘What! Not know the way to Badminton!’ he cried, with a blank stare of +wonder. ‘Whoy, I thought all the warld knew that. You’re not fra Wales +or the border counties, zur, that be very clear.’ + +‘I am a Hampshire man,’ said I. ‘I have come some distance to see the +Duke.’ + +‘Aye, so I should think!’ he cried, laughing loudly. ‘If you doan’t know +the way to Badminton you doan’t know much! But I’ll go with you, danged +if I doan’t, and I’ll show you your road, and run my chance o’ finding +the Duke there. What be your name?’ + +‘Micah Clarke is my name.’ + +‘And Vairmer Brown is mine--John Brown by the register, but better +knowed as the Vairmer. Tak’ this turn to the right off the high-road. +Now we can trot our beasts and not be smothered in other folk’s dust. +And what be you going to Beaufort for?’ + +‘On private matters which will not brook discussion,’ I answered. + +‘Lor’, now! Affairs o’ State belike,’ said he, with a whistle. ‘Well, a +still tongue saves many a neck. I’m a cautious man myself, and these be +times when I wouldna whisper some o’ my thoughts--no, not into the ears +o’ my old brown mare here--for fear I’d see her some day standing over +against me in the witness-box.’ + +‘They seem very busy over there,’ I remarked, for we were now in full +sight of the walls of Bristol, where gangs of men were working hard with +pick and shovel improving the defences. + +‘Aye, they be busy sure enough, makin’ ready in case the rebels come +this road. Cromwell and his tawnies found it a rasper in my vather’s +time, and Monmouth is like to do the same.’ + +‘It hath a strong garrison, too,’ said I, bethinking me of Saxon’s +advice at Salisbury. ‘I see two or three regiments out yonder on the +bare open space.’ + +‘They have four thousand foot and a thousand horse,’ the farmer +answered. ‘But the foot are only train-bands, and there’s no trusting +them after Axminster. They say up here that the rebels run to nigh +twenty thousand, and that they give no quarter. Well, if we must have +civil war, I hope it may be hot and sudden, not spun out for a dozen +years like the last one. If our throats are to be cut, let it be with a +shairp knife, and not with a blunt hedge shears.’ + +‘What say you to a stoup of cider?’ I asked, for we were passing an +ivy-clad inn, with ‘The Beaufort Arms’ printed upon the sign. + +‘With all my heart, lad,’ my companion answered. ‘Ho, there! two pints +of the old hard-brewed! That will serve to wash the dust down. The real +Beaufort Arms is up yonder at Badminton, for at the buttery hatch one +may call for what one will in reason and never put hand to pocket.’ + +‘You speak of the house as though you knew it well,’ said I. + +‘And who should know it better?’ asked the sturdy farmer, wiping his +lips, as we resumed our journey. ‘Why, it seems but yesterday that I +played hide-and-seek wi’ my brothers in the old Boteler Castle, that +stood where the new house o’ Badminton, or Acton Turville, as some calls +it, now stands. The Duke hath built it but a few years, and, indeed, his +Dukedom itself is scarce older. There are some who think that he would +have done better to stick by the old name that his forebears bore.’ + +‘What manner of man is the Duke?’ I asked. + +‘Hot and hasty, like all of his blood. Yet when he hath time to think, +and hath cooled down, he is just in the main. Your horse hath been in +the water this morning, vriend.’ + +‘Yes,’ said I shortly, ‘he hath had a bath.’ + +‘I am going to his Grace on the business of a horse,’ quoth my +companion. ‘His officers have pressed my piebald four-year-old, and +taken it without a “With your leave,” or “By your leave,” for the use of +the King. I would have them know that there is something higher than +the Duke, or even than the King. There is the English law, which will +preserve a man’s goods and his chattels. I would do aught in reason for +King James’s service, but my piebald four-year-old is too much.’ + +‘I fear that the needs of the public service will override your +objection,’ said I. + +‘Why it is enough to make a man a Whig,’ he cried. ‘Even the Roundheads +always paid their vair penny for every pennyworth they had, though they +wanted a vair pennyworth for each penny. I have heard my father say that +trade was never so brisk as in ‘forty-six, when they were down this way. +Old Noll had a noose of hemp ready for horse-stealers, were they for +King or for Parliament. But here comes his Grace’s carriage, if I +mistake not.’ + +As he spoke a great heavy yellow coach, drawn by six cream-coloured +Flemish mares, dashed down the road, and came swiftly towards us. Two +mounted lackeys galloped in front, and two others all in light blue and +silver liveries rode on either side. + +‘His Grace is not within, else there had been an escort behind,’ said +the farmer, as we reined our horses aside to let the carriage pass. As +they swept by he shouted out a question as to whether the Duke was at +Badminton, and received a nod from the stately bewigged coachman in +reply. + +‘We are in luck to catch him,’ said Farmer Brown. ‘He’s as hard to find +these days as a crake in a wheatfield. We should be there in an hour +or less. I must thank you that I did not take a fruitless journey into +Bristol. What did you say your errand was?’ + +I was again compelled to assure him that the matter was not one of which +I could speak with a stranger, on which he appeared to be huffed, and +rode for some miles without opening his mouth. Groves of trees lined the +road on either side, and the sweet smell of pines was in our nostrils. +Far away the musical pealing of a bell rose and fell on the hot, close +summer air. The shelter of the branches was pleasant, for the sun was +very strong, blazing down out of a cloudless heaven, and raising a haze +from the fields and valleys. + +‘’Tis the bell from Chipping Sodbury,’ said my companion at last, wiping +his ruddy face. ‘That’s Sodbury Church yonder over the brow of the hill, +and here on the right is the entrance of Badminton Park.’ + +High iron gates, with the leopard and griffin, which are the supporters +of the Beaufort arms, fixed on the pillars which flanked them, opened +into a beautiful domain of lawn and grass land with clumps of trees +scattered over it, and broad sheets of water, thick with wild fowl. At +every turn as we rode up the winding avenue some new beauty caught our +eyes, all of which were pointed out and expounded by Farmer Brown, who +seemed to take as much pride in the place as though it belonged to him. +Here it was a rockery where a thousand bright-coloured stones shone out +through the ferns and creepers which had been trained over them. There +it was a pretty prattling brook, the channel of which had been turned so +as to make it come foaming down over a steep ledge of rocks. Or perhaps +it was some statue of nymph or sylvan god, or some artfully built +arbour overgrown with roses or honeysuckle. I have never seen grounds +so tastefully laid out, and it was done, as all good work in art must +be done, by following Nature so closely that it only differed from her +handiwork in its profusion in so narrow a compass. A few years later our +healthy English taste was spoiled by the pedant gardening of the Dutch +with their straight flat ponds, and their trees all clipped and in a +line like vegetable grenadiers. In truth, I think that the Prince of +Orange and Sir William Temple had much to answer for in working this +change, but things have now come round again, I understand, and we have +ceased to be wiser than Nature in our pleasure-grounds. + +As we drew near the house we came on a large extent of level sward on +which a troop of horse were exercising, who were raised, as my companion +informed me, entirely from the Duke’s own personal attendants. Passing +them we rode through a grove of rare trees and came out on a broad space +of gravel which lay in front of the house. The building itself was of +great extent, built after the new Italian fashion, rather for comfort +than for defence; but on one wing there remained, as my companion +pointed out, a portion of the old keep and battlements of the feudal +castle of the Botelers, looking as out of place as a farthingale of +Queen Elizabeth joined to a court dress fresh from Paris. The main +doorway was led up to by lines of columns and a broad flight of marble +steps, on which stood a group of footmen and grooms, who took our horses +when we dismounted. A grey-haired steward or major-domo inquired our +business, and on learning that we wished to see the Duke in person, he +told us that his Grace would give audience to strangers in the afternoon +at half after three by the clock. In the meantime he said that the +guests’ dinner had just been laid in the hall, and it was his master’s +wish that none who came to Badminton should depart hungry. My companion +and I were but too glad to accept the steward’s invitation, so having +visited the bath-room and attended to the needs of the toilet, we +followed a footman, who ushered us into a great room where the company +had already assembled. + +The guests may have numbered fifty or sixty, old and young, gentle and +simple, of the most varied types and appearance. I observed that many +of them cast haughty and inquiring glances round them, in the pauses +between the dishes, as though each marvelled how he came to be a member +of so motley a crew. Their only common feature appeared to be the +devotion which they showed to the platter and the wine flagon. There was +little talking, for there were few who knew their neighbours. Some were +soldiers who had come to offer their swords and their services to +the King’s lieutenant; others were merchants from Bristol, with some +proposal or suggestion anent the safety of their property. There +were two or three officials of the city, who had come out to receive +instructions as to its defence, while here and there I marked the child +of Israel, who had found his way there in the hope that in times of +trouble he might find high interest and noble borrowers. Horse-dealers, +saddlers, armourers, surgeons, and clergymen completed the company, +who were waited upon by a staff of powdered and liveried servants, who +brought and removed the dishes with the silence and deftness of long +training. + +The room was a contrast to the bare plainness of Sir Stephen Timewell’s +dining-hall at Taunton, for it was richly panelled and highly decorated +all round. The floor was formed of black and white marble, set in +squares, and the walls were of polished oak, and bore a long line of +paintings of the Somerset family, from John of Gaunt downwards. The +ceiling, too, was tastefully painted with flowers and nymphs, so that a +man’s neck was stiff ere he had done admiring it. At the further end of +the hall yawned a great fireplace of white marble, with the lions and +lilies of the Somerset arms carved in oak above it, and a long gilt +scroll bearing the family motto, “Mutare vel timere sperno.” The massive +tables at which we sat were loaded with silver chargers and candelabra, +and bright with the rich plate for which Badminton was famous. I could +not but think that, if Saxon could clap eyes upon it, he would not be +long in urging that the war be carried on in this direction. + +After dinner we were all shown into a small ante-chamber, set round with +velvet settees, where we were to wait till the Duke was ready to see us. +In the centre of this room there stood several cases, glass-topped and +lined with silk, wherein were little steel and iron rods, with brass +tubes and divers other things, very bright and ingenious, though I +could not devise for what end they had been put together. A +gentleman-in-waiting came round with paper and ink-horn, making notes +of our names and of our business. Him I asked whether it might not be +possible for me to have an entirely private audience. + +‘His Grace never sees in private,’ he replied. ‘He has ever his chosen +councillors and officers in attendance.’ + +‘But the business is one which is only fit for his own ear,’ I urged. + +‘His Grace holds that there is no business fit only for his own ear,’ +said the gentleman. ‘You must arrange matters as best you can when +you are shown in to him. I will promise, however, that your request be +carried to him, though I warn you that it cannot be granted.’ + +I thanked him for his good offices, and turned away with the farmer to +look at the strange little engines within the cases. + +‘What is it?’ I asked. ‘I have never seen aught that was like it.’ + +‘It is the work of the mad Marquis of Worcester,’ quoth he. ‘He was the +Duke’s grandfather. He was ever making and devising such toys, but they +were never of any service to himself or to others. Now, look ye here! +This wi’ the wheels were called the water-engine, and it was his crazy +thought that, by heating the water in that ere kettle, ye might make the +wheels go round, and thereby travel along iron bars quicker nor a +horse could run. ‘Oons! I’d match my old brown mare against all such +contrivances to the end o’ time. But to our places, for the Duke is +coming.’ + +We had scarce taken our seats with the other suitors, when the +folding-doors were flung open, and a stout, thick, short man of fifty, +or thereabouts, came bustling into the room, and strode down it between +two lines of bowing clients. He had large projecting blue eyes, with +great pouches of skin beneath them, and a yellow, sallow visage. At his +heels walked a dozen officers and men of rank, with flowing wigs and +clanking swords. They had hardly passed through the opposite door into +the Duke’s own room, when the gentleman with the list called out a name, +and the guests began one after the other to file into the great man’s +presence. + +‘Methinks his Grace is in no very gentle temper,’ quoth Farmer Brown. +‘Did you not mark how he gnawed his nether lip as he passed?’ + +‘He seemed a quiet gentleman enough,’ I answered. ‘It would try Job +himself to see all these folk of an afternoon.’ + +‘Hark at that!’ he whispered, raising his finger. As he spoke the +sound of the Duke’s voice in a storm of wrath was heard from the inner +chamber, and a little sharp-faced man came out and flew through the +ante-chamber as though fright had turned his head. + +‘He is an armourer of Bristol,’ whispered one of my neighbours. ‘It is +likely that the Duke cannot come to terms with him over a contract.’ + +‘Nay,’ said another. ‘He supplied Sir Marmaduke Hyson’s troop with +sabres, and it is said that the blades will bend as though they were +lead. Once used they can never be fitted back into the scabbard again.’ + +‘The tall man who goes in now is an inventor,’ quoth the first. ‘He hath +the secret of some very grievous fire, such as hath been used by the +Greeks against the Turks in the Levant, which he desires to sell for the +better fortifying of Bristol.’ + +The Greek fire seemed to be in no great request with the Duke, for the +inventor came out presently with his face as red as though it had been +touched by his own compound. The next upon the list was my honest friend +the farmer. The angry tones which greeted him promised badly for the +fate of the four-year-old, but a lull ensued, and the farmer came out +and resumed his seat, rubbing his great red hands with satisfaction. + +‘Ecod!’ he whispered. ‘He was plaguy hot at first, but he soon came +round, and he hath promised that if I pay for the hire of a dragooner as +long as the war shall last I shall have back the piebald.’ + +I had been sitting all this time wondering how in the world I was +to conduct my business amid the swarm of suppliants and the crowd of +officers who were attending the Duke. Had there been any likelihood +of my gaining audience with him in any other way I should gladly have +adopted it, but all my endeavours to that end had been useless. Unless I +took this occasion I might never come face to face with him at all. +But how could he give due thought or discussion to such a matter +before others? What chance was there of his weighing it as it should be +weighed? Even if his feelings inclined him that way, he dared not show +any sign of wavering when so many eyes were upon him. I was tempted to +feign some other reason for my coming, and trust to fortune to give me +some more favourable chance for handing him my papers. But then that +chance might never arrive, and time was pressing. It was said that he +would return to Bristol next morning. On the whole, it seemed best that +I should make the fittest use I could of my present position in the hope +that the Duke’s own discretion and self-command might, when he saw the +address upon my despatches, lead to a more private interview. + +I had just come to this resolution when my name was read out, on which I +rose and advanced into the inner chamber. It was a small but lofty room, +hung in blue silk with a broad gold cornice. In the centre was a square +table littered over with piles of papers, and behind this sat his Grace +with full-bottomed wig rolling down to his shoulders, very stately and +imposing. He had the same subtle air of the court which I had observed +both in Monmouth and in Sir Gervas, which, with his high bold features +and large piercing eyes, marked him as a leader of men. His private +scrivener sat beside him, taking notes of his directions, while the +others stood behind in a half circle, or took snuff together in the deep +recess of the window. + +‘Make a note of Smithson’s order,’ he said, as I entered. ‘A hundred +pots and as many fronts and backs to be ready by Tuesday; also six score +snaphances for the musqueteers, and two hundred extra spades for the +workers. Mark that the order be declared null and void unless fulfilled +within the time appointed.’ + +‘It is so marked, your Grace.’ + +‘Captain Micah Clarke,’ said the Duke, reading from the list in front of +him. ‘What is your wish, Captain?’ + +‘One which it would be better if I could deliver privately to your +Grace,’ I answered. + +‘Ah, you are he who desired private audience? Well, Captain, these are +my council and they are as myself. So we may look upon ourselves as +alone. What I may hear they may hear. Zounds, man, never stammer and +boggle, but out with it!’ + +My request had roused the interest of the company, and those who were in +the window came over to the table. Nothing could have been worse for the +success of my mission, and yet there was no help for it but to deliver +my despatches. I can say with a clear conscience, without any vainglory, +that I had no fears for myself. The doing of my duty was the one thought +in my mind. And here I may say once for all, my dear children, that I am +speaking of myself all through this statement with the same freedom +as though it were another man. In very truth the strong active lad of +one-and-twenty _was_ another man from the grey-headed old fellow who +sits in the chimney corner and can do naught better than tell old tales +to the youngsters. Shallow water gives a great splash, and so a braggart +has ever been contemptible in my eyes. I trust, therefore, that ye will +never think that your grandad is singing his own praises, or setting +himself up as better than his neighbours. I do but lay the facts, as far +as I can recall them, before ye with all freedom and with all truth. + +My short delay and hesitation had sent a hot flush of anger into the +Duke’s face, so I drew the packet of papers from my inner pocket and +handed them to him with a respectful bow. As his eyes fell upon the +superscription, he gave a sudden start of surprise and agitation, making +a motion as though to hide them in his bosom. If this were his impulse +he overcame it, and sat lost in thought for a minute or more with the +papers in his hand. Then with a quick toss of the head, like a man who +hath formed his resolution, he broke the seals and cast his eyes over +the contents, which he then threw down upon the table with a bitter +laugh. + +‘What think ye, gentlemen!’ he cried, looking round with scornful eyes; +‘what think ye this private message hath proved to be? It is a letter +from the traitor Monmouth, calling upon me to resign the allegiance of +my natural sovereign and to draw my sword in his behalf! If I do this +I am to have his gracious favour and protection. If not, I incur +sequestration, banishment, and ruin. He thinks Beaufort’s loyalty is +to be bought like a packman’s ware, or bullied out of him by ruffling +words. The descendant of John of Gaunt is to render fealty to the brat +of a wandering playwoman!’ + +Several of the company sprang to their feet, and a general buzz of +surprise and anger greeted the Duke’s words. He sat with bent brows, +beating his foot against the ground, and turning over the papers upon +the table. + +‘What hath raised his hopes to such mad heights?’ he cried. ‘How doth +he presume to send such a missive to one of my quality? Is it because he +hath seen the backs of a parcel of rascally militiamen, and because +he hath drawn a few hundred chawbacons from the plough’s tail to his +standard, that he ventures to hold such language to the President of +Wales? But ye will be my witnesses as to the spirit in which I received +it?’ + +‘We can preserve your Grace from all danger of slander on that point,’ +said an elderly officer, while a murmur of assent from the others +greeted the remark. + +‘And you!’ cried Beaufort, raising his voice and turning his flashing +eyes upon me; ‘who are you that dare to bring such a message to +Badminton? You had surely taken leave of your senses ere you did set out +upon such an errand!’ + +‘I am in the hands of God here as elsewhere,’ I answered, with some +flash of my father’s fatalism. ‘I have done what I promised to do, and +the rest is no concern of mine.’ + +‘You shall find it a very close concern of thine,’ he shouted, springing +from his chair and pacing up and down the room; ‘so close as to put an +end to all thy other concerns in this life. Call in the halberdiers from +the outer hall! Now, fellow, what have you to say for yourself?’ + +‘There is naught to be said,’ I answered. + +‘But something to be done,’ he retorted in a fury. ‘Seize this man and +secure his hands!’ + +Four halberdiers who had answered the summons closed in upon me and laid +hands on me. Resistance would have been folly, for I had no wish to harm +the men in the doing of their duty. I had come to take my chance, and +if that chance should prove to be death, as seemed likely enough at +present, it must be met as a thing foreseen. I thought of those old-time +lines which Master Chillingfoot, of Petersfield, had ever held up to our +admiration-- + + Non civium ardor prava jubentium + Non vultus instantis tyranni + Mente quatit solida. + +Here was the ‘vultus instantis tyranni,’ in this stout, be-wigged, +lace-covered, yellow-faced man in front of me. I had obeyed the poet in +so far that my courage had not been shaken. I confess that this spinning +dust-heap of a world has never had such attractions for me that it would +be a pang to leave it. Never, at least, until my marriage--and that, you +will find, alters your thoughts about the value of your life, and many +other of your thoughts as well. This being so, I stood erect, with my +eyes fixed upon the angry nobleman, while his soldiers were putting the +gyves about my wrists. + + + +Chapter XXV. Of Strange Doings in the Boteler Dungeon + +‘Take down this fellow’s statement,’ said the Duke to his scrivener. +‘Now, sirrah, it may not be known to you that his gracious Majesty the +King hath conferred plenary powers upon me during these troubled times, +and that I have his warrant to deal with all traitors without either +jury or judge. You do bear a commission, I understand, in the rebellious +body which is here described as Saxon’s regiment of Wiltshire Foot? +Speak the truth for your neck’s sake.’ + +‘I will speak the truth for the sake of something higher than that, your +Grace,’ I answered. ‘I command a company in that regiment.’ + +‘And who is this Saxon?’ + +‘I will answer all that I may concerning myself,’ said I, ‘but not a +word which may reflect upon others.’ + +‘Ha!’ he roared, hot with anger. ‘Our pretty gentleman must needs stand +upon the niceties of honour after taking up arms against his King. I +tell you, sir, that your honour is in such a parlous state already that +you may well throw it over and look to your safety. The sun is sinking +in the west. Ere it set your life, too, may have set for ever.’ + +‘I am the keeper of my own honour, your Grace,’ I answered. ‘As to my +life, I should not be standing here this moment if I had any great dread +of losing it. It is right that I should tell you that my Colonel hath +sworn to exact a return for any evil that may befall me, on you or any +of your household who may come into his power. This I say, not as a +threat, but as a warning, for I know him to be a man who is like to be +as good as his word.’ + +‘Your Colonel, as you call him, may find it hard enough to save himself +soon,’ the Duke answered with a sneer. ‘How many men hath Monmouth with +him?’ + +I smiled and shook my head. + +‘How shall we make this traitor find his tongue?’ he asked furiously, +turning to his council. + +‘I should clap on the thumbikins,’ said one fierce-faced old soldier. + +‘I have known a lighted match between the fingers work wonders,’ another +suggested. ‘Sir Thomas Dalzell hath in the Scottish war been able to +win over several of that most stubborn and hardened race, the Western +Covenanters, by such persuasion.’ + +‘Sir Thomas Dalzell,’ said a grey-haired gentleman, clad in black +velvet, ‘hath studied the art of war among the Muscovites, in their +barbarous and bloody encounters with the Turks. God forbid that we +Christians of England should seek our examples among the skin-clad +idolaters of a savage country.’ + +‘Sir William would like to see war carried out on truly courteous +principles,’ said the first speaker. ‘A battle should be like a stately +minuet, with no loss of dignity or of etiquette.’ + +‘Sir,’ the other answered hotly, ‘I have been in battles when you were +in your baby-linen, and I handled a battoon when you could scarce shake +a rattle. In leaguer or onfall a soldier’s work is sharp and stern, but +I say that the use of torture, which the law of England hath abolished, +should also be laid aside by the law of nations.’ + +‘Enough, gentlemen, enough!’ cried the Duke, seeing that the dispute was +like to wax warm. ‘Your opinion, Sir William, hath much weight with us, +and yours also, Colonel Hearn. We shall discuss this at greater length +in privacy. Halberdiers, remove the prisoner, and let a clergyman be +sent to look to his spiritual needs!’ + +‘Shall we take him to the strong room, your Grace?’ asked the Captain of +the guard. + +‘No, to the old Boteler dungeon,’ he replied; and I heard the next name +upon the list called out, while I was led through a side door with a +guard in front and behind me. We passed through endless passages and +corridors, with heavy stop and clank of arms, until we reached the +ancient wing. Here, in the corner turret, was a small, bare room, mouldy +and damp, with a high, arched roof, and a single long slit in the outer +wall to admit light. A small wooden couch and a rude chair formed +the whole of the furniture. Into this I was shown by the Captain, who +stationed a guard at the door, and then came in after me and loosened +my wrists. He was a sad-faced man, with solemn sunken eyes and a +dreary expression, which matched ill with his bright trappings and gay +sword-knot. + +‘Keep your heart up, friend,’ said he, in a hollow voice. ‘It is but a +choke and a struggle. A day or two since we had the same job to do, and +the man scarcely groaned. Old Spender, the Duke’s marshal, hath as sure +a trick of tying and as good judgment in arranging a drop as hath Dun +of Tyburn. Be of good heart, therefore, for you shall not fall into the +hands of a bungler.’ + +‘I would that I could let Monmouth know that his letters were +delivered,’ I exclaimed, seating myself on the side of the bed. + +‘I’ faith, they were delivered. Had you been the penny postman of Mr. +Robert Murray, of whom we heard so much in London last spring, you could +not have handed it in more directly. Why did you not talk the Duke fair? +He is a gracious nobleman, and kind of heart, save when he is thwarted +or angered. Some little talk as to the rebels’ numbers and dispositions +might have saved you.’ + +‘I wonder that you, as a soldier, should speak or think of such a +thing,’ said I coldly. + +‘Well, well! Your neck is your own. If it please you to take a leap into +nothing it were pity to thwart you. But his Grace commanded that you +should have the chaplain. I must away to him.’ + +‘I prythee do not bring him,’ said I. ‘I am one of a dissenting stock, +and I see that there is a Bible in yonder recess. No man can aid me in +making my peace with God.’ + +‘It is well,’ he answered, ‘for Dean Hewby hath come over from +Chippenham, and he is discoursing with our good chaplain on the need of +self-denial, moistening his throat the while with a flask of the prime +Tokay. At dinner I heard him put up thanks for what he was to receive, +and in the same breath ask the butler how he dared to serve a deacon +of the Church with a pullet without truffle dressing. But, perhaps, you +would desire Dean Hewby’s spiritual help? No? Well, what I can do for +you in reason shall be done, since you will not be long upon our hands. +Above all, keep a cheery heart.’ + +He left the cell, but presently unlocked the door and pushed his dismal +face round the corner. ‘I am Captain Sinclair, of the Duke’s household,’ +he said, ‘should you have occasion to ask for me. You had best have +spiritual help, for I do assure you that there hath been something worse +than either warder or prisoner in this cell.’ + +‘What then?’ I asked. + +‘Why, marry, nothing less than the Devil,’ he answered, coming in and +closing the door. ‘It was in this way,’ he went on, sinking his voice: +‘Two years agone Hector Marot, the highwayman, was shut up in this very +Boteler dungeon. I was myself on guard in the corridor that night, and +saw the prisoner at ten o’clock sitting on that bed even as you are now. +At twelve I had occasion to look in, as my custom is, with the hope +of cheering his lonely hours, when lo, he was gone! Yes, you may well +stare. Mine eyes had never been off the door, and you can judge what +chance there was of his getting through the windows. Walls and floor are +both solid stone, which might be solid rock for the thickness. When +I entered there was a plaguy smell of brimstone, and the flame of my +lanthorn burned blue. Nay, it is no smiling matter. If the Devil did not +run away with Hector Marot, pray who did? for sure I am that no angel of +grace could come to him as to Peter of old. Perchance the Evil One may +desire a second bird out of the same cage, and so I tell you this that +you may be on your guard against his assaults.’ + +‘Nay, I fear him not,’ I answered. + +‘It is well,’ croaked the Captain. ‘Be not cast down!’ His head +vanished, and the key turned in the creaking lock. So thick were the +walls that I could hear no sound after the door was closed. Save for +the sighing of the wind in the branches of the trees outside the narrow +window, all was as silent as the grave within the dungeon. + +Thus left to myself I tried to follow Captain Sinclair’s advice as to +the keeping up of my heart, though his talk was far from being of a +cheering nature. In my young days, more particularly among the sectaries +with whom I had been brought most in contact, a belief in the occasional +appearance of the Prince of Darkness, and his interference in bodily +form with the affairs of men, was widespread and unquestioning. +Philosophers in their own quiet chambers may argue learnedly on the +absurdity of such things, but in a dim-lit dungeon, cut off from the +world, with the grey gloaming creeping down, and one’s own fate hanging +in the balance, it becomes a very different matter. The escape, if the +Captain’s story were true, appeared to border upon the miraculous. I +examined the walls of the cell very carefully. They were formed of great +square stones cunningly fitted together. The thin slit or window was +cut through the centre of a single large block. All over, as high as +the hand could reach, the face of the walls was covered with letters and +legends cut by many generations of captives. The floor was composed of +old foot-worn slabs, firmly cemented together. The closest search failed +to show any hole or cranny where a rat could have escaped, far less a +man. + +It is a very strange thing, my dears, to sit down in cold blood, and +think that the chances are that within a few hours your pulses will +have given their last throb, and your soul have sped away upon its final +errand. Strange and very awesome! The man who rideth down into the +press of the battle with his jaw set and his grip tight upon reign and +sword-hilt cannot feel this, for the human mind is such that one emotion +will ever push out another. Neither can the man who draws slow and +catching breaths upon the bed of deadly sickness be said to have +experience of it, for the mind weakened with disease can but submit +without examining too closely that which it submits to. When, however, +a young and hale man sits alone in quiet, and sees present death hanging +over him, he hath such food for thought that, should he survive and live +to be grey-headed, his whole life will be marked and altered by those +solemn hours, as a stream is changed in its course by some rough bank +against which it hath struck. Every little fault and blemish stands +out clear in the presence of death, as the dust specks appear when the +sunbeam shines into the darkened room. I noted them then, and I have, I +trust, noted them ever since. + +I was seated with my head bowed upon my breast, deeply buried in this +solemn train of thoughts, when I was startled by hearing a sharp click, +such as a man might give who wished to attract attention. I sprang to my +feet and gazed round in the gathering gloom without being able to tell +whence it came. I had well-nigh persuaded myself that my senses had +deceived me, when the sound was repeated louder than before, and casting +my eyes upwards I saw a face peering in at me through the slit, or part +of a face rather, for I could but see the eye and corner of the cheek. +Standing on my chair I made out that it was none other than the farmer +who had been my companion upon the road. + +‘Hush, lad!’ he whispered, with a warning forefinger pushed through the +narrow crack. ‘Speak low, or the guard may chance to hear. What can I do +for you?’ + +‘How did you come to know where I was?’ I asked in astonishment. + +‘Whoy, mun,’ he answered, ‘I know as much of this ‘ere house as Beaufort +does himsel’. Afore Badminton was built, me and my brothers has spent +many a day in climbing over the old Boteler tower. It’s not the first +time that I have spoke through this window. But, quick; what can I do +for you?’ + +‘I am much beholden to you, sir,’ I answered, ‘but I fear that there is +no help which you can give me, unless, indeed, you could convey news to +my friends in the army of what hath befallen me.’ + +‘I might do that,’ whispered Farmer Brown. ‘Hark ye in your ear, lad, +what I never breathed to man yet. Mine own conscience pricks me at times +over this bolstering up of a Papist to rule over a Protestant nation. +Let like rule like, say I. At the ‘lections I rode to Sudbury, and I +put in my vote for Maister Evans, of Turnford, who was in favour o’ the +Exclusionists. Sure enough, if that same Bill had been carried, the Duke +would be sitting on his father’s throne. The law would have said yes. +Now, it says nay. A wonderful thing is the law with its yea, yea, and +nay, nay, like Barclay, the Quaker man, that came down here in a leather +suit, and ca’d the parson a steepleman. There’s the law. It’s no use +shootin’ at it, or passin’ pikes through it, no, nor chargin’ at it wi’ +a troop of horse. If it begins by saying “nay” it will say “nay” to the +end of the chapter. Ye might as well fight wi’ the book o’ Genesis. Let +Monmouth get the law changed, and it will do more for him than all the +dukes in England. For all that he’s a Protestant, and I would do what I +might to serve him.’ + +‘There is a Captain Lockarby, who is serving in Colonel Saxon’s +regiment, in Monmouth’s army,’ said I. ‘Should things go wrong with me, +I would take it as a great kindness if you would bear him my love, and +ask him to break it gently, by word or by letter, to those at Havant. +If I were sure that this would be done, it would be a great ease to my +mind.’ + +‘It shall be done, lad,’ said the good farmer. ‘I shall send my best man +and fleetest horse this very night, that they may know the straits in +which you are. I have a file here if it would help you.’ + +‘Nay,’ I answered, ‘human aid can do little to help me here.’ + +‘There used to be a hole in the roof. Look up and see if you can see +aught of it.’ + +‘It arches high above my head,’ I answered, looking upwards; ‘but there +is no sign of any opening.’ + +‘There was one,’ he repeated. ‘My brother Roger hath swung himself down +wi’ a rope. In the old time the prisoners were put in so, like Joseph +into the pit. The door is but a new thing.’ + +‘Hole or no hole, it cannot help me,’ I answered. ‘I have no means +of climbing to it. Do not wait longer, kind friend, or you may find +yourself in trouble.’ + +‘Good-bye then, my brave heart,’ he whispered, and the honest grey eye +and corner of ruddy cheek disappeared from the casement. Many a time +during the course of the long evening I glanced up with some wild hope +that he might return, and every creak of the branches outside brought me +on to the chair, but it was the last that I saw of Farmer Brown. + +This kindly visit, short as it was, relieved my mind greatly, for I had +a trusty man’s word that, come what might, my friends should, at least, +have some news of my fate. It was now quite dark, and I was pacing up +and down the little chamber, when the key turned in the door, and the +Captain entered with a rushlight and a great bowl of bread and milk. + +‘Here is your supper, friend,’ said he. ‘Take it down, appetite or no, +for it will give you strength to play the man at the time ye wot of. +They say it was beautiful to see my Lord Russell die upon Tower Hill. Be +of good cheer! Folk may say as much of you. His Grace is in a terrible +way. He walketh up and down, and biteth his lip, and clencheth his hands +like one who can scarce contain his wrath. It may not be against you, +but I know not what else can have angered him.’ + +I made no answer to this Job’s comforter, so he presently left me, +placing the bowl upon the chair, with the rushlight beside it. I +finished the food, and feeling the better for it, stretched myself upon +the couch, and fell into a heavy and dreamless sleep. This may have +lasted three or four hours, when I was suddenly awoken by a sound like +the creaking of hinges. Sitting up on the pallet I gazed around me. The +rushlight had burned out and the cell was impenetrably dark. A greyish +glimmer at one end showed dimly the position of the aperture, but all +else was thick and black. I strained my ears, but no further sound fell +upon them. Yet I was certain that I had not been deceived, and that the +noise which had aroused me was within my very chamber. I rose and felt +my way slowly round the room, passing my hand over the walls and door. +Then I paced backwards and forwards to test the flooring. Neither around +me nor beneath me was there any change. Whence did the sound come from, +then? I sat down upon the side of the bed and waited patiently in the +hope of hearing it once again. + +Presently it was repeated, a low groaning and creaking as though a door +or shutter long disused was being slowly and stealthily opened. At the +same time a dull yellow light streamed down from above, issuing from a +thin slit in the centre of the arched roof above me. Slowly as I watched +it this slit widened and extended as if a sliding panel were being +pulled out, until a good-sized hole was left, through which I saw a +head, looking down at me, outlined against the misty light behind it. +The knotted end of a rope was passed through this aperture, and came +dangling down to the dungeon floor. It was a good stout piece of hemp, +strong enough to bear the weight of a heavy man, and I found, upon +pulling at it, that it was firmly secured above. Clearly it was the +desire of my unknown benefactor that I should ascend by it, so I went +up hand over hand, and after some difficulty in squeezing my shoulders +through the hole I succeeded in reaching the room above. While I was +still rubbing my eyes after the sudden change from darkness into light, +the rope was swiftly whisked up and the sliding shutter closed once +more. To those who were not in the secret there was nothing to throw +light upon my disappearance. + +I found myself in the presence of a stout short man clad in a rude +jerkin and leather breeches, which gave him somewhat the appearance of a +groom. He wore a broad felt hat drawn down very low over his eyes, while +the lower part of his face was swathed round with a broad cravat. In his +hand he bore a horn lanthorn, by the light of which I saw that the +room in which we were was of the same size as the dungeon beneath, and +differed from it only in having a broad casement which looked out upon +the park. There was no furniture in the chamber, but a great beam ran +across it, to which the rope had been fastened by which I ascended. + +‘Speak low, friend,’ said the stranger. ‘The walls are thick and the +doors are close, yet I would not have your guardians know by what means +you have been spirited away.’ + +‘Truly, sir,’ I answered, ‘I can scarce credit that it is other than a +dream. It is wondrous that my dungeon should be so easily broken into, +and more wondrous still that I should find a friend who would be willing +to risk so much for my sake.’ + +‘Look there!’ quoth he, holding down his lanthorn so as to cast its +light on the part of the floor where the panel was fitted. Can you not +see how old and crumbled is the stone-work which surrounds it? This +opening in the roof is as old as the dungeon itself, and older far +than the door by which you were led into it. For this was one of those +bottle-shaped cells or oubliettes which hard men of old devised for the +safe keeping of their captives. Once lowered through this hole into the +stone-girt pit a man might eat his heart out, for his fate was sealed. +Yet you see that the very device which once hindered escape has now +brought freedom within your reach.’ + +‘Thanks to your clemency, your Grace,’ I answered, looking keenly at my +companion. + +‘Now out on these disguises!’ he cried, peevishly pushing back the +broad-edged hat and disclosing, as I expected, the features of the Duke. +‘Even a blunt soldier lad can see through my attempts at concealment. +I fear, Captain, that I should make a bad plotter, for my nature is as +open--well, as thine is. I cannot better the simile.’ + +‘Your Grace’s voice once heard is not easily forgot,’ said I. + +‘Especially when it talks of hemp and dungeons,’ he answered, with a +smile. ‘But if I clapped you into prison, you must confess that I have +made you amends by pulling you out again at the end of my line, like a +minnow out of a bottle. But how came you to deliver such papers in the +presence of my council?’ + +‘I did what I could to deliver them in private,’ said I. ‘I sent you a +message to that effect.’ + +‘It is true,’ he answered; ‘but such messages come in to me from every +soldier who wishes to sell his sword, and every inventor who hath a long +tongue and a short purse. How could I tell that the matter was of real +import?’ + +‘I feared to let the chance slip lest it might never return,’ said I. ‘I +hear that your Grace hath little leisure during these times.’ + +‘I cannot blame you,’ he answered, pacing up and down the room. ‘But it +was untoward. I might have hid the despatches, yet it would have roused +suspicions. Your errand would have leaked out. There are many who envy +my lofty fortunes, and who would seize upon a chance of injuring me with +King James. Sunderland or Somers would either of them blow the least +rumour into a flame which might prove unquenchable. There was naught for +it, therefore, but to show the papers and to turn a harsh face on the +messenger. The most venomous tongue could not find fault in my conduct. +What course would you have advised under such circumstances?’ ‘The most +direct,’ I answered. ‘Aye, aye, Sir. Honesty. Public men have, however, +to pick their steps as best they may, for the straight path would lead +too often to the cliff-edge. The Tower would be too scanty for its +guests were we all to wear our hearts upon our sleeves. But to you in +this privacy I can tell my real thoughts without fear of betrayal or +misconstruction. On paper I will not write one word. Your memory must +be the sheet which bears my answer to Monmouth. And first of all, erase +from it all that you have heard me say in the council-room. Let it be as +though it never were spoken. Is that done?’ + +‘I understand that it did not really represent your Grace’s thoughts.’ + +‘Very far from it, Captain. But prythee tell me what expectation of +success is there among the rebels themselves? You must have heard your +Colonel and others discuss the question, or noted by their bearing which +way their thoughts lay. Have they good hopes of holding out against the +King’s troops?’ + +‘They have met with naught but success hitherto,’ I answered. + +‘Against the militia. But they will find it another thing when they have +trained troops to deal with. And yet--and yet!--One thing I know, that +any defeat of Feversham’s army would cause a general rising throughout +the country. On the other hand, the King’s party are active. Every +post brings news of some fresh levy. Albemarle still holds the militia +together in the west. The Earl of Pembroke is in arms in Wiltshire. +Lord Lumley is moving from the east with the Sussex forces. The Earl of +Abingdon is up in Oxfordshire. At the university the caps and gowns are +all turning into head-pieces and steel fronts. James’s Dutch regiments +have sailed from Amsterdam. Yet Monmouth hath gained two fights, and why +not a third? They are troubled waters--troubled waters!’ The Duke paced +backwards and forwards with brows drawn down, muttering all this to +himself rather than to me, and shaking his head like one in the sorest +perplexity. + +‘I would have you tell Monmouth,’ he said at last, ‘that I thank him for +the papers which he hath sent me, and that I will duly read and weigh +them. Tell him also that I wish him well in his enterprise, and would +help him were it not that I am hemmed in by those who watch me closely, +and who would denounce me were I to show my true thoughts. Tell him +that, should he move his army into these parts, I may then openly +declare myself; but to do so now would be to ruin the fortunes of my +house, without in any way helping him. Can you bear him that message?’ + +‘I shall do so, your Grace. + +‘Tell me,’ he asked, ‘how doth Monmouth bear himself in this +enterprise?’ + +‘Like a wise and gallant leader,’ I answered. + +‘Strange,’ he murmured; ‘it was ever the jest at court that he had +scarce energy or constancy enough to finish a game at ball, but would +ever throw his racquet down ere the winning point was scored. His plans +were like a weather-vane, altered by every breeze. He was constant +only in his inconstancy. It is true that he led the King’s troops in +Scotland, but all men knew that Claverhouse and Dalzell were the real +conquerors at Bothwell Bridge. Methinks he resembles that Brutus in +Roman history who feigned weakness of mind as a cover to his ambitions.’ + +The Duke was once again conversing with himself rather than with me, so +that I made no remark, save to observe that Monmouth had won the hearts +of the lower people. + +‘There lies his strength,’ said Beaufort. ‘The blood of his mother runs +in his veins. He doth not think it beneath him to shake the dirty paw +of Jerry the tinker, or to run a race against a bumpkin on the village +green. Well, events have shown that he hath been right. These same +bumpkins have stood by him when nobler friends have held aloof. I would +I could see into the future. But you have my message, Captain, and +I trust that, if you change it in the delivery, it will be in the +direction of greater warmth and kindliness. It is time now that you +depart, for within three hours the guard is changed, and your escape +will be discovered.’ + +‘But how depart?’ I asked. + +‘Through here,’ he answered, pushing open the casement, and sliding the +rope along the beam in that direction. ‘The rope may be a foot or two +short, but you have extra inches to make matters even. When you have +reached the ground, take the gravel path which turns to the right, and +follow it until it leads you to the high trees which skirt the park. The +seventh of these hath a bough which shoots over the boundary wall. Climb +along the bough, drop over upon the other side, and you will find my +own valet waiting with your horse. Up with you, and ride, haste, haste, +post-haste, for the south. By morn you should be well out of danger’s +way.’ + +‘My sword?’ I asked. + +‘All your property is there. Tell Monmouth what I have said, and let him +know that I have used you as kindly as was possible.’ + +‘But what will your Grace’s council say when they find that I am gone?’ +I asked. + +‘Pshaw, man! Never fret about that! I will off to Bristol at daybreak, +and give my council enough to think of without their having time to +devote to your fate. The soldiers will but have another instance of +the working of the Father of Evil, who hath long been thought to have a +weakness for that cell beneath us. Faith, if all we hear be true, there +have been horrors enough acted there to call up every devil out of the +pit. But time presses. Gently through the casement! So! Remember the +message.’ + +‘Adieu, your Grace!’ I answered, and seizing the rope slipped rapidly +and noiselessly to the ground, upon which he drew it up and closed the +casement. As I looked round, my eye fell upon the dark narrow slit which +opened into my cell, and through which honest Farmer Brown had held +converse with me. Half-an-hour ago I had been stretched upon the prison +pallet without a hope or a thought of escape. Now I was out in the open +with no hand to stay me, breathing the air of freedom with the prison +and the gallows cast off from me, as the waking man casts off his evil +dreams. Such changes shake a man’s soul, my children. The heart that can +steel itself against death is softened by the assurance of safety. So +I have known a worthy trader bear up manfully when convinced that his +fortunes had been engulfed in the ocean, but lose all philosophy on +finding that the alarm was false, and that they had come safely through +the danger. For my own part, believing as I do that there is nothing of +chance in the affairs of this world, I felt that I had been exposed to +this trial in order to dispose me to serious thought, and that I had +been saved that I might put those thoughts into effect. As an earnest of +my endeavour to do so I knelt down on the green sward, in the shadow of +the Boteler turret, and I prayed that I might come to be of use on +the earth, and that I might be helped to rise above my own wants and +interests, to aid forward whatever of good or noble might be stirring in +my days. It is well-nigh fifty years, my dears, since I bowed my spirit +before the Great Unknown in the moon-tinted park of Badminton, but I +can truly say that from that day to this the aims which I laid down +for myself have served me as a compass over the dark waters of life--a +compass which I may perchance not always follow--for flesh is weak and +frail, but which hath, at least, been ever present, that I might turn to +it in seasons of doubt and of danger. + +The path to the right led through groves and past carp ponds for a mile +or more, until I reached the line of trees which skirted the boundary +wall. Not a living thing did I see upon my way, save a herd of +fallow-deer, which scudded away like swift shadows through the +shimmering moonshine. Looking back, the high turrets and gables of the +Boteler wing stood out dark and threatening against the starlit sky. +Having reached the seventh tree, I clambered along the projecting bough +which shot over the park wall, and dropped down upon the other side, +where I found my good old dapple-grey awaiting me in the charge of a +groom. Springing to my saddle, I strapped my sword once more to my side, +and galloped off as fast as the four willing feet could carry me on my +return journey. + +All that night I rode hard without drawing bridle, through sleeping +hamlets, by moon-bathed farmhouses, past shining stealthy rivers, and +over birch-clad hills. When the eastern sky deepened from pink into +scarlet, and the great sun pushed his rim over the blue north Somerset +hills, I was already far upon my journey. It was a Sabbath morning, and +from every village rose the sweet tinkling and calling of the bells. +I bore no dangerous papers with me now, and might therefore be more +careless as to my route. At one point I was questioned by a keen-eyed +toll-keeper as to whence I came, but my reply that I was riding direct +from his Grace of Beaufort put an end to his suspicions. Further down, +near Axbridge, I overtook a grazier who was jogging into Wells upon his +sleek cob. With him I rode for some time, and learned that the whole +of North Somerset, as well as south, was now in open revolt, and that +Wells, Shepton Mallet, and Glastonbury were held by armed volunteers +for King Monmouth. The royal forces had all retired west, or east, until +help should come. As I rode through the villages I marked the blue flag +upon the church towers, and the rustics drilling upon the green, without +any sign of trooper or dragoon to uphold the authority of the Stuarts. + +My road lay through Shepton Mallet, Piper’s Inn, Bridgewater, and North +Petherton, until in the cool of the evening I pulled up my weary horse +at the Cross Hands, and saw the towers of Taunton in the valley beneath +me. A flagon of beer for the rider, and a sieveful of oats for the +steed, put fresh mettle into both of us, and we were jogging on our way +once more, when there came galloping down the side of the hill about +forty cavaliers, as hard as their horses could carry them. So wild was +their riding that I pulled up, uncertain whether they were friend or +foe, until, as they came whirling towards me, I recognised that the two +officers who rode in front of them were none other than Reuben Lockarby +and Sir Gervas Jerome. At the sight of me they flung up their hands, and +Reuben shot on to his horse’s neck, where he sat for a moment astride of +the mane, until the brute tossed him back into the saddle. + +‘It’s Micah! It’s Micah!’ he gasped, with his mouth open, and the tears +hopping down his honest face. + +‘Od’s pitlikins, man, how did you come here?’ asked Sir Gervas, poking +me with his forefinger as though to see if I were really of flesh and +blood. ‘We were leading a forlorn of horse into Beaufort’s country to +beat him up, and to burn his fine house about his ears if you had come +to harm. There has just come a groom from some farmer in those parts who +hath brought us news that you were under sentence of death, on which I +came away with my wig half frizzled, and found that friend Lockarby had +leave from Lord Grey to go north with these troopers. But how have you +fared?’ + +‘Well and ill,’ I answered, wringing their kindly hands. ‘I had not +thought last night to see another sun rise, and yet ye see that I am +here, sound in life and limb. But all these things will take some time +in the telling.’ + +‘Aye, and King Monmouth will be on thorns to see you. Right about, my +lads, and back for the camp. Never was errand so rapidly and happily +finished as this of ours. It would have fared ill with Badminton had you +been hurt.’ + +The troopers turned their horses and trotted slowly back to Taunton, +while I rode behind them between my two faithful friends, hearing from +them all that had occurred in my absence, and telling my own adventures +in return. The night had fallen ere we rode through the gates, where I +handed Covenant over to the Mayor’s groom, and went direct to the castle +to deliver an account of my mission. + + + +Chapter XXVI. Of the Strife in the Council + +King Monmouth’s council was assembled at the time of my coming, and my +entrance caused the utmost surprise and joy, as they had just heard news +of my sore danger. Even the royal presence could not prevent several +members, among whom were the old Mayor and the two soldiers of fortune, +from springing to their feet and shaking me warmly by the hand. Monmouth +himself said a few gracious words, and requested that I should be seated +at the board with the others. + +‘You have earned the right to be of our council,’ said he; ‘and lest +there should be a jealousy amongst other captains that you should come +among us, I do hereby confer upon you the special title of Scout-master, +which, though it entail few if any duties in the present state of our +force, will yet give you precedence over your fellows. We had heard that +your greeting from Beaufort was of the roughest, and that you were in +sore straits in his dungeons. But you have happily come yourself on the +very heels of him who bore the tidings. Tell us then from the beginning +how things have fared with you.’ + +I should have wished to have limited my story to Beaufort and his +message, but as the council seemed to be intent upon hearing a full +account of my journey, I told in as short and simple speech as I +could the various passages which had befallen me--the ambuscado of +the smugglers, the cave, the capture of the gauger, the journey in the +lugger, the acquaintance with Farmer Brown, my being cast into prison, +with the manner of my release and the message wherewith I had been +commissioned. To all of this the council hearkened with the uttermost +attention, while a muttered oath ever and anon from a courtier or a +groan and prayer from a Puritan showed how keenly they followed the +various phases of my fortunes. Above all, they gave the greatest heed +to Beaufort’s words, and stopped me more than once when I appeared to be +passing over any saying or event before they had due time to weigh +it. When I at last finished they all sat speechless, looking into each +other’s faces and waiting for an expression of opinion. + +‘On my word,’ said Monmouth at last, ‘this is a young Ulysses, though +his Odyssey doth but take three days in the acting. Scudery might not be +so dull were she to take a hint from these smugglers’ caves and sliding +panels. How say you, Grey?’ + +‘He hath indeed had his share of adventure,’ the nobleman answered, ‘and +hath also performed his mission like a fearless and zealous messenger. +You say that Beaufort gave you nought in writing?’ + +‘Not a word, my lord,’ I replied. + +‘And his private message was that he wished us well, and would join us +if we were in his country?’ + +‘That was the effect, my lord.’ + +‘Yet in his council, as I understand, he did utter bitter things against +us, putting affronts upon the King, and making light of his just claims +upon the fealty of his nobility?’ + +‘He did,’ I answered. + +‘He would fain stand upon both sides of the hedge at once,’ said King +Monmouth. ‘Such a man is very like to find himself on neither side, but +in the very heart of the briars. It may be as well, however, that we +should move his way, so as to give him the chance of declaring himself.’ + +‘In any case, as your Majesty remembers,’ said Saxon, ‘we had determined +to march Bristolwards and attempt the town.’ + +‘The works are being strengthened,’ said I, ‘and there are five thousand +of the Gloucestershire train-bands assembled within. I saw the labourers +at work upon the ramparts as I passed.’ + +‘If we gain Beaufort we shall gain the town,’ quoth Sir Stephen +Timewell. ‘There are already a strong body of godly and honest folk +therein, who would rejoice to see a Protestant army within their gates. +Should we have to beleaguer it we may count upon some help from within.’ + +‘Hegel und blitzen!’ exclaimed the German soldier, with an impatience +which even the presence of the King could not keep in bounds; ‘how can +we talk of sieges and leaguers when we have not a breaching-piece in the +army?’ + +‘The Lard will find us the breaching-pieces,’ cried Ferguson, in his +strange, nasal voice. ‘Did the Lard no breach the too’ers o’ Jericho +withoot the aid o’ gunpooder? Did the Lard no raise up the man Robert +Ferguson and presairve him through five-and-thairty indictments and +twa-and-twenty proclamations o’ the godless? What is there He canna do? +Hosannah! Hosannah!’ + +‘The Doctor is right,’ said a square-faced, leather-skinned English +Independent. ‘We talk too much o’ carnal means and worldly chances, +without leaning upon that heavenly goodwill which should be to us as a +staff on stony and broken paths. Yes, gentlemen,’ he continued, raising +his voice and glancing across the table at some of the courtiers, ‘ye +may sneer at words of piety, but I say that it is you and those like you +who will bring down God’s anger upon this army.’ + +‘And I say so too,’ cried another sectary fiercely. + +‘And I,’ ‘And I,’ shouted several, with Saxon, I think, among them. + +‘Is it your wish, your Majesty, that we should be insulted at your very +council board?’ cried one of the courtiers, springing to his feet with +a flushed face. ‘How long are we to be subject to this insolence because +we have the religion of a gentleman, and prefer to practise it in the +privacy of our hearts rather than at the street corners with these +pharisees?’ + +‘Speak not against God’s saints,’ cried a Puritan, in a loud stern +voice. ‘There is a voice within me which tells me that it were better to +strike thee dead--yea, even in the presence of the King--than to allow +thee to revile those who have been born again.’ + +Several had sprung to their feet on either side. Hands were laid upon +sword-hilts, and glances as stern and as deadly as rapier thrusts were +flashing backwards and forwards; but the more neutral and reasonable +members of the council succeeded in restoring peace, and in persuading +the angry disputants to resume their seats. + +‘How now, gentlemen?’ cried the King, his face dark with anger, when +silence was at last restored. ‘Is this the extent of my authority that +ye should babble and brawl as though my council-chamber were a Fleet +Street pot-house? Is this your respect for my person? I tell ye that I +would forfeit my just claims for ever, and return to Holland, or devote +my sword to the cause of Christianity against the Turk, rather than +submit to such indignity. If any man he proved to have stirred up strife +amongst the soldiers or commonalty on the score of religion I shall +know how to deal with him. Let each preach to his own, but let him not +interfere with the flock of his neighbour. As to you, Mr. Bramwell, +and you, Mr. Joyce, and you also, Sir Henry Nuttall, we shall hold ye +excused from attending these meetings until ye have further notice from +us. Ye may now separate, each to your quarters, and to-morrow morning +we shall, with the blessing of God, start for the north to see what luck +may await our enterprise in those parts.’ + +The King bowed as a sign that the formal meeting was over, and taking +Lord Grey aside, he conversed with him anxiously in a recess. The +courtiers, who numbered in their party several English and foreign +gentlemen, who had come over together with some Devonshire and Somerset +country squires, swaggered out of the room in a body, with much clinking +of spurs and clanking of swords. The Puritans drew gravely together and +followed after them, walking not with demure and downcast looks, as was +their common use, but with grim faces and knitted brows, as the Jews of +old may have appeared when, ‘To your tents, O Israel!’ was still ringing +in their ears. + +Indeed, religious dissension and sectarian heat were in the very air. +Outside, on the Castle Green, the voices of preachers rose up like the +drone of insects. Every waggon or barrel or chance provision case had +been converted into a pulpit, each with its own orator and little knot +of eager hearkeners. Here was a russet-coated Taunton volunteer in +jackboots and bandolier, holding forth on the justification by works. +Further on a grenadier of the militia, with blazing red coat and white +cross-belt, was deep in the mystery of the Trinity. In one or two +places, where the rude pulpits were too near to each other, the sermons +had changed into a hot discussion between the two preachers, in which +the audience took part by hums or groans, each applauding the champion +whose creed was most in accordance with his own. Through this wild +scene, made more striking by the ruddy flickering glare of the +camp-fires, I picked my way with a weight at my heart, for I felt how +vain it must be to hope for success where such division reigned, Saxon +looked on, however, with glistening eyes, and rubbed his hands with +satisfaction. + +‘The leaven is working,’ quoth he. ‘Something will come of all this +ferment.’ + +‘I see not what can come of it save disorder and weakness,’ I answered. + +‘Good soldiers will come of it, lad,’ said he. ‘They are all sharpening +themselves, each after his own fashion, on the whetstone of religion. +This arguing breedeth fanatics, and fanatics are the stuff out of which +conquerors are fashioned. Have you not heard how Old Noll’s army divided +into Presbyterians, Independents, Ranters, Anabaptists, Fifth Monarchy +men, Brownists, and a score of other sects, out of whose strife rose the +finest regiments that ever formed line upon a field of battle? + + “Such as do build their faith upon + The holy text of sword and gun.” + +You know old Samuel’s couplet. I tell you, I would rather see them thus +employed than at their drill, for all their wrangling and jangling.’ + +‘But how of this split in the council?’ I asked. + +‘Ah, that is indeed a graver matter. All creeds may be welded together, +but the Puritan and the scoffer are like oil and water. Yet the Puritan +is the oil, for he will be ever atop. These courtiers do but stand for +themselves, while the others are backed up by the pith and marrow of the +army. It is well that we are afoot to-morrow. The King’s troops are, I +hear, pouring across Salisbury Plain, but their ordnance and stores are +delaying them, for they know well that they must bring all they need, +since they can expect little from the goodwill of the country folk. Ah, +friend Buyse, wie geht es?’ + +‘Ganz gut,’ said the big German, looming up before us through the +darkness. ‘But, sapperment, what a cawing and croaking, like a rookery +at sunset! You English are a strange people--yes, donnerwetter, a very +strange people! There are no two of you who think alike upon any subject +under Himmel! The Cavalier will have his gay coat and his loose word. +The Puritan will cut your throat rather than give up his sad-coloured +dress and his Bible. “King James!” cry some, “King Monmouth!” say the +peasants. “King Jesus!” says the Fifth Monarchy man. “No King at all!” + cry Master Wade and a few others who are for a Commonwealth. Since I +set foot on the Helderenbergh at Amsterdam, my head hath been in a whirl +with trying to understand what it is that ye desire, for before I have +got to the end of one man’s tale, and begin to see a little through the +finsterniss, another will come with another story, and I am in as evil a +case as ever. But, my young Hercules, I am right glad to see you back +in safety. I am half in fear to give you my hand now, after your recent +treatment of it. I trust that you are none the worse for the danger that +you have gone through.’ + +‘Mine eyelids are in truth a little heavy,’ I answered. ‘Save for an +hour or two aboard the lugger, and about as long on a prison couch, I +have not closed eye since I left the camp.’ + +‘We shall fall in at the second bugle call, about eight of the clock,’ +said Saxon. ‘We shall leave you, therefore, that you may restore +yourself after your fatigues. ‘With a parting nod the two old soldiers +strode off together down the crowded Fore Street, while I made the best +of my way back to the Mayor’s hospitable dwelling, where I had to repeat +my story all over again to the assembled household before I was at last +suffered to seek my room. + + + +Chapter XXVII. Of the Affair near Keynsham Bridge + +Monday, June 21, 1685, broke very dark and windy, with dull clouds +moving heavily across the sky and a constant sputter of rain. Yet a +little after daybreak Monmouth’s bugles were blowing in every quarter +of the town, from Tone Bridge to Shuttern, and by the hour appointed the +regiments had mustered, the roll had been called, and the vanguard was +marching briskly out through the eastern gate. It went forth in the same +order as it entered, our own regiment and the Taunton burghers bringing +up the rear. Mayor Timewell and Saxon had the ordering of this part of +the army between them, and being men who had seen much service, they +drew the ordnance into a less hazardous position, and placed a strong +guard of horse, a cannon’s shot in the rear, to meet any attempt of the +Royal dragoons. + +It was remarked on all sides that the army had improved in order and +discipline during the three days’ halt, owing perchance to the example +of our own unceasing drill and soldierly bearing. In numbers it had +increased to nigh eight thousand, and the men were well fed and light +of heart. With sturdy close-locked ranks they splashed their way through +mud and puddle, with many a rough country joke and many a lusty stave +from song or hymn. Sir Gervas rode at the head of his musqueteers, whose +befloured tails hung limp and lank with the water dripping from +them. Lockarby’s pikemen and my own company of scythesmen were mostly +labourers from the country, who were hardened against all weathers, and +plodded patiently along with the rain-drops glistening upon their ruddy +faces. In front were the Taunton foot; behind, the lumbering train of +baggage waggons, with the horse in the rear of them. So the long line +wound its way over the hills. + +At the summit, where the road begins to dip down upon the other side, a +halt was called to enable the regiments to close up, and we looked back +at the fair town which many of us were never to see again. From the dark +walls and house roofs we could still mark the flapping and flutter of +white kerchiefs from those whom we left behind. Reuben sat his horse +beside me, with his spare shirt streaming in the wind and his great +pikemen all agrin behind him, though his thoughts and his eyes were +too far away to note them. As we gazed, a long thin quiver of sunshine +slipped out between two cloud banks and gilded the summit of the +Magdalene tower, with the Royal standard which still waved from it. The +incident was hailed as a happy augury, and a great shout spread from +rank to rank at the sight of it, with a waving of hats and a clattering +of weapons. Then the bugles blew a fanfare, the drums struck up a point +of war, Reuben thrust his shirt into his haversack, and on we marched +through mud and slush, with the dreary clouds bending low over us, and +buttressed by the no less dreary hills on either side. A seeker for +omens might have said that the heavens were weeping over our ill-fated +venture. + +All day we trudged along roads which were quagmires, over our ankles +in mud, until in the evening we made our way to Bridgewater, where we +gained some recruits, and also some hundred pounds for our military +chest, for it was a well-to-do place, with a thriving coast trade +carried on down the River Parret. After a night in snug quarters we set +off again in even worse weather than before. The country in these parts +is a quagmire in the driest season, but the heavy rains had caused the +fens to overflow, and turned them into broad lakes on either side of the +road. This may have been to some degree in our favour, as shielding us +from the raids of the King’s cavalry, but it made our march very +slow. All day it was splashing and swashing through mud and mire, the +rain-drops shining on the gun-barrels and dripping from the heavy-footed +horses. Past the swollen Parret, through Eastover, by the peaceful +village of Bawdrip, and over Polden Hill we made our way, until the +bugles sounded a halt under the groves of Ashcot, and a rude meal was +served out to the men. Then on again, through the pitiless rain, past +the wooded park of Piper’s Inn, through Walton, where the floods were +threatening the cottages, past the orchards of Street, and so in the +dusk of the evening into the grey old town of Glastonbury, where the +good folk did their best by the warmth of their welcome to atone for the +bitterness of the weather. + +The next morning was wet still and inclement, so the army made a short +march to Wells, which is a good-sized town, well laid out, with a fine +cathedral, which hath a great number of figures carved in stone and +placed in niches on the outer side, like that which we saw at Salisbury. +The townsfolk were strong for the Protestant cause, and the army was so +well received that their victual cost little from the military chest. On +this march we first began to come into touch with the Royal horse. More +than once when the rain mist cleared we saw the gleam of arms upon the +low hills which overlook the road, and our scouts came in with reports +of strong bodies of dragoons on either flank. At one time they massed +heavily upon our rear, as though planning a descent upon the baggage. +Saxon, however, planted a regiment of pikes on either side, so that they +broke up again and glinted off over the hills. + +From Wells we marched upon the twenty-fourth to Shepton Mallet, with the +ominous sabres and helmets still twinkling behind and on either side of +us. + +That evening we were at Keynsham Bridge, less than two leagues from +Bristol as the crow flies, and some of our horse forded the river and +pushed on almost to the walls. + +By morning the rain clouds had at last cleared, so Reuben and I rode +slowly up one of the sloping green hills which rose behind the camp, in +the hope of gaining some sight of the enemy. Our men we left littered +about upon the grass, trying to light fires with the damp sticks, or +laying out their clothes to dry in the sunshine. A strange-looking band +they were, coated and splashed with mud from head to heel, their hats +all limp and draggled, their arms rusted, and their boots so worn that +many walked barefoot, and others had swathed their kerchiefs round +their feet. Yet their short spell of soldiering had changed them +from honest-faced yokels into fierce-eyed, half-shaven, gaunt-cheeked +fellows, who could carry arms or port pikes as though they had done +nought else since childhood. + +The plight of the officers was no better than that of the men, nor +should an officer, my dears, when he is upon service, ever demean +himself by partaking of any comfort which all cannot share with him. Let +him lie by a soldier’s fire and eat a soldier’s fare, or let him hence, +for he is a hindrance and a stumbling-block. Our clothes were pulp, our +steel fronts red with rust, and our chargers as stained and splashed as +though they had rolled in the mire. Our very swords and pistols were in +such a plight that we could scarce draw the one or snap the other. Sir +Gervas alone succeeded in keeping his attire and his person as neat and +as dainty as ever. What he did in the watches of the night, and how he +gained his sleep, hath ever been a mystery to me, for day after day +he turned out at the bugle call, washed, scented, brushed, with wig +in order, and clothes from which every speck of mud had been carefully +removed. At his saddle-bow he bore with him the great flour dredger +which we saw him use at Taunton, and his honest musqueteers had their +heads duly dusted every morning, though in an hour their tails would +be as brown as nature made them, while the flour would be trickling in +little milky streams down their broad backs, or forming in cakes upon +the skirts of their coats. It was a long contest between the weather and +the Baronet, but our comrade proved the victor. + +‘There was a time when I was called plump Reuben,’ quoth my friend, as +we rode together up the winding track. ‘What with too little that is +solid and too much that is liquid I am like to be skeleton Reuben ere I +see Havant again. I am as full of rain-water as my father’s casks are of +October. I would, Micah, that you would wring me out and hang me to dry +upon one of these bushes.’ + +‘If we are wet, King James’s men must be wetter,’ said I, ‘for at least +we have had such shelter as there was.’ + +‘It is poor comfort when you are starved to know that another is in +the same plight. I give you my word, Micah, I took in one hole of my +sword-belt on Monday, two on Tuesday, one yesterday, and one to-day. I +tell you, I am thawing like an icicle in the sun.’ + +‘If you should chance to dwindle to nought,’ said I, laughing, ‘what +account are we to give of you in Taunton? Since you have donned armour +and taken to winning the hearts of fair maidens, you have outstripped us +all in importance, and become a man of weight and substance.’ + +‘I had more substance and weight ere I began trailing over the +countryside like a Hambledon packman,’ quoth he. ‘But in very truth and +with all gravity, Micah, it is a strange thing to feel that the whole +world for you, your hopes, your ambitions, your all, are gathered into +so small a compass that a hood might cover it, and two little pattens +support it. I feel as if she were my own higher self, my loftier +part, and that I, should I be torn from her, would remain for ever an +incomplete and half-formed being. With her, I ask nothing else. Without +her, all else is nothing.’ + +‘But have you spoken to the old man?’ I asked. ‘Are you indeed +betrothed?’ + +‘I have spoken to him,’ my friend answered, ‘but he was so busy in +filling ammunition cases that I could not gain his attention. When I +tried once more he was counting the spare pikes in the Castle armoury +with a tally and an ink-horn. I told him that I had come to crave his +granddaughter’s hand, on which he turned to me and asked, “which hand?” + with so blank a stare that it was clear that his mind was elsewhere. On +the third trial, though, the day that you did come back from Badminton, +I did at last prefer my request, but he flashed out at me that this was +no time for such fooleries, and he bade me wait until King Monmouth was +on the throne, when I might ask him again. I warrant that he did not +call such things fooleries fifty years ago, when he went a-courting +himself.’ + +‘At least he did not refuse you,’ said I. ‘It is as good as a promise +that; should the cause be successful, you shall be so too.’ + +‘By my faith,’ cried Reuben, ‘if a man could by his own single blade +bring that about, there is none who hath so strong an interest in it as +I. No, not Monmouth himself! The apprentice Derrick hath for a long time +raised his eyes to his master’s daughter, and the old man was ready to +have him as a son, so much was he taken by his godliness and zeal. Yet I +have learned from a side-wind that he is but a debauched and low-living +man, though he covers his pleasures with a mask of piety. I thought as +you did think that he was at the head of the roisterers who tried to +bear Mistress Ruth away, though, i’ faith, I can scarce think harshly +of them, since they did me the greatest service that ever men did yet. +Meanwhile I have taken occasion, ere we left Wells two nights ago, to +speak to Master Derrick on the matter, and to warn him as he loved his +life to plan no treachery against her. + +‘And how took he this mild intimation?’ I asked. + +‘As a rat takes a rat trap. Snarled out some few words of godly hatred, +and so slunk away.’ + +‘On my life, lad,’ said I, ‘you have been having as many adventures in +your own way as I in mine. But here we are upon the hill-top, with as +fair an outlook as man could wish to have.’ + +Just beneath us ran the Avon, curving in long bends through the +woodlands, with the gleam of the sun striking back from it here and +there, as though a row of baby suns had been set upon a silver string. +On the further side the peaceful, many-hued country, rising and falling +in a swell of cornfields and orchards, swept away to break in a fringe +of forest upon the distant Malverns. On our right were the green hills +near Bath and on our left the rugged Mendips, with queenly Bristol +crouching behind her forts, and the grey channel behind flecked with +snow-white sails. At our very feet lay Keynsham Bridge, and our army +spotted in dark patches over the green fields, the smoke of their fires +and the babble of their voices floating up in the still summer air. + +A road ran along the Somersetshire bank of the Avon, and down this two +troops of our horse were advancing, with intent to establish outposts +upon our eastern flank. As they jangled past in somewhat loose order, +their course lay through a pine-wood, into which the road takes a sharp +bend. We were gazing down at the scene when, like lightning from a +cloud, a troop of the Horse Guards wheeled out into the open, and +breaking from trot to canter, and from canter to gallop, dashed down in +a whirlwind of blue and steel upon our unprepared squadrons. A crackle +of hastily unslung carbines broke from the leading ranks, but in an +instant the Guards burst through them and plunged on into the second +troop. For a space the gallant rustics held their own, and the dense +mass of men and horses swayed backwards and forwards, with the swirling +sword-blades playing above them in flashes of angry light. Then blue +coats began to break from among the russet, the fight rolled wildly back +for a hundred paces, the dense throng was split asunder, and the Royal +Guards came pouring through the rent, and swerved off to right and left +through hedges and over ditches, stabbing and hacking at the fleeing +horsemen. The whole scene, with the stamping horses, tossing manes, +shouts of triumph or despair, gasping of hard-drawn breath and musical +clink and clatter of steel, was to us upon the hill like some wild +vision, so swiftly did it come and so swiftly go. A sharp, stern +bugle-call summoned the Blues back into the road, where they formed up +and trotted slowly away before fresh squadrons could come up from the +camp. The sun gleamed and the river rippled as ever, and there was +nothing save the long litter of men and horses to mark the course of the +hell blast which had broken so suddenly upon us. + +As the Blues retired we observed that a single officer brought up the +rear, riding very slowly, as though it went much against his mood to +turn his back even to an army. The space betwixt the troop and him was +steadily growing greater, yet he made no effort to quicken his pace, +but jogged quietly on, looking back from time to time to see if he were +followed. The same thought sprang into my comrade’s mind and my own at +the same instant, and we read it in each other’s faces. + +‘This path,’ cried he eagerly. ‘It brings us out beyond the grove, and +is in the hollow all the way.’ + +‘Lead the horses until we get on better ground,’ I answered. ‘We may +just cut him off if we are lucky.’ + +There was no time for another word, for we hurried off down the uneven +track, sliding and slipping on the rain-soaked turf. Springing into our +saddles we dashed down the gorge, through the grove, and so out on to +the road in time to see the troop disappear in the distance, and to meet +the solitary officer face to face. + +He was a sun-burned, high-featured man, with black mustachios, mounted +on a great raw-boned chestnut charger. As we broke out on to the road he +pulled up to have a good look at us. Then, having fully made up his mind +as to our hostile intent, he drew his sword, plucked a pistol out of his +holster with his left hand, and gripping the bridle between his teeth, +dug his spurs into his horse’s flanks and charged down upon us at the +top of his speed. As we dashed at him, Reuben on his bridle arm and I +on the other, he cut fiercely at me, and at the same moment fired at my +companion. The ball grazed Reuben’s cheek, leaving a red weal behind it +like a lash from a whip, and blackening his face with the powder. His +cut, however, fell short, and throwing my arm round his waist as the two +horses dashed past each other, I plucked him from the saddle and drew +him face upwards across my saddlebow. Brave Covenant lumbered on with +his double burden, and before the Guards had learned that they had lost +their officer, we had brought him safe, in spite of his struggles and +writhings, to within sight of Monmouth’s camp. + +‘A narrow shave, friend,’ quoth Reuben, with his hand to his cheek. ‘He +hath tattooed my face with powder until I shall be taken for Solomon +Sprent’s younger brother.’ + +‘Thank God that you are unhurt,’ said I. ‘See, our horse are advancing +along the upper road. Lord Grey himself rides at their head. We had best +take our prisoner into camp, since we can do nought here.’ + +‘For Christ’s sake, either slay me or set me down!’ he cried. ‘I cannot +bear to be carried in this plight, like a half-weaned infant, through +your campful of grinning yokels.’ + +‘I would not make sport of a brave man,’ I answered. ‘If you will give +your word to stay with us, you shall walk between us.’ + +‘Willingly,’ said he, scrambling down and arranging his ruffled attire. +‘By my faith, sirs, ye have taught me a lesson not to think too meanly +of mine enemies. I should have ridden with my troop had I thought that +there was a chance of falling in with outposts or videttes.’ + +‘We were upon the hill before we cut you off,’ quoth Reuben. ‘Had that +pistol ball been a thought straighter, it is I that should have been +truly the cut-off one. Zounds, Micah! I was grumbling even now that I +had fallen away, but had my cheek been as round as of old the slug had +been through it.’ + +‘Where have I seen you before?’ asked our captive, bending his dark +eyes upon me. ‘Aye, I have it! It was in the inn at Salisbury, where +my light-headed comrade Horsford did draw upon an old soldier who was +riding with you. Mine own name is Ogilvy--Major Ogilvy of the Horse +Guards Blue. I was right glad that ye did come off safely from the +hounds. Some word had come of your errand after your departure, so this +same Horsford with the Mayor and one or two other Tantivies, whose zeal +methinks outran their humanity, slipped the dogs upon your trail.’ + +‘I remember you well,’ I answered. ‘You will find Colonel Decimus Saxon, +my former companion, in the camp. No doubt you will be shortly exchanged +for some prisoner of ours.’ + +‘Much more likely to have my throat cut,’ said he, with a smile. ‘I +fear that Feversham in his present temper will scarce pause to make +prisoners, and Monmouth may be tempted to pay him back in his own +coin. Yet it is the fortune of war, and I should pay for my want of all +soldierly caution. Truth to tell, my mind was far from battles and ruses +at the moment, for it had wandered away to aqua-regia and its action +upon the metals, until your appearance brought me back to soldiership.’ + +‘The horse are out of sight,’ said Reuben, looking backwards, ‘ours as +well as theirs. Yet I see a clump of men over yonder at the other side +of the Avon, and there on the hillside can you not see the gleam of +steel?’ + +‘There are foot there,’ I answered, puckering my eyes. ‘It seems to me +that I can discern four or five regiments and as many colours of horse. +King Monmouth should know of this with all speed.’ + +‘He does know of it,’ said Reuben. ‘Yonder he stands under the trees +with his council about him. See, one of them rides this way!’ + +A trooper had indeed detached himself from the group and galloped +towards us. ‘If you are Captain Clarke, sir,’ he said, with a salute, +‘the King orders you to join his council.’ + +‘Then I leave the Major in your keeping, Reuben,’ I cried. ‘See that +he hath what our means allow.’ So saying I spurred my horse, and soon +joined the group who were gathered round the King. There were Grey, +Wade, Buyse, Ferguson, Saxon, Hollis, and a score more, all looking very +grave, and peering down the valley with their glasses. Monmouth himself +had dismounted, and was leaning against the trunk of a tree, with his +arms folded upon his breast, and a look of white despair upon his face. +Behind the tree a lackey paced up and down leading his glossy black +charger, who pranced and tossed his lordly mane, a very king among +horses. + +‘You see, friends,’ said Monmouth, turning lack-lustre eyes from one +leader to another, ‘Providence would seem to be against us. Some new +mishap is ever at our heels.’ + +‘Not Providence, your Majesty, but our own negligence,’ cried Saxon +boldly. ‘Had we advanced on Bristol last night, we might have been on +the right side of the ramparts by now.’ + +‘But we had no thought that the enemy’s foot was so near!’ exclaimed +Wade. + +‘I told ye what would come of it, and so did Oberst Buyse and the worthy +Mayor of Taunton,’ Saxon answered. ‘However, there is nought to be +gained by mourning over a broken pipkin. We must e’en piece it together +as best we may.’ + +‘Let us advance on Bristol, and put oor trust in the Highest,’ quoth +Ferguson. ‘If it be His mighty will that we should tak’ it, then +shall we enter into it, yea, though drakes and sakers lay as thick as +cobblestanes in the streets.’ + +‘Aye! aye! On to Bristol! God with us!’ cried several of the Puritans +excitedly. + +‘But it is madness--dummheit--utter foolishness,’ Buyse broke in hotly. +‘You have the chance and you will not take it. Now the chance is gone +and you are all eager to go. Here is an army of, as near as I can judge, +five thousand men on the right side of the river. We are on the wrong +side, and yet you talk of crossing and making a beleaguering of Bristol +without breaching-pieces or spades, and with this force in our rear. +Will the town make terms when they can see from their ramparts the van +of the army which comes to help them? Or does it assist us in fighting +the army to have a strong town beside us, from which horse and foot can +make an outfall upon our flank? I say again that it is madness.’ + +What the German soldier said was so clearly the truth that even the +fanatics were silenced. Away in the east the long shimmering lines +of steel, and the patches of scarlet upon the green hillside, were +arguments which the most thoughtless could not overlook. + +‘What would you advise, then?’ asked Monmouth moodily, tapping his +jewelled riding-whip against his high boots. + +‘To cross the river and come to hand-grips with them ere they can +get help from the town,’ the burly German answered bluntly. ‘I cannot +understand what we are here for if it be not to fight. If we win, the +town must fall. If we lose, We have had a bold stroke for it, and can do +no more.’ + +‘Is that your opinion, too, Colonel Saxon?’ the King asked. + +‘Assuredly, your Majesty, if we can fight to advantage. We can scarce +do that, however, by crossing the river on a single narrow bridge in +the face of such a force. I should advise that we destroy this Keynsham +Bridge, and march down this southern bank in the hope of forcing a fight +in a position which we may choose.’ + +‘We have not yet summoned Bath,’ said Wade. ‘Let us do as Colonel Saxon +proposes, and let us in the meantime march in that direction and send a +trumpet to the governor.’ + +‘There is yet another plan,’ quoth Sir Stephen Timewell, ‘which is to +hasten to Gloucester, to cross the Severn there, and so march through +Worcestershire into Shropshire and Cheshire. Your Majesty has many +friends in those parts.’ + +Monmouth paced up and down with his hand to his forehead like one +distrait. ‘What am I to do,’ he cried at last, ‘in the midst of all this +conflicting advice, when I know that not only my own success, but the +lives of these poor faithful peasants and craftsmen depend upon my +resolution?’ + +‘With all humbleness, your Majesty,’ said Lord Grey, who had just +returned with the horse, ‘I should suggest, since there are only a few +troops of their cavalry on this side of the Avon, that we blow up the +bridge and move onwards to Bath, whence we can pass into Wiltshire, +which we know to be friendly.’ + +‘So be it!’ cried the King, with the reckless air of one who accepts +a plan, not because it is the best, but because he feels that all are +equally hopeless. ‘What think you, gentlemen?’ he added, with a bitter +smile. ‘I have heard news from London this morning, that my uncle has +clapped two hundred merchants and others who are suspected of being true +to their creed into the Tower and the Fleet. He will have one half of +the nation mounting guard over the other half ere long.’ + +‘Or the whole, your Majesty, mounting guard over him,’ suggested Wade. +‘He may himself see the Traitor’s Gate some of these mornings.’ + +‘Ha, ha! Think ye so? think ye so!’ cried Monmouth, rubbing his hands +and brightening into a smile. ‘Well, mayhap you have nicked the truth. +Who knows? Henry’s cause seemed a losing one until Bosworth Field +settled the contention. To your charges, gentlemen. We shall march in +half-an-hour. Colonel Saxon and you, Sir Stephen, shall cover the rear +and guard the baggage--a service of honour with this fringe of horse +upon our skirts.’ + +The council broke up forthwith, every man riding off to his own +regiment. The whole camp was in a stir, bugles blowing and drums +rattling, until in a very short time the army was drawn up in order, and +the forlorn of cavalry had already started along the road which leads to +Bath. Five hundred horse with the Devonshire militiamen were in the van. +After them in order came the sailor regiment, the North Somerset men, +the first Taunton regiment of burghers, the Mendip and Bagworthy miners, +the lace and wool-workers of Honiton, Wellington, and Ottery St. Mary; +the woodmen, the graziers, the marsh-men, and the men from the Quantock +district. Behind were the guns and the baggage, with our own brigade and +four colours of horse as a rearguard. On our march we could see the red +coats of Feversham keeping pace with us upon the other side of the Avon. +A large body of his horse and dragoons had forded the stream and hovered +upon our skirts, but Saxon and Sir Stephen covered the baggage so +skilfully, and faced round so fiercely with such a snarl of musketry +whenever they came too nigh, that they never ventured to charge home. + + + +Chapter XXVIII. Of the Fight in Wells Cathedral + +I am fairly tied to the chariot-wheels of history now, my dear children, +and must follow on with name and place and date, whether my tale suffer +by it or no. With such a drama as this afoot it were impertinent to +speak of myself, save in so far as I saw or heard what may make these +old scenes more vivid to you. It is no pleasant matter for me to dwell +upon, yet, convinced as I am that there is no such thing as chance +either in the great or the little things of this world, I am very sure +that the sacrifices of these brave men were not thrown away, and that +their strivings were not as profitless as might at first sight appear. +If the perfidious race of Stuart is not now seated upon the throne, and +if religion in England is still a thing of free growth, we may, to my +thinking, thank these Somerset yokels for it, who first showed how small +a thing would shake the throne of an unpopular monarch. Monmouth’s +army was but the vanguard of that which marched throe years later into +London, when James and his cruel ministers were flying as outcasts over +the face of the earth. + +On the night of June 27, or rather early in the morning of June 28, we +reached the town of Frome, very wet and miserable, for the rain had come +on again, and all the roads were quagmires. From this next day we pushed +on once more to Wells, where we spent the night and the whole of the +next day, to give the men time to get their clothes dry, and to recover +themselves after their privations. + +In the forenoon a parade of our Wiltshire regiment was held in the +Cathedral Close, when Monmouth praised it, as it well deserved, for the +soldierly progress made in so short a time. + +As we returned to our quarters after dismissing our men we came upon a +great throng of the rough Bagworthy and Oare miners, who were assembled +in the open space in front of the Cathedral, listening to one of their +own number, who was addressing them from a cart. The wild and frenzied +gestures of the man showed us that he was one of those extreme sectaries +whose religion runs perilously near to madness. The hums and groans +which rose from the crowd proved, however, that his fiery words were +well suited to his hearers, so we halted on the verge of the multitude +and hearkened to his address. A red-bearded, fierce-faced man he was, +with tangled shaggy hair tumbling over his gleaming eyes, and a hoarse +voice which resounded over the whole square. + +‘What shall we not do for the Lord?’ he cried; ‘what shall we not do for +the Holy of Holies? Why is it that His hand is heavy upon us? Why is it +that we have not freed this land, even as Judith freed Bethulia? Behold, +we have looked for peace but no good came, and for a time of health, and +behold trouble! Why is this, I say? Truly, brothers, it is because we +have slighted the Lord, because we have not been wholehearted towards +Him. Lo! we have praised Him with our breath, but in our deeds we have +been cold towards Him. Ye know well that Prelacy is an accursed thing--a +hissing and an abomination in the eyes of the Almighty! Yet what have +we, His servants, wrought for Him in this matter? Have we not seen +Prelatist churches, churches of form and of show, where the creature is +confounded with the Creator--have we not seen them, I say, and have we +not forborne to sweep them away, and so lent our sanction to them? There +is the sin of a lukewarm and back-sliding generation! There is the cause +why the Lord should look coldly upon His people! Lo! at Shepton and at +Frome we have left such churches behind us. At Glastonbury, too, we have +spared those wicked walls which were reared by idolatrous hands of old. +Woe unto ye, if, after having put your hands to God’s plough, ye turn +back from the work! See there!’ he howled, facing round to the beautiful +Cathedral, ‘what means this great heap of stones? Is it not an altar of +Baal? Is it not built for man-worship rather than God-worship? Is it not +there that the man Ken, tricked out in his foolish rochet and baubles, +may preach his soulless and lying doctrines, which are but the old dish +of Popery served up under a new cover? And shall we suffer this thing? +Shall we, the chosen children of the Great One, allow this plague-spot +to remain? Can we expect the Almighty to help us when we will not +stretch out a hand to help Him? We have left the other temples of +Prelacy behind us. Shall we leave this one, too, my brothers?’ + +‘No, no!’ yelled the crowd, tossing and swaying. + +‘Shall we pluck it down, then, until no one stone is left upon another?’ + +‘Yes, yes!’ they shouted. + +‘Now, at once?’ + +‘Yes, yes!’ + +‘Then to work!’ he cried, and springing from the cart he rushed towards +the Cathedral, with the whole mob of wild fanatics at his heels. Some +crowded in, shouting and yelling, through the open doors, while others +swarmed up the pillars and pedestals of the front, hacking at the +sculptured ornaments, and tugging at the grey old images which filled +every niche. + +‘This must be stopped,’ said Saxon curtly. ‘We cannot afford to insult +and estray the whole Church of England to please a few hot-headed +ranters. The pillage of this Cathedral would do our cause more harm than +a pitched battle lost. Do you bring up your company, Sir Gervas, and we +shall do what we can to hold them in check until they come.’ + +‘Hi, Masterton!’ cried the Baronet, spying one of his under-officers +among the crowd who were looking on, neither assisting nor opposing the +rioters. ‘Do you hasten to the quarters, and tell Barker to bring up the +company with their matches burning. I may be of use here.’ + +‘Ha, here is Buyse!’ cried Saxon joyously, as the huge German ploughed +his way through the crowd. ‘And Lord Grey, too! We must save the +Cathedral, my lord! They would sack and burn it.’ + +‘This way, gentlemen,’ cried an old grey-haired man, running out towards +us with hands outspread, and a bunch of keys clanking at his girdle. ‘Oh +hasten, gentlemen, if ye can indeed prevail over these lawless men! They +have pulled down Saint Peter, and they will have Paul down too unless +help comes. There will not be an apostle left. The east window is +broken. They have brought a hogshead of beer, and are broaching it +upon the high altar. Oh, alas, alas! That such things should be in a +Christian land!’ He sobbed aloud and stamped about in a very frenzy of +grief. + +‘It is the verger, sirs,’ said one of the townsfolk. ‘He hath grown grey +in the Cathedral.’ + +‘This way to the vestry door, my lords and gentlemen,’ cried the old +man, pushing a way strenuously through the crowd. ‘Now, lack-a-day, the +sainted Paul hath gone too!’ + +As he spoke a splintering crash from inside the Cathedral announced some +fresh outrage on the part of the zealots. Our guide hastened on with +renewed speed, until he came to a low oaken door heavily arched, which +he unlocked with much rasping of wards and creaking of hinges. Through +this we sidled as best we might, and hurried after the old man down a +stone-flagged corridor, which led through a wicket into the Cathedral +close by the high altar. + +The great building was full of the rioters, who were rushing hither and +thither, destroying and breaking everything which they could lay their +hands on. A good number of these were genuine zealots, the followers of +the preacher whom we had listened to outside. Others, however, were on +the face of them mere rogues and thieves, such as gather round every +army upon the march. While the former were tearing down images from the +walls, or hurling the books of common prayer through the stained-glass +windows, the others were rooting up the massive brass candlesticks, +and carrying away everything which promised to be of value. One ragged +fellow was in the pulpit, tearing off the crimson velvet and hurling it +down among the crowd. Another had upset the reading-desk, and was busily +engaged in wrenching off the brazen fastenings. In the centre of +the side aisle a small group had a rope round the neck of Mark the +Evangelist, and were dragging lustily upon it, until, even as we +entered, the statue, after tottering for a few moments, came crashing +down upon the marble floor. The shouts which greeted every fresh +outrage, with the splintering of woodwork, the smashing of windows, and +the clatter of falling masonry, made up a most deafening uproar, which +was increased by the droning of the organ, until some of the rioters +silenced it by slitting up the bellows. + +What more immediately concerned ourselves was the scene which was being +enacted just in front of us at the high altar. A barrel of beer had been +placed upon it, and a dozen ruffians gathered round it, one of whom with +many ribald jests had climbed up, and was engaged in knocking in the +top of the cask with a hatchet. As we entered he had just succeeded in +broaching it, and the brown mead was foaming over, while the mob with +roars of laughter were passing up their dippers and pannikins. The +German soldier rapped out a rough jagged oath at this spectacle, and +shouldering his way through the roisterers he sprang upon the altar. +The ringleader was bending over his cask, black-jack in hand, when the +soldier’s iron grip fell upon his collar, and in a moment his heels were +flapping in the air, and his head three feet deep in the cask, while the +beer splashed and foamed in every direction. With a mighty heave Buyse +picked up the barrel with the half-drowned miner inside, and hurled it +clattering down the broad marble steps which led from the body of the +church. At the same time, with the aid of a dozen of our men who had +followed us into the Cathedral, we drove back the fellow’s comrades, and +thrust them out beyond the rails which divided the choir from the nave. + +Our inroad had the effect of checking the riot, but it simply did so by +turning the fury of the zealots from the walls and windows to ourselves. +Images, stone-work, and wood-carvings were all abandoned, and the whole +swarm came rushing up with a hoarse buzz of rage, all discipline and +order completely lost in their religious frenzy. ‘Smite the Prelatists!’ +they howled. ‘Down with the friends of Antichrist! Cut them off even at +the horns of the altar! Down with them!’ On either side they massed, a +wild, half-demented crowd, some with arms and some without, but filled +to a man with the very spirit of murder. + +‘This is a civil war within a civil war,’ said Lord Grey, with a quiet +smile. ‘We had best draw, gentlemen, and defend the gap in the rails, if +we may hold it good until help arrives.’ He flashed out his rapier as +he spoke, and took his stand on the top of the steps, with Saxon and Sir +Gervas upon one side of him, Buyse, Reuben, and myself upon the other. +There was only room for six to wield their weapons with effect, so our +scanty band of followers scattered themselves along the line of the +rails, which were luckily so high and strong as to make an escalado +difficult in the face of any opposition. + +The riot had now changed into open mutiny among these marshmen and +miners. Pikes, scythes, and knives glimmered through the dim light, +while their wild cries re-echoed from the high arched roof like the +howling of a pack of wolves. ‘Go forward, my brothers,’ cried the +fanatic preacher, who had been the cause of the outbreak--‘go forward +against them! What though they be in high places! There is One who +is higher than they. Shall we shrink from His work because of a naked +sword? Shall we suffer the Prelatist altar to be preserved by these sons +of Amalek? On, on! In the name of the Lord!’ + +‘In the name of the Lord!’ cried the crowd, with a sort of hissing gasp, +like one who is about to plunge into an icy bath. ‘In the name of the +Lord!’ From either side they came on, gathering speed and volume, until +at last with a wild cry they surged right down upon our sword-points. + +I can say nothing of what took place to right or left of me during the +ruffle, for indeed there were so many pressing upon us, and the fight +was so hot, that it was all that each of us could do to hold our own. +The very number of our assailants was in our favour, by hampering their +sword-arms. One burly miner cut fiercely at me with his scythe, but +missing me he swung half round with the force of the blow, and I passed +my sword through his body before he could recover himself. It was the +first time that I had ever slain a man in anger, my dear children, and +I shall never forget his white startled face as he looked over his +shoulder at me ere he fell. Another closed in with me before I could get +my weapon disengaged, but I struck him out with my left hand, and then +brought the flat of my sword upon his head, laying him senseless +upon the pavement. God knows, I did not wish to take the lives of the +misguided and ignorant zealots, but our own were at stake. A marshman, +looking more like a shaggy wild beast than a human being, darted under +my weapon and caught me round the knees, while another brought a flail +down upon my head-piece, from which it glanced on to my shoulder. A +third thrust at me with a pike, and pricked me on the thigh, but I shore +his weapon in two with one blow, and split his head with the next. The +man with the flail gave back at sight of this, and a kick freed me from +the unarmed ape-like creature at my feet, so that I found myself clear +of my assailants, and none the worse for my encounter, save for a touch +on the leg and some stiffness of the neck and shoulder. + +Looking round I found that my comrades had also beaten off those who +were opposed to them. Saxon was holding his bloody rapier in his left +hand, while the blood was trickling from a slight wound upon his right. +Two miners lay across each other in front of him, but at the feet of +Sir Gervas Jerome no fewer than four bodies were piled together. He had +plucked out his snuff-box as I glanced at him, and was offering it with +a bow and a flourish to Lord Grey, as unconcernedly as though he were +back once more in his London coffee-house. Buyse leaned upon his long +broadsword, and looked gloomily at a headless trunk in front of him, +which I recognised from the dress as being that of the preacher. As to +Reuben, he was unhurt himself, but in sore distress over my own trifling +scar, though I assured the faithful lad that it was a less thing than +many a tear from branch or thorn which we had had when blackberrying +together. + +The fanatics, though driven back, were not men to be content with a +single repulse. They had lost ten of their number, including their +leader, without being able to break our line, but the failure only +served to increase their fury. For a minute or so they gathered panting +in the aisle. Then with a mad yell they dashed in once more, and made a +desperate effort to cut a way through to the altar. It was a fiercer and +more prolonged struggle than before. One of our followers was stabbed to +the heart over the rails, and fell without a groan. Another was stunned +by a mass of masonry hurled at him by a giant cragsman. Reuben was +felled by a club, and would have been dragged out and hacked to pieces +had I not stood over him and beaten off his assailants. Sir Gervas was +borne off his legs by the rush, but lay like a wounded wildcat, striking +out furiously at everything which came within his reach. Buyse and +Saxon, back to back, stood firm amidst the seething, rushing crowd, +cutting down every man within sweep of their swords. Yet in such a +struggle numbers must in the end prevail, and I confess that I for one +had begun to have fears for the upshot of our contest, when the heavy +tramp of disciplined feet rang through the Cathedral, and the Baronet’s +musqueteers came at a quick run up the central aisle. The fanatics did +not await their charge, but darted off over benches and pews, followed +by our allies, who were furious on seeing their beloved Captain upon the +ground. There was a wild minute or two, with confused shuffling of feet, +stabs, groans, and the clatter of musket butts on the marble floor. Of +the rioters some were slain, but the greater part threw down their arms +and were arrested at the command of Lord Grey, while a strong guard was +placed at the gates to prevent any fresh outburst of sectarian fury. + +When at last the Cathedral was cleared and order restored, we had time +to look around us and to reckon our own injuries. In all my wanderings, +and the many wars in which I afterwards fought--wars compared to which +this affair of Monmouth’s was but the merest skirmish--I have never seen +a stranger or more impressive scene. In the dim, solemn light the pile +of bodies in front of the rails, with their twisted limbs and white-set +faces, had a most sad and ghost-like aspect. The evening light, shining +through one of the few unbroken stained-glass windows, cast great +splotches of vivid crimson and of sickly green upon the heap of +motionless figures. A few wounded men sat about in the front pews or lay +upon the steps moaning for water. Of our own small company not one had +escaped unscathed. Three of our followers had been slain outright, while +a fourth was lying stunned from a blow. Buyse and Sir Gervas were much +bruised. Saxon was cut on the right arm. Reuben had been felled by a +bludgeon stroke, and would certainly have been slain but for the fine +temper of Sir Jacob Clancing’s breastplate, which had turned a fierce +pike-thrust. As to myself it is scarce worth the mention, but my head +sang for some hours like a good wife’s kettle, and my boot was full of +blood, which may have been a blessing in disguise, for Sneckson, our +Havant barber, was ever dinning into my ears how much the better I +should be for a phlebotomy. + +In the meantime all the troops had assembled and the mutiny been swiftly +stamped out. There were doubtless many among the Puritans who had no +love for the Prelatists, but none save the most crack-brained fanatics +could fail to see that the sacking of the Cathedral would set the +whole Church of England in arms, and ruin the cause for which they were +fighting. As it was, much damage had been done; for whilst the gang +within had been smashing all which they could lay their hands upon, +others outside had chipped off cornices and gargoyles, and had even +dragged the lead covering from the roof and hurled it down in great +sheets to their companions beneath. This last led to some profit, for +the army had no great store of ammunition, so the lead was gathered up +by Monmouth’s orders and recast into bullets. The prisoners were held +in custody for a time, but it was deemed unwise to punish them, so that +they were finally pardoned and dismissed from the army. + +A parade of our whole force was held in the fields outside the town upon +the second day of our stay at Wells, the weather having at last become +warm and sunny. The foot was then found to muster six regiments of nine +hundred men, or five thousand four hundred in all. Of these fifteen +hundred were musqueteers, two thousand were pikemen, and the rest were +scythesmen or peasants with flails and hammers. A few bodies, such as +our own or those from Taunton, might fairly lay claim to be soldiers, +but the most of them were still labourers and craftsmen with weapons +in their hands. Yet, ill-armed and ill-drilled as they were, they were +still strong robust Englishmen, full of native courage and of religious +zeal. The light and fickle Monmouth began to take heart once more at the +sight of their sturdy bearing, and at the sound of their hearty cheers. +I heard him as I sat my horse beside his staff speak exultantly to those +around him, and ask whether these fine fellows could possibly be beaten +by mercenary half-hearted hirelings. + +‘What say you, Wade!’ he cried. ‘Are we never to see a smile on that sad +face of yours? Do you not see a woolsack in store for you as you look +upon these brave fellows?’ + +‘God forbid that I should say a word to damp your Majesty’s ardour,’ the +lawyer answered; ‘yet I cannot but remember that there was a time when +your Majesty, at the head of these same hirelings, did drive men as +brave as these in headlong rout from Bothwell Bridge.’ + +‘True, true!’ said the King, passing his hand over his forehead--a +favourite motion when he was worried and annoyed. ‘They were bold men, +the western Covenanters, yet they could not stand against the rush of +our battalions. But they had had no training, whereas these can fight in +line and fire a platoon as well as one would wish to see.’ + +‘If we hadna a gun nor a patronal among us,’ said Ferguson, ‘if we hadna +sae muckle as a sword, but just oor ain honds, yet would the Lard gie us +the victory, if it seemed good in His a’ seeing een.’ + +‘All battles are but chance work, your Majesty,’ remarked Saxon, whose +sword-arm was bound round with his kerchief. ‘Some lucky turn, some slip +or chance which none can foresee, is ever likely to turn the scale. I +have lost when I have looked to win, and I have won when I have looked +to lose. It is an uncertain game, and one never knows the finish till +the last card is played.’ + +‘Not till the stakes are drawn,’ said Buyse, in his deep guttural voice. +‘There is many a leader that wins what you call the trick, and yet loses +the game.’ + +‘The trick being the battle and the game the campaign,’ quoth the King, +with a smile. ‘Our German friend is a master of camp-fire metaphors. But +methinks our poor horses are in a sorry state. What would cousin William +over at The Hague, with his spruce guards, think of such a show as +this?’ + +During this talk the long column of foot had tramped past, still bearing +the banners which they had brought with them to the wars, though much +the worse for wind and weather. Monmouth’s remarks had been drawn forth +by the aspect of the ten troops of horse which followed. The chargers +had been sadly worn by the continued work and constant rain, while the +riders, having allowed their caps and fronts to get coated with rust, +appeared to be in as bad a plight as their steeds. It was clear to the +least experienced of us that if we were to hold our own it was upon +our foot that we must rely. On the tops of the low hills all round the +frequent shimmer of arms, glancing here and there when the sun’s rays +struck upon them, showed how strong our enemies were in the very point +in which we were so weak. Yet in the main this Wells review was cheering +to us, as showing that the men kept in good heart, and that there was no +ill-feeling at the rough handling of the zealots upon the day before. + +The enemy’s horse hovered about us during these days, but the foot had +been delayed through the heavy weather and the swollen streams. On the +last day of June we marched out of Wells, and made our way across flat +sedgy plains and over the low Polden Hills to Bridgewater, where we +found some few recruits awaiting us. Here Monmouth had some thoughts +of making a stand, and even set to work raising earthworks, but it was +pointed out to him that, even could he hold the town, there was not more +than a few days’ provisions within it, while the country round had been +already swept so bare that little more could be expected from it. The +works were therefore abandoned, and, fairly driven to bay, without a +loophole of escape left, we awaited the approach of the enemy. + + + +Chapter XXIX. Of the Great Cry from the Lonely House + +And so our weary marching and counter-marching came at last to an end, +and we found ourselves with our backs fairly against the wall, and the +whole strength of the Government turned against us. Not a word came +to us of a rising or movement in our favour in any part of England. +Everywhere the Dissenters were cast into prison and the Church dominant. +From north and east and west the militia of the counties was on its +march against us. In London six regiments of Dutch troops had arrived as +a loan from the Prince of Orange. Others were said to be on their way. +The City had enrolled ten thousand men. Everywhere there was mustering +and marching to succour the flower of the English army, which was +already in Somersetshire. And all for the purpose of crushing some five +or six thousand clodhoppers and fishermen, half-armed and penniless, who +were ready to throw their lives away for a man and for an idea. + +But this idea, my dear children, was a noble one, and one which a man +might very well sacrifice all for, and yet feel that all was well spent. +For though these poor peasants, in their dumb, blundering fashion, would +have found it hard to give all their reasons in words, yet in the inmost +heart of them they knew and felt that it was England’s cause which they +were fighting for, and that they were upholding their country’s true +self against those who would alter the old systems under which she had +led the nations. Three more years made all this very plain, and showed +that our simple unlettered followers had seen and judged the signs of +the times more correctly than those who called themselves their betters. +There are, to my thinking, stages of human progress for which the Church +of Rome is admirably suited. Where the mind of a nation is young, it may +be best that it should not concern itself with spiritual affairs, but +should lean upon the old staff of custom and authority. But England had +cast off her swaddling-clothes, and was a nursery of strong, thinking +men, who would bow to no authority save that which their reason and +conscience approved. It was hopeless, useless, foolish, to try to drive +such men back into a creed which they had outgrown. Such an attempt was, +however, being made, backed by all the weight of a bigoted king with a +powerful and wealthy Church as his ally. In three years the nation would +understand it, and the King would be flying from his angry people; but +at present, sunk in a torpor after the long civil wars and the corrupt +reign of Charles, they failed to see what was at stake, and turned +against those who would warn them, as a hasty man turns on the messenger +who is the bearer of evil tidings. Is it not strange, my dears, how +quickly a mere shadowy thought comes to take living form, and grow into +a very tragic reality? At one end of the chain is a king brooding over a +point of doctrine; at the other are six thousand desperate men, chivied +and chased from shire to shire, standing to bay at last amid the bleak +Bridgewater marshes, with their hearts as bitter and as hopeless as +those of hunted beasts of prey. A king’s theology is a dangerous thing +for his subjects. + +But if the idea for which these poor men fought was a worthy one, what +shall we say of the man who had been chosen as the champion of their +cause? Alas, that such men should have had such a leader! Swinging from +the heights of confidence to the depths of despair, choosing his future +council of state one day and proposing to fly from the army on the +next, he appeared from the start to be possessed by the very spirit +of fickleness. Yet he had borne a fair name before this enterprise. In +Scotland he had won golden opinions, not only for his success, but for +the moderation and mercy with which he treated the vanquished. On the +Continent he had commanded an English brigade in a way that earned +praise from old soldiers of Louis and the Empire. Yet now, when his own +head and his own fortunes were at stake, he was feeble, irresolute, and +cowardly. In my father’s phrase, ‘all the virtue had gone out of him.’ +I declare when I have seen him riding among his troops, with his head +bowed upon his breast and a face like a mute at a burying, casting an +air of gloom and of despair all round him, I have felt that, even in +case of success, such a man could never wear the crown of the Tudors and +the Plantagenets, but that some stronger hand, were it that of one of +his own generals, would wrest it from him. + +I will do Monmouth the justice to say that from the time when it was at +last decided to fight--for the very good reason that no other course was +open--he showed up in a more soldierly and manlier spirit. For the first +few days in July no means were neglected to hearten our troops and to +nerve them for the coming battle. From morning to night we were at work, +teaching our foot how to form up in dense groups to meet the charge of +horse, and how to depend upon each other, and look to their officers for +orders. At night the streets of the little town from the Castle Field +to the Parret Bridge resounded with the praying and the preaching. There +was no need for the officers to quell irregularities, for the troops +punished them amongst themselves. One man who came out on the streets +hot with wine was well-nigh hanged by his companions, who finally cast +him out of the town as being unworthy to fight in what they looked +upon as a sacred quarrel. As to their courage, there was no occasion to +quicken that, for they were as fearless as lions, and the only danger +was lest their fiery daring should lead them into foolhardiness. Their +desire was to hurl themselves upon the enemy like a horde of Moslem +fanatics, and it was no easy matter to drill such hot-headed fellows +into the steadiness and caution which war demands. + +Provisions ran low upon the third day of our stay in Bridgewater, which +was due to our having exhausted that part of the country before, and +also to the vigilance of the Royal Horse, who scoured the district round +and cut off our supplies. Lord Grey determined, therefore, to send +out two troops of horse under cover of night, to do what they could to +refill the larder. The command of the small expedition was given over +to Major Martin Hooker, an old Lifeguardsman of rough speech and curt +manners, who had done good service in drilling the headstrong farmers +and yeomen into some sort of order. Sir Gervas Jerome and I asked leave +from Lord Grey to join the foray--a favour which was readily granted, +since there was little stirring in the town. + +It was about eleven o’clock on a moonless night that we sallied out +of Bridgewater, intending to explore the country in the direction of +Boroughbridge and Athelney. We had word that there was no large body +of the enemy in that quarter, and it was a fertile district where +good store of supplies might be hoped for. We took with us four empty +waggons, to carry whatever we might have the luck to find. Our commander +arranged that one troop should ride before these and one behind, while a +small advance party, under the charge of Sir Gervas, kept some hundreds +of paces in front. In this order we clattered out of the town just as +the late bugles were blowing, and swept away down the quiet shadowy +roads, bringing anxious peering faces to the casements of the wayside +cottages as we whirled past in the darkness. + +That ride comes very clearly before me as I think of it. The dark loom +of the club-headed willows flitting by us, the moaning of the breeze +among the withies, the vague, blurred figures of the troopers, the dull +thud of the hoofs, and the jingling of scabbard against stirrup--eye and +ear can both conjure up those old-time memories. The Baronet and I rode +in front, knee against knee, and his light-hearted chatter of life in +town, with his little snatches of verse or song from Cowley or Waller, +were a very balm of Gilead to my sombre and somewhat heavy spirit. + +‘Life is indeed life on such a night as this,’ quoth he, as we breathed +in the fresh country air with the reeks of crops and of kine. ‘Rabbit +me! but you are to be envied, Clarke, for having been born and bred in +the country! What pleasures has the town to offer compared to the free +gifts of nature, provided always that there be a perruquier’s and +a snuff merchant’s, and a scent vendor’s, and one or two tolerable +outfitters within reach? With these and a good coffee-house and a +playhouse, I think I could make shift to lead a simple pastoral life for +some months.’ + +‘In the country,’ said I, laughing, ‘we have ever the feeling that the +true life of mankind, with the growth of knowledge and wisdom, are being +wrought out in the towns.’ + +‘Ventre Saint-Gris! It was little knowledge or wisdom that I acquired +there,’ he answered. ‘Truth to tell, I have lived more and learned more +during these few weeks that we have been sliding about in the rain with +our ragged lads, than ever I did when I was page of the court, with the +ball of fortune at my feet. It is a sorry thing for a man’s mind to have +nothing higher to dwell upon than the turning of a compliment or the +dancing of a corranto. Zounds, lad! I have your friend the carpenter to +thank for much. As he says in his letter, unless a man can get the good +that is in him out, he is of loss value in the world than one of those +fowls that we hear cackling, for they at least fulfill their mission, if +it be only to lay eggs. Ged, it is a new creed for me to be preaching!’ + +‘But,’ said I, ‘when you were a wealthy man you must have been of +service to some one, for how could one spend so much money and yet none +be the better?’ + +‘You dear bucolic Micah!’ he cried, with a gay laugh. ‘You will ever +speak of my poor fortune with bated breath and in an awestruck voice, as +though it were the wealth of the Indies. You cannot think, lad, how easy +it is for a money-bag to take unto itself wings and fly. It is true that +the man who spends it doth not consume the money, but passes it on to +some one who profits thereby. Yet the fault lies in the fact that it was +to the wrong folk that we passed our money, thereby breeding a useless +and debauched class at the expense of honest callings. Od’s fish, lad! +when I think of the swarms of needy beggars, the lecherous pimps, the +nose-slitting bullies, the toadies and the flatterers who were reared by +us, I feel that in hatching such a poisonous brood our money hath done +what no money can undo. Have I not seen them thirty deep of a morning +when I have held my levee, cringing up to my bedside--’ + +‘Your bedside!’ I exclaimed. + +‘Aye! it was the mode to receive in bed, attired in laced cambric +shirt and periwig, though afterwards it was permitted to sit up in your +chamber, but dressed _a la negligence_, in gown and slippers. The mode +is a terrible tyrant, Clarke, though its arm may not extend as far as +Havant. The idle man of the town must have some rule of life, so he +becomes a slave to the law of the fashions. No man in London was more +subject to it than myself. I was regular in my irregularities, and +orderly in my disorders. At eleven o’clock to the stroke, up came my +valet with the morning cup of hippocras, an excellent thing for the +qualms, and some slight refection, as the breast of an ortolan or wing +of a widgeon. Then came the levee, twenty, thirty, or forty of the class +I have spoken of, though now and then perhaps there might be some honest +case of want among them, some needy man-of-letters in quest of a guinea, +or pupil-less pedant with much ancient learning in his head and very +little modern coinage in his pocket. It was not only that I had some +power of mine own, but I was known to have the ear of my Lord Halifax, +Sidney Godolphin, Lawrence Hyde, and others whose will might make or mar +a man. Mark you those lights upon the left! Would it not be well to see +if there is not something to be had there?’ + +‘Hooker hath orders to proceed to a certain farm,’ I answered. ‘This we +could take upon our return should we still have space. We shall be back +here before morning.’ + +‘We must get supplies, if I have to ride back to Surrey for them,’ said +he. ‘Rat me, if I dare look my musqueteers in the face again unless I +bring them something to toast upon the end of their ramrods! They had +little more savoury than their own bullets to put in their mouths when +I left them. But I was speaking of old days in London. Our time was +well filled. Should a man of quality incline to sport there was ever +something to attract him. He might see sword-playing at Hockley, or +cocking at Shoe Lane, or baiting at Southwark, or shooting at Tothill +Fields. Again, he might walk in the physic gardens of St. James’s, or go +down the river with the ebb tide to the cherry orchards at Rotherhithe, +or drive to Islington to drink the cream, or, above all, walk in the +Park, which is most modish for a gentleman who dresses in the fashion. +You see, Clarke, that we were active in our idleness, and that there was +no lack of employment. Then as evening came on there were the playhouses +to draw us, Dorset Gardens, Lincoln’s Inn, Drury Lane, and the +Queen’s--among the four there was ever some amusement to be found.’ + +‘There, at least, your time was well employed,’ said I; ‘you could +not hearken to the grand thoughts or lofty words of Shakespeare or of +Massinger without feeling some image of them in your own soul.’ + +Sir Gervas chuckled quietly. ‘You are as fresh to me, Micah, as this +sweet country air,’ said he. ‘Know, thou dear babe, that it was not to +see the play that we frequented the playhouse.’ + +‘Then why, in Heaven’s name?’ I asked. + +‘To see each other,’ he answered. ‘It was the mode, I assure you, for a +man of fashion to stand with his back turned to the stage from the +rise of the curtain to the fall of it. There were the orange wenches to +quiz--plaguey sharp of tongue the hussies are, too--and there were the +vizards of the pit, whose little black masks did invite inquiry, and +there were the beauties of the town and the toasts of the Court, +all fair mark for our quizzing-glasses. Play, indeed! S’bud, we had +something better to do than to listen to alexandrines or weigh the +merits of hexameters! ‘Tis true that if La Jeune were dancing, or if +Mrs. Bracegirdle or Mrs. Oldfield came upon the boards, we would hum +and clap, but it was the fine woman that we applauded rather than the +actress.’ + +‘And when the play was over you went doubtless to supper and so to bed?’ + +‘To supper, certainly. Sometimes to the Rhenish House, sometimes to +Pontack’s in Abchurch Lane. Every one had his own taste in that matter. +Then there were dice and cards at the Groom Porter’s or under the arches +at Covent Garden, piquet, passage, hazard, primero--what you choose. +After that you could find all the world at the coffee-houses, where an +arriere supper was often served with devilled bones and prunes, to drive +the fumes of wine from the head. Zounds, Micah! If the Jews should relax +their pressure, or if this war brings us any luck, you shall come to +town with me and shall see all these things for yourself.’ + +‘Truth to tell, it doth not tempt me much,’ I answered. ‘Slow and solemn +I am by nature, and in such scenes as you have described I should feel a +very death’s head at a banquet.’ + +Sir Gervas was about to reply, when of a sudden out of the silence +of the night there rose a long-drawn piercing scream, which thrilled +through every nerve of our bodies. I have never heard such a wail of +despair. We pulled up our horses, as did the troopers behind us, and +strained our ears for some sign as to whence the sound proceeded, for +some were of opinion that it came from our right and some from our left. +The main body with the waggons had come up, and we all listened intently +for any return of the terrible cry. Presently it broke upon us again, +wild, shrill, and agonised: the scream of a woman in mortal distress. + +‘Tis over there, Major Hooker,’ cried Sir Gervas, standing up in his +stirrups and peering through the darkness. ‘There is a house about two +fields off. I can see some glimmer, as from a window with the blind +drawn.’ + +‘Shall we not make for it at once?’ I asked impatiently, for our +commander sat stolidly upon his horse as though by no means sure what +course he should pursue. + +‘I am here, Captain Clarke,’ said he, ‘to convey supplies to the army, +and I am by no means justified in turning from my course to pursue other +adventures.’ + +‘Death, man! there is a woman in distress,’ cried Sir Gervas. ‘Why, +Major, you would not ride past and let her call in vain for help? Hark, +there she is again!’ As he spoke the wild scream rang out once more from +the lonely house. + +‘Nay, I can abide this no longer,’ I cried, my blood boiling in my +veins; ‘do you go on your errand, Major Hooker, and my friend and I +shall leave you here. We shall know how to justify our action to the +King. Come, Sir Gervas!’ + +‘Mark ye, this is flat mutiny, Captain Clarke,’ said Hooker; ‘you are +under my orders, and should you desert me you do so at your peril.’ + +‘In such a case I care not a groat for thy orders,’ I answered hotly. +Turning Covenant I spurred down a narrow, deeply-rutted lane which +led towards the house, followed by Sir Gervas and two or three of the +troopers. At the same moment I heard a sharp word of command from Hooker +and the creaking of wheels, showing that he had indeed abandoned us and +proceeded on his mission. + +‘He is right,’ quoth the Baronet, as we rode down the lane; ‘Saxon or +any other old soldier would commend his discipline.’ + +‘There are things which are higher than discipline,’ I muttered. +‘I could not pass on and leave this poor soul in her distress. But +see--what have we here?’ + +A dark mass loomed in front of us, which proved as we approached to be +four horses fastened by their bridles to the hedge. + +‘Cavalry horses, Captain Clarke!’ cried one of the troopers who had +sprung down to examine them. ‘They have the Government saddle and +holsters. Here is a wooden gate which opens on a pathway leading to the +house.’ + +‘We had best dismount, then,’ said Sir Gervas, jumping down and tying +his horse beside the others. ‘Do you, lads, stay by the horses, and if +we call for ye come to our aid. Sergeant Holloway, you can come with us. +Bring your pistols with you!’ + + + +Chapter XXX. Of the Swordsman with the Brown Jacket + +The sergeant, who was a great raw-boned west-countryman, pushed the gate +open, and we were advancing up the winding pathway, when a stream of +yellow light flooded out from a suddenly opened door, and we saw a dark +squat figure dart through it into the inside of the house. At the same +moment there rose up a babel of sounds, followed by two pistol shots, +and a roaring, gasping hubbub, with clash of swords and storm of oaths. +At this sudden uproar we all three ran at our topmost speed up the +pathway and peered in through the open door, where we saw a scene such +as I shall never forget while this old memory of mine can conjure up any +picture of the past. + +The room was large and lofty, with long rows of hams and salted meats +dangling from the smoke-browned rafters, as is usual in Somersetshire +farmhouses. A high black clock ticked in a corner, and a rude table, +with plates and dishes laid out as for a meal, stood in the centre. +Right in front of the door a great fire of wood faggots was blazing, and +before this, to our unutterable horror, there hung a man head downwards, +suspended by a rope which was knotted round his ankles, and which, +passing over a hook in a beam, had been made fast to a ring in the +floor. The struggles of this unhappy man had caused the rope to whirl +round, so that he was spinning in front of the blaze like a joint +of meat. Across the threshold lay a woman, the one whose cries had +attracted us, but her rigid face and twisted body showed that our +aid had come too late to save her from the fate which she had seen +impending. Close by her two swarthy dragoons in the glaring red coats of +the Royal army lay stretched across each other upon the floor, dark and +scowling even in death. In the centre of the room two other dragoons +were cutting and stabbing with their broad-swords at a thick, short, +heavy-shouldered man, clad in coarse brown kersey stuff, who sprang +about among the chairs and round the table with a long basket-hilted +rapier in his hand, parrying or dodging their blows with wonderful +adroitness, and every now and then putting in a thrust in return. +Hard pressed as he was, his set resolute face, firm mouth, and bright +well-opened eyes spoke of a bold spirit within, while the blood which +dripped from the sleeve of one of his opponents proved that the contest +was not so unequal as it might appear. Even as we gazed he sprang back +to avoid a fierce rush of the furious soldiers, and by a quick sharp +side stroke he severed the rope by which the victim was hung. The body +fell with a heavy thud upon the brick floor, while the little swordsman +danced off in a moment into another quarter of the room, still stopping +or avoiding with the utmost ease and skill the shower of blows which +rained upon him. + +This strange scene held us spell-bound for a few seconds, but there was +no time for delay, for a slip or trip would prove fatal to the gallant +stranger. Rushing into the chamber, sword in hand, we fell upon the +dragoons, who, outnumbered as they were, backed into a corner and struck +out fiercely, knowing that they need expect no mercy after the devil’s +work in which they had been engaged. Holloway, our sergeant of horse, +springing furiously in, laid himself open to a thrust which stretched +him dead upon the ground. Before the dragoon could disengage his weapon, +Sir Gervas cut him down, while at the same moment the stranger got past +the guard of his antagonist, and wounded him mortally in the throat. +Of the four red-coats not one escaped alive, while the bodies of our +sergeant and of the old couple who had been the first victims increased +the horror of the scene. + +‘Poor Holloway is gone,’ said I, placing my hand over his heart. ‘Who +ever saw such a shambles? I feel sick and ill.’ + +‘Here is eau-de-vie, if I mistake not,’ cried the stranger, clambering +up on a chair and reaching a bottle from the shelf. ‘Good, too, by the +smell. Take a sup, for you are as white as a new-bleached sheet.’ + +‘Honest warfare I can abide, but scenes like this make my blood run +cold,’ I answered, taking a gulp from the flask. I was a very young +soldier then, my dears, but I confess that to the end of my campaigns +any form of cruelty had the same effect upon me. I give you my word that +when I went to London last fall the sight of an overworked, raw-backed +cart-horse straining with its load, and flogged for not doing that which +it could not do, gave me greater qualms than did the field of Sedgemoor, +or that greater day when ten thousand of the flower of France lay +stretched before the earthworks of Landen. + +‘The woman is dead,’ said Sir Gervas, ‘and the man is also, I fear, past +recovery. He is not burned, but suffers, I should judge, poor devil! +from the rush of blood to the head.’ + +‘If that be all it may well be cured, ‘remarked the stranger; and taking +a small knife from his pocket, he rolled up the old man’s sleeve and +opened one of his veins. At first only a few sluggish black drops oozed +from the wound, but presently the blood began to flow more freely, and +the injured man showed signs of returning sense. + +‘He will live,’ said the little swordsman, putting his lancet back in +his pocket. ‘And now, who may you be to whom I owe this interference +which shortened the affair, though mayhap the result would have been the +same had you left us to settle it amongst ourselves?’ + +‘We are from Monmouth’s army,’ I answered. ‘He lies at Bridgewater, and +we are scouting and seeking supplies.’ + +‘And who are you?’ asked Sir Gervas. ‘And how came you into this +ruffle? S’bud, you are a game little rooster to fight four such great +cockerels!’ + +‘My name is Hector Marot,’ the man answered, cleaning out his empty +pistols and very carefully reloading them. ‘As to who I am, it is a +matter of small moment. Suffice it that I have helped to lessen Kirk’s +horse by four of his rogues. Mark their faces, so dusky and sun-dried +even in death. These men have learned warfare fighting against the +heathen in Africa, and now they practise on poor harmless English folk +the devil’s tricks which they have picked up amongst the savages. The +Lord help Monmouth’s men should they be beaten! These vermin are more to +be feared than hangman’s cord or headsman’s axe.’ + +‘But how did you chance upon the spot at the very nick of time?’ I +asked. + +‘Why, marry, I was jogging down the road on my mare when I heard the +clatter of hoofs behind me, and concealing myself in a field, as a +prudent man would while the country is in its present state, I saw these +four rogues gallop past. They made their way up to the farmhouse +here, and presently from cries and other tokens I knew what manner of +hell-fire business they had on hand. On that I left my mare in the field +and ran up, when I saw them through the casement, tricing the good man +up in front of his fire to make him confess where his wealth lay hidden, +though indeed it is my own belief that neither he nor any other farmer +in these parts hath any wealth left to hide, after two armies have been +quartered in turn upon them. Finding that his mouth remained closed, +they ran him up, as you saw, and would assuredly have toasted him like a +snipe, had I not stepped in and winged two of them with my barkers. The +others set upon me, but I pinked one through the forearm, and should +doubtless have given a good account of both of them but for your +incoming.’ + +‘Right gallantly done!’ I exclaimed. ‘But where have I heard your name +before, Mr. Hector Marot?’ + +‘Nay,’ he answered, with a sharp, sidelong look, ‘I cannot tell that.’ + +‘It is familiar to mine ear,’ said I. + +He shrugged his broad shoulders, and continued to look to the priming +of his pistols, with a half-defiant and half-uneasy expression. He was +a very sturdy, deep-chested man, with a stern, square-jawed face, and a +white seam across his bronzed forehead as from a slash with a knife. He +wore a gold-edged riding-cap, a jacket of brown sad-coloured stuff much +stained by the weather, a pair of high rusty jack-boots, and a small +bob-wig. + +Sir Gervas, who had been staring very hard at the man, suddenly gave a +start, and slapped his hand against his leg. + +‘Of course!’ he cried. ‘Sink me, if I could remember where I had seen +your face, but now it comes back to me very clearly.’ + +The man glanced doggedly from under his bent brows at each of us +in turn. ‘It seems that I have fallen among acquaintances,’ he said +gruffly; ‘yet I have no memory of ye. Methinks, young sirs, that your +fancy doth play ye false.’ + +‘Not a whit,’ the Baronet answered quietly, and, bending forward, he +whispered a few words into the man’s ear, which caused him to spring +from his seat and take a couple of quick strides forward, as though to +escape from the house. + +‘Nay, nay!’ cried Sir Gervas, springing between him and the door, ‘you +shall not run away from us. Pshaw, man! never lay your hand upon your +sword. We have had bloody work enough for one night. Besides, we would +not harm you.’ + +‘What mean ye, then? What would ye have?’ he asked, glancing about like +some fierce wild beast in a trap. + +‘I have a most kindly feeling to you, man, after this night’s work,’ +cried Sir Gervas. ‘What is it to me how ye pick up a living, as long as +you are a true man at heart? Let me perish if I ever forget a face which +I have once seen, and your bonne mine, with the trade-mark upon your +forehead, is especially hard to overlook.’ + +‘Suppose I be the same? What then?’ the man asked sullenly. + +‘There is no suppose in the matter. I could swear to you. But I would +not, lad--not if I caught you red-handed. You must know, Clarke, since +there is none to overhear us, that in the old days I was a Justice of +the Peace in Surrey, and that our friend here was brought up before me +on a charge of riding somewhat late o’ night, and of being plaguey short +with travellers. You will understand me. He was referred to assizes, but +got away in the meanwhile, and so saved his neck. Right glad I am of +it, for you will agree with me that he is too proper a man to give a +tight-rope dance at Tyburn.’ + +‘And I remember well now where I have heard your name,’ said I. ‘Were +you not a captive in the Duke of Beaufort’s prison at Badminton, and did +you not succeed in escaping from the old Boteler dungeon?’ + +‘Nay, gentlemen,’ he replied, seating himself on the edge of the table, +and carelessly swinging his legs, ‘since ye know so much it would be +folly for me to attempt to deceive ye. I am indeed the same Hector Marot +who hath made his name a terror on the great Western road, and who hath +seen the inside of more prisons than any man in the south. With truth, +however, I can say that though I have been ten years upon the roads, I +have never yet taken a groat from the poor, or injured any man who did +not wish to injure me. On the contrary, I have often risked life and +limb to save those who were in trouble.’ + +‘We can bear you out in that,’ I answered, ‘for if these four red-coat +devils have paid the price of their crimes, it is your doing rather than +ours.’ + +‘Nay, I can take little credit for that,’ our new acquaintance answered. +‘Indeed, I had other scores to settle with Colonel Kirke’s horse, and +was but too glad to have this breather with them.’ + +Whilst we were talking the men whom we had left with the horses had come +up, together with some of the neighbouring farmers and cottagers, who +were aghast at the scene of slaughter, and much troubled in their minds +over the vengeance which might be exacted by the Royal troops next day. + +‘For Christ’s zake, zur,’ cried one of them, an old ruddy-faced +countryman, ‘move the bodies o’ these soldier rogues into the road, and +let it zeem as how they have perished in a chance fight wi’ your own +troopers loike. Should it be known as they have met their end within +a varmhouse, there will not be a thatch left unlighted over t’ whole +country side; as it is, us can scarce keep these murthering Tangiers +devils from oor throats.’ + +‘His request is in reason,’ said the highwayman bluntly. ‘We have no +right to have our fun, and then go our way leaving others to pay the +score.’ + +‘Well, hark ye,’ said Sir Gervas, turning to the group of frightened +rustics. ‘I’ll strike a bargain with ye over the matter. We have come +out for supplies, and can scarce go back empty-handed. If ye will among +ye provide us with a cart, filling it with such breadstuffs and greens +as ye may, with a dozen bullocks as well, we shall not only screen ye in +this matter, but I shall promise payment at fair market rates if ye will +come to the Protestant camp for the money.’ + +‘I’ll spare the bullocks,’ quoth the old man whom we had rescued, who +was now sufficiently recovered to sit up. ‘Zince my poor dame is foully +murthered it matters little to me what becomes o’ the stock. I shall +zee her laid in Durston graveyard, and shall then vollow you to t’ camp, +where I shall die happy if I can but rid the earth o’ one more o’ these +incarnate devils.’ + +‘You say well, gaffer!’ cried Hector Marot; ‘you show the true spirit. +Methinks I see an old birding-piece on yonder hooks, which, with a brace +of slugs in it and a bold man behind it, might bring down one of these +fine birds for all their gay feathers.’ + +‘Her’s been a true mate to me for more’n thirty year,’ said the old man, +the tears coursing down his wrinkled cheeks. ‘Thirty zeed-toimes and +thirty harvests we’ve worked together. But this is a zeed-toime which +shall have a harvest o’ blood if my right hand can compass it.’ + +‘If you go to t’ wars, Gaffer Swain, we’ll look to your homestead,’ +said the farmer who had spoken before. ‘As to t’ greenstuffs as this +gentleman asks for he shall have not one wainload but three, if he will +but gi’ us half-an-hour to fill them up. If he does not tak them t’ +others will, so we had raither that they go to the good cause. Here, +Miles, do you wak the labourers, and zee that they throw the potato +store wi’ the spinach and the dried meats into the waggons wi’ all +speed.’ + +‘Then we had best set about our part of the contract,’ said Hector +Marot. With the aid of our troopers he carried out the four dragoons and +our dead sergeant, and laid them on the ground some way down the lane, +leading the horses all round and between their bodies, so as to trample +the earth, and bear out the idea of a cavalry skirmish. While this was +doing, some of the labourers had washed down the brick floor of the +kitchen and removed all traces of the tragedy. The murdered woman had +been carried up to her own chamber, so that nothing was left to recall +what had occurred, save the unhappy farmer, who sat moodily in the same +place, with his chin resting upon his stringy work-worn hands, staring +out in front of him with a stony, empty gaze, unconscious apparently of +all that was going on around him. + +The loading of the waggons had been quickly accomplished, and the little +drove of oxen gathered from a neighbouring field. We were just starting +upon our return journey when a young countryman rode up, with the news +that a troop of the Royal Horse were between the camp and ourselves. +This was grave tidings, for we were but seven all told, and our pace was +necessarily slow whilst we were hampered with the supplies. + +‘How about Hooker?’ I suggested. ‘Should we not send after him and give +him warning?’ + +‘I’ll goo at once,’ said the countryman. ‘I’m bound to zee him if he be +on the Athelney road.’ So saying he set spurs to his horse and galloped +off through the darkness. + +‘While we have such volunteer scouts as this,’ I remarked, ‘it is easy +to see which side the country folk have in their hearts. Hooker hath +still the better part of two troops with him, so surely he can hold his +own. But how are we to make our way back?’ + +‘Zounds, Clarke! let us extemporise a fortress,’ suggested Sir Gervas. +‘We could hold this farmhouse against all comers until Hooker returns, +and then join our forces to his. Now would our redoubtable Colonel be in +his glory, to have a chance of devising cross-fires, and flanking-fires, +with all the other refinements of a well-conducted leaguer.’ + +‘Nay,’ I answered, ‘after leaving Major Hooker in a somewhat cavalier +fashion, it would be a bitter thing to have to ask his help now that +there is danger.’ + +‘Ho, ho!’ cried the Baronet. ‘It does not take a very deep lead-line +to come to the bottom of your stoical philosophy, friend Micah. For all +your cold-blooded stolidity you are keen enough where pride or honour is +concerned. Shall we then ride onwards, and chance it? I’ll lay an even +crown that we never as much as see a red coat.’ + +‘If you will take my advice, gentlemen,’ said the highwayman, trotting +up upon a beautiful bay mare, ‘I should say that your best course is to +allow me to act as guide to you as far as the camp. It will be strange +if I cannot find roads which shall baffle these blundering soldiers.’ + +‘A very wise and seasonable proposition,’ cried Sir Gervas. ‘Master +Marot, a pinch from my snuff-box, which is ever a covenant of friendship +with its owner. Adslidikins, man! though our acquaintance at present +is limited to my having nearly hanged you on one occasion, yet I have +a kindly feeling towards you, though I wish you had some more savoury +trade.’ + +‘So do many who ride o’ night,’ Marot answered, with a chuckle. ‘But we +had best start, for the east is whitening, and it will be daylight ere +we come to Bridgewater.’ + +Leaving the ill-omened farmhouse behind us we set off with all military +precautions, Marot riding with me some distance in front, while two of +the troopers covered the rear. It was still very dark, though a thin +grey line on the horizon showed that the dawn was not far off. In spite +of the gloom, however, our new acquaintance guided us without a moment’s +halt or hesitation through a network of lanes and bypaths, across fields +and over bogs, where the waggons were sometimes up to their axles in +bog, and sometimes were groaning and straining over rocks and stones. So +frequent were our turnings, and so often did we change the direction of +our advance, that I feared more than once that our guide was at fault; +yet, when at last the first rays of the sun brightened the landscape we +saw the steeple of Bridgewater parish church shooting up right in front +of us. + +‘Zounds, man! you must have something of the cat in you to pick your way +so in the dark,’ cried Sir Gervas, riding up to us. ‘I am right glad to +see the town, for my poor waggons have been creaking and straining until +my ears are weary with listening for the snap of the axle-bar. Master +Marot, we owe you something for this.’ + +‘Is this your own particular district?’ I asked, ‘or have you a like +knowledge of every part of the south?’ + +‘My range,’ said he, lighting his short, black pipe, ‘is from Kent to +Cornwall, though never north of the Thames or Bristol Channel. Through +that district there is no road which is not familiar to me, nor as much +as a break in the hedge which I could not find in blackest midnight. It +is my calling. But the trade is not what it was. If I had a son I should +not bring him up to it. It hath been spoiled by the armed guards to +the mail-coaches, and by the accursed goldsmiths, who have opened their +banks and so taken the hard money into their strong boxes, giving out +instead slips of paper, which are as useless to us as an old newsletter. +I give ye my word that only a week gone last Friday I stopped a grazier +coming from Blandford fair, and I took seven hundred guineas off him in +these paper cheques, as they call them--enough, had it been in gold, to +have lasted me for a three month rouse. Truly the country is coming to a +pretty pass when such trash as that is allowed to take the place of the +King’s coinage.’ + +‘Why should you persevere in such a trade?’ said I. ‘Your own knowledge +must tell you that it can only lead to ruin and the gallows. Have you +ever known one who has thriven at it?’ + +‘That have I,’ he answered readily. ‘There was Kingston Jones, who +worked Hounslow for many a year. He took ten thousand yellow boys on +one job, and, like a wise man, he vowed never to risk his neck again. +He went into Cheshire, with some tale of having newly arrived from the +Indies, bought an estate, and is now a flourishing country gentleman of +good repute, and a Justice of the Peace into the bargain. Zounds, man! +to see him on the bench, condemning some poor devil for stealing a dozen +eggs, is as good as a comedy in the playhouse.’ + +‘Nay! but,’ I persisted, ‘you are a man, judging from what we have seen +of your courage and skill in the use of your weapons, who would gain +speedy preferment in any army. Surely it were better to use your gifts +to the gaining of honour and credit, than to make them a stepping-stone +to disgrace and the gallows?’ + +‘For the gallows I care not a clipped shilling,’ the highwayman +answered, sending up thick blue curls of smoke into the morning air. ‘We +have all to pay nature’s debt, and whether I do it in my boots or on a +feather bed, in one year or in ten, matters as little to me as to any +soldier among you. As to disgrace, it is a matter of opinion. I see +no shame myself in taking a toll upon the wealth of the rich, since I +freely expose my own skin in the doing of it.’ + +‘There is a right and there is a wrong,’ I answered, ‘which no words +can do away with, and it is a dangerous and unprofitable trick to juggle +with them.’ + +‘Besides, even if what you have said were true as to property,’ Sir +Gervas remarked, ‘it would not hold you excused for that recklessness of +human life which your trade begets.’ + +‘Nay! it is but hunting, save that your quarry may at any time turn +round upon you, and become in turn the hunter. It is, as you say, a +dangerous game, but two can play at it, and each has an equal chance. +There is no loading of the dice, or throwing of fulhams. Now it was but +a few days back that, riding down the high-road, I perceived three jolly +farmers at full gallop across the fields with a leash of dogs yelping in +front of them, and all in pursuit of one little harmless bunny. It was +a bare and unpeopled countryside on the border of Exmoor, so I bethought +me that I could not employ my leisure better than by chasing the +chasers. Odd’s wouns! it was a proper hunt. Away went my gentlemen, +whooping like madmen, with their coat skirts flapping in the breeze, +chivying on the dogs, and having a rare morning’s sport. They never +marked the quiet horseman who rode behind them, and who without a +“yoick!” or “hark-a-way!” was relishing his chase with the loudest of +them. It needed but a posse of peace officers at my heels to make up a +brave string of us, catch-who-catch-can, like the game the lads play on +the village green.’ + +‘And what came of it?’ I asked, for our new acquaintance was laughing +silently to himself. + +‘Well, my three friends ran down their hare, and pulled out their +flasks, as men who had done a good stroke of work. They were still +hobnobbing and laughing over the slaughtered bunny, and one had +dismounted to cut off its ears as the prize of their chase, when I came +up at a hand-gallop. “Good-morrow, gentlemen,” said I, “we have had rare +sport.” They looked at me blankly enough, I promise you, and one of +them asked me what the devil I did there, and how I dared to join in a +private sport. “Nay, I was not chasing your hare, gentlemen,” said I. +“What then, fellow?” asked one of them. “Why, marry, I was chasing you,” + I answered, “and a better run I have not had for years.” With that I +lugged out my persuaders, and made the thing clear in a few words, and +I’ll warrant you would have laughed could you have seen their faces as +they slowly dragged the fat leather purses from their fobs. Seventy-one +pounds was my prize that morning, which was better worth riding for than +a hare’s ears.’ + +‘Did they not raise the country on your track?’ I asked. + +‘Nay! When Brown Alice is given her head she flies faster than the news. +Rumour spreads quick, but the good mare’s stride is quicker still.’ + +‘And here we are within our own outposts,’ quoth Sir Gervas. ‘Now, mine +honest friend--for honest you have been to us, whatever others may +say of you--will you not come with us, and strike in for a good cause? +Zounds, man! you have many an ill deed to atone for, I’ll warrant. +Why not add one good one to your account, by risking your life for the +reformed faith?’ + +‘Not I,’ the highwayman answered, reining up his horse. ‘My own skin is +nothing, but why should I risk my mare in such a fool’s quarrel? Should +she come to harm in the ruffle, where could I get such another? Besides, +it matters nothing to her whether Papist or Protestant sits on the +throne of England--does it, my beauty?’ + +‘But you might chance to gain preferment,’ I said. ‘Our Colonel, Decimus +Saxon, is one who loves a good swordsman, and his word hath power with +King Monmouth and the council.’ + +‘Nay, nay!’ cried Hector Marot gruffly. ‘Let every man stick to his own +trade. Kirke’s Horse I am ever ready to have a brush with, for a party +of them hung old blind Jim Houston of Milverton, who was a friend of +mine. I have sent seven of the red-handed rogues to their last account +for it, and might work through the whole regiment had I time. But I will +not fight against King James, nor will I risk the mare, so let me hear +no more of it. And now I must leave ye, for I have much to do. Farewell +to you!’ + +‘Farewell, farewell!’ we cried, pressing his brown horny hands; ‘our +thanks to you for your guidance.’ Raising his hat, he shook his bridle +and galloped off down the road in a rolling cloud of dust. + +‘Rat me, if I ever say a word against the thieves again!’ said Sir +Gervas. ‘I never saw a man wield sword more deftly in my life, and he +must be a rare hand with a pistol to bring those two tall fellows down +with two shots. But look over there, Clarke! Can you not see bodies of +red-coats?’ + +‘Surely I can,’ I answered, gazing out over the broad, reedy, +dead-coloured plain, which extended from the other side of the winding +Parret to the distant Polden Hills. ‘I can see them over yonder in the +direction of Westonzoyland, as bright as the poppies among corn.’ + +‘There are more upon the left, near Chedzoy,’ quoth Sir Gervas. ‘One, +two, three, and one yonder, and two others behind--six regiments of foot +in all. Methinks I see the breastplates of horse over there, and some +sign of ordnance too. Faith! Monmouth must fight now, if he ever hopes +to feel the gold rim upon his temples. The whole of King James’s army +hath closed upon him.’ + +‘We must get back to our command, then,’ I answered. ‘If I mistake not, +I see the flutter of our standards in the market-place.’ We spurred our +weary steeds forward, and made our way with our little party and the +supplies which we had collected, until we found ourselves back in +our quarters, where we were hailed by the lusty cheers of our hungry +comrades. Before noon the drove of bullocks had been changed into joints +and steaks, while our green stuff and other victuals had helped to +furnish the last dinner which many of our men were ever destined to eat. +Major Hooker came in shortly after with a good store of provisions, but +in no very good case, for he had had a skirmish with the dragoons, and +had lost eight or ten of his men. He bore a complaint straightway to the +council concerning the manner in which we had deserted him; but great +events were coming fast upon us now, and there was small time to inquire +into petty matters of discipline. For myself, I freely confess, looking +back on it, that as a soldier he was entirely in the right, and that +from a strict military point of view our conduct was not to be excused. +Yet I trust, my dears, even now, when years have weighed me down, that +the scream of a woman in distress would be a signal which would draw me +to her aid while these old limbs could bear me. For the duty which +we owe to the weak overrides all other duties and is superior to all +circumstances, and I for one cannot see why the coat of the soldier +should harden the heart of the man. + + + +Chapter XXXI. Of the Maid of the Marsh and the Bubble which rose from +the Bog + +All Bridgewater was in a ferment as we rode in, for King James’s forces +were within four miles, on the Sedgemoor Plain, and it was likely that +they would push on at once and storm the town. Some rude works had been +thrown up on the Eastover side, behind which two brigades were drawn +up in arms, while the rest of the army was held in reserve in the +market-place and Castle Field. Towards afternoon, however, parties of +our horse and peasants from the fen country came in with the news that +there was no fear of an assault being attempted. The Royal troops had +quartered themselves snugly in the little villages of the neighbourhood, +and having levied contributions of cider and of beer from the farmers, +they showed no sign of any wish to advance. + +The town was full of women, the wives, mothers, and sisters of our +peasants, who had come in from far and near to see their loved ones once +more. Fleet Street or Cheapside upon a busy day are not more crowded +than were the narrow streets and lanes of the Somersetshire town. +Jack-booted, buff-coated troopers; scarlet militiamen; brown, +stern-faced Tauntonians; serge-clad pikemen; wild, ragged miners; +smockfrocked yokels; reckless, weather-tanned seamen; gaunt cragsmen +from the northern coast--all pushed and jostled each other in a thick, +many-coloured crowd. Everywhere among them were the country women, +straw-bonneted and loud-tongued, weeping, embracing, and exhorting. +Here and there amid the motley dresses and gleam of arms moved the dark, +sombre figure of a Puritan minister, with sweeping sad-coloured mantle +and penthouse hat, scattering abroad short fiery ejaculations and stern +pithy texts of the old fighting order, which warmed the men’s blood like +liquor. Ever and anon a sharp, fierce shout would rise from the people, +like the yelp of a high-spirited hound which is straining at its leash +and hot to be at the throat of its enemy. + +Our regiment had been taken off duty whenever it was clear that +Feversham did not mean to advance, and they were now busy upon the +victuals which our night-foray had furnished. It was a Sunday, fresh and +warm, with a clear, unclouded sky, and a gentle breeze, sweet with the +smack of the country. All day the bells of the neighbouring villages +rang out their alarm, pealing their music over the sunlit countryside. +The upper windows and red-tiled roofs of the houses were crowded with +pale-faced women and children, who peered out to eastward, where the +splotches of crimson upon the dun-coloured moor marked the position of +our enemies. + +At four o’clock Monmouth held a last council of war upon the square +tower out of which springs the steeple of Bridgewater parish church, +whence a good view can be obtained of all the country round. Since my +ride to Beaufort I had always been honoured with a summons to attend, in +spite of my humble rank in the army. There were some thirty councillors +in all, as many as the space would hold, soldiers and courtiers, +Cavaliers and Puritans, all drawn together now by the bond of a common +danger. Indeed, the near approach of a crisis in their fortunes had +broken down much of the distinction of manner which had served to +separate them. The sectary had lost something of his austerity and +become flushed and eager at the prospect of battle, while the giddy man +of fashion was hushed into unwonted gravity as he considered the danger +of his position. Their old feuds were forgotten as they gathered on the +parapet and gazed with set faces at the thick columns of smoke which +rose along the sky-line. + +King Monmouth stood among his chiefs, pale and haggard, with the +dishevelled, unkempt look of a man whose distress of mind has made him +forgetful of the care of his person. He held a pair of ivory glasses, +and as he raised them to his eyes his thin white hands shook and +twitched until it was grievous to watch him. Lord Grey handed his own +glasses to Saxon, who leaned his elbows upon the rough stone breastwork +and stared long and earnestly at the enemy. + +‘They are the very men I have myself led,’ said Monmouth at last, in a +low voice, as though uttering his thoughts aloud. ‘Over yonder at the +right I see Dumbarton’s foot. I know these men well. They will fight. +Had we them with us all would be well.’ + +‘Nay, your Majesty,’ Lord Grey answered with spirit, ‘you do your brave +followers an injustice. They, too, will fight to the last drop of their +blood in your quarrel.’ + +‘Look down at them!’ said Monmouth sadly, pointing at the swarming +streets beneath us. ‘Braver hearts never beat in English breasts, yet do +but mark how they brabble and clamour like clowns on a Saturday night. +Compare them with the stern, orderly array of the trained battalions. +Alas! that I should have dragged these honest souls from their little +homes to fight so hopeless a battle!’ + +‘Hark at that!’ cried Wade. ‘They do not think it hopeless, nor do we.’ +As he spoke a wild shout rose from the dense crowd beneath, who were +listening to a preacher who was holding forth from a window. + +‘It is worthy Doctor Ferguson,’ said Sir Stephen Timewell, who had +just come up. ‘He is as one inspired, powerfully borne onwards in his +discourse. Verily he is even as one of the prophets of old. He has +chosen for his text, “The Lord God of gods he knoweth and Israel he +shall know. If it be in rebellion or if in transgression against the +Lord, save us not this day.”’ + +‘Amen, amen!’ cried several of the Puritan soldiers devoutly, while +another hoarse burst of shouting from below, with the clashing of +scythe-blades and the clatter of arms, showed how deeply the people were +moved by the burning words of the fanatic. + +‘They do indeed seem to be hot for battle,’ said Monmouth, with a more +sprightly look. ‘It may be that one who has commanded regular troops, as +I have done, is prone to lay too much weight upon the difference which +discipline and training make. These brave lads seem high of heart. What +think you of the enemy’s dispositions, Colonel Saxon?’ + +‘By my faith, I think very little of them, your Majesty,’ Saxon answered +bluntly. ‘I have seen armies drawn up in array in many different parts +of the world and under many commanders. I have likewise read the section +which treats of the matter in the “De re militari” of Petrinus Bellus, +and in the works of a Fleming of repute, yet I have neither seen nor +heard anything which can commend the arrangements which we see before +us.’ + +‘How call you the hamlet on the left--that with the square ivy-clad +church tower?’ asked Monmouth, turning to the Mayor of Bridgewater, +a small, anxious-faced man, who was evidently far from easy at the +prominence which his office had brought upon him. + +‘Westonzoyland, your Honour--that is, your Grace--I mean, your Majesty,’ +he stammered. ‘The other, two miles farther off, is Middlezoy, and away +to the left, just on the far side of the rhine, is Chedzoy.’ + +‘The rhine, sir! What do you mean?’ asked the King, starting violently, +and turning so fiercely upon the timid burgher, that he lost the little +balance of wits which was left to him. + +‘Why, the rhine, your Grace, your Majesty,’ he quavered. ‘The rhine, +which, as your Majesty’s Grace cannot but perceive, is what the country +folk call the rhine.’ + +‘It is a name, your Majesty, for the deep and broad ditches which drain +off the water from the great morass of Sedgemoor,’ said Sir Stephen +Timewell. + +Monmouth turned white to his very lips, and several of the council +exchanged significant glances, recalling the strange prophetic jingle +which I had been the means of bringing to the camp. The silence was +broken, however, by an old Cromwellian Major named Hollis, who had been +drawing upon paper the position of the villages in which the enemy was +quartered. + +‘If it please your Majesty, there is something in their order which +recalls to my mind that of the army of the Scots upon the occasion +of the battle of Dunbar. Cromwell lay in Dunbar even as we lie in +Bridgewater. The ground around, which was boggy and treacherous, was +held by the enemy. There was not a man in the army who would not own +that, had old Leslie held his position, we should, as far as human +wisdom could see, have had to betake us to our ships, leave our stores +and ordnance, and so make the best of our way to Newcastle. He moved, +however, through the blessing of Providence, in such a manner that a +quagmire intervened between his right wing and the rest of his army, on +which Cromwell fell upon that wing in the early dawn, and dashed it +to pieces, with such effect that the whole army fled, and we had the +execution of them to the very gates of Leith. Seven thousand Scots lost +their lives, but not more than a hundred or so of the honest folk. +Now, your Majesty will see through your glass that a mile of bogland +intervenes between these villages, and that the nearest one, Chedzoy, as +I think they call it, might be approached without ourselves entering the +morass. Very sure I am that were the Lord-General with us now he would +counsel us to venture some such attack.’ + +‘It is a bold thing with raw peasants to attack old soldiers,’ quoth Sir +Stephen Timewell. ‘Yet if it is to be done, I know well that there is +not a man born within sound of the bells of St. Mary Magdalene who will +flinch from it.’ + +‘You say well, Sir Stephen,’ said Monmouth. ‘At Dunbar Cromwell had +veterans at his back, and was opposed to troops who had small experience +of war.’ + +‘Yet there is much good sense in what Major Hollis has said,’ remarked +Lord Grey. ‘We must either fall on, or be gradually girt round and +starved out. That being so, why not take advantage at once of the chance +which Feversham’s ignorance or carelessness hath given us? To-morrow, if +Churchill can prevail over his chief, I have little doubt that we +shall find their camp rearranged, and so have cause to regret our lost +opportunity.’ + +‘Their horse lie at Westonzoyland,’ said Wade. ‘The sun is so fierce now +that we can scarce see for its glare and the haze which rises up from +the marshes. Yet a little while ago I could make out through my glasses +the long lines of horses picketed on the moor beyond the village. +Behind, in Middlezoy, are two thousand militia, while in Chedzoy, where +our attack would fall, there are five regiments of regular foot.’ + +‘If we could break those all would be well,’ cried Monmouth. ‘What is +your advice, Colonel Buyse?’ + +‘My advice is ever the same,’ the German answered. ‘We are here to +fight, and the sooner we get to work at it the better.’ + +‘And yours, Colonel Saxon? Do you agree with the opinion of your +friend?’ + +‘I think with Major Hollis, your Majesty, that Feversham by his +dispositions hath laid himself open to attack, and that we should take +advantage of it forthwith. Yet, considering that trained men and a +numerous horse have great advantage by daylight, I should be in favour +of a camisado or night onfall.’ + +‘The same thought was in my mind,’ said Grey. ‘Our friends here know +every inch of the ground, and could guide us to Chedzoy as surely in the +darkness as in the day.’ + +‘I have heard,’ said Saxon, ‘that much beer and cider, with wine and +strong waters, have found their way into their camp. If this be so +we may give them a rouse while their heads are still buzzing with the +liquor, when they shall scarce know whether it is ourselves or the blue +devils which have come upon them.’ + +A general chorus of approval from the whole council showed that the +prospect of at last coming to an engagement was welcome, after the weary +marchings and delays of the last few weeks. + +‘Has any cavalier anything to say against this plan?’ asked the King. + +We all looked from one to the other, but though many faces were doubtful +or desponding, none had a word to say against the night attack, for it +was clear that our action in any case must be hazardous, and this had at +least the merit of promising a better chance of success than any other. +Yet, my dears, I dare say the boldest of us felt a sinking at the heart +as we looked at our downcast, sad-faced leader, and asked ourselves +whether this was a likely man to bring so desperate an enterprise to a +success. + +‘If all are agreed,’ said he, ‘let our word be “Soho,” and let us come +upon them as soon after midnight as may be. What remains to be settled +as to the order of battle may be left for the meantime. You will now, +gentlemen, return to your regiments, and you will remember that be the +upshot of this what it may, whether Monmouth be the crowned King of +England or a hunted fugitive, his heart, while it can still beat, will +ever bear in memory the brave friends who stood at his side in the hour +of his trouble.’ + +At this simple and kindly speech a flush of devotion, mingled in my +own case at least with a heart-whole pity for the poor, weak gentleman, +swept over us. We pressed round him with our hands upon the hilts of our +swords, swearing that we would stand by him, though all the world stood +between him and his rights. Even the rigid and impassive Puritans were +moved to a show of loyalty; while the courtiers, carried away by zeal, +drew their rapiers and shouted until the crowd beneath caught the +enthusiasm, and the air was full of the cheering. The light returned +to Monmouth’s eye and the colour to his cheek as he listened to the +clamour. For a moment at least he looked like the King which he aspired +to be. + +‘My thanks to ye, dear friends and subjects,’ he cried. ‘The issue rests +with the Almighty, but what men can do will, I know well, be done by you +this night. If Monmouth cannot have all England, six feet of her shall +at least be his. Meanwhile, to your regiments, and may God defend the +right!’ + +‘May God defend the right! cried the council solemnly, and separated, +leaving the King with Grey to make the final dispositions for the +attack. + +‘These popinjays of the Court are ready enough to wave their rapiers +and shout when there are four good miles between them and the foe,’ +said Saxon, as we made our way through the crowd. ‘I fear that they will +scarce be as forward when there is a line of musqueteers to be faced, +and a brigade of horse perhaps charging down upon their flank. But here +comes friend Lockarby, with news written upon his face.’ + +‘I have a report to make, Colonel,’ said Reuben, hurrying breathlessly +up to us. ‘You may remember that I and my company were placed on guard +this day at the eastern gates?’ + +Saxon nodded. + +‘Being desirous of seeing all that I could of the enemy, I clambered up +a lofty tree which stands just without the town. From this post, by the +aid of a glass, I was able to make out their lines and camp. Whilst I +was gazing I chanced to observe a man slinking along under cover of the +birch-trees half-way between their lines and the town. Watching him, I +found that he was indeed moving in our direction. Presently he came so +near that I was able to distinguish who it was--for it was one whom I +know--but instead of entering the town by my gate he walked round under +cover of the peat cuttings, and so made his way doubtless to some other +entrance. He is a man, however, who I have reason to believe has no true +love for the cause, and it is my belief that he hath been to the +Royal camp with news of our doings, and hath now come back for further +information.’ + +‘Aye!’ said Saxon, raising his eyebrows. ‘And what is the man’s name?’ + +‘His name is Derrick, one time chief apprentice to Master Timewell at +Taunton, and now an officer in the Taunton foot.’ + +‘What, the young springald who had his eye upon pretty Mistress Ruth! +Now, out on love, if it is to turn a true man into a traitor! But +methought he was one of the elect? I have heard him hold forth to the +pikemen. How comes it that one of his kidney should lend help to the +Prelatist cause?’ + +‘Love again,’ quoth I. ‘This same love is a pretty flower when it grows +unchecked, but a sorry weed if thwarted.’ + +‘He hath an ill-feeling towards many in the camp,’ said Reuben, ‘and he +would ruin the army to avenge himself on them, as a rogue might sink +a ship in the hope of drowning one enemy. Sir Stephen himself hath +incurred his hatred for refusing to force his daughter into accepting +his suit. He has now returned into the camp, and I have reported the +matter to you, that you may judge whether it would not be well to send +a file of pikemen and lay him by the heels lest he play the spy once +more.’ + +‘Perhaps it would be best so,’ Saxon answered, full of thought, ‘and yet +no doubt the fellow would have some tale prepared which would outweigh +our mere suspicions. Could we not take him in the very act?’ + +A thought slipped into my head. I had observed from the tower that there +was a single lonely cottage about a third of the way to the enemy’s +camp, standing by the road at a place where there were marshes on either +side. Any one journeying that way must pass it. If Derrick tried to +carry our plans to Feversham he might be cut off at this point by a +party placed to lie in wait for him. + +‘Most excellent!’ Saxon exclaimed, when I had explained the project. ‘My +learned Fleming himself could not have devised a better rusus belli. Do +ye convey as many files as ye may think fit to this point, and I shall +see that Master Derrick is primed up with some fresh news for my Lord +Feversham.’ + +‘Nay, a body of troops marching out would set tongues wagging,’ said +Reuben. ‘Why should not Micah and I go ourselves?’ + +‘That would indeed be better.’ Saxon answered. ‘But ye must pledge your +words, come what may, to be back at sundown, for your companies must +stand to arms an hour before the advance.’ + +We both gladly gave the desired promise; and having learned for certain +that Derrick had indeed returned to the camp, Saxon undertook to let +drop in his presence some words as to the plans for the night, while we +set off at once for our post. Our horses we left behind, and slipping +out through the eastern gate we made our way over bog and moor, +concealing ourselves as best we could, until we came out upon the lonely +roadway, and found ourselves in front of the house. + +It was a plain, whitewashed, thatch-roofed cottage, with a small board +above the door, whereon was written a notice that the occupier sold milk +and butter. No smoke reeked up from the chimney, and the shutters of the +window were closed, from which we gathered that the folk who owned it +had fled away from their perilous position. On either side the marsh +extended, reedy and shallow at the edge, but deeper at a distance, with +a bright green scum which covered its treacherous surface. We knocked +at the weather-blotched door, but receiving, as we expected, no reply, +I presently put my shoulder against it and forced the staple from its +fastenings. + +There was but a single chamber within, with a straight ladder in the +corner, leading through a square hole in the ceiling to the sleeping +chamber under the roof. Three or four chairs and stools were scattered +over the earthen floor, and at the side a deal table with the broad +brown milk basins upon it. Green blotches upon the wall and a sinking +in of one side of the cottage showed the effect of its damp, marsh-girt +position. + +To our surprise it had still one inmate within its walls. In the centre +of the room, facing the door as we entered, stood a little bright, +golden-haired maid, five or six years of age. She was clad in a clean +white smock, with trim leather belt and shining buckle about her waist. +Two plump little legs with socks and leathern boots peeped out from +under the dress, stoutly planted with right foot in advance as one who +was bent upon holding her ground. Her tiny head was thrown back, and her +large blue eyes were full of mingled wonder and defiance. As we entered +the little witch flapped her kerchief at us, and shooed as though we +were two of the intrusive fowl whom she was wont to chevy out of the +house. Reuben and I stood on the threshold, uncertain, and awkward, like +a pair of overgrown school lads, looking down at this fairy queen whose +realms we had invaded, in two minds whether to beat a retreat or to +appease her wrath by soft and coaxing words. + +‘Go ‘way!’ she cried, still waving her hands and shaking her kerchief. +‘Go ‘way! Granny told me to tell any one that came to go ‘way!’ + +‘But if they would not go away, little mistress,’ asked Reuben, ‘what +were you to do then?’ + +‘I was to drive them ‘way,’ she answered, advancing boldly against us +with many flaps. ‘You bad man!’ she continued, flashing out at me, ‘you +have broken granny’s bolt.’ + +‘Nay, I’ll mend it again,’ I answered penitently, and catching up +a stone I soon fastened the injured staple. ‘There, mistress, your +granddam will never tell the difference.’ + +‘Ye must go ‘way all the same,’ she persisted; ‘this is granny’s house, +not yours.’ + +What were we to do with this resolute little dame of the marshes? That +we should stay in the house was a crying need, for there was no other +cover or shelter among the dreary bogs where we could hide ourselves. +Yet she was bent upon driving us out with a decision and fearlessness +which might have put Monmouth to shame. + +‘You sell milk,’ said Reuben. ‘We are tired and thirsty, so we have come +to have a horn of it.’ + +‘Nay,’ she cried, breaking into smiles, ‘will ye pay me just as the folk +pay granny? Oh, heart alive! but that will be fine!’ She skipped up +on to a stool and filled a pair of deep mugs from the basins upon the +table. ‘A penny, please!’ said she. + +It was strange to see the little wife hide the coin away in her smock, +with pride and joy in her innocent face at this rare stroke of business +which she had done for her absent granny. We bore our milk away to the +window, and having loosed the shutters we seated ourselves so as to have +an outlook down the road. + +‘For the Lord’s sake, drink slow!’ whispered Reuben, under his breath. +‘We must keep on swilling milk or she will want to turn us out.’ + +‘We have paid toll now,’ I answered; ‘surely she will let us bide.’ + +‘If you have done you must go ‘way,’ she said firmly. + +‘Were ever two men-at-arms so tyrannised over by a little dolly such as +this!’ said I, laughing. ‘Nay, little one, we shall compound with you by +paying you this shilling, which will buy all your milk. We can stay here +and drink it at our ease.’ + +‘Jinny, the cow, is just across the marsh,’ quoth she. ‘It is nigh +milking time, and I shall fetch her round if ye wish more.’ + +‘Now, God forbid!’ cried Reuben. ‘It will end in our having to buy the +cow. Where is your granny, little maid?’ + +‘She hath gone into the town,’ the child answered. ‘There are bad men +with red coats and guns coming to steal and to fight, but granny will +soon make them go ‘way. Granny has gone to set it all right.’ + +‘We are fighting against the men with the red coats, my chuck,’ said +I; ‘we shall take care of your house with you, and let no one steal +anything.’ + +‘Nay, then ye may stay,’ quoth she, climbing up upon my knee as grave as +a sparrow upon a bough. ‘What a great boy you are!’ + +‘And why not a man?’ I asked. + +‘Because you have no beard upon your face. Why, granny hath more hair +upon her chin than you. Besides, only boys drink milk. Men drink cider.’ + +‘Then if I am a boy I shall be your sweetheart,’ said I. + +‘Nay, indeed!’ she cried, with a toss of her golden locks. ‘I have no +mind to wed for a while, but Giles Martin of Gommatch is my sweetheart. +What a pretty shining tin smock you have, and what a great sword! Why +should people have these things to harm each other with when they are in +truth all brothers?’ + +‘Why are they all brothers, little mistress?’ asked Reuben. + +‘Because granny says that they are all the children of the great +Father,’ she answered. ‘If they have all one father they must be +brothers, mustn’t they?’ + +‘Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, Micah,’ quoth Reuben, staring +out of the window. + +‘You are a rare little marsh flower,’ I said, as she clambered up to +grasp at my steel cap. ‘Is it not strange to think, Reuben, that there +should be thousands of Christian men upon either side of us, athirst +for each other’s lives, and here between them is a blue-eyed cherub who +lisps out the blessed philosophy which would send us all to our homes +with softened hearts and hale bodies?’ + +‘A day of this child would sicken me for over of soldiering,’ Reuben +answered. ‘The cavalier and the butcher become too near of kin, as I +listen to her.’ + +‘Perhaps both are equally needful,’ said I, shrugging my shoulders. ‘We +have put our hands to the plough. But methinks I see the man for whom we +wait coming down under the shadow of yonder line of pollard willows.’ + +‘It is he, sure enough,’ cried Reuben, peeping through the diamond-paned +window. + +‘Then, little one, you must sit here,’ said I, raising her up from my +knee and placing her on a chair in a corner. ‘You must be a brave lass +and sit still, whatever may chance. Will you do so?’ + +She pursed up her rosy lips and nodded her head. + +‘He comes on apace, Micah,’ quoth my comrade, who was still standing +by the casement. ‘Is he not like some treacherous fox or other beast of +prey?’ + +There was indeed something in his lean, black-clothed figure and swift +furtive movements which was like some cruel and cunning animal. He stole +along under shadow of the stunted trees and withies, with bent body and +gliding gait, so that from Bridgewater it would be no easy matter for +the most keen-sighted to see him. Indeed, he was so far from the town +that he might safely have come out from his concealment and struck +across the moor, but the deep morass on either side prevented him from +leaving the road until he had passed the cottage. + +As he came abreast of our ambush we both sprang out from the open door +and barred his way. I have heard the Independent minister at Emsworth +give an account of Satan’s appearance, but if the worthy man had been +with us that day, he need not have drawn upon his fancy. The man’s dark +face whitened into a sickly and mottled pallor, while he drew back with +a long sharp intaking of the breath and a venomous flash from his black +eyes, glancing swiftly from right to left for some means of escape. For +an instant his hand shot towards his sword-hilt, but his reason told him +that he could scarce expect to fight his way past us. Then he glanced +round, but any retreat would lead him back to the men whom he had +betrayed. So he stood sullen and stolid, with heavy, downcast face and +shifting, restless eye, the very type and symbol of treachery. + +‘We have waited some time for you, Master John Derrick,’ said I. ‘You +must now return with us to the town.’ + +‘On what grounds do you arrest me?’ he asked, in hoarse, broken tones. +‘Where is your warranty? Who hath given you a commission to molest +travellers upon the King’s highway?’ + +‘I have my Colonel’s commission,’ I answered shortly. ‘You have been +once already to Feversham’s camp this morning.’ + +‘It is a lie,’ he snarled fiercely. ‘I do but take a stroll to enjoy the +air.’ + +‘It is the truth,’ said Reuben. ‘I saw you myself on your return. Let us +see that paper which peeps from your doublet.’ + +‘We all know why you should set this trap for me,’ Derrick cried +bitterly. ‘You have set evil reports afloat against me, lest I stand in +your light with the Mayor’s daughter. What are you that you should dare +to raise your eyes to her! A mere vagrant and masterless man, coming +none know whence. Why should you aspire to pluck the flower which has +grown up amongst us? What had you to do with her or with us? Answer me!’ + +‘It is not a matter which I shall discuss, save at a more fitting time +and place,’ Reuben answered quietly. ‘Do you give over your sword and +come back with us. For my part, I promise to do what I can to save your +life. Should we win this night, your poor efforts can do little to harm +us. Should we lose, there may be few of us left to harm.’ + +‘I thank you for your kindly protection,’ he replied, in the same white, +cold, bitter manner, unbuckling his sword as he spoke, and walking +slowly up to my companion. ‘You can take this as a gift to Mistress +Ruth,’ he said, presenting the weapon in his left hand, ‘and this!’ he +added, plucking a knife from his belt and burying it in my poor friend’s +side. + +It was done in an instant--so suddenly that I had neither time to spring +between, nor to grasp his intention before the wounded man sank gasping +on the ground, and the knife tinkled upon the pathway at my feet. The +villain set up a shrill cry of triumph, and bounding back in time to +avoid the savage sword thrust which I made at him, he turned and fled +down the road at the top of his speed. He was a far lighter man than I, +and more scantily clad, yet I had, from my long wind and length of limb, +been the best runner of my district, and he soon learned by the sound of +my feet that he had no chance of shaking me off. Twice he doubled as a +hare does when the hound is upon him, and twice my sword passed within a +foot of him, for in very truth I had no more thought of mercy than if +he had been a poisonous snake who had fastened his fangs into my friend +before my eyes. I never dreamed of giving nor did he of claiming it. +At last, hearing my steps close upon him and my breathing at his +very shoulder, he sprang wildly through the reeds and dashed into the +treacherous morass. Ankle-deep, knee-deep, thigh-deep, waist-deep, we +struggled and staggered, I still gaining upon him, until I was within +arm’s-reach of him, and had whirled up my sword to strike. It had been +ordained, however, my dear children, that he should die not the death of +a man, but that of the reptile which he was, for even as I closed upon +him he sank of a sudden with a gurgling sound, and the green marsh scum +met above his head. No ripple was there and no splash to mark the spot. +It was sudden and silent, as though some strange monster of the marshes +had seized him and dragged him down into the depths. As I stood with +upraised sword still gazing upon the spot, one single great bubble rose +and burst upon the surface, and then all was still once more, and the +dreary fens lay stretched before me, the very home of death and of +desolation. I know not whether he had indeed come upon some sudden pit +which had engulfed him, or whether in his despair he had cast himself +down of set purpose. I do but know that there in the great Sedgemoor +morass are buried the bones of the traitor and the spy. + +I made my way as best I could through the oozy clinging mud to the +margin, and hastened back to where Reuben was lying. Bending over him +I found that the knife had pierced through the side leather which +connected his back and front plates, and that the blood was not only +pouring out of the wound, but was trickling from the corner of his +mouth. With trembling fingers I undid the straps and buckles, loosened +the armour, and pressed my kerchief to his side to staunch the flow. + +‘I trust that you have not slain him, Micah,’ he said of a sudden, +opening his eyes. + +‘A higher power than ours has judged him, Reuben,’ I answered. + +‘Poor devil! He has had much to embitter him,’ he murmured, and +straightway fainted again. As I knelt over him, marking the lad’s white +face and laboured breathing, and bethought me of his simple, kindly +nature and of the affection which I had done so little to deserve, I am +not ashamed to say, my dears, albeit I am a man somewhat backward in my +emotions, that my tears were mingled with his blood. + +As it chanced, Decimus Saxon had found time to ascend the church tower +for the purpose of watching us through his glass and seeing how we +fared. Noting that there was something amiss, he had hurried down for +a skilled chirurgeon, whom he brought out to us under an escort of +scythesmen. I was still kneeling by my senseless friend, doing what an +ignorant man might to assist him, when the party arrived and helped me +to bear him into the cottage, out of the glare of the sun. The minutes +were as hours while the man of physic with a grave face examined and +probed the wound. + +‘It will scarce prove fatal,’ he said at last, and I could have embraced +him for the words. ‘The blade has glanced on a rib, though the lung is +slightly torn. We shall hear him back with us to the town.’ + +‘You hear what he says,’ said Saxon kindly. ‘He is a man whose opinion +is of weight-- + + “A skilful leach is better far, + Than half a hundred men of war.” + +Cheer up, man! You are as white as though it were your blood and not his +which was drained away. Where is Derrick?’ + +‘Drowned in the marshes,’ I answered. + +‘’Tis well! It will save us six feet of good hemp. But our position here +is somewhat exposed, since the Royal Horse might make a dash at us. Who +is this little maid who sits so white and still in the corner.’ + +‘’Tis the guardian of the house. Her granny has left her here.’ + +‘You had better come with us. There may be rough work here ere all is +over.’ + +‘Nay, I must wait for granny,’ she answered, with the tears running down +her cheeks. + +‘But how if I take you to granny, little one,’ said I. ‘We cannot +leave you here. ‘I held out my arms, and the child sprang into them and +nestled up against my bosom, sobbing as though her heart would break. +‘Take me away,’ she cried; ‘I’se frightened.’ + +I soothed the little trembling thing as best I might, and bore her off +with me upon my shoulder. The scythesmen had passed the handles of their +long weapons through the sleeves of their jerkins in such a way as to +form a couch or litter, upon which poor Reuben was laid. A slight dash +of colour had come back to his cheeks in answer to some cordial given +him by the chirurgeon, and he nodded and smiled at Saxon. Thus, pacing +slowly, we returned to Bridgewater, where Reuben was carried to our +quarters, and I bore the little maid of the marshes to kind townsfolk, +who promised to restore her to her home when the troubles were over. + + + +Chapter XXXII. Of the Onfall at Sedgemoor + +However pressing our own private griefs and needs, we had little time +now to dwell upon them, for the moment was at hand which was to decide +for the time not only our own fates, but that of the Protestant cause +in England. None of us made light of the danger. Nothing less than a +miracle could preserve us from defeat, and most of us were of opinion +that the days of the miracles were past. Others, however, thought +otherwise. I believe that many of our Puritans, had they seen the +heavens open that night, and the armies of the Seraphim and the Cherubim +descending to our aid, would have looked upon it as by no means a +wonderful or unexpected occurrence. + +The whole town was loud with the preaching. Every troop or company had +its own chosen orator, and sometimes more than one, who held forth +and expounded. From barrels, from waggons, from windows, and even from +housetops, they addressed the crowds beneath; nor was their eloquence +in vain. Hoarse, fierce shouts rose up from the streets, with broken +prayers and ejaculations. Men were drunk with religion as with wine. +Their faces were flushed, their speech thick, their gestures wild. Sir +Stephen and Saxon smiled at each other as they watched them, for they +knew, as old soldiers, that of all causes which make a man valiant in +deed and careless of life, this religious fit is the strongest and the +most enduring. + +In the evening I found time to look in upon my wounded friend, and found +him propped up with cushions upon his couch, breathing with some pain, +but as bright and merry as ever. Our prisoner, Major Ogilvy, who had +conceived a warm affection for us, sat by his side and read aloud to him +out of an old book of plays. + +‘This wound hath come at an evil moment,’ said Reuben impatiently. +‘Is it not too much that a little prick like this should send my men +captainless into battle, after all our marching and drilling? I have +been present at the grace, and am cut off from the dinner.’ + +‘Your company hath been joined to mine,’ I answered, ‘though, indeed, +the honest fellows are cast down at not having their own captain. Has +the physician been to see you?’ + +‘He has left even now,’ said Major Ogilvy. ‘He pronounces our friend to +be doing right well, but hath warned me against allowing him to talk.’ + +‘Hark to that, lad!’ said I, shaking my finger at him. ‘If I hear a word +from you I go. You will escape a rough waking this night, Major. What +think you of our chance?’ + +‘I have thought little of your chance from the first,’ he replied +frankly. ‘Monmouth is like a ruined gamester, who is now putting his +last piece upon the board. He cannot win much, and he may lose all.’ + +‘Nay, that is a hard saying,’ said I. ‘A success might set the whole of +the Midlands in arms.’ + +‘England is not ripe for it,’ the Major answered, with a shake of his +head. ‘It is true that it has no fancy either for Papistry or for a +Papist King, but we know that it is but a passing evil, since the next +in succession, the Prince of Orange, is a Protestant. Why, then, should +we risk so many evils to bring that about which time and patience must, +perforce, accomplish between them? Besides, the man whom ye support has +shown that he is unworthy of confidence. Did he not in his declaration +promise to leave the choice of a monarch to the Commons? And yet, in +less than a week, he proclaimed himself at Taunton Market Cross! Who +could believe one who has so little regard for truth?’ + +‘Treason, Major, rank treason,’ I answered, laughing. ‘Yet if we could +order a leader as one does a coat we might, perchance, have chosen +one of a stronger texture. We are in arms not for him, but for the old +liberties and rights of Englishmen. Have you seen Sir Gervas?’ + +Major Ogilvy, and even Reuben, burst out laughing. ‘You will find him +in the room above,’ said our prisoner. ‘Never did a famous toast prepare +herself for a court ball as he is preparing for his battle. If the +King’s troops take him they will assuredly think that they have the +Duke. He hath been in here to consult us as to his patches, hosen, and I +know not what beside. You had best go up to him.’ + +‘Adieu, then, Reuben!’ I said, grasping his hand in mine. + +‘Adieu, Micah! God shield you from harm,’ said he. + +‘Can I speak to you aside, Major?’ I whispered. ‘I think,’ I went on, +as he followed me into the passage, ‘that you will not say that your +captivity hath been made very harsh for you. May I ask, therefore, that +you will keep an eye upon my friend should we be indeed defeated this +night? No doubt if Feversham gains the upper hand there will be bloody +work. The hale can look after themselves, but he is helpless, and will +need a friend.’ + +The Major pressed my hand. ‘I swear to God,’ he said, ‘that no harm +shall befall him.’ + +‘You have taken a load from my heart,’ I answered; ‘I know that I leave +him in safety. ‘I can now ride to battle with an easy mind.’ With a +friendly smile the soldier returned to the sick-room, whilst I ascended +the stair and entered the quarters of Sir Gervas Jerome. + +He was standing before a table which was littered all over with pots, +brushes, boxes, and a score of the like trifles, which he had either +bought or borrowed for the occasion. A large hand-mirror was balanced +against the wall, with rush-lights on either side of it. In front of +this, with a most solemn and serious expression upon his pale, handsome +face, the Baronet was arranging and re-arranging a white berdash cravat. +His riding-boots were brightly polished, and the broken seam repaired. +His sword-sheath, breastplate, and trappings were clear and bright. +He wore his gayest and newest suit, and above all he had donned a most +noble and impressive full-bottomed periwig, which drooped down to his +shoulders, as white as powder could make it. From his dainty riding-hat +to his shining spur there was no speck or stain upon him--a sad set-off +to my own state, plastered as I was with a thick crust of the Sedgemoor +mud, and disordered from having ridden and worked for two days without +rest or repose. + +‘Split me, but you have come in good time!’ he exclaimed, as I entered. +‘I have even now sent down for a flask of canary. Ah, and here it +comes!’ as a maid from the inn tripped upstairs with the bottle and +glasses. ‘Here is a gold piece, my pretty dear, the very last that I +have in the whole world. It is the only survivor of a goodly family. Pay +mine host for the wine, little one, and keep the change for thyself, to +buy ribbons for the next holiday. Now, curse me if I can get this cravat +to fit unwrinkled!’ + +‘There is nought amiss with it,’ I answered. ‘How can such trifles +occupy you at such a time?’ + +‘Trifles!’ he cried angrily. ‘Trifles! Well, there, it boots not to +argue with you. Your bucolic mind would never rise to the subtle import +which may lie in such matters--the rest of mind which it is to have +them right, and the plaguey uneasiness when aught is wrong. It comes, +doubtless, from training, and it may be that I have it more than others +of my class. I feel as a cat who would lick all day to take the least +speck from her fur. Is not the patch over the eyebrow happily chosen? +Nay, you cannot even offer an opinion; I would as soon ask friend Marot, +the knight of the pistol. Fill up your glass!’ + +‘Your company awaits you by the church,’ I remarked; ‘I saw them as I +passed.’ + +‘How looked they?’ he asked. ‘Were they powdered and clean?’ + +‘Nay, I had little leisure to observe. I saw that they were cutting +their matches and arranging their priming.’ + +‘I would that they had all snaphances,’ he answered, sprinkling himself +with scented water; ‘the matchlocks are slow and cumbersome. Have you +had wine enough?’ + +‘I will take no more,’ I answered. + +‘Then mayhap the Major may care to finish it. It is not often I ask help +with a bottle, but I would keep my head cool this night. Let us go down +and see to our men.’ + +It was ten o’clock when we descended into the street. The hubbub of +the preachers and the shouting of the people had died away, for the +regiments had fallen into their places, and stood silent and stern, +with the faint light from the lamps and windows playing over their dark +serried ranks. A cool, clear moon shone down upon us from amidst fleecy +clouds, which drifted ever and anon across her face. Away in the north +tremulous rays of light flickered up into the heavens, coming and going +like long, quivering fingers. They were the northern lights, a sight +rarely seen in the southland counties. It is little wonder that, coming +at such a time, the fanatics should have pointed to them as signals +from another world, and should have compared them to that pillar of fire +which guided Israel through the dangers of the desert. The footpaths and +the windows were crowded with women and children, who broke into shrill +cries of fear or of wonder as the strange light waxed and waned. + +‘It is half after ten by St. Mary’s clock,’ said Saxon, as we rode up to +the regiment. ‘Have we nothing to give the men?’ + +‘There is a hogshead of Zoyland cider in the yard of yonder inn,’ said +Sir Gervas. ‘Here, Dawson, do you take those gold sleeve links and give +them to mine host in exchange. Broach the barrel, and let each man have +his horn full. Sink me, if they shall fight with nought but cold water +in them.’ + +‘They will feel the need of it ere morning,’ said Saxon, as a score +of pikemen hastened off to the inn. ‘The marsh air is chilling to the +blood.’ + +‘I feel cold already, and Covenant is stamping with it,’ said I. ‘Might +we not, if we have time upon our hands, canter our horses down the +line?’ + +‘Of a surety,’ Saxon answered gladly, ‘we could not do better;’ so +shaking our bridles we rode off, our horses’ hoofs striking fire from +the flint-paved streets as we passed. + +Behind the horse, in a long line which stretched from the Eastover gate, +across the bridge, along the High Street, up the Cornhill, and so past +the church to the Pig Cross, stood our foot, silent and grim, save when +some woman’s voice from the windows called forth a deep, short answer +from the ranks. The fitful light gleamed on scythes-blade or gun-barrel, +and showed up the lines of rugged, hard set faces, some of mere children +with never a hair upon their cheeks, others of old men whose grey beards +swept down to their cross-belts, but all bearing the same stamp of a +dogged courage and a fierce self-contained resolution. Here were still +the fisher folk of the south. Here, too, were the fierce men from the +Mendips, the wild hunters from Porlock Quay and Minehead, the poachers +of Exmoor, the shaggy marshmen of Axbridge, the mountain men from the +Quantocks, the serge and wool-workers of Devonshire, the graziers of +Bampton, the red-coats from the Militia, the stout burghers of Taunton, +and then, as the very bone and sinew of all, the brave smockfrocked +peasants of the plains, who had turned up their jackets to the elbow, +and exposed their brown and corded arms, as was their wont when good +work had to be done. As I speak to you, dear children, fifty years +rolls by like a mist in the morning, and I am riding once more down +the winding street, and see again the serried ranks of my gallant +companions. Brave hearts! They showed to all time how little training it +takes to turn an Englishman into a soldier, and what manner of men are +bred in those quiet, peaceful hamlets which dot the sunny slopes of the +Somerset and Devon downs. If ever it should be that England should +be struck upon her knees, if those who fight her battles should have +deserted her, and she should find herself unarmed in the presence of her +enemy, let her take heart and remember that every village in the realm +is a barrack, and that her real standing army is the hardy courage and +simple virtue which stand ever in the breast of the humblest of her +peasants. + +As we rode down the long line a buzz of greeting and welcome rose now +and again from the ranks as they recognised through the gloom Saxon’s +tall, gaunt figure. The clock was on the stroke of eleven as we returned +to our own men, and at that very moment King Monmouth rode out from the +inn where he was quartered, and trotted with his staff down the High +Street. All cheering had been forbidden, but waving caps and brandished +arms spoke the ardour of his devoted followers. No bugle was to sound +the march, but as each received the word the one in its rear followed +its movements. The clatter and shuffle of hundreds of moving feet came +nearer and nearer, until the Frome men in front of us began to march, +and we found ourselves fairly started upon the last journey which many +of us were ever to take in this world. + +Our road lay across the Parret, through Eastover, and so along the +winding track past the spot where Derrick met his fate, and the lonely +cottage of the little maid. At the other side of this the road becomes +a mere pathway over the plain. A dense haze lay over the moor, gathering +thickly in the hollows, and veiling both the town which we had left and +the villages which we were approaching. Now and again it would lift +for a few moments, and then I could see in the moonlight the long black +writhing line of the army, with the shimmer of steel playing over it, +and the rude white standards flapping in the night breeze. Far on the +right a great fire was blazing--some farmhouse, doubtless, which the +Tangiers devils had made spoil of. Very slow our march was, and very +careful, for the plain was, as Sir Stephen Timewell had told us, cut +across by great ditches or rhines, which could not be passed save at +some few places. These ditches were cut for the purpose of draining the +marshes, and were many feet deep of water and of mud, so that even +the horse could not cross them. The bridges were narrow, and some time +passed before the army could get over. At last, however, the two main +ones, the Black Ditch and the Langmoor Rhine, were safely traversed and +a halt was called while the foot was formed in line, for we had reason +to believe that no other force lay between the Royal camp and ourselves. +So far our enterprise had succeeded admirably. We were within half a +mile of the camp without mistake or accident, and none of the enemy’s +scouts had shown sign of their presence. Clearly they held us in such +contempt that it had never occurred to them that we might open the +attack. If ever a general deserved a beating it was Feversham that +night. As he drew up upon the moor the clock of Chedzoy struck one. + +‘Is it not glorious?’ whispered Sir Gervas, as we reined up upon the +further side of the Langmoor Rhine. ‘What is there on earth to compare +with the excitement of this?’ + +‘You speak as though it wore a cocking-match or a bull-baiting, ‘I +answered, with some little coldness. ‘It is a solemn and a sad occasion. +Win who will, English blood must soak the soil of England this night.’ + +‘The more room for those who are left,’ said he lightly. ‘Mark over +yonder the glow of their camp-fires amidst the fog. What was it that +your seaman friend did recommend? Get the weather-gauge of them and +board--eh? Have you told that to the Colonel?’ + +‘Nay, this is no time for quips and cranks,’ I answered gravely; ‘the +chances are that few of us will ever see to-morrow’s sun rise.’ + +‘I have no great curiosity to see it,’ he remarked, with a laugh. ‘It +will be much as yesterday’s. Zounds! though I have never risen to see +one in my life, I have looked on many a hundred ere I went to bed.’ + +‘I have told friend Reuben such few things as I should desire to be done +in case I should fall,’ said I. ‘It has eased my mind much to know that +I leave behind some word of farewell, and little remembrance to all whom +I have known. Is there no service of the sort which I can do for you?’ + +‘Hum!’ said he, musing. ‘If I go under, you can tell Araminta--nay, let +the poor wench alone! Why should I send her messages which may plague +her! Should you be in town, little Tommy Chichester would be glad to +hear of the fun which we have had in Somerset. You will find him at the +Coca Tree every day of the week between two and four of the clock. There +is Mother Butterworth, too, whom I might commend to your notice. She +was the queen of wet-nurses, but alas! cruel time hath dried up her +business, and she hath need of some little nursing herself.’ + +‘If I live and you should fall, I shall do what may be done for her,’ +said I. ‘Have you aught else to say?’ + +‘Only that Hacker of Paul’s Yard is the best for vests,’ he answered. +‘It is a small piece of knowledge, yet like most other knowledge it hath +been bought and paid for. One other thing! I have a trinket or two left +which might serve as a gift for the pretty Puritan maid, should our +friend lead her to the altar. Od’s my life, but she will make him read +some queer books! How now, Colonel, why are we stuck out on the moor +like a row of herons among the sedges?’ + +‘They are ordering the line for the attack,’ said Saxon, who had ridden +up during our conversation. ‘Donnerblitz! Who ever saw a camp so +exposed to an onfall? Oh for twelve hundred good horse--for an hour of +Wessenburg’s Pandours! Would I not trample them down until their camp +was like a field of young corn after a hail-storm!’ + +‘May not our horse advance?’ I asked. + +The old soldier gave a deep snort of disdain. ‘If this fight is to be +won it must be by our foot,’ said he; ‘what can we hope for from such +cavalry? Keep your men well in hand, for we may have to bear the brunt +of the King’s dragoons. A flank attack would fall upon us, for we are in +the post of honour.’ + +‘There are troops to the right of us,’ I answered, peering through the +darkness. + +‘Aye! the Taunton burghers and the Frome peasants. Our brigade covers +the right flank. Next us are the Mendip miners, nor could I wish for +better comrades, if their zeal do not outrun their discretion. They are +on their knees in the mud at this moment.’ + +‘They will fight none the worse for that,’ I remarked; ‘but surely the +troops are advancing!’ + +‘Aye, aye!’ cried Saxon joyously, plucking out his sword, and tying +his handkerchief round the handle to strengthen his grip. ‘The hour has +come! Forwards!’ + +Very slowly and silently we crept on through the dense fog, our feet +splashing and slipping in the sodden soil. With all the care which +we could take, the advance of so great a number of men could not be +conducted without a deep sonorous sound from the thousands of marching +feet. Ahead of us were splotches of ruddy light twinkling through the +fog which marked the Royal watch-fires. Immediately in front in a dense +column our own horse moved forwards. Of a sudden out of the darkness +there came a sharp challenge and a shout, with the discharge of a +carbine and the sound of galloping hoofs. Away down the line we heard +a ripple of shots. The first line of outposts had been reached. At the +alarm our horse charged forward with a huzza, and we followed them as +fast as our men could run. We had crossed two or three hundred yards of +moor, and could hear the blowing of the Royal bugles quite close to us, +when our horse came to a sudden halt, and our whole advance was at a +standstill. + +‘Sancta Maria!’ cried Saxon, dashing forward with the rest of us to find +out the cause of the delay. ‘We must on at any cost! A halt now will +ruin our camisado.’ + +‘Forwards, forwards!’ cried Sir Gervas and I, waving our swords. + +‘It is no use, gentlemen,’ cried a cornet of horse, wringing his hands; +‘we are undone and betrayed. There is a broad ditch without a ford in +front of us, full twenty feet across!’ + +‘Give me room for my horse, and I shall show ye the way across!’ cried +the Baronet, backing his steed. ‘Now, lads, who’s for a jump?’ + +‘Nay, sir, for God’s sake!’ said a trooper, laying his hand upon his +bridle. ‘Sergeant Sexton hath sprung in even now, and horse and man have +gone to the bottom!’ + +‘Let us see it, then!’ cried Saxon, pushing his way through the crowd +of horsemen. We followed close at his heels, until we found ourselves on +the borders of the vast trench which impeded our advance. + +To this day I have never been able to make up my mind whether it was +by chance or by treachery on the part of our guides that this fosse was +overlooked until we stumbled upon it in the dark. There are some who say +that the Bussex Rhine, as it is called, is not either deep or broad, +and was, therefore, unmentioned by the moorsmen, but that the recent +constant rains had swollen it to an extent never before known. Others +say that the guides had been deceived by the fog, and taken a wrong +course, whereas, had we followed another track, we might have been able +to come upon the camp without crossing the ditch. However that may be, +it is certain that we found it stretching in front of us, broad, black, +and forbidding, full twenty feet from bank to bank, with the cap of the +ill-fated sergeant just visible in the centre as a mute warning to all +who might attempt to ford it. + +‘There must be a passage somewhere,’ cried Saxon furiously. ‘Every +moment is worth a troop of horse to them. Where is my Lord Grey? Hath +the guide met with his deserts?’ + +‘Major Hollis hath hurled the guide into the ditch,’ the young cornet +answered. ‘My Lord Grey hath ridden along the bank seeking for a ford.’ + +I caught a pike out of a footman’s hand, and probed into the black +oozy mud, standing myself up to the waist in it, and holding Covenant’s +bridle in my left hand. Nowhere could I touch bottom or find any hope of +solid foothold. + +‘Here, fellow!’ cried Saxon, seizing a trooper by the arm. ‘Make for +the rear! Gallop as though the devil were behind you! Bring up a pair +of ammunition waggons, and we shall see whether we cannot bridge this +infernal puddle.’ + +‘If a few of us could make a lodgment upon the other side we might make +it good until help came,’ said Sir Gervas, as the horseman galloped off +upon his mission. + +All down the rebel line a fierce low roar of disappointment and rage +showed that the whole army had met the same obstacle which hindered +our attack. On the other side of the ditch the drums beat, the bugles +screamed, and the shouts and oaths of the officers could be heard as +they marshalled their men. Glancing lights in Chedzoy, Westonzoyland, +and the other hamlets to left and right, showed how fast the alarm +was extending. Decimus Saxon rode up and down the edge of the fosse, +pattering forth foreign oaths, grinding his teeth in his fury, and +rising now and again in his stirrups to shake his gauntleted hands at +the enemy. + +‘For whom are ye?’ shouted a hoarse voice out of the haze. + +‘For the King!’ roared the peasants in answer. + +‘For which King?’ cried the voice. + +‘For King Monmouth!’ + +‘Let them have it, lads!’ and instantly a storm of musket bullets +whistled and sung about our ears. As the sheet of flame sprang out of +the darkness the maddened, half-broken horses dashed wildly away across +the plain, resisting the efforts of the riders to pull them up. There +are some, indeed, who say that those efforts were not very strong, and +that our troopers, disheartened at the check at the ditch, were not +sorry to show their heels to the enemy. As to my Lord Grey, I can say +truly that I saw him in the dim light among the flying squadrons, doing +all that a brave cavalier could do to bring them to a stand. Away they +went, however, thundering through the ranks of the foot and out over the +moor, leaving their companions to bear the whole brunt of the battle. + +‘On to your faces, men!’ shouted Saxon, in a voice which rose high above +the crash of the musketry and the cries of the wounded. The pikemen and +scythesmen threw themselves down at his command, while the musqueteers +knelt in front of them, loading and firing, with nothing to aim at save +the burning matches of the enemy’s pieces, which could be seen twinkling +through the darkness. All along, both to the right and the left, a +rolling fire had broken out, coming in short, quick volleys from the +soldiers, and in a continuous confused rattle from the peasants. On the +further wing our four guns had been brought into play, and we could hear +their dull growling in the distance. + +‘Sing, brothers, sing!’ cried our stout-hearted chaplain, Master Joshua +Pettigrue, bustling backwards and forwards among the prostrate ranks. +‘Let us call upon the Lord in our day of trial!’ The men raised a loud +hymn of praise, which swelled into a great chorus as it was taken up by +the Taunton burghers upon our right and the miners upon our left. At +the sound the soldiers on the other side raised a fierce huzza, and the +whole air was full of clamour. + +Our musqueteers had been brought to the very edge of the Bussex Rhine, +and the Royal troops had also advanced as far as they were able, so that +there were not five pikes’-lengths between the lines. Yet that short +distance was so impassable that, save for the more deadly fire, a +quarter of a mile might have divided us. So near were we that the +burning wads from the enemy’s muskets flew in flakes of fire over +our heads, and we felt upon our faces the hot, quick flush of their +discharges. Yet though the air was alive with bullets, the aim of the +soldiers was too high for our kneeling ranks, and very few of the men +were struck. For our part, we did what we could to keep the barrels of +our muskets from inclining upwards. Saxon, Sir Gervas, and I walked +our horses up and down without ceasing, pushing them level with our +sword-blades, and calling on the men to aim steadily and slowly. The +groans and cries from the other side of the ditch showed that some, at +least, of our bullets had not been fired in vain. + +‘We hold our own in this quarter,’ said I to Saxon. ‘It seems to me that +their fire slackens.’ + +‘It is their horse that I fear,’ he answered. ‘They can avoid the ditch, +since they come from the hamlets on the flank. They may be upon us at +any time.’ + +‘Hullo, sir!’ shouted Sir Gervas, reining up his steed upon the very +brink of the ditch, and raising his cap in salute to a mounted officer +upon the other side. ‘Can you tell me if we have the honour to be +opposed to the foot guards?’ + +‘We are Dumbarton’s regiment, sir,’ cried the other. ‘We shall give ye +good cause to remember having met us.’ + +‘We shall be across presently to make your further acquaintance,’ Sir +Gervas answered, and at the same moment rolled, horse and all, into the +ditch, amid a roar of exultation from the soldiers. Half-a-dozen of his +musqueteers sprang instantly, waist deep, into the mud, and dragged our +friend out of danger, but the charger, which had been shot through the +heart, sank without a struggle. + +‘There is no harm!’ cried the Baronet, springing to his feet, ‘I would +rather fight on foot like my brave musqueteers.’ The men broke out +a-cheering at his words, and the fire on both sides became hotter +than ever. It was a marvel to me, and to many more, to see these brave +peasants with their mouths full of bullets, loading, priming, and firing +as steadily as though they had been at it all their lives, and holding +their own against a veteran regiment which has proved itself in other +fields to be second to none in the army of England. + +The grey light of morning was stealing over the moor, and still the +fight was undecided. The fog hung about us in feathery streaks, and +the smoke from our guns drifted across in a dun-coloured cloud, through +which the long lines of red coats upon the other side of the rhine +loomed up like a battalion of giants. My eyes ached and my lips prinkled +with the smack of the powder. On every side of me men were falling fast, +for the increased light had improved the aim of the soldiers. Our good +chaplain, in the very midst of a psalm, had uttered a great shout +of praise and thanksgiving, and so passed on to join those of his +parishioners who were scattered round him upon the moor. Hope-above +Williams and Keeper Milson, under-officers, and among the stoutest +men in the company, were both down, the one dead and the other sorely +wounded, but still ramming down charges, and spitting bullets into his +gun-barrel. The two Stukeleys of Somerton, twins, and lads of great +promise, lay silently with grey faces turned to the grey sky, united in +death as they had been in birth. Everywhere the dead lay thick amid the +living. Yet no man flinched from his place, and Saxon still walked +his horse among them with words of hope and praise, while his stern, +deep-lined face and tall sinewy figure were a very beacon of hope to +the simple rustics. Such of my scythesmen as could handle a musket were +thrown forward into the fighting line, and furnished with the arms and +pouches of those who had fallen. + +Ever and anon as the light waxed I could note through the rifts in the +smoke and the fog how the fight was progressing in other parts of the +field. On the right the heath was brown with the Taunton and Frome +men, who, like ourselves, were lying down to avoid the fire. Along the +borders of the Bussex Rhine a deep fringe of their musqueteers were +exchanging murderous volleys, almost muzzle to muzzle, with the +left wing of the same regiment with which we were engaged, which was +supported by a second regiment in broad white facings, which I believe +to have belonged to the Wiltshire Militia. On either bank of the black +trench a thick line of dead, brown on the one side, and scarlet on the +other, served as a screen to their companions, who sheltered themselves +behind them and rested their musket-barrels upon their prostrate bodies. +To the left amongst the withies lay five hundred Mendip and Bagworthy +miners, singing lustily, but so ill-armed that they had scarce one gun +among ten wherewith to reply to the fire which was poured into them. +They could not advance, and they would not retreat, so they sheltered +themselves as best they might, and waited patiently until their leaders +might decide what was to be done. Further down for half a mile or more +the long rolling cloud of smoke, with petulant flashes of flame spurting +out through it, showed that every one of our raw regiments was bearing +its part manfully. The cannon on the left had ceased firing. The Dutch +gunners had left the Islanders to settle their own quarrels, and were +scampering back to Bridgewater, leaving their silent pieces to the Royal +Horse. + +The battle was in this state when there rose a cry of ‘The King, the +King!’ and Monmouth rode through our ranks, bare-headed and wild-eyed, +with Buyse, Wade, and a dozen more beside him. They pulled up within a +spear’s-length of me, and Saxon, spurring forward to meet them, raised +his sword to the salute. I could not but mark the contrast between +the calm, grave face of the veteran, composed yet alert, and the half +frantic bearing of the man whom we were compelled to look upon as our +leader. + +‘How think ye, Colonel Saxon?’ he cried wildly. ‘How goes the fight? Is +all well with ye? What an error, alas! what an error! Shall we draw off, +eh? How say you?’ + +‘We hold our own here, your Majesty,’ Saxon answered. ‘Methinks had we +something after the nature of palisados or stockados, after the Swedish +fashion, we might even make it good against the horse.’ + +‘Ah, the horse!’ cried the unhappy Monmouth. ‘If we get over this, my +Lord Grey shall answer for it. They ran like a flock of sheep. What +leader could do anything with such troops? Oh, lack-a-day, lack-a-day! +Shall we not advance?’ + +‘There is no reason to advance, your Majesty, now that the surprise has +failed,’ said Saxon. ‘I had sent for carts to bridge over the trench, +according to the plan which is commended in the treatise, “De vallis et +fossis,” but they are useless now. We can but fight it out as we are.’ + +‘To throw troops across would be to sacrifice them,’ said Wade. ‘We have +lost heavily, Colonel Saxon, but I think from the look of yonder bank +that ye have given a good account of the red-coats.’ + +‘Stand firm! For God’s sake, stand firm!’ cried Monmouth distractedly. +‘The horse have fled, and the cannoniers also. Oh! what can I do with +such men? What shall I do? Alas, alas!’ He set spurs to his horse and +galloped off down the line, still ringing his hands and uttering his +dismal wailings. Oh, my children, how small, how very small a thing is +death when weighed in the balance with dishonour! Had this man but borne +his fate silently, as did the meanest footman who followed his banners, +how proud and glad would we have been to have discoursed of him, our +princely leader. But let him rest. The fears and agitations and petty +fond emotions, which showed upon him as the breeze shows upon the water, +are all stilled now for many a long year. Let us think of the kind heart +and forget the feeble spirit. + +As his escort trooped after him, the great German man-at-arms separated +from them and turned back to us. ‘I am weary of trotting up and down +like a lust-ritter at a fair,’ said he. ‘If I bide with ye I am like to +have my share of any fighting which is going. So, steady, mein Liebchen. +That ball grazed her tail, but she is too old a soldier to wince at +trifles. Hullo, friend, where is your horse?’ + +‘At the bottom of the ditch,’ said Sir Gervas, scraping the mud off his +dress with his sword-blade. ‘’Tis now half-past two,’ he continued, +‘and we have been at this child’s-play for an hour and more. With a line +regiment, too! It is not what I had looked forward to!’ + +‘You shall have something to console you anon,’ cried the German, with +his eyes shining. ‘Mein Gott! Is it not splendid? Look to it, friend +Saxon, look to it!’ + +It was no light matter which had so roused the soldier’s admiration. Out +of the haze which still lay thick upon our right there twinkled here and +there a bright gleam of silvery light, while a dull, thundering noise +broke upon our ears like that of the surf upon a rocky shore. More and +more frequent came the fitful flashes of steel, louder and yet louder +grew the hoarse gathering tumult, until of a sudden the fog was rent, +and the long lines of the Royal cavalry broke out from it, wave after +wave, rich in scarlet and blue and gold, as grand a sight as ever the +eye rested upon. There was something in the smooth, steady sweep of so +great a body of horsemen which gave the feeling of irresistible power. +Rank after rank, and line after line, with waving standards, tossing +manes, and gleaming steel, they poured onwards, an army in themselves, +with either flank still shrouded in the mist. As they thundered along, +knee to knee and bridle to bridle, there came from them such a gust of +deep-chested oaths with the jangle of harness, the clash of steel, and +the measured beat of multitudinous hoofs, that no man who hath not stood +up against such a whirlwind, with nothing but a seven-foot pike in his +hand, can know how hard it is to face it with a steady lip and a firm +grip. + +But wonderful as was the sight, there was, as ye may guess, my +dears, little time for us to gaze upon it. Saxon and the German flung +themselves among the pikemen and did all that men could do to thicken +their array. Sir Gervas and I did the same with the scythesmen, who had +been trained to form a triple front after the German fashion, one rank +kneeling, one stooping, and one standing erect, with weapons advanced. +Close to us the Taunton men had hardened into a dark sullen ring, +bristling with steel, in the centre of which might be seen and heard +their venerable Mayor, his long beard fluttering in the breeze, and his +strident voice clanging over the field. Louder and louder grew the roar +of the horse. ‘Steady, my brave lads,’ cried Saxon, in trumpet tones. +‘Dig the pike-butt into the earth! Best it on the right foot! Give not +an inch! Steady!’ A great shout went up from either side, and then the +living wave broke over us. + +What hope is there to describe such a scene as that--the crashing of +wood, the sharp gasping cries, the snorting of horses, the jar when the +push of pike met with the sweep of sword! Who can hope to make +another see that of which he himself carries away so vague and dim an +impression? One who has acted in such a scene gathers no general sense +of the whole combat, such as might be gained by a mere onlooker, but +he has stamped for ever upon his mind just the few incidents which may +chance to occur before his own eyes. Thus my memories are confined to a +swirl of smoke with steel caps and fierce, eager faces breaking through +it, with the red gaping nostrils of horses and their pawing fore-feet +as they recoiled from the hedge of steel. I see, too, a young beardless +lad, an officer of dragoons, crawling on hands and knees under the +scythes, and I hear his groan as one of the peasants pinned him to the +ground. I see a bearded, broad-faced trooper riding a grey horse just +outside the fringe of the scythes, seeking for some entrance, and +screaming the while with rage. Small things imprint themselves upon a +man’s notice at such a time. I even marked the man’s strong white teeth +and pink gums. At the same time I see a white-faced, thin-lipped man +leaning far forward over his horse’s neck and driving at me with his +sword point, cursing the while as only a dragoon can curse. All these +images start up as I think of that fierce rally, during which I hacked +and cut and thrust at man and horse without a thought of parry or +of guard. All round rose a fierce babel of shouts and cries, godly +ejaculations from the peasants and oaths from the horsemen, with Saxon’s +voice above all imploring his pikemen to stand firm. Then the cloud +of horse-men recoiled, circling off over the plain, and the shout of +triumph from my comrades, and an open snuff-box thrust out in front of +me, proclaimed that we had seen the back of as stout a squadron as ever +followed a kettledrum. + +But if we could claim it as a victory, the army in general could scarce +say as much. None but the very pick of the troops could stand against +the flood of heavy horses and steel-clad men. The Frome peasants were +gone, swept utterly from the field. Many had been driven by pure weight +and pressure into the fatal mud which had checked our advance. Many +others, sorely cut and slashed, lay in ghastly heaps all over the ground +which they had held. A few by joining our ranks had saved themselves +from the fate of their companions. Further off the men of Taunton still +stood fast, though in sadly diminished numbers. A long ridge of horses +and cavaliers in front of them showed how stern had been the attack and +how fierce the resistance. On our left the wild miners had been broken +at the first rush, but had fought so savagely, throwing themselves upon +the ground and stabbing upwards at the stomachs of the horses, that they +had at last beaten off the dragoons. The Devonshire militiamen, however, +had been scattered, and shared the fate of the men of Frome. During the +whole of the struggle the foot upon the further bank of the Bussex Rhine +were pouring in a hail of bullets, which our musqueteers, having to +defend themselves against the horse, were unable to reply to. + +It needed no great amount of soldierly experience to see that the battle +was lost, and that Monmouth’s cause was doomed. It was broad daylight +now, though the sun had not yet risen. Our cavalry was gone, our +ordnance was silent, our line was pierced in many places, and more than +one of our regiments had been destroyed. On the right flank the Horse +Guards Blue, the Tangiers Horse, and two dragoon regiments were forming +up for a fresh attack. On the left the foot-guards had bridged the ditch +and were fighting hand to hand with the men from North Somerset. In +front a steady fire was being poured into us, to which our reply was +feeble and uncertain, for the powder carts had gone astray in the dark, +and many were calling hoarsely for ammunition, while others were loading +with pebbles instead of ball. Add to this that the regiments which still +held their ground had all been badly shaken by the charge, and had lost +a third of their number. Yet the brave clowns sent up cheer after cheer, +and shouted words of encouragement and homely jests to each other, +as though a battle were but some rough game which must as a matter of +course be played out while there was a player left to join in it. + +‘Is Captain Clarke there?’ cried Decimus Saxon, riding up with his +sword-arm flecked with blood. ‘Ride over to Sir Stephen Timewell and +tell him to join his men to ours. Apart we shall be broken--together we +may stand another charge.’ + +Setting spurs to Covenant I rode over to our companions and delivered +the message. Sir Stephen, who had been struck by a petronel bullet, +and wore a crimsoned kerchief bound round his snow-white head, saw +the wisdom of the advice, and moved his townsmen as directed. His +musqueteers being better provided with powder than ours did good service +by keeping down for a time the deadly fire from across the fosse. + +‘Who would have thought it of him?’ cried Sir Stephen, with flashing +eyes, as Buyse and Saxon rode out to meet him. ‘What think ye now of our +noble monarch, our champion of the Protestant cause?’ + +‘He is no very great Krieger,’ said Buyse. ‘Yet perhaps it may be from +want of habit as much as from want of courage.’ + +‘Courage!’ cried the old Mayor, in a voice of scorn. ‘Look over yonder +and behold your King.’ He pointed out over the moor with a finger +which shook as much from anger as from age. There, far away, showing +up against the dark peat-coloured soil, rode a gaily-dressed cavalier, +followed by a knot of attendants, galloping as fast as his horse would +carry him from the field of battle. There was no mistaking the fugitive. +It was the recreant Monmouth. + +‘Hush!’ cried Saxon, as we all gave a cry of horror and execration; +‘do not dishearten our brave lads! Cowardice is catching and will run +through an army like the putrid fever.’ + +‘Der Feigherzige!’ cried Buyse, grinding his teeth. ‘And the brave +country folk! It is too much.’ + +‘Stand to your pikes, men!’ roared Saxon, in a voice of thunder, and +we had scarce time to form our square and throw ourselves inside of it, +before the whirlwind of horse was upon us once more. When the Taunton +men had joined us a weak spot had been left in our ranks, and through +this in an instant the Blue Guards smashed their way, pouring through +the opening, and cutting fiercely to right and left. The burghers on the +one side and our own men on the other replied by savage stabs from their +pikes and scythes, which emptied many a saddle, but while the struggle +was at its hottest the King’s cannon opened for the first time with a +deafening roar upon the other side of the rhine, and a storm of balls +ploughed their way through our dense ranks, leaving furrows of dead +and wounded behind them. At the same moment a great cry of ‘Powder! For +Christ’s sake, powder!’ arose from the musqueteers whose last charge had +been fired. Again the cannon roared, and again our men were mowed down +as though Death himself with his scythe were amongst us. At last our +ranks were breaking. In the very centre of the pikemen steel caps were +gleaming, and broadswords rising and falling. The whole body was swept +back two hundred paces or more, struggling furiously the while, and +was there mixed with other like bodies which had been dashed out of all +semblance of military order, and yet refused to fly. Men of Devon, of +Dorset, of Wiltshire, and of Somerset, trodden down by horse, slashed by +dragoons, dropping by scores under the rain of bullets, still fought on +with a dogged, desperate courage for a ruined cause and a man who +had deserted them. Everywhere as I glanced around me were set faces, +clenched teeth, yells of rage and defiance, but never a sound of fear +or of submission. Some clambered up upon the cruppers of the riders and +dragged them backwards from their saddles. Others lay upon their faces +and hamstrung the chargers with their scythe-blades, stabbing the +horsemen before they could disengage themselves. Again and again the +guards crashed through them from side to side, and yet the shattered +ranks closed up behind them and continued the long-drawn struggle. So +hopeless was it and so pitiable that I could have found it in my heart +to wish that they would break and fly, were it not that on the broad +moor there was no refuge which they could make for. And all this time, +while they struggled and fought, blackened with powder and parched with +thirst, spilling their blood as though it were water, the man who called +himself their King was spurring over the countryside with a loose rein +and a quaking heart, his thoughts centred upon saving his own neck, come +what might to his gallant followers. + +Large numbers of the foot fought to the death, neither giving nor +receiving quarter; but at last, scattered, broken, and without +ammunition, the main body of the peasants dispersed and fled across the +moor, closely followed by the horse. Saxon, Buyse, and I had done all +that we could to rally them once more, and had cut down some of the +foremost of the pursuers, when my eye fell suddenly upon Sir Gervas, +standing hatless with a few of his musqueteers in the midst of a swarm +of dragoons. Spurring our horses we cut a way to his rescue, and laid +our swords about us until we had cleared off his assailants for the +moment. + +‘Jump up behind me!’ I cried. ‘We can make good our escape.’ + +He looked up smiling and shook his head. ‘I stay with my company,’ said +he. + +‘Your company!’ Saxon cried. ‘Why, man, you are mad! Your company is cut +off to the last man.’ + +‘That’s what I mean,’ he answered, flicking some dirt from his cravat. +‘Don’t ye mind! Look out for yourselves. Goodbye, Clarke! Present my +compliments to--’ The dragoons charged down upon us again. We were all +borne backwards, fighting desperately, and when we could look round the +Baronet was gone for ever. We heard afterwards that the King’s troops +found upon the field a body which they mistook for that of Monmouth, on +account of the effeminate grace of the features and the richness of the +attire. No doubt it was that of our undaunted friend, Sir Gervas Jerome, +a name which shall ever be dear to my heart. When, ten years afterwards, +we heard much of the gallantry of the young courtiers of the household +of the French King, and of the sprightly courage with which they fought +against us in the Lowlands at Steinkirk and elsewhere, I have always +thought, from my recollection of Sir Gervas, that I knew what manner of +men they were. + +And now it was every man for himself. In no part of the field did +the insurgents continue to resist. The first rays of the sun shining +slantwise across the great dreary plain lit up the long line of the +scarlet battalions, and glittered upon the cruel swords which rose and +fell among the struggling drove of resistless fugitives. The German had +become separated from us in the tumult, and we knew not whether he lived +or was slain, though long afterwards we learned that he made good his +escape, only to be captured with the ill-fated Duke of Monmouth. Grey, +Wade, Ferguson, and others had contrived also to save themselves, while +Stephen Timewell lay in the midst of a stern ring of his hard-faced +burghers, dying as he had lived, a gallant Puritan Englishman. All this +we learned afterwards. At present we rode for our lives across the moor, +followed by a few scattered bodies of horse, who soon abandoned their +pursuit in order to fasten upon some more easy prey. + +We were passing a small clump of alder bushes when a loud manly voice +raised in prayer attracted our attention. Pushing aside the branches, we +came upon a man, seated with his back up against a great stone, cutting +at his own arm with a broad-bladed knife, and giving forth the Lord’s +prayer the while, without a pause or a quiver in his tone. As he glanced +up from his terrible task we both recognised him as one Hollis, whom I +have mentioned as having been with Cromwell at Dunbar. His arm had +been half severed by a cannon-ball, and he was quietly completing the +separation in order to free himself from the dangling and useless limb. +Even Saxon, used as he was to all the forms and incidents of war, stared +open-eyed and aghast at this strange surgery; but the man, with a short +nod of recognition, went grimly forward with his task, until, even as +we gazed, he separated the last shred which held it, and lay over with +blanched lips which still murmured the prayer. (1) We could do little +to help him, and, indeed, might by our halt attract his pursuers to his +hiding-place; so, throwing him down my flask half filled with water, we +hastened on upon our way. Oh, war, my children, what a terrible thing it +is! How are men cozened and cheated by the rare trappings and prancing +steeds, by the empty terms of honour and of glory, until they forget +in the outward tinsel and show the real ghastly horror of the accursed +thing! Think not of the dazzling squadrons, nor of the spirit-stirring +blare of the trumpets, but think of that lonely man under the shadow of +the alders, and of what he was doing in a Christian age and a Christian +land. Surely I, who have grown grey in harness, and who have seen as +many fields as I have years of my life, should be the last to preach +upon this subject, and yet I can clearly see that, in honesty, men must +either give up war, or else they must confess that the words of the +Redeemer are too lofty for them, and that there is no longer any use in +pretending that His teaching can be reduced to practice. I have seen a +Christian minister blessing a cannon which had just been founded, and +another blessing a war-ship as it glided from the slips. They, +the so-called representatives of Christ, blessed these engines of +destruction which cruel man has devised to destroy and tear his +fellow-worms. What would we say if we read in Holy Writ of our Lord +having blessed the battering-rams and the catapults of the legions? +Would we think that it was in agreement with His teaching? But there! +As long as the heads of the Church wander away so far from the spirit of +its teaching as to live in palaces and drive in carriages, what wonder +if, with such examples before them, the lower clergy overstep at times +the lines laid down by their great Master? + +Looking back from the summit of the low hills which lie to the westward +of the moor, we could see the cloud of horse-men streaming over the +bridge of the Parret and into the town of Bridgewater, with the helpless +drove of fugitives still flying in front of them. We had pulled up our +horses, and were looking sadly and silently back at the fatal plain, +when the thud of hoofs fell upon our ears, and, turning round, we found +two horsemen in the dress of the guards riding towards us. They had made +a circuit to cut us off, for they were riding straight for us with drawn +swords and eager gestures. + +‘More slaughter,’ I said wearily. ‘Why will they force us to it?’ + +Saxon glanced keenly from beneath his drooping lids at the approaching +horsemen, and a grim smile wreathed his face in a thousand lines and +wrinkles. + +‘It is our friend who set the hounds upon our track at Salisbury,’ he +said. ‘This is a happy meeting. I have a score to settle with him.’ + +It was, indeed, the hot-headed young comet whom we had met at the outset +of our adventures. Some evil chance had led him to recognise the tall +figure of my companion as we rode from the field, and to follow him, in +the hope of obtaining revenge for the humiliation which he had met with +at his hands. The other was a lance-corporal, a man of square soldierly +build, riding a heavy black horse with a white blaze upon its forehead. + +Saxon rode slowly towards the officer, while the trooper and I fixed our +eyes upon each other. + +‘Well, boy,’ I heard my companion say, ‘I trust that you have learned to +fence since we met last.’ + +The young guardsman gave a snarl of rage at the taunt, and an instant +afterwards the clink of their sword-blades showed that they had met. +For my own part I dared not spare a glance upon them, for my opponent +attacked me with such fury that it was all that I could do to keep him +off. No pistol was drawn upon either side. It was an honest contest of +steel against steel. So constant were the corporal’s thrusts, now at my +face, now at my body, that I had never an opening for one of the heavy +cuts which might have ended the matter. Our horses spun round each +other, biting and pawing, while we thrust and parried, until at last, +coming together knee to knee, we found ourselves within sword-point, and +grasped each other by the throat. He plucked a dagger from his belt and +struck it into my left arm, but I dealt him a blow with my gauntleted +hand, which smote him off his horse and stretched him speechless upon +the plain. Almost at the same moment the cornet dropped from his horse, +wounded in several places. Saxon sprang from his saddle, and picking the +soldier’s dagger from the ground, would have finished them both had I +not jumped down also and restrained him. He flashed round upon me with +so savage a face that I could see that the wild-beast nature within him +was fairly roused. + +‘What hast thou to do?’ he snarled. ‘Let go!’ + +‘Nay, nay! Blood enough hath been shed,’ said I. ‘Let them lie.’ + +‘What mercy would they have had upon us?’ he cried passionately, +struggling to get his wrist free. ‘They have lost, and must pay +forfeit.’ + +‘Not in cold blood,’ I said firmly. ‘I shall not abide it.’ + +‘Indeed, your lordship,’ he sneered, with the devil peeping out through +his eyes. With a violent wrench he freed himself from my grasp, and +springing back, picked up the sword which he had dropped. + +‘What then?’ I asked, standing on my guard astride of the wounded man. + +He stood for a minute or more looking at me from under his heavy-hung +brows, with his whole face writhing with passion. Every instant I +expected that he would fly at me, but at last, with a gulp in his +throat, he sheathed his rapier with a sharp clang, and sprang back into +the saddle. + +‘We part here,’ he said coldly. ‘I have twice been on the verge of +slaying you, and the third time might be too much for my patience. You +are no fit companion for a cavalier of fortune. Join the clergy, lad; it +is your vocation.’ + +‘Is this Decimus Saxon who speaks, or is it Will Spotterbridge?’ I +asked, remembering his jest concerning his ancestry, but no answering +smile came upon his rugged face. Gathering up his bridle in his left +hand, he shot one last malignant glance at the bleeding officer, and +galloped off along one of the tracks which lead to the southward. I +stood gazing after him, but he never sent so much as a hand-wave back, +riding on with a rigid neck until he vanished in a dip in the moor. + +‘There goes one friend,’ thought I sadly, ‘and all forsooth because I +will not stand by and see a helpless man’s throat cut. Another friend is +dead on the field. A third, the oldest and dearest of all, lies wounded +at Bridgewater, at the mercy of a brutal soldiery. If I return to my +home I do but bring trouble and danger to those whom I love. Whither +shall I turn?’ For some minutes I stood irresolute beside the prostrate +guardsmen, while Covenant strolled slowly along cropping the scanty +herbage, and turning his dark full eyes towards me from time to time, as +though to assure me that one friend at least was steadfast. Northward I +looked at the Polden Hills, southwards, at the Blackdowns, westward +at the long blue range of the Quantocks, and eastward at the broad fen +country; but nowhere could I see any hope of safety. Truth to say, I +felt sick at heart and cared little for the time whether I escaped or +no. + +A muttered oath followed by a groan roused me from my meditations. +The corporal was sitting up rubbing his head with a look of stupid +astonishment upon his face, as though he were not very sure either of +where he was or how he came there. The officer, too, had opened his +eyes and shown other signs of returning consciousness. His wounds were +clearly of no very serious nature. There was no danger of their pursuing +me even should they wish to do so, for their horses had trotted off to +join the numerous other riderless steeds who were wandering all over the +moorlands. I mounted, therefore, and rode slowly away, saving my good +charger as much as possible, for the morning’s work had already told +somewhat heavily upon him. + +There were many scattered bodies of horse riding hither and thither over +the marshes, but I was able to avoid them, and trotted onwards, keeping +to the waste country until I found myself eight or ten miles from the +battlefield. The few cottages and houses which I passed wore deserted, +and many of them bore signs of having been plundered. Not a peasant was +to be seen. The evil fame of Kirke’s lambs had chased away all those who +had not actually taken arms. At last, after riding for three hours, I +bethought me that I was far enough from the main line of pursuit to +be free from danger, so I chose out a sheltered spot where a clump of +bushes overhung a little brook. There, seated upon a bank of velvet +moss, I rested my weary limbs, and tried to wash the stains of battle +from my person. + +It was only now when I could look quietly at my own attire that it was +brought home to me how terrible the encounter must have been in which +I had been engaged, and how wonderful it was that I had come off so +scatheless. Of the blows which I had struck in the fight I had faint +remembrance, yet they must have been many and terrible, for my sword +edge was as jagged and turned as though I had hacked for an hour at an +iron bar. From head to foot I was splashed and crimsoned with blood, +partly my own, but mostly that of others. My headpiece was dinted with +blows. A petronel bullet had glanced off my front plate, striking it +at an angle, and had left a broad groove across it. Two or three other +cracks and stars showed where the good sheet of proof steel had saved +me. My left arm was stiff and well-nigh powerless from the corporal’s +stab, but on stripping off my doublet and examining the place, I found +that though there had been much bleeding the wound was on the outer side +of the bone, and was therefore of no great import. A kerchief dipped in +water and bound tightly round it eased the smart and stanched the blood. +Beyond this scratch I had no injuries, though from my own efforts I felt +as stiff and sore all over as though I had been well cudgelled, and the +slight wound got in Wells Cathedral had reopened and was bleeding. With +a little patience and cold water, however, I was able to dress it and to +tie myself up as well as any chirurgeon in the kingdom. + +Having seen to my injuries I had now to attend to my appearance, for +in truth I might have stood for one of those gory giants with whom the +worthy Don Bellianis of Greece and other stout champions were wont to +contend. No woman or child but would have fled at the sight of me, for +I was as red as the parish butcher when Martinmas is nigh. A good wash, +however, in the brook soon removed those traces of war, and I was +able to get the marks off my breastplate and boots. In the case of my +clothes, however, it was so hopeless to clean them that I gave it up in +despair. My good old horse had been never so much as grazed by steel or +bullet, so that with a little watering and tending he was soon as fresh +as ever, and we turned our backs on the streamlet a better-favoured pair +than we had approached it. + +It was now going on to mid-day, and I began to feel very hungry, for I +had tasted nothing since the evening before. Two or three houses stood +in a cluster upon the moor, but the blackened walls and scorched thatch +showed that it was hopeless to expect anything from them. Once or twice +I spied folk in the fields or on the roadway; but at sight of an armed +horseman they ran for their lives, diving into the brushwood like wild +animals. At one place, where a high oak tree marked the meeting of three +roads, two bodies dangling from one of the branches showed that the +fears of the villagers were based upon experience. These poor men had in +all likelihood been hanged because the amount of their little hoardings +had not come up to the expectations of their plunderers; or because, +having given all to one band of robbers, they had nothing with which +to appease the next. At last, when I was fairly weary of my fruitless +search for food, I espied a windmill standing upon a green hill at +the other side of some fields. Judging from its appearance that it had +escaped the general pillage, I took the pathway which branched away to +it from the high-road. (Note J, Appendix) + +1. The incident is historically true, and may serve to show what sort of +men they were who had learned their soldiering under Cromwell. + + + +Chapter XXXIII. Of my Perilous Adventure at the Mill + +At the base of the mill there stood a shed which was evidently used to +stall the horses which brought the farmers’ grain. Some grass was heaped +up inside it, so I loosened Covenant’s girths and left him to have a +hearty meal. The mill itself appeared to be silent and empty. I climbed +the steep wood ladder, and pushing the door open, walked into a round +stone-flagged room, from which a second ladder led to the loft above. On +one side of this chamber was a long wooden box, and all round the walls +were ranged rows of sacks full of flour. In the fireplace stood a pile +of faggots ready for lighting, so with the aid of my tinder-box I soon +had a cheerful blaze. Taking a large handful of flour from the nearest +bag I moistened it with water from a pitcher, and having rolled it out +into a flat cake, proceeded to bake it, smiling the while to think of +what my mother would say to such rough cookery. Very sure I am that +Patrick Lamb himself, whose book, the ‘Complete Court Cook,’ was ever in +the dear soul’s left hand while she stirred and basted with her right, +could not have turned out a dish which was more to my taste at the +moment, for I had not even patience to wait for the browning of it, but +snapped it up and devoured it half hot. I then rolled a second one, and +having placed it before the fire, and drawn my pipe from my pocket, +I set myself to smoke, waiting with all the philosophy which I could +muster until it should be ready. + +I was lost in thought, brooding sadly over the blow which the news would +be to my father, when I was startled by a loud sneeze, which sounded as +though it were delivered in my very ear. I started to my feet and gazed +all round me, but there was nothing save the solid wall behind and the +empty chamber before. I had almost come to persuade myself that I had +been the creature of some delusion, when again a crashing sneeze, louder +and more prolonged than the last, broke upon the silence. Could some one +be hid in one of the bags? Drawing my sword I walked round pricking the +great flour sacks, but without being able to find cause for the sound. I +was still marvelling over the matter when a most extraordinary chorus of +gasps, snorts, and whistles broke out, with cries of ‘Oh, holy mother!’ +‘Blessed Redeemer!’ and other such exclamations. This time there could +be no doubt as to whence the uproar came. Rushing up to the great chest +upon which I had been seated, I threw back the heavy lid and gazed in. + +It was more than half full of flour, in the midst of which was +floundering some creature, which was so coated and caked with the white +powder, that it would have been hard to say that it was human were +it not for the pitiable cries which it was uttering. Stooping down I +dragged the man from his hiding-place, when he dropped upon his knees +upon the floor and yelled for mercy, raising such a cloud of dust from +every wriggle of his body that I began to cough and to sneeze. As the +skin of powder began to scale off from him, I saw to my surprise that he +was no miller or peasant, but was a man-at-arms, with a huge sword girt +to his side, looking at present not unlike a frosted icicle, and a +great steel-faced breastplate. His steel cap had remained behind in the +flour-bin, and his bright red hair, the only touch of colour about him, +stood straight up in the air with terror, as he implored me to spare his +life. Thinking that there was something familiar about his voice, I drew +my hand across his face, which set him yelling as though I had slain +him. There was no mistaking the heavy cheeks and the little greedy +eyes. It was none other than Master Tetheridge, the noisy town-clerk of +Taunton. + +But how much changed from the town-clerk whom we had seen strutting, in +all the pomp and bravery of his office, before the good Mayor on the day +of our coming to Somersetshire! Where now was the ruddy colour like a +pippin in September? Where was the assured manner and the manly port? As +he knelt his great jack-boots clicked together with apprehension, and he +poured forth in a piping voice, like that of a Lincoln’s Inn mumper, a +string of pleadings, excuses, and entreaties, as though I were Feversham +in person, and was about to order him to instant execution. + +‘I am but a poor scrivener man, your serene Highness,’ he bawled. +‘Indeed, I am a most unhappy clerk, your Honour, who has been driven +into these courses by the tyranny of those above him. A more loyal man, +your Grace, never wore neat’s leather, but when the mayor says “Yes,” + can the clerk say “No”? Spare me, your lordship; spare a most penitent +wretch, whose only prayer is that he may be allowed to serve King James +to the last drop of his blood!’ + +‘Do you renounce the Duke of Monmouth?’ I asked, in a stern voice. + +‘I do--from my heart!’ said he fervently. + +‘Then prepare to die!’ I roared, whipping out my sword, ‘for I am one of +his officers.’ + +At the sight of the steel the wretched clerk gave a perfect bellow of +terror, and falling upon his face he wriggled and twisted, until looking +up he perceived that I was laughing. On that he crawled up on to his +knees once more, and from that to his feet, glancing at me askance, as +though by no means assured of my intentions. + +‘You must remember me, Master Tetheridge,’ I said. ‘I am Captain Clarke, +of Saxon’s regiment of Wiltshire foot. I am surprised, indeed, that you +should have fallen away from that allegiance to which you did not only +swear yourself, but did administer the oath to so many others.’ + +‘Not a whit, Captain, not a whit!’ he answered, resuming his old +bantam-cock manner as soon as he saw that there was no danger. ‘I am +upon oath as true and as leal a man as ever I was.’ + +‘That I can fully believe,’ I answered. + +‘I did but dissimulate,’ he continued, brushing the flour from his +person. ‘I did but practise that cunning of the serpent which should +in every warrior accompany the courage of the lion. You have read your +Homer, doubtless. Eh? I too have had a touch of the humanities. I am no +mere rough soldier, however stoutly I can hold mine own at sword-play. +Master Ulysses is my type, even as thine, I take it, is Master Ajax.’ + +‘Methinks that Master Jack-in-the-box would fit you better,’ said I. +‘Wilt have a half of this cake? How came you in the flour-bin?’ + +‘Why, marry, in this wise,’ he answered, with his mouth full of dough. +‘It was a wile or ruse, after the fashion of the greatest commanders, +who have always been famous for concealing their movements, and lurking +where they were least expected. For when the fight was lost, and I had +cut and hacked until my arm was weary and my edge blunted, I found that +I was left alone alive of all the Taunton men. Were we on the field you +could see where I had stood by the ring of slain which would be found +within the sweep of my sword-arm. Finding that all was lost and that our +rogues were fled, I mounted our worthy Mayor’s charger, seeing that the +gallant gentleman had no further need for it, and rode slowly from the +field. I promise you that there was that in my eye and bearing which +prevented their horse from making too close a pursuit of me. One trooper +did indeed throw himself across my path, but mine old back-handed cut +was too much for him. Alas, I have much upon my conscience? I have made +both widows and orphans. Why will they brave me when--God of mercy, what +is that?’ + +‘’Tis but my horse in the stall below,’ I answered. + +‘I thought it was the dragoons,’ quoth the clerk, wiping away the drops +which had started out upon his brow. ‘You and I would have gone forth +and smitten them.’ + +‘Or climbed into the flour-bin,’ said I. + +‘I have not yet made clear to you how I came there,’ he continued. +‘Having ridden, then, some leagues from the field, and noting this +windmill, it did occur to me that a stout man might single-handed make +it good against a troop of horse. We have no great love of flight, we +Tetheridges. It may be mere empty pride, and yet the feeling runs strong +in the family. We have a fighting strain in us ever since my kinsman +followed Ireton’s army as a sutler. I pulled up, therefore, and had +dismounted to take my observations, when my brute of a charger gave +the bridle a twitch, jerked itself free, and was off in an instant over +hedges and ditches. I had, therefore, only my good sword left to trust +to. I climbed up the ladder, and was engaged in planning how the defence +could best be conducted, when I heard the clank of hoofs, and on the +top of it you did ascend from below. I retired at once into ambush, from +which I should assuredly have made a sudden outfall or sally, had the +flour not so choked my breathing that I felt as though I had a two-pound +loaf stuck in my gizzard. For myself, I am glad that it has so come +about, for in my blind wrath I might unwittingly have done you an +injury. Hearing the clank of your sword as you did come up the ladder, +I did opine that you were one of King James’s minions, the captain, +perchance, of some troop in the fields below.’ + +‘All very clear and explicit, Master Tetheridge,’ said I, re-lighting +my pipe. ‘No doubt your demeanour when I did draw you from your +hiding-place was also a mere cloak for your valour. But enough of that. +It is to the future that we have to look. What are your intentions?’ + +‘To remain with you, Captain,’ said he. + +‘Nay, that you shall not,’ I answered; ‘I have no great fancy for your +companionship. Your overflowing valour may bring me into ruffles which I +had otherwise avoided.’ + +‘Nay, nay! I shall moderate my spirit,’ he cried. ‘In such troublous +times you will find yourself none the worse for the company of a tried +fighting man.’ + +‘Tried and found wanting,’ said I, weary of the man’s braggart talk. ‘I +tell you I will go alone.’ + +‘Nay, you need not be so hot about it,’ he exclaimed, shrinking away +from me. ‘In any case, we had best stay here until nightfall, when we +may make our way to the coast.’ + +‘That is the first mark of sense that you have shown,’ said I. ‘The +King’s horse will find enough to do with the Zoyland cider and the +Bridgewater ale. If we can pass through, I have friends on the north +coast who would give us a lift in their lugger as far as Holland. +This help I will not refuse to give you, since you are my fellow in +misfortune. I would that Saxon had stayed with me! I fear he will be +taken!’ + +‘If you mean Colonel Saxon,’ said the clerk, ‘I think that he also is +one who hath much guile as well as valour. A stern, fierce soldier +he was, as I know well, having fought back to back with him for forty +minutes by the clock, against a troop of Sarsfield’s horse. Plain of +speech he was, and perhaps a trifle inconsiderate of the honour of a +cavalier, but in the field it would have been well for the army had they +had more such commanders.’ + +‘You say truly,’ I answered; ‘but now that we have refreshed ourselves +it is time that we bethought us of taking some rest, since we may have +far to travel this night. I would that I could lay my hand upon a flagon +of ale.’ + +‘I would gladly drink to our further acquaintanceship in the same,’ +said my companion, ‘but as to the matter of slumber that may be readily +arranged. If you ascend that ladder you will find in the loft a litter +of empty sacks, upon which you can repose. For myself, I will stay down +here for a while and cook myself another cake.’ + +‘Do you remain on watch for two hours and then arouse me,’ I replied. +‘I shall then keep guard whilst you sleep.’ He touched the hilt of his +sword as a sign that he would be true to his post, so not without some +misgivings I climbed up into the loft, and throwing myself upon the +rude couch was soon in a deep and dreamless slumber, lulled by the low, +mournful groaning and creaking of the sails. + +I was awoken by steps beside me, and found that the little clerk had +come up the ladder and was bending over me. I asked him if the time had +come for me to rouse, on which he answered in a strange quavering voice +that I had yet an hour, and that he had come up to see if there was any +service which he could render me. I was too weary to take much note +of his slinking manner and pallid cheeks, so thanking him for his +attention, I turned over and was soon asleep once more. + +My next waking was a rougher and a sterner one. There came a sudden +rush of heavy feet up the ladder, and a dozen red-coats swarmed into the +room. Springing on to my feet I put out my hand for the sword which I +had laid all ready by my side, but the trusty weapon had gone. It had +been stolen whilst I slumbered. Unarmed and taken at a vantage, I was +struck down and pinioned in a moment. One held a pistol to my head, and +swore that he would blow my brains out if I stirred, while the others +wound a coil of rope round my body and arms, until Samson himself could +scarce have got free. Feeling that my struggles were of no possible +avail, I lay silent and waited for whatever was to come. Neither now nor +at any time, dear children, have I laid great store upon my life, but +far less then than now, for each of you are tiny tendrils which bind me +to this world. Yet, when I think of the other dear ones who are waiting +for me on the further shore, I do not think that even now death would +seem an evil thing in my eyes. What a hopeless and empty thing would +life be without it! + +Having lashed my arms, the soldiers dragged me down the ladder, as +though I had been a truss of hay, into the room beneath, which was +also crowded with troopers. In one corner was the wretched scrivener, +a picture of abject terror, with chattering teeth and trembling knees, +only prevented from falling upon the floor by the grasp of a stalwart +corporal. In front of him stood two officers, one a little hard brown +man with dark twinkling eyes and an alert manner, the other tall and +slender, with a long golden moustache, which drooped down half-way to +his shoulders. The former had my sword in his hand, and they were both +examining the blade curiously. + +‘It is a good bit of steel, Dick,’ said one, putting the point against +the stone floor, and pressing down until he touched it with the handle. +‘See, with what a snap it rebounds! No maker’s name, but the date 1638 +is stamped upon the pommel. Where did you get it, fellow?’ he asked, +fixing his keen gaze upon my face. + +‘It was my father’s before me,’ I answered. + +‘Then I trust that he drew it in a better quarrel than his son hath +done,’ said the taller officer, with a sneer. + +‘In as good, though not in a better,’ I returned. ‘That sword hath +always been drawn for the rights and liberties of Englishmen, and +against the tyranny of kings and the bigotry of priests.’ + +‘What a tag for a playhouse, Dick,’ cried the officer. ‘How doth it +run? “The bigotry of kings and the tyranny of priests.” Why, if well +delivered by Betterton close up to the footlights, with one hand upon +his heart and the other pointing to the sky, I warrant the pit would +rise at it.’ + +‘Very like,’ said the other, twirling his moustache. ‘But we have no +time for fine speeches now. What are we to do with the little one?’ + +‘Hang him,’ the other answered carelessly. + +‘No, no, your most gracious honours,’ howled Master Tetheridge, suddenly +writhing out of the corporal’s grip and flinging himself upon the +floor at their feet. ‘Did I not tell ye where ye could find one of the +stoutest soldiers of the rebel army? Did not I guide ye to him? Did not +I even creep up and remove his sword lest any of the King’s subjects +be slain in the taking of him? Surely, surely, ye would not use me so +scurvily when I have done ye these services? Have I not made good my +words? Is he not as I described him, a giant in stature and of wondrous +strength? The whole army will bear me out in it, that he was worth any +two in single fight. I have given him over to ye. Surely ye will let me +go!’ + +‘Very well delivered--plaguily so!’ quoth the little officer, clapping +the palm of one hand softly against the back of the other. ‘The emphasis +was just, and the enunciation clear. A little further back towards the +wings, corporal, if you please. Thank you! Now, Dick, it is your cue.’ + +‘Nay, John, you are too absurd!’ cried the other impatiently. ‘The mask +and the buskins are well enough in their place, but you look upon the +play as a reality and upon the reality as but a play. What this reptile +hath said is true. We must keep faith with him if we wish that others of +the country folk should give up the fugitives. There is no help for it!’ + +‘For myself I believe in Jeddart law,’ his companion answered. ‘I +would hang the man first and then discuss the question of our promise. +However, pink me if I will obtrude my opinion on any man!’ + +‘Nay, it cannot be,’ the taller said. ‘Corporal, do you take him down. +Henderson will go with you. Take from him that plate and sword, which +his mother would wear with as good a grace. And hark ye, corporal, a few +touches of thy stirrup leathers across his fat shoulders might not be +amiss, as helping him to remember the King’s dragoons.’ + +My treacherous companion was dragged off, struggling and yelping, and +presently a series of piercing howls, growing fainter and fainter as he +fled before his tormentors, announced that the hint had been taken. The +two officers rushed to the little window of the mill and roared with +laughter, while the troopers, peeping furtively over their shoulders, +could not restrain themselves from joining in their mirth, from which I +gathered that Master Tetheridge, as, spurred on by fear, he hurled his +fat body through hedges and into ditches, was a somewhat comical sight. + +‘And now for the other,’ said the little officer, turning away from the +window and wiping the tears of laughter from his face. ‘That beam over +yonder would serve our purpose. Where is Hangman Broderick, the Jack +Ketch of the Royals?’ + +‘Here I am, sir,’ responded a sullen, heavy-faced trooper, shuffling +forward; ‘I have a rope here with a noose.’ + +‘Throw it over the beam, then. What is amiss with your hand, you clumsy +rogue, that you should wear linen round it?’ + +‘May it please you, sir,’ the man answered, ‘it was all through an +ungrateful, prick-eared Presbyterian knave whom I hung at Gommatch. I +had done all that could be done for him. Had he been at Tyburn he could +scarce have met with more attention. Yet when I did put my hand to his +neck to see that all was as it should be, he did fix me with his teeth, +and hath gnawed a great piece from my thumb.’ + +‘I am sorry for you,’ said the officer. ‘You know, no doubt, that the +human bite under such circumstances is as deadly as that of the mad dog, +so that you may find yourself snapping and barking one of these fine +mornings. Nay, turn not pale! I have heard you preach patience and +courage to your victims. You are not afraid of death?’ + +‘Not of any Christian death, your Honour. Yet, ten shillings a week is +scarce enough to pay a man for an end like that!’ + +‘Nay, it is all a lottery,’ remarked the Captain cheerily. ‘I have heard +that in these cases a man is so drawn up that his heels do beat a tattoo +against the back of his head. But, mayhap, it is not as painful as it +would appear. Meanwhile, do you proceed to do your office.’ + +Three or four troopers caught me by the arms, but I shook them off as +best I might, and walked with, as I trust, a steady step and a cheerful +face under the beam, which was a great smoke-blackened rafter passing +from one side of the chamber to the other. The rope was thrown over +this, and the noose placed round my neck with trembling fingers by the +hangman, who took particular care to keep beyond the range of my teeth. +Half-a-dozen dragoons seized the further end of the coil, and stood +ready to swing me into eternity. Through all my adventurous life I have +never been so close upon the threshold of death as at that moment, and +yet I declare to you that, terrible as my position was, I could think +of nothing but the tattoo marks upon old Solomon Sprent’s arm, and the +cunning fashion in which he had interwoven the red and the blue. Yet I +was keenly alive to all that was going on around me. The scene of the +bleak stone-floored room, the single narrow window, the two lounging +elegant officers, the pile of arms in the corner, and even the texture +of the coarse red serge and the patterns of the great brass buttons upon +the sleeve of the man who held me, are all stamped clearly upon my mind. + +‘We must do our work with order,’ remarked the taller Captain, taking a +note-book from his pocket. ‘Colonel Sarsfield may desire some details. +Let me see! This is the seventeenth, is it not?’ + +‘Four at the farm and five at the cross-roads,’ the other answered, +counting upon his fingers. ‘Then there was the one whom we shot in the +hedge, and the wounded one who nearly saved himself by dying, and the +two in the grove under the hill. I can remember no more, save those who +were strung up in ‘Bridgewater immediately after the action.’ + +‘It is well to do it in an orderly fashion,’ quoth the other, scribbling +in his book. ‘It is very well for Kirke and his men, who are half Moors +themselves, to hang and to slaughter without discrimination or ceremony, +but we should set them a better example. What is your name, sirrah?’ + +‘My name is Captain Micah Clarke,’ I answered. + +The two officers looked at each other, and the smaller one gave a long +whistle. ‘It is the very man!’ said he. ‘This comes of asking questions! +Rat me, if I had not misgivings that it might prove to be so. They said +that he was large of limb.’ + +‘Tell me, sirrah, have you ever known one Major Ogilvy of the Horse +Guards Blue?’ asked the Captain. + +‘Seeing that I had the honour of taking him prisoner,’ I replied, ‘and +seeing also that he hath shared soldier’s fare and quarters with me ever +since, I think I may fairly say that I do know him.’ + +‘Cast loose the cord!’ said the officer, and the hangman reluctantly +slipped the cord over my head once more. ‘Young man, you are surely +reserved for something great, for you will never be nearer your grave +until you do actually step into it. This Major Ogilvy hath made great +interest both for you and for a wounded comrade of yours who lies at +Bridgewater. Your name hath been given to the commanders of horse, with +orders to bring you in unscathed should you be taken. Yet it is but fair +to tell you that though the Major’s good word may save you from martial +law, it will stand you in small stead before a civil judge, before whom +ye must in the end take your trial.’ + +‘I desire to share the same lot and fortune as has befallen my +companions-in-arms,’ I answered. + +‘Nay, that is but a sullen way to take your deliverance,’ cried the +smaller officer. ‘The situation is as flat as sutler’s beer. Otway would +have made a bettor thing of it. Can you not rise to the occasion? Where +is she?’ + +‘She! Who?’ I asked. + +‘She. The she. The woman. Your wife, sweetheart, betrothed, what you +will.’ + +‘There is none such,’ I answered. + +‘There now! What can be done in a case like that?’ cried he +despairingly. ‘She should have rushed in from the wings and thrown +herself upon your bosom. I have seen such a situation earn three rounds +from the pit. There is good material spoiling here for want of some one +to work it up.’ + +‘We have something else to work up, Jack,’ exclaimed his companion +impatiently. ‘Sergeant Gredder, do you with two troopers conduct the +prisoner to Gommatch Church. It is time that we were once more upon our +way, for in a few hours the darkness will hinder the pursuit.’ + +At the word of command the troopers descended into the field where their +horses were picketed, and were speedily on the march once more, the tall +Captain leading them, and the stage-struck cornet bringing up the +rear. The sergeant to whose care I had been committed--a great +square-shouldered, dark-browed man--ordered my own horse to be brought +out, and helped me to mount it. He removed the pistols from the +holsters, however, and hung them with my sword at his own saddle-bow. + +‘Shall I tie his feet under the horse’s belly?’ asked one of the +dragoons. + +‘Nay, the lad hath an honest face,’ the sergeant answered. ‘If he +promises to be quiet we shall cast free his arms.’ + +‘I have no desire to escape,’ said I. + +‘Then untie the rope. A brave man in misfortune hath ever my goodwill, +strike me dumb else! Sergeant Gredder is my name, formerly of Mackay’s +and now of the Royals--as hard-worked and badly-paid a man as any in +his Majesty’s service. Right wheel, and down the pathway! Do ye ride +on either side, and I behind! Our carbines are primed, friend, so stand +true to your promise!’ + +‘Nay, you can rely upon it,’ I answered. + +‘Your little comrade did play you a scurvy trick,’ said the sergeant, +‘for seeing us ride down the road he did make across to us, and +bargained with the Captain that his life should be spared, on condition +that he should deliver into our hands what he described as one of the +stoutest soldiers in the rebel army. Truly you have thews and sinews +enough, though you are surely too young to have seen much service.’ + +‘This hath been my first campaign,’ I answered. + +‘And is like to be your last,’ he remarked, with soldierly frankness. ‘I +hear that the Privy Council intend to make such an example as will take +the heart out of the Whigs for twenty years to come. They have a lawyer +coming from London whose wig is more to be feared than our helmets. He +will slay more men in a day than a troop of horse in a ten-mile chase. +Faith! I would sooner they took this butcher-work into their own hands. +See those bodies on yonder tree. It is an evil season when such acorns +grow upon English oaks.’ + +‘It is an evil season,’ said I, ‘when men who call themselves Christians +inflict such vengeance upon poor simple peasants, who have done no more +than their conscience urged them. That the leaders and officers should +suffer is but fair. They stood to win in case of success, and should pay +forfeit now that they have lost. But it goes to my heart to see those +poor godly country folk so treated.’ + +‘Aye, there is truth in that,’ said the sergeant. ‘Now if it were some +of these snuffle-nosed preachers, the old lank-haired bell-wethers who +have led their flocks to the devil, it would be another thing. Why +can they not conform to the Church, and be plagued to them? It is good +enough for the King, so surely it is good enough for them; or are their +souls so delicate that they cannot satisfy themselves with that on which +every honest Englishman thrives? The main road to Heaven is too common +for them. They must needs have each a by-path of their own, and cry out +against all who will not follow it.’ + +‘Why,’ said I, ‘there are pious men of all creeds. If a man lead a life +of virtue, what matter what he believes? + +‘Let a man keep his virtue in his heart,’ quoth Sergeant Gredder. ‘Let +him pack it deep in the knapsack of his soul. I suspect godliness +which shows upon the surface, the snuffling talk, the rolling eyes, the +groaning and the hawking. It is like the forged money, which can be told +by its being more bright and more showy than the real.’ + +‘An apt comparison!’ said I. ‘But how comes it, sergeant, that you have +given attention to these matters? Unless they are much belied, the Royal +Dragoons find other things to think of.’ + +‘I was one of Mackay’s foot,’ he answered shortly. ‘I have heard of +him,’ said I. ‘A man, I believe, both of parts and of piety.’ + +‘That, indeed, he is,’ cried Sergeant Gredder warmly. ‘He is a man stern +and soldierly to the outer eye, but with the heart of a saint within +him. I promise you there was little need of the strapado in his +regiment, for there was not a man who did not fear the look of sorrow in +his Colonel’s eyes far more than he did the provost-marshal.’ + +During the whole of our long ride I found the worthy sergeant a true +follower of the excellent Colonel Mackay, for he proved to be a man of +more than ordinary intelligence, and of serious and thoughtful habit. +As to the two troopers, they rode on either side of me as silent as +statues; for the common dragoons of those days could but talk of wine +and women, and were helpless and speechless when aught else was to the +fore. When we at last rode into the little village of Gommatch, which +overlooks the plain of Sedgemoor, it was with regret on each side that I +bade my guardian adieu. As a parting favour I begged him to take charge +of Covenant for me, promising to pay a certain sum by the month for his +keep, and commissioning him to retain the horse for his own use should I +fail to claim him within the year. It was a load off my mind when I saw +my trusty companion led away, staring back at me with questioning eyes, +as though unable to understand the separation. Come what might, I knew +now that, he was in the keeping of a good man who would see that no harm +befell him. + + + +Chapter XXXIV. Of the Coming of Solomon Sprent + +The church of Gommatch was a small ivy-clad building with a square +Norman tower, standing in the centre of the hamlet of that name. Its +great oaken doors, studded with iron, and high narrow windows, fitted +it well for the use to which it was now turned. Two companies of +Dumbarton’s Foot had been quartered in the village, with a portly Major +at their head, to whom I was handed over by Sergeant Gredder, with some +account of my capture, and of the reasons which had prevented my summary +execution. + +Night was now drawing in, but a few dim lamps, hung here and there upon +the walls, cast an uncertain, flickering light over the scene. A hundred +or more prisoners were scattered about upon the stone floor, many of +them wounded, and some evidently dying. The hale had gathered in silent, +subdued groups round their stricken friends, and were doing what they +could to lessen their sufferings. Some had even removed the greater part +of their clothing in order to furnish head-rests and pallets for the +wounded. Here and there in the shadows dark kneeling figures might be +seen, and the measured sound of their prayers rang through the aisles, +with a groan now and again, or a choking gasp as some poor sufferer +battled for breath. The dim, yellow light streaming over the earnest +pain-drawn faces, and the tattered mud-coloured figures, would have made +it a fitting study for any of those Low Country painters whose pictures +I saw long afterwards at The Hague. + +On Thursday morning, the third day after the battle, we were all +conveyed into Bridgewater, where we were confined for the remainder +of the week in St. Mary’s Church, the very one from the tower of which +Monmouth and his commanders had inspected Feversham’s position. The more +we heard of the fight from the soldiers and others, the more clear it +became that, but for the most unfortunate accidents, there was every +chance that our night attack might have succeeded. There was scarcely a +fault which a General could commit which Feversham had not been guilty +of. He had thought too lightly of his enemy, and left his camp entirely +open to a surprise. When the firing broke out he sprang from his couch, +but failing to find his wig, he had groped about his tent while the +battle was being decided, and only came out when it was well-nigh over. +All were agreed that had it not been for the chance of the Bussex Rhine +having been overlooked by our guides and scouts, we should have been +among the tents before the men could have been called to arms. Only +this and the fiery energy of John Churchill, the second in command, +afterwards better known under a higher name, both to French and to +English history, prevented the Royal army from meeting with a reverse +which might have altered the result of the campaign.(Note K, Appendix.) +Should ye hear or read, then, my dear children, that Monmouth’s rising +was easily put down, or that it was hopeless from the first, remember +that I, who was concerned in it, say confidently that it really trembled +in the balance, and that this handful of resolute peasants with their +pikes and their scythes were within an ace of altering the whole +course of English history. The ferocity of the Privy Council, after the +rebellion was quelled, arose from their knowledge of how very close it +had been to success. + +I do not wish to say too much of the cruelty and barbarity of the +victors, for it is not good for your childish ears to hear of such +doings. The sluggard Feversham and the brutal Kirke have earned +themselves a name in the West, which is second only to that of the arch +villain who came after them. As for their victims, when they had hanged +and quartered and done their wicked worst upon them, at least they left +their names in their own little villages, to be treasured up and handed +from generation to generation, as brave men and true who had died for a +noble cause. Go now to Milverton, or to Wiveliscombe, or to Minehead, or +to Colyford, or to any village through the whole breadth and length of +Somersetshire, and you will find that they have not forgotten what +they proudly call their martyrs. But where now is Kirke and where is +Feversham? Their names are preserved, it is true, but preserved in a +county’s hatred. Who can fail to see now that these men in punishing +others brought a far heavier punishment upon themselves? Their sin hath +indeed found them out. + +They did all that wicked and callous-hearted men could do, knowing well +that such deeds were acceptable to the cold-blooded, bigoted hypocrite +who sat upon the throne. They worked to win his favour, and they won it. +Men were hanged and cut down and hanged again. Every cross-road in the +country was ghastly with gibbets. There was not an insult or a contumely +which might make the pangs of death more unendurable, which was not +heaped upon these long-suffering men; yet it is proudly recounted in +their native shire that of all the host of victims there was not one who +did not meet his end with a firm lip, protesting that if the thing were +to do again he was ready to do it. + +At the end of a week or two news came of the fugitives. Monmouth, it +seems, had been captured by Portman’s yellow coats when trying to make +his way to the New Forest, whence he hoped to escape to the Continent. +He was dragged, gaunt, unshaven, and trembling, out of a bean-field in +which he had taken refuge, and was carried to Ringwood, in Hampshire. +Strange rumours reached us concerning his behaviour--rumours which came +to our ears through the coarse jests of our guards. Some said that he +had gone on his knees to the yokels who had seized him. Others that he +had written to the King offering to do anything, even to throw over the +Protestant cause, to save his head from the scaffold.(Note L, Appendix.) +We laughed at these stories at the time, and set them down as inventions +of our enemies. It seemed too impossible that at a time when his +supporters were so sternly and so loyally standing true to him, he, +their leader, with the eyes of all men upon him, should be showing less +courage than every little drummer-boy displays, who trips along at the +head of his regiment upon the field of battle. Alas! time showed that +the stories were indeed true, and that there was no depth of infamy to +which this unhappy man would not descend, in the hope of prolonging +for a few years that existence which had proved a curse to so many who +trusted him. + +Of Saxon no news had come, good or bad, which encouraged me to hope that +he had found a hiding-place for himself. Reuben was still confined to +his couch by his wound, and was under the care and protection of +Major Ogilvy. The good gentleman came to see me more than once, and +endeavoured to add to my comfort, until I made him understand that it +pained me to find myself upon a different footing to the brave fellows +with whom I had shared the perils of the campaign. One great favour he +did me in writing to my father, and informing him that I was well and +in no pressing danger. In reply to this letter I had a stout Christian +answer from the old man, bidding me to be of good courage, and quoting +largely from a sermon on patience by the Reverend Josiah Seaton of +Petersfield. My mother, he said, was in deep distress at my position, +but was held up by her confidence in the decrees of Providence. He +enclosed a draft for Major Ogilvy, commissioning him to use it in +whatever way I should suggest. This money, together with the small hoard +which my mother had sewed into my collar, proved to be invaluable, for +when the gaol fever broke out amongst us I was able to get fitting food +for the sick, and also to pay for the services of physicians, so that +the disease was stamped out ere it had time to spread. + +Early in August we were brought from Bridgewater to Taunton, where we +were thrown with hundreds of others into the same wool storehouse where +our regiment had been quartered in the early days of the campaign. We +gained little by the change, save that we found that our new guards +were somewhat more satiated with cruelty than our old ones, and were +therefore less exacting upon their prisoners. Not only were friends +allowed in occasionally to see us, but books and papers could be +obtained by the aid of a small present to the sergeant on duty. We were +able, therefore, to spend our time with some degree of comfort during +the month or more which passed before our trial. + +One evening I was standing listlessly with my back against the wall, +looking up at a thin slit of blue sky which showed itself through the +narrow window, and fancying myself back in the meadows of Havant once +more, when a voice fell upon my ear which did, indeed, recall me to my +Hampshire home. Those deep, husky tones, rising at times into an angry +roar, could belong to none other than my old friend the seaman. I +approached the door from which the uproar came, and all doubt vanished +as I listened to the conversation. + +‘Won’t let me pass, won’t ye?’ he was shouting. ‘Let me tell you +I’ve held on my course when better men than you have asked me to veil +topsails. I tell you I have the admiral’s permit, and I won’t clew up +for a bit of a red-painted cock-boat; so move from athwart my hawse, or +I may chance to run you down.’ + +‘We don’t know nothing about admirals here,’ said the sergeant of the +guard. ‘The time for seeing prisoners is over for the day, and if you do +not take your ill-favoured body out of this I may try the weight o’ my +halberd on your back.’ + +‘I have taken blows and given them ere you were ever thought of, you +land-swab,’ roared old Solomon. ‘I was yardarm and yardarm with De +Ruyter when you were learning to suck milk; but, old as I am, I would +have you know that I am not condemned yet, and that I am fit to exchange +broadsides with any lobster-tailed piccaroon that ever was triced up to +a triangle and had the King’s diamonds cut in his back. If I tack back +to Major Ogilvy and signal him the way that I have been welcomed, he’ll +make your hide redder than ever your coat was.’ + +‘Major Ogilvy!’ exclaimed the sergeant, in a more respectful voice. ‘If +you had said that your permit was from Major Ogilvy it would have been +another thing, but you did rave of admirals and commodores, and God +knows what other outlandish talk!’ + +‘Shame on your parents that they should have reared you with so slight +a knowledge o’ the King’s English!’ grumbled Solomon. ‘In truth, friend, +it is a marvel to me why sailor men should be able to show a lead to +those on shore in the matter of lingo. For out of seven hundred men in +the ship _Worcester_--the same that sank in the Bay of Funchal--there +was not so much as a powder-boy but could understand every word that I +said, whereas on shore there is many a great jolterhead, like thyself, +who might be a Portugee for all the English that he knows, and who +stares at me like a pig in a hurricane if I do lint ask him what he +makes the reckoning, or how many bells have gone.’ + +‘Whom is it that you would see?’ asked the sergeant gruffly. ‘You have a +most infernally long tongue.’ + +‘Aye, and a rough one, too, when I have fools to deal with,’ returned +the seaman. ‘If I had you in my watch, lad, for a three years’ cruise, I +would make a man of you yet.’ + +‘Pass the old man through!’ cried the sergeant furiously, and the sailor +came stumping in, with his bronzed face all screwed up and twisted, +partly with amusement at his victory over the sergeant, and partly from +a great chunk of tobacco which he was wont to stow within his cheek. +Having glanced round without perceiving me, he put his hands to his +mouth and bellowed out my name, with a string of ‘Ahoys!’ which rang +through the building. + +‘Here I am, Solomon,’ said I, touching him on the shoulder. + +‘God bless you, lad! God bless you!’ he cried, wringing my hand. ‘I +could not see you, for my port eye is as foggy as the Newfoundland +banks, and has been ever since Long Sue Williams of the Point hove a +quart pot at it in the Tiger inn nigh thirty year agone. How are you? +All sound, alow and aloft?’ + +‘As well as might be,’ I answered. ‘I have little to complain of.’ + +‘None of your standing rigging shot away!’ said he. ‘No spars crippled? +No shots between wind and water, eh? You have not been hulled, nor +raked, nor laid aboard of?’ + +‘None of these things,’ said I, laughing. + +‘Faith! you are leaner than of old, and have aged ten years in two +months. You did go forth as smart and trim a fighting ship as over +answered helm, and now you are like the same ship when the battle and +the storm have taken the gloss from her sides and torn the love-pennants +from her peak. Yet am I right glad to see you sound in wind and limb.’ + +‘I have looked upon sights,’ said I, ‘which might well add ten years to +a man’s age.’ + +‘Aye, aye!’ he answered, with a hollow groan, shaking his head from side +to side. ‘It is a most accursed affair. Yet, bad as the tempest is, the +calm will ever come afterwards if you will but ride it out with your +anchor placed deep in Providence. Ah, lad, that is good holding ground! +But if I know you aright, your grief is more for these poor wretches +around you than for yourself.’ + +‘It is, indeed, a sore sight to see them suffer so patiently and +uncomplainingly,’ I answered, ‘and for such a man, too!’ + +‘Aye, the chicken-livered swab!’ growled the seaman, grinding his teeth. + +‘How are my mother and my father,’ I asked, ‘and how came you so far +from home?’ + +‘Nay, I should have grounded on my beef bones had I waited longer at my +moorings. I cut my cable, therefore, and, making a northerly tack as far +as Salisbury, I run down with a fair wind. Thy father hath set his face +hard, and goes about his work as usual, though much troubled by the +Justices, who have twice had him up to Winchester for examination, but +have found his papers all right and no charge to be brought against him. +Your mother, poor soul, hath little time to mope or to pipe her eye, for +she hath such a sense of duty that, were the ship to founder under her, +it is a plate galleon to a china orange that she would stand fast in the +caboose curing marigolds or rolling pastry. They have taken to prayer +as some would to rum, and warm their hearts with it when the wind of +misfortune blows chill. They were right glad that I should come down to +you, and I gave them the word of a sailor that I would get you out of +the bilboes if it might anyhow be done.’ + +‘Get me out, Solomon!’ said I; ‘nay, that may be put outside the +question. How could you get me out?’ + +‘There are many ways,’ he answered, sinking his voice to a whisper, and +nodding his grizzled head as one who talks upon what has cost him much +time and thought. ‘There is scuttling.’ + +‘Scuttling?’ + +‘Aye, lad! When I was quartermaster of the galley _Providence_ in the +second Dutch war, we were caught betwixt a lee shore and Van Tromp’s +squadron, so that after fighting until our sticks were shot away and our +scuppers were arun with blood, we were carried by boarding and sent as +prisoners to the Texel. We were stowed away in irons in the afterhold, +amongst the bilge water and the rats, with hatches battened down and +guards atop, but even then they could not keep us, for the irons got +adrift, and Will Adams, the carpenter’s mate, picked a hole in the seams +so that the vessel nearly foundered, and in the confusion we fell upon +the prize crew, and, using our fetters as cudgels, regained possession +of the vessel. But you smile, as though there were little hopes from any +such plan!’ + +‘If this wool-house were the galley _Providence_ and Taunton Deane were +the Bay of Biscay, it might be attempted,’ I said. + +‘I have indeed got out o’ the channel,’ he answered, with a wrinkled +brow. ‘There is, however, another most excellent plan which I have +conceived, which is to blow up the building.’ + +‘To blow it up!’ I cried. + +‘Aye! A brace of kegs and a slow match would do it any dark night. Then +where would be these walls which now shut ye in?’ + +‘Where would be the folk that are now inside them!’ I asked. ‘Would you +not blow them up as well?’ + +‘Plague take it, I had forgot that,’ cried Solomon. ‘Nay, then, I leave +it with you. What have you to propose? Do but give your sailing orders, +and, with or without a consort, you will find that I will steer by them +as long as this old hulk can answer to her helm.’ + +‘Then my advice is, my dear old friend,’ said I, ‘that you leave matters +to take their course, and hie back to Havant with a message from me to +those who know me, telling them to be of good cheer, and to hope for the +best. Neither you nor any other man can help me now, for I have thrown +in my lot with these poor folk, and I would not leave them if I could. +Do what you can to cheer my mother’s heart, and commend me to Zachary +Palmer. Your visit hath been a joy to me, and your return will be the +same to them. You can serve me better so than by biding here.’ + +‘Sink me if I like going back without a blow struck,’ he growled. ‘Yet +if it is your will there is an end of the matter. Tell me, lad. Has +that lank-sparred, slab-sided, herring-gutted friend of yours played +you false? for if he has, by the eternal, old as I am, my hanger shall +scrape acquaintance with the longshore tuck which hangs at his girdle. I +know where he hath laid himself up, moored stem and stern, all snug and +shipshape, waiting for the turn of the tide.’ + +‘What, Saxon!’ I cried. ‘Do you indeed know where he is? For God’s sake +speak low, for it would mean a commission and five hundred good pounds +to any one of these soldiers could he lay hands upon him.’ + +‘They are scarce like to do that,’ said Solomon. ‘On my journey hither I +chanced to put into port at a place called Bruton, where there is an +inn that will compare with most, and the skipper is a wench with a glib +tongue and a merry eye. I was drinking a glass of spiced ale, as is my +custom about six bells of the middle watch, when I chanced to notice a +great lanky carter, who was loading up a waggon in the yard with a cargo +o’ beer casks. Looking closer it seemed to me that the man’s nose, +like the beak of a goshawk, and his glinting eyes with the lids only +half-reefed, were known to me, but when I overheard him swearing to +himself in good High Dutch, then his figurehead came back to me in +a moment. I put out into the yard, and touched him on the shoulder. +Zounds, lad! you should have seen him spring back and spit at me like +a wildcat with every hair of his head in a bristle. He whipped a knife +from under his smock, for he thought, doubtless, that I was about to +earn the reward by handing him over to the red-coats. I told him that +his secret was safe with me, and I asked him if he had heard that you +were laid by the heels. He answered that he knew it, and that he would +be answerable that no harm befell you, though in truth it seemed to me +that he had his hands full in trimming his own sails, without acting as +pilot to another. However, there I left him, and there I shall find him +again if so be as he has done you an injury.’ + +‘Nay,’ I answered, ‘I am right glad that he has found this refuge. +We did separate upon a difference of opinion, but I have no cause +to complain of him. In many ways he hath shown me both kindness and +goodwill.’ + +‘He is as crafty as a purser’s clerk,’ quoth Solomon. ‘I have seen +Reuben Lockarby, who sends his love to you. He is still kept in his bunk +from his wound, but he meets with good treatment. Major Ogilvy tells me +that he has made such interest for him that there is every chance that +he will gain his discharge, the more particularly since he was not +present at the battle. Your own chance of pardon would, he thinks, be +greater if you had fought less stoutly, but you have marked yourself +as a dangerous man, more especially as you have the love of many of the +common folk among the rebels.’ + +The good old seaman stayed with me until late in the night, listening to +my adventures, and narrating in return the simple gossip of the village, +which is of more interest to the absent wanderer than the rise and fall +of empires. Before he left he drew a great handful of silver pieces +from his pouch, and went round amongst the prisoners, listening to their +wants, and doing what he could with rough sailor talk and dropping coins +to lighten their troubles. There is a language in the kindly eye and +the honest brow which all men may understand; and though the seaman’s +speeches might have been in Greek, for all that they conveyed to the +Somersetshire peasants, yet they crowded round him as he departed and +called blessings upon his head. I felt as though he had brought a whiff +of his own pure ocean breezes into our close and noisome prison, and +left us the sweeter and the healthier. + +Late in August the judges started from London upon that wicked journey +which blighted the lives and the homes of so many, and hath left a +memory in the counties through which they passed which shall never fade +while a father can speak to a son. We heard reports of them from day to +day, for the guards took pleasure in detailing them with many coarse and +foul jests, that we might know what was in store for us, and lose none +of what they called the pleasures of anticipation. At Winchester the +sainted and honoured Lady Alice Lisle was sentenced by Chief Justice +Jeffreys to be burned alive, and the exertions and prayers of her +friends could scarce prevail upon him to allow her the small boon of +the axe instead of the faggot. Her graceful head was hewn from her +body amidst the groans and the cries of a weeping multitude in the +market-place of the town. At Dorchester the slaughter was wholesale. +Three hundred were condemned to death, and seventy-four were actually +executed, until the most loyal and Tory of the country squires had to +complain of the universal presence of the dangling bodies. Thence the +judges proceeded to Exeter and thence to Taunton, which they reached in +the first week of September, more like furious and ravenous beasts which +have tasted blood and cannot quench their cravings for slaughter, than +just-minded men, trained to distinguish the various degrees of guilt, or +to pick out the innocent and screen him from injustice. A rare field +was open for their cruelty, for in Taunton alone there lay a thousand +hapless prisoners, many of whom were so little trained to express their +thoughts, and so hampered by the strange dialect in which they spoke, +that they might have been born dumb for all the chance they had of +making either judge or counsel understand the pleadings which they +wished to lay before them. + +It was on a Monday evening that the Lord Chief Justice made his entry. +From one of the windows of the room in which we were confined I saw him +pass. First rode the dragoons with their standards and kettledrums, then +the javelin-men with their halberds, and behind them the line of coaches +full of the high dignitaries of the law. Last of all, drawn by six +long-tailed Flemish mares, came a great open coach, thickly crusted +with gold, in which, reclining amidst velvet cushions, sat the infamous +Judge, wrapped in a cloak of crimson plush with a heavy white periwig +upon his head, which was so long that it dropped down over his +shoulders. They say that he wore scarlet in order to strike terror into +the hearts of the people, and that his courts were for the same reason +draped in the colour of blood. As for himself, it hath ever been the +custom, since his wickedness hath come to be known to all men, to +picture him as a man whose expression and features were as monstrous and +as hideous as was the mind behind them. This is by no means the case. +On the contrary, he was a man who, in his younger days, must have been +remarkable for his extreme beauty.(1) He was not, it is true, very old, +as years go, when I saw him, but debauchery and low living had left +their traces upon his countenance, without, however entirely destroying +the regularity and the beauty of his features. He was dark, more like a +Spaniard than an Englishman, with black eyes and olive complexion. His +expression was lofty and noble, but his temper was so easily aflame that +the slightest cross or annoyance would set him raving like a madman, +with blazing eyes and foaming mouth. I have seen him myself with the +froth upon his lips and his whole face twitching with passion, like +one who hath the falling sickness. Yet his other emotions were under as +little control, for I have heard say that a very little would cause him +to sob and to weep, more especially when he had himself been slighted by +those who were above him. He was, I believe, a man who had great powers +either for good or for evil, but by pandering to the darker side of +his nature and neglecting the other, he brought himself to be as near +a fiend as it is possible for a man to be. It must indeed have been an +evil government where so vile and foul-mouthed a wretch was chosen out +to hold the scales of justice. As he drove past, a Tory gentleman +riding by the side of his coach drew his attention to the faces of +the prisoners looking out at him. He glanced up at them with a quick, +malicious gleam of his white teeth, then settled down again amongst the +cushions. I observed that as he passed not a hat was raised among the +crowd, and that even the rude soldiers appeared to look upon him half +in terror, half in disgust, as a lion might look upon some foul, +blood-sucking bat which battened upon the prey which he had himself +struck down. + +(1) The painting of Jeffreys in the National Portrait Gallery more +than bears out Micah Clarke’s remarks. He is the handsomest man in the +collection. + + + +Chapter XXXV. Of the Devil in Wig and Gown + +There was no delay in the work of slaughter. That very night the great +gallows was erected outside the White Hart inn. Hour after hour we could +hear the blows of mallets and the sawing of beams, mingled with the +shoutings and the ribald choruses of the Chief Justice’s suite, who were +carousing with the officers of the Tangiers regiment in the front room, +which overlooked the gibbet. Amongst the prisoners the night was passed +in prayer and meditation, the stout-hearted holding forth to their +weaker brethren, and exhorting them to play the man, and to go to +their death in a fashion which should be an example to true Protestants +throughout the world. The Puritan divines had been mostly strung up +off-hand immediately after the battle, but a few were left to sustain +the courage of their flocks, and to show them the way upon the scaffold. +Never have I seen anything so admirable as the cool and cheerful bravery +wherewith these poor clowns faced their fate. Their courage on the +battlefield paled before that which they showed in the shambles of the +law. So amid the low murmur of prayer and appeals for mercy to God from +tongues which never yet asked mercy from man, the morning broke, the +last morning which many of us were to spend upon earth. + +The court should have opened at nine, but my Lord Chief Justice was +indisposed, having sat up somewhat late with Colonel Kirke. It was +nearly eleven before the trumpeters and criers announced that he had +taken his seat. One by one my fellow-prisoners were called out by name, +the more prominent being chosen first. They went out from amongst us +amid hand-shakings and blessings, but we saw and heard no more of them, +save that a sudden fierce rattle of kettledrums would rise up now and +again, which was, as our guards told us, to drown any dying words which +might fall from the sufferers and bear fruit in the breasts of those who +heard them. With firm steps and smiling faces the roll of martyrs went +forth to their fate during the whole of that long autumn day, until the +rough soldiers of the guard stood silent and awed in the presence of +a courage which they could not but recognise as higher and nobler than +their own. Folk may call it a trial that they received, and a trial it +really was, but not in the sense that we Englishmen use it. It was but +being haled before a Judge, and insulted before being dragged to the +gibbet. The court-house was the thorny path which led to the scaffold. +What use to put a witness up, when he was shouted down, cursed at, +and threatened by the Chief Justice, who bellowed and swore until the +frightened burghers in Fore Street could hear him? I have heard from +those who were there that day that he raved like a demoniac, and that +his black eyes shone with a vivid vindictive brightness which was scarce +human. The jury shrank from him as from a venomous thing when he +turned his baleful glance upon them. At times, as I have been told, his +sternness gave place to a still more terrible merriment, and he would +lean back in his seat of justice and laugh until the tears hopped down +upon his ermine. Nearly a hundred were either executed or condemned to +death upon that opening day. + +I had expected to be amongst the first of those called, and no doubt I +should have been so but for the exertions of Major Ogilvy. As it was, +the second day passed, but I still found myself overlooked. On the +third and fourth days the slaughter was slackened, not on account of +any awakening grace on the part of the Judge, but because the great Tory +landowners, and the chief supporters of the Government, had still some +bowels of compassion, which revolted at this butchery of defenceless +men. Had it not been for the influence which these gentlemen brought +to bear upon the Judge, I have no doubt at all that Jeffreys would have +hung the whole eleven hundred prisoners then confined in Taunton. As +it was, two hundred and fifty fell victims to this accursed monster’s +thirst for human blood. + +On the eighth day of the assizes there were but fifty of us left in +the wool warehouse. For the last few days prisoners had been tried +in batches of ten and twenty, but now the whole of us were taken in +a drove, under escort, to the court-house, where as many as could be +squeezed in were ranged in the dock, while the rest were penned, like +calves in the market, in the body of the hall. The Judge reclined in a +high chair, with a scarlet dais above him, while two other Judges, in +less elevated seats, were stationed on either side of him. On the right +hand was the jury-box, containing twelve carefully picked men--Tories +of the old school--firm upholders of the doctrines of non-resistance and +the divine right of kings. Much care had been taken by the Crown in +the choice of these men, and there was not one of them but would have +sentenced his own father had there been so much as a suspicion that he +leaned to Presbyterianism or to Whiggery. Just under the Judge was a +broad table, covered with green cloth and strewn with papers. On +the right hand of this were a long array of Crown lawyers, grim, +ferret-faced men, each with a sheaf of papers in his hands, which they +sniffed through again and again, as though they were so many bloodhounds +picking up the trail along which they were to hunt us down. On the other +side of the table sat a single fresh-faced young man, in silk gown and +wig, with a nervous, shuffling manner. This was the barrister, Master +Helstrop, whom the Crown in its clemency had allowed us for our defence, +lest any should be bold enough to say that we had not had every fairness +in our trial. The remainder of the court was filled with the servants +of the Justices’ retinue and the soldiers of the garrison, who used the +place as their common lounge, looking on the whole thing as a mighty +cheap form of sport, and roaring with laughter at the rude banter and +coarse pleasantries of his Lordship. + +The clerk having gabbled through the usual form that we, the prisoners +at the bar, having shaken off the fear of God, had unlawfully and +traitorously assembled, and so onwards, the Lord Justice proceeded to +take matters into his own hands, as was his wont. + +‘I trust that we shall come well out of this!’ he broke out. ‘I +trust that no judgment will fall upon this building! Was ever so much +wickedness fitted into one court-house before? Who ever saw such an +array of villainous faces? Ah, rogues, I see a rope ready for every +one of ye! Art not afraid of judgment? Art not afraid of hell-fire? You +grey-bearded rascal in the corner, how comes it that you have not had +more of the grace of God in you than to take up arms against your most +gracious and loving sovereign?’ + +‘I have followed the guidance of my conscience, my Lord,’ said the +venerable cloth-worker of Wellington, to whom he spoke. + +‘Ha, your conscience!’ howled Jeffreys. ‘A ranter with a conscience! +Where has your conscience been these two months back, you villain and +rogue? Your conscience will stand you in little stead, sirrah, when +you are dancing on nothing with a rope round your neck. Was ever such +wickedness? Who ever heard such effrontery? And you, you great hulking +rebel, have you not grace enough to cast your eyes down, but must needs +look justice in the face as though you were an honest man? Are you not +afeared, sirrah? Do you not see death close upon you?’ + +‘I have seen that before now, my Lord, and I was not afeared,’ I +answered. + +‘Generation of vipers!’ he cried, throwing up his hands. ‘The best of +fathers! The kindest of kings! See that my words are placed upon the +record, clerk! The most indulgent of parents! But wayward children +must, with all kindness, be flogged into obedience. Here he broke into +a savage grin. ‘The King will save your own natural parents all further +care on your account. If they had wished to keep ye, they should have +brought ye up in better principles. Rogues, we shall be merciful to +ye--oh, merciful, merciful! How many are here, recorder?’ + +‘Fifty and one, my Lord.’ + +‘Oh, sink of villainy! Fifty and one as arrant knaves as ever lay on +a hurdle! Oh, what a mass of corruption have we here! Who defends the +villains?’ + +‘I defend the prisoners, your Lordship,’ replied the young lawyer. + +‘Master Helstrop, Master Helstrop!’ cried Jeffreys, shaking his great +wig until the powder flew out of it; ‘you are in all these dirty cases, +Master Helstrop. You might find yourself in a parlous condition, Master +Helstrop. I think sometimes that I see you yourself in the dock, Master +Helstrop. You may yourself soon need the help of a gentleman of the long +robe, Master Helstrop. Oh, have a care! Have a care!’ + +‘The brief is from the Crown, your Lordship,’ the lawyer answered, in a +quavering voice. + +‘Must I be answered back, then!’ roared Jeffreys, his black eyes blazing +with the rage of a demon. ‘Am I to be insulted in my own court? Is every +five-groat piece of a pleader, because he chance to have a wig and a +gown, to browbeat the Lord Justice, and to fly in the face of the ruling +of the Court? Oh, Master Helstrop, I fear that I shall live to see some +evil come upon you!’ + +‘I crave your Lordship’s pardon!’ cried the faint-hearted barrister, +with his face the colour of his brief. + +‘Keep a guard upon your words and upon your actions?’ Jeffreys answered, +in a menacing voice. ‘See that you are not too zealous in the cause +of the scum of the earth. How now, then? What do these one and fifty +villains desire to say for themselves? What is their lie? Gentlemen of +the jury, I beg that ye will take particular notice of the cut-throat +faces of these men. ‘Tis well that Colonel Kirke hath afforded the Court +a sufficient guard, for neither justice nor the Church is safe at their +hands.’ + +‘Forty of them desire to plead guilty to the charge of taking up arms +against the King,’ replied our barrister. + +‘Ah!’ roared the Judge. ‘Was ever such unparalleled impudence? Was there +ever such brazen effrontery? Guilty, quotha! Have they expressed their +repentance for this sin against a most kind and long-suffering monarch! +Put down those words on the record, clerk!’ + +‘They have refused to express repentance, your Lordship!’ replied the +counsel for the defence. + +‘Oh, the parricides! Oh, the shameless rogues!’ cried the Judge. ‘Put +the forty together on this side of the enclosure. Oh, gentlemen, have ye +ever seen such a concentration of vice? See how baseness and wickedness +can stand with head erect! Oh, hardened monsters! But the other eleven. +How can they expect us to believe this transparent falsehood--this +palpable device? How can they foist it upon the Court?’ + +‘My Lord, their defence hath not yet been advanced!’ stammered Master +Helstrop. + +‘I can sniff a lie before it is uttered,’ roared the Judge, by no means +abashed. ‘I can read it as quick as ye can think it. Come, come, the +Court’s time is precious. Put forward a defence, or seat yourself, and +let judgment be passed.’ + +‘These men, my Lord,’ said the counsel, who was trembling until the +parchment rattled in his hand. ‘These eleven men, my Lord--’ + +‘Eleven devils, my Lord,’ interrupted Jeffreys. + +‘They are innocent peasants, my Lord, who love God and the King, and +have in no wise mingled themselves in this recent business. They have +been dragged from their homes, my Lord, not because there was suspicion +against them, but because they could not satisfy the greed of certain +common soldiers who were balked of plunder in--’ + +‘Oh, shame, shame!’ cried Jeffreys, in a voice of thunder. ‘Oh, +threefold shame, Master Helstrop! Are you not content with bolstering +up rebels, but you must go out of your way to slander the King’s troops? +What is this world coming to? What, in a word, is the defence of these +rogues?’ + +‘An alibi, your Lordship.’ + +‘Ha! The common plea of every scoundrel. Have they witnesses?’ + +‘We have here a list of forty witnesses, your Lordship. They are waiting +below, many of them having come great distances, and with much toil and +trouble.’ + +‘Who are they? What are they?’ cried Jeffreys. + +‘They are country folk, your Lordship. Cottagers and farmers, the +neighbours of these poor men, who knew them well, and can speak as to +their doings.’ + +‘Cottagers and farmers!’ the Judge shouted. ‘Why, then, they are drawn +from the very class from which these men come. Would you have us believe +the oath of those who are themselves Whigs, Presbyterians, Somersetshire +ranters, the pothouse companions of the men whom we are trying? I +warrant they have arranged it all snugly over their beer--snugly, +snugly, the rogues!’ + +‘Will you not hear the witnesses, your Lordship?’ cried our counsel, +shamed into some little sense of manhood by this outrage. + +‘Not a word from them, sirrah,’ said Jeffreys. ‘It is a question whether +my duty towards my kind master the King--write down “kind master,” + clerk--doth not warrant me in placing all your witnesses in the dock as +the aiders and abettors of treason.’ + +‘If it please your Lordship,’ cried one of the prisoners, ‘I have for +witnesses Mr. Johnson, of Nether Stowey, who is a good Tory, and also +Mr. Shepperton, the clergyman.’ + +‘The more shame to them to appear in such a cause,’ replied Jeffreys. +‘What are we to say, gentlemen of the jury, when we see county gentry +and the clergy of the Established Church supporting treason and +rebellion in this fashion? Surely the last days are at hand! You are a +most malignant and dangerous Whig to have so far drawn them from their +duty.’ + +‘But hear me, my Lord!’ cried one of the prisoners. + +‘Hear you, you bellowing calf!’ shouted the Judge. ‘We can hear naught +else. Do you think that you are back in your conventicle, that you +should dare to raise your voice in such a fashion? Hear you, quotha! We +shall hear you at the end of a rope, ere many days.’ + +‘We scarce think, your Lordship,’ said one of the Crown lawyers, +springing to his feet amid a great rustling of papers, ‘we scarce think +that it is necessary for the Crown to state any case. We have already +heard the whole tale of this most damnable and execrable attempt many +times over. The men in the dock before your Lordship have for the most +part confessed to their guilt, and of those who hold out there is not +one who has given us any reason to believe that he is innocent of +the foul crime laid to his charge. The gentlemen of the long robe are +therefore unanimously of opinion that the jury may at once be required +to pronounce a single verdict upon the whole of the prisoners.’ + +‘Which is--?’ asked Jeffreys, glancing round at the foreman-- + +‘Guilty, your Lordship,’ said he, with a grin, while his brother jurymen +nodded their heads and laughed to one another. + +‘Of course, of course! guilty as Judas Iscariot!’ cried the Judge, +looking down with exultant eyes at the throng of peasants and burghers +before him. ‘Move them a little forwards, ushers, that I may see them +to more advantage. Oh, ye cunning ones! Are ye not taken? Are ye not +compassed around? Where now can ye fly? Do ye not see hell opening +at your feet? Eh? Are ye not afraid? Oh, short, short shall be your +shrift!’ The very devil seemed to be in the man, for as he spoke he +writhed with unholy laughter, and drummed his hand upon the red cushion +in front of him. I glanced round at my companions, but their faces were +all as though they had been chiselled out of marble. If he had hoped to +see a moist eye or a quivering lip, the satisfaction was denied him. + +‘Had I my way,’ said he, ‘there is not one of ye but should swing for +it. Aye, and if I had my way, some of those whose stomachs are too nice +for this work, and who profess to serve the King with their lips while +they intercede for his worst enemies, should themselves have cause to +remember Taunton assizes. Oh, most ungrateful rebels! Have ye not +heard how your most soft-hearted and compassionate monarch, the best of +men--put it down in the record, clerk--on the intercession of that great +and charitable statesman, Lord Sunderland--mark it down, clerk--hath +had pity on ye? Hath it not melted ye? Hath it not made ye loathe +yourselves? I declare, when I think of it’--here, with a sudden catching +of the breath, he burst out a-sobbing, the tears running down his +cheeks--‘when I think of it, the Christian forbearance, the ineffable +mercy, it doth bring forcibly to my mind that great Judge before whom +all of us--even I--shall one day have to render an account. Shall I +repeat it, clerk, or have you it down?’ + +‘I have it down, your Lordship.’ + +‘Then write “sobs” in the margin. ‘Tis well that the King should +know our opinion on such matters. Know, then, you most traitorous and +unnatural rebels, that this good father whom ye have spurned has stepped +in between yourselves and the laws which ye have offended. At his +command we withhold from ye the chastisement which ye have merited. +If ye can indeed pray, and if your soul-cursing conventicles have not +driven all grace out of ye, drop on your knees and offer up thanks when +I tell ye that he hath ordained that ye shall all have a free pardon.’ +Here the Judge rose from his seat as though about to descend from the +tribunal, and we gazed upon each other in the utmost astonishment at +this most unlooked-for end to the trial. The soldiers and lawyers were +equally amazed, while a hum of joy and applause rose up from the few +country folk who had dared to venture within the accursed precincts. + +‘This pardon, however,’ continued Jeffreys, turning round with a +malicious smile upon his face, ‘is coupled with certain conditions and +limitations. Ye shall all be removed from here to Poole, in chains, +where ye shall find a vessel awaiting ye. With others ye shall be stowed +away in the hold of the said vessel, and conveyed at the King’s expense +to the Plantations, there to be sold as slaves. God send ye masters who +will know by the free use of wood and leather to soften your stubborn +thoughts and incline your mind to better things.’ He was again about to +withdraw, when one of the Crown lawyers whispered something across to +him. + +‘Well thought of, coz,’ cried the Judge. ‘I had forgot. Bring back the +prisoners, ushers! Perhaps ye think that by the Plantations I mean his +Majesty’s American dominions. Unhappily, there are too many of your +breed in that part already. Ye would fall among friends who might +strengthen ye in your evil courses, and so risk your salvation. To send +ye there would be to add one brand to another and yet hope to put +out the fire. By the Plantations, therefore, I mean Barbadoes and the +Indies, where ye shall live with the other slaves, whose skins may be +blacker than yours, but I dare warrant that their souls are more white.’ +With this concluding speech the trial ended, and we were led back +through the crowded streets to the prison from which we had been +brought. On either side of the street, as we passed, we could see +the limbs of former companions dangling in the wind, and their heads +grinning at us from the tops of poles and pikes. No savage country in +the heart of heathen Africa could have presented a more dreadful sight +than did the old English town of Taunton when Jeffreys and Kirke had +the ordering of it. There was death in the air, and the townsfolk crept +silently about, scarcely daring to wear black for those whom they had +loved and lost, lest it should be twisted into an act of treason. + +We were scarce back in the wool-house once more when a file of +guards with a sergeant entered, escorting a long, pale-faced man with +protruding teeth, whose bright blue coat and white silk breeches, +gold-headed sword, and glancing shoe-buckles, proclaimed him to be one +of those London exquisites whom interest or curiosity had brought down +to the scene of the rebellion. He tripped along upon his tiptoes like a +French dancing-master, waving his scented kerchief in front of his +thin high nose, and inhaling aromatic salts from a blue phial which he +carried in his left hand. + +‘By the Lard!’ he cried, ‘but the stench of these filthy wretches is +enough to stap one’s breath. It is, by the Lard! Smite my vitals if +I would venture among them if I were not a very rake hell. Is there a +danger of prison fever, sergeant? Heh?’ + +‘They are all sound as roaches, your honour,’ said the under-officer, +touching his cap. + +‘Heh, heh!’ cried the exquisite, with a shrill treble laugh. ‘It is +not often ye have a visit from a person of quality, I’ll warrant. It +is business, sergeant, business! “Auri sacra fames”--you remember what +Virgilius Maro says, sergeant?’ + +‘Never heard the gentleman speak, sir--at least not to my knowledge, +sir,’ said the sergeant. + +‘Heh, heh! Never heard him speak, heh? That will do for Slaughter’s, +sergeant. That will set them all in a titter at Slaughter’s. Pink my +soul! but when I venture on a story the folk complain that they can’t +get served, for the drawers laugh until there is no work to be got out +of them. Oh, lay me bleeding, but these are a filthy and most ungodly +crew! Let the musqueteers stand close, sergeant, lest they fly at me.’ + +‘We shall see to that, your honour.’ + +‘I have a grant of a dozen of them, and Captain Pogram hath offered me +twelve pounds a head. But they must be brawny rogues--strong and brawny, +for the voyage kills many, sergeant, and the climate doth also tell upon +them. Now here is one whom I must have. Yes, in very truth he is a +young man, and hath much life in him and much strength. Tick him off, +sergeant, tick him off!’ + +‘His name is Clarke,’ said the soldier. ‘I have marked him down.’ + +‘If this is the clerk I would I had a parson to match him,’ cried the +fop, sniffing at his bottle. ‘Do you see the pleasantry, sergeant. Heh, +heh! Does your sluggish mind rise to the occasion? Strike me purple, but +I am in excellent fettle! There is yonder man with the brown face, you +can mark him down. And the young man beside him, also. Tick him off. Ha, +he waves his hand towards me! Stand firm, sergeant! Where are my salts? +What is it, man, what is it?’ + +‘If it plaize your han’r,’ said the young peasant, ‘if so be as you +have chose me to be of a pairty, I trust that you will allow my vaither +yander to go with us also.’ + +‘Pshaw, pshaw!’ cried the fop, ‘you are beyond reason, you are indeed! +Who ever heard of such a thing? Honour forbids it! How could I foist +an old man upon mine honest friend, Captain Pogram. Fie, fie! Split +me asunder if he would not say that I had choused him! There is yonder +lusty fellow with the red head, sergeant! The blacks will think he is +a-fire. Those, and these six stout yokels, will make up my dozen.’ + +‘You have indeed the pick of them,’ said the sergeant. + +‘Aye, sink me, but I have a quick eye for horse, man, or woman! I’ll +pick the best of a batch with most. Twelve twelves, close on a hundred +and fifty pieces, sergeant, and all for a few words, my friend, all for +a few words. I did but send my wife, a demmed handsome woman, mark you, +and dresses in the mode, to my good friend the secretary to ask for some +rebels. “How many?” says he. “A dozen will do,” says she. It was all +done in a penstroke. What a cursed fool she was not to have asked for a +hundred! But what is this, sergeant, what is this?’ + +A small, brisk, pippin-faced fellow in a riding-coat and high boots had +come clanking into the wool-house with much assurance and authority, +with a great old-fashioned sword trailing behind him, and a riding-whip +switching in his hand. + +‘Morning, sergeant!’ said he, in a loud, overbearing voice. ‘You may +have heard my name? I am Master John Wooton, of Langmere House, near +Dulverton, who bestirred himself so for the King, and hath been termed +by Mr. Godolphin, in the House of Commons, one of the local pillars of +the State. Those were his words. Fine, were they not? Pillars, mark ye, +the conceit being that the State was, as it were, a palace or a temple, +and the loyal men so many pillars, amongst whom I also was one. I am a +local pillar. I have received a Royal permit, sergeant, to choose from +amongst your prisoners ten sturdy rogues whom I may sell as a reward +to me for my exertions. Draw them up, therefore, that I may make my +choice!’ + +‘Then, sir, we are upon the same errand,’ quoth the Londoner, bowing +with his hand over his heart, until his sword seemed to point straight +up to the ceiling. ‘The Honourable George Dawnish, at your service! Your +very humble and devoted servant, sir! Yours to command in any or +all ways. It is a real joy and privilege to me, sir, to make your +distinguished acquaintance. Hem!’ + +The country squire appeared to be somewhat taken aback at this shower +of London compliments. ‘Ahem, sir! Yes, sir!’ said he, bobbing his head. +‘Glad to see you, sir! Most damnably so! But these men, sergeant? Time +presses, for to-morrow is Shepton market, and I would fain see my old +twenty-score boar once more before he is sold. There is a beefy one. +I’ll have him.’ + +‘Ged, I’ve forestalled you,’ cried the courtier. ‘Sink me, but it gives +me real pain. He is mine.’ + +‘Then this,’ said the other, pointing with his whip. + +‘He is mine, too. Heh, heh, heh! Strike me stiff, but this is too +funny!’ + +‘Od’s wounds! How many are yours!’ cried the Dulverton squire. + +‘A dozen. Heh, heh! A round dozen. All those who stand upon this side. +Pink me, but I have got the best of you there! The early bird--you know +the old saw!’ + +‘It is a disgrace,’ the squire cried hotly. ‘A shame and a disgrace. We +must needs fight for the King and risk our skins, and then when all is +done, down come a drove of lacqueys in waiting, and snap up the pickings +before their betters are served.’ + +‘Lacqueys in waiting, sir!’ shrieked the exquisite. ‘S’death, sir! This +toucheth mine honour very nearly! I have seen blood flow, yes, sir, and +wounds gape on less provocation. Retract, sir, retract!’ + +‘Away, you clothes-pole!’ cried the other contemptuously. ‘You are come +like the other birds of carrion when the fight is o’er. Have you been +named in full Parliament? Are you a local pillar? Away, away, you +tailor’s dummy!’ + +‘You insolent clodhopper!’ cried the fop. ‘You most foul-mouthed +bumpkin! The only local pillar that you have ever deserved to make +acquaintance with is the whipping-post. Ha, sergeant, he lays his +hand upon his sword! Stop him, sergeant, stop him, or I may do him an +injury.’ + +‘Nay, gentlemen,’ cried the under officer. ‘This quarrel must not +continue here. We must have no brawling within the prison. Yet there is +a level turf without, and as fine elbow-room as a gentleman could wish +for a breather.’ + +This proposal did not appear to commend itself to either of the angry +gentlemen, who proceeded to exchange the length of their swords, and to +promise that each should hear from the other before sunset. Our owner, +as I may call him, the fop, took his departure at last, and the country +squire having chosen the next ton swaggered off, cursing the courtiers, +the Londoners, the sergeant, the prisoners, and above all, the +ingratitude of the Government which had made him so small a return +for his exertions. This was but the first of many such scenes, for the +Government, in endeavouring to satisfy the claims of its supporters, had +promised many more than there were prisoners. I am grieved to say that +I have seen not only men, but even my own countrywomen, and ladies of +title to boot, wringing their hands and bewailing themselves because +they were unable to get any of the poor Somersetshire folk to sell as +slaves. Indeed, it was only with difficulty that they could be made +to see that their claim upon Government did not give them the right of +seizing any burgher or peasant who might come in their way, and shipping +him right off for the Plantations. + +Well, my dear grandchildren, from night to night through this long and +weary winter I have taken you back with me into the past, and made you +see scenes the players in which are all beneath the turf, save +that perhaps here and there some greybeard like myself may have a +recollection of them. I understand that you, Joseph, have every morning +set down upon paper that which I have narrated the night before. It is +as well that you should do so, for your own children and your children’s +children may find it of interest, and even perhaps take a pride in +hearing that their ancestors played a part in such scenes. But now +the spring is coming, and the green is bare of snow, so that there are +better things for you to do than to sit listening to the stories of +a garrulous old man. Nay, nay, you shake your heads, but indeed those +young limbs want exercising and strengthening and knitting together, +which can never come from sitting toasting round the blaze. Besides, my +story draws quickly to an end now, for I had never intended to tell you +more than the events connected with the Western rising. If the closing +part hath been of the dreariest, and if all doth not wind up with +the ringing of bells and the joining of hands, like the tales in the +chap-books, you must blame history and not me. For Truth is a stern +mistress, and when one hath once started off with her one must follow +on after the jade, though she lead in flat defiance of all the rules and +conditions which would fain turn that tangled wilderness the world into +the trim Dutch garden of the story-tellers. + +Three days after our trial we were drawn up in North Street in front +of the Castle with others from the other prisons who were to share our +fate. We were placed four abreast, with a rope connecting each rank, +and of these ranks I counted fifty, which would bring our total to two +hundred. On each side of us rode dragoons, and in front and behind were +companies of musqueteers to prevent any attempt at rescue or escape. +In this order we set off upon the tenth day of September, amidst the +weeping and wailing of the townsfolk, many of whom saw their sons or +brothers marching off into exile without their being able to exchange a +last word or embrace with them. Some of these poor folk, doddering old +men and wrinkled, decrepit women, toiled for miles after us down the +high-road, until the rearguard of foot faced round upon them, and drove +them away with curses and blows from their ramrods. + +That day we made our way through Yeovil and Sherborne, and on the morrow +proceeded over the North Downs as far as Blandford, where we were penned +together like cattle and left for the night. On the third day we +resumed our march through Wimbourne and a line of pretty Dorsetshire +villages--the last English villages which most of us were destined to +see for many a long year to come. Late in the afternoon the spars and +rigging of the shipping in Poole Harbour rose up before us, and in +another hour we had descended the steep and craggy path which leads to +the town. Here we were drawn up upon the quay opposite the broad-decked, +heavy-sparred brig which was destined to carry us into slavery. Through +all this march we met with the greatest kindness from the common people, +who flocked out from their cottages with fruit and with milk, which +they divided amongst us. At other places, at, the risk of their lives, +Dissenting ministers came forth and stood by the wayside, blessing us as +we passed, in spite of the rough jeers and oaths of the soldiers. + +We were marched aboard and led below by the mate of the vessel, a tall +red-faced seaman with ear-rings in his ears, while the captain stood on +the poop with his legs apart and a pipe in his mouth, checking us off +one by one by means of a list which he held in his hand. As he looked +at the sturdy build and rustic health of the peasants, which even their +long confinement had been unable to break down, his eyes glistened, and +he rubbed his big red hands together with delight. + +‘Show them down, Jem!’ he kept shouting to the mate. ‘Stow them safe, +Jem! There’s lodgings for a duchess down there, s’help me, there’s +lodgings for a duchess! Pack ‘em away!’ + +One by one we passed before the delighted captain, and down the steep +ladder which led into the hold. Here we were led along a narrow passage, +on either side of which opened the stalls which were prepared for us. As +each man came opposite to the one set aside for him he was thrown into +it by the brawny mate, and fastened down with anklets of iron by the +seaman armourer in attendance. It was dark before we were all secured, +but the captain came round with a lanthorn to satisfy himself that all +his property was really safe. I could hear the mate and him reckoning +the value of each prisoner, and counting what he would fetch in the +Barbadoes market. + +‘Have you served out their fodder, Jem?’ he asked, flashing his light +into each stall in turn. ‘Have you seen that they had their rations?’ + +‘A rye bread loaf and a pint o’ water,’ answered the mate. + +‘Fit for a duchess, s’help me!’ cried the captain. ‘Look to this one, +Jem. He is a lusty rogue. Look to his great hands. He might work for +years in the rice-swamps ere the land crabs have the picking of him.’ + +‘Aye, we’ll have smart bidding amid the settlers for this lot. ‘Cod, +captain, but you have made a bargain of it! Od’s bud! you have done +these London fools to some purpose.’ + +‘What is this?’ roared the captain. ‘Here is one who hath not touched +his allowance. How now, sirrah, art too dainty in the stomach to eat +what your betters have eaten before you?’ + +‘I have no hairt for food, zur,’ the prisoner answered. + +‘What, you must have your whims and fancies! You must pick and you must +choose! I tell you, sirrah, that you are mine, body and soul! Twelve +good pieces I paid for you, and now, forsooth, I am to be told that you +will not eat! Turn to it at this instant, you saucy rogue, or I shall +have you triced to the triangles!’ + +‘Here is another,’ said the mate, ‘who sits ever with his head sunk upon +his breast without spirit or life.’ + +‘Mutinous, obstinate dog!’ cried the captain. ‘What ails you then? Why +have you a face like an underwriter in a tempest?’ + +‘If it plaize you, zur,’ the prisoner answered, ‘Oi do but think o’ m’ +ould mother at Wellington, and woonder who will kape her now that Oi’m +gone!’ + +‘And what is that to me?’ shouted the brutal seaman. ‘How can you arrive +at your journey’s end sound and hearty if you sit like a sick fowl upon +a perch? Laugh, man, and be merry, or I will give you something to weep +for. Out on you, you chicken-hearted swab, to sulk and fret like a babe +new weaned! Have you not all that heart could desire? Give him a touch +with the rope’s-end, Jem, if ever you do observe him fretting. It is but +to spite us that he doth it.’ + +‘If it please your honour,’ said a seaman, coming hurriedly down from +the deck, ‘there is a stranger upon the poop who will have speech with +your honour.’ + +‘What manner of man, sirrah?’ + +‘Surely he is a person of quality, your honour. He is as free wi’ his +words as though he were the captain o’ the ship. The boatswain did but +jog against him, and he swore so woundily at him and stared at him so, +wi’ een like a tiger-cat, that Job Harrison says we have shipped the +devil himsel.’ The men don’t like the look of him, your honour!’ + +‘Who the plague can this spark be?’ said the skipper. ‘Go on deck, Jem, +and tell him that I am counting my live stock, and that I shall be with +him anon.’ + +‘Nay, your honour! There will trouble come of it unless you come up. He +swears that he will not bear to be put off, and that he must see you on +the instant.’ + +‘Curse his blood, whoever he be!’ growled the seaman. ‘Every cock on +his own dunghill. What doth the rogue mean? Were he the Lord High Privy +Seal, I would have him to know that I am lord of my own quarter-deck!’ +So saying, with many snorts of indignation, the mate and the captain +withdrew together up the ladder, banging the heavy hatchways down as +they passed through. + +A single oil-lamp swinging from a beam in the centre of the gangway +which led between the rows of cells was the only light which was +vouchsafed us. By its yellow, murky glimmer we could dimly see the great +wooden ribs of the vessel, arching up on either side of us, and crossed +by the huge beams which held the deck. A grievous stench from foul bilge +water poisoned the close, heavy air. Every now and then, with a squeak +and a clutter, a rat would dart across the little zone of light and +vanish in the gloom upon the further side. Heavy breathing all round +me showed that my companions, wearied out by their journey and their +sufferings, had dropped into a slumber. From time to time one could hear +the dismal clank of fetters, and the start and incatching of the breath, +as some poor peasant, fresh from dreams of his humble homestead amid the +groves of the Mendips, awoke of a sudden to see the great wooden coffin +around him, and to breathe the venomous air of the prison ship. + +I lay long awake full of thought both for myself and for the poor souls +around me. At last, however, the measured swash of the water against +the side of the vessel and the slight rise and fall had lulled me into +a sleep, from which I was suddenly aroused by the flashing of a light +in my eyes. Sitting up, I found several sailors gathered about me, and +a tall man with a black cloak swathed round him swinging a lanthorn over +me. + +‘That is the man,’ he said. + +‘Come, mate, you are to come on deck!’ said the seaman armourer. With a +few blows from his hammer he knocked the irons from my feet. + +‘Follow me!’ said the tall stranger, and led the way up the hatchway +ladder. It was heavenly to come out into the pure air once more. The +stars were shining brightly overhead. A fresh breeze blew from the +shore, and hummed a pleasant tune among the cordage. Close beside us +the lights of the town gleamed yellow and cheery. Beyond, the moon was +peeping over the Bournemouth hills. + +‘This way, sir,’ said the sailor, ‘right aft into the cabin, sir.’ + +Still following my guide, I found myself in the low cabin of the brig. +A square shining table stood in the centre, with a bright swinging +lamp above it. At the further end in the glare of the light sat the +captain--his face shining with greed and expectation. On the table stood +a small pile of gold pieces, a rum-flask, glasses, a tobacco-box, and +two long pipes. + +‘My compliments to you, Captain Clarke,’ said the skipper, bobbing his +round bristling head. ‘An honest seaman’s compliments to you. It seems +that we are not to be shipmates this voyage, after all.’ + +‘Captain Micah Clarke must do a voyage of his own,’ said the stranger. + +At the sound of his voice I sprang round in amazement. ‘Good Heavens!’ I +cried, ‘Saxon!’ + +‘You have nicked it,’ said he, throwing down his mantle and showing the +well-known face and figure of the soldier of fortune. ‘Zounds, man! if +you can pick me out of the Solent, I suppose that I may pick you out of +this accursed rat-trap in which I find you. Tie and tie, as we say at +the green table. In truth, I was huffed with you when last we parted, +but I have had you in my mind for all that.’ + +‘A seat and a glass, Captain Clarke,’ cried the skipper. ‘Od’s bud! I +should think that you would be glad to raise your little finger and wet +your whistle after what you have gone through.’ + +I seated myself by the table with my brain in a whirl. ‘This is more +than I can fathom,’ said I. ‘What is the meaning of it, and how comes it +about?’ + +‘For my own part, the meaning is as clear as the glass of my binnacle,’ +quoth the seaman. ‘Your good friend Colonel Saxon, as I understand his +name to be, has offered me as much as I could hope to gain by selling +you in the Indies. Sink it, I may be rough and ready, but my heart is in +the right place! Aye, aye! I would not maroon a man if I could set him +free. But we have all to look for ourselves, and trade is dull.’ + +‘Then I am free!’ said I. + +‘You are free,’ he answered. ‘There is your purchase-money upon the +table. You can go where you will, save only upon the land of England, +where you are still an outlaw under sentence.’ + +‘How have you done this, Saxon?’ I asked. ‘Are you not afraid for +yourself?’ + +‘Ho, ho!’ laughed the old soldier. ‘I am a free man, my lad! I hold my +pardon, and care not a maravedi for spy or informer. Who should I meet +but Colonel Kirke a day or so back. Yes, lad! I met him in the street, +and I cocked my hat in his face. The villain laid his hand upon his +hilt, and I should have out bilbo and sent his soul to hell had they not +come between us. I care not the ashes of this pipe for Jeffreys or any +other of them. I can snap this finger and thumb at them, so! They would +rather see Decimus Saxon’s back than his face, I promise ye!’ + +‘But how comes this about?’ I asked. + +‘Why, marry, it is no mystery. Cunning old birds are not to be caught +with chaff. When I left you I made for a certain inn where I could count +upon finding a friend. There I lay by for a while, en cachette, as the +Messieurs call it, while I could work out the plan that was in my head. +Donner wetter! but I got a fright from that old seaman friend of yours, +who should be sold as a picture, for he is of little use as a man. Well, +I bethought me early in the affair of your visit to Badminton, and of +the Duke of B. We shall mention no names, but you can follow my meaning. +To him I sent a messenger, to the effect that I purposed to purchase my +own pardon by letting out all that I knew concerning his double dealing +with the rebels. The message was carried to him secretly, and his +answer was that I should meet him at a certain spot by night. I sent my +messenger instead of myself, and he was found in the morning stiff and +stark, with more holes in his doublet than ever the tailor made. On +this I sent again, raising my demands, and insisting upon a speedy +settlement. He asked my conditions. I replied, a free pardon and a +command for myself. For you, money enough to land you safely in some +foreign country where you can pursue the noble profession of arms. I got +them both, though it was like drawing teeth from his head. His name hath +much power at Court just now, and the King can refuse him nothing. I +have my pardon and a command of troops in New England. For you I have +two hundred pieces, of which thirty have been paid in ransom to the +captain, while twenty are due to me for my disbursements over the +matter. In this bag you will find the odd hundred and fifty, of which +you will pay fifteen to the fishermen who have promised to see you safe +to Flushing.’ + +I was, as you may readily believe, my dear children, bewildered by this +sudden and most unlooked-for turn which events had taken. When Saxon had +ceased to speak I sat as one stunned, trying to realise what he had said +to me. There came a thought into my head, however, which chilled the +glow of hope and of happiness which had sprung up in me at the thought +of recovering my freedom. My presence had been a support and a comfort +to my unhappy companions. Would it not be a cruel thing to leave them in +their distress? There was not one of them who did not look to me in his +trouble, and to the best of my poor power I had befriended and consoled +them. How could I desert them now? + +‘I am much beholden to you, Saxon,’ I said at last, speaking slowly and +with some difficulty, for the words were hard to utter. ‘But I fear that +your pains have been thrown away. These poor country folk have none to +look after or assist them. They are as simple as babes, and as little +fitted to be landed in a strange country. I cannot find it in my heart +to leave them!’ + +Saxon burst out laughing, and leaned back in his seat with his long legs +stretched straight out and his hands in his breeches pockets. + +‘This is too much!’ he said at last. ‘I saw many difficulties in my way, +yet I did not foresee this one. You are in very truth the most contrary +man that ever stood in neat’s leather. You have ever some outlandish +reason for jibbing and shying like a hot-blooded, half-broken colt. Yet +I think that I can overcome these strange scruples of yours by a little +persuasion.’ + +‘As to the prisoners, Captain Clarke,’ said the seaman, ‘I’ll be as good +as a father to them. S’help me, I will, on the word of an honest sailor! +If you should choose to lay out a trifle of twenty pieces upon their +comfort, I shall see that their food is such as mayhap many of them +never got at their own tables. They shall come on deck, too, in watches, +and have an hour or two o’ fresh air in the day. I can’t say fairer!’ + +‘A word or two with you on deck!’ said Saxon. He walked out of the cabin +and I followed him to the far end of the poop, where we stood leaning +against the bulwarks. One by one the lights had gone out in the town, +until the black ocean beat against a blacker shore. + +‘You need not have any fear of the future of the prisoners,’ he said, +in a low whisper. ‘They are not bound for the Barbadoes, nor will this +skinflint of a captain have the selling of them, for all that he is so +cocksure. If he can bring his own skin out of the business, it will be +more than I expect. He hath a man aboard his ship who would think no +more of giving him a tilt over the side than I should.’ + +‘What mean you, Saxon?’ I cried. + +‘Hast ever heard of a man named Marot?’ + +‘Hector Marot! Yes, surely I knew him well. A highwayman he was, but a +mighty stout man with a kind heart beneath a thief’s jacket.’ + +‘The same. He is as you say a stout man and a resolute swordsman, though +from what I have seen of his play he is weak in stoccado, and perhaps +somewhat too much attached to the edge, and doth not give prominence +enough to the point, in which respect he neglects the advice and +teaching of the most noteworthy fencers in Europe. Well, well, folk +differ on this as on every other subject! Yet it seems to me that I +would sooner be carried off the field after using my weapon secundum +artem, than walk off unscathed after breaking the laws d’escrime. +Quarte, tierce, and saccoon, say I, and the devil take your estramacons +and passados!’ + +‘But what of Marot?’ I asked impatiently. + +‘He is aboard,’ said Saxon. ‘It appears that he was much disturbed in +his mind over the cruelties which were inflicted on the country folk +after the battle at Bridgewater. Being a man of a somewhat stern and +fierce turn of mind, his disapproval did vent itself in actions rather +than words. Soldiers were found here and there over the countryside +pistolled or stabbed, and no trace left of their assailant. A dozen or +more were cut off in this way, and soon it came to be whispered about +that Marot the highwayman was the man that did it, and the chase became +hot at his heels.’ + +‘Well, and what then?’ I asked, for Saxon had stopped to light his pipe +at the same old metal tinder-box which he had used when first I met +him. When I picture Saxon to myself it is usually of that moment that I +think, when the red glow beat upon his hard, eager, hawk-like face, and +showed up the thousand little seams and wrinkles which time and care had +imprinted upon his brown, weather-beaten skin. Sometimes in my dreams +that face in the darkness comes back to me, and his half-closed eyelids +and shifting, blinky eyes are turned towards me in his sidelong fashion, +until I find myself sitting up and holding out my hand into empty space, +half expecting to feel another thin sinewy hand close round it. A bad +man he was in many ways, my dears, cunning and wily, with little scruple +or conscience; and yet so strange a thing is human nature, and so +difficult is it for us to control our feelings, that my heart warms when +I think of him, and that fifty years have increased rather than weakened +the kindliness which I hear to him. + +‘I had heard,’ quoth he, puffing slowly at his pipe, ‘that Marot was a +man of this kidney, and also that he was so compassed round that he was +in peril of capture. I sought him out, therefore, and held council with +him. His mare, it seems, had been slain by some chance shot, and as he +was much attached to the brute, the accident made him more savage and +more dangerous than ever. He had no heart, he said, to continue in his +old trade. Indeed, he was ripe for anything--the very stuff out of which +useful tools are made. I found that in his youth he had had a training +for the sea. When I heard that, I saw my way in the snap of a petronel.’ + +‘What then?’ I asked. ‘I am still in the dark.’ + +‘Nay, it is surely plain enough to you now. Marot’s end was to baffle +his pursuers and to benefit the exiles. How could he do this better than +by engaging as a seaman aboard this brig, the _Dorothy Fox_, and sailing +away from England in her? There are but thirty of a crew. Below hatches +are close on two hundred men, who, simple as they may be, are, as you +and I know, second to none in the cut-and-thrust work, without order or +discipline, which will be needed in such an affair. Marot has but to go +down amongst them some dark night, knock off their anklets, and fit them +up with a few stanchions or cudgels. Ho, ho, Micah! what think you? The +planters may dig their plantations themselves for all the help they are +like to get from West countrymen this bout.’ + +‘It is, indeed, a well-conceived plan,’ said I. ‘It is a pity, Saxon, +that your ready wit and quick invention hath not had a fair field. You +are, us I know well, as fit to command armies and to order campaigns as +any man that ever bore a truncheon.’ + +‘Mark ye there!’ whispered Saxon, grasping me by the arm. ‘See where +the moonlight falls beside the hatchway! Do you not see that short squat +seaman who stands alone, lost in thought, with his head sunk upon his +breast? It is Marot! I tell you that if I were Captain Pogram I would +rather have the devil himself, horns, hoofs, and tail, for my first +mate and bunk companion, than have that man aboard my ship. You need not +concern yourself about the prisoners, Micah. Their future is decided.’ + +‘Then, Saxon,’ I answered, ‘it only remains for me to thank you, and to +accept the means of safety which you have placed within my reach.’ + +‘Spoken like a man,’ said he; ‘is there aught which I may do for thee in +England? though, by the Mass, I may not be here very long myself, for, +as I understand, I am to be entrusted with the command of an expedition +that is fitting out against the Indians, who have ravaged the +plantations of our settlers. It will be good to get to some profitable +employment, for such a war, without either fighting or plunder, I have +never seen. I give you my word that I have scarce fingered silver since +the beginning of it. I would not for the sacking of London go through +with it again.’ + +‘There is a friend whom Sir Gervas Jerome did commend to my care,’ I +remarked; ‘I have, however, already taken measures to have his wishes +carried out. There is naught else save to assure all in Havant that a +King who hath battened upon his subjects, as this one of ours hath done, +is not one who is like to keep his seat very long upon the throne of +England. When he falls I shall return, and perhaps it may be sooner than +folk think.’ + +‘These doings in the West have indeed stirred up much ill-feeling all +over the country,’ said my companion. ‘On all hands I hear that there is +more hatred of the King and of his ministers than before the outbreak. +What ho, Captain Pogram, this way! We have settled the matter, and my +friend is willing to go.’ + +‘I thought he would tack round,’ the captain said, staggering towards us +with a gait which showed that he had made the rum bottle his companion +since we had left him. ‘S’help me, I was sure of it! Though, by the +Mass, I don’t wonder that he thought twice before leaving the _Dorothy +Fox_, for she is fitted up fit for a duchess, s’help me! Where is your +boat?’ + +‘Alongside,’ replied Saxon; ‘my friend joins with me in hoping that you, +Captain Pogram, will have a pleasant and profitable voyage.’ + +‘I am cursedly beholden to him,’ said the captain, with a flourish of +his three-cornered hat. + +‘Also that you will reach Barbadoes in safety.’ + +‘Little doubt of that!’ quoth the captain. + +‘And that you will dispose of your wares in a manner which will repay +you for your charity and humanity.’ + +‘Nay, these are handsome words,’ cried the captain. ‘Sir, I am your +debtor.’ + +A fishing-boat was lying alongside the brig. By the murky light of the +poop lanterns I could see the figures upon her deck, and the great brown +sail all ready for hoisting. I climbed the bulwark and set my foot upon +the rope-ladder which led down to her. + +‘Good-bye, Decimus!’ said I. + +‘Good-bye, my lad! You have your pieces all safe?’ + +‘I have them.’ + +‘Then I have one other present to make you. It was brought to me by a +sergeant of the Royal Horse. It is that, Micah, on which you must now +depend for food, lodging, raiment, and all which you would have. It +is that to which a brave man can always look for his living. It is the +knife wherewith you can open the world’s oyster. See, lad, it is your +sword!’ + +‘The old sword! My father’s sword!’ I cried in delight, as Saxon drew +from under his mantle and handed to me the discoloured, old-fashioned +leathern sheath with the heavy brass hilt which I knew so well. + +‘You are now,’ said he, ‘one of the old and honourable guild of soldiers +of fortune. While the Turk is still snarling at the gates of Vienna +there will ever be work for strong arms and brave hearts. You will find +that among these wandering, fighting men, drawn from all climes and +nations, the name of Englishman stands high. Well I know that it will +stand none the lower for your having joined the brotherhood. I would +that I could come with you, but I am promised pay and position which it +would be ill to set aside. Farewell, lad, and may fortune go with you!’ + +I pressed the rough soldier’s horny hand, and descended into the +fishing-boat. The rope that held us was cast off, the sail mounted up, +and the boat shot out across the bay. Onward she went and on, through +the gathering gloom--a gloom as dark and impenetrable as the future +towards which my life’s bark was driving. Soon the long rise and fall +told us that we were over the harbour bar and out in the open channel. +On the land, scattered twinkling lights at long stretches marked the +line of the coast. As I gazed backwards a cloud trailed off from the +moon, and I saw the hard lines of the brig’s rigging stand out against +the white cold disk. By the shrouds stood the veteran, holding to a +rope with one hand, and waving the other in farewell and encouragement. +Another groat cloud blurred out the light, and that lean sinewy figure +with its long extended arm was the last which I saw for a weary time of +the dear country where I was born and bred. + + + +Chapter XXXVI. Of the End of it All + +And so, my dear children, I come to the end of the history of a +failure--a brave failure and a noble one, but a failure none the less. +In three more years England was to come to herself, to tear the fetters +from her free limbs, and to send James and his poisonous brood flying +from her shores even as I was flying then. We had made the error of +being before our time. Yet there came days when folk thought kindly of +the lads who had fought so stoutly in the West, and when their limbs, +gathered from many a hangman’s pit and waste place, were borne amid the +silent sorrow of a nation to the pretty country burial-grounds where +they would have chosen to lie. There, within the sound of the bell which +from infancy had called them to prayer, beneath the turf over which they +had wandered, under the shadow of those Mendip and Quantock Hills which +they loved so well, these brave hearts lie still and peaceful, like +tired children in the bosom of their mother. Requiescant-requiescant in +pace! + +Not another word about myself, dear children. This narrative doth +already bristle with I’s, as though it were an Argus which is a flash +of wit, though I doubt if ye will understand it. I set myself to tell ye +the tale of the war in the West, and that tale ye have heard, nor will +I be coaxed or cajoled into one word further. Ah! ye know well how +garrulous the old man is, and that if you could but get to Flushing with +him he would take ye to the wars of the Empire, to William’s Court, and +to the second invasion of the West, which had a better outcome than the +first. But not an inch further will I budge. On to the green, ye young +rogues! Have ye not other limbs to exercise besides your ears, that ye +should be so fond of squatting round grandad’s chair? If I am spared to +next winter, and if the rheumatiz keeps away, it is like that I may take +up once more the broken thread of my story. + +Of the others I can only tell ye what I know. Some slipped out of my +ken entirely. Of others I have heard vague and incomplete accounts. +The leaders of the insurrection got off much more lightly than their +followers, for they found that the passion of greed was even stronger +than the passion of cruelty. Grey, Buyse, Wade, and others bought +themselves free at the price of all their possessions. Ferguson escaped. +Monmouth was executed on Tower Hill, and showed in his last moments +some faint traces of that spirit which spurted up now and again from his +feeble nature, like the momentary flash of an expiring fire. + +My father and my mother lived to see the Protestant religion regain its +place once more, and to see England become the champion of the reformed +faith upon the Continent. Three years later I found them in Havant much +as I had left them, save that there were more silver hairs amongst the +brown braided tresses of my mother, and that my father’s great shoulders +were a trifle bowed and his brow furrowed with the lines of care. Hand +in hand they passed onwards down life’s journey, the Puritan and the +Church woman, and I have never despaired of the healing of religious +feud in England since I have seen how easy it is for two folks to retain +the strongest belief in their own creeds, and yet to bear the heartiest +love and respect for the professor of another. The days may come when +the Church and the Chapel may be as a younger and an elder brother, +each working to one end, and each joying in the other’s success. Let +the contest between them be not with pike and pistol, not with court and +prison; but let the strife be which shall lead the higher life, which +shall take the broader view, which shall boast the happiest and best +cared-for poor. Then their rivalry shall be not a curse, but a blessing +to this land of England. + +Reuben Lockarby was ill for many months, but when he at last recovered +he found a pardon awaiting him through the interest of Major Ogilvy. +After a time, when the troubles were all blown over, he married the +daughter of Mayor Timewell, and he still lives in Taunton, a well-to-do +and prosperous citizen. Thirty years ago there was a little Micah +Lockarby, and now I am told that there is another, the son of the first, +who promises to be as arrant a little Roundhead as ever marched to the +tuck of drum. + +Of Saxon I have heard more than once. So skilfully did he use his hold +over the Duke of Beaufort, that he was appointed through his interest to +the command of an expedition which had been sent to chastise the savages +of Virginia, who had wrought great cruelties upon the settlers. There +he did so out-ambush their ambushes, and out-trick their most cunning +warriors, that he hath left a great name among them, and is still +remembered there by an Indian word which signifieth ‘The long-legged +wily one with the eye of a rat.’ Having at last driven the tribes far +into the wilderness he was presented with a tract of country for his +services, where he settled down. There he married, and spent the rest of +his days in rearing tobacco and in teaching the principles of war to a +long line of gaunt and slab-sided children. They tell me that a great +nation of exceeding strength and of wondrous size promises some day to +rise up on the other side of the water. If this should indeed come to +pass, it may perhaps happen that these young Saxons or their children +may have a hand in the building of it. God grant that they may never +let their hearts harden to the little isle of the sea, which is and must +ever be the cradle of their race. + +Solomon Sprent married and lived for many years as happily as his +friends could wish. I had a letter from him when I was abroad, in which +he said that though his consort and he had started alone on the voyage +of wedlock, they were now accompanied by a jolly-boat and a gig. One +winter’s night when the snow was on the ground he sent down for my +father, who hurried up to his house. He found the old man sitting up in +bed, with his flask of rumbo within reach, his tobacco-box beside him, +and a great brown Bible balanced against his updrawn knees. He was +breathing heavily, and was in sore distress. + +‘I’ve strained a plank, and have nine feet in the well,’ said he. ‘It +comes in quicker than I can put it out. In truth, friend, I have not +been seaworthy this many a day, and it is time that I was condemned and +broken up.’ + +My father shook his head sadly as he marked his dusky face and laboured +breathing. ‘How of your soul?’ he asked. + +‘Aye!’ said Solomon, ‘that’s a cargo that we carry under our hatches, +though we can’t see it, and had no hand in the stowing of it. I’ve been +overhauling the sailing orders here, and the ten articles of war, but I +can’t find that I’ve gone so far out of my course that I may not hope to +come into the channel again.’ + +‘Trust not in yourself, but in Christ,’ said my father. + +‘He is the pilot, in course,’ replied the old seaman. ‘When I had a +pilot aboard o’ my ship, however, it was my way always to keep my own +weather eye open, d’ye see, and so I’ll do now. The pilot don’t think +none the worse of ye for it. So I’ll throw my own lead line, though I +hear as how there are no soundings in the ocean of God’s mercy. Say, +friend, d’ye think this very body, this same hull o’ mine, will rise +again?’ + +‘So we are taught,’ my father answered. + +‘I’d know it anywhere from the tattoo marks,’ said Solomon. ‘They was +done when I was with Sir Christopher in the West Indies, and I’d be +sorry to part with them. For myself, d’ye see, I’ve never borne ill-will +to any one, not even to the Dutch lubbers, though I fought three wars +wi’ them, and they carried off one of my spars, and be hanged to them! +If I’ve let daylight into a few of them, d’ye see, it’s all in good +part and by way of duty. I’ve drunk my share--enough to sweeten my +bilge-water--but there are few that have seen me cranky in the +upper rigging or refusing to answer to my helm. I never drew pay or +prize-money that my mate in distress was not welcome to the half of it. +As to the Polls, the less said the better. I’ve been a true consort +to my Phoebe since she agreed to look to me for signals. Those are my +papers, all clear and aboveboard. If I’m summoned aft this very night by +the great Lord High Admiral of all, I ain’t afeared that He’ll clap me +into the bilboes, for though I’m only a poor sailor man, I’ve got His +promise in this here book, and I’m not afraid of His going back from +it.’ + +My father sat with the old man for some hours and did all that he could +to comfort and assist him, for it was clear that he was sinking rapidly. +When he at last left him, with his faithful wife beside him, he grasped +the brown but wasted hand which lay above the clothes. + +‘I’ll see you again soon,’ he said. + +‘Yes. In the latitude of heaven,’ replied the dying seaman. His +foreboding was right, for in the early hours of the morning his wife, +bending over him, saw a bright smile upon his tanned, weather-beaten +face. Raising himself upon his pillow he touched his forelock, as is +the habit of sailor-men, and so sank slowly and peacefully back into the +long sleep which wakes when the night has ceased to be. + +You will ask me doubtless what became of Hector Marot and of the strange +shipload which had set sail from Poole Harbour. There was never a word +heard of them again, unless indeed a story which was spread some months +afterwards by Captain Elias Hopkins, of the Bristol ship _Caroline_, may +be taken as bearing upon their fate. For Captain Hopkins relates that, +being on his homeward voyage from our settlements, he chanced to meet +with thick fogs and a head wind in the neighbourhood of the great cod +banks. One night as he was beating about, with the weather so thick that +he could scarce see the truck of his own mast, a most strange passage +befell him. For as he and others stood upon the deck, they heard to +their astonishment the sound of many voices joined in a great chorus, +which was at first faint and distant, but which presently waxed and +increased until it appeared to pass within a stone-throw of his vessel, +when it slowly died away once more and was lost in the distance. There +were some among the crew who set the matter down as the doing of the +evil one, but, as Captain Elias Hopkins was wont to remark, it was a +strange thing that the foul fiend should choose West-country hymns for +his nightly exercise, and stranger still that the dwellers in the pit +should sing with a strong Somersetshire burr. For myself, I have little +doubt that it was indeed the _Dorothy Fox_ which had swept past in the +fog, and that the prisoners, having won their freedom, were celebrating +their delivery in true Puritan style. Whether they were driven on to the +rocky coast of Labrador, or whether they found a home in some desolate +land whence no kingly cruelty could harry them, is what must remain for +ever unknown. + +Zachariah Palmer lived for many years, a venerable and honoured old man, +before he, too, was called to his fathers. A sweet and simple village +philosopher he was, with a child’s heart in his aged breast. The very +thought of him is to me as the smell of violets; for if in my views of +life and in my hopes of the future I differ somewhat from the hard and +gloomy teaching of my father, I know that I owe it to the wise words +and kindly training of the carpenter. If, as he was himself wont to +say, deeds are everything in this world and dogma is nothing, then his +sinless, blameless life might be a pattern to you and to all. May the +dust lie light upon him! + +One word of another friend--the last mentioned, but not the least +valued. When Dutch William had been ten years upon the English throne +there was still to be seen in the field by my father’s house a tall, +strong-boned horse, whose grey skin was flecked with dashes of white. +And it was ever observed that, should the soldiers be passing from +Portsmouth, or should the clank of trumpet or the rattle of drum break +upon his ear, he would arch his old neck, throw out his grey-streaked +tail, and raise his stiff knees in a pompous and pedantic canter. The +country folk would stop to watch these antics of the old horse, and then +the chances are that one of them would tell the rest how that charger +had borne one of their own village lads to the wars, and how, when the +rider had to fly the country, a kindly sergeant in the King’s troops +had brought the steed as a remembrance of him to his father at home. So +Covenant passed the last years of his life, a veteran among steeds, well +fed and cared for, and much given, mayhap, to telling in equine language +to all the poor, silly country steeds the wonderful passages which had +befallen him in the West. + + + +APPENDIX + + +Note A.--Hatred of Learning among the Puritans. + +In spite of the presence in their ranks of such ripe scholars as John +Milton, Colonel Hutchinson, and others, there was among the Independents +and Anabaptists a profound distrust of learning, which is commented upon +by writers of all shades of politics. Dr. South in his sermons remarks +that ‘All learning was cried down, so that with them the best preachers +were such as could not read, and the best divines such as could not +write. In all their preachments they so highly pretended to the Spirit, +that some of them could hardly spell a letter. To be blind with them was +a proper qualification of a spiritual guide, and to be book-learned, as +they called it, and to be irreligious, were almost convertible terms. +None save tradesmen and mechanics were allowed to have the Spirit, and +those only were accounted like St. Paul who could work with their hands, +and were able to make a pulpit before preaching in it.’ + +In the collection of loyal ballads reprinted in 1731, the Royalist bard +harps upon the same characteristic: + + ‘We’ll down with universities + Where learning is professed, + Because they practise and maintain + The language of the beast. + We’ll drive the doctors out of doors, + And parts, whate’er they be, + We’ll cry all parts and learning down, + And heigh, then up go we!’ + + +Note B.--On the Speed of Couriers. + +It is difficult for us in these days of steam and electricity to realise +how long it took to despatch a message in the seventeenth century, even +when the occasion was most pressing. Thus, Monmouth landed at Lyme on +the morning of Thursday, the 11th of June. Gregory Alford, the Tory +mayor of Lyme, instantly fled to Honiton, whence he despatched a +messenger to the Privy Council. Yet it was five o’clock in the morning +of Saturday, the 13th, before the news reached London, though the +distance is but 156 miles. + + +Note C.--On the Claims of the Lender of a Horse. + +The difficulty touched upon by Decimus Saxon, as to the claim of the +lender of a horse upon the booty gained by the rider, is one frequently +discussed by writers of that date upon the usages of war. One +distinguished authority says: Praefectus turmae equitum Hispanorum, cum +proelio tuba caneret, unum ex equitibus suae turmae obvium habuit; qui +questus est quod paucis ante diebus equum suum in certamine amiserat, +propter quod non poterat imminenti proelio interesse; unde jussit +Praefectus ut unum ex suis equis conscenderet et ipsum comitaretur. +Miles, equo conscenso, inter fugandum hostes, incidit in ipsum ducem +hostilis exercitus, quem cepit et consignavit Duci exercitus Hispani, +qui a captivo vicena aureorum millia est consequutus. Dicebat Praefectus +partem pretii hujus redemptionis sibi debere, quod miles equo suo +dimicaverat, qui alias proelio interesse non potuit. Petrinus Bellus +affirmat se, cum esset Bruxellis in curia Hispaniarum Regis de hac +quaestione consultum, et censuisse, pro Praefecto facere aequitatem quae +praecipue respicitur inter milites, quorum controversiae ex aequo et +bono dirimendae sunt; unde ultra conventa quis obligatur ad id quod +alterum alteri prasstare oportet.’ The case, it appears, ultimately went +against the horse-lending praefect. + + +Note D.--On the Pronunciation of Exquisites. + +The substitution of the a for the o was a common affectation in +the speech of the fops of the period, as may be found in Vanbrugh’s +_Relapse_. The notorious Titus Oates, in his efforts to be in the mode, +pushed this trick to excess, and his cries of ‘Oh Lard! Oh Lard!’ were +familiar sounds in Westminster Hall at the time when the Salamanca +doctor was at the flood of his fortune. + + +Note E.--Hour-glasses in Pulpits. + +In those days it was customary to have an hour-glass stationed in +a frame of iron at the side of the pulpit, and visible to the whole +congregation. It was turned up as soon as the text was announced, and a +minister earned a name as a lazy preacher if he did not hold out until +the sand had ceased to run. If, on the other hand, he exceeded that +limit, his audience would signify by gapes and yawns that they had +had as much spiritual food as they could digest. Sir Roger L’Estrange +(_Fables_, Part II. Fab. 262) tells of a notorious spin-text who, having +exhausted his glass and being half-way through a second one, was at +last arrested in his career by a valiant sexton, who rose and departed, +remarking as he did so, ‘Pray, sir, be pleased when you have done to +leave the key under the door.’ + + +Note F.--Disturbances at the old Gast House of Little Burton. + +The circumstances referred to by the Mayor of Taunton in his allusion +to the Drummer of Tedsworth are probably too well known to require +elucidation. The haunting of the old Gast House at Burton would, +however, be fresh at that time in the minds of Somersetshire folk, +occurring as it did in 1677. Some short account from documents of that +date may be of interest. + +‘The first night that I was there, with Hugh Mellmore and Edward Smith, +they heard as it were the washing of water over their heads. Then, +taking the candle and going up the stairs, there was a wet cloth thrown +at them, but it fell on the stairs. They, going up further, there was +another thrown as before. And when they were come up into the chamber +there stood a bowl of water, looking white, as though soap had been used +in it. The bowl just before was in the kitchen, and could not be carried +up but through the room where they were. The next thing was a terrible +noise, like a clap of thunder, and shortly afterwards they heard a great +scratching about the bedstead, and after that great knocking with a +hammer against the bed’s-head, so that the two maids that were in bed +cried out for help. Then they ran up the stairs, and there lay the +hammer on the bed, and on the bed’s-head there were near a thousand +prints of the hammer. The maids said that they were scratched and +pinched with a hand which had exceeding long nails. + +‘The second night that James Sherring and Thomas Hillary were there, +James Sherring sat down in the chimney to fill a pipe of tobacco. He +used the tongs to lift a coal to light his pipe, and by-and-by the tongs +were drawn up the stairs and were cast upon the bed. The same night one +of the maids left her shoes by the fire, and they were carried up into +the chamber, and the old man’s brought down and set in their places. +As they were going upstairs there were many things thrown at them which +were just before in the low room, and when they went down the stairs the +old man’s breeches were thrown down after them. + +‘On another night a saddle did come into the house from a pin in the +entry, and did hop about the place from table to table. It was very +troublesome to them, until they broke it into small pieces and threw +it out into the roadway. So for some weeks the haunting continued, +with rappings, scratching, movements of heavy articles, and many other +strange things, as are attested by all who were in the village, until at +last they ceased as suddenly as they had begun.’ + + +Note G.--Monmouth’s Progress in the West. + +During his triumphal progress through the western shires, some years +before the rebellion, Monmouth first ventured to exhibit upon his +escutcheon the lions of England and the lilies of France, without the +baton sinister. A still more ominous sign was that he ventured to touch +for the king’s evil. The appended letter, extracted from the collection +of tracts in the British Museum, may be of interest as first-hand +evidence of the occasional efficacy of that curious ceremony. + +‘His Grace the Duke of Monmouth honoured in his progress in the West of +England, in an account of an extraordinary cure of the king’s evil. + +‘Given in a letter from Crewkhorn, in Somerset, from the minister of the +parish and many others. + +‘We, whose names are underwritten, do certify the miraculous cure of +a girl of this town, about twenty, by name Elizabeth Parcet, a poor +widow’s daughter, who hath languished under sad affliction from that +distemper of the king’s evil termed the joint evil, being said to be +the worst evil. For about ten or twelve years’ time she had in her right +hand four running wounds, one on the inside, three on the back of her +hand, as well as two more in the same arm, one above her hand-wrist, +the other above the bending of her arm. She had betwixt her arm-pits a +swollen bunch, which the doctors said fed those six running wounds. She +had the same distemper also on her left eye, so she was almost blind. +Her mother, despairing of preserving her sight, and being not of ability +to send her to London to be touched by the king, being miserably poor, +having many poor children, and this girl not being able to work, her +mother, desirous to have her daughter cured, sent to the chirurgeons for +help, who tampered with it for some time, but could do no good. She +went likewise ten or eleven miles to a seventh son, but all in vain. No +visible hopes remained, and she expected nothing but the grave. + +‘But now, in this the girl’s great extremity, God, the great physician, +dictates to her, then languishing in her miserable, hopeless condition, +what course to take and what to do for a cure, which was to go and touch +the Duke of Monmouth. The girl told her mother that, if she could +but touch the Duke she would be well. The mother reproved her for her +foolish conceit, but the girl did often persuade her mother to go to +Lackington to the Duke, who then lay with Mr. Speaks. “Certainly,” said +she, “I should be well if I could touch him.” The mother slighted these +pressing requests, but the more she slighted and reproved, the more +earnest the girl was for it. A few days after, the girl having noticed +that Sir John Sydenham intended to treat the Duke at White Lodge in +Henton Park, this girl with many of her neighbours went to the said +park. She being there timely waited the Duke’s coming. When first she +observed the Duke she pressed in among a crowd of people and caught +him by the hand, his glove being on, and she likewise having a glove to +cover her wounds. She not being herewith satisfied at the first attempt +of touching his glove only, but her mind was she must touch some part +of his bare skin, she, weighing his coming forth, intended a second +attempt. The poor girl, thus between hope and fear, waited his motion. +On a sudden there was news of the Duke’s coming on, which she to be +prepared rent off her glove, that was clung to the sores, in such haste +that she broke her glove, and brought away not only the sores but the +skin. The Duke’s glove, as Providence would have it, the upper part hung +down, so that his hand-wrist was bare. She pressed on, and caught him +by the bare hand-wrist with her running hand, crying, “God bless your +highness!” and the Duke said “God bless you!” The girl, not a little +transported at her good success, came and assured her friends that she +would now be well. She came home to her mother in great joy, and told +her that she had touched the Duke’s hand. The mother, hearing what she +had done, reproved her sharply for her boldness, asked how she durst +do such a thing, and threatened to beat her for it. She cried out, “Oh, +mother, I shall be well again, and healed of my wounds!” And as God +Almighty would have it, to the wonder and admiration of all, the six +wounds were speedily dried up, the eye became perfectly well, and the +girl was in good health. All which has been discovered to us by the +mother and daughter, and by neighbours that know her. + +‘Henry Clark, minister; Captain James Bale, &c &c. Whoever doubts the +truth of this relation may see the original under the hands of the +persons mentioned at the Amsterdam Coffee House, Bartholomew Lane, Royal +Exchange.’ + +In spite of the uncouth verbiage of the old narrative, there is a touch +of human pathos about it which makes it worthy of reproduction. + + +Note H.--Monmouth’s Contention of Legitimacy. + +Sir Patrick Hume, relating a talk with Monmouth before his expedition, +says: ‘I urged if he considered himself as lawful son of King Charles, +late deceased. He said he did. I asked him if he were able to make out +and prove the marriage of his mother to King Charles, and whether he +intended to lay claim to the crown. He answered that he had been able +lately to prove the marriage, and if some persons are not lately dead, +of which he would inform himself, he would yet be able to prove it. +As for his claiming the crown, he intended not to do it unless it were +advised to be done by those who should concern themselves and join for +the delivery of the nations.’ + +It may be remarked that in Monmouth’s commission to be general, dated +April 1668, he is styled ‘our most entirely beloved and natural son.’ +Again, in a commission for the government of Hull, April 1673, he is +‘our well-beloved natural son.’ + + +Note I.--Dragooners and Chargers. + +The dragoons, being really mounted infantry, were provided with very +inferior animals to the real cavalry. From a letter of Cromwell’s +[‘Squire Correspondence,’ April 3, 1643), it will be seen that a +dragooner was worth twenty pieces, while a charger could not be obtained +under sixty. + +Note J.--Battle of Sedgemoor. + +A curious little sidelight upon the battle is afforded by the two +following letters exhibited to the Royal Archaeological Institute by the +Rev. C. W. Bingham. + +‘To Mrs. Chaffin at Chettle House.’ + +‘Monday, about ye forenoon, July 6, 1685.’ + +‘My dearest creature,--This morning about one o’clock the rebbells fell +upon us whilest we were in our tents in King’s Sedgemoor, with their +whole army.... We have killed and taken at least 1000 of them. They are +fled into Bridgewater. It is said that we have taken all their cannon, +but sure it is that most are, if all be not. A coat with stars on ‘t is +taken. ‘’Tis run through the back. By some ‘tis thought that the Duke +rebbell had it on and is killed, but most doe think that a servant wore +it. I wish he were called, that the wars may be ended. It’s thought +he’ll never be able to make his men fight again. I thank God I am very +well without the least hurt, soe are our Dorsetshire friends. Prythee +let Biddy know this by the first opportunity. I am thyne onely deare, +TOSSEY.’ + +BRIDGEWATER: July 7, 1685. + +‘We have totally routed the enemies of God and the King, and can’t hear +of fifty men together of the whole rebel army. We pick them up every +houre in cornfields and ditches. Williams, the late Duke’s valet de +chambre, is taken, who gives a very ingenious account of the whole +affair, which is too long to write. The last word that he said to him +was at the time when his army fled, that he was undone and must shift +for himself. We think to march with the General this day to Wells, on +his way homeward. At present he is 3 miles off at the camp, soe I can’t +certainly tell whether he intends for Wells. I shall be home certainly +on Saturday at farthest. I believe my deare Nan would for 500 pounds +that her Tossey had served the King to the end of the war. + +I am thyne, my deare childe, for ever.’ + + +Note K.--Lord Grey and the Horse at Sedgemoor. + +It is only fair to state that Ferguson is held by many to have been +as doughty a soldier as he was zealous in religion. His own account of +Sedgemoor is interesting, as showing what was thought by those who were +actually engaged on the causes of their failure. + +‘Now besides these two troops, whose officers though they had no great +skill yet had courage enough to have done something honourably, had they +not for want of a guide met with the aforesaid obstruction, there was +no one of all the rest of our troops that ever advanced to charge or +approached as near to the enemy as to give or receive a wound. Mr. +Hacker, one of our captains, came no sooner within view of their camp +than he villainously fired a pistol to give them notice of our approach, +and then forsook his charge and rode oft with all the speed he could, to +take the benefit of a proclamation emitted by the King, offering pardon +to all such as should return home within such a time. And this he +pleaded at his tryal, but was answered by Jeffreys “that he above all +other men deserved to be hanged, and that for his treachery to Monmouth +as well as his treason to the King.” And though no other of our officers +acted so villainously, yet they were useless and unserviceable, as never +once attempting to charge, nor so much as keeping their men in a body. +And I dare affirm that if our horse had never fired a pistol, but only +stood in a posture to have given jealousy and apprehension to the enemy, +our foot alone would have carried the day and been triumphant. But our +horse standing scattered and disunited, and flying upon every approach +of a squadron of theirs, commanded by Oglethorpe, gave that body of +their cavalry an advantage, after they had hovered up and down in the +field without thinking it necessary to attack those whom their own fears +had dispersed, to fall in at last in the rear of our battalions, and to +wrest that victory out of their hands which they were grasping at, and +stood almost possessed of. Nor was that party of their horse above +three hundred at most, whereas we had more than enough had they had any +courage, and been commanded by a gallant man, to have attacked them +with ease both in front and flank. These things I can declare with +more certainty, because I was a doleful spectator of them; for having +contrary to my custom left attending upon the Duke, who advanced with +the foot, I betook myself to the horse, because the first of that +morning’s action was expected from them, which was to break in and +disorder the enemy’s camp. Against the time that our battalions should +come up, I endeavoured whatsoever I was capable of performing, for I +not only struck at several troopers who had forsaken their station, but +upbraided divers of the captains for being wanting in their duty. But I +spoke with great warmth to my Lord Grey, and conjured him to charge, and +not suffer the victory, which our foot had in a manner taken hold of, +to be ravished from us. But instead of hearkening, he not only as an +unworthy man and cowardly poltroon deserted that part of the field and +forsook his command, but rode with the utmost speed to the Duke, telling +him that all was lost and it was more than time to shift for himself. +Wherebye, as an addition to all the mischief he had been the occasion +of before, he drew the easy and unfortunate gentleman to leave the +battalions while they were courageously disputing on which side the +victory should fall. And this fell most unhappily out, while a certain +person was endeavouring to find out the Duke to have begged of him to +come and charge at the head of his own troops. However, this I dare +affirm, that if the Duke had been but master of two hundred horse, +well mounted, completely armed, personally valiant, and commanded +by experienced officers, they would have been victorious. This is +acknowledged by our enemies, who have often confessed they were ready +to fly through the impressions made upon them by our foot, and must have +been beaten had our horse done their part, and not tamely looked on +till their cavalry retrieved the day by falling into the rear of our +battalions. Nor was the fault in the private men, who had courage +to have followed their leaders, but it was in those who led them, +particularly my Lord Grey, in whom, if cowardice may be called +treachery, we may safely charge him with betraying our cause.’ + +Extract from MS. of Dr. Ferguson, quoted in ‘Ferguson the Plotter,’ an +interesting work by his immediate descendant, an advocate of Edinburgh. + + +Note L.--Monmouth’s Attitude after Capture. + +The following letter, written by Monmouth to the Queen from the Tower, +is indicative of his abject state of mind. + +‘Madam,--I would not take the boldness of writing to your Majesty till +I had shown the King how I do abhor the thing that I have done, and how +much I desire to live to serve him. I hope, madam, by what I have said +to the King to-day will satisfy how sincere I am, and how much I detest +all those people who have brought me to this. Having done this, madam, +I thought I was in a fitt condition to beg your intercession, which I am +sure you never refuse to the distressed, and I am sure, madam, that I +am an object of your pity, having been cousened and cheated into this +horrid business. Did I wish, madam, to live for living sake I would +never give you this trouble, but it is to have life to serve the +King, which I am able to doe, and will doe beyond what I can express. +Therefore, madam, upon such an account as I may take the boldness to +press you and beg of you to intersaid for me, for I am sure, madam, the +King will hearken to you. Your prairs can never be refused, especially +when it is begging for a life only to serve the King. I hope, madam, by +the King’s generosity and goodness, and your intercession, I may hope +for my life which if I have shall be ever employed in showing to your +Majesty all the sense immaginable of gratitude, and in serving of the +King like a true subject. And ever be your Majesty’s most dutiful and +obedient servant, MONMOUTH.’ + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Micah Clarke, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MICAH CLARKE *** + +***** This file should be named 9504-0.txt or 9504-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/5/0/9504/ + +Produced by Lionel G. Sear + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Micah Clarke + His Statement as made to his three Grandchildren Joseph, + Gervas and Reuben During the Hard Winter of 1734 + +Author: Arthur Conan Doyle + +Release Date: March 11, 2009 [EBook #9504] +Last Updated: September 30, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MICAH CLARKE *** + + + + +Produced by Lionel G. Sear, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + MICAH CLARKE + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + HIS STATEMENT AS MADE TO HIS THREE GRANDCHILDREN JOSEPH, GERVAS, AND + REUBEN DURING THE HARD WINTER OF 1734 + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Arthur Conan Doyle + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0001"> Chapter I. </a> Of Cornet + Joseph Clarke of the Ironsides <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0002"> + Chapter II. </a> Of my going to school and of my coming + thence <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0003"> Chapter III. </a> Of + Two Friends of my Youth <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0004"> Chapter IV. + </a> Of the Strange Fish that we Caught at Spithead <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> Chapter V. </a> Of the Man with the + Drooping Lids <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0006"> Chapter VI. </a> Of + the Letter that came from the Lowlands <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0007"> + Chapter VII. </a> Of the Horseman who rode from the West + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0008"> Chapter VIII. </a> Of our + Start for the Wars <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0009"> Chapter IX. </a> Of + a Passage of Arms at the Blue Boar <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0010"> + Chapter X. </a> Of our Perilous Adventure on the Plain <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> Chapter XI. </a> Of the Lonely Man + and the Gold Chest <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0012"> Chapter XII. </a> Of + certain Passages upon the Moor <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0013"> + Chapter XIII. </a> Of Sir Gervas Jerome, Knight Banneret of + the County of Surrey <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0014"> Chapter XIV. + </a> Of the Stiff-legged Parson and his Flock <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0015"> Chapter XV. </a> Of our Brush with the + King’s Dragoons <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0016"> Chapter XVI. </a> Of + our Coming to Taunton <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0017"> Chapter XVII. + </a> Of the Gathering in the Market-square <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0018"> Chapter XVIII. </a> Of Master Stephen + Timewell, Mayor of Taunton <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0019"> Chapter + XIX. </a> Of a Brawl in the Night <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0020"> Chapter XX. </a> Of the Muster of the + Men of the West <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0021"> Chapter XXI. </a> Of + my Hand-grips with the Brandenburger <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0022"> + Chapter XXII. </a> Of the News from Havant <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0023"> Chapter XXIII. </a> Of the Snare on the + Weston Road <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0024"> Chapter XXIV. </a> Of + the Welcome that met me at Badminton <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0025"> + Chapter XXV. </a> Of Strange Doings in the Boteler Dungeon + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0026"> Chapter XXVI. </a> Of the + Strife in the Council <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0027"> Chapter XXVII. + </a> Of the Affair near Keynsham Bridge <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0028"> Chapter XXVIII. </a> Of the Fight in + Wells Cathedral <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0029"> Chapter XXIX. </a> Of + the Great Cry from the Lonely House <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0030"> + Chapter XXX. </a> Of the Swordsman with the Brown Jacket + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0031"> Chapter XXXI. </a> Of the + Maid of the Marsh and the Bubble which rose from the Bog <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0032"> Chapter XXXII. </a> Of the Onfall at + Sedgemoor <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0033"> Chapter XXXIII. </a> Of + my Perilous Adventure at the Mill <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0034"> + Chapter XXXIV. </a> Of the Coming of Solomon Sprent <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0035"> Chapter XXXV. </a> Of the Devil in + Wig and Gown <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0036"> Chapter XXXVI. </a> Of + the End of it All <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_APPE"> APPENDIX. </a> <br /><br /> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + Chapter I. Of Cornet Joseph Clarke of the Ironsides + </h2> + <p> + It may be, my dear grandchildren, that at one time or another I have told + you nearly all the incidents which have occurred during my adventurous + life. To your father and to your mother, at least, I know that none of + them are unfamiliar. Yet when I consider that time wears on, and that a + grey head is apt to contain a failing memory, I am prompted to use these + long winter evenings in putting it all before you from the beginning, that + you may have it as one clear story in your minds, and pass it on as such + to those who come after you. For now that the house of Brunswick is firmly + established upon the throne and that peace prevails in the land, it will + become less easy for you every year to understand how men felt when + Englishmen were in arms against Englishmen, and when he who should have + been the shield and the protector of his subjects had no thought but to + force upon them what they most abhorred and detested. + </p> + <p> + My story is one which you may well treasure up in your memories, and tell + again to others, for it is not likely that in this whole county of + Hampshire, or even perhaps in all England, there is another left alive who + is so well able to speak from his own knowledge of these events, or who + has played a more forward part in them. All that I know I shall endeavour + soberly and in due order to put before you. I shall try to make these dead + men quicken into life for your behoof, and to call back out of the mists + of the past those scenes which were brisk enough in the acting, though + they read so dully and so heavily in the pages of the worthy men who have + set themselves to record them. Perchance my words, too, might, in the ears + of strangers, seem to be but an old man’s gossip. To you, however, who + know that these eyes which are looking at you looked also at the things + which I describe, and that this hand has struck in for a good cause, it + will, I know, be different. Bear in mind as you listen that it was your + quarrel as well as our own in which we fought, and that if now you grow up + to be free men in a free land, privileged to think or to pray as your + consciences shall direct, you may thank God that you are reaping the + harvest which your fathers sowed in blood and suffering when the Stuarts + were on the throne. + </p> + <p> + I was born then in the year 1664, at Havant, which is a flourishing + village a few miles from Portsmouth off the main London road, and there it + was that I spent the greater part of my youth. It is now as it was then, a + pleasant, healthy spot, with a hundred or more brick cottages scattered + along in a single irregular street, each with its little garden in front, + and maybe a fruit tree or two at the back. In the middle of the village + stood the old church with the square tower, and the great sun-dial like a + wrinkle upon its grey weather-blotched face. On the outskirts the + Presbyterians had their chapel; but when the Act of Uniformity was passed, + their good minister, Master Breckinridge, whose discourses had often + crowded his rude benches while the comfortable pews of the church were + empty, was cast into gaol, and his flock dispersed. As to the + Independents, of whom my father was one, they also were under the ban of + the law, but they attended conventicle at Emsworth, whither we would + trudge, rain or shine, on every Sabbath morning. These meetings were + broken up more than once, but the congregation was composed of such + harmless folk, so well beloved and respected by their neighbours, that the + peace officers came after a time to ignore them, and to let them worship + in their own fashion. There were Papists, too, amongst us, who were + compelled to go as far as Portsmouth for their Mass. Thus, you see, small + as was our village, we were a fair miniature of the whole country, for we + had our sects and our factions, which were all the more bitter for being + confined in so narrow a compass. + </p> + <p> + My father, Joseph Clarke, was better known over the countryside by the + name of Ironside Joe, for he had served in his youth in the Yaxley troop + of Oliver Cromwell’s famous regiment of horse, and had preached so lustily + and fought so stoutly that old Noll himself called him out of the ranks + after the fight at Dunbar, and raised him to a cornetcy. It chanced, + however, that having some little time later fallen into an argument with + one of his troopers concerning the mystery of the Trinity, the man, who + was a half-crazy zealot, smote my father across the face, a favour which + he returned by a thrust from his broadsword, which sent his adversary to + test in person the truth of his beliefs. In most armies it would have been + conceded that my father was within his rights in punishing promptly so + rank an act of mutiny, but the soldiers of Cromwell had so high a notion + of their own importance and privileges, that they resented this summary + justice upon their companion. A court-martial sat upon my father, and it + is likely that he would have been offered up as a sacrifice to appease the + angry soldiery, had not the Lord Protector interfered, and limited the + punishment to dismissal from the army. Cornet Clarke was accordingly + stripped of his buff coat and steel cap, and wandered down to Havant, + where he settled into business as a leather merchant and tanner, thereby + depriving Parliament of as trusty a soldier as ever drew blade in its + service. Finding that he prospered in trade, he took as wife Mary + Shepstone, a young Churchwoman, and I, Micah Clarke, was the first pledge + of their union. + </p> + <p> + My father, as I remember him first, was tall and straight, with a great + spread of shoulder and a mighty chest. His face was craggy and stern, with + large harsh features, shaggy over-hanging brows, high-bridged fleshy nose, + and a full-lipped mouth which tightened and set when he was angry. His + grey eyes were piercing and soldier-like, yet I have seen them lighten up + into a kindly and merry twinkle. His voice was the most tremendous and + awe-inspiring that I have ever listened to. I can well believe what I have + heard, that when he chanted the Hundredth Psalm as he rode down among the + blue bonnets at Dunbar, the sound of him rose above the blare of trumpets + and the crash of guns, like the deep roll of a breaking wave. Yet though + he possessed every quality which was needed to raise him to distinction as + an officer, he had thrown off his military habits when he returned to + civil life. As he prospered and grew rich he might well have worn a sword, + but instead he would ever bear a small copy of the Scriptures bound to his + girdle, where other men hung their weapons. He was sober and measured in + his speech, and it was seldom, even in the bosom of his own family, that + he would speak of the scenes which he had taken part in, or of the great + men, Fleetwood and Harrison, Blake and Ireton, Desborough and Lambert, + some of whom had been simple troopers like himself when the troubles broke + out. He was frugal in his eating, backward in drinking, and allowed + himself no pleasures save three pipes a day of Oronooko tobacco, which he + kept ever in a brown jar by the great wooden chair on the left-hand side + of the mantelshelf. + </p> + <p> + Yet for all his self-restraint the old leaven would at times begin to work + in him, and bring on fits of what his enemies would call fanaticism and + his friends piety, though it must be confessed that this piety was prone + to take a fierce and fiery shape. As I look back, one or two instances of + that stand out so hard and clear in my recollection that they might be + scenes which I had seen of late in the playhouse, instead of memories of + my childhood more than threescore years ago, when the second Charles was + on the throne. + </p> + <p> + The first of these occurred when I was so young that I can remember + neither what went before nor what immediately after it. It stuck in my + infant mind when other things slipped through it. We were all in the house + one sultry summer evening, when there came a rattle of kettledrums and a + clatter of hoofs, which brought my mother and my father to the door, she + with me in her arms that I might have the better view. It was a regiment + of horse on their way from Chichester to Portsmouth, with colours flying + and band playing, making the bravest show that ever my youthful eyes had + rested upon. With what wonder and admiration did I gaze at the sleek + prancing steeds, the steel morions, the plumed hats of the officers, the + scarfs and bandoliers. Never, I thought, had such a gallant company + assembled, and I clapped my hands and cried out in my delight. My father + smiled gravely, and took me from my mother’s arms. ‘Nay, lad,’ he said, + ‘thou art a soldier’s son, and should have more judgment than to commend + such a rabble as this. Canst thou not, child as thou art, see that their + arms are ill-found, their stirrup-irons rusted, and their ranks without + order or cohesion? Neither have they thrown out a troop in advance, as + should even in times of peace be done, and their rear is straggling from + here to Bedhampton. Yea,’ he continued, suddenly shaking his long arm at + the troopers, and calling out to them, ‘ye are corn ripe for the sickle + and waiting only for the reapers!’ Several of them reined up at this + sudden out-flame. ‘Hit the crop-eared rascal over the pate, Jack!’ cried + one to another, wheeling his horse round; but there was that in my + father’s face which caused him to fall back into the ranks again with his + purpose unfulfilled. The regiment jingled on down the road, and my mother + laid her thin hands upon my father’s arm, and lulled with her pretty + coaxing ways the sleeping devil which had stirred within him. + </p> + <p> + On another occasion which I can remember, about my seventh or eighth year, + his wrath burst out with more dangerous effect. I was playing about him as + he worked in the tanning-yard one spring afternoon, when in through the + open doorway strutted two stately gentlemen, with gold facings to their + coats and smart cockades at the side of their three-cornered hats. They + were, as I afterwards understood, officers of the fleet who were passing + through Havant, and seeing us at work in the yard, designed to ask us some + question as to their route. The younger of the pair accosted my father and + began his speech by a great clatter of words which were all High Dutch to + me, though I now see that they were a string of such oaths as are common + in the mouth of a sailor; though why the very men who are in most danger + of appearing before the Almighty should go out of their way to insult Him, + hath ever been a mystery to me. My father in a rough stern voice bade him + speak with more reverence of sacred things, on which the pair of them gave + tongue together, swearing tenfold worse than before, and calling my father + a canting rogue and a smug-faced Presbytery Jack. What more they might + have said I know not, for my father picked up the great roller wherewith + he smoothed the leather, and dashing at them he brought it down on the + side of one of their heads with such a swashing blow, that had it not been + for his stiff hat the man would never have uttered oath again. As it was, + he dropped like a log upon the stones of the yard, while his companion + whipped out his rapier and made a vicious thrust; but my father, who was + as active as he was strong, sprung aside, and bringing his cudgel down + upon the outstretched arm of the officer, cracked it like the stem of a + tobacco-pipe. This affair made no little stir, for it occurred at the time + when those arch-liars, Oates, Bedloe, and Carstairs, were disturbing the + public mind by their rumours of plots, and a rising of some sort was + expected throughout the country. Within a few days all Hampshire was + ringing with an account of the malcontent tanner of Havant, who had broken + the head and the arm of two of his Majesty’s servants. An inquiry showed, + however, that there was no treasonable meaning in the matter, and the + officers having confessed that the first words came from them, the + Justices contented themselves with imposing a fine upon my father, and + binding him over to keep the peace for a period of six months. + </p> + <p> + I tell you these incidents that you may have an idea of the fierce and + earnest religion which filled not only your own ancestor, but most of + those men who were trained in the parliamentary armies. In many ways they + were more like those fanatic Saracens, who believe in conversion by the + sword, than the followers of a Christian creed. Yet they have this great + merit, that their own lives were for the most part clean and commendable, + for they rigidly adhered themselves to those laws which they would gladly + have forced at the sword’s point upon others. It is true that among so + many there were some whose piety was a shell for their ambition, and + others who practised in secret what they denounced in public, but no cause + however good is free from such hypocritical parasites. That the greater + part of the saints, as they termed themselves, were men of sober and + God-fearing lives, may be shown by the fact that, after the disbanding of + the army of the Commonwealth, the old soldiers flocked into trade + throughout the country, and made their mark wherever they went by their + industry and worth. There is many a wealthy business house now in England + which can trace its rise to the thrift and honesty of some simple pikeman + of Ireton or Cromwell. + </p> + <p> + But that I may help you to understand the character of your + great-grandfather, I shall give an incident which shows how fervent and + real were the emotions which prompted the violent moods which I have + described. I was about twelve at the time, my brothers Hosea and Ephraim + were respectively nine and seven, while little Ruth could scarce have been + more than four. It chanced that a few days before a wandering preacher of + the Independents had put up at our house, and his religious ministrations + had left my father moody and excitable. One night I had gone to bed as + usual, and was sound asleep with my two brothers beside me, when we were + roused and ordered to come downstairs. Huddling on our clothes we followed + him into the kitchen, where my mother was sitting pale and scared with + Ruth upon her knee. + </p> + <p> + ‘Gather round me, my children,’ he said, in a deep reverent voice, ‘that + we may all appear before the throne together. The kingdom of the Lord is + at hand-oh, be ye ready to receive Him! This very night, my loved ones, ye + shall see Him in His splendour, with the angels and the archangels in + their might and their glory. At the third hour shall He come-that very + third hour which is now drawing upon us.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Dear Joe,’ said my mother, in soothing tones, ‘thou art scaring thyself + and the children to no avail. If the Son of Man be indeed coming, what + matters it whether we be abed or afoot?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Peace, woman,’ he answered sternly; ‘has He not said that He will come + like a thief in the night, and that it is for us to await Him? Join with + me, then, in prayerful outpourings that we may be found as those in bridal + array. Let us offer up thanks that He has graciously vouchsafed to warn us + through the words of His servant. Oh, great Lord, look down upon this + small flock and lead it to the sheep fold! Mix not the little wheat with + the great world of chaff. Oh, merciful Father! look graciously upon my + wife, and forgive her the sin of Erastianism, she being but a woman and + little fitted to cast off the bonds of antichrist wherein she was born. + And these too, my little ones, Micah and Hosea, Ephraim and Ruth, all + named after Thy faithful servants of old, oh let them stand upon Thy right + hand this night!’ Thus he prayed on in a wild rush of burning, pleading + words, writhing prostrate upon the floor in the vehemence of his + supplication, while we, poor trembling mites, huddled round our mother’s + skirts and gazed with terror at the contorted figure seen by the dim light + of the simple oil lamp. On a sudden the clang of the new church clock told + that the hour had come. My father sprang from the floor, and rushing to + the casement, stared up with wild expectant eyes at the starry heavens. + Whether he conjured up some vision in his excited brain, or whether the + rush of feeling on finding that his expectations were in vain, was too + much for him, it is certain that he threw his long arms upwards, uttered a + hoarse scream, and tumbled backwards with foaming lips and twitching limbs + upon the ground. For an hour or more my poor mother and I did what we + could to soothe him, while the children whimpered in a corner, until at + last he staggered slowly to his feet, and in brief broken words ordered us + to our rooms. From that time I have never heard him allude to the matter, + nor did he ever give us any reason why he should so confidently have + expected the second coming upon that particular night. I have learned + since, however, that the preacher who visited us was what was called in + those days a fifth-monarchy man, and that this particular sect was very + liable to these premonitions. I have no doubt that something which he had + said had put the thought into my father’s head, and that the fiery nature + of the man had done the rest. + </p> + <p> + So much for your great-grandfather, Ironside Joe. I have preferred to put + these passages before you, for on the principle that actions speak louder + than words, I find that in describing a man’s character it is better to + give examples of his ways than to speak in broad and general terms. Had I + said that he was fierce in ins religion and subject to strange fits of + piety, the words might have made little impression upon you; but when I + tell you of his attack upon the officers in the tanning-yard, and his + summoning us down in the dead of the night to await the second coming, you + can judge for yourselves the lengths to which his belief would carry him. + For the rest, he was an excellent man of business, fair and even generous + in his dealings, respected by all and loved by few, for his nature was too + self-contained to admit of much affection. To us he was a stern and rigid + father, punishing us heavily for whatever he regarded as amiss in our + conduct. He bad a store of such proverbs as ‘Give a child its will and a + whelp its fill, and neither will strive,’ or ‘Children are certain cares + and uncertain comforts,’ wherewith he would temper my mother’s more kindly + impulses. He could not bear that we should play trick-track upon the + green, or dance with the other children upon the Saturday night. + </p> + <p> + As to my mother, dear soul, it was her calm, peaceful influence which kept + my father within bounds, and softened his austere rule. Seldom indeed, + even in his darkest moods, did the touch of her gentle hand and the sound + of her voice fail to soothe his fiery spirit. She came of a Church stock, + and held to her religion with a quiet grip which was proof against every + attempt to turn her from it. I imagine that at one time her husband had + argued much with her upon Arminianism and the sin of simony, but finding + his exhortations useless, he had abandoned the subject save on very rare + occasions. In spite of her Episcopacy, however, she remained a staunch + Whig, and never allowed her loyalty to the throne to cloud her judgment as + to the doings of the monarch who sat upon it. + </p> + <p> + Women were good housekeepers fitly years ago, but she was conspicuous + among the best. To see her spotless cuffs and snowy kirtle one would + scarce credit how hard she laboured. It was only the well ordered house + and the dustless rooms which proclaimed her constant industry. She made + salves and eyewaters, powders and confects, cordials and persico, + orangeflower water and cherry brandy, each in its due season, and all of + the best. She was wise, too, in herbs and simples. The villagers and the + farm labourers would rather any day have her advice upon their ailments + than that of Dr. Jackson of Purbrook, who never mixed a draught under a + silver crown. Over the whole countryside there was no woman more + deservedly respected and more esteemed both by those above her and by + those beneath. + </p> + <p> + Such were my parents as I remember them in my childhood. As to myself, I + shall let my story explain the growth of my own nature. My brothers and my + sister were all brownfaced, sturdy little country children, with no very + marked traits save a love of mischief controlled by the fear of their + father. These, with Martha the serving-maid, formed our whole household + during those boyish years when the pliant soul of the child is hardening + into the settled character of the man. How these influences affected me I + shall leave for a future sitting, and if I weary you by recording them, + you must remember that I am telling these things rather for your profit + than for your amusement; that it may assist you in your journey through + life to know how another has picked out the path before you. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter II. Of my going to school and of my coming thence. + </h2> + <p> + With the home influences which I have described, it may be readily + imagined that my young mind turned very much upon the subject of religion, + the more so as my father and mother took different views upon it. The old + Puritan soldier held that the bible alone contained all things essential + to salvation, and that though it might be advisable that those who were + gifted with wisdom or eloquence should expound the Scriptures to their + brethren, it was by no means necessary, but rather hurtful and degrading, + that any organised body of ministers or of bishops should claim special + prerogatives, or take the place of mediators between the creature and the + Creator. For the wealthy dignitaries of the Church, rolling in their + carriages to their cathedrals, in order to preach the doctrines of their + Master, who wore His sandals out in tramping over the countryside, he + professed the most bitter contempt; nor was he more lenient to those + poorer members of the clergy who winked at the vices of their patrons that + they might secure a seat at their table, and who would sit through a long + evening of profanity rather than bid good-bye to the cheesecakes and the + wine flask. That such men represented religious truth was abhorrent to his + mind, nor would he even give his adhesion to that form of church + government dear to the Presbyterians, where a general council of the + ministers directed the affairs of their church. Every man was, in his + opinion, equal in the eyes of the Almighty, and none had a right to claim + any precedence over his neighbour in matters of religion. The book was + written for all, and all were equally able to read it, provided that their + minds were enlightened by the Holy Spirit. + </p> + <p> + My mother, on the other hand, held that the very essence of a church was + that it should have a hierarchy and a graduated government within itself, + with the king at the apex, the archbishops beneath him, the bishops under + their control, and so down through the ministry to the common folk. Such + was, in her opinion, the Church as established in the beginning, and no + religion without these characteristics could lay any claim to being the + true one. Ritual was to her of as great importance as morality, and if + every tradesman and farmer were allowed to invent prayers, and change the + service as the fancy seized him, it would be impossible to preserve the + purity of the Christian creed. She agreed that religion was based upon the + Bible, but the Bible was a book which contained much that was obscure, and + unless that obscurity were cleared away by a duly elected and consecrated + servant of God, a lineal descendant of the Disciples, all human wisdom + might not serve to interpret it aright. That was my mother’s position, and + neither argument nor entreaty could move her from it. The only question of + belief on which my two parents were equally ardent was their mutual + dislike and distrust of the Roman Catholic forms of worship, and in this + the Churchwoman was every whit as decided as the fanatical Independent. + </p> + <p> + It may seem strange to you in these days of tolerance, that the adherents + of this venerable creed should have met with such universal ill-will from + successive generations of Englishmen. We recognise now that there are no + more useful or loyal citizens in the state than our Catholic brethren, and + Mr. Alexander Pope or any other leading Papist is no more looked down upon + for his religion than was Mr. William Penn for his Quakerism in the reign + of King James. We can scarce credit how noblemen like Lord Stafford, + ecclesiastics like Archbishop Plunkett, and commoners like Langhorne and + Pickering, were dragged to death on the testimony of the vilest of the + vile, without a voice being raised in their behalf; or how it could be + considered a patriotic act on the part of an English Protestant to carry a + flail loaded with lead beneath his cloak as a menace against his harmless + neighbours who differed from him on points of doctrine. It was a long + madness which has now happily passed off, or at least shows itself in a + milder and rarer form. + </p> + <p> + Foolish as it appears to us, there were some solid reasons to account for + it. You have read doubtless how, a century before I was born, the great + kingdom of Spain waxed and prospered. Her ships covered every sea. Her + troops were victorious wherever they appeared. In letters, in learning, in + all the arts of war and peace they were the foremost nation in Europe. You + have heard also of the ill-blood which existed between this great nation + and ourselves; how our adventurers harried their possessions across the + Atlantic, while they retorted by burning such of our seamen as they could + catch by their devilish Inquisition, and by threatening our coasts both + from Cadiz and from their provinces in the Netherlands. At last so hot + became the quarrel that the other nations stood off, as I have seen the + folk clear a space for the sword-players at Hockley-in-the-Hole, so that + the Spanish giant and tough little England were left face to face to fight + the matter out. Throughout all that business it was as the emissary of the + Pope, and as the avenger of the dishonoured Roman Church, that King Philip + professed to come. It is true that Lord Howard and many another gentleman + of the old religion fought stoutly against the Dons, but the people could + never forget that the reformed faith had been the flag under which they + had conquered, and that the blessing of the Pontiff had rested with their + opponents. Then came the cruel and foolish attempt of Mary to force upon + them a creed for which they had no sympathy, and at the heels of it + another great Roman Catholic power menaced our liberty from the Continent. + The growing strength of France promoted a corresponding distrust of + Papistry in England, which reached a head when, at about the time of which + I write, Louis XIV. threatened us with invasion at the very moment when, + by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, he showed his intolerant spirit + towards the faith which we held dear. The narrow Protestantism of England + was less a religious sentiment than a patriotic reply to the aggressive + bigotry of her enemies. Our Catholic countrymen were unpopular, not so + much because they believed in Transubstantiation, as because they were + unjustly suspected of sympathising with the Emperor or with the King of + France. Now that our military successes have secured us against all fear + of attack, we have happily lost that bitter religious hatred but for which + Oates and Dangerfield would have lied in vain. + </p> + <p> + In the days when I was young, special causes had inflamed this dislike and + made it all the more bitter because there was a spice of fear mingled with + it. As long as the Catholics were only an obscure faction they might be + ignored, but when, towards the close of the reign of the second Charles, + it appeared to be absolutely certain that a Catholic dynasty was about to + fill the throne, and that Catholicism was to be the court religion and the + stepping-stone to preferment, it was felt that a day of vengeance might be + at hand for those who had trampled upon it when it was defenceless. There + was alarm and uneasiness amongst all classes. The Church of England, which + depends upon the monarch as an arch depends upon the keystone; the + nobility, whose estates and coffers had been enriched by the plunder of + the abbeys; the mob, whose ideas of Papistry were mixed up with + thumbscrews and Fox’s Martyrology, were all equally disturbed. Nor was the + prospect a hopeful one for their cause. Charles was a very lukewarm + Protestant, and indeed showed upon his deathbed that he was no Protestant + at all. There was no longer any chance of his having legitimate offspring. + The Duke of York, his younger brother, was therefore heir to the throne, + and he was known to be an austere and narrow Papist, while his spouse, + Mary of Modena, was as bigoted as himself. Should they have children, + there could be no question but that they would be brought up in the faith + of their parents, and that a line of Catholic monarchs would occupy the + throne of England. To the Church, as represented by my mother, and to + Nonconformity, in the person of my father, this was an equally intolerable + prospect. + </p> + <p> + I have been telling you all this old history because you will find, as I + go on, that this state of things caused in the end such a seething and + fermenting throughout the nation that even I, a simple village lad, was + dragged into the whirl and had my whole life influenced by it. If I did + not make the course of events clear to you, you would hardly understand + the influences which had such an effect upon my whole history. In the + meantime, I wish you to remember that when King James II. ascended the + throne he did so amid a sullen silence on the part of a large class of his + subjects, and that both my father and my mother were among those who were + zealous for a Protestant succession. + </p> + <p> + My childhood was, as I have already said, a gloomy one. Now and again when + there chanced to be a fair at Portsdown Hill, or when a passing raree + showman set up his booth in the village, my dear mother would slip a penny + or two from her housekeeping money into my hand, and with a warning finger + upon her lip would send me off to see the sights. These treats were, + however, rare events, and made such a mark upon my mind, that when I was + sixteen years of age I could have checked off upon my fingers all that I + had ever seen. There was William Harker the strong man, who lifted Farmer + Alcott’s roan mare; and there was Tubby Lawson the dwarf, who could fit + himself into a pickle jar—these two I well remember from the wonder + wherewith they struck my youthful soul. Then there was the show of the + playing dolls, and that of the enchanted island and Mynheer Munster from + the Lowlands, who could turn himself round upon a tight-rope while playing + most sweetly upon a virginal. Last, but far the best in my estimation, was + the grand play at the Portsdown Fair, entitled ‘The true and ancient story + of Maudlin, the merchant’s daughter of Bristol, and of her lover Antonio. + How they were cast away on the shores of Barbary, where the mermaids are + seen floating upon the sea and singing in the rocks, foretelling their + danger.’ This little piece gave me keener pleasure than ever in after + years I received from the grandest comedies of Mr. Congreve and of Mr. + Dryden, though acted by Kynaston, Betterton, and the whole strength of the + King’s own company. At Chichester once I remember that I paid a penny to + see the left shoe of the youngest sister of Potiphar’s wife, but as it + looked much like any other old shoe, and was just about the size to have + fitted the show-woman, I have often feared that my penny fell into the + hands of rogues. + </p> + <p> + There were other shows, however, which I might see for nothing, and yet + were more real and every whit as interesting as any for which I paid. Now + and again upon a holiday I was permitted to walk down to Portsmouth—once + I was even taken in front of my father upon his pad nag, and there I + wandered with him through the streets with wondering eyes, marvelling over + the strange sights around me. The walls and the moats, the gates and the + sentinels, the long High Street with the great government buildings, and + the constant rattle of drums and blare of trumpets; they made my little + heart beat quicker beneath my sagathy stuff jacket. Here was the house in + which some thirty years before the proud Duke of Buckingham had been + struck down by the assassin’s dagger. There, too, was the Governor’s + dwelling, and I remember that even as I looked he came riding up to it, + red-faced and choleric, with a nose such as a Governor should have, and + his breast all slashed with gold. ‘Is he not a fine man?’ I said, looking + up at my father. He laughed and drew his hat down over his brows. ‘It is + the first time that I have seen Sir Ralph Lingard’s face,’ said he, ‘but I + saw his back at Preston fight. Ah, lad, proud as he looks, if he did but + see old Noll coming in through the door he would not think it beneath him + to climb out through the window!’ The clank of steel or the sight of a + buff-coat would always serve to stir up the old Roundhead bitterness in my + father’s breast. + </p> + <p> + But there were other sights in Portsmouth besides the red-coats and their + Governor. The yard was the second in the kingdom, after Chatham, and there + was ever some new war-ship ready upon the slips. Then there was a squadron + of King’s ships, and sometimes the whole fleet at Spithead, when the + streets would be full of sailors, with their faces as brown as mahogany + and pigtails as stiff and hard as their cutlasses. To watch their rolling + gait, and to hear their strange, quaint talk, and their tales of the Dutch + wars, was a rare treat to me; and I have sometimes when I was alone + fastened myself on to a group of them, and passed the day in wandering + from tavern to tavern. It chanced one day, however, that one of them + insisted upon my sharing his glass of Canary wine, and afterwards out of + roguishness persuaded me to take a second, with the result that I was sent + home speechless in the carrier’s cart, and was never again allowed to go + into Portsmouth alone. My father was less shocked at the incident than I + should have expected, and reminded my mother that Noah had been overtaken + in a similar manner. He also narrated how a certain field-chaplain Grant, + of Desborough’s regiment, having after a hot and dusty day drunk sundry + flagons of mum, had thereafter sung certain ungodly songs, and danced in a + manner unbecoming to his sacred profession. Also, how he had afterwards + explained that such backslidings were not to be regarded us faults of the + individual, but rather as actual obsessions of the evil one, who contrived + in this manner to give scandal to the faithful, and selected the most + godly for his evil purpose. This ingenious defence of the field-chaplain + was the saving of my back, for my father, who was a believer in Solomon’s + axiom, had a stout ash stick and a strong arm for whatever seemed to him + to be a falling away from the true path. + </p> + <p> + From the day that I first learned my letters from the horn-book at my + mother’s knee I was always hungry to increase my knowledge, and never a + piece of print came in my way that I did not eagerly master. My father + pushed the sectarian hatred of learning to such a length that he was + averse to having any worldly books within his doors. (Note A, Appendix) I + was dependent therefore for my supply upon one or two of my friends in the + village, who lent me a volume at a time from their small libraries. These + I would carry inside my shirt, and would only dare to produce when I could + slip away into the fields, and lie hid among the long grass, or at night + when the rushlight was still burning, and my father’s snoring assured me + that there was no danger of his detecting me. In this way I worked up from + Don Bellianis of Greece and the ‘Seven Champions,’ through Tarleton’s + ‘Jests’ and other such books, until I could take pleasure in the poetry of + Waller and of Herrick, or in the plays of Massinger and Shakespeare. How + sweet were the hours when I could lay aside all thought of freewill and of + predestination, to lie with my heels in the air among the scented clover, + and listen to old Chaucer telling the sweet story of Grisel the patient, + or to weep for the chaste Desdemona, and mourn over the untimely end of + her gallant spouse. There were times as I rose up with my mind full of the + noble poetry, and glanced over the fair slope of the countryside, with the + gleaming sea beyond it, and the purple outline of the Isle of Wight upon + the horizon; when it would be borne in upon me that the Being who created + all this, and who gave man the power of pouring out these beautiful + thoughts, was not the possession of one sect or another, or of this nation + or that, but was the kindly Father of every one of the little children + whom He had let loose on this fair playground. It grieved me then, and it + grieves me now, that a man of such sincerity and lofty purpose as your + great grandfather should have been so tied down by iron doctrines, and + should imagine his Creator to be so niggard of His mercy as to withhold it + from nine-and-ninety in the hundred. Well, a man is as he is trained, and + if my father bore a narrow mind upon his broad shoulders, he has at least + the credit that he was ready to do and to suffer all things for what he + conceived to be the truth. If you, my dears, have more enlightened views, + take heed that they bring you to lead a more enlightened life. + </p> + <p> + When I was fourteen years of age, a yellow-haired, brown-faced lad, I was + packed off to a small private school at Petersfield, and there I remained + for a year, returning home for the last Saturday in each month. I took + with me only a scanty outfit of schoolbooks, with Lilly’s ‘Latin Grammar,’ + and Rosse’s ‘View of all the Religions in the World from the Creation down + to our own Times,’ which was shoved into my hands by my good mother as a + parting present. With this small stock of letters I might have fared + badly, had it not happened that my master, Mr. Thomas Chillingfoot, had + himself a good library, and took a pleasure in lending his books to any of + his scholars who showed a desire to improve themselves. Under this good + old man’s care I not only picked up some smattering of Latin and Greek, + but I found means to read good English translations of many of the + classics, and to acquire a knowledge of the history of my own and other + countries. I was rapidly growing in mind as well as in body, when my + school career was cut short by no less an event than my summary and + ignominious expulsion. How this unlooked-for ending to my studies came + about I must now set before you. + </p> + <p> + Petersfield had always been a great stronghold of the Church, having + hardly a Nonconformist within its bounds. The reason of this was that most + of the house property was owned by zealous Churchmen, who refused to allow + any one who differed from the Established Church to settle there. The + Vicar, whose name was Pinfold, possessed in this manner great power in the + town, and as he was a man with a high inflamed countenance and a pompous + manner, he inspired no little awe among the quiet inhabitants. I can see + him now with his beaked nose, his rounded waistcoat, and his bandy legs, + which looked as if they had given way beneath the load of learning which + they were compelled to carry. Walking slowly with right hand stiffly + extended, tapping the pavement at every step with his metal-headed stick, + he would pause as each person passed him, and wait to see that he was + given the salute which he thought due to his dignity. This courtesy he + never dreamed of returning, save in the case of some of his richer + parishioners; but if by chance it were omitted, he would hurry after the + culprit, and, shaking his stick in his face, insist upon his doffing his + cap to him. We youngsters, if we met him on our walks, would scuttle by + him like a brood of chickens passing an old turkey cock, and even our + worthy master showed a disposition to turn down a side-street when the + portly figure of the Vicar was seen rolling in our direction. This proud + priest made a point of knowing the history of every one within his parish, + and having learnt that I was the son of an Independent, he spoke severely + to Mr. Chillingfoot upon the indiscretion which he had shown in admitting + me to his school. Indeed, nothing but my mother’s good name for orthodoxy + prevented him from insisting upon my dismissal. + </p> + <p> + At the other end of the village there was a large day-school. A constant + feud prevailed between the scholars who attended it and the lads who + studied under our master. No one could tell how the war broke out, but for + many years there had been a standing quarrel between the two, which + resulted in skirmishes, sallies, and ambuscades, with now and then a + pitched battle. No great harm was done in these encounters, for the + weapons were usually snowballs in winter and pine-cones or clods of earth + in the summer. Even when the contest got closer and we came to fisticuffs, + a few bruises and a little blood was the worst that could come of it. Our + opponents were more numerous than we, but we had the advantage of being + always together and of having a secure asylum upon which to retreat, while + they, living in scattered houses all over the parish, had no common + rallying-point. A stream, crossed by two bridges, ran through the centre + of the town, and this was the boundary which separated our territories + from those of our enemies. The boy who crossed the bridge found himself in + hostile country. + </p> + <p> + It chanced that in the first conflict which occurred after my arrival at + the school I distinguished myself by singling out the most redoubtable of + our foemen, and smiting him such a blow that he was knocked helpless and + was carried off by our party as a prisoner. This feat of arms established + my good name as a warrior, so I came at last to be regarded as the leader + of our forces, and to be looked up to by bigger boys than myself. This + promotion tickled my fancy so much, that I set to work to prove that I + deserved it by devising fresh and ingenious schemes for the defeat of our + enemies. + </p> + <p> + One winter’s evening news reached us that our rivals were about to make a + raid upon us under cover of night, and that they proposed coming by the + little used plank bridge, so as to escape our notice. This bridge lay + almost out of the town, and consisted of a single broad piece of wood + without a rail, erected for the good of the town clerk, who lived, just + opposite to it. We proposed to hide ourselves amongst the bushes on our + side of the stream, and make an unexpected attack upon the invaders as + they crossed. As we started, however, I bethought me of an ingenious + stratagem which I had read of as being practised in the German wars, and + having expounded it to the great delight of my companions, we took Mr. + Chillingfoot’s saw, and set off for the seat of action. + </p> + <p> + On reaching the bridge all was quiet and still. It was quite dark and very + cold, for Christmas was approaching. There were no signs of our opponents. + We exchanged a few whispers as to who should do the daring deed, but as + the others shrank from it, and as I was too proud to propose what I dare + not execute, I gripped the saw, and sitting astraddle upon the plank set + to work upon the very centre of it. + </p> + <p> + My purpose was to weaken it in such a way that, though it would bear the + weight of one, it would collapse when the main body of our foemen were + upon it, and so precipitate them into the ice-cold stream. The water was + but a couple of feet deep at the place, so that there was nothing for them + but a fright and a ducking. So cool a reception ought to deter them from + ever invading us again, and confirm my reputation as a daring leader. + Reuben Lockarby, my lieutenant, son of old John Lockarby of the + Wheatsheaf, marshalled our forces behind the hedgerow, whilst I sawed + vigorously at the plank until I had nearly severed it across. I had no + compunction about the destruction of the bridge, for I knew enough of + carpentry to see that a skilful joiner could in an hour’s work make it + stronger than ever by putting a prop beneath the point where I had divided + it. When at last I felt by the yielding of the plank that I had done + enough, and that the least strain would snap it, I crawled quietly off, + and taking up my position with my schoolfellows, awaited the coming of the + enemy. + </p> + <p> + I had scarce concealed myself when we heard the steps of some one + approaching down the footpath which led to the bridge. We crouched behind + the cover, convinced that the sound must come from some scout whom our + foemen had sent on in front—a big boy evidently, for his step was + heavy and slow, with a clinking noise mingling with it, of which we could + make nothing. Nearer came the sound and nearer, until a shadowy figure + loomed out of the darkness upon the other side, and after pausing and + peering for a moment, came straight for the bridge. It was only as he was + setting foot upon the plank and beginning gingerly to pick his way across + it, that we discerned the outlines of the familiar form, and realised the + dreadful truth that the stranger whom we had taken for the advance guard + of our enemy was in truth none other than Vicar Pinfold, and that it was + the rhythmic pat of his stick which we heard mingling with his footfalls. + Fascinated by the sight, we lay bereft of all power to warn him—a + line of staring eyeballs. One step, two steps, three steps did the haughty + Churchman take, when there was a rending crack, and he vanished with a + mighty splash into the swift-flowing stream. He must have fallen upon his + back, for we could see the curved outline of his portly figure standing + out above the surface as he struggled desperately to regain his feet. At + last he managed to get erect, and came spluttering for the bank with such + a mixture of godly ejaculations and of profane oaths that, even in our + terror, we could not keep from laughter. Rising from under his feet like a + covey of wild-fowl, we scurried off across the fields and so back to the + school, where, as you may imagine, we said nothing to our good master of + what had occurred. + </p> + <p> + The matter was too serious, however, to be hushed up. The sudden chill set + up some manner of disturbance in the bottle of sack which the Vicar had + just been drinking with the town clerk, and an attack of gout set in which + laid him on his back for a fortnight. Meanwhile an examination of the + bridge had shown that it had been sawn across, and an inquiry traced the + matter to Mr. Chillingfoot’s boarders. To save a wholesale expulsion of + the school from the town, I was forced to acknowledge myself as both the + inventor and perpetrator of the deed. Chillingfoot was entirely in the + power of the Vicar, so he was forced to read me a long homily in public—which + he balanced by an affectionate leave-taking in private—and to expel + me solemnly from the school. I never saw my old master again, for he died + not many years afterwards; but I hear that his second son William is still + carrying on the business, which is larger and more prosperous than of old. + His eldest son turned Quaker and went out to Penn’s settlement, where he + is reported to have been slain by the savages. + </p> + <p> + This adventure shocked my dear mother, but it found great favour in the + eyes of my father, who laughed until the whole village resounded with his + stentorian merriment. It reminded him, he said, of a similar stratagem + executed at Market Drayton by that God-fearing soldier Colonel Pride, + whereby a captain and three troopers of Lunsford’s own regiment of horse + had been drowned, and many others precipitated into a river, to the great + glory of the true Church and to the satisfaction of the chosen people. + Even of the Church folk many were secretly glad at the misfortune which + had overtaken the Vicar, for his pretensions and his pride had made him + hated throughout the district. + </p> + <p> + By this time I had grown into a sturdy, broad-shouldered lad, and every + month added to my strength and my stature. When I was sixteen I could + carry a bag of wheat or a cask of beer against any man in the village, and + I could throw the fifteen-pound putting-stone to a distance of thirty-six + feet, which was four feet further than could Ted Dawson, the blacksmith. + Once when my father was unable to carry a bale of skins out of the yard, I + whipped it up and bare it away upon my shoulders. The old man would often + look gravely at me from under his heavy thatched eyebrows, and shake his + grizzled head as he sat in his arm-chair puffing his pipe. ‘You grow too + big for the nest, lad,’ he would say. ‘I doubt some of these days you’ll + find your wings and away!’ In my heart I longed that the time would come, + for I was weary of the quiet life of the village, and was anxious to see + the great world of which I had heard and read so much. I could not look + southward without my spirit stirring within me as my eyes fell upon those + dark waves, the white crests of which are like a fluttering signal ever + waving to an English youth and beckoning him to some unknown but glorious + goal. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter III. Of Two Friends of my Youth + </h2> + <p> + I fear, my children, that you will think that the prologue is over long + for the play; but the foundations must be laid before the building is + erected, and a statement of this sort is a sorry and a barren thing unless + you have a knowledge of the folk concerned. Be patient, then, while I + speak to you of the old friends of my youth, some of whom you may hear + more of hereafter, while others remained behind in the country hamlet, and + yet left traces of our early intercourse upon my character which might + still be discerned there. + </p> + <p> + Foremost for good amongst all whom I knew was Zachary Palmer, the village + carpenter, a man whose aged and labour-warped body contained the simplest + and purest of spirits. Yet his simplicity was by no means the result of + ignorance, for from the teachings of Plato to those of Hobbes there were + few systems ever thought out by man which he had not studied and weighed. + Books were far dearer in my boyhood than they are now, and carpenters were + less well paid, but old Palmer had neither wife nor child, and spent + little on food or raiment. Thus it came about that on the shelf over his + bed he had a more choice collection of books—few as they were in + number—than the squire or the parson, and these books he had read + until he not only understood them himself, but could impart them to + others. + </p> + <p> + This white-bearded and venerable village philosopher would sit by his + cabin door upon a summer evening, and was never so pleased as when some of + the young fellows would slip away from their bowls and their quoit-playing + in order to lie in the grass at his feet, and ask him questions about the + great men of old, their words and their deeds. But of all the youths I and + Reuben Lockarby, the innkeeper’s son, were his two favourites, for we + would come the earliest and stop the latest to hear the old man talk. No + father could have loved his children better than he did us, and he would + spare no pains to get at our callow thoughts, and to throw light upon + whatever perplexed or troubled us. Like all growing things, we had run our + heads against the problem of the universe. We had peeped and pryed with + our boyish eyes into those profound depths in which the keenest-sighted of + the human race had seen no bottom. Yet when we looked around us in our own + village world, and saw the bitterness and rancour which pervaded every + sect, we could not but think that a tree which bore such fruit must have + something amiss with it. This was one of the thoughts unspoken to our + parents which we carried to good old Zachary, and on which he had much to + say which cheered and comforted us. + </p> + <p> + ‘These janglings and wranglings,’ said he, ‘are but on the surface, and + spring from the infinite variety of the human mind, which will ever adapt + a creed to suit its own turn of thought. It is the solid core that + underlies every Christian creed which is of importance. Could you but live + among the Romans or the Greeks, in the days before this new doctrine was + preached, you would then know the change that it has wrought in the world. + How this or that text should be construed is a matter of no moment, + however warm men may get over it. What is of the very greatest moment is, + that every man should have a good and solid reason for living a simple, + cleanly life. This the Christian creed has given us.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I would not have you be virtuous out of fear,’ he said upon another + occasion. ‘The experience of a long life has taught me, however, that sin + is always punished in this world, whatever may come in the next. There is + always some penalty in health, in comfort, or in peace of mind to be paid + for every wrong. It is with nations as it is with individuals. A book of + history is a book of sermons. See how the luxurious Babylonians were + destroyed by the frugal Persians, and how these same Persians when they + learned the vices of prosperity were put to the sword by the Greeks. Read + on and mark how the sensual Greeks were trodden down by the more robust + and hardier Romans, and finally how the Romans, having lost their manly + virtues, were subdued by the nations of the north. Vice and destruction + came ever hand in hand. Thus did Providence use each in turn as a scourge + wherewith to chastise the follies of the other. These things do not come + by chance. They are part of a great system which is at work in your own + lives. The longer you live the more you will see that sin and sadness are + never far apart, and that no true prosperity can exist away from virtue.’ + </p> + <p> + A very different teacher was the sea-dog Solomon Sprent, who lived in the + second last cottage on the left-hand side of the main street of the + village. He was one of the old tarpaulin breed, who had fought under the + red cross ensign against Frenchman, Don, Dutchman, and Moor, until a round + shot carried off his foot and put an end to his battles for ever. In + person he was thin, and hard, and brown, as lithe and active as a cat, + with a short body and very long arms, each ending in a great hand which + was ever half closed as though shutting on a rope. From head to foot he + was covered with the most marvellous tattooings, done in blue, red, and + green, beginning with the Creation upon his neck and winding up with the + Ascension upon his left ankle. Never have I seen such a walking work of + art. He was wont to say that had he been owned and his body cast up upon + some savage land, the natives might have learned the whole of the blessed + gospel from a contemplation of his carcass. Yet with sorrow I must say + that the seaman’s religion appeared to have all worked into his skin, so + that very little was left for inner use. It had broken out upon the + surface, like the spotted fever, but his system was clear of it elsewhere. + He could swear in eleven languages and three-and-twenty dialects, nor did + he ever let his great powers rust for want of practice. He would swear + when he was happy or when he was sad, when he was angry or when he was + loving, but this swearing was so mere a trick of speech, without malice or + bitterness, that even my father could hardly deal harshly with the sinner. + As time passed, however, the old man grew more sober and more thoughtful, + until in his latter days he went back to the simple beliefs of his + childhood, and learned to fight the devil with the same steady courage + with which he had faced the enemies of his country. + </p> + <p> + Old Solomon was a never-failing source of amusement and of interest to my + friend Lockarby and myself. On gala days he would have us in to dine with + him, when he would regale us with lobscouse and salmagundi, or perhaps + with an outland dish, a pillaw or olla podrida, or fish broiled after the + fashion of the Azores, for he had a famous trick of cooking, and could + produce the delicacies of all nations. And all the time that we were with + him he would tell us the most marvellous stories of Rupert, under whom he + served; how he would shout from the poop to his squadron to wheel to the + right, or to charge, or to halt, as the case might be, as if he were still + with his regiment of horse. Of Blake, too, he had many stories to tell. + But even the name of Blake was not so dear to our old sailor as was that + of Sir Christopher Mings. Solomon had at one time been his coxswain, and + could talk by the hour of those gallant deeds which had distinguished him + from the day that he entered the navy as a cabin boy until he fell upon + his own quarter-deck, a full admiral of the red, and was borne by his + weeping ship’s company to his grave in Chatham churchyard. ‘If so be as + there’s a jasper sea up aloft,’ said the old seaman, ‘I’ll wager that Sir + Christopher will see that the English flag has proper respect paid to it + upon it, and that we are not fooled by foreigners. I’ve served under him + in this world, and I ask nothing better than to be his coxswain in the + next—if so be as he should chance to have a vacancy for such.’ These + remembrances would always end in the brewing of an extra bowl of punch, + and the drinking of a solemn bumper to the memory of the departed hero. + </p> + <p> + Stirring as were Solomon Sprent’s accounts of his old commanders, their + effect upon us was not so great as when, about his second or third glass, + the floodgates of his memory would be opened, and he would pour out long + tales of the lands which he had visited, and the peoples which he had + seen. Leaning forward in our seats with our chins resting upon our hands, + we two youngsters would sit for hours, with our eyes fixed upon the old + adventurer, drinking in his words, while he, pleased at the interest which + he excited, would puff slowly at his pipe and reel off story after story + of what he had seen or done. In those days, my dears, there was no Defoe + to tell us the wonders of the world, no <i>Spectator</i> to lie upon our + breakfast table, no Gulliver to satisfy our love of adventure by telling + us of such adventures as never were. Not once in a month did a common + newsletter fall into our hands. Personal hazards, therefore, were of more + value then than they are now, and the talk of a man like old Solomon was a + library in itself. To us it was all real. His husky tones and ill-chosen + words were as the voice of an angel, and our eager minds filled in the + details and supplied all that was wanting in his narratives. In one + evening we have engaged a Sallee rover off the Pillars of Hercules; we + have coasted down the shores of the African continent, and seen the great + breakers of the Spanish Main foaming upon the yellow sand; we have passed + the black ivory merchants with their human cargoes; we have faced the + terrible storms which blow ever around the Cape de Boa Esperanza; and + finally, we have sailed away out over the great ocean beyond, amid the + palm-clad coral islands, with the knowledge that the realms of Prester + John lie somewhere behind the golden haze which shimmers upon the horizon. + After such a flight as that we would feel, as we came back to the + Hampshire village and the dull realities of country life, like wild birds + who had been snared by the fowler and clapped into narrow cages. Then it + was that the words of my father, ‘You will find your wings some day and + fly away,’ would come back to me, and set up such a restlessness as all + the wise words of Zachary Palmer could not allay. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter IV. Of the Strange Fish that we Caught at Spithead + </h2> + <p> + One evening in the month of May 1685, about the end of the first week of + the month, my friend Reuben Lockarby and I borrowed Ned Marley’s pleasure + boat, and went a-fishing out of Langston Bay. At that time I was close on + one-and-twenty years of age, while my companion was one year younger. A + great intimacy had sprung up between us, founded on mutual esteem, for he + being a little undergrown man was proud of my strength and stature, while + my melancholy and somewhat heavy spirit took a pleasure in the energy and + joviality which never deserted him, and in the wit which gleamed as bright + and as innocent as summer lightning through all that he said. In person he + was short and broad, round-faced, ruddy-cheeked, and in truth a little + inclined to be fat, though he would never confess to more than a pleasing + plumpness, which was held, he said, to be the acme of manly beauty amongst + the ancients. The stern test of common danger and mutual hardship entitle + me to say that no man could have desired a stauncher or more trusty + comrade. As he was destined to be with me in the sequel, it was but + fitting that he should have been at my side on that May evening which was + the starting-point of our adventures. + </p> + <p> + We pulled out beyond the Warner Sands to a place half-way between them and + the Nab, where we usually found bass in plenty. There we cast the heavy + stone which served us as an anchor overboard, and proceeded to set our + lines. The sun sinking slowly behind a fog-bank had slashed the whole + western sky with scarlet streaks, against which the wooded slopes of the + Isle of Wight stood out vaporous and purple. A fresh breeze was blowing + from the south-east, flecking the long green waves with crests of foam, + and filling our eyes and lips with the smack of the salt spray. Over near + St. Helen’s Point a King’s ship was making her way down the channel, while + a single large brig was tacking about a quarter of a mile or less from + where we lay. So near were we that we could catch a glimpse of the figures + upon her deck as she heeled over to the breeze, and could bear the + creaking of her yards and the flapping of her weather-stained canvas as + she prepared to go about. + </p> + <p> + ‘Look ye, Micah,’ said my companion, looking up from his fishing-line. + ‘That is a most weak-minded ship—a ship which will make no way in + the world. See how she hangs in the wind, neither keeping on her course + nor tacking. She is a trimmer of the seas—the Lord Halifax of the + ocean.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, there is something amiss with her,’ I replied, staring across with + hand-shaded eyes. ‘She yaws about as though there were no one at the helm. + Her main-yard goes aback! Now it is forward again! The folk on her deck + seem to me to be either fighting or dancing. Up with the anchor, Reuben, + and let us pull to her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Up with the anchor and let us get out of her way,’ he answered, still + gazing at the stranger. ‘Why will you ever run that meddlesome head of + yours into danger’s way? She flies Dutch colours, but who can say whence + she really comes? A pretty thing if we were snapped up by a buccaneer and + sold in the Plantations!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A buccaneer in the Solent!’ cried I derisively. ‘We shall be seeing the + black flag in Emsworth Creek next. But hark! What is that?’ + </p> + <p> + The crack of a musket sounded from aboard the brig. Then came a moment’s + silence and another musket shot rang out, followed by a chorus of shouts + and cries. Simultaneously the yards swung round into position, the sails + caught the breeze once more, and the vessel darted away on a course which + would take her past Bembridge Point out to the English Channel. As she + flew along her helm was put hard down, a puff of smoke shot out from her + quarter, and a cannon ball came hopping and splashing over the waves, + passing within a hundred yards of where we lay. With this farewell + greeting she came up into the wind again and continued her course to the + southward. + </p> + <p> + ‘Heart o’ grace!’ ejaculated Reuben in loose lipped astonishment. ‘The + murdering villains!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I would to the Lord that King’s ship would snap them up!’ cried I + savagely, for the attack was so unprovoked that it stirred my bile. ‘What + could the rogues have meant? They are surely drunk or mad!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Pull at the anchor, man, pull at the anchor!’ my companion shouted, + springing up from the seat. ‘I understand it! Pull at the anchor!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What then?’ I asked, helping him to haul the great stone up, hand over + hand, until it came dripping over the side. + </p> + <p> + ‘They were not firing at us, lad. They were aiming at some one in the + water between us and them. Pull, Micah! Put your back into it! Some poor + fellow may he drowning.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, I declare!’ said I, looking over my shoulder as I rowed, ‘there is + his head upon the crest of a wave. Easy, or we shall be over him! Two more + strokes and be ready to seize him! Keep up, friend! There’s help at hand!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Take help to those who need help’ said a voice out of the sea. ‘Zounds, + man, keep a guard on your oar! I fear a pat from it very much more than I + do the water.’ + </p> + <p> + These words were delivered in so calm and self-possessed a tone that all + concern for the swimmer was set at rest. Drawing in our oars we faced + round to have a look at him. The drift of the boat had brought us so close + that he could have grasped the gunwale had he been so minded. + </p> + <p> + ‘Sapperment!’ he cried in a peevish voice; ‘to think of my brother Nonus + serving me such a trick! What would our blessed mother have said could she + have seen it? My whole kit gone, to say nothing of my venture in the + voyage! And now I have kicked off a pair of new jack boots that cost + sixteen rix-dollars at Vanseddar’s at Amsterdam. I can’t swim in + jack-boots, nor can I walk without them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Won’t you come in out of the wet, sir?’ asked Reuben, who could scarce + keep serious at the stranger’s appearance and address. A pair of long arms + shot out of the water, and in a moment, with a lithe, snake-like motion, + the man wound himself into the boat and coiled his great length upon the + stern-sheets. Very lanky he was and very thin, with a craggy hard face, + clean-shaven and sunburned, with a thousand little wrinkles intersecting + it in every direction. He had lost his hat, and his short wiry hair, + slightly flecked with grey, stood up in a bristle all over his head. It + was hard to guess at his age, but he could scarce have been under his + fiftieth year, though the ease with which he had boarded our boat proved + that his strength and energy were unimpaired. Of all his characteristics, + however, nothing attracted my attention so much as his eyes, which were + almost covered by their drooping lids, and yet looked out through the thin + slits which remained with marvellous brightness and keenness. A passing + glance might give the idea that he was languid and half asleep, but a + closer one would reveal those glittering, shifting lines of light, and + warn the prudent man not to trust too much to his first impressions. + </p> + <p> + ‘I could swim to Portsmouth,’ he remarked, rummaging in the pockets of his + sodden jacket; ‘I could swim well-nigh anywhere. I once swam from Gran on + the Danube to Buda, while a hundred thousand Janissaries danced with rage + on the nether bank. I did, by the keys of St. Peter! Wessenburg’s Pandours + would tell you whether Decimus Saxon could swim. Take my advice, young + men, and always carry your tobacco in a water-tight metal box.’ + </p> + <p> + As he spoke he drew a flat box from his pocket, and several wooden tubes, + which he screwed together to form a long pipe. This he stuffed with + tobacco, and having lit it by means of a flint and steel with a piece of + touch-paper from the inside of his box, he curled his legs under him in + Eastern fashion, and settled down to enjoy a smoke. There was something so + peculiar about the whole incident, and so preposterous about the man’s + appearance and actions, that we both broke into a roar of laughter, which + lasted until for very exhaustion we were compelled to stop. He neither + joined in our merriment nor expressed offence at it, but continued to suck + away at his long wooden tube with a perfectly stolid and impassive face, + save that the half-covered eyes glinted rapidly backwards and forwards + from one to the other of us. + </p> + <p> + ‘You will excuse our laughter, sir,’ I said at last; ‘my friend and I are + unused to such adventures, and are merry at the happy ending of it. May we + ask whom it is that we have picked up?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Decimus Saxon is my name,’ the stranger answered; ‘I am the tenth child + of a worthy father, as the Latin implies. There are but nine betwixt me + and an inheritance. Who knows? Small-pox might do it, or the plague!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We heard a shot aboard of the brig,’ said Reuben. + </p> + <p> + ‘That was my brother Nonus shooting at me,’ the stranger observed, shaking + his head sadly. + </p> + <p> + ‘But there was a second shot.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, that was me shooting at my brother Nonus.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Good lack!’ I cried. ‘I trust that thou hast done him no hurt.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But a flesh wound, at the most,’ he answered. ‘I thought it best to come + away, however, lest the affair grow into a quarrel. I am sure that it was + he who trained the nine-pounder on me when I was in the water. It came + near enough to part my hair. He was always a good shot with a falconet or + a mortar-piece. He could not have been hurt, however, to get down from the + poop to the main-deck in the time.’ + </p> + <p> + There was a pause after this, while the stranger drew a long knife from + his belt, and cleaned out his pipe with it. Reuben and I took up our oars, + and having pulled up our tangled fishing-lines, which had been streaming + behind the boat, we proceeded to pull in towards the land. + </p> + <p> + ‘The question now is,’ said the stranger, ‘where we are to go to?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We are going down Langston Bay,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, we are, are we?’ he cried, in a mocking voice; ‘you are sure of it + eh? You are certain we are not going to France? We have a mast and sail + there, I see, and water in the beaker. All we want are a few fish, which I + hear are plentiful in these waters, and we might make a push for + Barfleur.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We are going down Langston Bay,’ I repeated coldly. + </p> + <p> + ‘You see might is right upon the waters,’ he explained, with a smile which + broke his whole face up into crinkles. ‘I am an old soldier, a tough + fighting man, and you are two raw lads. I have a knife, and you are + unarmed. D’ye see the line of argument? The question now is, Where are we + to go?’ + </p> + <p> + I faced round upon him with the oar in my hand. ‘You boasted that you + could swim to Portsmouth,’ said I, ‘and so you shall. Into the water with + you, you sea-viper, or I’ll push you in as sure as my name is Micah + Clarke.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Throw your knife down, or I’ll drive the boat hook through you,’ cried + Reuben, pushing it forward to within a few inches of the man’s throat. + </p> + <p> + ‘Sink me, but this is most commendable!’ he said, sheathing his weapon, + and laughing softly to himself. ‘I love to draw spirit out of the young + fellows. I am the steel, d’ye see, which knocks the valour out of your + flint. A notable simile, and one in every way worthy of that most witty of + mankind, Samuel Butler. This,’ he continued, tapping a protuberance which + I had remarked over his chest, ‘is not a natural deformity, but is a copy + of that inestimable “Hudibras,” which combines the light touch of Horace + with the broader mirth of Catullus. Heh! what think you of the criticism?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Give up that knife,’ said I sternly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Certainly,’ he replied, handing it over to me with a polite bow. ‘Is + there any other reasonable matter in which I can oblige ye? I will give up + anything to do ye pleasure-save only my good name and soldierly repute, or + this same copy of “Hudibras,” which, together with a Latin treatise upon + the usages of war, written by a Fleming and printed in Liege in the + Lowlands, I do ever bear in my bosom.’ + </p> + <p> + I sat down beside him with the knife in my hand. ‘You pull both oars,’ I + said to Reuben; ‘I’ll keep guard over the fellow and see that he plays us + no trick. I believe that you are right, and that he is nothing better than + a pirate. He shall be given over to the justices when we get to Havant.’ + </p> + <p> + I thought that our passenger’s coolness deserted him for a moment, and + that a look of annoyance passed over his face. + </p> + <p> + ‘Wait a bit!’ he said; ‘your name, I gather is Clarke, and your home is + Havant. Are you a kinsman of Joseph Clarke, the old Roundhead of that + town?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He is my father,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hark to that, now!’ he cried, with a throb of laughter; ‘I have a trick + of falling on my feet. Look at this, lad! Look at this!’ He drew a packet + of letters from his inside pocket, wrapped in a bit of tarred cloth, and + opening it he picked one out and placed it upon my knee. ‘Read!’ said he, + pointing at it with his long thin finger. + </p> + <p> + It was inscribed in large plain characters, ‘To Joseph Clarke, leather + merchant of Havant, by the hand of Master Decimus Saxon, part-owner of the + ship <i>Providence</i>, from Amsterdam to Portsmouth.’ At each side it was + sealed with a massive red seal, and was additionally secured with a broad + band of silk. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have three-and-twenty of them to deliver in the neighbourhood,’ he + remarked. ‘That shows what folk think of Decimus Saxon. Three-and-twenty + lives and liberties are in my hands. Ah, lad, invoices and bills of lading + are not done up in that fashion. It is not a cargo of Flemish skins that + is coming for the old man. The skins have good English hearts in them; ay, + and English swords in their fists to strike out for freedom and for + conscience. I risk my life in carrying this letter to your father; and + you, his son, threaten to hand me over to the justices! For shame! For + shame! I blush for you!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t know what you are hinting at,’ I answered. ‘You must speak + plainer if I am to understand you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Can we trust him?’ he asked, jerking his head in the direction of Reuben. + </p> + <p> + ‘As myself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How very charming!’ said he, with something between a smile and a sneer. + ‘David and Jonathan—or, to be more classical and less scriptural, + Damon and Pythias—eh?’ These papers, then, are from the faithful + abroad, the exiles in Holland, ye understand, who are thinking of making a + move and of coming over to see King James in his own country with their + swords strapped on their thighs. The letters are to those from whom they + expect sympathy, and notify when and where they will make a landing. Now, + my dear lad, you will perceive that instead of my being in your power, you + are so completely in mine that it needs but a word from me to destroy your + whole family. Decimus Saxon is staunch, though, and that word shall never + be spoken.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If all this be true,’ said I, ‘and if your mission is indeed as you have + said, why did you even now propose to make for France?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aptly asked, and yet the answer is clear enough,’ he replied; ‘sweet and + ingenuous as are your faces, I could not read upon them that ye would + prove to be Whigs and friends of the good old cause. Ye might have taken + me to where excisemen or others would have wanted to pry and peep, and so + endangered my commission. Better a voyage to France in an open boat than + that.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I will take you to my father,’ said I, after a few moments’ thought. ‘You + can deliver your letter and make good your story to him. If you are indeed + a true man, you will meet with a warm welcome; but should you prove, as I + shrewdly suspect, to be a rogue, you need expect no mercy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Bless the youngster! he speaks like the Lord High Chancellor of England! + What is it the old man says? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “He could not ope + His mouth, but out there fell a trope.” + </pre> + <p> + But it should be a threat, which is the ware in which you are fond of + dealing. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “He could not let + A minute pass without a threat.” + </pre> + <p> + How’s that, eh? Waller himself could not have capped the couplet neater.’ + </p> + <p> + All this time Reuben had been swinging away at his oars, and we had made + our way into Langston Bay, down the sheltered waters of which we were + rapidly shooting. Sitting in the sheets, I turned over in my mind all that + this waif had said. I had glanced over his shoulder at the addresses of + some of the letters—Steadman of Basingstoke, Wintle of Alresford, + Fortescue of Bognor, all well-known leaders of the Dissenters. If they + were what he represented them to be, it was no exaggeration to say that he + held the fortunes and fates of these men entirely in his hands. Government + would be only too glad to have a valid reason for striking hard at the men + whom they feared. On the whole it was well to tread carefully in the + matter, so I restored our prisoner’s knife to him, and treated him with + increased consideration. It was well-nigh dark when we beached the boat, + and entirely so before we reached Havant, which was fortunate, as the + bootless and hatless state of our dripping companion could not have failed + to set tongues wagging, and perhaps to excite the inquiries of the + authorities. As it was, we scarce met a soul before reaching my father’s + door. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter V. Of the Man with the Drooping Lids + </h2> + <p> + My mother and my father were sitting in their high-backed chairs on either + side of the empty fireplace when we arrived, he smoking his evening pipe + of Oronooko, and she working at her embroidery. The moment that I opened + the door the man whom I had brought stepped briskly in, and bowing to the + old people began to make glib excuses for the lateness of his visit, and + to explain the manner in which we had picked him up. I could not help + smiling at the utter amazement expressed upon my mother’s face as she + gazed at him, for the loss of his jack-boots exposed a pair of + interminable spindle-shanks which were in ludicrous contrast to the baggy + low country knee-breeches which surmounted them. His tunic was made of + coarse sad-coloured kersey stuff with flat new gilded brass buttons, + beneath which was a whitish callamanca vest edged with silver. Round the + neck of his coat was a broad white collar after the Dutch fashion, out of + which his long scraggy throat shot upwards with his round head and bristle + of hair balanced upon the top of it, like the turnip on a stick at which + we used to throw at the fairs. In this guise he stood blinking and winking + in the glare of light, and pattering out his excuses with as many bows and + scrapes as Sir Peter Witling in the play. I was in the act of following + him into the room, when Reuben plucked at my sleeve to detain me. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, I won’t come in with you, Micah,’ said he; ‘there’s mischief likely + to come of all this. My father may grumble over his beer jugs, but he’s a + Churchman and a Tantivy for all that. I’d best keep out of it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are right,’ I answered. ‘There is no need for you to meddle in the + business. Be mum as to all that you have heard.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Mum as a mouse,’ said he, and pressing my hand turned away into the + darkness. When I returned to the sitting-room I found that my mother had + hurried into the kitchen, where the crackling of sticks showed that she + was busy in building a fire. Decimus Saxon was seated at the edge of the + iron-bound oak chest at the side of my father, and was watching him keenly + with his little twinkling eyes, while the old man was fixing his horn + glasses and breaking the seals of the packet which his strange visitor had + just handed to him. + </p> + <p> + I saw that when my father looked at the signature at the end of the long, + closely written letter he gave a whiff of surprise and sat motionless for + a moment or so staring at it. Then he turned to the commencement and read + it very carefully through, after which he turned it over and read it + again. Clearly it brought no unwelcome news, for his eyes sparkled with + joy when he looked up from his reading, and more than once he laughed + aloud. Finally he asked the man Saxon how it had come into his possession, + and whether he was aware of the contents. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, as to that,’ said the messenger, ‘it was handed to me by no less a + person than Dicky Rumbold himself, and in the presence of others whom it’s + not for me to name. As to the contents, your own sense will tell you that + I would scarce risk my neck by bearing a message without I knew what the + message was. I am no chicken at the trade, sir. Cartels, <i>pronunciamientos</i>, + challenges, flags of truce, and proposals for waffenstillstands, as the + Deutschers call it—they’ve all gone through my hands, and never one, + gone awry.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Indeed!’ quoth my father. ‘You are yourself one of the faithful?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I trust that I am one of those who are on the narrow and thorny track,’ + said he, speaking through his nose, as was the habit of the extreme + sectaries. + </p> + <p> + ‘A track upon which no prelate can guide us,’ said my father. + </p> + <p> + ‘Where man is nought and the Lord is all,’ rejoined Saxon. + </p> + <p> + ‘Good! good!’ cried my father. ‘Micah, you shall take this worthy man to + my room, and see that he hath dry linen, and my second-best suit of + Utrecht velvet. It may serve until his own are dried. My boots, too, may + perchance be useful—my riding ones of untanned leather. A hat with + silver braiding hangs above them in the cupboard. See that he lacks for + nothing which the house can furnish. Supper will be ready when he hath + changed his attire. I beg that you will go at once, good Master Saxon, + lest you take a chill.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is but one thing that we have omitted,’ said our visitor, solemnly + rising up from his chair and clasping his long nervous hands together. + ‘Let us delay no longer to send up a word of praise to the Almighty for + His manifold blessings, and for the mercy wherewith He plucked me and my + letters out of the deep, even as Jonah was saved from the violence of the + wicked ones who hurled him overboard, and it may be fired falconets at + him, though we are not so informed in Holy Writ. Let us pray, my friends!’ + Then in a high-toned chanting voice he offered up a long prayer of + thanksgiving, winding up with a petition for grace and enlightenment for + the house and all its inmates. Having concluded by a sonorous amen, he at + last suffered himself to be led upstairs; while my mother, who had slipped + in and listened with much edification to his words, hurried away to + prepare him a bumper of green usquebaugh with ten drops of Daffy’s Elixir + therein, which was her sovereign recipe against the effects of a soaking. + There was no event in life, from a christening to a marriage, but had some + appropriate food or drink in my mother’s vocabulary, and no ailment for + which she had not some pleasant cure in her well-stocked cupboards. + </p> + <p> + Master Decimus Saxon in my father’s black Utrecht velvet and untanned + riding boots looked a very different man to the bedraggled castaway who + had crawled like a conger eel into our fishing-boat. It seemed as if he + had cast off his manner with his raiment, for he behaved to my mother + during supper with an air of demure gallantry which sat upon him better + than the pert and flippant carriage which he had shown towards us in the + boat. Truth to say, if he was now more reserved, there was a very good + reason for it, for he played such havoc amongst the eatables that there + was little time for talk. At last, after passing from the round of cold + beef to a capon pasty, and topping up with a two-pound perch, washed down + by a great jug of ale, he smiled upon us all and told us that his fleshly + necessities were satisfied for the nonce. ‘It is my rule,’ he remarked, + ‘to obey the wise precept which advises a man to rise from table feeling + that he could yet eat as much as he has partaken of.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I gather from your words, sir, that you have yourself seen hard service,’ + my father remarked when the board had been cleared and my mother had + retired for the night. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am an old fighting man,’ our visitor answered, screwing his pipe + together, ‘a lean old dog of the hold-fast breed. This body of mine bears + the mark of many a cut and slash received for the most part in the service + of the Protestant faith, though some few were caught for the sake of + Christendom in general when warring against the Turk. There is blood of + mine, sir, Spotted all over the map of Europe. Some of it, I confess, was + spilled in no public cause, but for the protection of mine own honour in + the private duello or holmgang, as it was called among the nations of the + north. It is necessary that a cavaliero of fortune, being for the greater + part a stranger in a strange land, should be somewhat nice in matters of + the sort, since he stands, as it were, as the representative of his + country, whose good name should be more dear to him than his own.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your weapon on such occasions was, I suppose, the sword?’ my father + asked, shifting uneasily in his seat, as he would do when his old + instincts were waking up. + </p> + <p> + ‘Broadsword, rapier, Toledo, spontoon, battle-axe, pike or half-pike, + morgenstiern, and halbert. I speak with all due modesty, but with + backsword, sword and dagger, sword and buckler, single falchion, case of + falchions, or any other such exercise, I will hold mine own against any + man that ever wore neat’s leather, save only my elder brother Quartus.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘By my faith,’ said my father with his eyes shining, ‘were I twenty years + younger I should have at you! My backsword play hath been thought well of + by stout men of war. God forgive me that my heart should still turn to + such vanities.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have heard godly men speak well of it,’ remarked Saxon. ‘Master Richard + Rumbold himself spake of your deeds of arms to the Duke of Argyle. Was + there not a Scotsman, one Storr or Stour?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, ay! Storr of Drumlithie. I cut him nigh to the saddle-bow in a + skirmish on the eve of Dunbar. So Dicky Rumbold had not forgotten it, eh? + He was a hard one both at praying and at fighting. We have ridden knee to + knee in the field, and we have sought truth together in the chamber. So, + Dick will be in harness once again! He could not be still if a blow were + to be struck for the trampled faith. If the tide of war set in this + direction, I too—who knows? who knows?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And here is a stout man-at-arms,’ said Saxon, passing his hand down my + arm.’ He hath thew and sinew, and can use proud words too upon occasion, + as I have good cause to know, even in our short acquaintance. Might it not + be that he too should strike in this quarrel?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We shall discuss it,’ my father answered, looking thoughtfully at me from + under his heavy brows. ‘But I pray you, friend Saxon, to give us some + further account upon these matters. My son Micah, as I understand, hath + picked you out of the waves. How came you there?’ + </p> + <p> + Decimus Saxon puffed at his pipe for a minute or more in silence, as one + who is marshalling facts each in its due order. + </p> + <p> + ‘It came about in this wise,’ he said at last. ‘When John of Poland chased + the Turk from the gates of Vienna, peace broke out in the Principalities, + and many a wandering cavaliero like myself found his occupation gone. + There was no war waging save only some petty Italian skirmish, in which a + soldier could scarce expect to reap either dollars or repute, so I + wandered across the Continent, much cast down at the strange peace which + prevailed in every quarter. At last, however, on reaching the Lowlands, I + chanced to hear that the <i>Providence</i>, owned and commanded by my two + brothers, Nonus and Quartus, was about to start from Amsterdam for an + adventure to the Guinea coast. I proposed to them that I should join them, + and was accordingly taken into partnership on condition that I paid + one-third of the cost of the cargo. While waiting at the port I chanced to + come across some of the exiles, who, having heard of my devotion to the + Protestant cause, brought me to the Duke and to Master Rumbold, who + committed these letters to my charge. This makes it clear how they came + into my possession.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But not how you and they came into the water,’ my father suggested. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, that was but the veriest chance,’ the adventurer answered with some + little confusion of manner. ‘It was the <i>fortuna belli</i>, or more + properly <i>pacis</i>. I had asked my brothers to put into Portsmouth that + I might get rid of these letters, on which they replied in a boorish and + unmannerly fashion that they were still waiting for the thousand guineas + which represented my share of the venture. To this I answered with + brotherly familiarity that it was a small thing, and should be paid for + out of the profits of our enterprise. Their reply was I that I had + promised to pay the money down, and that money down they must have. I then + proceeded to prove, both by the Aristotelian and by the Platonic or + deductive method, that having no guineas in my possession it was + impossible for me to produce a thousand of them, at the same time pointing + out that the association of an honest man in the business was in itself an + ample return for the money, since their own reputations had been somewhat + blown on. I further offered in the same frank and friendly spirit to meet + either of them with sword or with pistol, a proposal which should have + satisfied any honour-loving Cavaliero. Their base mercantile souls + prompted them, however, to catch up two muskets, one of which Nonus + discharged at me, and it is likely that Quartus would have followed suit + had I not plucked the gun from his hand and unloaded it to prevent further + mischief. In unloading it I fear that one of the slugs blew a hole in + brother Nonus. Seeing that there was a chance of further disagreements + aboard the vessel, I at once decided to leave her, in doing which I was + forced to kick off my beautiful jack-boots, which were said by Vanseddars + himself to be he finest pair that ever went out of his shop, square-toed, + double-soled—alas! alas!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Strange that you should have been picked up by the son of the very man to + whom you had a letter.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The working of Providence,’ Saxon answered. ‘I have two-and-twenty other + letters which must all be delivered by hand. If you will permit me to use + your house for a while, I shall make it my headquarters.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Use it as though it were your own,’ said my father. + </p> + <p> + ‘Your most grateful servant, sir,’ he cried, jumping up and bowing with + his hand over his heart. ‘This is indeed a haven of rest after the ungodly + and profane company of my brothers. Shall we then put up a hymn, and + retire from the business of the day?’ + </p> + <p> + My father willingly agreed, and we sang ‘Oh, happy land!’ after which our + visitor followed me to his room, bearing with him the unfinished bottle of + usquebaugh which my mother had left on the table. He took it with him, he + explained, as a precaution against Persian ague, contracted while battling + against the Ottoman, and liable to recur at strange moments. I left him in + our best spare bedroom, and returned to my father, who was still seated, + heavy with thought, in his old corner. + </p> + <p> + ‘What think you of my find, Dad?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘A man of parts and of piety,’ he answered; ‘but in truth he has brought + me news so much after my heart, that he could not be unwelcome were he the + Pope of Rome.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What news, then?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘This, this!’ he cried joyously, plucking the letter out of his bosom. ‘I + will read it to you, lad. Nay, perhaps I had best sleep the night upon it, + and read it to-morrow when our heads are clearer. May the Lord guide my + path, and confound the tyrant! Pray for light, boy, for my life and yours + may be equally at stake.’ + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VI. Of the Letter that came from the Lowlands + </h2> + <p> + In the morning I was up betimes, and went forthwith, after the country + fashion, to our quest’s room to see if there was aught in which I could + serve him. On pushing at his door, I found that it was fastened, which + surprised me the more as I knew that there was neither key nor bolt upon + the inside. On my pressing against it, however, it began to yield, and I + could then see that a heavy chest which was used to stand near the window + had been pulled round in order to shut out any intrusion. This precaution, + taken under my father’s roof, as though he were in a den of thieves, + angered me, and I gave a butt with my shoulder which cleared the box out + of the way, and enabled me to enter the room. + </p> + <p> + The man Saxon was sitting up in bed, staring about him as though he were + not very certain for the moment where he was. He had tied a white kerchief + round his head by way of night bonnet, and his hard-visaged, clean-shaven + face, looking out through this, together with his bony figure, gave him + some resemblance to a gigantic old woman. The bottle of usquebaugh stood + empty by his bedside. Clearly his fears had been realised, and he had had + an attack of the Persian ague. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, my young friend!’ he said at last. ‘Is it, then, the custom of this + part of the country to carry your visitor’s rooms by storm or escalado in + the early hours of the morning?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Is it the custom,’ I answered sternly, ‘to barricade up your door when + you are sleeping under the roof-tree of an honest man? What did you fear, + that you should take such a precaution?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, you are indeed a spitfire,’ he replied, sinking back upon the + pillow, and drawing the clothes round him, ‘a feuerkopf as the Germans + call it, or sometimes tollkopf, which in its literal significance meaneth + a fool’s head. Your father was, as I have heard, a strong and a fierce man + when the blood of youth ran in his veins; but you, I should judge, are in + no way behind him. Know, then, that the bearer of papers of import, <i>documenta + preciosa sed periculosa</i>, is bound to leave nought to chance, but to + guard in every way the charge which hath been committed to him. True it is + that I am in the house of an honest man, but I know not who may come or + who may go during the hours of the night. Indeed, for the matter of that—but + enough is said. I shall be with you anon.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your clothes are dry and are ready for you,’ I remarked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Enough! enough!’ he answered. ‘I have no quarrel with the suit which your + father has lent me. It may be that I have been used to better, but they + will serve my turn. The camp is not the court.’ + </p> + <p> + It was evident to me that my father’s suit was infinitely better, both in + texture and material, than that which our visitor had brought with him. As + he had withdrawn his head, however, entirely beneath the bedclothes, there + was nothing more to be said, so I descended to the lower room, where I + found toy father busily engaged fastening a new buckle to his sword-belt + while my mother and the maid were preparing the morning meal. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come into the yard with me, Micah,’ quoth my father; ‘I would have a word + with you.’ The workmen had not yet come to their work, so we strolled out + into the sweet morning air, and seated ourselves on the low stone bankment + on which the skins are dressed. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have been out here this morning trying my hand at the broadsword + exercise, ‘said he; ‘I find that I am as quick as ever on a thrust, but my + cuts are sadly stiff. I might be of use at a pinch, but, alas! I am not + the same swordsman who led the left troop of the finest horse regiment + that ever followed a kettledrum. The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath + taken away! Yet, if I am old and worn, there is the fruit of my loins to + stand in my place and to wield the same sword in the same cause. You shall + go in my place, Micah.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Go! Go whither?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hush, lad, and listen! Let not your mother know too much, for the hearts + of women are soft. When Abraham offered up his eldest born, I trow that he + said little to Sarah on the matter. Here is the letter. Know you who this + Dicky Rumbold is?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Surely I have heard you speak of him as an old companion of yours.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The same—a staunch man and true. So faithful was he—faithful + even to slaying—that when the army of the righteous dispersed, he + did not lay aside his zeal with his buff-coat. He took to business as a + maltster at Hoddesdon, and in his house was planned the famous Rye House + Plot, in which so many good men were involved.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Was it not a foul assassination plot?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay, be not led away by terms! It is a vile invention of the + malignants that these men planned assassination. What they would do they + purposed doing in broad daylight, thirty of them against fifty of the + Royal Guard, when Charles and James passed on their way to Newmarket. If + the royal brothers got pistol-bullet or sword-stab, it would be in open + fight, and at the risk of their attackers. It was give and take, and no + murder.’ + </p> + <p> + He paused and looked inquiringly at me; but I could not truthfully say + that I was satisfied, for an attack upon the lives of unarmed and + unsuspecting men, even though surrounded by a bodyguard, could not, to my + mind, be justified. + </p> + <p> + ‘When the plot failed,’ my father continued, ‘Rumbold had to fly for his + life, but he succeeded in giving his pursuers the slip and in making his + way to the Lowlands. There he found that many enemies of the Government + had gathered together. Repeated messages from England, especially from the + western counties and from London, assured them that if they would but + attempt an invasion they might rely upon help both in men and in money. + They were, however, at fault for some time for want of a leader of + sufficient weight to carry through so large a project; but now at last + they have one, who is the best that could have been singled out—none + other than the well-beloved Protestant chieftain James, Duke of Monnmouth, + son of Charles II.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Illegitimate son,’ I remarked. + </p> + <p> + ‘That may or may not be. There are those who say that Lucy Walters was a + lawful wife. Bastard or no, he holds the sound principles of the true + Church, and he is beloved by the people. Let him appear in the West, and + soldiers will rise up like the flowers in the spring time.’ + </p> + <p> + He paused, and led me away to the farther end of the yard, for the workmen + had begun to arrive and to cluster round the dipping trough. + </p> + <p> + ‘Monmouth is coming over,’ he continued, ‘and he expects every brave + Protestant man to rally to his standard. The Duke of Argyle is to command + a separate expedition, which will set the Highlands of Scotland in a + blaze. Between them they hope to bring the persecutor of the faithful on + his knees. But I hear the voice of the man Saxon, and I must not let him + say that I have treated him in a churlish fashion. Here is the letter, + lad. Read it with care, and remember that when brave men are striving for + their rights it is fitting that one of the old rebel house of Clarke + should be among them.’ + </p> + <p> + I took the letter, and wandering off into the fields, I settled myself + under a convenient tree, and set myself to read it. This yellow sheet + which I now hold in my hand is the very one which was brought by Decimus + Saxon, and read by me that bright May morning under the hawthorn shade. I + give it to you as it stands; + </p> + <p> + ‘To my friend and companion in the cause of the Lord, Joseph Clarke.—Know, + friend, that aid and delivery is coming upon Israel, and that the wicked + king and those who uphold him shall be smitten and entirely cast down, + until their place in the land shall know them no more. Hasten, then, to + testify to thy own faith, that in the day of trouble ye be not found + wanting. + </p> + <p> + ‘It has chanced from time to time that many of the suffering Church, both + from our own land and from among the Scots, have assembled in this good + Lutheran town of Amsterdam, until enough are gathered together to take a + good work in hand. For amongst our own folk there are my Lord Grey of + Wark, Wade, Dare of Taunton, Ayloffe, Holmes, Hollis, Goodenough, and + others whom thou shalt know. Of the Scots there are the Duke of Argyle, + who has suffered sorely for the Covenant, Sir Patrick Hume, Fletcher of + Saltoun, Sir John Cochrane, Dr. Ferguson, Major Elphinstone, and others. + To these we would fain have added Locke and old Hal Ludlow, but they are, + as those of the Laodicean Church, neither cold nor warm. + </p> + <p> + ‘It has now come to pass, however, that Monmouth, who has long lived in + dalliance with the Midianitish woman known by the name of Wentworth, has + at last turned him to higher things, and has consented to make a bid for + the crown. It was found that the Scots preferred to follow a chieftain of + their own, and it has therefore been determined that Argyle—M’Callum + More, as the breechless savages of Inverary call him—shall command a + separate expedition landing upon the western coast of Scotland. There he + hopes to raise five thousand Campbells, and to be joined by all the + Covenanters and Western Whigs, men who would make troops of the old breed + had they but God-fearing officers with an experience of the chance of + fields and the usages of war. With such a following he should be able to + hold Glasgow, and to draw away the King’s force to the north. Ayloffe and + I go with Argyle. It is likely that our feet may be upon Scottish ground + before thy eyes read these words. + </p> + <p> + ‘The stronger expedition starts with Monmouth, and lands at a fitting + place in the West, where we are assured that we have many friends. I + cannot name the spot lest this letter miscarry, but thou shalt hear anon. + I have written to all good men along the coast, bidding them to be + prepared to support the rising. The King is weak, and hated by the greater + part of his subjects. It doth but need one good stroke to bring his crown + in the dust. Monmouth will start in a few weeks, when his equipment is + finished and the weather favourable. If thou canst come, mine old comrade, + I know well that thou wilt need no bidding of mine to bring thee to our + banner. Should perchance a peaceful life and waning strength forbid thy + attendance, I trust that thou wilt wrestle for us in prayer, even as the + holy prophet of old; and perchance, since I hear that thou hast prospered + according to the things of this world, thou mayst be able to fit out a + pikeman or two, or to send a gift towards the military chest, which will + be none too plentifully lined. We trust not to gold, but to steel and to + our own good cause, yet gold will be welcome none the less. Should we + fall, we fall like men and Christians. Should we succeed, we shall see how + the perjured James, the persecutor of the saints with the heart like a + nether millstone, the man who smiled when the thumbs of the faithful were + wrenched out of their sockets at Edinburgh—we shall see how manfully + he can bear adversity when it falls to his lot. May the hand of the + Almighty be over us! + </p> + <p> + ‘I know little of the bearer of this, save that he professes to be of the + elect. Shouldst thou go to Monmouth’s camp, see that thou take him with + thee, for I hear that he hath had good experience in the German, Swedish, + and Otttoman wars.—Yours in the faith of Christ, Richard Rumbold. + </p> + <p> + ‘Present my services to thy spouse. Let her read Timothy chapter two, + ninth to fifteenth verses.’ + </p> + <p> + This long letter I read very carefully, and then putting it in my pocket + returned indoors to my breakfast. My father looked at me, as I entered, + with questioning eyes, but I had no answer to return him, for my own mind + was clouded and uncertain. + </p> + <p> + That day Decimus Saxon left us, intending to make a round of the country + and to deliver his letters, but promising to be back again ere long. We + had a small mishap ere he went, for as we were talking of his journey my + brother Hosea must needs start playing with my father’s powder-flask, + which in some way went off with a sudden fluff, spattering the walls with + fragments of metal. So unexpected and loud was the explosion, that both my + father and I sprang to our feet; but Saxon, whose back was turned to my + brother, sat four-square in his chair without a glance behind him or a + shade of change in his rugged face. As luck would have it, no one was + injured, not even Hosea, but the incident made me think more highly of our + new acquaintance. As he started off down the village street, his long + stringy figure and strange gnarled visage, with my father’s silver-braided + hat cocked over his eye, attracted rather more attention than I cared to + see, considering the importance of the missives which he bore, and the + certainty of their discovery should he be arrested as a masterless man. + Fortunately, however, the curiosity of the country folk did but lead them + to cluster round their doors and windows, staring open-eyed, while he, + pleased at the attention which he excited, strode along with his head in + the air and a cudgel of mine twirling in his hand. He had left golden + opinions behind him. My father’s good wishes had been won by his piety and + by the sacrifices which he claimed to have made for the faith. My mother + he had taught how wimples are worn amongst the Serbs, and had also + demonstrated to her a new method of curing marigolds in use in some parts + of Lithuania. For myself, I confess that I retained a vague distrust of + the man, and was determined to avoid putting faith in him more than was + needful. At present, however, we had no choice hut to treat him as an + ambassador from friends. + </p> + <p> + And I? What was I to do? Should I follow my father’s wishes, and draw my + maiden sword on behalf of the insurgents, or should I stand aside and see + how events shaped themselves? It was more fitting that I should go than + he. But, on the other hand, I was no keen religious zealot. Papistry, + Church, Dissent, I believed that there was good in all of them, but that + not one was worth the spilling of human blood. James might be a perjurer + and a villain, but he was, as far as I could see, the rightful king of + England, and no tales of secret marriages or black boxes could alter the + fact that his rival was apparently an illegitimate son, and as such + ineligible to the throne. Who could say what evil act upon the part of a + monarch justified his people in setting him aside? Who was the judge in + such a case? Yet, on the other hand, the man had notoriously broken his + own pledges, and that surely should absolve his subjects from their + allegiance. It was a weighty question for a country-bred lad to have to + settle, and yet settled it must be, and that speedily. I took up my hat + and wandered away down the village street, turning the matter over in my + head. + </p> + <p> + But it was no easy thing for me to think seriously of anything in the + hamlet; for I was in some way, my dear children, though I say it myself, a + favourite with the young and with the old, so that I could not walk ten + paces without some greeting or address. There were my own brothers + trailing behind me, Baker Mitford’s children tugging at my skirts, and the + millwright’s two little maidens one on either hand. Then, when I had + persuaded these young rompers to leave me, out came Dame Fullarton the + widow, with a sad tale about how her grindstone had fallen out of its + frame, and neither she nor her household could lift it in again. That + matter I set straight and proceeded on my way; but I could not pass the + sign of the Wheatsheaf without John Lockarby, Reuben’s father, plunging + out at me and insisting upon my coming in with him for a morning cup. + </p> + <p> + ‘The best glass of mead in the countryside, and brewed under my own roof,’ + said he proudly, as he poured it into the flagon. ‘Why, bless you, master + Micah, a man with a frame like yours wants store o’ good malt to keep it + up wi’.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And malt like this is worthy of a good frame to contain it,’ quoth + Reuben, who was at work among the flasks. + </p> + <p> + ‘What think ye, Micah?’ said the landlord. ‘There was the Squire o’ Milton + over here yester morning wi’ Johnny Ferneley o’ the Bank side, and they + will have it that there’s a man in Fareham who could wrestle you, the best + of three, and find your own grip, for a good round stake.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Tut! tut!’ I answered; ‘you would have me like a prize mastiff, showing + my teeth to the whole countryside. What matter if the man can throw me, or + I him?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What matter? Why, the honour of Havant,’ quoth he. ‘Is that no matter? + But you are right,’ he continued, draining off his horn. ‘What is all this + village life with its small successes to such as you? You are as much out + of your place as a vintage wine at a harvest supper. The whole of broad + England, and not the streets of Havant, is the fit stage for a man of your + kidney. What have you to do with the beating of skins and the tanning of + leather?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My father would have you go forth as a knight-errant, Micah,’ said + Reuben, laughing. ‘You might chance to get your own skin beaten and your + own leather tanned.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Who ever knew so long a tongue in so short a body?’ cried the innkeeper. + ‘But in good sooth, Master Micah, I am in sober earnest when I say that + you are indeed wasting the years of your youth, when life is sparkling and + clear, and that you will regret it when you have come to the flat and + flavourless dregs of old age.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There spoke the brewer,’ said Reuben; ‘but indeed, Micah, my father is + right, for all that he hath such a hops-and-water manner of putting it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I will think over it,’ I answered, and with a nod to the kindly couple + proceeded on my way. + </p> + <p> + Zachariah Palmer was planing a plank as I passed. Looking up he bade me + good-morrow. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have a book for you, lad,’ he said. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have but now finished the “Comus,”’ I answered, for he had lent me John + Milton’s poem. ‘But what is this new book, daddy?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is by the learned Locke, and treateth of states and statecraft. It is + but a small thing, but if wisdom could show in the scales it would weigh + down many a library. You shall have it when I have finished it, to-morrow + mayhap or the day after. A good man is Master Locke. Is he not at this + moment a wanderer in the Lowlands, rather than bow his knee to what his + conscience approved not of?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There are many good men among the exiles, are there not?’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘The pick of the country,’ he answered. ‘Ill fares the land that drives + the highest and bravest of its citizens away from it. The day is coming, I + fear, when every man will have to choose betwixt his beliefs and his + freedom. I am an old man, Micah boy, but I may live long enough to see + strange things in this once Protestant kingdom.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But if these exiles had their way,’ I objected, ‘they would place + Monmouth upon the throne, and so unjustly alter the succession.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay,’ old Zachary answered, laying down his plane. ‘If they use + Monmouth’s name, it is but to strengthen their cause, and to show that + they have a leader of repute. Were James driven from the throne, the + Commons of England in Parliament assembled would be called upon to name + his successor. There are men at Monmouth’s back who would not stir unless + this were so.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then, daddy,’ said I, ‘since I can trust you, and since you will tell me + what you do really think, would it be well, if Monmouth’s standard be + raised, that I should join it?’ + </p> + <p> + The carpenter stroked his white beard and pondered for a while. ‘It is a + pregnant question,’ he said at last, ‘and yet methinks that there is but + one answer to it, especially for your father’s son. Should an end be put + to James’s rule, it is not too late to preserve the nation in its old + faith; but if the disease is allowed to spread, it may be that even the + tyrant’s removal would not prevent his evil seed from sprouting. I hold, + therefore, that should the exiles make such an attempt, it is the duty of + every man who values liberty of conscience to rally round them. And you, + my son, the pride of the village, what better use could you make of your + strength than to devote it to helping to relieve your country of this + insupportable yoke? It is treasonable and dangerous counsel—counsel + which might lead to a short shrift and a bloody death—but, as the + Lord liveth, if you were child of mine I should say the same.’ + </p> + <p> + So spoke the old carpenter with a voice which trembled with earnestness, + and went to work upon his plank once more, while I, with a few words of + gratitude, went on my way pondering over what he had said to me. I had not + gone far, however, before the hoarse voice of Solomon Sprent broke in upon + my meditations. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hoy there! Ahoy!’ he bellowed, though his mouth was but a few yards from + my ear. ‘Would ye come across my hawse without slacking weigh? Clew up, + d’ye see, clew up!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, Captain,’ I said, ‘I did not see you. I was lost in thought.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘All adrift and without look-outs,’ quoth he, pushing his way through the + break in the garden hedge. ‘Odd’s niggars, man! friends are not so + plentiful, d’ye see, that ye need pass ‘em by without a dip o’ the ensign. + So help me, if I had had a barker I’d have fired a shot across your bows.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No offence, Captain,’ said I, for the veteran appeared to be nettled; ‘I + have much to think of this morning.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And so have I, mate,’ he answered, in a softer voice. ‘What think ye of + my rig, eh?’ He turned himself slowly round in the sunlight as he spoke, + and I perceived that he was dressed with unusual care. He had a blue suit + of broadcloth trimmed with eight rows of buttons, and breeches of the same + material with great bunches of ribbon at the knee. His vest was of lighter + blue picked out with anchors in silver, and edged with a finger’s-breadth + of lace. His boot was so wide that he might have had his foot in a bucket, + and he wore a cutlass at his side suspended from a buff belt, which passed + over his right shoulder. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ve had a new coat o’ paint all over,’ said he, with a wink. ‘Carramba! + the old ship is water-tight yet. What would ye say, now, were I about to + sling my hawser over a little scow, and take her in tow?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A cow!’ I cried. + </p> + <p> + ‘A cow! what d’ye take me for? A wench, man, and as tight a little craft + as ever sailed into the port of wedlock.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have heard no better news for many a long day,’ said I; ‘I did not even + know that you were betrothed. When thou is the wedding to be?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Go slow, friend—go slow, and heave your lead-line! You have got out + of your channel, and are in shoal water. I never said as how I was + betrothed.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What then?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am getting up anchor now, to run down to her and summon her. Look ye, + lad,’ he continued, plucking off his cap and scratching his ragged locks; + ‘I’ve had to do wi’ wenches enow from the Levant to the Antilles—wenches + such as a sailorman meets, who are all paint and pocket. It’s but the + heaving of a hand grenade, and they strike their colours. This is a craft + of another guess build, and unless I steer wi’ care she may put one in + between wind and water before I so much as know that I am engaged. What + think ye, heh? Should I lay myself boldly alongside, d’ye see, and ply her + with small arms, or should I work myself clear and try a long range + action? I am none of your slippery, grease-tongued, long-shore lawyers, + but if so be as she’s willing for a mate, I’ll stand by her in wind and + weather while my planks hold out.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I can scarce give advice in such a case,’ said I, ‘for my experience is + less than yours. I should say though that you had best speak to her from + your heart, in plain sailor language.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, aye, she can take it or leave it. Phoebe Dawson it is, the sister of + the blacksmith. Let us work back and have a drop of the right Nants before + we go. I have an anker newly come, which never paid the King a groat.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, you had best leave it alone,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Say you so? Well, mayhap you are right. Throw off your moorings, then, + and clap on sail, for we must go.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But I am not concerned,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not concerned! Not—’ he was too much overcome to go on, and could + but look at me with a face full of reproach. ‘I thought better of you, + Micah. Would you let this crazy old hulk go into action, and not stand by + to fire a broadside?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What would you have me do then?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, I would have you help me as the occasion may arise. If I start to + board her, I would have you work across the bows so as to rake her. Should + I range, up on the larboard quarter, do you lie, on the starboard. If I + get crippled, do you draw her fire until I refit. What, man, you would not + desert me!’ + </p> + <p> + The old seaman’s tropes and maritime conceits were not always intelligible + to me, but it was clear that he had set his heart upon my accompanying + him, which I was equally determined not to do. At last by much reasoning I + made him understand that my presence would be more hindrance than help, + and would probably be fatal to his chances of success. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, well,’ he grumbled at last, ‘I’ve been concerned in no such + expedition before. An’ it be the custom for single ships to engage, I’ll + stand to it alone. You shall come with me as consort, though, and stand to + and fro in the offing, or sink me if I stir a step.’ + </p> + <p> + My mind was full of my father’s plans and of the courses which lay before + me. There seemed to be no choice, however, as old Solomon was in dead + earnest, but to lay the matter aside for the moment and see the upshot of + this adventure. + </p> + <p> + ‘Mind, Solomon,’ said I, ‘I don’t cross the threshold.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, aye, mate. You can please yourself. We have to beat up against the + wind all the way. She’s on the look-out, for I hailed her yesternight, and + let her know as how I should bear down on her about seven bells of the + morning watch.’ + </p> + <p> + I was thinking as we trudged down the road that Phoebe would need to be + learned in sea terms to make out the old man’s meaning, when he pulled up + short and clapped his hands to his pockets. + </p> + <p> + ‘Zounds!’ he cried, ‘I have forgot to bring a pistol.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘In Heaven’s name!’ I said in amazement, ‘what could you want with a + pistol?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, to make signals with,’ said he. ‘Odds me that I should have forgot + it! How is one’s consort to know what is going forward when the flagship + carries no artillery? Had the lass been kind I should have fired one gun, + that you might know it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why,’ I answered, ‘if you come not out I shall judge that all is well. If + things go amiss I shall see you soon.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye—or stay! I’ll hoist a white jack at the port-hole. A white jack + means that she hath hauled down her colours. Nombre de Dios, when I was a + powder-boy in the old ship <i>Lion</i>, the day that we engaged the <i>Spiritus + Sanctus</i> of two tier o’ guns—the first time that ever I heard the + screech of ball—my heart never thumped as it does now. What say ye + if we run back with a fair wind and broach that anker of Nants?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, stand to it, man,’ said I; for by this time, we had come to the + ivy-clad cottage behind which was the village smithy. ‘What, Solomon! an + English seaman never feared a foe, either with petticoats or without + them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, curse me if he did!’ quoth Solomon, squaring his shoulders, ‘never a + one, Don, Devil, or Dutchman; so here goes for her!’ So saying he made his + way into the cottage, leaving me standing by the garden wicket, half + amused and half annoyed at this interruption to my musings. + </p> + <p> + As it proved, the sailor had no very great difficulty with his suit, and + soon managed to capture his prize, to use his own language. I heard from + the garden the growling of his gruff voice, and a good deal of shrill + laughter ending in a small squeak, which meant, I suppose, that he was + coming to close quarters. Then there was silence for a little while, and + at last I saw a white kerchief waving from the window, and perceived, + moreover, that it was Phoebe herself who was fluttering it. Well, she was + a smart, kindly-hearted lass, and I was glad in my heart that the old + seaman should have such a one to look after him. + </p> + <p> + Here, then, was one good friend settled down finally for life. Another + warned me that I was wasting my best years in the hamlet. A third, the + most respected of all, advised me openly to throw in my lot with the + insurgents, should the occasion arise. If I refused, I should have the + shame of seeing my aged father setting off for the wars, whilst I lingered + at home. And why should I refuse? Had it not long been the secret wish of + my heart to see something of the great world, and what fairer chance could + present itself? My wishes, my friend’s advice, and my father’s hopes all + pointed in the one direction. + </p> + <p> + ‘Father,’ said I, when I returned home, ‘I am ready to go where you will.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘May the Lord be glorified!’ he cried solemnly. ‘May He watch over your + young life, and keep your heart steadfast to the cause which is assuredly + His!’ + </p> + <p> + And so, my dear grandsons, the great resolution was taken, and I found + myself committed to one side in the national quarrel. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VII. Of the Horseman who rode from the West + </h2> + <p> + My father set to work forthwith preparing for our equipment, furnishing + Saxon out as well as myself on the most liberal scale, for he was + determined that the wealth of his age should be as devoted to the cause as + was the strength of his youth. These arrangements had to be carried out + with the most extreme caution, for there were many Prelatists in the + village, and in the present disturbed state of the public mind any + activity on the part of so well known a man would have at once attracted + attention. So carefully did the wary old soldier manage matters, however, + that we soon found ourselves in a position to start at an hour’s notice, + without any of our neighbours being a whit the wiser. + </p> + <p> + His first move was to purchase through an agent two suitable horses at + Chichester fair, which were conveyed to the stables of a trusty Whig + farmer living near Portchester, who was ordered to keep them until they + were called for. Of these animals one was a mottled grey, of great mettle + and power, standing seventeen and a half hands high, and well up to my + weight, for in those days, my dears, I had not laid on flesh, and weighed + a little under sixteen stone for all my height and strength. A critic + might have said that Covenant, for so I named my steed, was a trifle heavy + about the head and neck, but I found him a trusty, willing brute, with + great power and endurance. Saxon, who when fully accoutred could scarce + have weighed more than twelve stone, had a light bay Spanish jennet, of + great speed and spirit. This mare he named Chloe, ‘after a godly maiden of + his acquaintance,’ though, as my father remarked, there was a somewhat + ungodly and heathenish smack about the appellation. These horses and their + harness were bought and held ready without my father appearing in the + matter in any way. + </p> + <p> + This important point having been settled, there was the further question + of arms to be discussed, which gave rise to much weighty controversy + between Decimus Saxon and my father, each citing many instances from their + own experiences where the presence or absence of some taslet or arm-guard + had been of the deepest import to the wearer. Your great-grandfather had + set his heart upon my wearing the breastplate which still bore the dints + of the Scottish spears at Dunbar, but on trying it on we found it was too + small for me. I confess that this was a surprise, for when I looked back + at the awe with which I had regarded my father’s huge proportions, it was + marvellous to me to have this convincing proof that I had outgrown him. By + ripping down the side-leather and piercing holes through which a lace + could be passed, my mother managed to arrange it so that I could wear it + without discomfort. A pair of taslets or thigh-pieces, with guards for the + upper arm and gauntlets, were all borrowed from the old Parliamentary + equipment, together with the heavy straight sword and pair of horse + pistols which formed the usual weapons of a cavalier. My father had chosen + me a head-piece in Portsmouth, fluted, with good barrets, padded inside + with soft leather, very light and yet very strong. When fully equipped, + both Saxon and my father agreed that I had all that was requisite for a + well-appointed soldier. Saxon had purchased a buff-coat, a steel cap, and + a pair of jack-boots, so that with the rapier and pistols which my father + had presented him with, he was ready to take the field at any time. + </p> + <p> + There would, we hoped, be no great difficulty in our reaching Monmouth’s + forces when the hour came. In those troublous times the main roads were so + infested by highwaymen and footpads, that it was usual for travellers to + carry weapons and even armour for their protection. There was no reason + therefore why our appearance should excite suspicion. Should questions be + asked, Saxon had a long story prepared, to the effect that we were + travelling to join Henry Somerset, Duke of Beaufort, to whose household we + belonged. This invention he explained to me, with many points of + corroboration which I was to furnish, but when I said positively that I + should rather be hanged as a rebel than speak a falsehood, he looked at me + open-eyed, and shook his head as one much shocked. A few weeks of + campaigning, he said, would soon cure me of my squeamishness. For himself, + no more truthful child had ever carried a horn-book, but he had learned to + lie upon the Danube, and looked upon it as a necessary part of the + soldier’s upbringing. ‘For what are all stratagems, ambuscades, and + outfalls but lying upon a large scale?’ he argued. ‘What is an adroit + commander but one who hath a facility for disguising the truth? When, at + the battle of Senlac, William the Norman ordered his men to feign flight + in order that they might break his enemy’s array, a wile much practised + both by the Scythians of old and by the Croats of our own day, pray what + is it but the acting of a lie? Or when Hannibal, having tied torches to + the horns of great droves of oxen, caused the Roman Consuls to imagine + that his army was in retreat, was it not a deception or infraction of the + truth?—a point well brought out by a soldier of repute in the + treatise “An in bello dolo uti liceat; an apud hostes falsiloquio uti + liceat.” And so if, after these great models, I in order to gain mine ends + do announce that we are bound to Beaufort when we are in truth making for + Monmouth, is it not in accord with the usages of war and the customs of + great commanders?’ All which specious argument I made no attempt to + answer, beyond repeating that he might avail himself of the usage, but + that he must not look to me for corroboration. On the other hand, I + promised to hold my speech and to say nothing which might hamper him, with + which pledge he was forced to be contented. + </p> + <p> + And now at last, my patient listeners, I shall be able to carry you out of + the humble life of the village, and to cease my gossip of the men who were + old when I was young, and who are now lying this many a year in the + Bedhampton churchyard. You shall come with me now, and you shall see + England as it was in those days, and you shall hear of how we set forth to + the wars, and of all the adventures which overtook us. And if what I tell + you should ever chance to differ from what you have read in the book of + Mr. Coke or of Mr. Oldmixon, or of any one else who has set these matters + down in print, do ye bear in mind that I am telling of what I saw with + these very eyes, and that I have helped to make history, which is a higher + thing than to write it. + </p> + <p> + It was, then, towards nightfall upon the twelfth day of June 1685 that the + news reached our part of the country that Monmouth had landed the day + before at Lyme, a small seaport on the boundary between Dorsetshire and + Devonshire. A great beacon blaze upon Portsdown Hill was the first news + that we had of it, and then came a rattling and a drumming from + Portsmouth, where the troops were assembled under arms. Mounted messengers + clattered through the village street with their heads low on their horses’ + necks, for the great tidings must be carried to London, that the Governor + of Portsmouth might know how to act. (Note B, Appendix.) We were standing + at our doorway in the gloaming, watching the coming and the going, and the + line of beacon fires which were lengthening away to the eastward, when a + little man galloped up to the door and pulled his panting horse up. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is Joseph Clarke here?’ he asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am he,’ said my father. + </p> + <p> + ‘Are these men true?’ he whispered, pointing with his whip at Saxon and + myself. ‘Then the trysting-place is Taunton. Pass it on to all whom ye + know. Give my horse a bait and a drink, I beg of ye, for I must get on my + way.’ + </p> + <p> + My young brother Hosea looked to the tired creature, while we brought the + rider inside and drew him a stoup of beer. A wiry, sharp-faced man he was, + with a birth-mark upon his temple. His face and clothes were caked with + dust, and his limbs were so stiff from the saddle that he could scarce put + one foot before another. + </p> + <p> + ‘One horse hath died under me,’ he said, ‘and this can scarce last another + twenty miles. I must be in London by morning, for we hope that Danvers and + Wildman may be able to raise the city. Yester-evening I left Monmouth’s + camp. His blue flag floats over Lyme.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What force hath he?’ my father asked anxiously. + </p> + <p> + ‘He hath but brought over leaders. The force must come from you folk at + home. He has with him Lord Grey of Wark, with Wade, the German Buyse, and + eighty or a hundred more. Alas! that two who came are already lost to us. + It is an evil, evil omen.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What is amiss, then?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Dare, the goldsmith of Taunton, hath been slain by Fletcher of Saltoun in + some child’s quarrel about a horse. The peasants cried out for the blood + of the Scot, and he was forced to fly aboard the ships. A sad mishap it + is, for he was a skilful leader and a veteran soldier.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, aye,’ cried Saxon impatiently, ‘there will be some more skilful + leaders and veteran soldiers in the West presently to take his place. But + if he knew the usages of war, how came it that he should fight upon a + private quarrel at such a time?’ He drew a flat brown book from his bosom, + and ran his long thin finger down the table of contents. ‘Subisectio nona’—‘here + is the very case set forth, “An in hello publico provocatus ad duellum + privatae amicitiae causa declinare possit,” in which the learned Fleming + layeth it down that a man’s private honour must give way to the good of + the cause. Did it not happen in my own case that, on the eve of the + raising of the Anlagerung of Vienna, we stranger officers having been + invited to the tent of the General, it chanced that a red-headed Irisher, + one O’Daffy, an ancient in the regiment of Pappenheimer, did claim + precedence of me on the ground of superiority of blood? On this I drew my + glove across his face, not, mark ye, in anger, but as showing that I + differed in some degree from his opinion. At which dissent he did at once + offer to sustain his contention, but I, having read this subsection to + him, did make it clear to him that we could not in honour settle the point + until the Turk was chased from the city. So after the onfall—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, sir, I may hear the narrative some future day,’ said the messenger, + staggering to his feet. ‘I hope to find a relay at Chichester, and time + presses. Work for the cause now, or be slaves for ever. Farewell!’ He + clambered into his saddle, and we heard the clatter of his hoofs dying + away down the London road. + </p> + <p> + ‘The time hath come for you to go, Micah,’ said my father solemnly.’ Nay, + wife, do not weep, but rather hearten the lad on his way by a blithe word + and a merry face. I need not tell you to fight manfully and fearlessly in + this quarrel. Should the tide of war set in this direction, you may find + your old father riding by your side. Let us now bow down and implore the + favour of the Almighty upon this expedition.’ + </p> + <p> + We all knelt down in the low-roofed, heavy-raftered room while the old man + offered up an earnest, strenuous prayer for our success. Even now, as I + speak to ye, that group rises up before mine eyes. I see once again your + ancestor’s stern, rugged face, with his brows knitted and his corded hands + writhed together in the fervour of his supplication. My mother kneels + beside him with the tears trickling down her sweet, placid face, stifling + her sobs lest the sound of them make my leave-taking more bitter. The + children are in the sleeping-room upstairs, and we hear the patter of + their bare feet upon the floor. The man Saxon sprawls across one of the + oaken chairs, half kneeling, half reclining, with his long legs trailing + out behind, and his face buried in his hands. All round in the flickering + light of the hanging lamp I see the objects which have been so familiar to + me from childhood—the settle by the fireplace, the high-back + stiff-elbowed chairs, the stuffed fox above the door, the picture of + Christian viewing the Promised Land from the summit of the Delectable + Mountains—all small trifles in themselves, but making up among them + the marvellous thing we call home, the all-powerful lodestone which draws + the wanderer’s heart from the farther end of the earth. Should I ever see + it again save in my dreams—I, who was leaving this sheltered cove to + plunge into the heart of the storm? + </p> + <p> + The prayer finished, we all rose with the exception of Saxon, who remained + with his face buried in his hands for a minute or so before starting to + his feet. I shrewdly suspect that he had been fast asleep, though he + explained that he had paused to offer up an additional supplication. My + father placed his hands upon my head and invoked the blessing of Heaven + upon me. He then drew my companion aside, and I heard the jingling of + coin, from which I judge that he was giving him something wherewith to + start upon his travels. My mother clasped me to her heart, and slipped a + small square of paper into my hand, saying that I was to look at it at my + leisure, and that I should make her happy if I would but conform to the + instructions contained in it. This I promised to do, and tearing myself + away I set off down the darkened village street, with my long-limbed + companion striding by my side. + </p> + <p> + It was close upon one in the morning, and all the country folk had been + long abed. Passing the Wheatsheaf and the house of old Solomon, I could + not but wonder what they would think of my martial garb were they afoot. I + had scarce time to form the same thought before Zachary Palmer’s cottage + when his door flew open, and the carpenter came running out with his white + hair streaming in the fresh night breeze. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have been awaiting you, Micah,’ he cried. ‘I had heard that Monmouth + was up, and I knew that you would not lose a night ere starting. God bless + you, lad, God bless you! Strong of arm and soft of heart, tender to the + weak and stern to the oppressor, you have the prayers and the love of all + who know you.’ I pressed his extended hands, and the last I saw of my + native hamlet was the shadowy figure of the carpenter as he waved his good + wishes to me through the darkness. + </p> + <p> + We made our way across the fields to the house of Whittier, the Whig + farmer, where Saxon got into his war harness. We found our horses ready + saddled and bridled, for my father had at the first alarm sent a message + across that we should need them. By two in the morning we were breasting + Portsdown Hill, armed, mounted, and fairly started on our journey to the + rebel camp. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VIII. Of our Start for the Wars + </h2> + <p> + All along the ridge of Portsdown Hill we had the lights of Portsmouth and + of the harbour ships twinkling beneath us on the left, while on the right + the Forest of Bere was ablaze with the signal fires which proclaimed the + landing of the invader. One great beacon throbbed upon the summit of + Butser, while beyond that, as far as eye could reach, twinkling sparks of + light showed how the tidings were being carried north into Berkshire and + eastward into Sussex. Of these fires, some were composed of faggots piled + into heaps, and others of tar barrels set upon poles. We passed one of + these last just opposite to Portchester, and the watchers around it, + hearing the tramp of our horses and the clank of our arms, set up a loud + huzza, thinking doubtless that we were King’s officers bound for the West. + </p> + <p> + Master Decimus Saxon had flung to the winds the precise demeanour which he + had assumed in the presence of my father, and rattled away with many a + jest and scrap of rhyme or song as we galloped through the darkness. + </p> + <p> + ‘Gadzooks!’ said he frankly, ‘it is good to be able to speak freely + without being expected to tag every sentence with a hallelujah or an + amen.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You were ever the leader in those pious exercises,’ I remarked drily. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, indeed. You have nicked it there! If a thing must be done, then take + a lead in it, whatever it may be. A plaguy good precept, which has stood + me in excellent stead before now. I cannot bear in mind whether I told you + how I was at one time taken prisoner by the Turks and conveyed to + Stamboul. There were a hundred of us or more, but the others either + perished under the bastinado, or are to this day chained to an oar in the + Imperial Ottoman galleys, where they are like to remain until they die + under the lash, or until some Venetian or Genoese bullet finds its way + into their wretched carcasses. I alone came off with my freedom.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And pray, how did you make your escape?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘By the use of the wit wherewith Providence hath endowed me,’ he answered + complacently; ‘for, seeing that their accursed religion is the blind side + of these infidels, I did set myself to work upon it. To this end I + observed the fashion in which our guard performed their morning and + evening exercises, and having transformed my doublet into a praying cloth, + I did imitate them, save only that I prayed at greater length and with + more fervour.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What!’ I cried in horror. ‘You did pretend to be a Mussulman?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, there was no pretence. I became a Mussulman. That, however, betwixt + ourselves, as it might not stand me in very good stead with some Reverend + Aminadab Fount-of-Grace in the rebel camp, who is no admirer of Mahmoud.’ + </p> + <p> + I was so astounded at the impudence of this confession, coming from the + mouth of one who had been leading the exercises of a pious Christian + family, that I was fairly bereft of speech. Decimus Saxon whistled a few + bars of a sprightly tune, and then continued— + </p> + <p> + ‘My perseverance in these exercises soon led to my being singled out from + among the other prisoners, until I so prevailed upon my gaolers that the + doors were opened for me, and I was allowed out on condition of presenting + myself at the prison gates once a day. What use, think ye, did I make of + my freedom?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, you are capable of anything,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘I set off forthwith to their chief mosque—that of St. Sophia. When + the doors opened and the muezzin called, I was ever the first to hurry + into devotions and the last to leave them. Did I see a Mussulman strike + his head upon the pavement, I would strike mine twice. Did I see him bend + and bow, I was ready to prostrate myself. In this way ere long the piety + of the converted Giaour became the talk of the city, and I was provided + with a hut in which to make my sacred meditations. Here I might have done + well, and indeed I had well-nigh made up my mind to set up as a prophet + and write an extra chapter to the Koran, when some foolish trifle made the + faithful suspicious of my honesty. It was but some nonsense of a wench + being found in my hut by some who came to consult me upon a point of + faith, but it was enough to set their heathen tongues wagging; so I + thought it wisest to give them the slip in a Levantine coaster and leave + the Koran uncompleted. It is perhaps as well, for it would be a sore trial + to have to give up Christian women and pork, for their garlic-breathing + houris and accursed kybobs of sheep’s flesh.’ + </p> + <p> + We had passed through Fareham and Botley during this conversation, and + were now making our way down the Bishopstoke road. The soil changes about + here from chalk to sand, so that our horses’ hoofs did but make a dull + subdued rattle, which was no bar to our talk—or rather to my + companion’s, for I did little more than listen. In truth, my mind was so + full of anticipations of what was before us, and of thoughts of the home + behind, that I was in no humour for sprightly chatter. The sky was + somewhat clouded, but the moon glinted out between the rifts, showing us + the long road which wound away in front of us. On either side were + scattered houses with gardens sloping down toward the road. The heavy, + sickly scent of strawberries was in the air. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hast ever slain a man in anger?’ asked Saxon, as we galloped along. + </p> + <p> + ‘Never,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ha! You will find that when you hear the clink of steel against steel, + and see your foeman’s eyes, you will straightway forget all rules, maxims, + and precepts of the fence which your father or others may have taught + you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have learned little of the sort,’ said I. My father did but teach me to + strike an honest downright blow. This sword can shear through a square + inch of iron bar.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Scanderbeg’s sword must have Scanderbeg’s arm,’ he remarked. ‘I have + observed that it is a fine piece of steel. One of the real old + text-compellers and psalm-expounders which the faithful drew in the days + of yore, when they would: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Prove their religion orthodox, + By Apostolic blows and knocks.” + </pre> + <p> + You have not fenced much, then?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Scarce at all,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is as well. With an old and tried swordsman like myself, knowledge of + the use of his weapon is everything; but with a young Hotspur of your + temper, strength and energy go for much. I have oft remarked that those + who are most skilled at the shooting of the popinjay, the cleaving of the + Turk’s head, and other such sports, are ever laggards in the field. Had + the popinjay a crossbow as well, and an arrow on the string, or had the + Turk a fist as well as a head, our young gallant’s nerves would scarce be + as steady over the business. I make no doubt, Master Clarke, that we shall + make trusty comrades. What saith old Butler? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Never did trusty squire with knight, + Or knight with squire ere jump more right.” + </pre> + <p> + I have scarce dared to quote “Hudibras” for these weeks past, lest I + should set the Covenant fermenting in the old man’s veins.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If we are indeed to be comrades,’ said I sternly, ‘you must learn to + speak with more reverence and less flippancy of my father, who would + assuredly never have harboured you had he heard the tale which you have + told me even now.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Belike not,’ the adventurer answered, chuckling to himself. ‘It is a long + stride from a mosque to a conventicle. But be not so hot-headed, my + friend. You lack that repose of character which will come to you, no + doubt, in your more mature years. What, man! within five minutes of seeing + me you would have smitten me on the head with an oar, and ever since you + have been like a bandog at my heels, ready to hark if I do but set my foot + over what you regard as the straight line. Remember that you go now among + men who fight on small occasion of quarrel. A word awry may mean a rapier + thrust.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you bear the same in mind,’ I answered hotly; ‘my temper is peaceful, + but covert threats and veiled menace I shall not abide.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Odd’s mercy!’ he cried. ‘I see that you will start carving me anon, and + take me to Monmouth’s camp in sections. Nay, nay, we shall have fighting + enow without falling out among ourselves. What houses are those on the + left?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The village of Swathling,’ I replied. ‘The lights of Bishopstoke lie to + the right, in the hollow.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then we are fifteen miles on our way, and methinks there is already some + faint flush of dawn in the east. Hullo, what have we here? Beds must be + scarce if folks sleep on the highways.’ + </p> + <p> + A dark blur which I had remarked upon the roadway in front of us had + resolved itself as we approached into the figure of a man, stretched at + full length, with his face downwards, and his head resting upon his + crossed arms. + </p> + <p> + ‘Some reveler, mayhap, from the village inn,’ I remarked. + </p> + <p> + ‘There’s blood in the air,’ said Saxon, raising up his beak-like nose like + a vulture which scents carrion. ‘Methinks he sleeps the sleep which knows + no waking.’ + </p> + <p> + He sprang down from his saddle, and turned the figure over upon his back. + The cold pale light of the early dawn shimmering upon his staring eyes and + colourless face showed that the old soldier’s instinct was correct, and + that he had indeed drawn his last breath. + </p> + <p> + ‘Here’s a pretty piece of work,’ said Saxon, kneeling by the dead man’s + side and passing his hands over his pockets. ‘Footpads, doubtless. Not a + stiver in his pockets, nor as much as a sleeve-link to help pay for the + burial.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How was he slain!’ I asked in horror, looking down at the poor vacant + face, the empty house from which the tenant had departed. + </p> + <p> + ‘A stab from behind and a tap on the head from the butt of a pistol. He + cannot have been dead long, and yet every groat is gone. A man of + position, too, I should judge from his dress—broadcloth coat by the + feel, satin breeches, and silver buckles on his shoes. The rogues must + have had some plunder with him. Could we but run across them, Clarke, it + would be a great and grand thing.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It would indeed,’ said I heartily. ‘What greater privilege than to + execute justice upon such cowardly murderers!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Pooh! pooh!’ he cried. ‘Justice is a slippery dame, and hath a two-edged + sword in her hand. We may have enough of justice in our character as + rebels to give us a surfeit of it. I would fain overtake these robbers + that we may relieve them of their <i>spolia opima</i>, together with any + other wealth which they may have unlawfully amassed. My learned friend the + Fleming layeth it down that it is no robbery to rob a robber. But where + shall we conceal this body?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Wherefore should we conceal it?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, man, unused to war or the precautions of a warrior, you must yet see + that should this body be found here, there will be a hue and cry through + the country, and that strangers like ourselves will be arrested on + suspicion. Should we clear ourselves, which is no very easy matter, the + justice will at least want to know whence we come and whither we go, which + may lead to inquiries that may bode us little good. I shall therefore take + the liberty, mine unknown and silent friend, of dragging you into yon + bushes, where for a day or two at least you are like to lie unobserved, + and so bring no harm upon honest men.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For God’s sake do not treat it so unkindly,’ I cried, springing down from + my horse and laying my hand upon my companion’s arm. ‘There is no need to + trail it in so unseemly a fashion. If it must be moved hence, I shall + carry it with all due reverence. ‘So saying, I picked the body up in my + arms, and bearing it to a wayside clump of yellow gorse bushes, I laid it + solemnly down and drew the branches over it to conceal it. + </p> + <p> + ‘You have the thews of an ox and the heart of a woman, ‘muttered my + companion. ‘By the Mass, that old white-headed psalm-singer was right; for + if my memory serves me, he said words to that effect. A few handfuls of + dust will hide the stains. Now we may jog upon our way without any fear of + being called upon to answer for another man’s sins. Let me but get my + girth tightened and we may soon be out of danger’s way.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have had to do,’ said Saxon, as we rode onwards, ‘with many gentry of + this sort, with Albanian brigands, the banditti of Piedmont, the + Lanzknechte and Freiritter of the Rhine, Algerine picaroons, and other + such folk. Yet I cannot call to mind one who hath ever been able to retire + in his old age on a sufficient competence. It is but a precarious trade, + and must end sooner or later in a dance on nothing in a tight cravat, with + some kind friend tugging at your legs to ease you of any breath that you + might have left.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nor does that end all,’ I remarked. + </p> + <p> + ‘No. There is Tophet behind and the flames of hell. So our good friends + the parsons tell us. Well, if a man is to make no money in this world, be + hanged at the end of it, and finally burn for ever, he hath assuredly + wandered on to a thorny track. If, on the other hand, one could always lay + one’s hands on a well-lined purse, as those rogues have done to-night, one + might be content to risk something in the world to come.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But what can the well-filled purse do for them?’ said I. ‘What will the + few score pieces which these bloodthirsty wretches have filched from this + poor creature avail them when their own hour of death comes round?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘True,’ said Saxon dryly; ‘they may, however, prove useful in the + meantime. This you say is Bishopstoke. What are the lights over yonder?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They come, I think, from Bishop’s Waltham,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘We must press on, for I would fain be in Salisbury before it is broad + day. There we shall put our horses up until evening and have some rest, + for there is nothing gained by man or beast coming jaded to the wars. All + this day the western roads will be crowded with couriers, and mayhap + patrolled by cavalry as well, so that we cannot show our faces upon it + without a risk of being stopped and examined. Now if we lie by all day, + and push on at dusk, keeping off the main road and making our way across + Salisbury Plain and the Somersetshire downs, we shall be less likely to + come to harm.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But what if Monmouth be engaged before we come up to him?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then we shall have missed a chance of getting our throats cut. Why, man, + supposing that he has been routed and entirely dispersed, would it not be + a merry conceit for us to appear upon the scene as two loyal yeomen, who + had ridden all the way from Hampshire to strike in against the King’s + enemies? We might chance to get some reward in money or in land for our + zeal. Nay, frown not, for I was but jesting. Breathe our horses by walking + them up this hill. My jennet is as fresh as when we started, but those + great limbs of thine are telling upon the grey.’ + </p> + <p> + The patch of light in the east had increased and broadened, and the sky + was mottled with little pink feathers of cloud. As we passed over the low + hills by Chandler’s Ford and Romsey we could see the smoke of Southampton + to the south-east, and the broad dark expanse of the New Forest with the + haze of morning hanging over it. A few horsemen passed us, pricking along, + too much engrossed in their own errand to inquire ours. A couple of carts + and a long string of pack-horses, laden principally with bales of wool, + came straggling along a byroad, and the drivers waved their broad hats to + us and wished us God-speed. At Dunbridge the folk were just stirring, and + paused in taking down the cottage shutters to come to the garden railings + and watch us pass. As we entered Dean, the great red sun pushed its rosy + rim over the edge of the horizon, and the air was filled with the buzz of + insects and the sweet scent of the morning. We dismounted at this latter + village, and had a cup of ale while resting and watering the horses. The + landlord could tell us nothing about the insurgents, and indeed seemed to + care very little about the matter one way or the other. ‘As long as brandy + pays a duty of six shillings and eightpence a gallon, and freight and + leakage comes to half a crown, while I am expected to sell it at twelve + shillings, it matters little to me who is King of England. Give me a king + that will prevent the hop-blight and I am his man.’ Those were the + landlord’s politics, and I dare say a good many more were of his way of + thinking. + </p> + <p> + From Dean to Salisbury is all straight road with moor, morass, and fenland + on either side, broken only by the single hamlet of Aldersbury, just over + the Wiltshire border. Our horses, refreshed by the short rest, stepped out + gallantly, and the brisk motion, with the sunlight and the beauty of the + morning, combined to raise our spirits and cheer us after the depression + of the long ride through the darkness, and the incident of the murdered + traveller. Wild duck, widgeon, and snipe flapped up from either side of + the road at the sound of the horses’ hoofs, and once a herd of red deer + sprang to their feet from among the ferns and scampered away in the + direction of the forest. Once, too, when passing a dense clump of trees, + we saw a shadowy white creature half hidden by the trunks, which must, I + fancy, have been one of those wild cattle of which I have heard the + peasants speak, who dwell in the recesses of the southern woods, and are + so fierce and intractable that none dare approach them. The breadth of the + view, the keenness of the air, and the novelty of the sense of having + great work to do, all combined to send a flush of life through my veins + such as the quiet village existence had never been able to give. My more + experienced companion felt the influence too, for he lifted up a cracked + voice and broke into a droning chant, which he assured me was an Eastern + ode which had been taught him by the second sister of the Hospodar of + Wallachia. + </p> + <p> + ‘Anent Monmouth,’ he remarked, coming back suddenly to the realities of + our position. ‘It is unlikely that he can take the field for some days, + though much depends upon his striking a blow soon, and so raising the + courage of his followers before the King’s troops can come down upon him. + He has, mark ye, not only his troops to find, but their weapons, which is + like to prove a more difficult matter. Suppose he can raise five thousand + men—and he cannot stir with less—he will not have one musket + in five, so the rest must do as they can with pikes and bills, or such + other rude arms as they can find. All this takes time, and though there + may be skirmishes, there can scarce be any engagement of import before we + arrive.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He will have been landed three or four days ere we reach him,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hardly time for him with his small staff of officers to enrol his men and + divide them into regiments. I scarce expect to find him at Taunton, though + we were so directed. Hast ever heard whether there are any rich Papists in + those parts?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I know not,’ I replied. + </p> + <p> + ‘If so there might be plate chests and silver chargers, to say nothing of + my lady’s jewels and other such trifles to reward a faithful soldier. What + would war be without plunder! A bottle without the wine—a shell + without the oyster. See the house yonder that peeps through the trees. I + warrant there is a store of all good things under that roof, which you and + I might have for the asking, did we but ask with our swords in our grip. + You are my witness that your father did give and not lend me this horse.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why say you that, then?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Lest he claim a half of whatever booty I may chance to gain. What saith + my learned Fleming under the heading “an qui militi equum praebuit, + praedae ab eo captae particeps esse debeat?” which signifieth “whether he + who lendeth a horse hath a claim on the plunder of him who borroweth it.” + In this discourse he cites a case wherein a Spanish commander having lent + a steed to one of his captains, and the said captain having captured the + general of the enemy, the commander did sue him for a half share of the + twenty thousand crowns which formed the ransom of the prisoner. A like + case is noted by the famous Petrinus Bellus in his book “De Re Militari,” + much read by leaders of repute.’ (Note C. Appendix.) + </p> + <p> + ‘I can promise you,’ I answered, ‘that no such claim shall ever be made by + my father upon you. See yonder, over the brow of the hill, how the sun + shines upon the high cathedral tower, which points upwards with its great + stone finger to the road that every man must travel.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is good store of silver and plate in these same churches,’ quoth my + companion. ‘I remember that at Leipsic, when I was serving my first + campaign, I got a candlestick, which I was forced to sell to a Jew broker + for a fourth of its value; yet even at his price it sufficed to fill my + haversack with broad pieces.’ + </p> + <p> + It chanced that Saxon’s mare had gained a stride or two upon mine whilst + he spoke, so that I was able to get a good view of him without turning my + head. I had scarce had light during our ride to see how his harness sat + upon him, but now I was amazed on looking at him to mark the change which + it had wrought in the man. In his civil dress his lankiness and length of + limb gave him an awkward appearance, but on horse-back, with his lean, + gaunt face looking out from his steel cap, his breastplate and buff jacket + filling out his figure, and his high boots of untanned leather reaching to + the centre of his thighs, he looked the veteran man-at-arms which he + purported to be. The ease with which he sat his horse, the high, bold + expression upon his face, and the great length of his arms, all marked him + as one who could give a good account of himself in a fray. In his words + alone I could have placed little trust, but there was that in his bearing + which assured even a novice like myself that he was indeed a trained man + of war. + </p> + <p> + ‘That is the Avon which glitters amongst the trees,’ I remarked. ‘We are + about three miles from Salisbury town.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is a noble spire,’ said he, glancing at the great stone spire in front + of us. ‘The men of old would seem to have spent all their days in piling + stones upon stones. And yet we read of tough battles and shrewd blows + struck, showing that they had some time for soldierly relaxation, and were + not always at this mason work.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The Church was rich in those days,’ I answered, shaking my bridle, for + Covenant was beginning to show signs of laziness. ‘But here comes one who + might perhaps tell us something of the war.’ + </p> + <p> + A horseman who bore traces of having ridden long and hard was rapidly + approaching us. Both rider and steed were grey with dust and splashed with + mire, yet he galloped with loosened rein and bent body, as one to whom + every extra stride is of value. + </p> + <p> + ‘What ho, friend!’ cried Saxon, reining his mare across the road so as to + bar the man’s passage. ‘What news from the West?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I must not tarry,’ the messenger gasped, slackening his speed for an + instant. ‘I bear papers of import from Gregory Alford, Mayor of Lyme, to + Ins Majesty’s Council. The rebels make great head, and gather together + like bees in the swarming time. There are some thousands in arms already, + and all Devonshire is on the move. The rebel horse under Lord Grey hath + been beaten back from Bridport by the red militia of Dorset, but every + prickeared Whig from the Channel to the Severn is making his way to + Monmouth.’ With this brief summary of the news he pushed his way past us + and clattered on in a cloud of dust upon his mission. + </p> + <p> + ‘The broth is fairly on the fire, then,’ quoth Decimus Saxon, as we rode + onwards. ‘Now that skins have been slit the rebels may draw their swords + and fling away their scabbards, for it’s either victory for them or their + quarters will be dangling in every market town of the county. Heh, lad? we + throw a main for a brave stake.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Marked ye that Lord Grey had met with a check,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pshaw! it is of no import. A cavalry skirmish at the most, for it is + impossible that Monmouth could have brought his main forces to Bridport; + nor would he if he could, for it is out of his track. It was one of those + three-shots-and-a-gallop affrays, where each side runs away and each + claims the victory. But here we are in the streets of Salisbury. Now leave + the talking to me, or your wrong-headed truthfulness may lay us by the + heels before our time.’ + </p> + <p> + Passing down the broad High Street we dismounted in front of the Blue Boar + inn, and handed our tired horses over to the ostler, to whom Saxon, in a + loud voice, and with many rough military oaths, gave strict injunctions as + to their treatment. He then clanked into the inn parlour, and throwing + himself into one chair with his feet upon another, he summoned the + landlord up before him, and explained our needs in a tone and manner which + should give him a due sense of our quality. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of your best, and at once,’ quoth he. ‘Have your largest double-couched + chamber ready with your softest lavender-scented sheets, for we have had a + weary ride and must rest. And hark ye, landlord, no palming off your + stale, musty goods as fresh, or of your washy French wines for the true + Hainault vintage. I would have you to understand that my friend here and I + are men who meet with some consideration in the world, though we care not + to speak our names to every underling. Deserve well of us, therefore, or + it may be the worse for you.’ + </p> + <p> + This speech, combined with my companion’s haughty manner and fierce face, + had such an effect upon the landlord that he straightway sent us in the + breakfast which had been prepared for three officers of the Blues, who + were waiting for it in the next apartment. This kept them fasting for + another half-hour, and we could hear their oaths and complaints through + the partition while we were devouring their capon and venison pie. Having + eaten a hearty meal and washed it down with a bottle of Burgundy we sought + our room, and throwing our tired limbs upon the bed, were soon in a deep + slumber. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter IX. Of a Passage of Arms at the Blue Boar + </h2> + <p> + I had slept several hours when I was suddenly aroused by a prodigious + crash, followed by the clash of arms and shrill cries from the lower + floor. Springing to my feet I found that the bed upon which my comrade had + lain was vacant, and that the door of the apartment was opened. As the + uproar still continued, and as I seemed to discern his voice in the midst + of it, I caught up my sword, and without waiting to put on either + head-piece, steel-breast, or arm-plates, I hurried to the scene of the + commotion. + </p> + <p> + The hall and passage were filled with silly maids and staring drawers, + attracted, like myself, by the uproar. Through these I pushed my way into + the apartment where we had breakfasted in the morning, which was a scene + of the wildest disorder. The round table in the centre had been tilted + over upon its side, and three broken bottles of wine, with apples, pears, + nuts, and the fragments of the dishes containing them, were littered over + the floor. A couple of packs of cards and a dice-box lay amongst the + scattered feast. Close by the door stood Decimus Saxon, with his drawn + rapier in his hand and a second one beneath his feet, while facing him + there was a young officer in a blue uniform, whose face was reddened with + shame and anger, and who looked wildly about the room as though in search + of some weapon to replace that of which he had been deprived. He might + have served Cibber or Gibbons as a model for a statue of impotent rage. + Two other officers dressed in the same blue uniform stood by their + comrade, and as I observed that they had laid their hands upon the hilts + of their swords, I took my place by Saxon’s side, and stood ready to + strike in should the occasion arise. + </p> + <p> + ‘What would the maitre d’armes say—the maitre d’escrime?’ cried my + companion. ‘Methinks he should lose his place for not teaching you to make + a better show. Out on him! Is this the way that he teaches the officers of + his Majesty’s guard to use their weapons?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘This raillery, sir,’ said the elder of the three, a squat, brown, + heavy-faced man, ‘is not undeserved, and yet might perchance be dispensed + with. I am free to say that our friend attacked you somewhat hastily, and + that a little more deference should have been shown by so young a soldier + to a cavalier of your experience.’ + </p> + <p> + The other officer, who was a fine-looking, noble-featured man, expressed + himself in much the same manner. ‘If this apology will serve,’ said he, ‘I + am prepared to join in it. If, however, more is required, I shall be happy + to take the quarrel upon myself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay, take your bradawl!’ Saxon answered good-humouredly, kicking the + sword towards his youthful opponent. ‘But, mark you! when you would lunge, + direct your point upwards rather than down, for otherwise you must throw + your wrist open to your antagonist, who can scarce fail to disarm you. In + quarte, tierce, or saccoon the same holds good.’ + </p> + <p> + The youth sheathed his sword, but was so overcome by his own easy defeat + and the contemptuous way in which his opponent had dismissed him, that he + turned and hurried out of the room. Meanwhile Decimus Saxon and the two + officers set to work getting the table upon its legs and restoring the + room to some sort of order, in which I did what I could to assist them. + </p> + <p> + ‘I held three queens for the first time to-day,’ grumbled the soldier of + fortune. ‘I was about to declare them when this young bantam flew at my + throat. He hath likewise been the cause of our losing three flasks of most + excellent muscadine. When he hath drunk as much bad wine as I have been + forced to do, he will not be so hasty in wasting the good.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He is a hot-headed youngster,’ the older officer replied, ‘and a little + solitary reflection added to the lesson which you have taught him may + bring him profit. As for the muscadine, that loss will soon be repaired, + the more gladly as your friend here will help us to drink it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I was roused by the crash of weapons,’ said I, ‘and I scarce know now + what has occurred.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, a mere tavern brawl, which your friend’s skill and judgment + prevented from becoming serious. I prythee take the rush-bottomed chair, + and do you, Jack, order the wine. If our comrade hath spilled the last it + is for us to furnish this, and the best the cellars contain. We have been + having a hand at basset, which Mr. Saxon here playeth as skilfully as he + wields the small-sword. It chanced that the luck ran against young + Horsford, which doubtless made him prone to be quick in taking offence. + Your friend in conversation, when discoursing of his experiences in + foreign countries, remarked that the French household troops were to his + mind brought to a higher state of discipline than any of our own + regiments, on which Horsford fired up, and after a hot word or two they + found themselves, as you have seen, at drawn bilbo. The boy hath seen no + service, and is therefore over-eager to give proof of his valour.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Wherein,’ said the tall officer, ‘he showed a want of thought towards me, + for had the words been offensive it was for me, who am a senior captain + and brevet-major, to take it up, and not for a slip of a cornet, who + scarce knows enough to put his troop through the exercise.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You say right, Ogilvy,’ said the other, resuming his seat by the table + and wiping the cards which had been splashed by the wine.’ Had the + comparison been made by an officer of Louis’s guard for the purpose of + contumely and braggadocio, it would then indeed have become us to venture + a passado. But when spoken by an Englishman of ripe experience it becomes + a matter of instructive criticism, which should profit rather than annoy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘True, Ambrose,’ the other answered. ‘Without such criticism a force would + become stagnant, and could never hope to keep level with those continental + armies, which are ever striving amongst themselves for increased + efficacy.’ + </p> + <p> + So pleased was I at these sensible remarks on the part of the strangers, + that I was right glad to have the opportunity of making their closer + acquaintance over a flask of excellent wine. My father’s prejudices had + led me to believe that a King’s officer was ever a compound of the coxcomb + and the bully, but I found on testing it that this idea, like most others + which a man takes upon trust, had very little foundation upon truth. As a + matter of fact, had they been dressed in less warlike garb and deprived of + their swords and jack-boots, they would have passed as particularly + mild-mannered men, for their conversation ran in the learned channels, and + they discussed Boyle’s researches in chemistry and the ponderation of air + with much gravity and show of knowledge. At the same time, their brisk + bearing and manly carriage showed that in cultivating the scholar they + hail not sacrificed the soldier. + </p> + <p> + ‘May I ask, sir,’ said one of them, addressing Saxon, ‘whether in your + wide experiences you have ever met with any of those sages and + philosophers who have conferred such honour and fame upon France and + Germany?’ + </p> + <p> + My companion looked ill at ease, as one who feels that he has been taken + off his ground. ‘There was indeed one such at Nurnberg,’ he answered, ‘one + Gervinus or Gervanus, who, the folk said, could turn an ingot of iron into + an ingot of gold as easily as I turn this tobacco into ashes. Old + Pappenheimer shut him up with a ton of metal, and threatened to put the + thumbikins upon him unless he changed it into gold pieces. I can vouch for + it that there was not a yellow boy there, for I was captain of the guard + and searched the whole dungeon through. To my sorrow I say it, for I had + myself added a small iron brazier to the heap, thinking that if there + should be any such change it would be as well that I should have some + small share in the experiment.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Alchemy, transmutation of metals, and the like have been set aside by + true science,’ remarked the taller officer. ‘Even old Sir Thomas Browne of + Norwich, who is ever ready to plead the cause of the ancients, can find + nothing to say in favour of it. From Trismegistus downwards through + Albertus Magnus, Aquinas, Raymond Lullius, Basil Valentine, Paracelsus, + and the rest, there is not one who has left more than a cloud of words + behind him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nor did the rogue I mention,’ said Saxon. ‘There was another, Van + Helstatt, who was a man of learning, and cast horoscopes in consideration + of some small fee or honorarium. I have never met so wise a man, for he + would talk of the planets and constellations as though he kept them all in + his own backyard. He made no more of a comet than if it were a mouldy + china orange, and he explained their nature to us, saying that they were + but common stars which had had a hole knocked in them, so that their + insides or viscera protruded. He was indeed a philosopher!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And did you ever put his skill to the test?’ asked one of the officers, + with a smile. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not I, forsooth, for I have ever kept myself clear of black magic or + diablerie of the sort. My comrade Pierce Scotton, who was an Oberst in the + Imperial cavalry brigade, did pay him a rose noble to have his future + expounded. If I remember aright, the stars said that he was over-fond of + wine and women—he had a wicked eye and a nose like a carbuncle. + ‘They foretold also that he would attain a marshal’s baton and die at a + ripe age, which might well have come true had he not been unhorsed a month + later at Ober-Graustock, and slain by the hoofs of his own troop. Neither + the planets nor even the experienced farrier of the regiment could have + told that the brute would have foundered so completely.’ + </p> + <p> + The officers laughed heartily at my companion’s views, and rose from their + chairs, for the bottle was empty and the evening beginning to draw in. ‘We + have work to do here,’ said the one addressed as Ogilvy. ‘Besides, we must + find this foolish boy of ours, and tell him that it is no disgrace to be + disarmed by so expert a swordsman. We have to prepare the quarters for the + regiment, who will be up to join Churchill’s forces not later than + to-night. Ye are yourselves bound for the West, I understand?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We belong to the Duke of Beaufort’s household,’ said Saxon. + </p> + <p> + ‘Indeed! I thought ye might belong to Portman’s yellow regiment of + militia. I trust that the Duke will muster every man he can, and make play + until the royal forces come up.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How many will Churchill bring?’ asked my companion carelessly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Eight hundred horse at the most, but my Lord Feversham will follow after + with close on four thousand foot.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We may meet on the field of battle, if not before,’ said I, and we bade + our friendly enemies a very cordial adieu. + </p> + <p> + ‘A skilful equivoque that last of yours, Master Micah,’ quoth Decimus + Saxon, ‘though smacking of double dealing in a truth-lover like yourself. + If we meet them in battle I trust that it may be with chevaux-de-frise of + pikes and morgenstierns before us, and a litter of caltrops in front of + them, for Monmouth has no cavalry that could stand for a moment against + the Royal Guards.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How came you to make their acquaintance?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘I slept a few hours, but I have learned in camps to do with little rest. + Finding you in sound slumber, and hearing the rattle of the dice-box + below, I came softly down and found means to join their party—whereby + I am a richer man by fifteen guineas, and might have had more had that + young fool not lugged out at me, or had the talk not turned afterwards + upon such unseemly subjects as the laws of chemistry and the like. + Prythee, what have the Horse Guards Blue to do with the laws of chemistry? + Wessenburg of the Pandours would, even at his own mess table, suffer much + free talk—more perhaps than fits in with the dignity of a leader. + Had his officers ventured upon such matter as this, however, there would + have been a drum-head court-martial, or a cashiering at the least.’ + </p> + <p> + Without stopping to dispute either Master Saxon’s judgment or that of + Wessenburg of the Pandours, I proposed that we should order an evening + meal, and should employ the remaining hour or two of daylight in looking + over the city. The principal sight is of course the noble cathedral, which + is built in such exact proportion that one would fail to understand its + great size did one not actually enter it and pace round the long dim + aisles. So solemn were its sweeping arches and the long shafts of coloured + light which shone through the stained-glass windows, throwing strange + shadows amongst the pillars, that even my companion, albeit not readily + impressed, was silent and subdued. It was a great prayer in stone. + </p> + <p> + On our way back to the inn we passed the town lock-up, with a railed space + in front of it, in which three great black-muzzled bloodhounds were + stalking about, with fierce crimsoned eyes and red tongues lolling out of + their mouths. They were used, a bystander told us, for the hunting down of + criminals upon Salisbury Plain, which had been a refuge for rogues and + thieves, until this means had been adopted for following them to their + hiding-places. It was well-nigh dark before we returned to the hostel, and + entirely so by the time that we had eaten our suppers, paid our reckoning, + and got ready for the road. + </p> + <p> + Before we set off I bethought me of the paper which my mother had slipped + into my hand on parting, and drawing it from my pouch I read it by the + rushlight in our chamber. It still bore the splotches of the tears which + she had dropped on it, poor soul, and ran in this wise:— + </p> + <p> + ‘Instructions from Mistress Mary Clarke to her son Micah, on the twelfth + day of June in the year of our Lord sixteen hundred and eighty-five. + </p> + <p> + ‘On occasion of his going forth, like David of old, to do battle with the + Goliath of Papistry, which hath overshadowed and thrown into disrepute + that true and reverent regard for ritual which should exist in the real + Church of England, as ordained by law. + </p> + <p> + ‘Let these points be observed by him, namely, to wit: + </p> + <p> + ‘1. Change your hosen when the occasion serves. You have two pairs in your + saddle-bag, and can buy more, for the wool work is good in the West. + </p> + <p> + ‘2. A hare’s foot suspended round the neck driveth away colic. + </p> + <p> + ‘3. Say the Lord’s Prayer night and morning. Also read the scriptures, + especially Job, the Psalms, and the Gospel according to St. Matthew. + </p> + <p> + ‘4. Daffy’s elixir possesses extraordinary powers in purifying the blood + and working off all phlegms, humours, vapours, or rheums. The dose is five + drops. A small phial of it will be found in the barrel of your left + pistol, with wadding around it lest it come to harm. + </p> + <p> + ‘5. Ten golden pieces are sewn into the hem of your under doublet. Touch + them not, save as a last resource. + </p> + <p> + ‘6. Fight stoutly for the Lord, and yet I pray you, Micah, be not too + forward in battle, but let others do their turn also. + </p> + <p> + Press not into the heart of the fray, and yet flinch not from the standard + of the Protestant faith. + </p> + <p> + ‘And oh, Micah, my own bright boy, come back safe to your mother, or my + very heart will break! + </p> + <p> + ‘And the deponent will ever pray.’ + </p> + <p> + The sudden gush of tenderness in the last few lines made the tears spring + to my eyes, and yet I could scarce forbear from smiling at the whole + composition, for my dear mother had little time to cultivate the graces of + style, and it was evidently her thought that in order to make her + instructions binding it was needful to express them in some sort of legal + form. I had little time to think over her advice, however, for I had + scarce finished reading it before the voice of Decimus Saxon, and the + clink of the horses’ hoofs upon the cobble-stones of the yard, informed me + that all was ready for our departure. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter X. Of our Perilous Adventure on the Plain + </h2> + <p> + We were not half a mile from the town before the roll of kettledrums and + the blare of bugles swelling up musically through the darkness announced + the arrival of the regiment of horse which our friends at the inn had been + expecting. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is as well, perhaps,’ said Saxon, ‘that we gave them the slip, for + that young springald might have smelled a rat and played us some ill-turn. + Have you chanced to see my silken kerchief?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not I,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, then, it must have fallen from my bosom during our ruffle. I can ill + afford to leave it, for I travel light in such matters. Eight hundred men, + quoth the major, and three thousand to follow. Should I meet this same + Oglethorpe or Ogilvy when the little business is over, I shall read him a + lesson on thinking less of chemistry and more of the need of preserving + military precautions. It is well always to be courteous to strangers and + to give them information, but it is well also that the information should + be false.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘As his may have been,’ I suggested. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay, the words came too glibly from his tongue. So ho, Chloe, so ho! + She is full of oats and would fain gallop, but it is so plaguy dark that + we can scarce see where we are going.’ + </p> + <p> + We had been trotting down the broad high-road shimmering vaguely white in + the gloom, with the shadowy trees dancing past us on either side, scarce + outlined against the dark background of cloud. We were now coming upon the + eastern edge of the great plain, which extends forty miles one way and + twenty the other, over the greater part of Wiltshire and past the + boundaries of Somersetshire. The main road to the West skirts this + wilderness, but we had agreed to follow a less important track, which + would lead us to our goal, though in a more tedious manner. Its + insignificance would, we hoped, prevent it from being guarded by the + King’s horse. We had come to the point where this byroad branches off from + the main highway when we heard the clatter of horses’ hoofs behind us. + </p> + <p> + ‘Here comes some one who is not afraid to gallop,’ I remarked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Halt here in the shadow!’ cried Saxon, in a short, quick whisper. ‘Have + your blade loose in the scabbard. He must have a set errand who rides so + fast o’ nights.’ + </p> + <p> + Looking down the road we could make out through the darkness a shadowy + blur which soon resolved itself into man and horse. The rider was + well-nigh abreast of us before he was aware of our presence, when he + pulled up his steed in a strange, awkward fashion, and faced round in our + direction. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is Micah Clarke there?’ he said, in a voice which was strangely familiar + to my ears. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am Micah Clarke,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘And I am Reuben Lockarby,’ cried our pursuer, in a mock heroic voice. + ‘Ah, Micah lad, I’d embrace you were it not that I should assuredly fall + out of the saddle if I attempted it, and perchance drag you along. That + sudden pull up well-nigh landed me on the roadway. I have been sliding off + and clambering on ever since I bade goodbye to Havant. Sure, such a horse + for slipping from under one was never bestridden by man.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Good Heavens, Reuben!’ I cried in amazement, ‘what brings you all this + way from home?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The very same cause which brings you, Micah, and also Don Decimo Saxon, + late of the Solent, whom methinks I see in the shadow behind you. How + fares it, oh illustrious one?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is you, then, young cock of the woods!’ growled Saxon, in no very + overjoyed voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘No less a person,’ said Reuben. ‘And now, my gay cavalieros, round with + your horses and trot on your way, for there is no time to be lost. We + ought all to be at Taunton to-morrow.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But, my dear Reuben,’ said I, ‘it cannot be that you are coming with us + to join Monmouth. What would your father say? This is no holiday jaunt, + but one that may have a sad and stern ending. At the best, victory can + only come through much bloodshed and danger. At the worst, we are as like + to wind up upon a scaffold as not.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Forwards, lads, forwards!’ cried he, spurring on his horse, ‘it is all + arranged and settled. I am about to offer my august person, together with + a sword which I borrowed and a horse which I stole, to his most Protestant + highness, James, Duke of Monmouth.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But how comes it all?’ I asked, as we rode on together. ‘It warms my very + heart to see you, but you were never concerned either in religion or in + politics. Whence, then, this sudden resolution?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, truth to tell,’ he replied, ‘I am neither a king’s man nor a duke’s + man, nor would I give a button which sat upon the throne. I do not suppose + that either one or the other would increase the custom of the Wheatsheaf, + or want Reuben Lockarby for a councillor. I am a Micah Clarke man, though, + from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet; and if he rides to the + wars, may the plague strike me if I don’t stick to his elbow!’ He raised + his hand excitedly as he spoke, and instantly losing his balance, he shot + into a dense clump of bushes by the roadside whence his legs flapped + helplessly in the darkness. + </p> + <p> + ‘That makes the tenth,’ said he, scrambling out and clambering into his + saddle once more. ‘My father used to tell me not to sit a horse too + closely. “A gentle rise and fall,” said the old man. Egad, there is more + fall than rise, and it is anything but gentle.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Odd’s truth!’ exclaimed Saxon. ‘How in the name of all the saints in the + calendar do you expect to keep your seat in the presence of an enemy if + you lose it on a peaceful high-road?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I can but try, my illustrious,’ he answered, rearranging his ruffled + clothing. ‘Perchance the sudden and unexpected character of my movements + may disconcert the said enemy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, well, there may be more truth in that than you are aware of,’ quoth + Saxon, riding upon Lockarby’s bridle arm, so that there was scarce room + for him to fall between us. ‘I had sooner fight a man like that young fool + at the inn, who knew a little of the use of his weapon, than one like + Micah here, or yourself, who know nothing. You can tell what the one is + after, but the other will invent a system of his own which will serve his + turn for the nonce. Ober-hauptmann Muller was reckoned to be the finest + player at the small-sword in the Kaiser’s army, and could for a wager + snick any button from an opponent’s vest without cutting the cloth. Yet + was he slain in an encounter with Fahnfuhrer Zollner, who was a cornet in + our own Pandour corps, and who knew as much of the rapier as you do of + horsemanship. For the rapier, be it understood, is designed to thrust and + not to cut, so that no man wielding it ever thinks of guarding a + side-stroke. But Zollner, being a long-armed man, smote his antagonist + across the face with his weapon as though it had been a cane, and then, + ere he had time to recover himself, fairly pinked him. Doubtless if the + matter were to do again, the Oberhauptmann would have got his thrust in + sooner, but as it was, no explanation or excuse could get over the fact + that the man was dead.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If want of knowledge maketh a dangerous swordsman,’ quoth Reuben, ‘then + am I even more deadly than the unpronounceable gentleman whom you have + mentioned. To continue my story, however, which I broke off in order to + step down from my horse, I found out early in the morning that ye were + gone, and Zachary Palmer was able to tell me whither. I made up my mind, + therefore, that I would out into the world also. To this end I borrowed a + sword from Solomon Sprent, and my father having gone to Gosport, I helped + myself to the best nag in his stables—for I have too much respect + for the old man to allow one of his flesh and blood to go ill-provided to + the wars. All day I have ridden, since early morning, being twice stopped + on suspicion of being ill-affected, but having the good luck to get away + each time. I knew that I was close at your heels, for I found them + searching for you at the Salisbury Inn.’ + </p> + <p> + Decimus whistled. ‘Searching for us?’ said he. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes. It seems that they had some notion that ye were not what ye + professed to be, so the inn was surrounded as I passed, but none knew + which road ye had taken.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Said I not so?’ cried Saxon. ‘That young viper hath stirred up the + regiment against us. We must push on, for they may send a party on our + track.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We are off the main road now, ‘I remarked; ‘even should they pursue us, + they would be unlikely to follow this side track.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yet it would be wise to show them a clean pair of heels,’ said Saxon, + spurring his mare into a gallop. Lockarby and I followed his example, and + we all three rode swiftly along the rough moorland track. + </p> + <p> + We passed through scattered belts of pinewood, where the wild cat howled + and the owl screeched, and across broad stretches of fenland and moor, + where the silence was only broken by the booming cry of the bittern or the + fluttering of wild duck far above our heads. The road was in parts + overgrown with brambles, and was so deeply rutted and so studded with + sharp and dangerous hollows, that our horses came more than once upon + their knees. In one place the wooden bridge which led over a stream had + broken down, and no attempt had been made to repair it, so that we were + compelled to ride our horses girth deep through the torrent. At first some + scattered lights had shown that we were in the neighbourhood of human + habitations, but these became fewer as we advanced, until the last died + away and we found ourselves upon the desolate moor which stretched away in + unbroken solitude to the shadowy horizon. The moon had broken through the + clouds and now shone hazily through wreaths of mist, throwing a dim light + over the wild scene, and enabling us to keep to the track, which was not + fenced in in any way and could scarce be distinguished from the plain + around it. + </p> + <p> + We had slackened our pace under the impression that all fear of pursuit + was at an end, and Reuben was amazing us by an account of the excitement + which had been caused in Havant by our disappearance, when through the + stillness of the night a dull, muffled rat-tat-tat struck upon my ear. At + the same moment Saxon sprang from his horse and listened intently with + sidelong head. + </p> + <p> + ‘Boot and saddle!’ he cried, springing into his seat again. ‘They are + after us as sure as fate. A dozen troopers by the sound. We must shake + them off, or goodbye to Monmouth.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Give them their heads,’ I answered, and striking spurs into our steeds, + we thundered on through the darkness. Covenant and Chloe were as fresh as + could be wished, and soon settled down into a long springy gallop. Our + friend’s horse however, had been travelling all day, and its long-drawn, + laboured breathing showed that it could not hold out for long. Through the + clatter of our horses’ hoofs I could still from time to time hear the + ominous murmur from behind us. + </p> + <p> + ‘This will never do, Reuben,’ said I anxiously, as the weary creature + stumbled, and the rider came perilously near to shooting over its head. + </p> + <p> + ‘The old horse is nearly foundered,’ he answered ruefully. ‘We are off the + road now, and the rough ground is too much for her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, we are off the track,’ cried Saxon over his shoulder—for he + led us by a few paces. ‘Bear in mind that the Bluecoats have been on the + march all day, so that their horses may also be blown. How in Himmel came + they to know which road we took?’ + </p> + <p> + As if in answer to his ejaculation, there rose out of the still night + behind us a single, clear, bell-like note, swelling and increasing in + volume until it seemed to fill the whole air with its harmony. + </p> + <p> + ‘A bloodhound!’ cried Saxon. + </p> + <p> + A second sharper, keener note, ending in an unmistakable howl, answered + the first. + </p> + <p> + ‘Another of them,’ said he. ‘They have loosed the brutes that we saw near + the Cathedral. Gad! we little thought when we peered over the rails at + them, a few hours ago, that they would so soon be on our own track. Keep a + firm knee and a steady seat, for a slip now would be your last.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Holy mother!’ cried Reuben, ‘I had steeled myself to die in battle—but + to be dogsmeat! It is something outside the contract.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They hold them in leash,’ said Saxon, between his teeth, ‘else they would + outstrip the horses and be lost in the darkness. + </p> + <p> + Could we but come on running water we might put them off our track.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My horse cannot hold on at this pace for more than a very few minutes,’ + Reuben cried. ‘If I break down, do ye go on, for ye must remember that + they are upon your track and not mine. They have found cause for suspicion + of the two strangers of the inn, but none of me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, Reuben, we shall stand or fall together,’ said I sadly, for at every + step his horse grew more and more feeble. ‘In this darkness they will make + little distinction between persons.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Keep a good heart,’ shouted the old soldier, who was now leading us by + twenty yards or more. ‘We can hear them because the wind blows from that + way, but it’s odds whether they have heard us. Methinks they slacken in + their pursuit.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The sound of their horses has indeed grown fainter,’ said I joyfully. + </p> + <p> + ‘So faint that I can hear it no longer,’ my companion cried. + </p> + <p> + We reined up our panting steeds and strained our ears, but not a sound + could we hear save the gentle murmur of the breeze amongst the + whin-bushes, and the melancholy cry of the night-jar. Behind us the broad + rolling plain, half light and half shadow, stretched away to the dim + horizon without sign of life or movement. ‘We have either outstripped them + completely, or else they have given up the chase,’ said I. ‘What ails the + horses that they should tremble and snort?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My poor beast is nearly done for,’ Reuben remarked, leaning forward and + passing his hand down the creature’s reeking neck. + </p> + <p> + ‘For all that we cannot rest,’ said Saxon. ‘We may not be out of danger + yet. Another mile or two may shake us clear. But I like it not.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Like not what?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘These horses and their terrors. The beasts can at times both see and hear + more than we, as I could show by divers examples drawn from mine own + experience on the Danube and in the Palatinate, were the time and place + more fitting. Let us on, then, before we rest.’ + </p> + <p> + The weary horses responded bravely to the call, and struggled onwards over + the broken ground for a considerable time. At last we were thinking of + pulling up in good earnest, and of congratulating ourselves upon having + tired out our pursuers, when of a sudden the bell-like baying broke upon + our ears far louder than it had been before—so loud, indeed, that it + was evident that the dogs were close upon our heels. + </p> + <p> + ‘The accursed hounds!’ cried Saxon, putting spurs to his horse and + shooting ahead of us; ‘I feared as much. They have freed them from the + leash. There is no escape from the devils, but we can choose the spot + where we shall make our stand.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Come on, Reuben,’ I shouted. ‘We have only to reckon with the dogs now. + Their masters have let them loose, and turned back for Salisbury.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Pray heaven they break their necks before they get there!’ he cried. + ‘They set dogs on us as though we were rats in a cock-pit. Yet they call + England a Christian country! It’s no use, Micah. Poor Dido can’t stir + another step.’ + </p> + <p> + As he spoke, the sharp fierce bay of the hounds rose again, clear and + stern on the night air, swelling up from a low hoarse growl to a high + angry yelp. There seemed to be a ring of exultation in their wild cry, as + though they knew that their quarry was almost run to earth. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not another step!’ said Reuben Lockarby, pulling up and drawing his + sword. ‘If I must fight, I shall fight here.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There could be no better place,’ I replied. Two great jagged rocks rose + before us, jutting abruptly out of the ground, and leaving a space of + twelve or fifteen feet between them. Through this gap we rode, and I + shouted loudly for Saxon to join us. His horse, however, had been steadily + gaining upon ours, and at the renewed alarm had darted off again, so that + he was already some hundred yards from us. It was useless to summon him, + even could he hear our voices, for the hounds would be upon us before he + could return. + </p> + <p> + ‘Never heed him,’ I said hurriedly. ‘Do you rein your steed behind that + rock, and I behind this. They will serve to break the force of the attack. + Dismount not, but strike down, and strike hard.’ + </p> + <p> + On either side in the shadow of the rock we waited in silence for our + terrible pursuers. Looking back at it, my dear children, I cannot but + think that it was a great trial on such young soldiers as Reuben and + myself to be put, on the first occasion of drawing our swords, into such a + position. For I have found, and others have confirmed my opinion, that of + all dangers that a man is called upon to face, that arising from savage + and determined animals is the most unnerving. For with men there is ever + the chance that some trait of weakness or of want of courage may give you + an advantage over them, but with fierce beasts there is no such hope. We + knew that the creatures to whom we were opposed could never be turned from + our throats while there was breath in their bodies. One feels in one’s + heart, too, that the combat is an unequal one, for your life is precious + at least to your friends, while their lives, what are they? All this and a + great deal more passed swiftly through our minds as we sat with drawn + swords, soothing our trembling horses as best we might, and waiting for + the coming of the hounds. + </p> + <p> + Nor had we long to wait. Another long, deep, thunderous bay sounded in our + ears, followed by a profound silence, broken only by the quick shivering + breathing of the horses. Then suddenly, and noiselessly, a great tawny + brute, with its black muzzle to the earth, and its overhung cheeks napping + on either side, sprang into the band of moonlight between the rocks, and + on into the shadow beyond. It never paused or swerved for an instant, but + pursued its course straight onwards without a glance to right or to left. + Close behind it came a second, and behind that a third, all of enormous + size, and looking even larger and more terrible than they were in the dim + shifting light. Like the first, they took no notice of our presence, but + bounded on along the trail left by Decimus Saxon. + </p> + <p> + The first and second I let pass, for I hardly realised that they so + completely overlooked us. When the third, however, sprang out into the + moonlight, I drew my right-hand pistol from its holster, and resting its + long barrel across my left forearm, I fired at it as it passed. The bullet + struck the mark, for the brute gave a fierce howl of rage and pain, but + true to the scent it never turned or swerved. Lockarby fired also as it + disappeared among the brushwood, but with no apparent effect. So swiftly + and so noiselessly did the great hounds pass, that they might have been + grim silent spirits of the night, the phantom dogs of Herne the hunter, + but for that one fierce yelp which followed my shot. + </p> + <p> + ‘What brutes!’ my companion ejaculated; ‘what shall we do, Micah?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They have clearly been laid on Saxon’s trail,’ said I. ‘We must follow + them up, or they will be too many for him. Can you hear anything of our + pursuers?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nothing.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They have given up the chase, then, and let the dogs loose as a last + resource. Doubtless the creatures are trained to return to the town. But + we must push on, Reuben, if we are to help our companion.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘One more spurt, then, little Dido,’ cried Reuben; ‘can you muster + strength for one more? Nay, I have not the heart to put spurs to you. If + you can do it, I know you will.’ + </p> + <p> + The brave mare snorted, as though she understood her riders words, and + stretched her weary limbs into a gallop. So stoutly did she answer the + appeal that, though I pressed Covenant to his topmost speed, she was never + more than a few strides behind him. + </p> + <p> + ‘He took this direction,’ said I, peering anxiously out into the darkness. + ‘He can scarce have gone far, for he spoke of making a stand. Or, perhaps, + finding that we are not with him, he may trust to the speed of his horse.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What chance hath a horse of outstripping these brutes?’ Reuben answered. + ‘They must run him to earth, and he knows it. Hullo! what have we here?’ + </p> + <p> + A dark dim form lay stretched in the moonlight in front of us. It was the + dead body of a hound—the one evidently at which I had fired. + </p> + <p> + ‘There is one of them disposed of, ‘I cried joyously; ‘we have but two to + settle with now.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘As I spoke we heard the crack of two pistol-shots some little distance to + the left. Heading our steeds in that direction, we pressed on at the top + of our speed. Presently out of the darkness in front of us there arose + such a roaring and a yelping as sent the hearts into our mouths. It was + not a single cry, such as the hounds had uttered when they were on the + scent, but a continuous deep-mouthed uproar, so fierce and so prolonged, + that we could not doubt that they had come to the end of their run. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pray God that they have not got him down!’ cried Reuben, in a faltering + voice. + </p> + <p> + The same thought had crossed my own mind, for I have heard a similar + though lesser din come from a pack of otter hounds when they had overtaken + their prey and were tearing it to pieces. Sick at heart, I drew my sword + with the determination that, if we were too late to save our companion, we + should at least revenge him upon the four-footed fiends. Bursting through + a thick belt of scrub and tangled gorse bushes, we came upon a scene so + unlike what we had expected that we pulled up our horses in astonishment. + </p> + <p> + A circular clearing lay in front of us, brightly illuminated by the + silvery moonshine. In the centre of this rose a giant stone, one of those + high dark columns which are found all over the plain, and especially in + the parts round Stonehenge. It could not have been less than fifteen feet + in height, and had doubtless been originally straight, but wind and + weather, or the crumbling of the soil, had gradually suffered it to tilt + over until it inclined at such an angle that an active man might clamber + up to the summit. On the top of this ancient stone, cross-legged and + motionless, like some strange carved idol of former days, sat Decimus + Saxon, puffing sedately at the long pipe which was ever his comfort in + moments of difficulty. Beneath him, at the base of the monolith, as our + learned men call them, the two great bloodhounds were rearing and + springing, clambering over each other’s backs in their frenzied and futile + eagerness to reach the impassive figure perched above them, while they + gave vent to their rage and disappointment in the hideous uproar which had + suggested such terrible thoughts to our mind. + </p> + <p> + We had little time, however, to gaze at this strange scene, for upon our + appearance the hounds abandoned their helpless attempts to reach Saxon, + and flew, with a fierce snarl of satisfaction, at Reuben and myself. One + great brute, with flaring eyes and yawning mouth, his white fangs + glistening in the moonlight, sprang at my horse’s neck; but I met him fair + with a single sweeping cut, which shore away his muzzle, and left him + wallowing and writhing in a pool of blood. Reuben, meanwhile, had spurred + his horse forward to meet his assailant; but the poor tired steed flinched + at the sight of the fierce hound, and pulled up suddenly, with the result + that her rider rolled headlong into the very jaws of the animal. It might + have gone ill with Reuben had he been left to his own resources. At the + most he could only have kept the cruel teeth from his throat for a very + few moments; but seeing the mischance, I drew my remaining pistol, and + springing from my horse, discharged it full into the creature’s flank + while it struggled with my friend. With a last yell of rage and pain it + brought its fierce jaws together in one wild impotent snap, and then sank + slowly over upon its side, while Reuben crawled from beneath it, scared + and bruised, but none the worse otherwise for his perilous adventure. + </p> + <p> + ‘I owe you one for that, Micah,’ he said gratefully. ‘I may live to do as + much for you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And I owe ye both one,’ said Saxon, who had scrambled down from his place + of refuge. ‘I pay my debts, too, whether for good or evil. I might have + stayed up there until I had eaten my jack-boots, for all the chance I had + of ever getting down again. Sancta Maria! but that was a shrewd blow of + yours, Clarke! The brute’s head flew in halves like a rotten pumpkin. No + wonder that they stuck to my track, for I have left both my spare girth + and my kerchief behind me, which would serve to put them on Chloe’s scent + as well as mine own.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And where is Chloe?’ I asked, wiping my sword. + </p> + <p> + ‘Chloe had to look out for herself. I found the brutes gaining on me, you + see, and I let drive at them with my barkers; but with a horse flying at + twenty mile an hour, what chance is there for a single slug finding its + way home?’ Things looked black then, for I had no time to reload, and the + rapier, though the king of weapons in the duello, is scarce strong enough + to rely upon on an occasion like this. As luck would have it, just as I + was fairly puzzled, what should I come across but this handy stone, which + the good priests of old did erect, as far as I can see, for no other + purpose than to provide worthy cavalieros with an escape from such ignoble + and scurvy enemies. I had no time to spare in clambering up it, for I had + to tear my heel out of the mouth of the foremost of them, and might have + been dragged down by it had he not found my spur too tough a morsel for + his chewing. But surely one of my bullets must have readied its mark.’ + Lighting the touch-paper in his tobacco-box, he passed it over the body of + the hound which had attacked me, and then of the other. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, this one is riddled like a sieve,’ he cried. ‘What do you load your + petronels with, good Master Clarke?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘With two leaden slugs.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yet two leaden slugs have made a score of holes at the least! And of all + things in this world, here is the neck of a bottle stuck in the brute’s + hide!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Good heavens!’ I exclaimed. ‘I remember. My dear mother packed a bottle + of Daffy’s elixir in the barrel of my pistol.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And you have shot it into the bloodhound!’ roared Reuben. ‘Ho! ho! When + they hear that tale at the tap of the Wheatsheaf, there will be some + throats dry with laughter. Saved my life by shooting a dog with a bottle + of Daffy’s elixir!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And a bullet as well, Reuben, though I dare warrant the gossips will soon + contrive to leave that detail out. It is a mercy the pistol did not burst. + But what do you propose to do now, Master Saxon?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, to recover my mare if it can anywise be done,’ said the adventurer.’ + Though on this vast moor, in the dark, she will be as difficult to find as + a Scotsman’s breeches or a flavourless line in “Hudibras.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And Reuben Lockarby’s steed can go no further,’ I remarked. ‘But do mine + eyes deceive me, or is there a glimmer of light over yonder?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A Will-o’-the-wisp,’ said Saxon. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “An <i>ignis fatuus</i> that bewitches, + And leads men into pools and ditches.” + </pre> + <p> + Yet I confess that it burns steady and clear, as though it came from lamp, + candle, rushlight, lanthorn, or other human agency.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Where there is light there is life,’ cried Reuben. ‘Let us make for it, + and see what chance of shelter we may find there.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It cannot come from our dragoon friends,’ remarked Decimus. ‘A murrain on + them! how came they to guess our true character; or was it on the score of + some insult to the regiment that that young Fahnfuhrer has set them on our + track? If I have him at my sword’s point again, he shall not come off so + free. Well, do ye lead your horses, and we shall explore this light, since + no better course is open to us.’ + </p> + <p> + Picking our way across the moor, we directed our course for the bright + point which twinkled in the distance; and as we advanced we hazarded a + thousand conjectures as to whence it could come. If it were a human + dwelling, what sort of being could it be who, not content with living in + the heart of this wilderness, had chosen a spot so far removed from the + ordinary tracks which crossed it? The roadway was miles behind us, and it + was probable that no one save those driven by such a necessity as that + which had overtaken us would ever find themselves in that desolate region. + No hermit could have desired an abode more completely isolated from all + communion with his kind. + </p> + <p> + As we approached we saw that the light did indeed come from a small + cottage, which was built in a hollow, so as to be invisible from any + quarter save that from which we approached it. In front of this humble + dwelling a small patch of ground had been cleared of shrub, and in the + centre of this little piece of sward our missing steed stood grazing at + her leisure upon the scanty herbage. The same light which had attracted us + had doubtless caught her eye, and drawn her towards it by hopes of oats + and of water. With a grunt of satisfaction Saxon resumed possession of his + lost property, and leading her by the bridle, approached the door of the + solitary cottage. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XI. Of the Lonely Man and the Gold Chest + </h2> + <p> + The strong yellow glare which had attracted us across the moor found its + way out through a single narrow slit alongside the door which served the + purpose of a rude window. As we advanced towards it the light changed + suddenly to red, and that again to green, throwing a ghastly pallor over + our faces, and especially heightening the cadaverous effect of Saxon’s + austere features. At the same time we became aware of a most subtle and + noxious odour which poisoned the air all round the cottage. This + combination of portents in so lonely a spot worked upon the old + man-at-arms’ superstitious feelings to such an extent that he paused and + looked back at us inquiringly. Both Reuben and I were determined, however, + to carry the adventure through, so he contented himself with falling a + little behind us, and pattering to himself some exorcism appropriate to + the occasion. Walking up to the door, I rapped upon it with the hilt of my + sword and announced that we were weary travellers who were seeking a + night’s shelter. + </p> + <p> + The first result of my appeal was a sound as of some one bustling rapidly + about, with the clinking of metal and noise of the turning of locks. This + died away into a hush, and I was about to knock once more when a crackling + voice greeted us from the other side of the door. + </p> + <p> + ‘There is little shelter here, gentlemen, and less provisions,’ it said. + ‘It is but six miles to Amesbury, where at the Cecil Arms ye shall find, I + doubt not, all that is needful for man and for beast.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay, mine invisible friend,’ quoth Saxon, who was much reassured by + the sound of a human voice, ‘this is surely but a scurvy reception. One of + our horses is completely foundered, and none of them are in very good + plight, so that we could no more make for the Cecil Arms at Amesbury than + for the Gruner Mann at Lubeck. I prythee, therefore, that you will allow + us to pass the remainder of the night under your roof.’ + </p> + <p> + At this appeal there was much creaking of locks and rasping of bolts, + which ended in the door swinging slowly open, and disclosing the person + who had addressed us. + </p> + <p> + By the strong light which shone out from behind him we could see that he + was a man of venerable aspect, with snow-white hair and a countenance + which bespoke a thoughtful and yet fiery nature. The high pensive brow and + flowing beard smacked of the philosopher, but the keen sparkling eye, the + curved aquiline nose, and the lithe upright figure which the weight of + years had been unable to bend, were all suggestive of the soldier. His + lofty bearing, and his rich though severe costume of black velvet, were at + strange variance with the humble nature of the abode which he had chosen + for his dwelling-place. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ho!’ said he, looking keenly at us. ‘Two of ye unused to war, and the + other an old soldier. Ye have been pursued, I see!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How did you know that, then?’ asked Decimus Saxon. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, my friend, I too have served in my time. My eyes are not so old but + that they can tell when horses have been spurred to the utmost, nor is it + difficult to see that this young giant’s sword hath been employed in + something less innocent than toasting bacon. Your story, however, can + keep. Every true soldier thinks first of his horse, so I pray that you + will tether yours without, since I have neither ostler nor serving man to + whom I may entrust them.’ + </p> + <p> + The strange dwelling into which we presently entered had been prolonged + into the side of the little hill against which it had been built, so as to + form a very long narrow hall. The ends of this great room, as we entered, + were wrapped in shadow, but in the centre was a bright glare from a + brazier full of coals, over which a brass pipkin was suspended. Beside the + fire a long wooden table was plentifully covered with curved glass flasks, + basins, tubings, and other instruments of which I knew neither the name + nor the purpose. A long row of bottles containing various coloured liquids + and powders were arranged along a shelf, whilst above it another shelf + bore a goodly array of brown volumes. For the rest there was a second + rough-hewn table, a pair of cupboards, three or four wooden settles, and + several large screens pinned to the walls and covered all over with + figures and symbols, of which I could make nothing. The vile smell which + had greeted us outside was very much worse within the chamber, and arose + apparently from the fumes of the boiling, bubbling contents of the brazen + pot. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ye behold in me,’ said our host, bowing courteously to us, ‘the last of + an ancient family. I am Sir Jacob Clancing of Snellaby Hall.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Smellaby it should be, methinks,’ whispered Reuben, in a voice which + fortunately did not reach the ears of the old knight. + </p> + <p> + ‘I pray that ye be seated,’ he continued, ‘and that ye lay aside your + plates and headpieces, and remove your boots. Consider this to be your + inn, and behave as freely. Ye will hold me excused if for a moment I turn + my attention from you to this operation on which I am engaged, which will + not brook delay.’ + </p> + <p> + Saxon began forthwith to undo his buckles and to pull off his harness, + while Reuben, throwing himself into a chair, appeared to be too weary to + do more than unfasten his sword-belt. For my own part, I was glad to throw + off my gear, but I kept my attention all the while upon the movements of + our host, whose graceful manners and learned appearance had aroused my + curiosity and admiration. + </p> + <p> + He approached the evil-smelling pot, and stirred it up with a face which + indicated so much anxiety that it was clear that he had pushed his + courtesy to us so far as to risk the ruin of some important experiment. + Dipping his ladle into the compound, he scooped some up, and then poured + it slowly back into the vessel, showing a yellow turbid fluid. The + appearance of it evidently reassured him, for the look of anxiety cleared + away from his features, and he uttered an exclamation of relief. Taking a + handful of a whitish powder from a trencher at his side he threw it into + the pipkin, the contents of which began immediately to seethe and froth + over into the fire, causing the flames to assume the strange greenish hue + which we had observed before entering. This treatment had the effect of + clearing the fluid, for the chemist was enabled to pour off into a bottle + a quantity of perfectly watery transparent liquid, while a brownish + sediment remained in the vessel, and was emptied out upon a sheet of + paper. This done, Sir Jacob Clancing pushed aside all his bottles, and + turned towards us with a smiling face and a lighter air. + </p> + <p> + ‘We shall see what my poor larder can furnish forth,’ said he. ‘Meanwhile, + this odour may be offensive to your untrained nostrils, so we shall away + with it. He threw a few grains of some balsamic resin into the brazier, + which at once filled the chamber with a most agreeable perfume. He then + laid a white cloth upon the table, and taking from a cupboard a dish of + cold trout and a large meat pasty, he placed them upon it, and invited us + to draw up our settles and set to work. + </p> + <p> + ‘I would that I had more toothsome fare to offer ye,’ said he. ‘Were we at + Snellaby Hall, ye should not be put off in this scurvy fashion, I promise + ye. This may serve, however, for hungry men, and I can still lay my hands + upon a brace of bottles of the old Alicant.’ So saying, he brought a pair + of flasks out from a recess, and having seen us served and our glasses + filled, he seated himself in a high-backed oaken chair and presided with + old-fashioned courtesy over our feast. As we supped, I explained to him + what our errand was, and narrated the adventures of the night, without + making mention of our destination. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are bound for Monmouth’s camp,’ he said quietly, when I had finished, + looking me full in the face with his keen dark eyes. ‘I know it, but ye + need not fear lest I betray you, even were it in my power. What chance, + think ye, hath the Duke against the King’s forces?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘As much chance as a farmyard fowl against a spurred gamecock, did he rely + only on those whom he hath with him,’ Saxon answered. ‘He hath reason to + think, however, that all England is like a powder magazine, and he hopes + to be the spark to set it alight.’ + </p> + <p> + The old man shook his head sadly. ‘The King hath great resources,’ he + remarked. ‘Where is Monmouth to get his trained soldiers?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is the militia,’ I suggested. + </p> + <p> + ‘And there are many of the old parliamentary breed, who are not too far + gone to strike a blow for their belief,’ said Saxon. ‘Do you but get + half-a-dozen broad-brimmed, snuffle-nosed preachers into a camp, and the + whole Presbytery tribe will swarm round them like flies on a honey-pot. No + recruiting sergeants will ever raise such an army as did Noll’s preachers + in the eastern counties, where the promise of a seat by the throne was + thought of more value than a ten-pound bounty. I would I could pay mine + own debts with these same promises.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I should judge from your speech, sir,’ our host observed, ‘that you are + not one of the sectaries. How comes it, then, that you are throwing the + weight of your sword and your experience into the weaker scale?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For the very reason that it is the weaker scale,’ said the soldier of + fortune. ‘I should gladly have gone with my brother to the Guinea coast + and had no say in the matter one way or the other, beyond delivering + letters and such trifles. Since I must be doing something, I choose to + fight for Protestantism and Monmouth. It is nothing to me whether James + Stuart or James Walters sits upon the throne, but the court and army of + the King are already made up. Now, since Monmouth hath both courtiers and + soldiers to find, it may well happen that he may be glad of my services + and reward them with honourable preferment.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your logic is sound,’ said our host, ‘save only that you have omitted the + very great chance which you will incur of losing your head if the Duke’s + party are borne down by the odds against them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A man cannot throw a main without putting a stake on the board,’ said + Saxon. + </p> + <p> + ‘And you, young sir,’ the old man asked, ‘what has caused you to take a + hand in so dangerous a game?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I come of a Roundhead stock,’ I answered, ‘and my folk have always fought + for the liberty of the people and the humbling of tyranny. I come in the + place of my father.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And you, sir?’ our questioner continued, looking at Reuben. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have come to see something of the world, and to be with my friend and + companion here,’ he replied. + </p> + <p> + ‘And I have stronger reasons than any of ye,’ Sir Jacob cried, ‘for + appearing in arms against any man who bears the name of Stuart. Had I not + a mission here which cannot be neglected, I might myself be tempted to hie + westward with ye, and put these grey hairs of mine once more into the + rough clasp of a steel headpiece. For where now is the noble castle of + Snellaby, and where those glades and woods amidst which the Clancings have + grown up, and lived and died, ere ever Norman William set his foot on + English soil? A man of trade—a man who, by the sweat of his + half-starved workers, had laid by ill-gotten wealth, is now the owner of + all that fair property. Should I, the last of the Clancings, show my face + upon it, I might be handed over to the village beadle as a trespasser, or + scourged off it perhaps by the bowstrings of insolent huntsmen.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And how comes so sudden a reverse of fortune?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Fill up your glasses!’ cried the old man, suiting the action to the word. + ‘Here’s a toast for you! Perdition to all faithless princes! How came it + about, ye ask? Why, when the troubles came upon the first Charles, I stood + by him as though he had been mine own brother. At Edgehill, at Naseby, in + twenty skirmishes and battles, I fought stoutly in his cause, maintaining + a troop of horse at my own expense, formed from among my own gardeners, + grooms, and attendants. Then the military chest ran low, and money must be + had to carry on the contest. My silver chargers and candlesticks were + thrown into the melting-pot, as were those of many another cavalier. They + went in metal and they came out as troopers and pikemen. So we tided over + a few months until again the purse was empty, and again we filled it + amongst us. This time it was the home farm and the oak trees that went. + Then came Marston Moor, and every penny and man was needed to repair that + great disaster. I flinched not, but gave everything. This boiler of soap, + a prudent, fat-cheeked man, had kept himself free from civil broils, and + had long had a covetous eye upon the castle. It was his ambition, poor + worm, to be a gentleman, as though a gabled roof and a crumbling house + could ever make him that. I let him have his way, however, and threw the + sum received, every guinea of it, into the King’s coffers. And so I held + out until the final ruin of Worcester, when I covered the retreat of the + young prince, and may indeed say that save in the Isle of Man I was the + last Royalist who upheld the authority of the crown. The Commonwealth had + set a price upon my head as a dangerous malignant, so I was forced to take + my passage in a Harwich ketch, and arrived in the Lowlands with nothing + save my sword and a few broad pieces in my pocket.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A cavalier might do well even then,’ remarked Saxon. ‘There are ever wars + in Germany where a man is worth his hire. When the North Germans are not + in arms against the Swedes or French, the South Germans are sure to be + having a turn with the janissaries.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I did indeed take arms for a time in the employ of the United Provinces, + by which means I came face to face once more with mine old foes, the + Roundheads. Oliver had lent Reynolds’s brigade to the French, and right + glad was Louis to have the service of such seasoned troops. ‘Fore God, I + stood on the counterscarp at Dunkirk, and I found myself, when I should + have been helping the defence, actually cheering on the attack. My very + heart rose when I saw the bull-dog fellows clambering up the breach with + their pikes at the trail, and never quavering in their psalm-tune, though + the bullets sung around them as thick as bees in the hiving time. And when + they did come to close hugs with the Flemings, I tell you they set up such + a rough cry of soldierly joy that my pride in them as Englishmen + overtopped my hatred of them as foes. However, my soldiering was of no + great duration, for peace was soon declared, and I then pursued the study + of chemistry, for which I had a strong turn, first with Vorhaager of + Leyden, and later with De Huy of Strasburg, though I fear that these + weighty names are but sounds to your ears.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Truly,’ said Saxon, ‘there seemeth to be some fatal attraction in this + same chemistry, for we met two officers of the Blue Guards in Salisbury, + who, though they were stout soldierly men in other respects, had also a + weakness in that direction.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ha!’ cried Sir Jacob, with interest. ‘To what school did they belong?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, I know nothing of the matter,’ Saxon answered, ‘save that they + denied that Gervinus of Nurnberg, whom I guarded in prison, or any other + man, could transmute metals.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For Gervinus I cannot answer,’ said our host, ‘but for the possibility of + it I can pledge my knightly word. However, of that anon. The time came at + last when the second Charles was invited back to his throne, and all of + us, from Jeffrey Hudson, the court dwarf, up to my Lord Clarendon, were in + high feather at the hope of regaining our own once more. For my own claim, + I let it stand for some time, thinking that it would be a more graceful + act for the King to help a poor cavalier who had ruined himself for the + sake of his family without solicitation on his part. I waited and waited, + but no word came, so at last I betook myself to the levee and was duly + presented to him. “Ah,” said he, greeting me with the cordiality which he + could assume so well, “you are, if I mistake not, Sir Jasper Killigrew?” + “Nay, your Majesty,” I answered, “I am Sir Jacob Clancing, formerly of + Snellaby Hall, in Staffordshire;” and with that I reminded him of + Worcester fight and of many passages which had occurred to us in common. + “Od’s fish!” he cried, “how could I be so forgetful! And how are all at + Snellaby?” I then explained to him that the Hall had passed out of my + hands, and told him in a few words the state to which I had been reduced. + His face clouded over and his manner chilled to me at once. “They are all + on to me for money and for places,” he said, “and truly the Commons are so + niggardly to me that I can scarce be generous to others. However, Sir + Jacob, we shall see what can be done for thee,” and with that he dismissed + me. That same night the secretary of my Lord Clarendon came to me, and + announced with much form and show that, in consideration of my long + devotion and the losses which I had sustained, the King was graciously + pleased to make me a lottery cavalier.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And pray, sir, what is a lottery cavalier?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is nothing else than a licensed keeper of a gambling-house. This was + his reward to me. I was to be allowed to have a den in the piazza of + Covent Garden, and there to decoy the young sparks of the town and fleece + them at ombre. To restore my own fortunes I was to ruin others. My honour, + my family, my reputation, they were all to weigh for nothing so long as I + had the means of bubbling a few fools out of their guineas.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have heard that some of the lottery cavaliers did well,’ remarked Saxon + reflectively. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well or ill, it way no employment for me. I waited upon the King and + implored that his bounty would take another form. His only reply was that + for one so poor I was strangely fastidious. For weeks I hung about the + court—I and other poor cavaliers like myself, watching the royal + brothers squandering upon their gaming and their harlots sums which would + have restored us to our patrimonies. I have seen Charles put upon one turn + of a card as much as would have satisfied the most exacting of us. In the + parks of St. James, or in the Gallery at Whitehall, I still endeavoured to + keep myself before his eyes, in the hope that some provision would be made + for me. At last I received a second message from him. It was that unless I + could dress more in the mode he could dispense with my attendance. That + was his message to the old broken soldier who had sacrificed health, + wealth, position, everything in the service of his father and himself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Shameful!’ we cried, all three. + </p> + <p> + ‘Can you wonder, then, that I cursed the whole Stuart race, false-hearted, + lecherous, and cruel? For the Hall, I could buy it back to-morrow if I + chose, but why should I do so when I have no heir?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ho, you have prospered then!’ said Decimus Saxon, with one of his shrewd + sidelong looks. ‘Perhaps you have yourself found out how to convert pots + and pans into gold in the way you have spoken of. But that cannot be, for + I see iron and brass in this room which would hardly remain there could + you convert it to gold.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Gold has its uses, and iron has its uses,’ said Sir Jacob oracularly. + ‘The one can never supplant the other.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yet these officers,’ I remarked, ‘did declare to us that it was but a + superstition of the vulgar.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then these officers did show that their knowledge was less than their + prejudice. Alexander Setonius, a Scot, was first of the moderns to achieve + it. In the month of March 1602 he did change a bar of lead into gold in + the house of a certain Hansen, at Rotterdam, who hath testified to it. He + then not only repeated the same process before three learned men sent by + the Kaiser Rudolph, but he taught Johann Wolfgang Dienheim of Freibourg, + and Gustenhofer of Strasburg, which latter taught it to my own illustrious + master—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Who in turn taught it to you,’ cried Saxon triumphantly. ‘I have no great + store of metal with me, good sir, but there are my head-piece, back and + breast-plate, taslets and thigh-pieces, together with my sword, spurs, and + the buckles of my harness. I pray you to use your most excellent and + praiseworthy art upon these, and I will promise within a few days to bring + round a mass of metal which shall be more worthy of your skill.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay,’ said the alchemist, smiling and shaking his head. ‘It can + indeed be done, but only slowly and in order, small pieces at a time, and + with much expenditure of work and patience. For a man to enrich himself at + it he must labour hard and long; yet in the end I will not deny that he + may compass it. And now, since the flasks are empty and your young comrade + is nodding in his chair, it will perhaps be as well for you to spend as + much of the night as is left in repose.’ He drew several blankets and rugs + from a corner and scattered them over the floor. ‘It is a soldier’s + couch,’ he remarked; ‘but ye may sleep on worse before ye put Monmouth on + the English throne. For myself, it is my custom to sleep in an inside + chamber, which is hollowed out of the hill.’ With a few last words and + precautions for our comfort he withdrew with the lamp, passing through a + door which had escaped our notice at the further end of the apartment. + </p> + <p> + Reuben, having had no rest since he left Havant, had already dropped upon + the rugs, and was fast asleep, with a saddle for a pillow. Saxon and I sat + for a few minutes longer by the light of the burning brazier. + </p> + <p> + ‘One might do worse than take to this same chemical business,’ my + companion remarked, knocking the ashes out of his pipe. ‘See you yon + iron-bound chest in the corner?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What of it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is two thirds full of gold, which this worthy gentleman hath + manufactured.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How know you that?’ I asked incredulously. + </p> + <p> + ‘When you did strike the door panel with the hilt of your sword, as though + you would drive it in, you may have heard some scuttling about, and the + turning of a lock. Well, thanks to my inches, I was able to look through + yon slit in the wall, and I saw our friend throw something into the chest + with a chink, and then lock it. It was but a glance at the contents, yet I + could swear that that dull yellow light could come from no metal but gold. + Let us see if it be indeed locked.’ Rising from his seat he walked over to + the box and pulled vigorously at the lid. + </p> + <p> + ‘Forbear, Saxon, forbear!’ I cried angrily. ‘What would our host say, + should he come upon you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, then, he should not keep such things beneath his roof. With a chisel + or a dagger now, this might be prized open.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘By Heaven!’ I whispered, ‘if you should attempt it I shall lay you on + your back.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, well, young Anak! it was but a passing fancy to see the treasure + again. Now, if he were but well favoured to the King, this would be fair + prize of war. Marked ye not that he claimed to have been the last Royalist + who drew sword in England? and he confessed that he had been proscribed as + a malignant. Your father, godly as he is, would have little compunction in + despoiling such an Amalekite. Besides, bethink you, he can make more as + easily as your good mother maketh cranberry dumplings.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Enough said!’ I answered sternly. ‘It will not bear discussion. Get ye to + your couch, lest I summon our host and tell him what manner of man he hath + entertained.’ + </p> + <p> + With many grumbles Saxon consented at last to curl his long limbs up upon + a mat, whilst I lay by his side and remained awake until the mellow light + of morning streamed through the chinks between the ill-covered rafters. + Truth to tell, I feared to sleep, lest the freebooting habits of the + soldier of fortune should be too strong for him, and he should disgrace us + in the eyes of our kindly and generous entertainer. At last, however, his + long-drawn breathing assured me that he was asleep, and I was able to + settle down to a few hours of welcome rest. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XII. Of certain Passages upon the Moor + </h2> + <p> + In the morning, after a breakfast furnished by the remains of our supper, + we looked to our horses and prepared for our departure. Ere we could + mount, however, our kindly host came running out to us with a load of + armour in his arms. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come hither,’ said he, beckoning to Reuben. ‘It is not meet, lad, that + you should go bare-breasted against the enemy when your comrades are girt + with steel. I have here mine own old breastplate and head-piece, which + should, methinks, fit you, for if you have more flesh than I, I am a + larger framework of a man. Ah, said I not so! Were’t measured for you by + Silas Thomson, the court armourer, it could not grip better. Now on with + the head-piece. A close fit again. You are now a cavalier whom Monmouth or + any other leader might be proud to see ride beneath his banner.’ + </p> + <p> + Both helmet and body-plates were of the finest Milan steel, richly inlaid + with silver and with gold, and carved all over in rare and curious + devices. So stern and soldierly was the effect, that the ruddy, kindly + visage of our friend staring out of such a panoply had an ill-matched and + somewhat ludicrous appearance. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay,’ cried the old cavalier, seeing a smile upon our features, ‘it + is but right that so precious a jewel as a faithful heart should have a + fitting casket to protect it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am truly beholden to you, sir,’ said Reuben; ‘I can scarce find words + to express my thanks. Holy mother! I have a mind to ride straight back to + Havant, to show them how stout a man-at-arms hath been reared amongst + them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is steel of proof,’ Sir Jacob remarked; ‘a pistol-bullet might glance + from it. And you,’ he continued, turning to me, ‘here is a small gift by + which you shall remember this meeting. I did observe that you did cast a + wistful eye upon my bookshelf. It is Plutarch’s lives of the ancient + worthies, done into English by the ingenious Mr. Latimer. Carry this + volume with you, and shape your life after the example of the giant men + whose deeds are here set forth. In your saddle-bag I place a small but + weighty packet, which I desire you to hand over to Monmouth upon the day + of your arrival in his camp. As to you, sir,’ addressing Decimus Saxon, + ‘here is a slug of virgin gold for you, which may fashion into a pin or + such like ornament. You may wear it with a quiet conscience, for it is + fairly given to you and not filched from your entertainer whilst he + slept.’ + </p> + <p> + Saxon and I shot a sharp glance of surprise at each other at this speech, + which showed that our words of the night before were not unknown to him. + Sir Jacob, however, showed no signs of anger, but proceeded to point out + our road and to advise us as to our journey. + </p> + <p> + ‘You must follow this sheep-track until you come on another and broader + pathway which makes for the West,’ said he. ‘It is little used, and there + is small chance of your falling in with any of your enemies upon it. This + path will lead you between the villages of Fovant and Hindon, and soon to + Mere, which is no great distance from Bruton, upon the Somersetshire + border.’ + </p> + <p> + Thanking our venerable host for his great kindness towards us we gave rein + to our horses, and left him once more to the strange solitary existence in + which we had found him. So artfully had the site of his cottage been + chosen, that when we looked back to give him a last greeting both he and + his dwelling had disappeared already from our view, nor could we, among + the many mounds and hollows, determine where the cottage lay which had + given us such welcome shelter. In front of us and on either side the great + uneven dun-coloured plain stretched away to the horizon, without a break + in its barren gorse-covered surface. Over the whole expanse there was no + sign of life, save for an occasional rabbit which whisked into its burrow + on hearing our approach, or a few thin and hungry sheep, who could scarce + sustain life by feeding on the coarse and wiry grass which sprang from the + unfruitful soil. + </p> + <p> + The pathway was so narrow that only one of us could ride upon it at a + time, but we presently abandoned it altogether, using it simply as a + guide, and galloping along side by side over the rolling plain. We were + all silent, Reuben meditating upon his new corslet, as I could see from + his frequent glances at it; while Saxon, with his eyes half closed, was + brooding over some matter of his own. For my own part, my thoughts ran + upon the ignominy of the old soldier’s designs upon the gold chest, and + the additional shame which rose from the knowledge that our host had in + some way divined his intention. No good could come of an alliance with a + man so devoid of all feelings of honour or of gratitude. So strongly did I + feel upon it that I at last broke the silence by pointing to a cross path, + which turned away from the one which we were pursuing, and recommending + him to follow it, since he had proved that he was no fit company for + honest men. + </p> + <p> + ‘By the living rood!’ he cried, laying his hand upon the hilt of his + rapier,’ have you taken leave of your senses? These are words such as no + honourable cavaliero can abide.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They are none the less words of truth,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + His blade flashed out in an instant, while his mare bounded twice her + length under the sharp dig of his spurs. + </p> + <p> + ‘We have here,’ he cried, reining her round, with his fierce lean face all + of a quiver with passion, ‘an excellent level stretch on which to discuss + the matter. Out with your bilbo and maintain your words.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I shall not stir a hair’s-breadth to attack you,’ I answered. ‘Why should + I, when I bear you no ill-will? If you come against me, however, I will + assuredly beat you out of your saddle, for all your tricky sword play.’ I + drew my broadsword as I spoke, and stood upon my guard, for I guessed that + with so old a soldier the onset would be sharp and sudden. + </p> + <p> + ‘By all the saints in heaven!’ cried Reuben, ‘which ever of ye strikes + first at the other I’ll snap this pistol at his head. None of your jokes, + Don Decimo, for by the Lord I’ll let drive at you if you were my own + mother’s son. Put up your sword, for the trigger falls easy, and my finger + is a twitching.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Curse you for a spoil-sport!’ growled Saxon, sulkily sheathing his + weapon. ‘Nay, Clarke,’ he added, after a few moments of reflection, ‘this + is but child’s play, that two camarados with a purpose in view should fall + out over such a trifle. I, who am old enough to be your father, should + have known better than to have drawn upon you, for a boy’s tongue wags on + impulse and without due thought. Do but say that you have said more than + you meant.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My way of saying it may have been over plain and rough,’ I answered, for + I saw that he did but want a little salve where my short words had galled + him. ‘At the same time, our ways differ from your ways, and that + difference must be mended, or you can be no true comrade of ours.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘All right, Master Morality,’ quoth he, ‘I must e’en unlearn some of the + tricks of my trade. Od’s feet, man, if ye object to me, what the henker + would ye think of some whom I have known? However, let that pass. It is + time that we were at the wars, for our good swords will not bide in their + scabbards. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty, + For want of fighting was grown rusty, + And ate into itself for lack + Of somebody to hew and hack.” + </pre> + <p> + You cannot think a thought but old Samuel hath been before you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Surely we shall be at the end of this dreary plain presently,’ Reuben + cried. ‘Its insipid flatness is enough to set the best of friends by the + ears. We might be in the deserts of Libya instead of his most graceless + Majesty’s county of Wiltshire.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is smoke over yonder, upon the side of that hill,’ said Saxon, + pointing to the southward. + </p> + <p> + ‘Methinks I see one straight line of houses there,’ I observed, shading my + eyes with my hand. ‘But it is distant, and the shimmer of the sun disturbs + the sight.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It must be the hamlet of Hindon,’ said Reuben. ‘Oh, the heat of this + steel coat! I wonder if it were very un-soldierly to slip it off and tie + it about Dido’s neck. I shall be baked alive else, like a crab in its + shell. How say you, illustrious, is it contravened by any of those + thirty-nine articles of war which you bear about in your bosom?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The bearing of the weight of your harness, young man,’ Saxon answered + gravely, ‘is one of the exercises of war, and as such only attainable by + such practice as you are now undergoing. You have many things to learn, + and one of them is not to present petronels too readily at folk’s heads + when you are on horseback. The jerk of your charger’s movement even now + might have drawn your trigger, and so deprived Monmouth of an old and + tried soldier.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There would be much weight in your contention,’ my friend answered, ‘were + it not that I now bethink me that I had forgot to recharge my pistol since + discharging it at that great yellow beast yesternight.’ + </p> + <p> + Decimus Saxon shook his head sadly. ‘I doubt we shall never make a soldier + of you,’ he remarked. ‘You fall from your horse if the brute does bit + change his step, you show a levity which will not jump with the gravity of + the true soldado, you present empty petronels as a menace, and finally, + you crave permission to tie your armour—armour which the Cid himself + might be proud to wear—around the neck of your horse. Yet you have + heart and mettle, I believe, else you would not be here.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Gracias, Signor!’ cried Reuben, with a bow which nearly unhorsed him; + ‘the last remark makes up for all the rest, else had I been forced to + cross blades with you, to maintain my soldierly repute.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Touching that same incident last night,’ said Saxon, ‘of the chest + filled, as I surmise, with gold, which I was inclined to take as lawful + plunder, I am now ready to admit that I may have shown an undue haste and + precipitance, considering that the old man treated us fairly.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Say no more of it,’ I answered, ‘if you will but guard against such + impulses for the future.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They do not properly come from me,’ he replied, ‘but from Will + Spotterbridge, who was a man of no character at all.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And how comes he to be mixed up in the matter?’ I asked curiously. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, marry, in this wise. My father married the daughter of this same + Will Spotterbridge, and so weakened a good old stock by an unhealthy + strain. Will was a rake-hell of Fleet Street in the days of James, a + chosen light of Alsatia, the home of bullies and of brawlers. His blood + hath through his daughter been transmitted to the ten of us, though I + rejoice to say that I, being the tenth, it had by that time lost much of + its virulence, and indeed amounts to little more than a proper pride, and + a laudable desire to prosper.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How, then, has it affected the race?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why,’ he answered, ‘the Saxons of old were a round-faced, contented + generation, with their ledgers in their hands for six days and their + bibles on the seventh. If my father did but drink a cup of small beer more + than his wont, or did break out upon provocation into any fond oath, as + “Od’s niggers!” or “Heart alive!” he would mourn over it as though it were + the seven deadly sins. Was this a man, think ye, in the ordinary course of + nature to beget ten long lanky children, nine of whom might have been + first cousins of Lucifer, and foster-brothers of Beelzebub?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It was hard upon him,’ remarked Reuben. + </p> + <p> + ‘On him! Nay, the hardship was all with us. If he with his eyes open chose + to marry the daughter of an incarnate devil like Will Spotterbridge, + because she chanced to be powdered and patched to his liking, what reason + hath he for complaint? It is we, who have the blood of this Hector of the + taverns grafted upon our own good honest stream, who have most reason to + lift up our voices.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Faith, by the same chain of reasoning,’ said Reuben, ‘one of my ancestors + must have married a woman with a plaguy dry throat, for both my father and + I are much troubled with the complaint.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You have assuredly inherited a plaguy pert tongue,’ growled Saxon. ‘From + what I have told you, you will see that our whole life is a conflict + between our natural Saxon virtue and the ungodly impulses of the + Spotterbridge taint. That of which you have had cause to complain + yesternight is but an example of the evil to which I am subjected.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And your brothers and sisters?’ I asked; ‘how hath this circumstance + affected them?’ The road was bleak and long, so that the old soldier’s + gossip was a welcome break to the tedium of the journey. + </p> + <p> + ‘They have all succumbed,’ said Saxon, with a groan. ‘Alas, alas! they + were a goodly company could they have turned their talents to better uses. + Prima was our eldest born. She did well until she attained womanhood. + Secundus was a stout seaman, and owned his own vessel when he was yet a + young man. It was remarked, however, that he started on a voyage in a + schooner and came back in a brig, which gave rise to some inquiry. It may + be, as he said, that he found it drifting about in the North Sea, and + abandoned his own vessel in favour of it, but they hung him before he + could prove it. Tertia ran away with a north-country drover, and hath been + on the run ever since. Quartus and Nonus have been long engaged in busying + themselves over the rescue of the black folk from their own benighted and + heathen country, conveying them over by the shipload to the plantations, + where they may learn the beauties of the Christian religion. They are, + however, men of violent temper and profane speech, who cherish no + affection for their younger brother. Quintus was a lad of promise, but he + found a hogshead of rumbo which was thrown up from a wreck, and he died + soon afterwards. Sextus might have done well, for he became clerk to + Johnny Tranter the attorney; but he was of an enterprising turn, and he + shifted the whole business, papers, cash, and all to the Lowlands, to the + no small inconvenience of his employer, who hath never been able to lay + hands either on one or the other from that day to this. Septimus died + young. As to Octavius, Will Spotterbridge broke out early in him, and he + was slain in a quarrel over some dice, which were said by his enemies to + be so weighted that the six must ever come upwards. Let this moving + recital be a warning to ye, if ye are fools enough to saddle yourselves + with a wife, to see that she hath no vice in her, for a fair face is a + sorry make-weight against a foul mind.’ + </p> + <p> + Reuben and I could not but laugh over this frank family confession, which + our companion delivered without a sign of shame or embarrassment. ‘Ye have + paid a heavy price for your father’s want of discretion,’ I remarked. ‘But + what in the name of fate is this upon our left?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A gibbet, by the look of it,’ said Saxon, peering across at the gaunt + framework of wood, which rose up from a little knoll. ‘Let us ride past + it, for it is little out of our way. They are rare things in England, + though by my faith there were more gallows than milestones when Turenne + was in the Palatinate. What between the spies and traitors who were bred + by the war, the rascally Schwartzritter and Lanzknechte, the Bohemian + vagabonds, and an occasional countryman who was put out of the way lest he + do something amiss, there was never such a brave time for the crows.’ + </p> + <p> + As we approached this lonely gibbet we saw that a dried-up wisp of a thing + which could hardly be recognised as having once been a human being was + dangling from the centre of it. This wretched relic of mortality was + secured to the cross-bar by an iron chain, and flapped drearily backwards + and forwards in the summer breeze. We had pulled up our horses, and were + gazing in silence at this sign-post of death, when what had seemed to us + to be a bundle of rags thrown down at the foot of the gallows began + suddenly to move, and turned towards us the wizened face of an aged woman, + so marked with evil passions and so malignant in its expression that it + inspired us with even more horror than the unclean thing which dangled + above her head. + </p> + <p> + ‘Gott in Himmel!’ cried Saxon, ‘it is ever thus! A gibbet draws witches as + a magnet draws needles. All the hexerei of the country side will sit round + one, like cats round a milk-pail. Beware of her! she hath the evil eye!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Poor soul! It is the evil stomach that she hath,’ said Reuben, walking + his horse up to her. ‘Whoever saw such a bag of bones! I warrant that she + is pining away for want of a crust of bread.’ + </p> + <p> + The creature whined, and thrust out two skinny claws to grab the piece of + silver which our friend had thrown down to her. Her fierce dark eyes and + beak-like nose, with the gaunt bones over which the yellow parchment-like + skin was stretched tightly, gave her a fear-inspiring aspect, like some + foul bird of prey, or one of those vampires of whom the story-tellers + write. + </p> + <p> + ‘What use is money in the wilderness?’ I remarked; ‘she cannot feed + herself upon a silver piece.’ + </p> + <p> + She tied the coin hurriedly into the corner of her rags, as though she + feared that I might try to wrest it from her. ‘It will buy bread,’ she + croaked. + </p> + <p> + ‘But who is there to sell it, good mistress?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘They sell it at Fovant, and they sell it at Hindon,’ she answered. ‘I + bide here o’ days, but I travel at night.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I warrant she does, and on a broomstick,’ quoth Saxon; ‘but tell us, + mother, who is it who hangs above your head?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is he who slew my youngest born,’ cried the old woman, casting a + malignant look at the mummy above her, and shaking a clenched hand at it + which was hardly more fleshy than its own. ‘It is he who slew my bonny + boy. Out here upon the wide moor he met him, and he took his young life + from him when no kind hand was near to stop the blow. On that ground there + my lad’s blood was shed, and from that watering hath grown this goodly + gallows-tree with its fine ripe fruit upon it. And here, come rain, come + shine, shall I, his mother, sit while two bones hang together of the man + who slow my heart’s darling.’ She nestled down in her rags as she spoke, + and leaning her chin upon her hands stared up with an intensity of hatred + at the hideous remnant. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come away, Reuben,’ I cried, for the sight was enough to make one loathe + one’s kind. ‘She is a ghoul, not a woman.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Pah! it gives one a foul taste in the mouth,’ quoth Saxon. ‘Who is for a + fresh gallop over the Downs? Away with care and carrion! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sir John got on his bonny brown steed, + To Monmouth for to ride—a. + A brave buff coat upon his back, + A broadsword by his side—a. + Ha, ha, young man, we rebels can + Pull down King James’s pride—a!” + </pre> + <p> + Hark away, lads, with a loose rein and a bloody heel!’ + </p> + <p> + We spurred our steeds and galloped from the unholy spot as fast as our + brave beasts could carry us. To all of us the air had a purer flavour and + the heath a sweeter scent by contrast with the grim couple whom we had + left behind us. What a sweet world would this be, my children, were it not + for man and his cruel ways! + </p> + <p> + When we at last pulled up we had set some three or four miles between the + gibbet and ourselves. Right over against us, on the side of a gentle + slope, stood a bright little village, with a red-roofed church rising up + from amidst a clump of trees. To our eyes, after the dull sward of the + plain, it was a glad sight to see the green spread of the branches and the + pleasant gardens which girt the hamlet round. All morning we had seen no + sight of a human being, save the old hag upon the moor and a few + peat-cutters in the distance. Our belts, too, were beginning to be loose + upon us, and the remembrance of our breakfast more faint. + </p> + <p> + ‘This,’ said I, ‘must be the village of Mere, which we were to pass before + coming to Bruton. We shall soon be over the Somersetshire border.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I trust that we shall soon be over a dish of beefsteaks,’ groaned Reuben. + ‘I am well-nigh famished. So fair a village must needs have a passable + inn, though I have not seen one yet upon my travels which would compare + with the old Wheatsheaf.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Neither inn nor dinner for us just yet,’ said Saxon. ‘Look yonder to the + north, and tell me what you see.’ + </p> + <p> + On the extreme horizon there was visible a long line of gleaming, + glittering points, which shone and sparkled like a string of diamonds. + These brilliant specks were all in rapid motion, and yet kept their + positions to each other. + </p> + <p> + ‘What is it, then?’ we both cried. + </p> + <p> + ‘Horse upon the march,’ quoth Saxon. ‘It may be our friends of Salisbury, + who have made a long day’s journey; or, as I am inclined to think, it may + be some other body of the King’s horse. They are far distant, and what we + see is but the sun shining on their casques; yet they are bound for this + very village, if I mistake not. It would be wisest to avoid entering it, + lest the rustics set them upon our track. Let us skirt it and push on for + Bruton, where we may spare time for bite and sup.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Alas, alas! for our dinners!’ cried Reuben ruefully. ‘I have fallen away + until my body rattles about, inside this shell of armour, like a pea in a + pod. However, lads, it is all for the Protestant faith.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘One more good stretch to Bruton, and we may rest in peace,’ said Saxon. + ‘It is ill dining when a dragoon may be served up as a grace after meat. + Our horses are still fresh, and we should be there in little over an + hour.’ + </p> + <p> + We pushed on our way accordingly, passing at a safe distance from Mere, + which is the village where the second Charles did conceal himself after + the battle of Worcester. The road beyond was much crowded by peasants, who + were making their way out of Somersetshire, and by farmers’ waggons, which + were taking loads of food to the West, ready to turn a few guineas either + from the King’s men or from the rebels. We questioned many as to the news + from the war, but though we were now on the outskirts of the disturbed + country, we could gain no clear account of how matters stood, save that + all agreed that the rising was on the increase. The country through which + we rode was a beautiful one, consisting of low swelling hills, well tilled + and watered by numerous streamlets. Crossing over the river Brue by a good + stone bridge, we at last reached the small country town for which we had + been making, which lies embowered in the midst of a broad expanse of + fertile meadows, orchards, and sheep-walks. From the rising ground by the + town we looked back over the plain without seeing any traces of the + troopers. We learned, too, from an old woman of the place, that though a + troop of the Wiltshire Yeomanry had passed through the day before, there + were no soldiers quartered at present in the neighbourhood. Thus assured + we rode boldly into the town, and soon found our way to the principal inn. + I have some dim remembrance of an ancient church upon an eminence, and of + a quaint stone cross within the market-place, but assuredly, of all the + recollections which I retain of Bruton there is none so pleasing as that + of the buxom landlady’s face, and of the steaming dishes which she lost no + time in setting before us. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XIII. Of Sir Gervas Jerome, Knight Banneret of the County of + Surrey + </h2> + <p> + The inn was very full of company, being occupied not only by many + Government agents and couriers on their way to and from the seat of the + rising, but also by all the local gossips, who gathered there to exchange + news and consume Dame Hobson the landlady’s home-brewed. In spite, + however, of this stress of custom and the consequent uproar, the hostess + conducted us into her own private room, where we could consume her + excellent cheer in peace and quietness. This favour was due, I think, to a + little sly manoeuvring and a few whispered words from Saxon, who amongst + other accomplishments which he had picked up during his chequered career + had a pleasing knack of establishing friendly relations with the fair sex, + irrespective of age, size, or character. Gentle and simple, Church and + Dissent, Whig and Tory, if they did but wear a petticoat our comrade never + failed, in spite of his fifty years, to make his way into their good + graces by the help of his voluble tongue mid assured manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘We are your grateful servants, mistress,’ said he, when the smoking joint + and the batter pudding had been placed upon the table. ‘We have robbed you + of your room. Will you not honour us so far as to sit down with us and + share our repast?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, kind sir,’ said the portly dame, much flattered by the proposal; ‘it + is not for me to sit with gentles like yourselves.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Beauty has a claim which persons of quality, and above all cavalieros of + the sword, are the first to acknowledge,’ cried Saxon, with his little + twinkling eyes fixed in admiration upon her buxom countenance. ‘Nay, by my + troth, you shall not leave us. I shall lock the door first. If you will + not eat, you shall at least drink a cup of Alicant with me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, sir, it is too much honour,’ cried Dame Hobson, with a simper. ‘I + shall go down into the cellars and bring a flask of the best.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, by my manhood, you shall not,’ said Saxon, springing up from his + seat. ‘What are all these infernal lazy drawers here for if you are to + descend to menial offices?’ Handing the widow to a chair he clanked away + into the tap-room, where we heard him swearing at the men-servants, and + cursing them for a droning set of rascals who had taken advantage of the + angelic goodness of their mistress and her incomparable sweetness of + temper. + </p> + <p> + ‘Here is the wine, fair mistress,’ said he, returning presently with a + bottle in either hand. ‘Let me fill your glass. Ha! it flows clear and + yellow like a prime vintage. These rogues can stir their limbs when they + find that there is a man to command them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Would that there were ever such,’ said the widow meaningly, with a + languishing look at our companion. ‘Here is to you, sir—and to ye, + too, young sirs,’ she added, sipping at her wine. ‘May there be a speedy + end to the insurrection, for I judge, from your gallant equipment, that ye + be serving the King.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘His business takes us to the West,’ said Reuben, ‘and we have every + reason to hope that there will be a speedy end to the insurrection.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, aye, though blood will be shed first,’ she said, shaking her head. + ‘They tell me that the rebels are as many as seven thousand, and that they + swear to give an’ take no quarter, the murderous villains! Alas! how any + gentleman can fall to such bloody work when he might have a clean + honourable occupation, such as innkeeping or the like, is more than my + poor mind can understand. There is a sad difference betwixt the man who + lieth on the cold ground, not knowing how long it may be before he is + three feet deep in it, and he who passeth his nights upon a warm feather + bed, with mayhap a cellar beneath it stocked with even such wines as we + are now drinking.’ She again looked hard at Saxon as she spoke, while + Reuben and I nudged each other beneath the table. + </p> + <p> + ‘This business hath doubtless increased your trade, fair mistress,’ quoth + Saxon. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, and in the way that payeth best,’ said she. ‘The few kilderkins of + beer which are drunk by the common folk make little difference one way or + the other. But now, when we have lieutenants of counties, officers, + mayors, and gentry spurring it for very life down the highways, I have + sold more of my rare old wines in three days than ever I did before in a + calendar month. It is not ale, or strong waters, I promise you, that those + gentles drink, but Priniac, Languedoc, Tent, Muscadine, Chiante, and Tokay—never + a flask under the half-guinea.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So indeed!’ quoth Saxon thoughtfully. ‘A snug home and a steady income.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Would that my poor Peter had lived to share it with me,’ said Dame + Hobson, laying down her glass, and rubbing her eyes with a corner of her + kerchief. ‘He was a good man, poor soul, though in very truth and between + friends he did at last become as broad and as thick as one of his own + puncheons. All well, the heart is the thing! Marry come up! if a woman + were ever to wait until her own fancy came her way, there would be more + maids than mothers in the land.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Prythee, good dame, how runs your own fancy?’ asked Reuben mischievously. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not in the direction of fat, young man,’ she answered smartly, with a + merry glance at our plump companion. + </p> + <p> + ‘She has hit you there, Reuben,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘I would have no pert young springald,’ she continued, ‘but one who hath + knowledge of the world, and ripe experience. Tall he should be, and of + sinewy build, free of speech that he might lighten the weary hours, and + help entertain the gentles when they crack a flagon of wine. Of business + habits he must be, too, forsooth, for is there not a busy hostel and two + hundred good pounds a year to pass through his fingers? If Jane Hobson is + to be led to the altar again it must be by such a man as this.’ + </p> + <p> + Saxon had listened with much attention to the widow’s words, and had just + opened his mouth to make some reply to her when a clattering and bustle + outside announced the arrival of some traveller. Our hostess drank off her + wine and pricked up her ears, but when a loud authoritative voice was + heard in the passage, demanding a private room and a draught of sack, her + call to duty overcame her private concerns, and she bustled off with a few + words of apology to take the measure of the new-comer. + </p> + <p> + ‘Body o’ me, lads!’ quoth Decimus Saxon the moment that she disappeared, + ‘ye can see how the land lies. I have half a mind to let Monmouth carve + his own road, and to pitch my tent in this quiet English township.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your tent, indeed!’ cried Reuben; ‘it is a brave tent that is furnished + with cellars of such wine as we are drinking. And as to the quiet, my + illustrious, if you take up your residence here I’ll warrant that the + quiet soon comes to an end.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You have seen the woman,’ said Saxon, with his brow all in a wrinkle with + thought. ‘She hath much to commend her. A man must look to himself. Two + hundred pounds a year are not to be picked off the roadside every June + morning. It is not princely, but it is something for an old soldier of + fortune who hath been in the wars for five-and-thirty years, and foresees + the time when his limbs will grow stiff in his harness. What sayeth our + learned Fleming—“an mulier—” but what in the name of the devil + have we here?’ + </p> + <p> + Our companion’s ejaculation was called forth by a noise as of a slight + scuffle outside the door, with a smothered ‘Oh, sir!’ and ‘What will the + maids think?’ The contest was terminated by the door being opened, and + Dame Hobson re-entering the room with her face in a glow, and a slim young + man dressed in the height of fashion at her heels. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am sure, good gentlemen,’ said she, ‘that ye will not object to this + young nobleman drinking his wine in the same room with ye, since all the + others are filled with the townsfolk and commonalty.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Faith! I must needs be mine own usher,’ said the stranger, sticking his + gold-laced cap under his left arm and laying his hand upon his heart, + while he bowed until his forehead nearly struck the edge of the table. + ‘Your very humble servant, gentlemen, Sir Gervas Jerome, knight banneret + of his Majesty’s county of Surrey, and at one time custos rotulorum of the + district of Beacham Ford.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Welcome, sir,’ quoth Reuben, with a merry twinkle in his eye. ‘You have + before you Don Decimo Saxon of the Spanish nobility, together with Sir + Micah Clarke and Sir Reuben Lockarby, both of his Majesty’s county of + Hampshire.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Proud and glad to meet ye, gentlemen!’ cried the newcomer, with a + flourish. ‘But what is this upon the table? Alicant? Fie, fie, it is a + drink for boys. Let us have some good sack with plenty of body in it. + Claret for youth, say I, sack for maturity, and strong waters in old age. + Fly, my sweetest, move those dainty feet of thine, for egad! my throat is + like leather. Od’s ‘oons, I drank deep last night, and yet it is clear + that I could not have drunk enough, for I was as dry as a concordance when + I awoke.’ + </p> + <p> + Saxon sat silently at the table, looking so viciously at the stranger out + of his half-closed glittering eyes that I feared that we should have + another such brawl as occurred at Salisbury, with perhaps a more + unpleasant ending. Finally, however, his ill-humour at the gallant’s free + and easy attention to our hostess spent itself in a few muttered oaths, + and he lit his long pipe, the never-failing remedy of a ruffled spirit. As + to Reuben and myself, we watched our new companion half in wonder and half + in amusement, for his appearance and manners were novel enough to raise + the interest of inexperienced youngsters like ourselves. + </p> + <p> + I have said that he was dressed in the height of fashion, and such indeed + was the impression which a glance would give. His face was thin and + aristocratic, with a well-marked nose, delicate features, and gay careless + expression. Some little paleness of the cheeks and darkness under the + eyes, the result of hard travel or dissipation, did but add a chastening + grace to his appearance. His white periwig, velvet and silver riding coat, + lavender vest and red satin knee-breeches were all of the best style and + cut, but when looked at closely, each and all of these articles of attire + bore evidence of having seen better days. Beside the dust and stains of + travel, there was a shininess or a fading of colour here and there which + scarce accorded with the costliness of their material or the bearing of + their wearer. His long riding-boots had a gaping seam in the side of one + of them, whilst his toe was pushing its way through the end of the other. + For the rest, he wore a handsome silver-hilted rapier at his side, and had + a frilled cambric shirt somewhat the worse for wear and open at the front, + as was the mode with the gallants of those days. All the time he was + speaking he mumbled a toothpick, which together with his constant habit of + pronouncing his o’s as a’s made his conversation sound strange to our + ears. (Note D Appendix) Whilst we were noting these peculiarities he was + reclining upon Dame Hobson’s best taffatta-covered settee, tranquilly + combing his wig with a delicate ivory comb which he had taken from a small + satin bag which hung upon the right of his sword-belt. + </p> + <p> + ‘Lard preserve us from country inns!’ he remarked. ‘What with the boors + that swarm in every chamber, and the want of mirrors, and jasmine water, + and other necessaries, blister me if one has not to do one’s toilet in the + common room. ‘Oons! I’d as soon travel in the land of the Great Mogul!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘When you shall come to be my age, young sir,’ Saxon answered, ‘you may + know better than to decry a comfortable country hostel.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very like, sir, very like!’ the gallant answered, with a careless laugh. + ‘For all that, being mine own age, I feel the wilds of Wiltshire and the + inns of Bruton to be a sorry change after the Mall, and the fare of + Pontack’s or the Coca Tree. Ah, Lud! here comes the sack! Open it, my + pretty Hebe, and send a drawer with fresh glasses, for these gentlemen + must do me the honour of drinking with me. A pinch of snuff, sirs? Aye, ye + may well look hard at the box. A pretty little thing, sirs, from a certain + lady of title, who shall be nameless; though, if I were to say that her + title begins with a D and her name with a C, a gentleman of the Court + might hazard a guess.’ + </p> + <p> + Our hostess, having brought fresh glasses, withdrew, and Decimus Saxon + soon found an opportunity for following her. Sir Gervas Jerome continued, + however, to chatter freely to Reuben and myself over the wine, rattling + along as gaily and airily as though we were old acquaintances. + </p> + <p> + ‘Sink me, if I have not frighted your comrade away!’ he remarked, ‘Or is + it possible that he hath gone on the slot of the plump widow? Methought he + looked in no very good temper when I kissed her at the door. Yet it is a + civility which I seldom refuse to anything which wears a cap. Your + friend’s appearance smacked more of Mars than of Venus, though, indeed, + those who worship the god are wont to be on good terms with the goddess. A + hardy old soldier, I should judge, from his feature and attire.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘One who hath seen much service abroad,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ha! ye are lucky to ride to the wars in the company of so accomplished a + cavalier. For I presume that it is to the wars that ye are riding, since + ye are all so armed and accoutred.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We are indeed bound for the West,’ I replied, with some reserve, for in + Saxon’s absence I did not care to be too loose-tongued. + </p> + <p> + ‘And in what capacity?’ he persisted. ‘Will ye risk your crowns in defence + of King James’s one, or will ye strike in, hit or miss, with these rogues + of Devon and Somerset? Stop my vital breath, if I would not as soon side + with the clown as with the crown, with all due respect to your own + principles!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are a daring man,’ said I, ‘if you air your opinions thus in every + inn parlour. Dost not know that a word of what you have said, whispered to + the nearest justice of the peace, might mean your liberty, if not your + life?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t care the rind of a rotten orange for life or liberty either,’ + cried our acquaintance, snapping his finger and thumb. ‘Burn me if it + wouldn’t be a new sensation to bandy words with some heavy-chopped country + justice, with the Popish plot still stuck in his gizzard, and be + thereafter consigned to a dungeon, like the hero in John Dryden’s latest. + I have been round-housed many a time by the watch in the old Hawkubite + days; but this would be a more dramatic matter, with high treason, block, + and axe all looming in the background.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And rack and pincers for a prologue,’ said Reuben. ‘This ambition is the + strangest that I have ever heard tell of.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Anything for a change,’ cried Sir Gervas, filling up a bumper. ‘Here’s to + the maid that’s next our heart, and here’s to the heart that loves the + maids! War, wine, and women, ‘twould be a dull world without them. But you + have not answered my question.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why truly, sir,’ said I, ‘frank as you have been with us, I can scarce be + equally so with you, without the permission of the gentleman who has just + left the room. He is the leader of our party. Pleasant as our short + intercourse has been, these are parlous times, and hasty confidences are + apt to lead to repentance.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A Daniel come to judgment!’ cried our new acquaintance. ‘What ancient, + ancient words from so young a head! You are, I’ll warrant, five years + younger than a scatterbrain like myself, and yet you talk like the seven + wise men of Greece. Wilt take me as a valet?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A valet!’ I exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, a valet, a man-servant. I have been waited upon so long that it is + my turn to wait now, and I would not wish a more likely master. By the + Lard! I must, in applying for a place, give an account of my character and + a list of my accomplishments. So my rascals ever did with me, though in + good truth I seldom listened to their recital. Honesty—there I score + a trick. Sober—Ananias himself could scarce say that I am that. + Trustworthy—indifferently so. Steady—hum! about as much so as + Garraway’s weathercock. Hang it, man, I am choke full of good resolutions, + but a sparkling glass or a roguish eye will deflect me, as the mariners + say of the compass. So much for my weaknesses. Now let me see what + qualifications I can produce. A steady nerve, save only when I have my + morning qualms, and a cheerful heart; I score two on that. I can dance + saraband, minuet, or corranto; fence, ride, and sing French chansons. Good + Lard! who ever heard a valet urge such accomplishments? I can play the + best game of piquet in London. So said Sir George Etherege when I won a + cool thousand off him at the Groom Parter. But that won’t advance me much, + either. What is there, then, to commend me? Why, marry, I can brew a bowl + of punch, and I can broil a devilled fowl. It is not much, but I can do it + well.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Truly, good sir,’ I said, with a smile, ‘neither of these accomplishments + is like to prove of much use to us on our present errand. You do, however, + but jest, no doubt, when you talk of descending to such a position.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not a whit! not a whit!’ he replied earnestly. ‘“To such base uses do we + come,” as Will Shakespeare has it. If you would be able to say that you + have in your service Sir Gervas Jerome, knight banneret, and sole owner of + Beacham Ford Park, with a rent-roll of four thousand good pounds a year, + he is now up for sale, and will be knocked down to the bidder who pleases + him best. Say but the word, and we’ll have another flagon of sack to + clinch the bargain.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But,’ said I, ‘if you are indeed owner of this fair property, why should + you descend to so menial an occupation?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The Jews, the Jews, oh most astute and yet most slow-witted master! The + ten tribes have been upon me, and I have been harried and wasted, bound, + ravished, and despoiled. Never was Agag, king of Amalek, more completely + in the hands of the chosen, and the sole difference is that they have + hewed into pieces mine estate instead of myself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Have you lost all, then?’ Reuben asked, open-eyed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why no—not all—by no means all!’ he answered, with a merry + laugh; ‘I have a gold Jacobus and a guinea or two in my purse. ‘Twill + serve for a flask or so yet. There is my silver-hilted rapier, my rings, + my gold snuff-box, and my watch by Tompion at the sign of the Three + Crowns. It was never bought under a hundred, I’ll warrant. Then there are + such relics of grandeur as you see upon my person, though they begin to + look as frail and worn as a waiting-woman’s virtue. In this bag, too, I + retain the means for preserving that niceness and elegance of person which + made me, though I say it, as well groomed a man as ever set foot in St. + James’s Park. Here are French scissors, eyebrow brush, toothpick case, + patch-box, powder-bag, comb, puff, and my pair of red-heeled shoes. What + could a man wish for more? These, with a dry throat, a cheerful heart, and + a ready hand, are my whole stock in trade.’ + </p> + <p> + Reuben and I could not forbear from laughing at the curious inventory of + articles which Sir Gervas had saved from the wreck of his fortunes. He + upon seeing our mirth was so tickled at his own misfortunes, that he + laughed in a high treble key until the whole house resounded with his + merriment. ‘By the Mass,’ he cried at last, ‘I have never had so much + honest amusement out of my prosperity as hath been caused in me by my + downfall. Fill up your glasses!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We have still some distance to travel this evening, and must not drink + more,’ I observed, for prudence told me that it was dangerous work for two + sober country lads to keep pace with an experienced toper. + </p> + <p> + ‘So!’ said he in surprise. ‘I should have thought that would be a “raison + de plus,” as the French say. But I wish your long-legged friend would come + back, even if he were intent upon slitting my weazand for my attention to + the widow. He is not a man to flinch from his liquor, I’ll warrant. Curse + this Wiltshire dust that clings to my periwig!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Until my comrade returns, Sir Gervas,’ said I, ‘you might, since the + subject does not appear to be a painful one to you, let us know how these + evil times, which you bear with such philosophy, came upon you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The old story!’ he answered, flicking away a few grains of snuff with his + deeply-laced cambric handkerchief. ‘The old, old story! My father, a good, + easy country baronet, finding the family purse somewhat full, must needs + carry me up to town to make a man of me. There as a young lad I was + presented at Court, and being a slim active youngster with a pert tongue + and assured manner, I caught the notice of the Queen, who made me one of + her pages of honour. This post I held until I grew out of it, when I + withdrew from town, but egad! I found I must get back to it again, for + Beacham Ford Park was as dull as a monastery after the life which I had + been living. In town I stayed then with such boon companions as Tommy + Lawson, my Lord Halifax, Sir Jasper Lemarck, little Geordie Chichester, + aye, and old Sidney Godolphin of the Treasury; for with all his staid ways + and long-winded budgets he could drain a cup with the best of us, and was + as keen on a main of cocks as on a committee of ways and means. Well, it + was rare sport while it lasted, and sink me if I wouldn’t do the same + again if I had my time once more. It is like sliding down a greased plank + though, for at first a man goes slow enough, and thinks he can pull + himself up, but presently he goes faster and faster, until he comes with a + crash on to the rocks of ruin at the bottom.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And did you run through four thousand pounds a year?’ I exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Od’s bodikins, man, you speak as if this paltry sum were all the wealth + of the Indies. Why, from Ormonde or Buckingham, with their twenty + thousand, down to ranting Dicky Talbot, there was not one of my set who + could not have bought me out. Yet I must have my coach and four, my town + house, my liveried servants, and my stable full of horses. To be in the + mode I must have my poet, and throw him a handful of guineas for his + dedication. Well, poor devil, he is one who will miss me. I warrant his + heart was as heavy as his verses when he found me gone, though perchance + he has turned a few guineas by this time by writing a satire upon me. It + would have a ready sale among my friends. Gad’s life! I wonder how my + levees get on, and whom all my suitors have fastened on to now. There they + were morning after morning, the French pimp, the English bully, the needy + man o’ letters, the neglected inventor—I never thought to have got + rid of them, but indeed I have shaken them off very effectually now. When + the honey-pot is broken it is farewell to the flies.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And your noble friends?’ I asked. ‘Did none of them stand by you in your + adversity?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, well, I have nought to complain of!’ exclaimed Sir Gervas. ‘They + were brave-hearted boys for the most part. I might have had their names on + my bills as long as their fingers could hold a pen, but slit me if I like + bleeding my own companions. They might have found a place for me, too, had + I consented to play second-fiddle where I had been used to lead the band. + I’ faith, I care not what I turn my hand to amongst strangers, but I would + fain leave my memory sweet in town.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘As to what you proposed, of serving us as a valet,’ said I, ‘it is not to + be thought of. We are, in spite of my friend’s waggishness, but two plain + blunt countrymen, and have no more need of a valet than one of those poets + which you have spoken of. On the other hand, if you should care to attach + yourself to our party, we shall take you where you will see service which + shall be more to your taste than the curling of periwigs or the brushing + of eyebrows.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay, my friend. Speak not with unseemly levity of the mysteries of + the toilet,’ he cried. ‘Ye would yourselves be none the worse for a touch + of mine ivory comb, and a closer acquaintance with the famous + skin-purifying wash of Murphy which I am myself in the habit of using.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am beholden to you, sir,’ said Reuben, ‘but the famous spring water + wash by Providence is quite good enough for the purpose.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And Dame Nature hath placed a wig of her own upon me,’ I added, ‘which I + should be very loth to change.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Goths! Perfect Goths!’ cried the exquisite, throwing up his white hands. + ‘But here comes a heavy tread and the clink of armour in the passage. ‘Tis + our friend the knight of the wrathful countenance, if I mistake not.’ + </p> + <p> + It was indeed Saxon, who strode into the room to tell us that our horses + were at the door, and that all was ready for our departure. Taking him + aside I explained to him in a whisper what had passed between the stranger + and ourselves, with the circumstances which had led me to suggest that he + should join our party. The old soldier frowned at the news. + </p> + <p> + ‘What have we to do with such a coxcomb?’ he said. ‘We have hard fare and + harder blows before us. He is not fit for the work.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You said yourself that Monmouth will be weak in horse,’ I answered. ‘Here + is a well-appointed cavalier, who is to all appearance a desperate man and + ready for anything. Why should we not enrol him?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I fear,’ said Saxon, ‘that his body may prove to be like the bran of a + fine cushion, of value only for what it has around it. However, it is + perhaps for the best. The handle to his name may make him welcome in the + camp, for from what I hear there is some dissatisfaction at the way in + which the gentry stand aloof from the enterprise.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I had feared,’ I remarked, still speaking in a whisper, ‘that we were + about to lose one of our party instead of gaining one in this Bruton inn.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have thought better of it,’ he answered, with a smile. ‘Nay, I’ll tell + you of it anon. Well, Sir Gervas Jerome,’ he added aloud, turning to our + new associate, ‘I hear that you are coming with us. For a day you must be + content to follow without question or remark. Is that agreed!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘With all my heart,’ cried Sir Gervas. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then here’s a bumper to our better acquaintance,’ cried Saxon, raising + his glass. + </p> + <p> + ‘I pledge ye all,’ quoth the gallant. ‘Here’s to a fair fight, and may the + best men win.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Donnerblitz, man!’ said Saxon. ‘I believe there’s mettle in you for all + your gay plumes. I do conceive a liking for you. Give me your hand!’ + </p> + <p> + The soldier of fortune’s great brown grip enclosed the delicate hand of + our new friend in a pledge of comradeship. Then, having paid our reckoning + and bade a cordial adieu to Dame Hobson, who glanced methought somewhat + reproachfully or expectantly at Saxon, we sprang on our steeds and + continued our journey amidst a crowd of staring villagers, who huzzaed + lustily as we rode out from amongst them. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XIV. Of the Stiff-legged Parson and his Flock + </h2> + <p> + Our road lay through Castle Carey and Somerton, which are small towns + lying in the midst of a most beautiful pastoral country, well wooded and + watered by many streams. The valleys along the centre of which the road + lies are rich and luxuriant, sheltered from the winds by long rolling + hills, which are themselves highly cultivated. Here and there we passed + the ivy-clad turret of an old castle or the peaked gables of a rambling + country house, protruding from amongst the trees and marking the country + seat of some family of repute. More than once, when these mansions were + not far from the road, we were able to perceive the unrepaired dints and + fractures on the walls received during the stormy period of the civil + troubles. Fairfax it seems had been down that way, and had left abundant + traces of his visit. I have no doubt that my father would have had much to + say of these signs of Puritan wrath had he been riding at our side. + </p> + <p> + The road was crowded with peasants who were travelling in two strong + currents, the one setting from east to west, and the other from west to + east. The latter consisted principally of aged people and of children, who + were being sent out of harm’s way to reside in the less disturbed counties + until the troubles should be over. Many of these poor folk were pushing + barrows in front of them, in which a few bedclothes and some cracked + utensils represented the whole of their worldly goods. Others more + prosperous had small carts, drawn by the wild shaggy colts which are bred + on the Somerset moors. What with the spirit of the half-tamed beasts and + the feebleness of the drivers, accidents were not uncommon, and we passed + several unhappy groups who had been tumbled with their property into a + ditch, or who were standing in anxious debate round a cracked shaft or a + broken axle. + </p> + <p> + The countrymen who were making for the West were upon the other hand men + in the prime of life, with little or no baggage. Their brown faces, heavy + boots, and smockfrocks proclaimed most of them to be mere hinds, though + here and there we overtook men who, by their top-boots and corduroys, may + have been small farmers or yeomen. These fellows walked in gangs, and were + armed for the most part with stout oak cudgels, which were carried as an + aid to their journey, but which in the hands of powerful men might become + formidable weapons. From time to time one of these travellers would strike + up a psalm tune, when all the others within earshot would join in, until + the melody rippled away down the road. As we passed some scowled angrily + at us, while others whispered together and shook their heads, in evident + doubt as to our character and aims. Now and again among the people we + marked the tall broad-brimmed hat and Geneva mantle which were the badges + of the Puritan clergy. + </p> + <p> + ‘We are in Monmouth’s country at last,’ said Saxon to me, for Reuben + Lockarby and Sir Gervas Jerome had ridden on ahead. ‘This is the raw + material which we shall have to lick into soldiership.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And no bad material either,’ I replied, taking note of the sturdy figures + and bold hearty faces of the men. ‘Think ye that they are bound for + Monmouth’s camp, then?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, are they. See you yon long-limbed parson on the left—him with + the pent-house hat. Markest thou not the stiffness wherewith he moves his + left leg!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, yes; he is travel-worn doubtless.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ho! ho!’ laughed my companion. ‘I have seen such a stiffness before now. + The man hath a straight sword within he leg of his breeches. A regular + Parliamentary tuck, I’ll warrant. When he is on safe ground he will + produce it, aye, and use it too, but until he is out of all danger of + falling in with the King’s horse he is shy of strapping it to his belt. He + is one of the old breed by his cut, who: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Call fire and sword and desolation, + A godly thorough reformation.” + </pre> + <p> + Old Samuel hath them to a penstroke! There is another ahead of him there, + with the head of a scythe inside his smock. Can you not see the outline? I + warrant there is not one of the rascals but hath a pike-head or + sickle-blade concealed somewhere about him. I begin to feel the breath of + war once more, and to grow younger with it. Hark ye, lad! I am glad that I + did not tarry at the inn.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You seemed to be in two minds about it,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, aye. She was a fine woman, and the quarters were comfortable. I do + not gainsay it. But marriage, d’ye see, is a citadel that it is plaguy + easy to find one’s way into, but once in old Tilly himself could not bring + one out again with credit, I have known such a device on the Danube, where + at the first onfall the Mamelukes have abandoned the breach for the very + purpose of ensnaring the Imperial troops in the narrow streets beyond, + from which few ever returned. Old birds are not caught with such wiles. I + did succeed in gaining the ear of one of the gossips, and asking him what + he could tell me of the good dame and her inn. It seemeth that she is + somewhat of a shrew upon occasion, and that her tongue had more to do with + her husband’s death than the dropsy which the leech put it down to. Again, + a new inn hath been started in the village, which is well-managed, and is + like to draw the custom from her. It is, too, as you have said, a dull + sleepy spot. All these reasons weighed with me, and I decided that it + would be best to raise my siege of the widow, and to retreat whilst I + could yet do so with the credit and honours of war.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis best so,’ said I; ‘you could not have settled down to a life of + toping and ease. But our new comrade, what think you of him?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Faith!’ Saxon answered, ‘we shall extend into a troop of horse if we add + to our number every gallant who is in want of a job. As to this Sir + Gervas, however, I think, as I said at the inn, that he hath more mettle + in him than one would judge at first sight. These young sprigs of the + gentry will always fight, but I doubt if he is hardened enough or hath + constancy enough for such a campaign as this is like to be. His + appearance, too, will be against him in the eyes of the saints; and though + Monmouth is a man of easy virtue, the saints are like to have the chief + voice in his councils. Now do but look at him as he reins up that showy + grey stallion and gazes back at us. Mark his riding-hat tilted over his + eye, his open bosom, his whip dangling from his button-hole, his hand on + his hip, and as many oaths in his mouth as there are ribbons to his + doublet. Above all, mark the air with which he looks down upon the + peasants beside him. He will have to change his style if he is to fight by + the side of the fanatics. But hark! I am much mistaken if they have not + already got themselves into trouble.’ + </p> + <p> + Our friends had pulled up their horses to await our coming. They had + scarce halted, however, before the stream of peasants who had been moving + along abreast of them slackened their pace, and gathered round them with a + deep ominous murmur and threatening gestures. Other rustics, seeing that + there was something afoot, hurried up to help their companions. Saxon and + I put spurs to our horses, and pushing through the throng, which was + becoming every instant larger and more menacing, made our way to the aid + of our friends, who were hemmed in on every side by the rabble. Reuben had + laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword, while Sir Gervas was placidly + chewing his toothpick and looking down at the angry mob with an air of + amused contempt. + </p> + <p> + ‘A flask or two of scent amongst them would not be amiss,’ he remarked; ‘I + would I had a casting bottle.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Stand on your guard, but do not draw,’ cried Saxon. ‘What the henker hath + come over the chaw-bacons? They mean mischief. How now, friends, why this + uproar?’ + </p> + <p> + This question instead of allaying the tumult appeared to make it tenfold + worse. All round us twenty deep were savage faces and angry eyes, with the + glint here and there of a weapon half drawn from its place of concealment. + The uproar, which had been a mere hoarse growl, began to take shape and + form. ‘Down with the Papists!’ was the cry. ‘Down with the Prelatists!’ + ‘Smite the Erastian butchers!’ ‘Smite the Philistine horsemen!’ ‘Down with + them!’ + </p> + <p> + A stone or two had already whistled past our ears, and we had been forced + in self-defence to draw our swords, when the tall minister whom we had + already observed shoved his way through the crowd, and by dint of his + lofty stature and commanding voice prevailed upon them to be silent. + </p> + <p> + ‘How say ye,’ he asked, turning upon us, ‘fight ye for Baal or for the + Lord? He who is not with us is against us.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Which is the side of Baal, most reverend sir, and which of the Lord?’ + asked Sir Gervas Jerome. ‘Methinks if you were to speak plain English + instead of Hebrew we might come to an understanding sooner.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘This is no time for light words,’ the minister cried, with a flush of + anger upon his face. ‘If ye would keep your skins whole, tell me, are ye + for the bloody usurper James Stuart, or are ye for his most Protestant + Majesty King Monmouth?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What! He hath come to the title already!’ exclaimed Saxon. ‘Know then + that we are four unworthy vessels upon our way to offer our services to + the Protestant cause.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He lies, good Master Pettigrue, he lies most foully,’ shouted a burly + fellow from the edge of the crowd. ‘Who ever saw a good Protestant in such + a Punchinello dress as yonder? Is not Amalekite written upon his raiment? + Is he not attired as becometh the bridegroom of the harlot of Rome? Why + then should we not smite him?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I thank you, my worthy friend,’ said Sir Gervas, whose attire had moved + this champion’s wrath. ‘If I were nearer I should give you some return for + the notice which you have taken of me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What proof have we that ye are not in the pay of the usurper, and on your + way to oppress the faithful?’ asked the Puritan divine. + </p> + <p> + ‘I tell you, man,’ said Saxon impatiently, ‘that we have travelled all the + way from Hampshire to fight against James Stuart. We will ride with ye to + Monmouth’s camp, and what better proof could ye desire than that?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It may be that ye do but seek an opportunity of escaping from our + bondage,’ the minister observed, after conferring with one or two of the + leading peasants. ‘It is our opinion, therefore, that before coming with + us ye must deliver unto us your swords, pistols, and other carnal + weapons.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, good sir, that cannot be,’ our leader answered. ‘A cavalier may not + with honour surrender his blade or his liberty in the manner ye demand. + Keep close to my bridle-arm, Clarke, and strike home at any rogue who lays + hands on you.’ + </p> + <p> + A hum of anger rose from the crowd, and a score of sticks and + scythe-blades were raised against us, when the minister again interposed + and silenced his noisy following. + </p> + <p> + ‘Did I hear aright?’ he asked. ‘Is your name Clarke?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Your Christian name?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Micah.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Living at?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Havant.’ + </p> + <p> + The clergyman conferred for a few moments with a grizzly-bearded, + harsh-faced man dressed in black buckram who stood at his elbow. + </p> + <p> + ‘If you are really Micah Clarke of Havant,’ quoth he, ‘you will be able to + tell us the name of an old soldier, skilled in the German wars, who was to + have come with ye to the camp of the faithful.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, this is he,’ I answered; ‘Decimus Saxon is his name.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, aye, Master Pettigrue,’ cried the old man. ‘The very name given by + Dicky Rumbold. He said that either the old Roundhead Clarke or his son + would go with him. But who are these?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘This is Master Reuben Lockarby, also of Havant, and Sir Gervas Jerome of + Surrey,’ I replied. ‘They are both here as volunteers desiring to serve + under the Duke of Monmouth.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Right glad I am to see ye, then,’ said the stalwart minister heartily. + ‘Friends, I can answer for these gentlemen that they favour the honest + folk and the old cause.’ + </p> + <p> + At these words the rage of the mob turned in an instant into the most + extravagant adulation and delight. They crowded round us, patting our + riding-boots, pulling at the skirts of our dress, pressing our hands and + calling down blessings upon our heads, until their pastor succeeded at + last in rescuing us from their attentions and in persuading them to resume + their journey. We walked our horses in the midst of them whilst the + clergyman strode along betwixt Saxon and myself. He was, as Reuben + remarked, well fitted to be an intermediary between us, for he was taller + though not so broad as I was, and broader though not so tall as the + adventurer. His face was long, thin, and hollow-cheeked, with a pair of + great thatched eyebrows and deep sunken melancholy eyes, which lit up upon + occasion with a sudden quick flash of fiery enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + ‘Joshua Pettigrue is my name, gentlemen,’ said he; ‘I am an unworthy + worker in the Lord’s vineyard, testifying with voice and with arm to His + holy covenant. These are my faithful flock, whom I am bringing westward + that they may be ready for the reaping when it pleases the Almighty to + gather them in.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And why have you not brought them into some show of order or formation?’ + asked Saxon. ‘They are straggling along the road like a line of geese upon + a common when Michaelmas is nigh. Have you no fears? Is it not written + that your calamity cometh suddenly—suddenly shall you be broken down + without remedy?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, friend, but is it not also written, “Trust in the Lord with all + thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding!” Mark ye, if I + were to draw up my men in military fashion it would invite attention and + attack from any of James Stuart’s horse who may come our way. It is my + desire to bring my flock to the camp and obtain pieces for them before + exposing them to so unequal a contest.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Truly, sir, it is a wise resolution,’ said Saxon grimly, ‘for if a troop + of horse came down upon these good people the pastor would find himself + without his flock.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, that could never be!’ cried Master Pettigrue with fervour. ‘Say + rather that pastor, flock, and all would find their way along the thorny + track of martyrdom to the new Jerusalem. Know, friend, that I have come + from Monmouth in order to conduct these men to his standard. I received + from him, or rather from Master Ferguson, instructions to be on the + lookout for ye and for several others of the faithful we expect to join us + from the East. By what route came ye?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Over Salisbury Plain and so through Bruton.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And saw ye or met ye any of our people upon the way?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘None,’ Saxon answered. ‘We left the Blue Guards at Salisbury, however, + and we saw either them or some other horse regiment near this side of the + Plain at the village of Mere.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, there is a gathering of the eagles,’ cried Master Joshua Pettigrue, + shaking his head. ‘They are men of fine raiment, with war-horses and + chariots and trappings, like the Assyrians of old, yet shall the angel of + the Lord breathe upon them in the night. Yea, He shall cut them off + utterly in His wrath, and they shall be destroyed.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Amen! Amen!’ cried as many of the peasants as were within earshot. + </p> + <p> + ‘They have elevated their horn, Master Pettigrue,’ said the grizzly-haired + Puritan. ‘They have set up their candlestick on high—the candlestick + of a perverse ritual and of an idolatrous service. Shall it not be dashed + down by the hands of the righteous?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Lo, this same candle waxed big and burned sooty, even as an offence to + the nostrils, in the days of our fathers,’ cried a burly red-faced man, + whose dress proclaimed him to be one of the yeoman class. ‘So was it when + Old Noll did get his snuffing shears to work upon it. It is a wick which + can only be trimmed by the sword of the faithful.’ A grim laugh from the + whole party proclaimed their appreciation of the pious waggery of their + companion. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, Brother Sandcroft,’ cried the pastor, ‘there is much sweetness and + manna hidden in thy conversation. But the way is long and dreary. Shall we + not lighten it by a song of praise? Where is Brother Thistlethwaite, whose + voice is as the cymbal, the tabor, and the dulcimer?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Lo, most pious Master Pettigrue,’ said Saxon, ‘I have myself at times + ventured to lift up my voice before the Lord.’ Without any further apology + he broke out in stentorian tones into the following hymn, the refrain of + which was caught up by pastor and congregation. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The Lord He is a morion + That guards me from all wound; + The Lord He is a coat of mail + That circles me all round. + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord? + + The Lord He is the buckler true + That swings on my left arm; + The Lord He is the plate of proof + That shieldeth me from harm. + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord? + + Who then dreads the violent, + Or fears the man of pride? + Or shall I flee from two or three + If He be by my side? + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord! + + My faith is like a citadel + Girt round with moat and wall, + No mine, or sap, or breach, or gap + Can ere prevail at all. + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord? +</pre> + <p> + Saxon ceased, but the Reverend Joshua Pettigrue waved his long arms and + repeated the refrain, which was taken up again and again by the long + column of marching peasants. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is a godly hymn,’ said our companion, who had, to my disgust and to + the evident astonishment of Reuben and Sir Gervas, resumed the snuffling, + whining voice which he had used in the presence of my father. ‘It hath + availed much on the field of battle.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Truly,’ returned the clergyman, ‘if your comrades are of as sweet a + savour as yourself, ye will be worth a brigade of pikes to the faithful,’ + a sentiment which raised a murmur of assent from the Puritans around. + ‘Since, sir,’ he continued, ‘you have had much experience in the wiles of + war, I shall be glad to hand over to you the command of this small body of + the faithful, until such time as we reach the army.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is time, too, in good faith, that ye had a soldier at your head,’ + Decimus Saxon answered quietly. ‘My eyes deceive me strangely if I do not + see the gleam of sword and cuirass upon the brow of yonder declivity. + Methinks our pious exercises have brought the enemy upon us.’ + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XV. Of our Brush with the King’s Dragoons + </h2> + <p> + Some little distance from us a branch road ran into that along which we + and our motley assemblage of companions-in-arms were travelling. This road + curved down the side of a well-wooded hill, and then over the level for a + quarter of a mile or so before opening on the other. Just at the brow of + the rising ground there stood a thick bristle of trees, amid the trunks of + which there came and went a bright shimmer of sparkling steel, which + proclaimed the presence of armed men. Farther back, where the road took a + sudden turn and ran along the ridge of the hill, several horsemen could be + plainly seen outlined against the evening sky. So peaceful, however, was + the long sweep of countryside, mellowed by the golden light of the setting + sun, with a score of village steeples and manor-houses peeping out from + amongst the woods, that it was hard to think that the thundercloud of war + was really lowering over that fair valley, and that at any instant the + lightning might break from it. + </p> + <p> + The country folk, however, appeared to have no difficulty at all in + understanding the danger to which they were exposed. The fugitives from + the West gave a yell of consternation, and ran wildly down the road or + whipped up their beasts of burden in the endeavour to place as safe a + distance as possible between themselves and the threatened attack. The + chorus of shrill cries and shouts, with the cracking of whips, creaking of + wheels, and the occasional crash when some cart load of goods came to + grief, made up a most deafening uproar, above which our leader’s voice + resounded in sharp, eager exhortation and command. When, however, the loud + brazen shriek from a bugle broke from the wood, and the head of a troop of + horse began to descend the slope, the panic became greater still, and it + was difficult for us to preserve any order at all amidst the wild rush of + the terrified fugitives. + </p> + <p> + ‘Stop that cart, Clarke,’ cried Saxon vehemently, pointing with his sword + to an old waggon, piled high with furniture and bedding, which was + lumbering along drawn by two raw-boned colts. At the same moment I saw him + drive his horse into the crowd and catch at the reins of another similar + one. + </p> + <p> + Giving Covenant’s bridle a shake I was soon abreast of the cart which he + had indicated, and managed to bring the furious young horses to a + stand-still. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bring it up!’ cried our leader, working with the coolness which only a + long apprenticeship to war can give. ‘Now, friends, cut the traces!’ A + dozen knives were at work in a moment, and the kicking, struggling animals + scampered off, leaving their burdens behind them. Saxon sprang off his + horse and set the example in dragging the waggon across the roadway, while + some of the peasants, under the direction of Reuben Lockarby and of Master + Joshua Pettigrue, arranged a couple of other carts to block the way fifty + yards further down. The latter precaution was to guard against the chance + of the royal horse riding through the fields and attacking us from behind. + So speedily was the scheme conceived and carried out, that within a very + few minutes of the first alarm we found ourselves protected front and rear + by a lofty barricade, while within this improvised fortress was a garrison + of a hundred and fifty men. + </p> + <p> + ‘What firearms have we amongst us?’ asked Saxon hurriedly. + </p> + <p> + ‘A dozen pistols at the most,’ replied the elderly Puritan, who was + addressed by his companions as Hope-above Williams. ‘John Rodway, the + coachman, hath his blunderbuss. There are also two godly men from + Hungerford, who are keepers of game, and who have brought their pieces + with them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They are here, sir,’ cried another, pointing to two stout, bearded + fellows, who were ramming charges into their long-barrelled muskets. + ‘Their names are Wat and Nat Millman.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Two who can hit their mark are worth a battalion who shoot wide,’ our + leader remarked, ‘Get under the waggon, my friends, and rest your pieces + upon the spokes. Never draw trigger until the sons of Belial are within + three pikes’ length of ye.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My brother and I,’ quoth one of them, ‘can hit a running doe at two + hundred paces. Our lives are in the hands of the Lord, but two, at least, + of these hired butchers we shall send before us.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘As gladly as ever we slew stoat or wild-cat,’ cried the other, slipping + under the waggon. ‘We are keeping the Lord’s preserves now, brother Wat, + and truly these are some of the vermin that infest them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Let all who have pistols line the waggon,’ said Saxon, tying his mare to + the hedge—an example which we all followed. ‘Clarke, do you take + charge upon the right with Sir Gervas, while Lockarby assists Master + Pettigrue upon the left. Ye others shall stand behind with stones. Should + they break through our barricades, slash at the horses with your scythes. + Once down, the riders are no match for ye.’ + </p> + <p> + A low sullen murmur of determined resolution rose from the peasants, + mingled with pious ejaculations and little scraps of hymn or of prayer. + They had all produced from under their smocks rustic weapons of some sort. + Ten or twelve had petronels, which, from their antique look and rusty + condition, threatened to be more dangerous to their possessors than to the + enemy. Others had sickles, scythe-blades, flails, half-pikes, or hammers, + while the remainder carried long knives and oaken clubs. Simple as were + these weapons, history has proved that in the hands of men who are deeply + stirred by religious fanaticism they are by no means to be despised. One + had but to look at the stern, set faces of our followers, and the gleam of + exultation and expectancy which shone from their eyes, to see that they + were not the men to quail, either from superior numbers or equipment. + </p> + <p> + ‘By the Mass!’ whispered Sir Gervas, ‘it is magnificent! An hour of this + is worth a year in the Mall. The old Puritan bull is fairly at bay. Let us + see what sort of sport the bull-pups make in the baiting of him! I’ll lay + five pieces to four on the chaw-bacons!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, it’s no matter for idle betting,’ said I shortly, for his + light-hearted chatter annoyed me at so solemn a moment. + </p> + <p> + ‘Five to four on the soldiers, then!’ he persisted. ‘It is too good a + match not to have a stake on it one way or the other.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Our lives are the stake,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘Faith, I had forgot it!’ he replied, still mumbling his toothpick. ‘“To + be or not to be?” as Will of Stratford says. Kynaston was great on the + passage. But here is the bell that rings the curtain up.’ + </p> + <p> + Whilst we had been making our dispositions the troop of horse—for + there appeared to be but one—had trotted down the cross-road, and + had drawn up across the main highway. They numbered, as far as I could + judge, about ninety troopers, and it was evident from their three-cornered + hats, steel plates, red sleeves, and bandoliers, that they were dragoons + of the regular army. The main body halted a quarter of a mile from us, + while three officers rode to the front and held a short consultation, + which ended in one of them setting spurs to his horse and cantering down + in our direction. A bugler followed a few paces behind him, waving a white + kerchief and blowing an occasional blast upon his trumpet. + </p> + <p> + ‘Here comes an envoy,’ cried Saxon, who was standing up in the waggon. + ‘Now, my brethren, we have neither kettle-drum nor tinkling brass, but we + have the instrument wherewith Providence hath endowed us. Let us show the + redcoats that we know how to use it. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Who then dreads the violent, + Or fears the man of pride? + Or shall I flee from two or three + If He be by my side?”’ +</pre> + <p> + Seven score voices broke in, in a hoarse roar, upon the chorus— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ‘Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord?’ +</pre> + <p> + I could well believe at that moment that the Spartans had found the lame + singer Tyrtaeus the most successful of their generals, for the sound of + their own voices increased the confidence of the country folk, while the + martial words of the old hymn roused the dogged spirit in their breasts. + So high did their courage run that they broke off their song with a loud + warlike shout, waving their weapons above their heads, and ready I verily + believe to march out from their barricades and make straight for the + horsemen. In the midst of this clamour and turmoil the young dragoon + officer, a handsome, olive-faced lad, rode fearlessly up to the barrier, + and pulling up his beautiful roan steed, held up his hand with an + imperious gesture which demanded silence. + </p> + <p> + ‘Who is the leader of this conventicle?’ he asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Address your message to me, sir,’ said our leader from the top of the + waggon, ‘but understand that your white flag will only protect you whilst + you use such language as may come from one courteous adversary to another. + Say your say or retire.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Courtesy and honour,’ said the officer, with a sneer, ‘are not extended + to rebels who are in arms against their lawful sovereign. If you are the + leader of this rabble, I warn you if they are not dispersed within five + minutes by this watch’—he pulled out an elegant gold time-piece—‘we + shall ride down upon them and cut them to pieces.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The Lord can protect His own,’ Saxon answered, amid a fierce hum of + approval from the crowd. ‘Is this all thy message?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is all, and you will find it enough, you Presbyterian traitor,’ cried + the dragoon cornet. ‘Listen to me, misguided fools,’ he continued, + standing up upon his stirrups and speaking to the peasants at the other + side of the waggon. ‘What chance have ye with your whittles and + cheese-scrapers? Ye may yet save your skins if ye will but deliver up your + leaders, throw down what ye are pleased to call your arms, and trust to + the King’s mercy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘This exceedeth the limitations of your privileges,’ said Saxon, drawing a + pistol from his belt and cocking it. ‘If you say another word to seduce + these people from their allegiance, I fire.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hope not to benefit Monmouth,’ cried the young officer, disregarding the + threat, and still addressing his words to the peasants. ‘The whole royal + army is drawing round him and—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Have a care!’ shouted our leader, in a deep harsh voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘His head within a month shall roll upon the scaffold.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But you shall never live to see it,’ said Saxon, and stooping over he + fired straight at the cornet’s head. At the flash of the pistol the + trumpeter wheeled round and galloped for his life, while the roan horse + turned and followed with its master still seated firmly in the saddle. + </p> + <p> + ‘Verily you have missed the Midianite!’ cried Hope-above Williams. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is dead,’ said our leader, pouring a fresh charge into his pistol. ‘It + is the law of war, Clarke,’ he added, looking round at me. ‘He hath chosen + to break it, and must pay forfeit.’ + </p> + <p> + As he spoke I saw the young officer lean gradually over in his saddle, + until, when about half-way back to his friends, he lost his balance and + fell heavily in the roadway, turning over two or three times with the + force of his fall, and lying at last still and motionless, a dust-coloured + heap. A loud yell of rage broke from the troopers at the sight, which was + answered by a shout of defiance from the Puritan peasantry. + </p> + <p> + ‘Down on your faces!’ cried Saxon; ‘they are about to fire.’ + </p> + <p> + The crackle of musketry and a storm of bullets, pinging on the hard + ground, or cutting twigs from the hedges on either side of us, lent + emphasis to our leader’s order. Many of the peasants crouched behind the + feather beds and tables which had been pulled out of the cart. Some lay in + the waggon itself, and some sheltered themselves behind or underneath it. + Others again lined the ditches on either side or lay flat upon the + roadway, while a few showed their belief in the workings of Providence by + standing upright without flinching from the bullets. Amongst these latter + were Saxon and Sir Gervas, the former to set an example to his raw troops, + and the latter out of pure laziness and indifference. Reuben and I sat + together in the ditch, and I can assure you, my dear grandchildren, that + we felt very much inclined to bob our heads when we heard the bullets + piping all around them. If any soldier ever told you that he did not the + first time that he was under fire, then that soldier is not a man to + trust. After sitting rigid and silent, however, as if we had both stiff + necks, for a very few minutes, the feeling passed completely away, and + from that day to this it has never returned to me. You see familiarity + breeds contempt with bullets as with other things, and though it is no + easy matter to come to like them, like the King of Sweden or my Lord + Cutts, it is not so very hard to become indifferent to them. + </p> + <p> + The cornet’s death did not remain long unavenged. A little old man with a + sickle, who had been standing near Sir Gervas, gave a sudden sharp cry, + and springing up into the air with a loud ‘Glory to God!’ fell flat upon + his face dead. A bullet had struck him just over the right eye. Almost at + the same moment one of the peasants in the waggon was shot through the + chest, and sat up coughing blood all over the wheel. I saw Master Joshua + Pettigrue catch him in his long arms, and settle some bedding under his + head, so that he lay breathing heavily and pattering forth prayers. The + minister showed himself a man that day, for amid the fierce carbine fire + he walked boldly up and down, with a drawn rapier in his left hand—for + he was a left-handed man—and his Bible in the other. ‘This is what + you are dying for, dear brothers,’ he cried continually, holding the brown + volume up in the air; ‘are ye not ready to die for this?’ And every time + he asked the question a low eager murmur of assent rose from the ditches, + the waggon, and the road. + </p> + <p> + ‘They aim like yokels at a Wappenschaw,’ said Saxon, seating himself on + the side of the waggon. ‘Like all young soldiers they fire too high. When + I was an adjutant it was my custom to press down the barrels of the + muskets until my eye told me that they were level. These rogues think that + they have done their part if they do but let the gun off, though they are + as like to hit the plovers above us as ourselves.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Five of the faithful have fallen,’ said Hope-above Williams. ‘Shall we + not sally forth and do battle with the children of Antichrist? Are we to + lie here like so many popinjays at a fair for the troopers to practise + upon?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is a stone barn over yonder on the hill-side,’ I remarked. ‘If we + who have horses, and a few others, were to keep the dragoons in play, the + people might be able to reach it, and so be sheltered from the fire.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘At least let my brother and me have a shot or two back at them,’ cried + one of the marksmen beside the wheel. + </p> + <p> + To all our entreaties and suggestions, however, our leader only replied by + a shake of the head, and continued to swing his long legs over the side of + the waggon with his eyes fixed intently upon the horsemen, many of whom + had dismounted and were leaning their carbines over the cruppers of their + chargers. + </p> + <p> + ‘This cannot go on, sir,’ said the pastor, in a low earnest voice; ‘two + more men have just been hit.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If fifty more men are hit we must wait until they charge,’ Saxon + answered. ‘What would you do, man? If you leave this shelter you will be + cut off and utterly destroyed. When you have seen as much of war as I have + done, you will learn to put up quietly with what is not to be avoided. I + remember on such another occasion when the rearguard or nachhut of the + Imperial troops was followed by Croats, who were in the pay of the Grand + Turk, I lost half my company before the mercenary renegades came to close + fighting. Ha, my brave boys, they are mounting! We shall not have to wait + long now.’ + </p> + <p> + The dragoons were indeed climbing into their saddles again, and forming + across the road, with the evident intention of charging down upon us. At + the same time about thirty men detached themselves from the main body and + trotted away into the fields upon our right. Saxon growled a hearty oath + under his breath as he observed them. + </p> + <p> + ‘They have some knowledge of warfare after all,’ said he. ‘They mean to + charge us flank and front. Master Joshua, see that your scythesmen line + the quickset hedge upon the right. Stand well up, my brothers, and flinch + not from the horses. You men with the sickles, lie in the ditch there, and + cut at the legs of the brutes. A line of stone throwers behind that. A + heavy stone is as sure as a bullet at close quarters. If ye would see your + wives and children again, make that hedge good against the horsemen. Now + for the front attack. Let the men who carry petronels come into the + waggon. Two of yours, Clarke, and two of yours, Lockarby. I can spare one + also. That makes five. Now here are ten others of a sort and three + muskets. Twenty shots in all. Have you no pistols, Sir Gervas? + </p> + <p> + ‘No, but I can get a pair,’ said our companion, and springing upon his + horse he forced his way through the ditch, past the barrier, and so down + the road in the direction of the dragoons. + </p> + <p> + The movement was so sudden and so unexpected that there was a dead silence + for a few seconds, which was broken by a general howl of hatred and + execration from the peasants. ‘Shoot upon him! Shoot down the false + Amalekite!’ they shrieked. ‘He hath gone to join his kind! He hath + delivered us up into the hands of the enemy! Judas! Judas!’ As to the + horsemen, who were still forming up for a charge and waiting for the + flanking party to get into position, they sat still and silent, not + knowing what to make of the gaily-dressed cavalier who was speeding + towards them. + </p> + <p> + We were not left long in doubt, however. He had no sooner reached the spot + where the cornet had fallen than he sprang from his horse and helped + himself to the dead man’s pistols, and to the belt which contained his + powder and ball. Mounting at his leisure, amid a shower of bullets which + puffed up the white dust all around him, he rode onwards towards the + dragoons and discharged one of his pistols at them. Wheeling round he + politely raised his cap, and galloped back to us, none the worse for his + adventure, though a ball had grazed his horse’s fetlock and another had + left a hole in the skirt of his riding-coat. The peasants raised a shout + of jubilation as he rode in, and from that day forward our friend was + permitted to wear his gay trappings and to bear himself as he would, + without being suspected of having mounted the livery of Satan or of being + wanting in zeal for the cause of the saints. + </p> + <p> + ‘They are coming,’ cried Saxon. ‘Let no man draw trigger until he sees me + shoot. If any does, I shall send a bullet through him, though it was my + last shot and the troopers were amongst us.’ + </p> + <p> + As our leader uttered this threat and looked grimly round upon us with an + evident intention of executing it, a shrill blare of a bugle burst from + the horsemen in front of us, and was answered by those upon our flank. At + the signal both bodies set spurs to their horses and dashed down upon us + at the top of their speed. Those in the field were delayed for a few + moments, and thrown into some disorder, by finding that the ground + immediately in front of them was soft and boggy, but having made their way + through it they re-formed upon the other side and rode gallantly at the + hedge. Our own opponents, having a clear course before them, never + slackened for an instant, but came thundering down with a jingling of + harness and a tempest of oaths upon our rude barricades. + </p> + <p> + Ah, my children! when a man in his age tries to describe such things as + these, and to make others see what he has seen, it is only then that he + understands what a small stock of language a plain man keeps by him for + his ordinary use in the world, and how unfit it is to meet any call upon + it. For though at this very moment I can myself see that white + Somersetshire road, with the wild whirling charge of the horsemen, the red + angry faces of the men, and the gaping nostrils of the horses all wreathed + and framed in clouds of dust, I cannot hope to make it clear to your young + eyes, which never have looked, and, I trust, never shall look, upon such a + scene. When, too, I think of the sound, a mere rattle and jingle at first, + but growing in strength and volume with every step, until it came upon us + with a thunderous rush and roar which gave the impression of irresistible + power, I feel that that too is beyond the power of my feeble words to + express. To inexperienced soldiers like ourselves it seemed impossible + that our frail defence and our feeble weapons could check for an instant + the impetus and weight of the dragoons. To right and left I saw white set + faces, open-eyed and rigid, unflinching, with a stubbornness which rose + less from hope than from despair. All round rose exclamations and prayers. + ‘Lord, save Thy people!’ ‘Mercy, Lord, mercy!’ ‘Be with us this day!’ + ‘Receive our souls, O merciful Father!’ Saxon lay across the waggon with + his eyes glinting like diamonds and his petronel presented at the full + length of his rigid arm. Following his example we all took aim as steadily + as possible at the first rank of the enemy. Our only hope of safety lay in + making that one discharge so deadly that our opponents should be too much + shaken to continue their attack. + </p> + <p> + Would the man never fire? They could not be more than ten paces from us. I + could see the buckles of the men’s plates and the powder charges in their + bandoliers. One more stride yet, and at last our leader’s pistol flashed + and we poured in a close volley, supported by a shower of heavy stones + from the sturdy peasants behind. I could hear them splintering against + casque and cuirass like hail upon a casement. The cloud of smoke veiling + for an instant the line of galloping steeds and gallant riders drifted + slowly aside to show a very different scene. A dozen men and horses were + rolling in one wild blood-spurting heap, the unwounded falling over those + whom our balls and stones had brought down. Struggling, snorting chargers, + iron-shod feet, staggering figures rising and falling, wild, hatless, + bewildered men half stunned by a fall, and not knowing which way to turn—that + was the foreground of the picture, while behind them the remainder of the + troop were riding furiously back, wounded and hale, all driven by the one + desire of getting to a place of safety where they might rally their + shattered formation. A great shout of praise and thanksgiving rose from + the delighted peasants, and surging over the barricade they struck down or + secured the few uninjured troopers who had boon unable or unwilling to + join their companions in their flight. The carbines, swords, and + bandoliers were eagerly pounced upon by the victors, some of whom had + served in the militia, and knew well how to handle the weapons which they + had won. + </p> + <p> + The victory, however, was by no means completed. The flanking squadron had + ridden boldly at the hedge, and a dozen or more had forced their way + through, in spite of the showers of stones and the desperate thrusts of + the pikemen and scythemen. Once amongst the peasants, the long swords and + the armour of the dragoons gave them a great advantage, and though the + sickles brought several of the horses to the ground the soldiers continued + to lay about them freely, and to beat back the fierce but ill-armed + resistance of their opponents. A dragoon sergeant, a man of great + resolution and of prodigious strength, appeared to be the leader of the + party, and encouraged his followers both by word and example. A stab from + a half-pike brought his horse to the ground, but he sprang from the saddle + as it fell, and avenged its death by a sweeping back-handed cut from his + broadsword. Waving his hat in his left hand he continued to rally his men, + and to strike down every Puritan who came against him, until a blow from a + hatchet brought him on his knees and a flail stroke broke his sword close + by the hilt. At the fall of their leader his comrades turned and fled + through the hedge, but the gallant fellow, wounded and bleeding, still + showed fight, and would assuredly have been knocked upon the head for his + pains had I not picked him up and thrown him into the waggon, where he had + the good sense to lie quiet until the skirmish was at an end. Of the dozen + who broke through, not more than four escaped, and several others lay dead + or wounded upon the other side of the hedge, impaled by scythe-blades or + knocked off their horses by stones. Altogether nine of the dragoons were + slain and fourteen wounded, while we retained seven unscathed prisoners, + ten horses fit for service, and a score or so of carbines, with good store + of match, powder, and ball. The remainder of the troop fired a single, + straggling, irregular volley, and then galloped away down the cross-road, + disappearing amongst the trees from which they had emerged. + </p> + <p> + All this, however, had not been accomplished without severe loss upon our + side. Three men had been killed and six wounded, one of them very + seriously, by the musketry fire. Five had been cut down when the flanking + party broke their way in, and only one of these could be expected to + recover. In addition to this, one man had lost his life through the + bursting of an ancient petronel, and another had his arm broken by the + kick of a horse. Our total losses, therefore, were eight killed and the + same wounded, which could not but be regarded as a very moderate number + when we consider the fierceness of the skirmish, and the superiority of + our enemy both in discipline and in equipment. + </p> + <p> + So elated were the peasants by their victory, that those who had secured + horses were clamorous to be allowed to follow the dragoons, the more so as + Sir Gervas Jerome and Reuben were both eager to lead them. Decimus Saxon + refused, however, to listen to any such scheme, nor did he show more + favour to the Reverend Joshua Pettigrue’s proposal, that he should in his + capacity as pastor mount immediately upon the waggon, and improve the + occasion by a few words of healing and unction. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is true, good Master Pettigrue, that we owe much praise and much + outpouring, and much sweet and holy contending, for this blessing which + hath come upon Israel,’ said he, ‘but the time hath not yet arrived. There + is an hour for prayer and an hour for labour. Hark ye, friend’—to + one of the prisoners—‘to what regiment do you belong?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is not for me to reply to your questions,’ the man answered sulkily. + </p> + <p> + Nay, then, we’ll try if a string round your scalp and a few twists of a + drumstick will make you find your tongue,’ said Saxon, pushing his face up + to that of the prisoner, and staring into his eyes with so savage an + expression that the man shrank away affrighted. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is a troop of the second dragoon regiment,’ he said. + </p> + <p> + ‘Where is the regiment itself?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We left it on the Ilchester and Langport road.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You hear,’ said our leader. ‘We have not a moment to spare, or we may + have the whole crew about our ears. Put our dead and wounded in the carts, + and we can harness two of these chargers to them. We shall not be in + safety until we are in Taunton town.’ + </p> + <p> + Even Master Joshua saw that the matter was too pressing to permit of any + spiritual exercises. The wounded men were lifted into the waggon and laid + upon the bedding, while our dead were placed in the cart which had + defended our rear. The peasants who owned these, far from making any + objection to this disposal of their property, assisted us in every way, + tightening girths and buckling traces. Within an hour of the ending of the + skirmish we found ourselves pursuing our way once more, and looking back + through the twilight at the scattered black dots upon the white road, + where the bodies of the dragoons marked the scene of our victory. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XVI. Of our Coming to Taunton + </h2> + <p> + The purple shadows of evening had fallen over the countryside, and the sun + had sunk behind the distant Quantock and Brendon Hills, as our rude column + of rustic infantry plodded through Curry Rivell, Wrantage, and Henlade. At + every wayside cottage and red-tiled farmhouse the people swarmed out us we + passed, with jugs full of milk or beer, shaking hands with our yokels, and + pressing food and drink upon them. In the little villages old and young + came buzzing to greet us, and cheered long and loud for King Monmouth and + the Protestant cause. The stay-at-homes were mostly elderly folks and + children, but here and there a young labourer, whom hesitation or duties + had kept back, was so carried away by our martial appearance, and by the + visible trophies of our victory, that he snatched up a weapon and joined + our ranks. + </p> + <p> + The skirmish had reduced our numbers, but it had done much to turn our + rabble of peasants into a real military force. The leadership of Saxon, + and his stern, short words of praise or of censure had done even more. The + men kept some sort of formation, and stepped together briskly in a compact + body. The old soldier and I rode at the head of the column, with Master + Pettigrue still walking between us. Then came the cartful of our dead, + whom we were carrying with us to insure their decent burial. Behind this + walked two score of scythe and sickle men, with their rude weapons over + their shoulders, preceding the waggon in which the wounded were carried. + This was followed by the main body of the peasants, and the rear was + brought up by ten or twelve men under the command of Lockarby and Sir + Gervas, mounted upon captured chargers, and wearing the breastplates, + swords, and carbines of the dragoons. + </p> + <p> + I observed that Saxon rode with his chin upon his shoulder, casting + continual uneasy glances behind him, and halting at every piece of rising + ground to make sure that there were no pursuers at our heels. It was not + until, after many weary miles of marching, the lights of Taunton could be + seen twinkling far off in the valley beneath us that he at last heaved a + deep sigh of relief, and expressed his belief that all danger was over. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am not prone to be fearful upon small occasion,’ he remarked, ‘but + hampered as we are with wounded men and prisoners, it might have puzzled + Petrinus himself to know what we should have done had the cavalry + overtaken us. I can now, Master Pettigrue, smoke my pipe in peace, without + pricking up my ears at every chance rumble of a wheel or shout of a + village roisterer.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Even had they pursued us,’ said the minister stoutly, ‘as long as the + hand of the Lord shall shield us, why should we fear them?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, aye!’ Saxon answered impatiently, ‘but the devil prevaileth at + times. Were not the chosen people themselves overthrown and led into + captivity? How say you, Clarke?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘One such skirmish is enough for a day,’ I remarked. ‘Faith! if instead of + charging us they had continued that carbine fire, we must either have come + forth or been shot where we lay.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For that reason I forbade our friends with the muskets to answer it,’ + said Saxon. ‘Our silence led them to think that we had but a pistol or two + among us, and so brought them to charge us. Thus our volley became the + more terrifying since it was unexpected. I’ll wager there was not a man + amongst them who did not feel that he had been led into a trap. Mark you + how the rogues wheeled and fled with one accord, as though it had been + part of their daily drill!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The peasants stood to it like men,’ I remarked. + </p> + <p> + ‘There is nothing like a tincture of Calvinism for stiffening a line of + battle,’ said Saxon. ‘Look at the Swede when he is at home. What more + honest, simple-hearted fellow could you find, with no single soldierly + virtue, save that he could put away more spruce beer than you would care + to pay for. Yet if you do but cram him with a few strong, homely texts, + place a pike in his hand, and give him a Gustavus to lead him, there is no + infantry in the world that can stand against him. On the other hand, I + have seen young Turks, untrained to arms, strike in on behalf of the Koran + as lustily as these brave fellows behind us did for the Bible which Master + Pettigrue held up in front of them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I trust, sir,’ said the minister gravely, ‘that you do not, by these + remarks, intend to institute any comparison between our sacred scriptures + and the writings of the impostor Mahomet, or to infer that there is any + similarity between the devil-inspired fury of the infidel Saracens and the + Christian fortitude of the struggling faithful!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘By no means,’ Saxon answered, grinning at me over the minister’s head. ‘I + was but showing how closely the Evil One can imitate the workings of the + Spirit.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Too true, Master Saxon, too true!’ the clergyman answered sadly. ‘Amid + the conflict and discord it is hard to pick out the true path. But I + marvel much that amidst the snares and temptations that beset a soldier’s + life you have kept yourself unsullied, with your heart still set upon the + true faith.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It was through no strength of mine own,’ said Saxon piously. + </p> + <p> + ‘In very truth, such men as you are much needed in Monmouth’s army,’ + Master Joshua exclaimed. ‘They have there several, as I understand, from + Holland, Brandenburg, and Scotland, who have been trained in arms, but who + care so little for the cause which we uphold that they curse and swear in + a manner that affrights the peasants, and threatens to call down a + judgment upon the army. Others there are who cling close to the true + faith, and have been born again among the righteous; but alas! they have + had no experience of camps and fields. Our blessed Master can work by + means of weak instruments, yet the fact remains that a man may be a chosen + light in a pulpit, and yet be of little avail in an onslaught such as we + have seen this day. I can myself arrange my discourse to the satisfaction + of my flock, so that they grieve when the sand is run out; (Note E. + Appendix) but I am aware that this power would stand me in little stead + when it came to the raising of barricades and the use of carnal weapons. + In this way it comes about, in the army of the faithful, that those who + are fit to lead are hateful to the people, while those to whose words the + people will hearken know little of war. Now we have this day seen that you + are ready of head and of hand, of much experience of battle, and yet of + demure and sober life, full of yearnings after the word, and strivings + against Apollyon. I therefore repeat that you shall be as a very Joshua + amongst them, or as a Samson, destined to tear down the twin pillars of + Prelacy and Popery, so as to bury this corrupt government in its fall.’ + </p> + <p> + Decimus Saxon’s only reply to this eulogy was one of those groans which + were supposed, among the zealots, to be the symbol of intense inner + conflict and emotion. So austere and holy was his expression, so solemn + his demeanour, and so frequent the upturnings of his eyes, clasping of his + hands, and other signs which marked the extreme sectary, that I could not + but marvel at the depths and completeness of the hypocrisy which had cast + so complete a cloak over his rapacious self. For very mischief’s sake I + could not refrain from reminding him that there was one at least who + valued his professions at their real value. + </p> + <p> + ‘Have you told the worthy minister,’ said I, ‘of your captivity amongst + the Mussulmans, and of the noble way in which you did uphold the Christian + faith at Stamboul?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay,’ cried our companion, ‘I would fain hear the tale. I marvel much + that one so faithful and unbending as thyself was ever let loose by the + unclean and bloodthirsty followers of Mahomet.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It does not become me to tell the tale,’ Saxon answered with great + presence of mind, casting at the same time a most venomous sidelong glance + at me. ‘It is for my comrades in misfortune and not for me to describe + what I endured for the faith. I have little doubt, Master Pettigrue, that + you would have done as much had you been there. The town of Taunton lies + very quiet beneath us, and there are few lights for so early an hour, + seeing that it has not yet gone ten. It is clear that Monmouth’s forces + have not reached it yet, else had there been some show of camp-fires in + the valley; for though it is warm enough to lie out in the open, the men + must have fires to cook their victual.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The army could scarce have come so far,’ said the pastor. ‘They have, I + hear, been much delayed by the want of arms and by the need of discipline. + Bethink ye, it was on the eleventh day of the month that Monmouth landed + at Lyme, and it is now but the night of the fourteenth. There was much to + be done in the time.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Four whole days!’ growled the old soldier. ‘Yet I expected no better, + seeing that they have, so far as I can hear, no tried soldiers amongst + them. By my sword, Tilly or Wallenstein would not have taken four days to + come from Lyme to Taunton, though all James Stuart’s cavalry barred the + way. Great enterprises are not pushed through in this halting fashion. The + blow should be sharp and sudden. But tell me, worthy sir, all that you + know about the matter, for we have heard little upon the road save rumour + and surmise. Was there not some fashion of onfall at Bridport?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There was indeed some shedding of blood at that place. The first two days + were consumed, as I understand, in the enrolling of the faithful and the + search for arms wherewith to equip them. You may well shake your head, for + the hours were precious. At last five hundred men were broken into some + sort of order, and marched along the coast under command of Lord Grey of + Wark and Wade the lawyer. At Bridport they were opposed by the red Dorset + militia and part of Portman’s yellow coats. If all be true that is said, + neither side had much to boast of. Grey and his cavalry never tightened + bridle until they were back in Lyme once more, though it is said their + flight had more to do with the hard mouths of their horses than with the + soft hearts of the riders. Wade and his footmen did bravely, and had the + best of it against the King’s troops. There was much outcry against Grey + in the camp, but Monmouth can scarce afford to be severe upon the only + nobleman who hath joined his standard.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Pshaw!’ cried Saxon peevishly. ‘There was no great stock of noblemen in + Cromwell’s army, I trow, and yet they held their own against the King, who + had as many lords by him as there are haws in a thicket. If ye have the + people on your side, why should ye crave for these bewigged fine + gentlemen, whose white hands and delicate rapiers are of as much service + as so many ladies’ bodkins?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Faith!’ said I, ‘if all the fops are as careless for their lives as our + friend Sir Gervas, I could wish no better comrades in the field.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘In good sooth, yes!’ cried Master Pettigrue heartily. ‘What though he be + clothed in a Joseph’s coat of many colours, and hath strange turns of + speech! No man could have fought more stoutly or shown a bolder front + against the enemies of Israel. Surely the youth hath good in his heart, + and will become a seat of grace and a vessel of the Spirit, though at + present he be entangled in the net of worldly follies and carnal + vanities.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is to be hoped so,’ quoth Saxon devoutly. ‘And what else can you tell + us of the revolt, worthy sir?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very little, save that the peasants have flocked in in such numbers that + many have had to be turned away for want of arms. Every tithing-man in + Somersetshire is searching for axes and scythes. There is not a blacksmith + but is at his forge from morn to night at work upon pike-heads. There are + six thousand men of a sort in the camp, but not one in five carries a + musket. They have advanced, I hear, upon Axminster, where they must meet + the Duke of Albemarle, who hath set out from Exeter with four thousand of + the train bands.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then we shall be too late, after all,’ I exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + ‘You will have enough of battles before Monmouth exchanges his riding-hat + for a crown, and his laced roquelaure for the royal purple,’ quoth Saxon. + ‘Should our worthy friend here be correctly informed and such an + engagement take place, it will but be the prologue to the play. When + Feversham and Churchill come up with the King’s own troops, it is then + that Monmouth takes the last spring, that lands him either on the throne + or the scaffold.’ + </p> + <p> + Whilst this conversation had been proceeding we had been walking our + horses down the winding track which leads along the eastern slope of + Taunton Deane. For some time past we had been able to see in the valley + beneath us the lights of Taunton town and the long silver strip of the + river Tone. The moon was shining brightly in a cloudless heaven, throwing + a still and peaceful radiance over the fairest and richest of English + valleys. Lordly manorial houses, pinnacled towers, clusters of nestling + thatch-roofed cottages, broad silent stretches of cornland, dark groves + with the glint of lamp-lit windows shining from their recesses—it + all lay around us like the shadowy, voiceless landscapes which stretch + before us in our dreams. So calm and so beautiful was the scene that we + reined up our horses at the bend of the pathway, the tired and footsore + peasants came to a halt, while even the wounded raised themselves in the + waggon in order to feast their eyes upon this land of promise. Suddenly, + in the stillness, a strong fervent voice was heard calling upon the source + of all life to guard and preserve that which He had created. It was Joshua + Pettigrue, who had flung himself upon his knees, and who, while asking for + future guidance, was returning thanks for the safe deliverance which his + flock had experienced from the many perils which had beset them upon their + journey. I would, my children, that I had one of those magic crystals of + which we have read, that I might show you that scene. The dark figures of + the horsemen, the grave, earnest bearing of the rustics as they knelt in + prayer or leaned upon their rude weapons, the half-cowed, half-sneering + expression of the captive dragoons, the line of white pain-drawn faces + that peeped over the side of the waggon, and the chorus of groans, cries, + and ejaculations which broke in upon the steady earnest voice of the + pastor. Above us the brilliant heavens, beneath us the beautiful sloping + valley, stretching away in the white moonlight as far as the eye could + reach. Could I but paint such a scene with the brush of a Verrio or + Laguerre, I should have no need to describe it in these halting and feeble + words. + </p> + <p> + Master Pettigrue had concluded his thanksgiving, and was in the act of + rising to his feet, when the musical peal of a bell rose up from the + sleeping town before us. For a minute or more it rose and fell in its + sweet clear cadence. Then a second with a deeper, harsher note joined in, + and then a third, until he air was filled with the merry jangling. At the + same time a buzz of shouting or huzzaing could be heard, which increased + and spread until it swelled into a mighty uproar. Lights flashed in the + windows, drums beat, and the whole place was astir. These sudden signs of + rejoicing coming at the heels of the minister’s prayer were seized upon as + a happy omen by the superstitious peasants, who set up a glad cry, and + pushing onwards were soon within the outskirts of the town. + </p> + <p> + The footpaths and causeway were black with throngs of the townsfolk, men, + women, and children, many of whom were bearing torches and lanthorns, all + flocking in the same direction. Following them we found ourselves in the + market-place, where crowds of apprentice lads were piling up faggots for a + bonfire, while others were broaching two or three great puncheons of ale. + The cause of this sudden outbreak of rejoicing was, we learned, that news + had just come in that Albemarle’s Devonshire militia had partly deserted + and partly been defeated at Axminster that very morning. On hearing of our + own successful skirmish the joy of the people became more tumultuous than + ever. They rushed in amongst us, pouring blessings on our heads, in their + strange burring west-country speech, and embracing our horses as well as + ourselves. Preparations were soon made for our weary companions. A long + empty wool warehouse, thickly littered with straw, was put at their + disposal, with a tub of ale and a plentiful supply of cold meats and + wheaten bread. For our own part we made our way down East Street through + the clamorous hand-shaking crowd to the White Hart Inn, where after a + hasty meal we were right glad to seek our couches. Late into the night, + however, our slumbers were disturbed by the rejoicings of the mob, who, + having burned the effigies of Lord Sunderland and of Gregory Alford, Mayor + of Lyme, continued to sing west-country songs and Puritan hymns into the + small hours of the morning. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XVII. Of the Gathering in the Market-square + </h2> + <p> + The fair town in which we now found ourselves was, although Monmouth had + not yet reached it, the real centre of the rebellion. It was a prosperous + place, with a great woollen and kersey trade, which gave occupation to as + many as seven thousand inhabitants. It stood high, therefore, amongst + English boroughs, being inferior only to Bristol, Norwich, Bath, Exeter, + York, Worcester, and Nottingham amongst the country towns. Taunton had + long been famous not only for its own resources and for the spirit of its + inhabitants, but also for the beautiful and highly cultivated country + which spread around it, and gave rise to a gallant breed of yeomen. From + time immemorial the town had been a rallying-point for the party of + liberty, and for many years it had leaned to the side of Republicanism in + politics and of Puritanism in religion. No place in the kingdom had fought + more stoutly for the Parliament, and though it had been twice besieged by + Goring, the burghers, headed by the brave Robert Blake, had fought so + desperately, that the Royalists had been compelled each time to retire + discomfited. On the second occasion the garrison had been reduced to + dog’s-flesh and horse-flesh, but no word of surrender had come either from + them or their heroic commander, who was the same Blake under whom the old + seaman Solomon Sprent had fought against the Dutch. After the Restoration + the Privy Council had shown their recollection of the part played by the + Somersetshire town, by issuing a special order that the battlements which + fenced round the maiden stronghold should be destroyed. Thus, at the time + of which I speak, nothing but a line of ruins and a few unsightly mounds + represented the massive line of wall which had been so bravely defended by + the last generation of townsmen. There were not wanting, however, many + other relics of those stormy times. The houses on the outskirts were still + scarred and splintered from the effects of the bombs and grenades of the + Cavaliers. Indeed, the whole town bore a grimly martial appearance, as + though she were a veteran among boroughs who had served in the past, and + was not averse to seeing the flash of guns and hearing the screech of shot + once more. + </p> + <p> + Charles’s Council might destroy the battlements which his soldiers had + been unable to take, but no royal edict could do away with the resolute + spirit and strong opinions of the burghers. Many of them, born and bred + amidst the clash of civil strife, had been fired from their infancy by the + tales of the old war, and by reminiscences of the great assault when + Lunsford’s babe-eaters were hurled down the main breach by the strong arms + of their fathers. In this way there was bred in Taunton a fiercer and more + soldierly spirit than is usual in an English country town, and this flame + was fanned by the unwearied ministerings of a chosen band of Nonconformist + clergymen, amongst whom Joseph Alleine was the most conspicuous. No better + focus for a revolt could have been chosen, for no city valued so highly + those liberties and that creed which was in jeopardy. + </p> + <p> + A large body of the burghers had already set out to join the rebel army, + but a good number had remained behind to guard the city, and these were + reinforced by gangs of peasants, like the one to which we had attached + ourselves, who had trooped in from the surrounding country, and now + divided their time between listening to their favourite preachers and + learning to step in line and to handle their weapons. In yard, street, and + market-square there was marching and drilling, night, morning, and noon. + As we rode out after breakfast the whole town was ringing with the + shouting of orders and the clatter of arms. Our own friends of yesterday + marched into the market-place at the moment we entered it, and no sooner + did they catch sight of us than they plucked off their hats and cheered + lustily, nor would they desist until we cantered over to them and took our + places at their head. + </p> + <p> + ‘They have vowed that none other should lead them,’ said the minister, + standing by Saxon’s stirrup. + </p> + <p> + ‘I could not wish to lead stouter fellows,’ said he. ‘Let them deploy into + double line in front of the town-hall. So, so, smartly there, rear rank!’ + he shouted, facing his horse towards them. ‘Now swing round into position. + Keep your ground, left flank, and let the others pivot upon you. So—as + hard and as straight as an Andrea Ferrara. I prythee, friend, do not carry + your pike as though it were a hoe, though I trust you will do some weeding + in the Lord’s vineyard with it. And you, sir, your musquetoon should be + sloped upon your shoulder, and not borne under your arm like a dandy’s + cane. Did ever an unhappy soldier find himself called upon to make order + among so motley a crew! Even my good friend the Fleming cannot so avail + here, nor does Petrinus, in his “De re militari,” lay down any injunctions + as to the method of drilling a man who is armed with a sickle or a + scythe.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Shoulder scythe, port scythe, present scythe—mow!’ whispered Reuben + to Sir Gervas, and the pair began to laugh, heedless of the angry frowns + of Saxon. + </p> + <p> + ‘Let us divide them,’ he said, ‘into three companies of eighty men. Or + stay—how many musketeers have we in all? Five-and-fifty. Let them + stand forward, and form the first line or company. Sir Gervas Jerome, you + have officered the militia of your county, and have doubtless some + knowledge of the manual exercise. If I am commandant of this force I hand + over the captaincy of this company to you. It shall be the first line in + battle, a position which I know you will not be averse to.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Gad, they’ll have to powder their heads,’ said Sir Gervas, with decision. + </p> + <p> + ‘You shall have the entire ordering of them,’ Saxon answered. ‘Let the + first company take six paces to the front—so! Now let the pikemen + stand out. Eighty-seven, a serviceable company! Lockarby, do you take + these men in hand, and never forget that the German wars have proved that + the best of horse has no more chance against steady pikemen than the waves + against a crag. Take the captaincy of the second company, and ride at + their head.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Faith! If they don’t fight better than their captain rides,’ whispered + Reuben, ‘it will be an evil business. I trust they will be firmer in the + field than I am in the saddle.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The third company of scythesmen I commit to your charge, Captain Micah + Clarke,’ continued Saxon. ‘Good Master Joshua Pettigrue will be our + field-chaplain. Shall not his voice and his presence be to us as manna in + the wilderness, and as springs of water in dry places? The under-officers + I see that you have yourselves chosen, and your captains shall have power + to add to the number from those who smite boldly and spare not. Now one + thing I have to say to you, and I speak it that all may hear, and that + none may hereafter complain that the rules he serves under were not made + clear to him. For I tell you now that when the evening bugle calls, and + the helm and pike are laid aside, I am as you and you as I, fellow-workers + in the same field, and drinkers from the same wells of life. Lo, I will + pray with you, or preach with you, or hearken with you, or expound to you, + or do aught that may become a brother pilgrim upon the weary road. But + hark you, friends! when we are in arms and the good work is to be done, on + the march, in the field, or on parade, then let your bearing be strict, + soldierly, and scrupulous, quick to hear and alert to obey, for I shall + have no sluggards or laggards, and if there be any such my hand shall be + heavy upon them, yea, even to the cutting of them off. I say there shall + be no mercy for such,’ here he paused and surveyed his force with a set + face and his eyelids drawn low over his glinting, shifting eyes. ‘If, + then,’ he continued, ‘there is any man among you who fears to serve under + a hard discipline, let him stand forth now, and let him betake him to some + easier leader, for I say to you that whilst I command this corps, Saxon’s + regiment of Wiltshire foot shall be worthy to testify in this great and + soul-raising cause.’ + </p> + <p> + The Colonel stopped and sat silent upon his mare. The long lines of rustic + faces looked up, some stolidly, some admiringly, some with an expression + of fear at his stern, gaunt face and baneful eyes. None moved, however, so + he continued. + </p> + <p> + ‘Worthy Master Timewell, the Mayor of this fair town of Taunton, who has + been a tower of strength to the faithful during these long and + spirit-trying times, is about to inspect us when the others shall have + assembled. Captains, to your companies then! Close up there on the + musqueteers, with three paces between each line. Scythesmen, take ground + to your left. Let the under-officers stand on the flanks and rear. So! + ‘tis smartly done for a first venture, though a good adjutant with a + prugel after the Imperial fashion might find work to do.’ + </p> + <p> + Whilst we were thus rapidly and effectively organising ourselves into a + regiment, other bodies of peasantry more or less disciplined had marched + into the market-square, and had taken up their position there. Those on + our right had come from Frome and Radstock, in the north of Somersetshire, + and were a mere rabble armed with flails, hammers, and other such weapons, + with no common sign of order or cohesion save the green boughs which waved + in their hat-bands. The body upon our left, who bore a banner amongst them + announcing that they were men of Dorset, were fewer in number but better + equipped, having a front rank, like our own, entirely armed with muskets. + </p> + <p> + The good townsmen of Taunton, with their wives and their daughters, had + meanwhile been assembling on the balconies and at the windows which + overlooked the square, whence they might have a view of the pageant. The + grave, square-bearded, broadclothed burghers, and their portly dames in + velvet and three-piled taffeta, looked down from every post of vantage, + while here and there a pretty, timid face peeping out from a Puritan coif + made good the old claim, that Taunton excelled in beautiful women as well + as in gallant men. The side-walks were crowded with the commoner folk—old + white-bearded wool-workers, stern-faced matrons, country lasses with their + shawls over their heads, and swarms of children, who cried out with their + treble voices for King Monmouth and the Protestant succession. + </p> + <p> + ‘By my faith!’ said Sir Gervas, reining back his steed until he was + abreast of me, ‘our square-toed friends need not be in such post-haste to + get to heaven when they have so many angels among them on earth. Gad’s + wounds, are they not beautiful? Never a patch or a diamond amongst them, + and yet what would not our faded belles of the Mall or the Piazza give for + their innocence and freshness?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, for Heaven’s sake do not smile and bow at them,’ said I. ‘These + courtesies may pass in London, but they may be misunderstood among simple + Somerset maidens and their hot-headed, hard-handed kinsfolk.’ + </p> + <p> + I had hardly spoken before the folding-doors of the town-hall were thrown + open, and a procession of the city fathers emerged into the market-place. + Two trumpeters in parti-coloured jerkins preceded them, who blew a + flourish upon their instruments as they advanced. Behind came the aldermen + and councilmen, grave and reverend elders, clad in their sweeping gowns of + black silk, trimmed and tippeted with costly furs. In rear of these walked + a pursy little red-faced man, the town clerk, bearing a staff of office in + his hand, while the line of dignitaries was closed by the tall and stately + figure of Stephen Timewell, Mayor of Taunton. + </p> + <p> + There was much in this magistrate’s appearance to attract attention, for + all the characteristics of the Puritan party to which he belonged were + embodied and exaggerated in his person. Of great height he was and very + thin, with a long-drawn, heavy eyelidded expression, which spoke of fasts + and vigils. The bent shoulders and the head sunk upon the breast + proclaimed the advances of age, but his bright steel-grey eyes and the + animation of his eager face showed how the enthusiasm of religion could + rise superior to bodily weakness. A peaked, straggling grey beard + descended half-way to his waist, and his long snow-white hairs fluttered + out from under a velvet skull-cap. The latter was drawn tightly down upon + his head, so as to make his ears protrude in an unnatural manner on either + side, a custom which had earned for his party the title of ‘prickeared,’ + so often applied to them by their opponents. His attire was of studious + plainness and sombre in colour, consisting of his black mantle, dark + velvet breeches, and silk hosen, with velvet bows upon his shoes instead + of the silver buckles then in vogue. A broad chain of gold around his neck + formed the badge of his office. In front of him strutted the fat + red-vested town clerk, one hand upon his hip, the other extended and + bearing his wand of office, looking pompously to right and left, and + occasionally bowing as though the plaudits were entirely on his own + behalf. This little man had tied a huge broadsword to his girdle, which + clanked along the cobble stones when he walked and occasionally inserted + itself between his legs, when he would gravely cock his foot over it again + and walk on without any abatement of his dignity. At last, finding these + interruptions become rather too frequent, he depressed the hilt of his + great sword in order to elevate the point, and so strutted onwards like a + bantam cock with a tingle straight feather in its tail. + </p> + <p> + Having passed round the front and rear of the various bodies, and + inspected them with a minuteness and attention which showed that his years + had not dulled his soldier’s faculties, the Mayor faced round with the + evident intention of addressing us. His clerk instantly darted in front of + him, and waving his arms began to shout ‘Silence, good people! Silence for + his most worshipful the Mayor of Taunton! Silence for the worthy Master + Stephen Timewell!’ until in the midst of his gesticulations and cries he + got entangled once more with his overgrown weapon, and went sprawling on + his hands and knees in the kennel. + </p> + <p> + ‘Silence yourself, Master Tetheridge,’ said the chief magistrate severely. + ‘If your sword and your tongue were both clipped, it would be as well for + yourself and us. Shall I not speak a few words in season to these good + people but you must interrupt with your discordant bellowings?’ + </p> + <p> + The busybody gathered himself together and slunk behind the group of + councilmen, while the Mayor slowly ascended the steps of the market cross. + From this position he addressed us, speaking in a high piping voice which + gathered strength as he proceeded, until it was audible at the remotest + corners of the square. + </p> + <p> + ‘Friends in the faith,’ he said, ‘I thank the Lord that I have been spared + in my old age to look down upon this goodly assembly. For we of Taunton + have ever kept the flame of the Covenant burning amongst us, obscured it + may be at times by time-servers and Laodiceans, but none the less burning + in the hearts of our people. All round us, however, there was a worse than + Egyptian darkness, where Popery and Prelacy, Arminianism, Erastianism, and + Simony might rage and riot unchecked and unconfined. But what do I see + now? Do I see the faithful cowering in their hiding-places and straining + their ears for the sound of the horsehoof’s of their oppressors? Do I see + a time-serving generation, with lies on their lips and truth buried in + their hearts? No! I see before me godly men, not from this fair city only, + but from the broad country round, and from Dorset, and from Wiltshire, and + some even as I hear from Hampshire, all ready and eager to do mighty work + in the cause of the Lord. And when I see these faithful men, and when I + think that every broad piece in the strong boxes of my townsmen is ready + to support them, and when I know that the persecuted remnant throughout + the country is wrestling hard in prayer for us, then a voice speaks within + me and tells me that we shall tear down the idols of Dagon, and build up + in this England of ours such a temple of the true faith that not Popery, + nor Prelacy, nor idolatry, nor any other device of the Evil One shall ever + prevail against it.’ + </p> + <p> + A deep irrepressible hum of approval burst from the close ranks of the + insurgent infantry, with a clang of arms as musquetoon or pike was + grounded upon the stone pavement. + </p> + <p> + Saxon half-turned his fierce face, raising an impatient hand, and the + hoarse murmur died away among our men, though our less-disciplined + companions to right and left continued to wave their green boughs and to + clatter their arms. The Taunton men opposite stood grim and silent, but + their set faces and bent brows showed that their townsman’s oratory had + stirred the deep fanatic spirit which distinguished them. + </p> + <p> + ‘In my hands,’ continued the Mayor, drawing a roll of paper from his + bosom, ‘is the proclamation which our royal leader hath sent in advance of + him. In his great goodness and self-abnegation he had, in his early + declaration given forth at Lyme, declared that he should leave the choice + of a monarch to the Commons of England, but having found that his enemies + did most scandalously and basely make use of this his self-denial, and did + assert that he had so little confidence in his own cause that he dared not + take publicly the title which is due to him, he hath determined that this + should have an end. Know, therefore, that it is hereby proclaimed that + James, Duke of Monmouth, is now and henceforth rightful King of England; + that James Stuart, the Papist and fratricide, is a wicked usurper, upon + whose head, dead or alive, a price of five thousand guineas is affixed; + and that the assembly now sitting at Westminster, and calling itself the + Commons of England, is an illegal assembly, and its acts are null and void + in the sight of the law. God bless King Monmouth and the Protestant + religion!’ + </p> + <p> + The trumpeters struck up a flourish and the people huzzaed, but the Mayor + raised his thin white hands as a signal for silence. ‘A messenger hath + reached me this morning from the King,’ he continued. ‘He sends a greeting + to all his faithful Protestant subjects, and having halted at Axminster to + rest after his victory, he will advance presently and be with ye in two + days at the latest. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ye will grieve to hear that good Alderman Rider was struck down in the + thick of the fray. He hath died like a man and a Christian, leaving all + his worldly goods, together with his cloth-works and household property, + to the carrying on of the war. Of the other slain there are not more than + ten of Taunton birth. Two gallant young brothers have been cut off, Oliver + and Ephraim Hollis, whose poor mother—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Grieve not for me, good Master Timewell,’ cried a female voice from the + crowd. ‘I have three others as stout, who shall all be offered in the same + quarrel.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are a worthy woman, Mistress Hollis,’ the Mayor answered, ‘and your + children shall not be lost to you. The next name upon my list is Jesse + Trefail, then come Joseph Millar, and Aminadab Holt—’ + </p> + <p> + An elderly musqueteer in the first line of the Taunton foot pulled his hat + down over his brows and cried out in a loud steady voice, ‘The Lord hath + given and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is your only son, Master Holt,’ said the Mayor, ‘but the Lord also + sacrificed His only Son that you and I might drink the waters of eternal + life. The others are Path of Light Regan, James Fletcher, Salvation Smith, + and Robert Johnstone.’ + </p> + <p> + The old Puritan gravely rolled up his papers, and having stood for a few + moments with his hands folded across his breast in silent prayer, he + descended from the market cross, and moved off, followed by the aldermen + and councilmen. The crowd began likewise to disperse in sedate and sober + fashion, with grave earnest faces and downcast eyes. A large number of the + countryfolk, however, more curious or less devout than the citizens, + gathered round our regiment to see the men who had beaten off the + dragoons. + </p> + <p> + ‘See the mon wi’ a face like a gerfalcon,’ cried one, pointing to Saxon; + ‘’tis he that slew the Philistine officer yestreen, an’ brought the + faithful off victorious.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Mark ye yon other one,’ cried an old dame, ‘him wi’ the white face an’ + the clothes like a prince. He’s one o’ the Quality, what’s come a’ the way + froe Lunnon to testify to the Protestant creed. He’s a main pious + gentleman, he is, an’ if he had bided in the wicked city they’d ha’ had + his head off, like they did the good Lord Roossell, or put him in chains + wi’ the worthy Maister Baxter.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Marry come up, gossip,’ cried a third. ‘The girt mun on the grey horse is + the soldier for me. He has the smooth cheeks o’ a wench, an’ limbs like + Goliath o’ Gath. I’ll war’nt he could pick up my old gaffer Jones an’ awa’ + wi’ him at his saddle-bow, as easy as Towser does a rotten! But here’s + good Maister Tetheridge, the clerk, and on great business too, for he’s a + mun that spares ne time ne trooble in the great cause.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Room, good people, room! ‘cried the little clerk, bustling up with an air + of authority. ‘Hinder not the high officials of the Corporation in the + discharge of their functions. Neither should ye hamper the flanks of + fighting men, seeing that you thereby prevent that deploying and extending + of the line which is now advocated by many high commanders. I prythee, who + commands this cohort, or legion rather, seeing that you have auxiliary + horse attached to it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis a regiment, sirrah,’ said Saxon sternly. ‘Colonel Saxon’s regiment + of Wiltshire foot, which I have the honour to command.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I beg your Colonelship’s pardon, ‘cried the clerk nervously, edging away + from the swarthy-faced soldier. ‘I have heard speak of your Colonelship, + and of your doings in the German wars. I have myself trailed a pike in my + youth and have broken a head or two, aye, and a heart or two also, when I + wore buff and bandolier.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Discharge your message,’ said our Colonel shortly. + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis from his most worshipful the Mayor, and is addressed to yourself and + to your captains, who are doubtless these tall cavaliers whom I see on + either side of me. Pretty fellows, by my faith! but you and I know well, + Colonel, that a little trick of fence will set the smallest of us on a + level with the brawniest. Now I warrant that you and I, being old + soldiers, could, back to back, make it good against these three gallants.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Speak, fellow,’ snarled Saxon, and reaching out a long sinewy arm he + seized the loquacious clerk by the lappet of his gown, and shook him until + his long sword clattered again. + </p> + <p> + ‘How, Colonel, how?’ cried Master Tetheridge, while his vest seemed to + acquire a deeper tint from the sudden pallor of his face. ‘Would you lay + an angry hand upon the Mayor’s representative? I wear a bilbo by my side, + as you can see. I am also somewhat quick and choleric, and warn you + therefore not to do aught which I might perchance construe into a personal + slight. As to my message, it was that his most worshipful the Mayor did + desire to have word with you and your captains in the town-hall.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We shall be there anon,’ said Saxon, and turning to the regiment he set + himself to explain some of the simpler movements and exercises, teaching + his officers as well as his men, for though Sir Gervas knew something of + the manual, Lockarby and I brought little but our good-will to the task. + When the order to dismiss was at last given, our companies marched back to + their barracks in the wool warehouse, while we handed over our horses to + the grooms from the White Hart, and set off to pay our respects to the + Mayor. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XVIII. Of Master Stephen Timewell, Mayor of Taunton + </h2> + <p> + Within the town-hall all was bustle and turmoil. At one side behind a low + table covered with green baize sat two scriveners with great rolls of + paper in front of them. A long line of citizens passed slowly before them, + each in turn putting down a roll or bag of coins which was duly noted by + the receivers. A square iron-bound chest stood by their side, into which + the money was thrown, and we noted as we passed that it was half full of + gold pieces. We could not but mark that many of the givers were men whose + threadbare doublets and pinched faces showed that the wealth which they + were dashing down so readily must have been hoarded up for such a purpose, + at the cost of scanty fare and hard living. Most of them accompanied their + gift by a few words of prayer, or by some pithy text anent the treasure + which rusteth not, or the lending to the Lord. The town clerk stood by the + table giving forth the vouchers for each sum, and the constant clack of + his tongue filled the hall, as he read aloud the names and amounts, with + his own remarks between. + </p> + <p> + ‘Abraham Willis,’ he shouted as we entered; ‘put him down twenty-six + pounds and ten shillings. You shall receive ten per centum upon this + earth, Master Willis, and I warrant that it shall not be forgotten + hereafter. John Standish, two pounds. William Simons, two guineas. + Stand-fast Healing, forty-five pounds. That is a rare blow which you have + struck into the ribs of Prelacy, good Master Healing. Solomon Warren, five + guineas. James White, five shillings—the widow’s mite, James! Thomas + Bakewell, ten pounds. Nay, Master Bakewell, surely out of three farms on + the banks of Tone, and grazing land in the fattest part of Athelney, you + can spare more than this for the good cause. We shall doubtless see you + again. Alderman Smithson, ninety pounds. Aha! There is a slap for the + scarlet woman! A few more such and her throne shall be a ducking-stool. We + shall break her down, worthy Master Smithson, even as Jehu, the son of + Nimshi, broke down the house of Baal.’ So he babbled on with praise, + precept, and rebuke, though the grave and solemn burghers took little + notice of his empty clamour. + </p> + <p> + At the other side of the hall were several long wooden drinking-troughs, + which were used for the storing of pikes and scythes. Special messengers + and tithing-men had been sent out to scour the country for arms, who, as + they returned, placed their prizes here under the care of the + armourer-general. Besides the common weapons of the peasants there was a + puncheon half full of pistols and petronels, together with a good number + of muskets, screw-guns, snaphances, birding-pieces, and carbines, with a + dozen bell-mouthed brass blunderbusses, and a few old-fashioned + wall-pieces, such as sakers and culverins taken from the manor-houses of + the county. From the walls and the lumber-rooms of these old dwellings + many other arms had been brought to light which were doubtless esteemed as + things of price by our forefathers, but which would seem strange to your + eyes in these days, when a musket may be fired once in every two minutes, + and will carry a ball to a distance of four hundred paces. There were + halberds, battle-axes, morning stars, brown bills, maces, and ancient + coats of chain mail, which might even now save a man from sword stroke or + pike thrust. + </p> + <p> + In the midst of the coming and the going stood Master Timewell, the Mayor, + ordering all things like a skilful and provident commander. I could + understand the trust and love which his townsmen had for him, as I watched + him labouring with all the wisdom of an old man and the blithesomeness of + a young one. He was hard at work as we approached in trying the lock of a + falconet; but perceiving us, he came forward and saluted us with much + kindliness. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have heard much of ye,’ said he; ‘how ye caused the faithful to gather + to a head, and so beat off the horsemen of the usurper. It will not be the + last time, I trust, that ye shall see their backs. I hear, Colonel Saxon, + that ye have seen much service abroad.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have been the humble tool of Providence in much good work,’ said Saxon, + with a bow. ‘I have fought with the Swedes against the Brandenburgers, and + again with the Brandenburgers against the Swedes, my time and conditions + with the latter having been duly carried out. I have afterwards in the + Bavarian service fought against Swedes and Brandenburgers combined, + besides having undergone the great wars on the Danube against the Turk, + and two campaigns with the Messieurs in the Palatinate, which latter might + be better termed holiday-making than fighting.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A soldierly record in very truth,’ cried the Mayor, stroking his white + beard. ‘I hear that you are also powerfully borne onwards in prayer and + song. You are, I perceive, one of the old breed of ‘44, Colonel—the + men who were in the saddle all day, and on their knees half the night. + When shall we see the like of them again? A few such broken wrecks as I + are left, with the fire of our youth all burned out and nought left but + the ashes of lethargy and lukewarmness.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay,’ said Saxon, ‘your position and present business will scarce + jump with the modesty of your words. But here are young men who will find + the fire if their elders bring the brains. This is Captain Micah Clarke, + and Captain Lockarby, and Captain the Honourable Sir Gervas Jerome, who + have all come far to draw their swords for the downtrodden faith.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Taunton welcomes ye, young sirs,’ said the Mayor, looking a trifle + askance, as I thought, at the baronet, who had drawn out his + pocket-mirror, and was engaged in the brushing of his eyebrows. ‘I trust + that during your stay in this town ye will all four take up your abode + with me. ‘Tis a homely roof and simple fare, but a soldier’s wants are + few. And now, Colonel, I would fain have your advice as to these three + drakes, whether if rehooped they may be deemed fit for service; and also + as to these demi-cannons, which were used in the old Parliamentary days, + and may yet have a word to say in the people’s cause.’ + </p> + <p> + The old soldier and the Puritan instantly plunged into a deep and learned + disquisition upon the merits of wall-pieces, drakes, demi-culverins, + sakers, minions, mortar-pieces, falcons, and pattereroes, concerning all + which pieces of ordnance Saxon had strong opinions to offer, fortified by + many personal hazards and experiences. He then dwelt upon the merits of + fire-arrows and fire-pikes in the attack or defence of places of strength, + and had finally begun to descant upon sconces, ‘directis lateribus,’ and + upon works, semilunar, rectilineal, horizontal, or orbicular, with so many + references to his Imperial Majesty’s lines at Gran, that it seemed that + his discourse would never find an end. We slipped away at last, leaving + him still discussing the effects produced by the Austrian grenadoes upon a + Bavarian brigade of pikes at the battle of Ober-Graustock. + </p> + <p> + ‘Curse me if I like accepting this old fellow’s offer,’ said Sir Gervas, + in an undertone. ‘I have heard of these Puritan households. Much grace to + little sack, and texts flying about as hard and as jagged as flint stones. + To bed at sundown, and a sermon ready if ye do but look kindly at the + waiting-wench or hum the refrain of a ditty.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘His home may be larger, but it could scarce be stricter than that of my + own father,’ I remarked. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll warrant that,’ cried Reuben. ‘When we have been a morris-dancing, or + having a Saturday night game of “kiss-in-the-ring,” or + “parson-has-lost-his-coat,” I have seen Ironside Joe stride past us, and + cast a glance at us which hath frozen the smile upon our lips. I warrant + that he would have aided Colonel Pride to shoot the bears and hack down + the maypoles.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Twere fratricide for such a man to shoot a bear,’ quoth Sir Gervas, + ‘with all respect, friend Clarke, for your honoured progenitor.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No more than for you to shoot at a popinjay,’ I answered, laughing; ‘but + as to the Mayor’s offer, we can but go to meat with him now, and should it + prove irksome it will be easy for you to plead some excuse, and so get + honourably quit of it. But bear in mind, Sir Gervas, that such households + are in very truth different to any with which you are acquainted, so curb + your tongue or offence may come of it. Should I cry “hem!” or cough, it + will be a sign to you that you had best beware.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Agreed, young Solomon!’ cried he. ‘It is, indeed, well to have a pilot + like yourself who knows these godly waters. For my own part, I should + never know how near I was to the shoals. But our friends have finished the + battle of Ober what’s its name, and are coming towards us. I trust, worthy + Mr. Mayor, that your difficulties have been resolved?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They are, sir,’ replied the Puritan. ‘I have been much edified by your + Colonel’s discourse, and I have little doubt that by serving under him ye + will profit much by his ripe experience.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very like, sir, very like,’ said Sir Gervas carelessly. + </p> + <p> + ‘But it is nigh one o’clock,’ the Mayor continued, ‘our frail flesh cries + aloud for meat and drink. I beg that ye will do me the favour to accompany + me to my humble dwelling, where we shall find the household board already + dressed.’ + </p> + <p> + With these words he led the way out of the hall and paced slowly down Fore + Street, the people falling back to right and to left as he passed, and + raising their caps to do him reverence. Here and there, as he pointed out + to us, arrangements had been made for barring the road with strong chains + to prevent any sudden rush of cavalry. In places, too, at the corner of a + house, a hole had been knocked in the masonry through which peeped the + dark muzzle of a carronade or wall-piece. These precautions were the more + necessary as several bodies of the Royal Horse, besides the one which we + had repulsed, were known to be within the Deane, and the town, deprived of + its ramparts, was open to an incursion from any daring commander. + </p> + <p> + The chief magistrate’s house was a squat square-faced stone building + within a court which opened on to East Street. The peaked oak door, + spangled with broad iron nails, had a gloomy and surly aspect, but the + hall within was lightful and airy, with a bright polished cedar planking, + and high panelling of some dark-grained wood which gave forth a pleasant + smell as of violets. A broad night of steps rose up from the farther end + of the hall, down which as we entered a young sweet-faced maid came + tripping, with an old dame behind her, who bore in her hands a pile of + fresh napery. At the sight of us the elder one retreated up the stairs + again, whilst the younger came flying down three steps at a time, threw + her arms round the old Mayor’s neck, and kissed him fondly, looking hard + into his face the while, as a mother gazes into that of a child with whom + she fears that aught may have gone amiss. + </p> + <p> + ‘Weary again, daddy, weary again,’ she said, shaking her head anxiously, + with a small white hand upon each of his shoulders. ‘Indeed, and indeed, + thy spirit is greater than thy strength.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay, lass,’ said he, passing his hand fondly over her rich brown + hair. The workman must toil until the hour of rest is rung. This, + gentlemen, is my granddaughter Ruth, the sole relic of my family and the + light of mine old age. The whole grove hath been cut down, and only the + oldest oak and the youngest sapling left. These cavaliers, little one, + have come from afar to serve the cause, and they have done us the honour + to accept of our poor hospitality.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ye are come in good time, gentlemen,’ she answered, looking us straight + in the eyes with a kindly smile as a sister might greet her brothers. ‘The + household is gathered round the table and the meal is ready.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But not more ready than we,’ cried the stout old burgher. ‘Do thou + conduct our guests to their places, whilst I seek my room and doff these + robes of office, with my chain and tippet, ere I break my fast.’ + </p> + <p> + Following our fair guide we passed into a very large and lofty room, the + walls of which were wainscoted with carved oak, and hung at either end + with tapestry. The floor was tesselated after the French fashion, and + plentifully strewn with skins and rugs. At one end of the apartment stood + a great white marble fireplace, like a small room in itself, fitted up, as + was the ancient custom, with an iron stand in the centre, and with broad + stone benches in the recess on either side. Lines of hooks above the + chimneypiece had been used, as I surmise, to support arms, for the wealthy + merchants of England were wont to keep enough in their houses to at least + equip their apprentices and craftsmen. They had now, however, been + removed, nor was there any token of the troublous times save a single heap + of pikes and halberds piled together in a corner. + </p> + <p> + Down the centre of this room there ran a long and massive table, which was + surrounded by thirty or forty people, the greater part of whom were men. + They were on their feet as we entered, and a grave-faced man at the + farther end was drawling forth an interminable grace, which began as a + thanksgiving for food, but wandered away into questions of Church and + State, and finally ended in a supplication for Israel now in arms to do + battle for the Lord. While this was proceeding we stood in a group by the + door with our caps doffed, and spent our time in observing the company + more closely than we could have done with courtesy had their eyes not been + cast down and their thoughts elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + They were of all ages, from greybeards down to lads scarce out of their + teens, all with the same solemn and austere expression of countenance, and + clad in the same homely and sombre garb. Save their wide white collars and + cuffs, not a string of any colour lessened the sad severity of their + attire. Their black coats and doublets were cut straight and close, and + their cordovan leather shoes, which in the days of our youth were usually + the seat of some little ornament, were uniformly square toed and tied with + sad-coloured ribbon. Most of them wore plain sword-belts of untanned hide, + but the weapons themselves, with their broad felt hats and black cloaks, + were laid under the benches or placed upon the settles which lined the + walls. They stood with their hands clasped and their heads bent, listening + to the untimely address, and occasionally by some groan or exclamation + testifying that the preacher’s words had moved them. + </p> + <p> + The overgrown grace came at last to an end, when the company sat silently + down, and proceeded without pause or ceremony to attack the great joints + which smoked before them. Our young hostess led us to the end of the + table, where a high carded chair with a black cushion upon it marked the + position of the master of the house. Mistress Timewell seated herself upon + the right of the Mayor’s place, with Sir Gervas beside her, while the post + of honour upon the left was assigned to Saxon. On my left sat Lockarby, + whose eyes I observed had been fixed in undisguised and all-absorbing + admiration upon the Puritan maiden from the first moment that he had seen + her. The table was of no great breadth, so that we could talk across in + spite of the clatter of plates and dishes, the bustle of servants, and the + deep murmur of voices. + </p> + <p> + ‘This is my father’s household,’ said our hostess, addressing herself to + Saxon. ‘There is not one of them who is not in his employ. He hath many + apprentices in the wool trade. We sit down forty to meat every day in the + year.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And to right good fare, too,’ quoth Saxon, glancing down the table. + ‘Salmon, ribs of beef, loin of mutton, veal, pasties—what could man + wish for more? Plenty of good home-brewed, too, to wash it down. If worthy + Master Timewell can arrange that the army be victualled after the same + fashion, I for one shell be beholden to him. A cup of dirty water and a + charred morsel cooked on a ramrod over the camp fire are like to take the + place of these toothsome dainties.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Is it not best to have faith?’ said the Puritan maiden. ‘Shall not the + Almighty feed His soldiers even as Elisha was fed in the wilderness and + Hagar in the desert?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye,’ exclaimed a lanky-haired, swarthy young man who sat upon the right + of Sir Gervas, ‘he will provide for us, even as the stream of water gushed + forth out of dry places, even as the quails and the manna lay thick upon + barren soil.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So I trust, young sir,’ quoth Saxon, ‘but we must none the less arrange a + victual-train, with a staff of wains, duly numbered, and an intendant over + each, after the German fashion. Such things should not be left to chance.’ + </p> + <p> + Pretty Mistress Timewell glanced up with a half startled look at this + remark, as though shocked at the want of faith implied in it. Her thoughts + might have taken the form of words had not her father entered the room at + the moment, the whole company rising and bowing to him as he advanced to + his seat. + </p> + <p> + ‘Be seated, friends,’ said he, with a wave of his hand; ‘we are a homely + folk, Colonel Saxon, and the old-time virtue of respect for our elders has + not entirely forsaken us. I trust, Ruth,’ he continued, ‘that thou hast + seen to the wants of our guests.’ + </p> + <p> + We all protested that we had never received such attention and + hospitality. + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis well, ‘tis well,’ said the good wool-worker. ‘But your plates are + clear and your glasses empty. William, look to it! A good workman is ever + a good trencherman. If a ‘prentice of mine cannot clean his platter, I + know that I shall get little from him with carder and teazel. Thew and + sinew need building up. A slice from that round of beef, William! Touching + that same battle of Ober-Graustock, Colonel, what part was played in the + fray by that regiment of Pandour horse, in which, as I understand, thou + didst hold a commission?’ + </p> + <p> + This was a question on which, as may be imagined, Saxon had much to say, + and the pair were soon involved in a heated discussion, in which the + experiences of Roundway Down and Marston Moor were balanced against the + results of a score of unpronounceable fights in the Styrian Alps and along + the Danube. Stephen Timewell in his lusty youth had led first a troop and + then a regiment through the wars of the Parliament, from Chalgrove Field + to the final battle at Worcester, so that his warlike passages, though + less varied and extensive than those of our companion, were enough to + enable him to form and hold strong opinions. These were in the main the + same as those of the soldier of fortune, but when their ideas differed + upon any point, there arose forthwith such a cross-fire of military + jargon, such speech of estacados and palisados, such comparisons of light + horse and heavy, of pikemen and musqueteers, of Lanzknechte, Leaguers, and + on-falls, that the unused ear became bewildered with the babble. At last, + on some question of fortification, the Mayor drew his outworks with the + spoons and knives, on which Saxon opened his parallels with lines of + bread, and pushing them rapidly up with traverses and covered ways, he + established himself upon the re-entering angle of the Mayor’s redoubt. + This opened up a fresh question as to counter-mines, with the result that + the dispute raged with renewed vigour. + </p> + <p> + Whilst this friendly strife was proceeding between the elders, Sir Gervas + Jerome and Mistress Ruth had fallen into conversation at the other side of + the table. I have seldom seen, my dear children, so beautiful a face as + that of this Puritan damsel; and it was beautiful with that sort of modest + and maidenly comeliness where the features derive their sweetness from the + sweet soul which shines through them. The perfectly-moulded body appeared + to be but the outer expression of the perfect spirit within. Her + dark-brown hair swept back from a broad and white forehead, which + surmounted a pair of well-marked eyebrows and large blue thoughtful eyes. + The whole cast of her features was gentle and dove-like, yet there was a + firmness in the mouth and delicate prominence of the chin which might + indicate that in times of trouble and danger the little maid would prove + to be no unworthy descendant of the Roundhead soldier and Puritan + magistrate. I doubt not that where more loud-tongued and assertive dames + might be cowed, the Mayor’s soft-voiced daughter would begin to cast off + her gentler disposition, and to show the stronger nature which underlay + it. It amused me much to listen to the efforts which Sir Gervas made to + converse with her, for the damsel and he lived so entirely in two + different worlds, that it took all his gallantry and ready wit to keep on + ground which would be intelligible to her. + </p> + <p> + ‘No doubt you spend much of your time in reading, Mistress Ruth,’ he + remarked. ‘It puzzles me to think what else you can do so far from town?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Town!’ said she in surprise. ‘What is Taunton but a town?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Heaven forbid that I should deny it,’ replied Sir Gervas, ‘more + especially in the presence of so many worthy burghers, who have the name + of being somewhat jealous of the honour of their native city. Yet the fact + remains, fair mistress, that the town of London so far transcends all + other towns that it is called, even as I called it just now, <i>the</i> + town.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Is it so very large, then?’ she cried, with pretty wonder. ‘But new + louses are building in Taunton, outside the old walls, and beyond + Shuttern, and some even at the other side of the river. Perhaps in time it + may be as large.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If all the folks in Taunton were to be added to London,’ said Sir Gervas, + ‘no one there would observe that there had been any increase.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, there you are laughing at me. That is against all reason,’ cried the + country maiden. + </p> + <p> + ‘Your grandfather will bear out my words,’ said Sir Gervas. ‘But to return + to your reading, I’ll warrant that there is not a page of Scudery and her + “Grand Cyrus” which you have not read. You are familiar, doubtless, with + every sentiment in Cowley, or Waller, or Dryden?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Who are these?’ she asked. ‘At what church do they preach?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Faith!’ cried the baronet, with a laugh, ‘honest John preaches at the + church of Will Unwin, commonly known as Will’s, where many a time it is + two in the morning before he comes to the end of his sermon. But why this + question? Do you think that no one may put pen to paper unless they have + also a right to wear a gown and climb up to a pulpit? I had thought that + all of your sex had read Dryden. Pray, what are your own favourite books?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is Alleine’s “Alarm to the Unconverted,”’ said she. ‘It is a + stirring work, and one which hath wrought much good. Hast thou not found + it to fructify within thee?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have not read the book you name,’ Sir Gervas confessed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not read it?’ she cried, with raised eyebrows. ‘Truly I had thought that + every one had read the “Alarm.” What dost thou think, then, of “Faithful + Contendings”?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have not read it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Or of Baxter’s Sermons?’ she asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have not read them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of Bull’s “Spirit Cordial,” then?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have not read it.’ + </p> + <p> + Mistress Ruth Timewell stared at him in undisguised wonder. ‘You may think + me ill-bred to say it, sir,’ she remarked, ‘but I cannot but marvel where + you have been, or what you have done all your life. Why, the very children + in the street have read these books.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘In truth, such works come little in our way in London,’ Sir Gervas + answered. ‘A play of George Etherege’s, or a jingle of Sir John Suckling’s + is lighter, though mayhap less wholesome food for the mind. A man in + London may keep pace with the world of letters without much reading, for + what with the gossip of the coffee-houses and the news-letters that fall + in his way, and the babble of poets or wits at the assemblies, with mayhap + an evening or two in the week at the playhouse, with Vanbrugh or Farquhar, + one can never part company for long with the muses. Then, after the play, + if a man is in no humour for a turn of luck at the green table at the + Groom Porter’s, he may stroll down to the Coca Tree if he be a Tory, or to + St. James’s if he be a Whig, and it is ten to one if the talk turn not + upon the turning of alcaics, or the contest between blank verse or rhyme. + Then one may, after an arriere supper, drop into Will’s or Slaughter’s and + find Old John, with Tickell and Congreve and the rest of them, hard at + work on the dramatic unities, or poetical justice, or some such matter. I + confess that my own tastes lay little in that line, for about that hour I + was likely to be worse employed with wine-flask, dice-box, or—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hem! hem!’ cried I warningly, for several of the Puritans were listening + with faces which expressed anything but approval. + </p> + <p> + ‘What you say of London is of much interest to me,’ said the Puritan + maiden, ‘though these names and places have little meaning to my ignorant + ears. You did speak, however, of the playhouse. Surely no worthy man goes + near those sinks of iniquity, the baited traps of the Evil One? Has not + the good and sanctified Master Bull declared from the pulpit that they are + the gathering-place of the froward, the chosen haunts of the perverse + Assyrians, as dangerous to the soul as any of those Papal steeple-houses + wherein the creature is sacrilegiously confounded with the Creator?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well and truly spoken, Mistress Timewell,’ cried the lean young Puritan + upon the right, who had been an attentive listener to the whole + conversation. ‘There is more evil in such houses than even in the cities + of the plain. I doubt not that the wrath of the Lord will descend upon + them, and destroy them, and wreck them utterly, together with the + dissolute men and abandoned women who frequent them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your strong opinions, friend,’ said Sir Gervas quietly, ‘are borne out + doubtless by your full knowledge of the subject. How often, prythee, have + you been in these playhouses which you are so ready to decry?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I thank the Lord that I have never been so far tempted from the straight + path as to set foot within one,’ the Puritan answered, ‘nor have I ever + been in that great sewer which is called London. I trust, however, that I + with others of the faithful may find our way thither with our tucks at our + sides ere this business is finished, when we shall not be content, I’ll + warrant, with shutting these homes of vice, as Cromwell did, but we shall + not leave one stone upon another, and shall sow the spot with salt, that + it may be a hissing and a byword amongst the people.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are right, John Derrick,’ said the Mayor, who had overheard the + latter part of his remarks. ‘Yet methinks that a lower tone and a more + backward manner would become you better when you are speaking with your + master’s guests. Touching these same playhouses, Colonel, when we have + carried the upper hand this time, we shall not allow the old tares to + check the new wheat. We know what fruit these places have borne in the + days of Charles, the Gwynnes, the Palmers, and the whole base crew of foul + lecherous parasites. Have you ever been in London, Captain Clarke?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, sir; I am country born and bred.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The better man you,’ said our host. ‘I have been there twice. The first + time was in the days of the Rump, when Lambert brought in his division to + overawe the Commons. I was then quartered at the sign of the Four Crosses + in Southwark, then kept by a worthy man, one John Dolman, with whom I had + much edifying speech concerning predestination. All was quiet and sober + then, I promise you, and you might have walked from Westminster to the + Tower in the dead of the night without hearing aught save the murmur of + prayer and the chanting of hymns. Not a ruffler or a wench was in the + streets after dark, nor any one save staid citizens upon their business, + or the halberdiers of the watch. The second visit which I made was over + this business of the levelling of the ramparts, when I and neighbour + Foster, the glover, were sent at the head of a deputation from this town + to the Privy Council of Charles. Who could have credited that a few years + would have made such a change? Every evil thing that had been stamped + underground had spawned and festered until its vermin brood flooded the + streets, and the godly wore themselves driven to shun the light of day. + Apollyon had indeed triumphed for a while. A quiet man could not walk the + highways without being elbowed into the kennel by swaggering + swashbucklers, or accosted by painted hussies. Padders and michers, laced + cloaks, jingling spurs, slashed boots, tall plumes, bullies and pimps, + oaths and blasphemies—I promise you hell was waxing fat. Even in the + solitude of one’s coach one was not free from the robber.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How that, sir?’ asked Reuben. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why marry, in this wise. As I was the sufferer I have the best right to + tell the tale. Ye must know that after our reception—which was cold + enough, for we were about as welcome to the Privy Council as the + hearth-tax man is to the village housewife—we were asked, more as I + guess from derision than from courtesy, to the evening levee at Buckingham + Palace. We would both fain have been excused from going but we feared that + our refusal might give undue offence, and so hinder the success of our + mission. My homespun garments ware somewhat rough for such an occasion, + yet I determined to appear in them, with the addition of a new black baize + waistcoat faced with silk, and a good periwig, for which I gave three + pounds ten shillings in the Haymarket.’ + </p> + <p> + The young Puritan opposite turned up his eyes and murmured something about + ‘sacrificing to Dagon,’ which fortunately for him was inaudible to the + high-spirited old man. + </p> + <p> + ‘It was but a worldly vanity,’ quoth the Mayor; ‘for, with all deference, + Sir Gervas Jerome, a man’s own hair arranged with some taste, and with + perhaps a sprinkling of powder, is to my mind the fittest ornament to his + head. It is the contents and not the case which availeth. Having donned + this frippery, good Master Foster and I hired a calash and drove to the + Palace. We were deep in grave and, I trust, profitable converse speeding + through the endless streets, when of a sudden I felt a sharp tug at my + head, and my hat fluttered down on to my knees. I raised my hands, and lo! + they came upon my bare pate. The wig had vanished. We were rolling down + Fleet Street at the moment, and there was no one in the calash save + neighbour Foster, who sat as astounded as I. We looked high and low, on + the seats and beneath them, but not a sign of the periwig was there. It + was gone utterly and without a trace.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Whither then?’ we asked with one voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘That was the question which we set ourselves to solve. For a moment I do + assure ye that we bethought us that it might be a judgment upon us for our + attention to such carnal follies. Then it crossed my mind that it might be + the doing of some malicious sprite, as the Drummer of Tedworth, or those + who occasioned the disturbances no very long time since at the old Gast + House at Little Burton here in Somersetshire. (Note F. Appendix.) With + this thought we hallooed to the coachman, and told him what had occurred + to us. The fellow came down from his perch, and having heard our story, he + burst straightway into much foul language, and walking round to the back + of his calash, showed us that a slit had been made in the leather + wherewith it was fashioned. Through this the thief had thrust his hand and + had drawn my wig through the hole, resting the while on the crossbar of + the coach. It was no uncommon thing, he said, and the wig-snatchers were a + numerous body who waited beside the peruke-maker’s shops, and when they + saw a customer come forth with a purchase which was worth their pains they + would follow him, and, should he chance to drive, deprive him of it in + this fashion. Be that as it may, I never saw my wig again, and had to + purchase another before I could venture into the royal presence.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A strange adventure truly,’ exclaimed Saxon. ‘How fared it with you for + the remainder of the evening?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But scurvily, for Charles’s face, which was black enough at all times, + was blackest of all to us; nor was his brother the Papist more + complaisant. They had but brought us there that they might dazzle us with + their glitter and gee-gaws, in order that we might bear a fine report of + them back to the West with us. There were supple-backed courtiers, and + strutting nobles, and hussies with their shoulders bare, who should for + all their high birth have been sent to Bridewell as readily as any poor + girl who ever walked at the cart’s tail. Then there were the gentlemen of + the chamber, with cinnamon and plum-coloured coats, and a brave show of + gold lace and silk and ostrich feather. Neighbour Foster and I felt as two + crows might do who have wandered among the peacocks. Yet we bare in mind + in whose image we were fashioned, and we carried ourselves, I trust, as + independent English burghers. His Grace of Buckingham had his flout at us, + and Rochester sneered, and the women simpered; but we stood four square, + my friend and I, discussing, as I well remember, the most precious + doctrines of election and reprobation, without giving much heed either to + those who mocked us, or to the gamesters upon our left, or to the dancers + upon our right. So we stood throughout the evening, until, finding that + they could get little sport from us, my Lord Clarendon, the Chancellor, + gave us the word to retire, which we did at our leisure after saluting the + King and the company.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, that I should never have done!’ cried the young Puritan, who had + listened intently to his elder’s narrative. ‘Would it not have been more + fitting to have raised up your hands and called down vengeance upon them, + as the holy man of old did upon the wicked cities?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘More fitting, quotha!’ said the Mayor impatiently. ‘It is most fitting + that youth should be silent until his opinion is asked on such matters. + God’s wrath comes with leaden feet, but it strikes with iron hands. In His + own good time He has judged when the cup of these men’s iniquities is + overflowing. It is not for us to instruct Him. Curses have, as the wise + man said, a habit of coming home to roost. Bear that in mind, Master John + Derrick, and be not too liberal with them.’ + </p> + <p> + The young apprentice, for such he was, bowed his head sullenly to the + rebuke, whilst the Mayor, after a short pause, resumed his story. + </p> + <p> + ‘Being a fine night,’ said he, ‘we chose to walk back to our lodgings; but + never shall I forget the wicked scenes wherewith we were encountered on + the way. Good Master Bunyan, of Elstow, might have added some pages to his + account of Vanity Fair had he been with us. The women, be-patched, + be-ruddled, and brazen; the men swaggering, roistering, cursing—the + brawling, the drabbing, and the drunkenness! It was a fit kingdom to be + ruled over by such a court. At last we had made our way to more quiet + streets, and were hoping that our adventures were at an end, when of a + sudden there came a rush of half-drunken cavaliers from a side street, who + set upon the passers-by with their swords, as though we had fallen into an + ambuscade of savages in some Paynim country. They were, as I surmise, of + the same breed as those of whom the excellent John Milton wrote: “The sons + of Belial, flown with insolence and wine.” Alas! my memory is not what it + was, for at one time I could say by rote whole books of that noble and + godly poem.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And, pray, how fared ye with these rufflers, sir?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘They beset us, and some few other honest citizens who were wending their + ways homewards, and waving their naked swords they called upon us to lay + down our arms and pay homage. “To whom?” I asked. They pointed to one of + their number who was more gaudily dressed and somewhat drunker than the + rest. “This is our most sovereign liege,” they cried. “Sovereign over + whom?” I asked. “Over the Tityre Tus,” they answered. “Oh, most barbarous + and cuckoldy citizen, do you not recognise that you have fallen into the + hands of that most noble order?” “This is not your real monarch,” said I, + “for he is down beneath us chained in the pit, where some day he will + gather his dutiful subjects around him.” “Lo, he hath spoken treason!” + they cried, on which, without much more ado, they set upon us with sword + and dagger. Neighbour Foster and I placed our backs against a wall, and + with our cloaks round our left arms we made play with our tucks, and + managed to put in one or two of the old Wigan Lane raspers. In particular, + friend Foster pinked the King in such wise that his Majesty ran howling + down the street like a gored bull-pup. We were beset by numbers, however, + and might have ended our mission then and there had not the watch appeared + upon the scene, struck up our weapons with their halberds, and so arrested + the whole party. Whilst the fray lasted the burghers from the adjoining + houses were pouring water upon us, as though we were cats on the tiles, + which, though it did not cool our ardour in the fight, left us in a scurvy + and unsavoury condition. In this guise we were dragged to the round-house, + where we spent the night amidst bullies, thieves, and orange wenches, to + whom I am proud to say that both neighbour Foster and myself spoke some + words of joy and comfort. In the morning we were released, and forthwith + shook the dust of London from our feet; nor do I ever wish to return + thither, unless it be at the head of our Somersetshire regiments, to see + King Monmouth don the crown which he had wrested in fair fight from the + Popish perverter.’ + </p> + <p> + As Master Stephen Timewell ended his tale a general shuffling and rising + announced the conclusion of the meal. The company filed slowly out in + order of seniority, all wearing the same gloomy and earnest expression, + with grave gait and downcast eyes. These Puritan ways were, it is true, + familiar to me from childhood, yet I had never before seen a large + household conforming to them, or marked their effect upon so many young + men. + </p> + <p> + ‘You shall bide behind for a while,’ said the Mayor, as we were about to + follow the others. ‘William, do you bring a flask of the old green sealed + sack. These creature comforts I do not produce before my lads, for beef + and honest malt is the fittest food for such. On occasion, however, I am + of Paul’s opinion, that a flagon of wine among friends is no bad thing for + mind or for body. You can away now, sweetheart, if you have aught to + engage you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you go out again?’ asked Mistress Ruth. + </p> + <p> + ‘Presently, to the town-hall. The survey of arms is not yet complete.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I shall have your robes ready, and also the rooms of our guests,’ she + answered, and so, with a bright smile to us, tripped away upon her duty. + </p> + <p> + ‘I would that I could order our town as that maiden orders this house,’ + said the Mayor. ‘There is not a want that is not supplied before it is + felt. She reads my thoughts and acts upon them ere my lips have time to + form them. If I have still strength to spend in the public service, it is + because my private life is full of restful peace. Do not fear the sack, + sirs. It cometh from Brooke and Hellier’s of Abchurch Lane, and may be + relied upon.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Which showeth that one good thing cometh out of London,’ remarked Sir + Gervas. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, truly,’ said the old man, smiling. ‘But what think ye of my young + men, sir? They must needs be of a very different class to any with whom + you are acquainted, if, as I understand, you have frequented court + circles.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, marry, they are good enough young men, no doubt,’ Sir Gervas + answered lightly. ‘Methinks, however, that there is a want of sap about + them. It is not blood, but sour buttermilk that flows in their veins.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay,’ the Mayor responded warmly. ‘There you do them an injustice. + Their passions and feelings are under control, as the skilful rider keeps + his horse in hand; but they are as surely there as is the speed and + endurance of the animal. Did you observe the godly youth who sat upon your + right, whom I had occasion to reprove more than once for over-zeal? He is + a fit example of how a man may take the upper hand of his feelings, and + keep them in control.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And how has he done so?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, between friends,’ quoth the Mayor, ‘it was but last Lady-day that he + asked the hand of my granddaughter Ruth in marriage. His time is nearly + served, and his father, Sam Derrick, is an honourable craftsman, so that + the match would have been no unfitting one. The maiden turned against him, + however—young girls will have their fancies—and the matter + came to an end. Yet here he dwells under the same roof-tree, at her elbow + from morn to night, with never a sign of that passion which can scarce + have died out so soon. Twice my wool warehouse hath been nigh burned to + the ground since then, and twice he hath headed those who fought the + flames. There are not many whose suit hath been rejected who would bear + themselves in so resigned and patient a fashion.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am prepared to find that your judgment is the correct one,’ said Sir + Gervas Jerome. ‘I have learned to distrust too hasty dislikes, and bear in + mind that couplet of John Dryden— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow. + He who would search for pearls must dive below.”’ +</pre> + <p> + ‘Or worthy Dr. Samuel Butler,’ said Saxon, ‘who, in his immortal poem of + “Hudibras,” says— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The fool can only see the skin: + The wise man tries to peep within.”’ +</pre> + <p> + ‘I wonder, Colonel Saxon,’ said our host severely, ‘that you should speak + favourably of that licentious poem, which is composed, as I have heard, + for the sole purpose of casting ridicule upon the godly. I should as soon + have expected to hear you praise the wicked and foolish work of Hobbes, + with his mischievous thesis, “A Deo rex, a rege lex.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is true that I contemn and despise the use which Butler hath made of + his satire,’ said Saxon adroitly; ‘yet I may admire the satire itself, + just as one may admire a damascened blade without approving of the quarrel + in which it is drawn.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘These distinctions are, I fear, too subtle for my old brain,’ said the + stout old Puritan. ‘This England of ours is divided into two camps, that + of God and that of Antichrist. He who is not with us is against us, nor + shall any who serve under the devil’s banner have anything from me save my + scorn and the sharp edge of my sword.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, well,’ said Saxon, filling up his glass, ‘I am no Laodicean or + time-server. The cause shall not find me wanting with tongue or with + sword.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of that I am well convinced, my worthy friend,’ the Mayor answered, ‘and + if I have spoken over sharply you will hold me excused. But I regret to + have evil tidings to announce to you. I have not told the commonalty lest + it cast them down, but I know that adversity will be but the whetstone to + give your ardour a finer edge. Argyle’s rising has failed, and he and his + companions are prisoners in the hands of the man who never knew what pity + was.’ + </p> + <p> + We all started in our chairs at this, and looked at one another aghast, + save only Sir Gervas Jerome, whose natural serenity was, I am well + convinced, proof against any disturbance. For you may remember, my + children, that I stated when I first took it in hand to narrate to you + these passages of my life, that the hopes of Monmouth’s party rested very + much upon the raid which Argyle and the Scottish exiles had made upon + Ayrshire, where it was hoped that they would create such a disturbance as + would divert a good share of King James’s forces, and so make our march to + London less difficult. This was the more confidently expected since + Argyle’s own estates lay upon that side of Scotland, where he could raise + five thousand swordsmen among his own clansmen. The western counties + abounded, too, in fierce zealots who were ready to assert the cause of the + Covenant, and who had proved themselves in many a skirmish to be valiant + warriors. With the help of the Highlanders and of the Covenanters it + seemed certain that Argyle would be able to hold his own, the more so + since he took with him to Scotland the English Puritan Rumbold, and many + others skilled in warfare. This sudden news of his total defeat and + downfall was therefore a heavy blow, since it turned the whole forces of + the Government upon ourselves. + </p> + <p> + ‘Have you the news from a trusty source?’ asked Decimus Saxon, after a + long silence. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is beyond all doubt or question,’ Master Stephen Timewell answered. + ‘Yet I can well understand your surprise, for the Duke had trusty + councillors with him. There was Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘All talk and no fight,’ said Saxon. + </p> + <p> + ‘And Richard Rumbold.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘All fight and no talk,’ quoth our companion. ‘He should, methinks, have + rendered a better account of himself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then there was Major Elphinstone.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A bragging fool!’ cried Saxon.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And Sir John Cochrane.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A captious, long-tongued, short-witted sluggard,’ said the soldier of + fortune. ‘The expedition was doomed from the first with such men at its + head. Yet I had thought that could they have done nought else, they might + at least have flung themselves into the mountain country, where these + bare-legged caterans could have held their own amid their native clouds + and mists. All taken, you say! It is a lesson and a warning to us. I tell + you that unless Monmouth infuses more energy into his councils, and + thrusts straight for the heart instead of fencing and foining at the + extremities, we shall find ourselves as Argyle and Rumbold. What mean + these two days wasted at Axminster at a time when every hour is of import? + Is he, every time that he brushes a party of militia aside, to stop + forty-eight hours and chant “Te Deums” when Churchill and Feversham are, + as I know, pushing for the West with every available man, and the Dutch + grenadiers are swarming over like rats into a granary?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are very right, Colonel Saxon,’ the Mayor answered. ‘And I trust that + when the King comes here we may stir him up to more prompt action. He has + much need of more soldierly advisers, for since Fletcher hath gone there + is hardly a man about him who hath been trained to arms.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ said Saxon moodily, ‘now that Argyle hath gone under we are face + to face with James, with nothing but our own good swords to trust to.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘To them and to the justice of our cause. How like ye the news, young + sirs? Has the wine lost its smack on account of it? Are ye disposed to + flinch from the standard of the Lord?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For my own part I shall see the matter through,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘And I shall bide where Micah Clarke bides,’ quoth Reuben Lockarby. + </p> + <p> + ‘And to me,’ said Sir Gervas, ‘it is a matter of indifference, so long as + I am in good company and there is something stirring.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘In that case,’ said the Mayor, ‘we had best each turn to his own work, + and have all ready for the King’s arrival. Until then I trust that ye will + honour my humble roof.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I fear that I cannot accept your kindness,’ Saxon answered. ‘When I am in + harness I come and go early and late. I shall therefore take up my + quarters in the inn, which is not very well furnished with victual, and + yet can supply me with the simple fare, which with a black Jack of October + and a pipe of Trinidado is all I require.’ + </p> + <p> + As Saxon was firm in this resolution the Mayor forbore to press it upon + him, but my two friends gladly joined with me in accepting the worthy + wool-worker’s offer, and took up our quarters for the time under his + hospitable roof. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XIX. Of a Brawl in the Night + </h2> + <p> + Decimus Saxon refused to avail himself of Master Timewell’s house and + table for the reason, as I afterwards learned, that, the Mayor being a + firm Presbyterian, he thought it might stand him in ill stead with the + Independents and other zealots were he to allow too great an intimacy to + spring up between them. Indeed, my dears, from this time onward this + cunning man framed his whole life and actions in such a way as to make + friends of the sectaries, and to cause them to look upon him as their + leader. For he had a firm belief that in all such outbreaks as that in + which we were engaged, the most extreme party is sure in the end to gain + the upper hand. ‘Fanatics,’ he said to me one day, ‘mean fervour, and + fervour means hard work, and hard work means power.’ That was the centre + point of all his plotting and scheming. + </p> + <p> + And first of all he set himself to show how excellent a soldier he was, + and he spared neither time nor work to make this apparent. From morn till + midday, and from afternoon till night, we drilled and drilled until in + very truth the shouting of the orders and the clatter of the arms became + wearisome to our ears. The good burghers may well have thought that + Colonel Saxon’s Wiltshire foot were as much part of the market-place as + the town cross or the parish stocks. There was much to be done in very + little time, so much that many would have thought it hopeless to attempt + it. Not only was there the general muster of the regiment, but we had each + to practise our own companies in their several drills, and to learn as + best we could the names and the wants of the men. Yet our work was made + easier to us by the assurance that it was not thrown away, for at every + gathering our bumpkins stood more erect, and handled their weapons more + deftly. From cock-crow to sun-down the streets resounded with ‘Poise your + muskets! Order your muskets! Rest your muskets! Handle your primers!’ and + all the other orders of the old manual exercise. + </p> + <p> + As we became more soldierly we increased in numbers, for our smart + appearance drew the pick of the new-comers into our ranks. My own company + swelled until it had to be divided, and others enlarged in proportion. The + baronet’s musqueteers mustered a full hundred, skilled for the most part + in the use of the gun. Altogether we sprang from three hundred to four + hundred and fifty, and our drill improved until we received praise from + all sides on the state of our men. + </p> + <p> + Late in the evening I was riding slowly back to the house of Master + Timewell when Reuben clattered after me, and besought me to turn back with + him to see a noteworthy sight. Though feeling little in the mood for such + things, I turned Covenant and rode with him down the length of High + Street, and into the suburb which is known as Shuttern, where my companion + pulled up at a bare barn-like building, and bade me look in through the + window. + </p> + <p> + The interior, which consisted of a single great hall, the empty warehouse + in which wool had used to be stored, was all alight with lamps and + candles. A great throng of men, whom I recognised as belonging to my own + company, or that of my companion, lay about on either side, some smoking, + some praying, and some burnishing their arms. Down the middle a line of + benches had been drawn up, on which there were seated astraddle the whole + hundred of the baronet’s musqueteers, each engaged in plaiting into a + queue the hair of the man who sat in front of him. A boy walked up and + down with a pot of grease, by the aid of which with some whipcord the work + was going forward merrily. Sir Gervas himself with a great flour dredger + sat perched upon a bale of wool at the head of the line, and as quickly as + any queue was finished he examined it through his quizzing glass, and if + it found favour in his eyes, daintily powdered it from his dredger, with + as much care and reverence as though it were some service of the Church. + No cook seasoning a dish could have added his spices with more nicety of + judgment than our friend displayed in whitening the pates of his company. + Glancing up from his labours he saw our two smiling faces looking in at + him through the window, but his work was too engrossing to allow him to + leave it, and we rode off at last without having speech with him. + </p> + <p> + By this time the town was very quiet and still, for the folk in those + parts were early bed-goers, save when some special occasion kept them + afoot. We rode slowly together through the silent streets, our horses’ + hoofs ringing out sharp against the cobble stones, talking about such + light matters as engage the mind of youth. The moon was shining very + brightly above us, silvering the broad streets, and casting a fretwork of + shadows from the peaks and pinnacles of the churches. At Master Timewell’s + courtyard I sprang from my saddle, but Reuben, attracted by the peace and + beauty of the scene, rode onwards with the intention of going as far as + the town gate. + </p> + <p> + I was still at work upon my girth buckles, undoing my harness, when of a + sudden there came from the street a shouting and a rushing, with the + clinking of blades, and my comrade’s voice calling upon me for help. + Drawing my sword I ran out. Some little way down there was a clear space, + white with the moonshine, in the centre of which I caught a glimpse of the + sturdy figure of my friend springing about with an activity for which I + had never given him credit, and exchanging sword thrusts with three or + four men who were pressing him closely. On the ground there lay a dark + figure, and behind the struggling group Reuben’s mare reared and plunged + in sympathy with her master’s peril. As I rushed down, shouting and waving + my sword, the assailants took flight down a side street, save one, a tall + sinewy swordsman, who rushed in upon Reuben, stabbing furiously at him, + and cursing him the while for a spoil-sport. To my horror I saw, as I ran, + the fellow’s blade slip inside my friend’s guard, who threw up his arms + and fell prostrate, while the other with a final thrust dashed off down + one of the narrow winding lanes which lead from East Street to the banks + of the Tone. + </p> + <p> + ‘For Heaven’s sake where are you hurt?’ I cried, throwing myself upon my + knees beside his prostrate body. ‘Where is your injury, Reuben?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘In the wind, mostly,’ quoth he, blowing like a smithy bellows; ‘likewise + on the back of my pate. Give me your hand, I pray.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And are you indeed scathless?’ I cried, with a great lightening of the + heart as I helped him to his feet. ‘I thought that the villain had stabbed + you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘As well stab a Warsash crab with a bodkin,’ said he. ‘Thanks to good Sir + Jacob Clancing, once of Snellaby Hall and now of Salisbury Plain, their + rapiers did no more than scratch my plate of proof. But how is it with the + maid?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The maid?’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, it was to save her that I drew. She was beset by these night + walkers. See, she rises! They threw her down when I set upon them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How is it with you, Mistress?’ I asked; for the prostrate figure had + arisen and taken the form of a woman, young and graceful to all + appearance, with her face muffled in a mantle. ‘I trust that you have met + with no hurt.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘None, sir,’ she answered, in a low, sweet voice, ‘but that I have escaped + is due to the ready valour of your friend, and the guiding wisdom of Him + who confutes the plots of the wicked. Doubtless a true man would have + rendered this help to any damsel in distress, and yet it may add to your + satisfaction to know that she whom you have served is no stranger to you.’ + With these words she dropped her mantle and turned her face towards us in + the moonlight. + </p> + <p> + ‘Good lack! it is Mistress Timewell!’ I cried, in amazement. + </p> + <p> + ‘Let us homewards,’ she said, in firm, quick tones. ‘The neighbours are + alarmed, and there will be a rabble collected anon. Let us escape from the + babblement.’ + </p> + <p> + Windows had indeed begun to clatter up in every direction, and loud voices + to demand what was amiss. Far away down the street we could see the glint + of lanthorns swinging to and fro as the watch hurried thitherwards. We + slipped along in the shadow, however, and found ourselves safe within the + Mayor’s courtyard without let or hindrance. + </p> + <p> + ‘I trust, sir, that you have really met with no hurt,’ said the maiden to + my companion. + </p> + <p> + Reuben had said not a word since she had uncovered her face, and bore the + face of a man who finds himself in some pleasant dream and is vexed only + by the fear lest he wake up from it. ‘Nay, I am not hurt,’ he answered, + ‘but I would that you could tell us who these roving blades may be, and + where they may be found.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay,’ said she, with uplifted finger, ‘you shall not follow the + matter further. As to the men, I cannot say with certainty who they may + have been. I had gone forth to visit Dame Clatworthy, who hath the tertian + ague, and they did beset me on my return. Perchance they are some who are + not of my grandfather’s way of thinking in affairs of State, and who + struck at him through me. But ye have both been so kind that ye will not + refuse me one other favour which I shall ask ye?’ + </p> + <p> + We protested that we could not, with our hands upon our sword-hilts. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, keep them for the Lord’s quarrel,’ said she, smiling at the action. + ‘All that I ask is that ye will say nothing if this matter to my + grandsire. He is choleric, and a little matter doth set him in a flame, so + old as he is. I would not have his mind turned from the public needs to a + private trifle of this sort. Have I your promises?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Mine,’ said I, bowing. + </p> + <p> + ‘And mine,’ said Lockarby. + </p> + <p> + ‘Thanks, good friends. Alack! I have dropped my gauntlet in the street. + But it is of no import. I thank God that no harm has come to any one. My + thanks once more, and may pleasant dreams await ye.’ She sprang up the + steps and was gone in an instant. + </p> + <p> + Reuben and I unharnessed our horses and saw them cared for in silence. We + then entered the house and ascended to our chambers, still without a word. + Outside his room door my friend paused. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have heard that long man’s voice before, Micah,’ said he. + </p> + <p> + ‘And so have I,’ I answered. ‘The old man must beware of his ‘prentices. I + have half a mind to go back for the little maiden’s gauntlet.’ + </p> + <p> + A merry twinkle shot through the cloud which hid gathered on Reuben’s + brow. He opened his left hand and showed me the doe-skin glove crumpled up + in his palm. + </p> + <p> + ‘I would not barter it for all the gold in her grandsire’s coffers,’ said + he, with a sudden outflame, and then half-laughing, half-blushing at his + own heat, he whisked in and left me to my thoughts. + </p> + <p> + And so I learned for the first time, my dears, that my good comrade had + been struck by the little god’s arrows. When a man’s years number one + score, love springs up in him, as the gourd grew in the Scriptures, in a + single night. I have told my story ill if I have not made you understand + that my friend was a frank, warm-hearted lad of impulse, whose reason + seldom stood sentry over his inclinations. Such a man can no more draw + away from a winning maid than the needle can shun the magnet. He loves as + the mavis sings or the kitten plays. Now, a slow-witted, heavy fellow like + myself, in whose veins the blood has always flowed somewhat coolly and + temperately, may go into love as a horse goes into a shelving stream, step + by step, but a man like Reuben is kicking his heels upon the bank one + moment, and is over ears in the deepest pool the nest. + </p> + <p> + Heaven only knows what match it was that had set the tow alight. I can but + say that from that day on my comrade was sad and cloudy one hour, gay and + blithesome the next. His even flow of good spirits had deserted him, and + he became as dismal as a moulting chicken, which has ever seemed to me to + be one of the strangest outcomes of what poets have called the joyous + state of love. But, indeed, pain and pleasure are so very nearly akin in + this world, that it is as if they were tethered in neighbouring stalls, + and a kick would at any time bring down the partition. Here is a man who + is as full of sighs as a grenade is of powder, his face is sad, his brow + is downcast, his wits are wandering; yet if you remark to him that it is + an ill thing that he should be in this state, he will answer you, as like + as not, that he would not exchange it for all the powers and + principalities. Tears to him are golden, and laughter is but base coin. + Well, my dears, it is useless for me to expound to you that which I cannot + myself understand. If, as I have heard, it is impossible to get the + thumb-marks of any two men to be alike, how can we expect their inmost + thoughts and feelings to tally? Yet this I can say with all truth, that + when I asked your grandmother’s hand I did not demean myself as if I were + chief mourner at a funeral. She will bear me out that I walked up to her + with a smile upon my face, though mayhap there was a little flutter at my + heart, and I took her hand and I said—but, lack-a-day, whither have + I wandered? What has all this to do with Taunton town and the rising of + 1685? + </p> + <p> + On the night of Wednesday, June 17, we learned that the King, as Monmouth + was called throughout the West, was lying less than ten miles off with his + forces, and that he would make his entry into the loyal town of Taunton + the next morning. Every effort was made, as ye may well guess, to give him + a welcome which should be worthy of the most Whiggish and Protestant town + in England. An arch of evergreens had already been built up at the western + gate, bearing the motto, ‘Welcome to King Monmouth!’ and another spanned + the entrance to the market-place from the upper window of the White Hart + Inn, with ‘Hail to the Protestant Chief!’ in great scarlet letters. A + third, if I remember right, bridged the entrance to the Castle yard, but + the motto on it has escaped me. The cloth and wool industry is, as I have + told you, the staple trade of the town, and the merchants had no mercy on + their wares, but used them freely to beautify the streets. Rich + tapestries, glossy velvets, and costly brocades fluttered from the windows + or lined the balconies. East Street, High Street, and Fore Street were + draped from garret to basement with rare and beautiful fabrics, while gay + flags hung from the roofs on either side, or fluttered in long festoons + from house to house. The royal banner of England floated from the lofty + tower of St. Mary Magdalene, while the blue ensign of Monmouth waved from + the sister turret of St. James. Late into the night there was planing and + hammering, working and devising, until when the sun rose upon Thursday, + June 18, it shone on as brave a show of bunting and evergreen as ever + graced a town. Taunton had changed as by magic from a city into a flower + garden. + </p> + <p> + Master Stephen Timewell had busied himself in these preparations, but he + had borne in mind at the same time that the most welcome sight which he + could present to Monmouth’s eyes was the large body of armed men who were + prepared to follow his fortunes. There were sixteen hundred in the town, + two hundred of which were horse, mostly well armed and equipped. These + were disposed in such a way that the King should pass them in his + progress. The townsmen lined the market-place three deep from the Castle + gate to the entrance to the High Street; from thence to Shuttern, + Dorsetshire, and Frome peasants were drawn up on either side of the + street; while our own regiment was stationed at the western gate. With + arms well burnished, serried ranks, and fresh sprigs of green in every + bonnet, no leader could desire a better addition to his army. When all + were in their places, and the burghers and their wives had arrayed + themselves in their holiday gear, with gladsome faces and baskets of + new-cut flowers, all was ready for the royal visitor’s reception. + </p> + <p> + ‘My orders are,’ said Saxon, riding up to us as we sat our horses reside + our companions, ‘that I and my captains should fall in with the King’s + escort as he passes, and so accompany him to the market-place. Your men + shall present arms, and shall then stand their ground until we return.’ + </p> + <p> + We all three drew our swords and saluted. + </p> + <p> + ‘If ye will come with me, gentlemen, and take position to the right of the + gate here,’ said he, ‘I may be able to tell ye something of these folk as + they pass. Thirty years of war in many climes should give me the master + craftsman’s right to expound to his apprentices.’ + </p> + <p> + We all very gladly followed his advice, and passed out through the gate, + which was now nothing more than a broad gap amongst the mounds which + marked the lines of the old walls. ‘There is no sign of them yet,’ I + remarked, as we pulled up upon a convenient hillock. ‘I suppose that they + must come by this road which winds through the valley before us.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There are two sorts of bad general,’ quoth Saxon, ‘the man who is too + fast and the man who is too slow. His Majesty’s advisers will never be + accused of the former failing, whatever other mistakes they may fall into. + There was old Marshal Grunberg, with whom I did twenty-six months’ + soldiering in Bohemia. He would fly through the country pell-mell, horse, + foot, and artillery, as if the devil were at his heels. He might make + fifty blunders, but the enemy had never time to take advantage. I call to + mind a raid which we made into Silesia, when, after two days or so of + mountain roads, his Oberhauptmann of the staff told him that it was + impossible for the artillery to keep up. “Lass es hinter!” says he. So the + guns were left, and by the evening of the next day the foot were + dead-beat. “They cannot walk another mile!” says the Oberhauptmann. + “Lassen Sie hinter!” says he. So on we went with the horse—I was in + his Pandour regiment, worse luck! But after a skirmish or two, what with + the roads and what with the enemy, our horses were foundered and useless. + “The horses are used up!” says the Oberhauptmann. “Lassen Sie hinter!” he + cries; and I warrant that he would have pushed on to Prague with his + staff, had they allowed him. “General Hinterlassen” we called him after + that.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A dashing commander, too,’ cried Sir Gervas. ‘I would fain have served + under him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, and he had a way of knocking his recruits into shape which would + scarce be relished by our good friends here in the west country,’ said + Saxon. ‘I remember that after the leaguer of Salzburg, when we had taken + the castle or fortalice of that name, we were joined by some thousand + untrained foot, which had been raised in Dalmatia in the Emperor’s employ. + As they approached our lines with waving of hands and blowing of bugles, + old Marshal Hinterlassen discharged a volley of all the cannon upon the + walls at them, killing three score and striking great panic into the + others. “The rogues must get used to standing fire sooner or later,” said + he, “so they may as well commence their education at once.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He was a rough schoolmaster,’ I remarked. ‘He might have left that part + of the drill to the enemy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yet his soldiers loved him,’ said Saxon. ‘He was not a man, when a city + had been forced, to inquire into every squawk of a woman, or give ear to + every burgess who chanced to find his strong-box a trifle the lighter. But + as to the slow commanders, I have known none to equal Brigadier + Baumgarten, also of the Imperial service. He would break up his + winter-quarters and sit down before some place of strength, where he would + raise a sconce here, and sink a sap there, until his soldiers were sick of + the very sight of the place. So he would play with it, as a cat with a + mouse, until at last it was about to open its gates, when, as like as not, + he would raise the leaguer and march back into his winter-quarters. I + served two campaigns under him without honour, sack, plunder, or + emolument, save a beggarly stipend of three gulden a day, paid in clipped + money, six months in arrear. But mark ye the folk upon yonder tower! They + are waving their kerchiefs as though something were visible to them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I can see nothing,’ I answered, shading my eyes and gazing down the + tree-sprinkled valley which rose slowly in green uplands to the grassy + Blackdown hills. + </p> + <p> + ‘Those on the housetops are waving and pointing,’ said Reuben. ‘Methinks I + can myself see the flash of steel among yonder woods.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There it is,’ cried Saxon, extending his gauntleted hand, ‘on the western + bank of the Tone, hard by the wooden bridge. Follow my finger, Clarke, and + see if you cannot distinguish it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, truly,’ I exclaimed, ‘I see a bright shimmer coming and going. And + there to the left, where the road curves over the hill, mark you that + dense mass of men! Ha! the head of the column begins to emerge from the + trees.’ + </p> + <p> + There was not a cloud in the sky, but the great heat had caused a haze to + overlie the valley, gathering thickly along the winding course of the + river, and hanging in little sprays and feathers over the woodlands which + clothe its banks. Through this filmy vapour there broke from time to time + fierce sparkles of brilliant light as the sun’s rays fell upon breastplate + or headpiece. Now and again the gentle summer breeze wafted up sudden + pulses of martial music to our ears, with the blare of trumpets and the + long deep snarl of the drums. As we gazed, the van of the army began to + roll out from the cover of the trees and to darken the white dusty roads. + The long line slowly extended itself, writhing out of the forest land like + a dark snake with sparkling scales, until the whole rebel army—horse, + foot, and ordnance—were visible beneath us. The gleam of the + weapons, the waving of numerous banners, the plumes of the leaders, and + the deep columns of marching men, made up a picture which stirred the very + hearts of the citizens, who, from the housetops and from the ruinous + summit of the dismantled walls, were enabled to gaze down upon the + champions of their faith. If the mere sight of a passing regiment will + cause a thrill in your bosoms, you can fancy how it is when the soldiers + upon whom you look are in actual arms for your own dearest and most + cherished interests, and have just come out victorious from a bloody + struggle. If every other man’s hand was against us, these at least were on + our side, and our hearts went out to them as to friends and brothers. Of + all the ties that unite men in this world, that of a common danger is the + strongest. + </p> + <p> + It all appeared to be most warlike and most imposing to my inexperienced + eyes, and I thought as I looked at the long array that our cause was as + good as won. To my surprise, however, Saxon pished and pshawed under his + breath, until at last, unable to contain his impatience, he broke out in + hot discontent. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do but look at that vanguard as they breast the slope,’ he cried. ‘Where + is the advance party, or Vorreiter, as the Germans call them? Where, too, + is the space which should be left between the fore-guard and the main + battle? By the sword of Scanderbeg, they remind me more of a drove of + pilgrims, as I have seen them approaching the shrine of St. Sebaldus of + Nurnberg with their banners and streamers. There in the centre, amid that + cavalcade of cavaliers, rides our new monarch doubtless. Pity he hath not + a man by him who can put this swarm of peasants into something like + campaign order. Now do but look at those four pieces of ordnance trailing + along like lame sheep behind the flock. Caracco, I would that I were a + young King’s officer with a troop of light horse on the ridge yonder! My + faith, how I should sweep down yon cross road like a kestrel on a brood of + young plover! Then heh for cut and thrust, down with the skulking + cannoniers, a carbine fire to cover us, round with the horses, and away go + the rebel guns in a cloud of dust! How’s that, Sir Gervas?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Good sport, Colonel,’ said the baronet, with a touch of colour in his + white cheeks. ‘I warrant that you did keep your Pandours on the trot.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, the rogues had to work or hang—one or t’other. But methinks + our friends here are scarce as numerous as reported. I reckon them to be a + thousand horse, and mayhap five thousand two hundred foot. I have been + thought a good tally-man on such occasions. With fifteen hundred in the + town that would bring us to close on eight thousand men, which is no great + force to invade a kingdom and dispute a crown.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If the West can give eight thousand, how many can all the counties of + England afford?’ I asked. ‘Is not that the fairer way to look at it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Monmouth’s popularity lies mostly in the West,’ Saxon answered. ‘It was + the memory of that which prompted him to raise his standard in these + counties.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘His standards, rather,’ quoth Reuben. ‘Why, it looks as though they had + hung their linen up to dry all down the line.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘True! They have more ensigns than ever I saw with so small a force,’ + Saxon answered, rising in his stirrups. ‘One or two are blue, and the + rest, as far as I can see for the sun shining upon them, are white, with + some motto or device.’ + </p> + <p> + Whilst we had been conversing, the body of horse which formed the vanguard + of the Protestant army had approached within a quarter of a mile or less + of the town, when a loud, clear bugle-call brought them to a halt. In each + successive regiment or squadron the signal was repeated, so that the sound + passed swiftly down the long array until it died away in the distance. As + the coil of men formed up upon the white road, with just a tremulous + shifting motion along the curved and undulating line, its likeness to a + giant serpent occurred again to my mind. + </p> + <p> + ‘I could fancy it a great boa,’ I remarked, ‘which was drawing its coils + round the town.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A rattlesnake, rather,’ said Reuben, pointing to the guns in the rear. + ‘It keeps all its noise in its tail.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Here comes its head, if I mistake not,’ quoth Saxon. ‘It were best + perhaps that we stand at the side of the gate.’ + </p> + <p> + As he spoke a group of gaily dressed cavaliers broke away from the main + body and rode straight for the town. Their leader was a tall, slim, + elegant young man, who sat his horse with the grace of a skilled rider, + and who was remarkable amongst those around him for the gallantry of his + bearing and the richness of his trappings. As he galloped towards the gate + a roar of welcome burst from the assembled multitude, which was taken up + and prolonged by the crowds behind, who, though unable to see what was + going forward, gathered from the shouting that the King was approaching. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XX. Of the Muster of the Men of the West + </h2> + <p> + Monmouth was at that time in his thirty-sixth year, and was remarkable for + those superficial graces which please the multitude and fit a man to lead + in a popular cause. He was young, well-spoken, witty, and skilled in all + martial and manly exercises. On his progress in the West he had not + thought it beneath him to kiss the village maidens, to offer prizes at the + rural sports, and to run races in his boots against the fleetest of the + barefooted countrymen. (Note G., Appendix) His nature was vain and + prodigal, but he excelled in that showy magnificence and careless + generosity which wins the hearts of the people. Both on the Continent and + at Bothwell Bridge, in Scotland, he had led armies with success, and his + kindness and mercy to the Covenanters after his victory had caused him to + be as much esteemed amongst the Whigs as Dalzell and Claverhouse were + hated. As he reined up his beautiful black horse at the gate of the city, + and raised his plumed montero cap to the shouting crowd, the grace and + dignity of his bearing were such as might befit the knight-errant in a + Romance who is fighting at long odds for a crown which a tyrant has + filched from him. + </p> + <p> + He was reckoned well-favoured, but I cannot say that I found him so. His + face was, I thought, too long and white for comeliness, yet his features + were high and noble, with well-marked nose and clear, searching eyes. In + his mouth might perchance be noticed some trace of that weakness which + marred his character, though the expression was sweet and amiable. He wore + a dark purple roquelaure riding-jacket, faced and lapelled with gold lace, + through the open front of which shone a silver breastplate. A velvet suit + of a lighter shade than the jacket, a pair of high yellow Cordovan boots, + with a gold-hilted rapier on one side, and a poniard of Parma on the + other, each hung from the morocco-leather sword-belt, completed his + attire. A broad collar of Mechlin lace flowed over his shoulders, while + wristbands of the same costly material dangled from his sleeves. Again and + again he raised his cap and bent to the saddle-bow in response to the + storm of cheering. ‘A Monmouth! A Monmouth!’ cried the people; ‘Hail to + the Protestant chief!’ ‘Long live the noble King Monmouth!’ while from + every window, and roof, and balcony fluttering kerchief or waving hat + brightened the joyous scene. The rebel van caught fire at the sight and + raised a great deep-chested shout, which was taken up again and again by + the rest of the army, until the whole countryside was sonorous. + </p> + <p> + In the meanwhile the city elders, headed by our friend the Mayor, advanced + from the gate in all the dignity of silk and fur to pay homage to the + King. Sinking upon one knee by Monmouth’s stirrup, he kissed the hand + which was graciously extended to him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, good Master Mayor,’ said the King, in a clear, strong voice, ‘it is + for my enemies to sink before me, and not for my friends. Prythee, what is + this scroll which you do unroll?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is an address of welcome and of allegiance, your Majesty, from your + loyal town of Taunton.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I need no such address,’ said King Monmouth, looking round. ‘It is + written all around me in fairer characters than ever found themselves upon + parchment. My good friends have made me feel that I was welcome without + the aid of clerk or scrivener. Your name, good Master Mayor, is Stephen + Timewell, as I understand?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The same, your Majesty.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Too curt a name for so trusty a man,’ said the King, drawing his sword + and touching him upon the shoulder with it. ‘I shall make it longer by + three letters. Rise up, Sir Stephen, and may I find that there are many + other knights in my dominions as loyal and as stout.’ + </p> + <p> + Amidst the huzzahs which broke out afresh at this honour done to the town, + the Mayor withdrew with the councilmen to the left side of the gate, + whilst Monmouth with his staff gathered upon the right. At a signal a + trumpeter blew a fanfare, the drums struck up a point of war, and the + insurgent army, with serried ranks and waving banners, resumed its advance + upon the town. As it approached, Saxon pointed out to us the various + leaders and men of note who surrounded the King, giving us their names and + some few words as to their characters. + </p> + <p> + ‘That is Lord Grey of Wark,’ said he; ‘the little middle-aged lean man at + the King’s bridle arm. He hath been in the Tower once for treason. ‘Twas + he who fled with the Lady Henrietta Berkeley, his wife’s sister. A fine + leader truly for a godly cause! The man upon his left, with the red + swollen face and the white feather in his cap, is Colonel Holmes. I trust + that he will never show the white feather save on his head. The other upon + the high chestnut horse is a lawyer, though, by my soul, he is a better + man at ordering a battalion than at drawing a bill of costs. He is the + republican Wade who led the foot at the skirmish at Bridport, and brought + them off with safety. The tall heavy-faced soldier in the steel bonnet is + Anthony Buyse, the Brandenburger, a soldado of fortune, and a man of high + heart, as are most of his countrymen. I have fought both with him and + against him ere now.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Mark ye the long thin man behind him?’ cried Reuben. ‘He hath drawn his + sword, and waves it over his head. ‘Tis a strange time and place for the + broadsword exercise. He is surely mad.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Perhaps you are not far amiss,’ said Saxon. ‘Yet, by my hilt, were it not + for that man there would be no Protestant army advancing upon us down + yonder road. ‘Tis he who by dangling the crown before Monmouth’s eyes + beguiled him away from his snug retreat in Brabant. There is not one of + these men whom he hath not tempted into this affair by some bait or other. + With Grey it was a dukedom, with Wade the woolsack, with Buyse the plunder + of Cheapside. Every one hath his own motive, but the clues to them all are + in the hands of yonder crazy fanatic, who makes the puppets dance as he + will. He hath plotted more, lied more, and suffered less than any Whig in + the party.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It must be that Dr. Robert Ferguson of whom I have heard my father + speak,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are right. ‘Tis he. I have but seen him once in Amsterdam, and yet I + know him by his shock wig and crooked shoulders. It is whispered that of + late his overweening conceit hath unseated his reason. See, the German + places his hand upon his shoulder and persuades him to sheathe his weapon. + King Monmouth glances round too, and smiles as though he were the Court + buffoon with a Geneva cloak instead of the motley. But the van is upon us. + To your companies, and mind that ye raise your swords to the salute while + the colours of each troop go by.’ + </p> + <p> + Whilst our companion had been talking, the whole Protestant army had been + streaming towards the town, and the head of the fore-guard was abreast + with the gateway. Four troops of horse led the way, badly equipped and + mounted, with ropes instead of bridles, and in some cases squares of + sacking in place of saddles. The men were armed for the most part with + sword and pistol, while a few had the buff-coats, plates, and headpieces + taken at Axminster, still stained sometimes with the blood of the last + wearer. In the midst of them rode a banner-bearer, who carried a great + square ensign hung upon a pole, which was supported upon a socket let into + the side of the girth. Upon it was printed in golden letters the legend, + ‘Pro libertate et religione nostra.’ These horse-soldiers were made up of + yeomen’s and farmers’ sons, unused to discipline, and having a high regard + for themselves as volunteers, which caused them to cavil and argue over + every order. For this cause, though not wanting in natural courage, they + did little service during the war, and were a hindrance rather than a help + to the army. + </p> + <p> + Behind the horse came the foot, walking six abreast, divided into + companies of varying size, each company bearing a banner which gave the + name of the town or village from which it had been raised. This manner of + arranging the troops had been chosen because it had been found to be + impossible to separate men who were akin and neighbours to each other. + They would fight, they said, side by side, or they would not fight at all. + For my own part, I think that it is no bad plan, for when it comes to push + of pike, a man stands all the faster when he knows that he hath old and + tried friends on either side of him. Many of these country places I came + to know afterwards from the talk of the men, and many others I have + travelled through, so that the names upon the banners have come to have a + real meaning with me. Homer hath, I remember, a chapter or book wherein he + records the names of all the Grecian chiefs and whence they came, and how + many men they brought to the common muster. It is pity that there is not + some Western Homer who could record the names of these brave peasants and + artisans, and recount what each did or suffered in upholding a noble + though disastrous cause. Their places of birth at least shall not be lost + as far as mine own feeble memory can carry me. + </p> + <p> + The first foot regiment, if so rudely formed a band could be so called, + consisted of men of the sea, fishers and coastmen, clad in the heavy blue + jerkins and rude garb of their class. They were bronzed, weather-beaten + tarpaulins, with hard mahogany faces, variously armed with birding pieces, + cutlasses, or pistols. I have a notion that it was not the first time that + those weapons had been turned against King James’s servants, for the + Somerset and Devon coasts were famous breeding-places for smugglers, and + many a saucy lugger was doubtless lying up in creek or in bay whilst her + crew had gone a-soldiering to Taunton. As to discipline, they had no + notion of it, but rolled along in true blue-water style, with many a shout + and halloo to each other or to the crowd. From Star Point to Portland + Roads there would be few nets for many weeks to come, and fish would swim + the narrow seas which should have been heaped on Lyme Cobb or exposed for + sale in Plymouth market. Each group, or band, of these men of the sea bore + with it its own banner, that of Lyme in the front, followed by Topsham, + Colyford, Bridport, Sidmouth, Otterton, Abbotsbury, and Charmouth, all + southern towns, which are on or near the coast. So they trooped past us, + rough and careless, with caps cocked, and the reek of their tobacco rising + up from them like the steam from a tired horse. In number they may have + been four hundred or thereabouts. + </p> + <p> + The peasants of Rockbere, with flail and scythe, led the next column, + followed by the banner of Honiton, which was supported by two hundred + stout lacemakers from the banks of the Otter. These men showed by the + colour of their faces that their work kept them within four walls, yet + they excelled their peasant companions in their alert and soldierly + bearing. Indeed, with all the troops, we observed that, though the + countrymen were the stouter and heartier, the craftsmen were the most + ready to catch the air and spirit of the camp. Behind the men of Honiton + came the Puritan clothworkers of Wellington, with their mayor upon a white + horse beside their standard-bearer, and a band of twenty instruments + before him. Grim-visaged, thoughtful, sober men, they were for the most + part clad in grey suits and wearing broad-brimmed hats. ‘For God and + faith’ was the motto of a streamer which floated from amongst them. The + clothworkers formed three strong companies, and the whole regiment may + have numbered close on six hundred men. + </p> + <p> + The third regiment was headed by five hundred foot from Taunton, men of + peaceful and industrious life, but deeply imbued with those great + principles of civil and religious liberty which were three years later to + carry all before them in England. As they passed the gates they were + greeted by a thunderous welcome from their townsmen upon the walls and at + the windows. Their steady, solid ranks, and broad, honest burgher faces, + seemed to me to smack of discipline and of work well done. Behind them + came the musters of Winterbourne, Ilminster, Chard, Yeovil, and + Collumpton, a hundred or more pikesmen to each, bringing the tally of the + regiment to a thousand men. + </p> + <p> + A squadron of horse trotted by, closely followed by the fourth regiment, + bearing in its van the standards of Beaminster, Crewkerne, Langport, and + Chidiock, all quiet Somersetshire villages, which had sent out their + manhood to strike a blow for the old cause. Puritan ministers, with their + steeple hats and Geneva gowns, once black, but now white with dust, + marched sturdily along beside their flocks. Then came a strong company of + wild half-armed shepherds from the great plains which extend from the + Blackdowns on the south to the Mendips on the north—very different + fellows, I promise you, from the Corydons and Strephons of Master Waller + or Master Dryden, who have depicted the shepherd as ever shedding tears of + love, and tootling upon a plaintive pipe. I fear that Chloe or Phyllis + would have met with rough wooing at the hands of these Western savages. + Behind them were musqueteers from Dorchester, pikemen from Newton + Poppleford, and a body of stout infantry from among the serge workers of + Ottery St. Mary. This fourth regiment numbered rather better than eight + hundred, but was inferior in arms and in discipline to that which preceded + it. + </p> + <p> + The fifth regiment was headed by a column of fen men from the dreary + marches which stretch round Athelney. These men, in their sad and sordid + dwellings, had retained the same free and bold spirit which had made them + in past days the last resource of the good King Alfred and the protectors + of the Western shires from the inroads of the Danes, who were never able + to force their way into their watery strongholds. Two companies of them, + towsy-headed and bare-legged, but loud in hymn and prayer, had come out + from their fastnesses to help the Protestant cause. At their heels came + the woodmen and lumberers of Bishop’s Lidiard, big, sturdy men in green + jerkins, and the white-smocked villagers of Huish Champflower. The rear of + the regiment was formed by four hundred men in scarlet coats, with white + cross-belts and well-burnished muskets. These were deserters from the + Devonshire Militia, who had marched with Albemarle from Exeter, and who + had come over to Monmouth on the field at Axminster. These kept together + in a body, but there were many other militiamen, both in red and in yellow + coats, amongst the various bodies which I have set forth. This regiment + may have numbered seven hundred men. + </p> + <p> + The sixth and last column of foot was headed by a body of peasants bearing + ‘Minehead’ upon their banner, and the ensign of the three wool-bales and + the sailing ship, which is the sign of that ancient borough. They had come + for the most part from the wild country which lies to the north of Dunster + Castle and skirts the shores of the Bristol Channel. Behind them were the + poachers and huntsmen of Porlock Quay, who had left the red deer of Exmoor + to graze in peace whilst they followed a nobler quarry. They were followed + by men from Dulverton, men from Milverton, men from Wiveliscombe and the + sunny slopes of the Quantocks, swart, fierce men from the bleak moors of + Dunkerry Beacon, and tall, stalwart pony rearers and graziers from + Bampton. The banners of Bridgewater, of Shepton Mallet, and of Nether + Stowey swept past us, with that of the fishers of Clovelly and the + quarrymen of the Blackdowns. In the rear were three companies of strange + men, giants in stature, though somewhat bowed with labour, with long + tangled beards, and unkempt hair hanging over their eyes. These were the + miners from the Mendip hills and from the Oare and Bagworthy valleys, + rough, half-savage men, whose eyes rolled up at the velvets and brocades + of the shouting citizens, or fixed themselves upon their smiling dames + with a fierce intensity which scared the peaceful burghers. So the long + line rolled in until three squadrons of horse and four small cannon, with + the blue-coated Dutch cannoniers as stiff as their own ramrods, brought up + the rear. A long train of carts and of waggons which had followed the army + were led into the fields outside the walls and there quartered. + </p> + <p> + When the last soldier had passed through the Shuttern Gate, Monmouth and + his leaders rode slowly in, the Mayor walking by the King’s charger. As we + saluted they all faced round to us, and I saw a quick flush of surprise + and pleasure come over Monmouth’s pale face as he noted our close lines + and soldierly bearing. + </p> + <p> + ‘By my faith, gentlemen,’ he said, glancing round at his staff, ‘our + worthy friend the Mayor must have inherited Cadmus’s dragon teeth. Where + raised ye this pretty crop, Sir Stephen? How came ye to bring them to such + perfection too, even, I declare, to the hair powder of the grenadiers?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have fifteen hundred in the town,’ the old wool-worker answered + proudly; ‘though some are scarce as disciplined. + </p> + <p> + These men come from Wiltshire, and the officers from Hampshire. As to + their order, the credit is due not to me, but to the old soldier Colonel + Decimus Saxon, whom they have chosen as their commander, as well as to the + captains who serve under him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My thanks are due to you, Colonel,’ said the King, turning to Saxon, who + bowed and sank the point of his sword to the earth, ‘and to you also, + gentlemen. I shall not forget the warm loyalty which brought you from + Hampshire in so short a time. Would that I could find the same virtue in + higher places! But, Colonel Saxon, you have, I gather, seen much service + abroad. What think you of the army which hath just passed before you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If it please your Majesty,’ Saxon answered, ‘it is like so much uncarded + wool, which is rough enough in itself, and yet may in time come to be + woven into a noble garment.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hem! There is not much leisure for the weaving,’ said Monmouth. ‘But they + fight well. You should have seen them fall on at Axminster! We hope to see + you and to hear your views at the council table. But how is this? Have I + not seen this gentleman’s face before?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is the Honourable Sir Gervas Jerome of the county of Surrey,’ quoth + Saxon. + </p> + <p> + ‘Your Majesty may have seen me at St. James’s,’ said the baronet, raising + his hat, ‘or in the balcony at Whitehall. I was much at Court during the + latter years of the late king.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, yes. I remember the name as well as the face,’ cried Monmouth. ‘You + see, gentlemen,’ he continued, turning to his staff, ‘the courtiers begin + to come in at last. Were you not the man who did fight Sir Thomas + Killigrew behind Dunkirk House? I thought as much. Will you not attach + yourself to my personal attendants?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If it please your Majesty,’ Sir Gervas answered, ‘I am of opinion that I + could do your royal cause better service at the head of my musqueteers.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So be it! So be it!’ said King Monmouth. Setting spurs to his horse, he + raised his hat in response to the cheers of the troops and cantered down + the High Street under a rain of flowers, which showered from roof and + window upon him, his staff, and his escort. We had joined in his train, as + commanded, so that we came in for our share of this merry crossfire. One + rose as it fluttered down was caught by Reuben, who, I observed, pressed + it to his lips, and then pushed it inside his breastplate. Glancing up, I + caught sight, of the smiling face of our host’s daughter peeping down at + us from a casement. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well caught, Reuben!’ I whispered. ‘At trick-track or trap and ball you + were ever our best player.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, Micah,’ said he, ‘I bless the day that ever I followed you to the + wars. I would not change places with Monmouth this day.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Has it gone so far then!’ I exclaimed. ‘Why, lad, I thought that you were + but opening your trenches, and you speak as though you had carried the + city.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Perhaps I am over-hopeful,’ he cried, turning from hot to cold, as a man + doth when he is in love, or hath the tertian ague, or other bodily + trouble. ‘God knows that I am little worthy of her, and yet—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Set not your heart too firmly upon that which may prove to be beyond your + reach,’ said I. ‘The old man is rich, and will look higher.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I would he were poor!’ sighed Reuben, with all the selfishness of a + lover. ‘If this war last I may win myself some honour or title. Who knows? + Others have done it, and why not I!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of our three from Havant,’ I remarked, ‘one is spurred onwards by + ambition, and one by love. Now, what am I to do who care neither for high + office nor for the face of a maid? What is to carry me into the fight?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Our motives come and go, but yours is ever with you,’ said Reuben. + ‘Honour and duty are the two stars, Micah, by which you have ever steered + your course.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Faith, Mistress Ruth has taught you to make pretty speeches,’ said I, + ‘but methinks she ought to be here amid the beauty of Taunton.’ + </p> + <p> + As I spoke we were riding into the market-place, which was now crowded + with our troops. Round the cross were grouped a score of maidens clad in + white muslin dresses with blue scarfs around their waists. As the King + approached, these little maids, with much pretty nervousness, advanced to + meet him, and handed him a banner which they had worked for him, and also + a dainty gold-clasped Bible. Monmouth handed the flag to one of his + captains, but he raised the book above his head, exclaiming that he had + come there to defend the truths contained within it, at which the + cheerings and acclamations broke forth with redoubled vigour. It had been + expected that he might address the people from the cross, but he contented + himself with waiting while the heralds proclaimed his titles to the Crown, + when he gave the word to disperse, and the troops marched off to the + different centres where food had been provided for them. The King and his + chief officers took up their quarters in the Castle, while the Mayor and + richer burgesses found bed and board for the rest. As to the common + soldiers, many were billeted among the townsfolk, many others encamped in + the streets and Castle grounds, while the remainder took up their dwelling + among the waggons in the fields outside the city, where they lit up great + fires, and had sheep roasting and beer flowing as merrily as though a + march on London were but a holiday outing. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXI. Of my Hand-grips with the Brandenburger + </h2> + <p> + King Monmouth had called a council meeting for the evening, and summoned + Colonel Decimus Saxon to attend it, with whom I went, bearing with me the + small package which Sir Jacob Clancing had given over to my keeping. On + arriving at the Castle we found that the King had not yet come out from + his chamber, but we were shown into the great hall to await him, a fine + room with lofty windows and a noble ceiling of carved woodwork. At the + further end the royal arms had been erected without the bar sinister which + Monmouth had formerly worn. Here were assembled the principal chiefs of + the army, with many of the inferior commanders, town officers, and others + who had petitions to offer. Lord Grey of Wark stood silently by the + window, looking out over the countryside with a gloomy face. Wade and + Holmes shook their heads and whispered in a corner. Ferguson strode about + with his wig awry, shouting out exhortations and prayers in a broad + Scottish accent. A few of the more gaily dressed gathered round the empty + fireplace, and listened to a tale from one of their number which appeared + to be shrouded in many oaths, and which was greeted with shouts of + laughter. In another corner a numerous group of zealots, clad in black or + russet gowns, with broad white bands and hanging mantles, stood round some + favourite preacher, and discussed in an undertone Calvinistic philosophy + and its relation to statecraft. A few plain homely soldiers, who were + neither sectaries nor courtiers, wandered up and down, or stared out + through the windows at the busy encampment upon the Castle Green. To one + of these, remarkable for his great size and breadth of shoulder, Saxon led + me, and touching him on the sleeve, he held out his hand as to an old + friend. ‘Mein Gott!’ cried the German soldier of fortune, for it was the + same man whom my companion had pointed out in the morning, ‘I thought it + was you, Saxon, when I saw you by the gate, though you are even thinner + than of old. How a man could suck up so much good Bavarian beer as you + have done, and yet make so little flesh upon it, is more than I can + verstehen. How have all things gone with you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘As of old,’ said Saxon. ‘More blows than thalers, and greater need of a + surgeon than of a strong-box. When did I see you last, friend? Was it not + at the onfall at Nurnberg, when I led the right and you the left wing of + the heavy horse?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay,’ said Buyse. ‘I have met you in the way of business since then. Have + you forgot the skirmish on the Rhine bank, when you did flash your + snapphahn at me? Sapperment! Had some rascally schelm not stabbed my horse + I should have swept your head off as a boy cuts thistles mit a stick.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, aye,’ Saxon answered composedly, ‘I had forgot it. You were taken, + if I remember aright, but did afterwards brain the sentry with your + fetters, and swam the Rhine under the fire of a regiment. Yet, I think + that we did offer you the same terms that you were having with the + others.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Some such base offer was indeed made me,’ said the German sternly. ‘To + which I answered that, though I sold my sword, I did not sell my honour. + It is well that cavaliers of fortune should show that an engagement is + with them—how do ye say it?—unbreakable until the war is over. + Then by all means let him change his paymaster. Warum nicht?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘True, friend, true!’ replied Saxon. ‘These beggarly Italians and Swiss + have made such a trade of the matter, and sold themselves so freely, body + and soul, to the longest purse, that it is well that we should be nice + upon points of honour. But you remember the old hand-grip which no man in + the Palatinate could exchange with you? Here is my captain, Micah Clarke. + Let him see how warm a North German welcome may be.’ + </p> + <p> + The Brandenburger showed his white teeth in a grin as he held out his + broad brown hand to me. The instant that mine was enclosed in it he + suddenly bent his whole strength upon it, and squeezed my fingers together + until the blood tingled in the nails, and the whole hand was limp and + powerless. + </p> + <p> + ‘Donnerwetter!’ he cried, laughing heartily at my start of pain and + surprise. ‘It is a rough Prussian game, and the English lads have not much + stomach for it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Truly, sir,’ said I, ‘it is the first time that I have seen the pastime, + and I would fain practise it under so able a master.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What, another!’ he cried. ‘Why, you must be still pringling from the + first. Nay, if you will I shall not refuse you, though I fear it may + weaken your hold upon your sword-hilt.’ + </p> + <p> + He held out his hand as he spoke, and I grasped it firmly, thumb to thumb, + keeping my elbow high so as to bear all my force upon it. His own trick + was, as I observed, to gain command of the other hand by a great output of + strength at the onset. This I prevented by myself putting out all my + power. For a minute or more we stood motionless, gazing into each other’s + faces. Then I saw a bead of sweat trickle down his forehead, and I knew + that he was beaten. Slowly his grip relaxed, and his hand grew limp and + slack while my own tightened ever upon it, until he was forced in a surly, + muttering voice to request that I should unhand him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Teufel und hexerei!’ he cried, wiping away the blood which oozed from + under his nails, ‘I might as well put my fingers in a rat-trap. You are + the first man that ever yet exchanged fair hand-grips with Anthony Buyse.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We breed brawn in England as well as in Brandenburg,’ said Saxon, who was + shaking with laughter over the German soldier’s discomfiture. ‘Why, I have + seen that lad pick up a full-size sergeant of dragoons and throw him into + a cart as though he had been a clod of earth.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Strong he is,’ grumbled Buyse, still wringing his injured hand, ‘strong + as old Gotz mit de iron grip. But what good is strength alone in the + handling of a weapon? It is not the force of a blow, but the way in which + it is geschlagen, that makes the effect. Your sword now is heavier than + mine, by the look of it, and yet my blade would bite deeper. Eh? Is not + that a more soldierly sport than kinderspiel such as hand-grasping and the + like?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He is a modest youth,’ said Saxon. ‘Yet I would match his stroke against + yours.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For what?’ snarled the German. + </p> + <p> + ‘For as much wine as we can take at a sitting. + </p> + <p> + ‘No small amount, either,’ said Buyse; ‘a brace of gallons at the least. + Well, be it so. Do you accept the contest?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I shall do what I may,’ I answered, ‘though I can scarce hope to strike + as heavy a blow as so old and tried a soldier.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Henker take your compliments,’ he cried gruffly. ‘It was with sweet words + that you did coax my fingers into that fool-catcher of yours. Now, here is + my old headpiece of Spanish steel. It has, as you can see, one or two + dints of blows, and a fresh one will not hurt it. I place it here upon + this oaken stool high enough to be within fair sword-sweep. Have at it, + Junker, and let us see if you can leave your mark upon it!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you strike first, sir,’ said I, ‘since the challenge is yours.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I must bruise my own headpiece to regain my soldierly credit,’ he + grumbled. ‘Well, well, it has stood a cut or two in its day.’ Drawing his + broadsword, he waved back the crowd who had gathered around us, while he + swung the great weapon with tremendous force round his head, and brought + it down with a full, clean sweep on to the smooth cap of steel. The + headpiece sprang high into the air and then clattered down upon the oaken + floor with a long, deep line bitten into the solid metal. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well struck!’ ‘A brave stroke!’ cried the spectators. ‘It is proof steel + thrice welded, and warranted to turn a sword-blade,’ one remarked, raising + up the helmet to examine it, and then replacing it upon the stool. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have seen my father cut through proof steel with this very sword,’ said + I, drawing the fifty-year-old weapon. ‘He put rather more of his weight + into it than you have done. I have heard him say that a good stroke should + come from the back and loins rather than from the mere muscles of the + arm.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is not a lecture we want, but a beispiel or example,’ sneered the + German. ‘It is with your stroke that we have to do, and not with the + teaching of your father.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My stroke,’ said I, ‘is in accordance with his teaching;’ and, whistling + round the sword, I brought it down with all my might and strength upon the + German’s helmet. The good old Commonwealth blade shore through the plate + of steel, cut the stool asunder, and buried its point two inches deep in + the oaken floor. ‘It is but a trick,’ I explained. ‘I have practised it in + the winter evenings at home.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is not a trick that I should care to have played upon me,’ said Lord + Grey, amid a general murmur of applause and surprise. ‘Od’s bud, man, you + have lived two centuries too late. What would not your thews have been + worth before gunpowder put all men upon a level!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Wunderbar!’ growled Buyse, ‘wunderbar! I am past my prime, young sir, and + may well resign the palm of strength to you. It was a right noble stroke. + It hath cost me a runlet or two of canary, and a good old helmet; but I + grudge it not, for it was fairly done. I am thankful that my head was not + darin. Saxon, here, used to show us some brave schwertspielerei, but he + hath not the weight for such smashing blows as this.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My eye is still true and my hand firm, though both are perhaps a trifle + the worse for want of use,’ said Saxon, only too glad at the chance of + drawing the eyes of the chiefs upon him. ‘At backsword, sword and dagger, + sword and buckler, single falchion and case of falchions, mine old + challenge still holds good against any comer, save only my brother + Quartus, who plays as well as I do, but hath an extra half-inch in reach + which gives him the vantage.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I studied sword-play under Signor Contarini of Paris,’ said Lord Grey. + ‘Who was your master?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have studied, my lord, under Signer Stern Necessity of Europe,’ quoth + Saxon. ‘For five-and-thirty years my life has depended from day to day + upon being able to cover myself with this slip of steel. Here is a small + trick which showeth some nicety of eye: to throw this ring to the ceiling + and catch it upon a rapier point. It seems simple, perchance, and yet is + only to be attained by some practice.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Simple!’ cried Wade the lawyer, a square-faced, bold-eyed man. ‘Why, the + ring is but the girth of your little finger. A man might do it once by + good luck, but none could ensure it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I will lay a guinea a thrust on it,’ said Saxon; and tossing the little + gold circlet up into the air, he flashed out his rapier and made a pass at + it. The ring rasped down the steel blade and tinkled against the hilt, + fairly impaled. By a sharp motion of the wrist he shot it up to the + ceiling again, where it struck a carved rafter and altered its course; but + again, with a quick step forward, he got beneath it and received it on his + sword-point. ‘Surely there is some cavalier present who is as apt at the + trick as I am,’ he said, replacing the ring upon his finger. + </p> + <p> + ‘I think, Colonel, that I could venture upon it,’ said a voice; and + looking round, we found that Monmouth had entered the room and was + standing quietly on the outskirts of the throng, unperceived in the + general interest which our contention had excited. ‘Nay, nay, gentlemen,’ + he continued pleasantly, as we uncovered and bowed with some little + embarrassment; ‘how could my faithful followers be better employed than by + breathing themselves in a little sword-play? I prythee lend me your + rapier, Colonel.’ He drew a diamond ring from his finger, and spinning it + up into the air, he transfixed it as deftly as Saxon had done. ‘I + practised the trick at The Hague, where, by my faith, I had only too many + hours to devote to such trifles. But how come these steel links and + splinters of wood to be littered over the floor?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A son of Anak hath appaired amang us,’ said Ferguson, turning his face, + all scarred and reddened with the king’s evil, in my direction. ‘A Goliath + o’ Gath, wha hath a stroke like untae a weaver’s beam. Hath he no the + smooth face o’ a bairn and the thews’ o’ Behemoth?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A shrewd blow indeed,’ King Monmouth remarked, picking up half the stool. + ‘How is our champion named?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He is my captain, your Majesty,’ Saxon answered, resheathing the sword + which the King had handed to him; ‘Micah Clarke, a man of Hampshire + birth.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They breed a good old English stock in those parts,’ said Monmouth; ‘but + how comes it that you are here, sir? I summoned this meeting for my own + immediate household, and for the colonels of the regiments. If every + captain is to be admitted into our councils, we must hold our meetings on + the Castle Green, for no apartment could contain us.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I ventured to come here, your Majesty,’ I replied, ‘because on my way + hither I received a commission, which was that I should deliver this small + but weighty package into your hands. I therefore thought it my duty to + lose no time in fulfilling my errand.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What is in it?’ he asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘I know not,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + Doctor Ferguson whispered a few words into the King’s ear, who laughed and + held out his hand for the packet. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tut! tut!’ said he. ‘The days of the Borgias and the Medicis are over, + Doctor. Besides, the lad is no Italian conspirator, but hath honest blue + eyes and flaxen hair as Nature’s certificate to his character. This is + passing heavy—an ingot of lead, by the feel. Lend me your dagger, + Colonel Holmes. It is stitched round with packthread. Ha! it is a bar of + gold—solid virgin gold by all that is wonderful. Take charge of it, + Wade, and see that it is added to the common fund. This little piece of + metal may furnish ten pikemen. What have we here? A letter and an + enclosure. “To James, Duke of Monmouth”—hum! It was written before + we assumed our royal state. “Sir Jacob Glancing, late of Snellaby Hall, + sends greeting and a pledge of affection. Carry out the good work. A + hundred more such ingots await you when you have crossed Salisbury Plain.” + Bravely promised, Sir Jacob! I would that you had sent them. Well, + gentlemen, ye see how support and tokens of goodwill come pouring in upon + us. Is not the tide upon the turn? Can the usurper hope to hold his own? + Will his men stand by him? Within a month or less I shall see ye all + gathered round me at Westminster, and no duty will then be so pleasing to + me as to see that ye are all, from the highest to the lowest, rewarded for + your loyalty to your monarch in this the hour of his darkness and his + danger.’ + </p> + <p> + A murmur of thanks rose up from the courtiers at this gracious speech, but + the German plucked at Saxon’s sleeve and whispered, ‘He hath his warm fit + upon him. You shall see him cold anon.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Fifteen hundred men have joined me here where I did but expect a thousand + at the most,’ the King continued. ‘If we had high hopes when we landed at + Lyme Cobb with eighty at our back, what should we think now when we find + ourselves in the chief city of Somerset with eight thousand brave men + around us? ‘Tis but one other affair like that at Axminster, and my + uncle’s power will go down like a house of cards. But gather round the + table, gentlemen, and we shall discuss matters in due form.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is yet a scrap of paper which you have not read, sire,’ said Wade, + picking up a little slip which had been enclosed in the note. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is a rhyming catch or the posy of a ring,’ said Monmouth, glancing at + it. ‘What are we to make of this? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “When thy star is in trine, + Between darkness and shine, + Duke Monmouth, Duke Monmouth, + Beware of the Rhine!” + </pre> + <p> + Thy star in trine! What tomfoolery is this?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If it please your Majesty,’ said I, ‘I have reason to believe that the + man who sent you this message is one of those who are deeply skilled in + the arts of divination, and who pretend from the motions of the celestial + bodies to foretell the fates of men.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘This gentleman is right, sir,’ remarked Lord Grey. ‘“Thy star in trine” + is an astrological term, which signifieth when your natal planet shall be + in a certain quarter of the heavens. The verse is of the nature of a + prophecy. The Chaldeans and Egyptians of old are said to have attained + much skill in the art, but I confess that I have no great opinion of those + latter-day prophets who busy themselves in answering the foolish questions + of every housewife.’ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ‘And tell by Venus and the moon, + Who stole a thimble or a spoon.’ +muttered Saxon, quoting from his favourite poem. +</pre> + <p> + ‘Why, here are our Colonels catching the rhyming complaint,’ said the + King, laughing. ‘We shall be dropping the sword and taking to the harp + anon, as Alfred did in these very parts. Or I shall become a king of bards + and trouveurs, like good King Rene of Provence. But, gentlemen, if this be + indeed a prophecy, it should, methinks, bode well for our enterprise. It + is true that I am warned against the Rhine, but there is little prospect + of our fighting this quarrel upon its banks.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Worse luck!’ murmured the German, under his breath. + </p> + <p> + ‘We may, therefore, thank this Sir Jacob and his giant messenger for his + forecast as well as for his gold. But here comes the worthy Mayor of + Taunton, the oldest of our councillors and the youngest of our knights. + Captain Clarke, I desire you to stand at the inside of the door and to + prevent intrusion. What passes amongst us will, I am well convinced, be + safe in your keeping.’ + </p> + <p> + I bowed and took up my post as ordered, while the council-men and + commanders gathered round the great oaken table which ran down the centre + of the hall. The mellow evening light was streaming through the three + western windows, while the distant babble of the soldiers upon the Castle + Green sounded like the sleepy drone of insects. Monmouth paced with quick + uneasy steps up and down the further end of the room until all were + seated, when he turned towards them and addressed them. + </p> + <p> + ‘You will have surmised, gentlemen,’ he said, ‘that I have called you + together to-day that I might have the benefit of your collective wisdom in + determining what our next steps should be. We have now marched some forty + miles into our kingdom, and we have met wherever we have gone with the + warm welcome which we expected. Close upon eight thousand men follow our + standards, and as many more have been turned away for want of arms. We + have twice met the enemy, with the effect that we have armed ourselves + with their muskets and field-pieces. From first to last there hath been + nothing which has not prospered with us. We must look to it that the + future be as successful as the past. To insure this I have called ye + together, and I now ask ye to give me your opinions of our situation, + leaving me after I have listened to your views to form our plan of action. + There are statesmen among ye, and there are soldiers among ye, and there + are godly men among ye who may chance to get a flash of light when + statesman and soldier are in the dark. Speak fearlessly, then, and let me + know what is in your minds.’ + </p> + <p> + From my central post by the door I could see the lines of faces on either + side of the board, the solemn close-shaven Puritans, sunburned soldiers, + and white-wigged moustachioed courtiers. My eyes rested particularly upon + Ferguson’s scorbutic features, Saxon’s hard aquiline profile, the German’s + burly face, and the peaky thoughtful countenance of the Lord of Wark. + </p> + <p> + ‘If naebody else will gie an opeenion,’ cried the fanatical Doctor, ‘I’ll + een speak mysel’ as led by the inward voice. For have I no worked in the + cause and slaved in it, much enduring and suffering mony things at the + honds o’ the froward, whereby my ain speerit hath plentifully fructified? + Have I no been bruised as in a wine-press, and cast oot wi’ hissing and + scorning into waste places?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We know your merits and your sufferings, Doctor,’ said the King. ‘The + question before us is as to our course of action.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Was there no a voice heard in the East?’ cried the old Whig. ‘Was there + no a soond as o’ a great crying, the crying for a broken covenant and a + sinful generation? Whence came the cry? Wha’s was the voice? Was it no + that o’ the man Robert Ferguson, wha raised himsel’ up against the great + ones in the land, and wouldna be appeased?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, aye, Doctor,’ said Monmouth impatiently. ‘Speak to the point, or + give place to another.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I shall mak’ mysel’ clear, your Majesty. Have we no heard that Argyle is + cutten off? And why was he cutten off? Because he hadna due faith in the + workings o’ the Almighty, and must needs reject the help o’ the children + o’ light in favour o’ the bare-legged spawn o’ Prelacy, wha are half + Pagan, half Popish. Had he walked in the path o’ the Lord he wudna be + lying in the Tolbooth o’ Edinburgh wi’ the tow or the axe before him. Why + did he no gird up his loins and march straight onwards wi’ the banner o’ + light, instead o’ dallying here and biding there like a half-hairted + Didymus? And the same or waur will fa’ upon us if we dinna march on intae + the land and plant our ensigns afore the wicked toun o’ London—the + toun where the Lord’s wark is tae be done, and the tares tae be separated + frae the wheat, and piled up for the burning.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your advice, in short, is that we march on!’ said Monmouth. + </p> + <p> + ‘That we march on, your Majesty, and that we prepare oorselves tae be the + vessels o’ grace, and forbear frae polluting the cause o’ the Gospel by + wearing the livery o’ the devil’—here he glared at a gaily attired + cavalier at the other side of the table—‘or by the playing o’ + cairds, the singing o’ profane songs and the swearing o’ oaths, all which + are nichtly done by members o’ this army, wi’ the effect o’ giving much + scandal tae God’s ain folk.’ + </p> + <p> + A hum of assent and approval rose up from the more Puritan members of the + council at this expression of opinion, while the courtiers glanced at each + other and curled their lips in derision. Monmouth took two or three turns + and then called for another opinion. + </p> + <p> + ‘You, Lord Grey,’ he said, ‘are a soldier and a man of experience. What is + your advice? Should we halt here or push forward towards London?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘To advance to the East would, in my humble judgment, be fatal to us,’ + Grey answered, speaking slowly, with the manner of a man who has thought + long and deeply before delivering an opinion. ‘James Stuart is strong in + horse, and we have none. We can hold our own amongst hedgerows or in + broken country, but what chance could we have in the middle of Salisbury + Plain? With the dragoons round us we should be like a flock of sheep amid + a pack of wolves. Again, every step which we take towards London removes + us from our natural vantage ground, and from the fertile country which + supplies our necessities, while it strengthens our enemy by shortening the + distance he has to convey his troops and his victuals. Unless, therefore, + we hear of some great outbreak elsewhere, or of some general movement in + London in our favour, we would do best to hold our ground and wait an + attack.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You argue shrewdly and well, my Lord Grey,’ said the King. ‘But how long + are we to wait for this outbreak which never comes, and for this support + which is ever promised and never provided? We have now been seven long + days in England, and during that time of all the House of Commons no + single man hath come over to us, and of the lords none gave my Lord Grey, + who was himself an exile. Not a baron or an earl, and only one baronet, + hath taken up arms for me. Where are the men whom Danvers and Wildman + promised me from London? Where are the brisk boys of the City who were + said to be longing for me? Where are the breakings out from Berwick to + Portland which they foretold? Not a man hath moved save only these good + peasants. I have been deluded, ensnared, trapped—trapped by vile + agents who have led me into the shambles.’ He paced up and down, wringing + his hands and biting his lips, with despair stamped upon his face. I + observed that Buyse smiled and whispered something to Saxon—a hint, + I suppose, that this was the cold fit of which he spoke. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tell me, Colonel Buyse,’ said the King, mastering his emotion by a strong + effort. ‘Do you, as a soldier, agree with my Lord Grey?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ask Saxon, your Majesty,’ the German answered. ‘My opinion in a + Raths-Versammlung is, I have observed, ever the same as his.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then we turn to you, Colonel Saxon,’ said Monmouth. ‘We have in this + council a party who are in favour of an advance and a party who wish to + stand their ground. Their weight and numbers are, methinks, nearly equal. + If you had the casting vote how would you decide?’ All eyes were bent upon + our leader, for his martial bearing, and the respect shown to him by the + veteran Buyse, made it likely that his opinion might really turn the + scale. He sat for a few moments in silence with his hands before his face. + </p> + <p> + ‘I will give my opinion, your Majesty,’ he said at last. ‘Feversham and + Churchill are making for Salisbury with three thousand foot, and they have + pushed on eight hundred of the Blue Guards, and two or three dragoon + regiments. We should, therefore, as Lord Grey says, have to fight on + Salisbury Plain, and our foot armed with a medley of weapons could scarce + make head against their horse. All is possible to the Lord, as Dr. + Ferguson wisely says. We are as grains of dust in the hollow of His hand. + Yet He hath given us brains wherewith to choose the better course, and if + we neglect it we must suffer the consequence of our folly.’ + </p> + <p> + Ferguson laughed contemptuously, and breathed out a prayer, but many of + the other Puritans nodded their heads to acknowledge that this was not an + unreasonable view to take of it. + </p> + <p> + ‘On the other hand, sire,’ Saxon continued, ‘it appears to me that to + remain here is equally impossible. Your Majesty’s friends throughout + England would lose all heart if the army lay motionless and struck no + blow. The rustics would flock off to their wives and homes. Such an + example is catching. I have seen a great army thaw away like an icicle in + the sunshine. Once gone, it is no easy matter to collect them again. To + keep them we must employ them. Never let them have an idle minute. Drill + them. March them. Exercise them. Work them. Preach to them. Make them obey + God and their Colonel. This cannot be done in snug quarters. They must + travel. We cannot hope to end this business until we get to London. + London, then, must be our goal. But there are many ways of reaching it. + You have, sire, as I have heard, many friends at Bristol and in the + Midlands. If I might advise, I should say let us march round in that + direction. Every day that passes will serve to swell your forces and + improve your troops, while all will feel something is astirring. Should we + take Bristol—and I hear that the works are not very strong—it + would give us a very good command of shipping, and a rare centre from + which to act. If all goes well with us, we could make our way to London + through Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. In the meantime I might + suggest that a day of fast and humiliation be called to bring down a + blessing on the cause.’ + </p> + <p> + This address, skilfully compounded of worldly wisdom and of spiritual + zeal, won the applause of the whole council, and especially that of King + Monmouth, whose melancholy vanished as if by magic. + </p> + <p> + ‘By my faith, Colonel,’ said he, ‘you make it all as clear as day. Of + course, if we make ourselves strong in the West, and my uncle is + threatened with disaffection elsewhere, he will have no chance to hold out + against us. Should he wish to fight us upon our own ground, he must needs + drain his troops from north, south, and east, which is not to be thought + of. We may very well march to London by way of Bristol.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I think that the advice is good,’ Lord Grey observed; ‘but I should like + to ask Colonel Saxon what warrant he hath for saying that Churchill and + Feversham are on their way, with three thousand regular foot and several + regiments of horse?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The word of an officer of the Blues with whom I conversed at Salisbury,’ + Saxon answered. ‘He confided in me, believing me to be one of the Duke of + Beaufort’s household. As to the horse, one party pursued us on Salisbury + Plain with bloodhounds, and another attacked us not twenty miles from here + and lost a score of troopers and a cornet.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We heard something of the brush,’ said the King. ‘It was bravely done. + But if these men are so close we have no great time for preparation.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Their foot cannot be here before a week,’ said the Mayor. ‘By that time + we might be behind the walls of Bristol.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is one point which might be urged,’ observed Wade the lawyer. ‘We + have, as your Majesty most truly says, met with heavy discouragement in + the fact that no noblemen and few commoners of repute have declared for + us. The reason is, I opine, that each doth wait for his neighbour to make + a move. Should one or two come over the others would soon follow. How, + then, are we to bring a duke or two to our standards?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There’s the question, Master Wade,’ said Monmouth, shaking his head + despondently. + </p> + <p> + ‘I think that it might be done,’ continued the Whig lawyer. ‘Mere + proclamations addressed to the commonalty will not catch these gold fish. + They are not to be angled for with a naked hook. I should recommend that + some form of summons or writ be served upon each of them, calling upon + them to appear in our camp within a certain date under pain of high + treason.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There spake the legal mind,’ quoth King Monmouth, with a laugh. ‘But you + have omitted to tell us how the said writ or summons is to be conveyed to + these same delinquents.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is the Duke of Beaufort,’ continued Wade, disregarding the King’s + objection. ‘He is President of Wales, and he is, as your Majesty knows, + lieutenant of four English counties. His influence overshadows the whole + West. He hath two hundred horses in his stables at Badminton, and a + thousand men, as I have heard, sit down at his tables every day. Why + should not a special effort be made to gain over such a one, the more so + as we intend to march in his direction?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Henry, Duke of Beaufort, is unfortunately already in arms against his + sovereign,’ said Monmouth gloomily. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is, sire, but he may be induced to turn in your favour the weapon + which he hath raised against you. He is a Protestant. He is said to be a + Whig. Why should we not send a message to him? Flatter his pride. Appeal + to his religion. Coax and threaten him. Who knows? He may have private + grievances of which we know nothing, and may be ripe for such a move.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your counsel is good, Wade,’ said Lord Grey, ‘but methinks his Majesty + hath asked a pertinent question. Your messenger would, I fear, find + himself swinging upon one of the Badminton oaks if the Duke desired to + show his loyalty to James Stuart. Where are we to find a man who is wary + enough and bold enough for such a mission, without risking one of our + leaders, who could be ill-spared at such a time?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is true,’ said the King. ‘It were better not to venture it at all than + to do it in a clumsy and halting fashion. Beaufort would think that it was + a plot not to gain him over, but to throw discredit upon him. But what + means our giant at the door by signing to us?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If it please your Majesty,’ I asked, ‘have I permission to speak?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We would fain hear you, Captain,’ he answered graciously. ‘If your + understanding is in any degree correspondent to your strength, your + opinion should be of weight.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then, your Majesty,’ said I, ‘I would offer myself as a fitting messenger + in this matter. My father bid me spare neither life nor limb in this + quarrel, and if this honourable council thinks that the Duke may be gained + over, I am ready to guarantee that the message shall be conveyed to him if + man and horse can do it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll warrant that no better herald could be found,’ cried Saxon. ‘The lad + hath a cool head and a staunch heart.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then, young sir, we shall accept your loyal and gallant offer,’ said + Monmouth. ‘Are ye all agreed, gentlemen, upon the point?’ A murmur of + assent rose from the company. + </p> + <p> + ‘You shall draw up the paper, Wade. Offer him money, a seniority amongst + the dukes, the perpetual Presidentship of Wales—what you will, if + you can but shake him. If not, sequestration, exile, and everlasting + infamy. And, hark ye! you can enclose a copy of the papers drawn up by Van + Brunow, which prove the marriage of my mother, together with the + attestations of the witnesses. Have them ready by to-morrow at daybreak, + when the messenger may start.’ (Note H, Appendix.) + </p> + <p> + ‘They shall be ready, your Majesty,’ said Wade. + </p> + <p> + ‘In that case, gentlemen,’ continued King Monmouth, ‘I may now dismiss ye + to your posts. Should anything fresh arise I shall summon ye again, that I + may profit by your wisdom. Here we shall stay, if Sir Stephen Timewell + will have us, until the men are refreshed and the recruits enrolled. We + shall then make our way Bristolwards, and see what luck awaits us in the + North. If Beaufort comes over all will be well. Farewell, my kind friends! + I need not tell ye to be diligent and faithful.’ + </p> + <p> + The council rose at the King’s salutation, and bowing to him they began to + file out of the Castle hall. Several of the members clustered round me + with hints for my journey or suggestions as to my conduct. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is a proud, froward man,’ said one. ‘Speak humbly to him or he will + never hearken to your message, but will order you to be scourged out of + his presence.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay!’ cried another. ‘He is hot, but he loves a man that is a man. + Speak boldly and honestly to him, and he is more like to listen to + reason.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Speak as the Lord shall direct you,’ said a Puritan. ‘It is His message + which you bear as well as the King’s.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Entice him out alone upon some excuse,’ said Buyse, ‘then up and away mit + him upon your crupper. Hagelsturm! that would be a proper game.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Leave him alone,’ cried Saxon. ‘The lad hath as much sense as any of ye. + He will see which way the cat jumps. Come, friend, let us make our way + back to our men.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am sorry, indeed, to lose you,’ he said, as we threaded our way through + the throng of peasants and soldiers upon the Castle Green. ‘Your company + will miss you sorely. Lockarby must see to the two. If all goes well you + should be back in three or four days. I need not tell you that there is a + real danger. If the Duke wishes to prove to James that he would not allow + himself to be tampered with, he can only do it by punishing the messenger, + which as lieutenant of a county he hath power to do in times of civil + commotion. He is a hard man if all reports be true. On the other hand, if + you should chance to succeed it may lay the foundations of your fortunes + and be the means of saving Monmouth. He needs help, by the Lord Harry! + Never have I seen such a rabble as this army of his. Buyse says that they + fought lustily at this ruffle at Axminster, but he is of one mind with me, + that a few whiffs of shot and cavalry charges would scatter them over the + countryside. Have you any message to leave?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘None, save my love to my mother,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is well. Should you fall in any unfair way, I shall not forget his + Grace of Beaufort, and the next of his gentlemen who comes in my way shall + hang as high as Haman. And now you had best make for your chamber, and + have as good a slumber as you may, since to-morrow at cock-crow begins + your new mission.’ + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXII. Of the News from Havant + </h2> + <p> + Having given my orders that Covenant should be saddled and bridled by + daybreak, I had gone to my room and was preparing for a long night’s rest, + when Sir Gervas, who slept in the same apartment, came dancing in with a + bundle of papers waving over his head. + </p> + <p> + ‘Three guesses, Clarke!’ he cried. ‘What would you most desire?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Letters from Havant,’ said I eagerly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Right,’ he answered, throwing them into my lap. ‘Three of them, and not a + woman’s hand among them. Sink me, if I can understand what you have been + doing all your life. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “How can youthful heart resign + Lovely woman, sparkling wine?” + </pre> + <p> + But you are so lost in your news that you have not observed my + transformation.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, wherever did you get these?’ I asked in astonishment, for he was + attired in a delicate plum-coloured suit with gold buttons and trimmings, + set off by silken hosen and Spanish leather shoes with roses on the + instep. + </p> + <p> + ‘It smacks more of the court than of the camp,’ quoth Sir Gervas, rubbing + his hands and glancing down at himself with some satisfaction. ‘I am also + revictualled in the matter of ratafia and orange-flower water, together + with two new wigs, a bob and a court, a pound of the Imperial snuff from + the sign of the Black Man, a box of De Crepigny’s hair powder, my foxskin + muff, and several other necessaries. But I hinder you in your reading.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have seen enough to tell me that all is well at home,’ I answered, + glancing over my father’s letter. ‘But how came these things?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Some horsemen have come in from Petersfield, bearing them with them. As + to my little box, which a fair friend of mine in town packed for me, it + was to be forwarded to Bristol, where I am now supposed to be, and should + be were it not for my good fortune in meeting your party. It chanced to + find its way, however, to the Bruton inn, and the good woman there, whom I + had conciliated, found means to send it after me. It is a good rule to go + upon, Clarke, in this earthly pilgrimage, always to kiss the landlady. It + may seem a small thing, and yet life is made up of small things. I have + few fixed principles, I fear, but two there are which I can say from my + heart that I never transgress. I always carry a corkscrew, and I never + forget to kiss the landlady.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘From what I have seen of you,’ said I, laughing, ‘I could be warranty + that those two duties are ever fulfilled.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have letters, too,’ said he, sitting on the side of the bed and turning + over a sheaf of papers. ‘“Your broken-hearted Araminta.” Hum! The wench + cannot know that I am ruined or her heart would speedily be restored. + What’s this? A challenge to match my bird Julius against my Lord + Dorchester’s cockerel for a hundred guineas. Faith! I am too busy backing + the Monmouth rooster for the champion stakes. Another asking me to chase + the stag at Epping. Zounds! had I not cleared off I should have been run + down myself, with a pack of bandog bailiffs at my heels. A dunning letter + from my clothier. He can afford to lose this bill. He hath had many a long + one out of me. An offer of three thousand from little Dicky Chichester. + No, no, Dicky, it won’t do. A gentleman can’t live upon his friends. None + the less grateful. How now? From Mrs. Butterworth! No money for three + weeks! Bailiffs in the house! Now, curse me, if this is not too bad!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What is the matter?’ I asked, glancing up from my own letters. The + baronet’s pale face had taken a tinge of red, and he was striding + furiously up and down the bedroom with a letter crumpled up in his hand. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is a burning shame, Clarke,’ he cried. ‘Hang it, she shall have my + watch. It is by Tompion, of the sign of the Three Crowns in Paul’s Yard, + and cost a hundred when new. It should keep her for a few months. Mortimer + shall measure swords with me for this. I shall write villain upon him with + my rapier’s point.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have never seen you ruffled before,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ he answered, laughing. ‘Many have lived with me for years and would + give me a certificate for temper. But this is too much. Sir Edward + Mortimer is my mother’s younger brother, Clarke, but he is not many years + older than myself. A proper, strait-laced, soft-voiced lad he has ever + been, and, as a consequence, he throve in the world, and joined land to + land after the scriptural fashion. I had befriended him from my purse in + the old days, but he soon came to be a richer man than I, for all that he + gained he kept, whereas all I got—well, it went off like the smoke + of the pipe which you are lighting. When I found that all was up with me I + received from Mortimer an advance, which was sufficient to take me + according to my wish over to Virginia, together with a horse and a + personal outfit. There was some chance, Clarke, of the Jerome acres going + to him should aught befall me, so that he was not averse to helping me off + to a land of fevers and scalping knives. Nay, never shake your head, my + dear country lad, you little know the wiles of the world.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Give him credit for the best until the worst is proved,’ said I, sitting + up in bed smoking, with my letters littered about in front of me. + </p> + <p> + ‘The worst <i>is</i> proved,’ said Sir Gervas, with a darkening face. ‘I + have, as I said, done Mortimer some turns which he might remember, though + it did not become me to remind him of them. This Mistress Butterworth is + mine old wet-nurse, and it hath been the custom of the family to provide + for her. I could not bear the thought that in the ruin of my fortune she + should lose the paltry guinea or so a week which stood between her and + hunger. My only request to Mortimer, therefore, made on the score of old + friendship, was that he should continue this pittance, I promising that + should I prosper I would return whatever he should disburse. The + mean-hearted villain wrung my hand and swore that it should be so. How + vile a thing is human nature, Clarke! For the sake of this paltry sum he, + a rich man, hath broken his pledge, and left this poor woman to starve. + But he shall answer to me for it. He thinks that I am on the Atlantic. If + I march back to London with these brave boys I shall disturb the tenor of + his sainted existence. Meanwhile I shall trust to sun-dials, and off goes + my watch to Mother Butterworth. Bless her ample bosoms! I have tried many + liquors, but I dare bet that the first was the most healthy. But how of + your own letters? You have been frowning and smiling like an April day.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is one from my father, with a few words attached from my mother,’ + said I. ‘The second is from an old friend of mine, Zachariah Palmer, the + village carpenter. The third is from Solomon Sprent, a retired seaman, for + whom I have an affection and respect.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You have a rare trio of newsmen. I would I knew your father, Clarke, he + must, from what you say, be a stout bit of British oak. I spoke even now + of your knowing little of the world, but indeed it may be that in your + village you can see mankind without the varnish, and so come to learn more + of the good of human nature. Varnish or none, the bad will ever peep + through. Now this carpenter and seaman show themselves no doubt for what + they are. A man might know my friends of the court for a lifetime, and + never come upon their real selves, nor would it perhaps repay the search + when you had come across it. Sink me, but I wax philosophical, which is + the old refuge of the ruined man. Give me a tub, and I shall set up in the + Piazza of Covent Garden, and be the Diogenes of London. I would not be + wealthy again, Micah! How goes the old lilt?— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Our money shall never indite us + Or drag us to Goldsmith Hall, + No pirates or wrecks can affright us. + We that have no estates + Fear no plunder or rates, + Nor care to lock gates. + He that lies on the ground cannot fall!” + </pre> + <p> + That last would make a good motto for an almshouse.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You will have Sir Stephen up,’ said I warningly, for he was carolling + away at the pitch of his lungs. + </p> + <p> + ‘Never fear! He and his ‘prentices were all at the broad-sword exercise in + the hall as I came by. It is worth something to see the old fellow stamp, + and swing his sword, and cry, “Ha!” on the down-cut. Mistress Ruth and + friend Lockarby are in the tapestried room, she spinning and he reading + aloud one of those entertaining volumes which she would have me read. + Methinks she hath taken his conversion in hand, which may end in his + converting her from a maid into a wife. And so you go to the Duke of + Beaufort! Well, I would that I could travel with you, but Saxon will not + hear of it, and my musqueteers must be my first care. God send you safe + back! Where is my jasmine powder and the patch-box? Read me your letters + if there be aught in them of interest. I have been splitting a flask with + our gallant Colonel at his inn, and he hath told me enough of your home at + Havant to make me wish to know more.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘This one is somewhat grave,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, I am in the humour for grave things. Have at it, if it contain the + whole Platonic philosophy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis from the venerable carpenter who hath for many years been my adviser + and friend. He is one who is religious without being sectarian, + philosophic without being a partisan, and loving without being weak.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A paragon, truly!’ exclaimed Sir Gervas, who was busy with his eyebrow + brush. + </p> + <p> + ‘This is what he saith,’ I continued, and proceeded to read the very + letter which I now read to you. + </p> + <p> + ‘“Having heard from your father, my dear lad, that there was some chance + of being able to send a letter to you, I have written this, and am now + sending it under the charge of the worthy John Packingham, of Chichester, + who is bound for the West. I trust that you are now safe with Monmouth’s + army, and that you have received honourable appointment therein. I doubt + not that you will find among your comrades some who are extreme sectaries, + and others who are scoffers and disbelievers. Be advised by me, friend, + and avoid both the one and the other. For the zealot is a man who not only + defends his own right of worship, wherein he hath justice, but wishes to + impose upon the consciences of others, by which he falls into the very + error against which he fights. The mere brainless scoffer is, on the other + hand, lower than the beast of the field, since he lacks the animal’s + self-respect and humble resignation.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My faith!’ cried the Baronet, ‘the old gentleman hath a rough side to his + tongue.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Let us take religion upon its broadest base, for the truth must be + broader than aught which we can conceive. The presence of a table doth + prove the existence of a carpenter, and so the presence of a universe + proves the existence of a universe Maker, call Him by what name you will. + So far the ground is very firm beneath us, without either inspiration, + teaching, or any aid whatever. Since, then, there <i>must</i> be a world + Maker, let us judge of His nature by His work. We cannot observe the + glories of the firmament, its infinite extent, its beauty, and the Divine + skill wherewith every plant and animal hath its wants cared for, without + seeing that He is full of wisdom, intelligence, and power. We are still, + you will perceive, upon solid ground, without having to call to our aid + aught save pure reason.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Having got so far, let us inquire to what end the universe was made, and + we put upon it. The teaching of all nature shows that it must be to the + end of improvement and upward growth, the increase in real virtue, in + knowledge, and in wisdom. Nature is a silent preacher which holds forth + upon week-days as on Sabbaths. We see the acorn grow into the oak, the egg + into the bird, the maggot into the butterfly. Shall we doubt, then, that + the human soul, the most precious of all things, is also upon the upward + path? And how can the soul progress save through the cultivation of virtue + and self-mastery? What other way is there? There is none. We may say with + confidence, then, that we are placed here to increase in knowledge and in + virtue.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“This is the core of all religion, and this much needs no faith in the + acceptance. It is as true and as capable of proof as one of those + exercises of Euclid which we have gone over together. On this common + ground men have raised many different buildings. Christianity, the creed + of Mahomet, the creed of the Easterns, have all the same essence. The + difference lies in the forms and the details. Let us hold to our own + Christian creed, the beautiful, often-professed, and seldom-practised + doctrine of love, but let us not despise our fellow-men, for we are all + branches from the common root of truth.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Man comes out of darkness into light. He tarries awhile and then passes + into darkness again. Micah, lad, the days are passing, mine as well as + thine. Let them not be wasted. They are few in number. What says + Petrarch?’ To him that enters, life seems infinite; to him that departs, + nothing.’ Let every day, every hour, be spent in furthering the Creator’s + end—in getting out whatever power for good there is in you. What is + pain, or work, or trouble? The cloud that passes over the sun. But the + result of work well done is everything. It is eternal. It lives and waxes + stronger through the centuries. Pause not for rest. The rest will come + when the hour of work is past.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“May God protect and guard you! There is no great news. The Portsmouth + garrison hath marched to the West. Sir John Lawson, the magistrate, hath + been down here threatening your father and others, but he can do little + for want of proofs. Church and Dissent are at each other’s throats as + ever. Truly the stern law of Moses is more enduring than the sweet words + of Christ. Adieu, my dear lad! All good wishes from your grey-headed + friend, ZACHARIAH PALMER.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Od’s fish!’ cried Sir Gervas, as I folded up the letter, ‘I have heard + Stillingfleet and Tenison, but I never listened to a better sermon. This + is a bishop disguised as a carpenter. The crozier would suit his hand + better than the plane. But how of our seaman friend? Is he a tarpaulin + theologian—a divine among the tarry-breeks?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Solomon Sprent is a very different man, though good enough in his way,’ + said I. ‘But you shall judge him from his letter.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Master Clarke. Sir,—When last we was in company I had run in under + the batteries on cutting-out service, while you did stand on and off in + the channel and wait signals. Having stopped to refit and to overhaul my + prize, which proved to be in proper trim alow and aloft—“’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What the devil doth he mean?’ asked Sir Gervas. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is a maid of whom he talks—Phoebe Dawson, the sister of the + blacksmith. He hath scarce put foot on land for nigh forty years, and can + as a consequence only speak in this sea jargon, though he fancies that he + uses as pure King’s English as any man in Hampshire.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Proceed, then,’ quoth the Baronet. + </p> + <p> + ‘“Having also read her the articles of war, I explained to her the + conditions under which we were to sail in company on life’s voyage, + namely:”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“First. She to obey signals without question as soon as received.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Second. She to steer by my reckoning.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Third. She to stand by me as true consort in foul weather, battle, or + shipwreck.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Fourth. She to run under my guns if assailed by picaroons, privateeros, + or garda-costas.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Fifth. Me to keep her in due repair, dry-dock her at intervals, and see + that she hath her allowance of coats of paint, streamers, and bunting, as + befits a saucy pleasure boat.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Sixth. Me to take no other craft in tow, and if any be now attached, to + cut their hawsers.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Seventh. Me to revictual her day by day.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Eighth. Should she chance to spring a leak, or be blown on her beam ends + by the winds of misfortune, to stand by her and see her pumped out or + righted.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Ninth. To fly the Protestant ensign at the peak during life’s voyage, + and to lay our course for the great harbour, in the hope that moorings and + ground to swing may be found for two British-built crafts when laid up for + eternity.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“‘Twas close on eight-bells before these articles were signed and sealed. + When I headed after you I could not so much as catch a glimpse of your + topsail. Soon after I heard as you had gone a-soldiering, together with + that lean, rakish, long-sparred, picaroon-like craft which I have seen of + late in the village. I take it unkind of you that you have not so much as + dipped ensign to me on leaving. But perchance the tide was favourable, and + you could not tarry. Had I not been jury-rigged, with one of my spars shot + away, I should have dearly loved to have strapped on my hanger and come + with you to smell gunpowder once more. I would do it now, timber-toe and + all, were it not for my consort, who might claim it as a breach of the + articles, and so sheer off. I must follow the light on her poop until we + are fairly joined.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Farewell, mate! In action, take an old sailor’s advice. Keep the + weather-gauge and board! Tell that to your admiral on the day of battle. + Whisper it in his ear. Say to him, ‘Keep the weather-gauge and board!’ + Tell him also to strike quick, strike hard, and keep on striking. That’s + the word of Christopher Mings, and a better man has not been launched, + though he did climb in through the hawse-pipe.—Yours to command, + SOLOMON SPRENT.”’ + </p> + <p> + Sir Gervas had been chuckling to himself during the reading of this + epistle, but at the last part we both broke out a-laughing. + </p> + <p> + ‘Land or sea, he will have it that battles are fought in ships,’ said the + Baronet. ‘You should have had that sage piece of advice for Monmouth’s + council to-day. Should he ever ask your opinion it must be, “Keep the + weather-gauge and board!”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I must to sleep,’ said I, laying aside my pipe. ‘I should be on the road + by daybreak.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, I prythee, complete your kindness by letting me have a glimpse of + your respected parent, the Roundhead.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis but a few lines,’ I answered. ‘He was ever short of speech. But if + they interest you, you shall hear them. “I am sending this by a godly man, + my dear son, to say that I trust that you are bearing yourself as becomes + you. In all danger and difficulty trust not to yourself, but ask help from + on high. If you are in authority, teach your men to sing psalms when they + fall on, as is the good old custom. In action give point rather than edge. + A thrust must beat a cut. Your mother and the others send their affection + to you. Sir John Lawson hath been down here like a ravening wolf, but + could find no proof against me. John Marchbank, of Bedhampton, is cast + into prison. Truly Antichrist reigns in the land, but the kingdom of light + is at hand. Strike lustily for truth and conscience.—Your loving + father, JOSEPH CLARKE.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Postscriptum (from my mother).—I trust that you will remember what + I have said concerning your hosen and also the broad linen collars, which + you will find in the bag. It is little over a week since you left, yet it + seems a year. When cold or wet, take ten drops of Daffy’s elixir in a + small glass of strong waters. Should your feet chafe, rub tallow on the + inside of your boots. Commend me to Master Saxon and to Master Lockarby, + if he be with you. His father was mad at his going, for he hath a great + brewing going forward, and none to mind the mash-tub. Ruth hath baked a + cake, but the oven hath played her false, and it is lumpy in the inside. A + thousand kisses, dear heart, from your loving mother, M. C.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A right sensible couple,’ quoth Sir Gervas, who, having completed his + toilet, had betaken him to his couch. ‘I now begin to understand your + manufacture, Clarke. I see the threads that are used in the weaving of + you. Your father looks to your spiritual wants. Your mother concerns + herself with the material. Yet the old carpenter’s preaching is, methinks, + more to your taste. You are a rank latitudinarian, man. Sir Stephen would + cry fie upon you, and Joshua Pettigrue abjure you! Well, out with the + light, for we should both be stirring at cock-crow. That is our religion + at present.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Early Christians,’ I suggested, and we both laughed as we settled down to + sleep. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXIII. Of the Snare on the Weston Road + </h2> + <p> + Just after sunrise I was awoke by one of the Mayor’s servants, who brought + word that the Honourable Master Wade was awaiting me downstairs. Having + dressed and descended, I found him seated by the table in the sitting-room + with papers and wafer-box, sealing up the missive which I was to carry. He + was a small, worn, grey-faced man, very erect in his bearing and sudden in + his speech, with more of the soldier than of the lawyer in his appearance. + </p> + <p> + ‘So,’ said he, pressing his seal above the fastening of the string, ‘I see + that your horse is ready for you outside. You had best make your way round + by Nether Stowey and the Bristol Channel, for we have heard that the + enemy’s horse guard the roads on the far side of Wells. Here is your + packet.’ + </p> + <p> + I bowed and placed it in the inside of my tunic. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is a written order as suggested in the council. The Duke’s reply may + be written, or it may be by word of mouth. In either case guard it well. + This packet contains also a copy of the depositions of the clergyman at + The Hague, and of the other witnesses who saw Charles of England marry + Lucy Walters, the mother of his Majesty. Your mission is one of such + importance that the whole success of our enterprise may turn upon it. See + that you serve the paper upon Beaufort in person, and not through any + intermediary, or it might not stand in a court of law.’ + </p> + <p> + I promised to do so if possible. + </p> + <p> + ‘I should advise you also,’ he continued, ‘to carry sword and pistol as a + protection against the chance dangers of the road, but to discard your + head-piece and steel-front as giving you too warlike an aspect for a + peaceful messenger.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I had already come to that resolve,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘There is nothing more to be said, Captain,’ said the lawyer, giving me + his hand. ‘May all good fortune go with you. Keep a still tongue and a + quick ear. Watch keenly how all things go. Mark whose face is gloomy and + whose content. The Duke may be at Bristol, but you had best make for his + seat at Badminton. Our sign of the day is Tewkesbury.’ + </p> + <p> + Thanking my instructor for his advice I went out and mounted Covenant, who + pawed and champed at his bit in his delight at getting started once more. + Few of the townsmen were stirring, though here and there a night-bonneted + head stared out at me through a casement. I took the precaution of walking + the horse very quietly until we were some distance from the house, for I + had told Reuben nothing of my intended journey, and I was convinced that + if he knew of it neither discipline, nor even his new ties of love, would + prevent him from coming with me. Covenant’s iron-shod feet rang sharply, + in spite of my care, upon the cobblestones, but looking back I saw that + the blinds of my faithful friend’s room were undrawn, and that all seemed + quiet in the house. I shook my bridle, therefore, and rode at a brisk trot + through the silent streets, which were still strewn with faded flowers and + gay with streamers. At the north gate a guard of half a company was + stationed, who let me pass upon hearing the word. Once beyond the old + walls I found myself out on the country side, with my face to the north + and a clear road in front of me. + </p> + <p> + It was a blithesome morning. The sun was rising over the distant hills, + and heaven and earth were ruddy and golden. The trees in the wayside + orchards were full of swarms of birds, who chattered and sang until the + air was full of their piping. There was lightsomeness and gladness in + every breath. The wistful-eyed red Somerset kine stood along by the + hedgerows, casting great shadows down the fields and gazing at me as I + passed. Farm horses leaned over wooden gates, and snorted a word of + greeting to their glossy-coated brother. A great herd of snowy-fleeced + sheep streamed towards us over the hillside and frisked and gambolled in + the sunshine. All was innocent life, from the lark which sang on high to + the little shrew-mouse which ran amongst the ripening corn, or the martin + which dashed away at the sound of my approach. All alive and all innocent. + What are we to think, my dear children, when we see the beasts of the + field full of kindness and virtue and gratitude? Where is this superiority + of which we talk? + </p> + <p> + From the high ground to the north I looked back upon the sleeping town, + with the broad edging of tents and waggons, which showed how suddenly its + population had outgrown it. The Royal Standard still fluttered from the + tower of St. Mary Magdalene, while close by its beautiful brother-turret + of St. James bore aloft the blue flag of Monmouth. As I gazed the quick + petulant roll of a drum rose up on the still morning air, with the clear + ringing call of the bugles summoning the troops from their slumbers. + Beyond the town, and on either side of it, stretched a glorious view of + the Somersetshire downs, rolling away to the distant sea, with town and + hamlet, castle turret and church tower, wooded coombe and stretch of + grain-land—as fair a scene as the eye could wish to rest upon. As I + wheeled my horse and sped upon my way I felt, my dears, that this was a + land worth fighting for, and that a man’s life was a small thing if he + could but aid, in however trifling a degree, in working out its freedom + and its happiness. At a little village over the hill I fell in with an + outpost of horse, the commander of which rode some distance with me, and + set me on my road to Nether Stowey. It seemed strange to my Hampshire eyes + to note that the earth is all red in these parts—very different to + the chalk and gravel of Havant. The cows, too, are mostly red. The + cottages are built neither of brick nor of wood, but of some form of + plaster, which they call cob, which is strong and smooth so long as no + water comes near it. They shelter the walls from the rain, therefore, by + great overhanging thatches. There is scarcely a steeple in the whole + country-side, which also seems strange to a man from any other part of + England. Every church hath a square tower, with pinnacles upon the top, + and they are mostly very large, with fine peals of bells. + </p> + <p> + My course ran along by the foot of the beautiful Quantock Hills, where + heavy-wooded coombes are scattered over the broad heathery downs, deep + with bracken and whortle-bushes. On either side of the track steep winding + glens sloped downwards, lined with yellow gorse, which blazed out from the + deep-red soil like a flame from embers. Peat-coloured streams splashed + down these valleys and over the road, through which Covenant ploughed + fetlock deep, and shied to see the broad-backed trout darting from between + his fore feet. + </p> + <p> + All day I rode through this beautiful country, meeting few folk, for I + kept away from the main roads. A few shepherds and farmers, a long-legged + clergyman, a packman with his mule, and a horseman with a great bag, whom + I took to be a buyer of hair, are all that I can recall. A black jack of + ale and the heel of a loaf at a wayside inn were all my refreshments. Near + Combwich, Covenant cast a shoe, and two hours were wasted before I found a + smithy in the town and had the matter set right. It was not until evening + that I at last came out upon the banks of the Bristol Channel, at a place + called Shurton Bars, where the muddy Parret makes its way into the sea. At + this point the channel is so broad that the Welsh mountains can scarcely + be distinguished. The shore is flat and black and oozy, flecked over with + white patches of sea-birds, but further to the east there rises a line of + hills, very wild and rugged, rising in places into steep precipices. These + cliffs run out into the sea, and numerous little harbours and bays are + formed in their broken surface, which are dry half the day, but can float + a good-sized boat at half-tide. The road wound over these bleak and rocky + hills, which are sparsely inhabited by a wild race of fishermen, or + shepherds, who came to their cabin doors on hearing the clatter of my + horse’s hoofs, and shot some rough West-country jest at me as I passed. As + the night drew in the country became bleaker and more deserted. An + occasional light twinkling in the distance from some lonely hillside + cottage was the only sign of the presence of man. The rough track still + skirted the sea, and high as it was, the spray from the breakers drifted + across it. The salt prinkled on my lips, and the air was filled with the + hoarse roar of the surge and the thin piping of curlews, who flitted past + in the darkness like white, shadowy, sad-voiced creatures from some other + world. The wind blew in short, quick, angry puffs from the westward, and + far out on the black waters a single glimmer of light rising and falling, + tossing up, and then sinking out of sight, showed how fierce a sea had + risen in the channel. + </p> + <p> + Riding through the gloaming in this strange wild scenery my mind naturally + turned towards the past. I thought of my father and my mother, of the old + carpenter and of Solomon Sprent. Then I pondered over Decimus Saxon, his + many-faced character having in it so much to be admired and so much to be + abhorred. Did I like him or no? It was more than I could say. From him I + wandered off to my faithful Reuben, and to his love passage with the + pretty Puritan, which in turn brought me to Sir Gervas and the wreck of + his fortunes. My mind then wandered to the state of the army and the + prospects of the rising, which led me to my present mission with its + perils and its difficulties. Having turned over all these things in my + mind I began to doze upon my horse’s back, overcome by the fatigue of the + journey and the drowsy lullaby of the waves. I had just fallen into a + dream in which I saw Reuben Lockarby crowned King of England by Mistress + Ruth Timewell, while Decimus Saxon endeavoured to shoot him with a bottle + of Daffy’s elixir, when in an instant, without warning, I was dashed + violently from my horse, and left lying half-conscious on the stony track. + </p> + <p> + So stunned and shaken was I by the sudden fall, that though I had a dim + knowledge of shadowy figures bending over me, and of hoarse laughter + sounding in my ears, I could not tell for a few minutes where I was nor + what had befallen me. When at last I did make an attempt to recover my + feet I found that a loop of rope had been slipped round my arms and my + legs so as to secure them. With a hard struggle I got one hand free, and + dashed it in the face of one of the men who were holding me down; but the + whole gang of a dozen or more set upon me at once, and while some thumped + and kicked at me, others tied a fresh cord round my elbows, and deftly + fastened it in such a way as to pinion me completely. Finding that in my + weak and dazed state all efforts were of no avail, I lay sullen and + watchful, taking no heed of the random blows which were still showered + upon me. So dark was it that I could neither see the faces of my + attackers, nor form any guess as to who they might be, or how they had + hurled me from my saddle. The champing and stamping of a horse hard by + showed me that Covenant was a prisoner as well as his master. + </p> + <p> + ‘Dutch Pete’s got as much as he can carry,’ said a rough, harsh voice. ‘He + lies on the track as limp as a conger.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, poor Pete!’ muttered another. ‘He’ll never deal a card or drain a + glass of the right Cognac again.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There you lie, mine goot vriend,’ said the injured man, in weak, + quavering tones. ‘And I will prove that you lie if you have a flaschen in + your pocket.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If Pete were dead and buried,’ the first speaker said, ‘a word about + strong waters would bring him to. Give him a sup from your bottle, Dicon.’ + </p> + <p> + There was a great gurgling and sucking in the darkness, followed by a gasp + from the drinker. ‘Gott sei gelobt,’ he exclaimed in a stronger voice, ‘I + have seen more stars than ever were made. Had my kopf not been well hooped + he would have knocked it in like an ill-staved cask. He shlags like the + kick of a horse.’ + </p> + <p> + As he spoke the edge of the moon peeped over a cliff and threw a flood of + cold clear light upon the scene. Looking up I saw that a strong rope had + been tied across the road from one tree trunk to another about eight feet + above the ground. This could not be seen by me, even had I been fully + awake, in the dusk; but catching me across the breast as Covenant trotted + under it, it had swept me off and dashed me with great force to the + ground. Either the fall or the blows which I had received had cut me + badly, for I could feel the blood trickling in a warm stream past my ear + and down my neck. I made no attempt to move, however, but waited in + silence to find out who these men were into whose hands I had fallen. My + one fear was lest my letters should be taken away from me, and my mission + rendered of no avail. That in this, my first trust, I should be disarmed + without a blow and lose the papers which had been confided to me, was a + chance which made me flush and tingle with shame at the very thought. + </p> + <p> + The gang who had seized me were rough-bearded fellows in fur caps and + fustian jackets, with buff belts round their waists, from which hung short + straight whinyards. Their dark sun-dried faces and their great boots + marked them as fishermen or seamen, as might be guessed from their rude + sailor speech. A pair knelt on either side with their hands upon my arms, + a third stood behind with a cocked pistol pointed at my head, while the + others, seven or eight in number, were helping to his feet the man whom I + had struck, who was bleeding freely from a cut over the eye. + </p> + <p> + ‘Take the horse up to Daddy Mycroft’s,’ said a stout, black-bearded man, + who seemed to be their leader. ‘It is no mere dragooner hack,(Note I. + Appendix) but a comely, full-blooded brute, which will fetch sixty pieces + at the least. Your share of that, Peter, will buy salve and plaster for + your cut.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ha, houndsfoot!’ cried the Dutchman, shaking his fist at me. ‘You would + strike Peter, would you? You would draw Peter’s blood, would you? Tausend + Teufel, man! if you and I were together upon the hillside we should see + vich vas the petter man.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Slack your jaw tackle, Pete,’ growled one of his comrades. ‘This fellow + is a limb of Satan for sure, and doth follow a calling that none but a + mean, snivelling, baseborn son of a gun would take to. Yet I warrant, from + the look of him, that he could truss you like a woodcock if he had his + great hands upon you. And you would howl for help as you did last + Martinmas, when you did mistake Cooper Dick’s wife for a gauger.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Truss me, would he? Todt und Holle!’ cried the other, whom the blow and + the brandy had driven to madness. ‘We shall see. Take that, thou deyvil’s + spawn, take that!’ He ran at me, and kicked me as hard as he could with + his heavy sea-boots. + </p> + <p> + Some of the gang laughed, but the man who had spoken before gave the + Dutchman a shove that sent him whirling. ‘None of that,’ he said sternly. + ‘We’ll have British fair-play on British soil, and none of your cursed + longshore tricks. I won’t stand by and see an Englishman kicked, d’ye see, + by a tub-bellied, round-starned, schnapps-swilling, chicken-hearted son of + an Amsterdam lust-vrouw. Hang him, if the skipper likes. That’s all above + board, but by thunder, if it’s a fight that you will have, touch that man + again.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘All right, Dicon,’ said their leader soothingly. ‘We all know that Pete’s + not a fighting man, but he’s the best cooper on the coast, eh, Pete? There + is not his equal at staving, hooping, and bumping. He’ll take a plank of + wood and turn it into a keg while another man would be thinking of it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, you remember that, Captain Murgatroyd,’ said the Dutchman sulkily. + ‘But you see me knocked about and shlagged, and bullied, and called names, + and what help have I? So help me, when the <i>Maria</i> is in the Texel + next, I’ll take to my old trade, I will, and never set foot on her again.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No fear,’ the Captain answered, laughing. ‘While the <i>Maria</i> brings + in five thousand good pieces a year, and can show her heels to any cutter + on the coast, there is no fear of greedy Pete losing his share of her. + Why, man, at this rate you may have a lust-haus of your own in a year or + two, with a trimmed lawn, and the trees all clipped like peacocks, and the + flowers in pattern, and a canal by the door, and a great bouncing + house-wife just like any Burgomeister. There’s many such a fortune been + made out of Mechlin and Cognac.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, and there’s many a broken kopf got over Mechlin and Cognac,’ + grumbled my enemy. ‘Donner! There are other things beside lust-houses and + flower-beds. There are lee-shores and nor’-westers, beaks and + preventives.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And there’s where the smart seaman has the pull over the herring buss, or + the skulking coaster that works from Christmas to Christmas with all the + danger and none of the little pickings. But enough said! Up with the + prisoner, and let us get him safely into the bilboes.’ + </p> + <p> + I was raised to my feet and half carried, half dragged along in the midst + of the gang. My horse had already been led away in the opposite direction. + Our course lay off the road, down a very rocky and rugged ravine which + sloped away towards the sea. There seemed to be no trace of a path, and I + could only stumble along over rocks and bushes as best I might in my + fettered and crippled state. The blood, however, had dried over my wounds, + and the cool sea breeze playing upon my forehead refreshed me, and helped + me to take a clearer view of my position. + </p> + <p> + It was plain from their talk that these men were smugglers. As such, they + were not likely to have any great love for the Government, or desire to + uphold King James in any way. On the contrary, their goodwill would + probably be with Monmouth, for had I not seen the day before a whole + regiment of foot in his army, raised from among the coaster folk? On the + other hand, their greed might be stronger than their loyalty, and might + lead them to hand me over to justice in the hope of reward. On the whole + it would be best, I thought, to say nothing of my mission, and to keep my + papers secret as long as possible. + </p> + <p> + But I could not but wonder, as I was dragged along, what had led these men + to lie in wait for me as they had done. The road along which I had + travelled was a lonely one, and yet a fair number of travellers bound from + the West through Weston to Bristol must use it. The gang could not lie in + perpetual guard over it. Why had they set a trap on this particular night, + then? The smugglers were a lawless and desperate body, but they did not, + as a rule, descend to foot-paddery or robbery. As long as no one + interfered with them they were seldom the first to break the peace. Then, + why had they lain in wait for me, who had never injured them? Could it + possibly be that I had been betrayed? I was still turning over these + questions in my mind when we all came to a halt, and the Captain blew a + shrill note on a whistle which hung round his neck. + </p> + <p> + The place where we found ourselves was the darkest and most rugged spot in + the whole wild gorge. On either side great cliffs shot up, which arched + over our heads, with a fringe of ferns and bracken on either lip, so that + the dark sky and the few twinkling stars were well-nigh hid. Great black + rocks loomed vaguely out in the shadowy light, while in front a high + tangle of what seemed to be brushwood barred our road. At a second + whistle, however, a glint of light was seen through the branches, and the + whole mass was swung to one side as though it moved upon a hinge. Beyond + it a dark winding passage opened into the side of the hill, down which we + went with our backs bowed, for the rock ceiling was of no great height. On + every side of us sounded the throbbing of the sea. + </p> + <p> + Passing through the entrance, which must have been dug with great labour + through the solid rock, we came out into a lofty and roomy cave, lit up by + a fire at one end, and by several torches. By their smoky yellow glare I + could see that the roof was, at least, fifty feet above us, and was hung + by long lime-crystals, which sparkled and gleamed with great brightness. + The floor of the cave was formed of fine sand, as soft and velvety as a + Wilton carpet, sloping down in a way which showed that the cave must at + its mouth open upon the sea, which was confirmed by the booming and + splashing of the waves, and by the fresh salt air which filled the whole + cavern. No water could be seen, however, as a sharp turn cut off our view + of the outlet. + </p> + <p> + In this rock-girt space, which may have been sixty paces long and thirty + across, there were gathered great piles of casks, kegs and cases; muskets, + cutlasses, staves, cudgels, and straw were littered about upon the floor. + At one end a high wood fire blazed merrily, casting strange shadows along + the walls, and sparkling like a thousand diamonds among the crystals on + the roof. The smoke was carried away through a great cleft in the rocks. + Seated on boxes, or stretched on the sand round the fire, there were seven + or eight more of the band, who sprang to their feet and ran eagerly + towards us as we entered. + </p> + <p> + Have ye got him?’ they cried. ‘Did he indeed come? Had he attendants?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He is here, and he is alone,’ the Captain answered. ‘Our hawser fetched + him off his horse as neatly as ever a gull was netted by a cragsman. What + have ye done in our absence, Silas!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We have the packs ready for carriage,’ said the man addressed, a sturdy, + weather-beaten seaman of middle age. ‘The silk and lace are done in these + squares covered over with sacking. The one I have marked “yarn” and the + other “jute”—a thousand of Mechlin to a hundred of the shiny. They + will sling over a mule’s back. Brandy, schnapps, Schiedam, and Hamburg + Goldwasser are all set out in due order. The ‘baccy is in the flat cases + over by the Black Drop there. A plaguey job we had carrying it all out, + but here it is ship-shape at last, and the lugger floats like a skimming + dish, with scarce ballast enough to stand up to a five-knot breeze.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Any signs of the <i>Fairy Queen</i>?’ asked the smuggler. + </p> + <p> + ‘None. Long John is down at the water’s edge looking out for her + flash-light. This wind should bring her up if she has rounded Combe-Martin + Point. There was a sail about ten miles to the east-nor’-east at sundown. + She might have been a Bristol schooner, or she might have been a King’s + fly-boat.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A King’s crawl-boat,’ said Captain Murgatroyd, with a sneer. ‘We cannot + hang the gauger until Venables brings up the <i>Fairy Queen</i>, for after + all it was one of his hands that was snackled. Let him do his own dirty + work.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Tausend Blitzen!’ cried the ruffian Dutchman, ‘would it not be a kindly + grass to Captain Venables to chuck the gauger down the Black Drop ere he + come? He may have such another job to do for us some day.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Zounds, man, are you in command or am I?’ said the leader angrily. ‘Bring + the prisoner forward to the fire! Now, hark ye, dog of a land-shark; you + are as surely a dead man as though you were laid out with the tapers + burning. See here’—he lifted a torch, and showed by its red light a + great crack in the floor across the far end of the cave—‘you can + judge of the Black Drop’s depth!’ he said, raising an empty keg and + tossing it over into the yawning gulf. For ten seconds we stood silent + before a dull distant clatter told that it had at last reached the bottom. + </p> + <p> + ‘It will carry him half-way to hell before the breath leaves him,’ said + one. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s an easier death than the Devizes gallows!’ cried a second. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, he shall have the gallows first!’ a third shouted. ‘It is but his + burial that we are arranging.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He hath not opened his mouth since we took him,’ said the man who was + called Dicon. ‘Is he a mute, then? Find your tongue, my fine fellow, and + let us hear what your name is. It would have been well for you if you had + been born dumb, so that you could not have sworn our comrade’s life away.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have been waiting for a civil question after all this brawling and + brabbling,’ said I. ‘My name is Micah Clarke. Now, pray inform me who ye + may be, and by what warrant ye stop peaceful travellers upon the public + highway?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘This is our warrant,’ Murgatroyd answered, touching the hilt of his + cutlass. ‘As to who we are, ye know that well enough. Your name is not + Clarke, but Westhouse, or Waterhouse, and you are the same cursed + exciseman who snackled our poor comrade, Cooper Dick, and swore away his + life at Ilchester.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I swear that you are mistaken,’ I replied. ‘I have never in my life been + in these parts before.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Fine words! Fine words!’ cried another smuggler. ‘Gauger or no, you must + jump for it, since you know the secret of our cave.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your secret is safe with me,’ I answered. ‘But if ye wish to murder me, I + shall meet my fate as a soldier should. I should have chosen to die on the + field of battle, rather than to lie at the mercy of such a pack of + water-rats in their burrow.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My faith!’ said Murgatroyd. ‘This is too tall talk for a gauger. He bears + himself like a soldier, too. It is possible that in snaring the owl we + have caught the falcon. Yet we had certain token that he would come this + way, and on such another horse.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Call up Long John,’ suggested the Dutchman. ‘I vould not give a plug of + Trinidado for the Schelm’s word. Long John was with Cooper Dick when he + was taken.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye,’ growled the mate Silas. ‘He got a wipe over the arm from the + gauger’s whinyard. He’ll know his face, if any will.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Call him, then,’ said Murgatroyd, and presently a long, loose-limbed + seaman came up from the mouth of the cave, where he had been on watch. He + wore a red kerchief round his forehead, and a blue jerkin, the sleeve of + which he slowly rolled up as he came nigh. + </p> + <p> + ‘Where is Gauger Westhouse?’ he cried; ‘he has left his mark on my arm. + Rat me, if the scar is healed yet. The sun is on our side of the wall now, + gauger. But hullo, mates! Who be this that ye have clapped into irons? + This is not our man!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not our man!’ they cried, with a volley of curses. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, this fellow would make two of the gauger, and leave enough over to + fashion a magistrate’s clerk. Ye may hang him to make sure, but still he’s + not the man.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, hang him!’ said Dutch Pete. ‘Sapperment! is our cave to be the talk + of all the country? Vere is the pretty <i>Maria</i> to go then, vid her + silks and her satins, her kegs and her cases’? Are we to risk our cave for + the sake of this fellow? Besides, has he not schlagged my kopf—schlagged + your cooper’s kopf—as if he had hit me mit mine own mallet? Is that + not vorth a hemp cravat?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Worth a jorum of rumbo,’ cried Dicon. ‘By your leave, Captain, I would + say that we are not a gang of padders and michers, but a crew of honest + seamen, who harm none but those who harm us. Exciseman Westhouse hath + slain Cooper Dick, and it is just that he should die for it; but as to + taking this young soldier’s life, I’d as soon think of scuttling the saucy + <i>Maria</i>, or of mounting the Jolly Roger at her peak.’ + </p> + <p> + What answer would have been given to this speech I cannot tell, for at + that moment a shrill whistle resounded outside the cave, and two smugglers + appeared bearing between them the body of a man. It hung so limp that I + thought at first that he might be dead, but when they threw him on the + sand he moved, and at last sat up like one who is but half awoken from a + swoon. He was a square dogged-faced fellow, with a long white scar down + his cheek, and a close-fitting blue coat with brass buttons. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s Gauger Westhouse!’ cried a chorus of voices. ‘Yes, it is Gauger + Westhouse,’ said the man calmly, giving his neck a wriggle as though he + were in pain. ‘I represent the King’s law, and in its name I arrest ye + all, and declare all the contraband goods which I see around me to be + confiscate and forfeited, according to the second section of the first + clause of the statute upon illegal dealing. If there are any honest men in + this company, they will assist me in the execution of my duty.’ He + staggered to his feet as he spoke, but his spirit was greater than his + strength, and he sank back upon the sand amid a roar of laughter from the + rough seamen. + </p> + <p> + ‘We found him lying on the road when we came from Daddy Mycroft’s,’ said + one of the new-comers, who were the same men who had led away my horse. + ‘He must have passed just after you left, and the rope caught him under + the chin and threw him a dozen paces. We saw the revenue button on his + coat, so we brought him down. Body o’ me, but he kicked and plunged for + all that he was three-quarters stunned.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Have ye slacked the hawser?’ the Captain asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘We cast one end loose and let it hang.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis well. We must keep him for Captain Venables. But now, as to our + other prisoner: we must overhaul him and examine his papers, for so many + craft are sailing under false colours that we must needs be careful. Hark + ye, Mister Soldier! What brings you to these parts, and what king do you + serve? for I hear there’s a mutiny broke out, and two skippers claim equal + rating in the old British ship.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am serving under King Monmouth,’ I answered, seeing that the proposed + search must end in the finding of my papers. + </p> + <p> + ‘Under King Monmouth!’ cried the smuggler. ‘Nay, friend, that rings + somewhat false. The good King hath, I hear, too much need of his friends + in the south to let an able soldier go wandering along the sea coast like + a Cornish wrecker in a sou’-wester.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I bear despatches,’ said I, ‘from the King’s own hand to Henry Duke of + Beaufort, at his castle at Badminton. Ye can find them in my inner pocket, + but I pray ye not to break the seal, lest it bring discredit upon my + mission.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sir,’ cried the gauger, raising himself upon his elbow, ‘I do hereby + arrest you on the charge of being a traitor, a promoter of treason, a + vagrant, and a masterless man within the meaning of the fourth statute of + the Act. As an officer of the law I call upon you to submit to my + warrant.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Brace up his jaw with your scarf, Jim,’ said Murgatroyd. ‘When Venables + comes he will soon find a way to check his gab. Yes,’ he continued, + looking at the back of my papers, ‘it is marked, as you say, “From James + the Second of England, known lately as the Duke of Monmouth, to Henry Duke + of Beaufort, President of Wales, by the hand of Captain Micah Clarke, of + Saxon’s regiment of Wiltshire foot.” Cast off the lashings, Dicon. So, + Captain, you are a free man once more, and I grieve that we should have + unwittingly harmed you. We are good Lutherans to a man, and would rather + speed you than hinder you on this mission.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Could we not indeed help him on his way!’ said the mate Silas. ‘For + myself, I don’t fear a wet jacket or a tarry hand for the cause, and I + doubt not ye are all of my way of thinking. Now with this breeze we could + run up to Bristol and drop the Captain by morning, which would save him + from being snapped up by any land-sharks on the road.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, aye,’ cried Long John. ‘The King’s horse are out beyond Weston, but + he could give them the slip if he had the <i>Maria</i> under him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ said Murgatroyd, ‘we could get back by three long tacks. Venables + will need a day or so to get his goods ashore. If we are to sail back in + company we shall have time on our hands. How would the plan suit you, + Captain?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My horse!’ I objected. + </p> + <p> + ‘It need not stop us. I can rig up a handy horse-stall with my spare spars + and the grating. The wind has died down. The lugger could be brought to + Dead Man’s Edge, and the horse led down to it. Run up to Daddy’s, Jim; and + you, Silas, see to the boat. Here is some cold junk and biscuit—seaman’s + fare, Captain—and a glass o’ the real Jamaica to wash it down an’ + thy stomach be not too dainty for rough living.’ + </p> + <p> + I seated myself on a barrel by the fire, and stretched my limbs, which + were cramped and stiffened by their confinement, while one of the seamen + bathed the cut on my head with a wet kerchief, and another laid out some + food on a case in front of me. The rest of the gang had trooped away to + the mouth of the cave to prepare the lugger, save only two or three who + stood on guard round the ill-fated gauger. He lay with his back resting + against the wall of the cave, and his arms crossed over his breast, + glancing round from time to time at the smugglers with menacing eyes, as a + staunch old hound might gaze at a pack of wolves who had overmatched him. + I was turning it over in my own mind whether aught could be done to help + him, when Murgatroyd came over, and dipping a tin pannikin into the open + rum tub, drained it to the success of my mission. + </p> + <p> + ‘I shall send Silas Bolitho with you,’ said he, ‘while I bide here to meet + Venables, who commands my consort. If there is aught that I can do to + repay you for your ill usage—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is but one thing, Captain,’ I broke in eagerly. ‘It is as much, or + more, for your own sake than mine that I ask it. Do not allow this unhappy + man to be murdered.’ + </p> + <p> + Murgatroyd’s face flushed with anger. ‘You are a plain speaker, Captain + Clarke,’ said he. ‘This is no murder. It is justice. What harm do we here? + There is not an old housewife over the whole countryside who does not + bless us. Where is she to buy her souchong, or her strong waters, except + from us! We charge little, and force our goods on no one. We are peaceful + traders. Yet this man and his fellows are ever yelping at our heels, like + so many dogfish on a cod bank. We have been harried, and chivied, and shot + at until we are driven into such dens as this. A month ago, four of our + men were bearing a keg up the hillside to Farmer Black, who hath dealt + with us these five years back. Of a sudden, down came half a score of + horse, led by this gauger, hacked and slashed with their broad-swords, cut + Long John’s arm open, and took Cooper Dick prisoner. Dick was haled to + Ilchester Gaol, and hung up after the assizes like a stoat on a + gamekeeper’s door. This night we had news that this very gauger was coming + this way, little knowing that we should be on the look-out for him. Is it + a wonder that we should lay a trap for him, and that, having caught him, + we should give him the same justice as he gave our comrades?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He is but a servant, I argued. ‘He hath not made the law. It is his duty + to enforce it. It is with the law itself that your quarrel is.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are right,’ said the smuggler gloomily. ‘It is with Judge Moorcroft + that we have our chief account to square. He may pass this road upon his + circuit. Heaven send he does! But we shall hang the gauger too. He knows + our cave now, and it would be madness to let him go.’ + </p> + <p> + I saw that it was useless to argue longer, so I contented myself with + dropping my pocket-knife on the sand within reach of the prisoner, in the + hope that it might prove to be of some service to him. His guards were + laughing and joking together, and giving little heed to their charge, but + the gauger was keen enough, for I saw his hand close over it. + </p> + <p> + I had walked and smoked for an hour or more, when Silas the mate appeared, + and said that the lugger was ready and the horse aboard. Bidding + Murgatroyd farewell, I ventured a few more words in favour of the gauger, + which were received with a frown and an angry shake of the head. A boat + was drawn up on the sand, inside the cave, at the water’s edge. Into this + I stepped, as directed, with my sword and pistols, which had been given + back to me, while the crew pushed her off and sprang in as she glided into + deep water. + </p> + <p> + I could see by the dim light of the single torch which Murgatroyd held + upon the margin, that the roof of the cave sloped sheer down upon us as we + sculled slowly out towards the entrance. So low did it come at last that + there was only a space of a few feet between it and the water, and we had + to bend our heads to avoid the rocks above us. The boatmen gave two strong + strokes, and we shot out from under the overhanging ledge, and found + ourselves in the open with the stars shining murkily above us, and the + moon showing herself dimly and cloudily through a gathering haze. Right in + front of us was a dark blur, which, as we pulled towards it, took the + outline of a large lugger rising and falling with the pulse of the sea. + Her tall thin spars and delicate network of cordage towered above us as we + glided under the counter, while the creaking of blocks and rattle of ropes + showed that she was all ready to glide off upon her journey. Lightly and + daintily she rode upon the waters, like some giant seafowl, spreading one + white pinion after another in preparation for her flight. The boatmen ran + us alongside and steadied the dinghy while I climbed over the bulwarks on + to the deck. + </p> + <p> + She was a roomy vessel, very broad in the beam, with a graceful curve in + her bows, and masts which were taller than any that I had seen on such a + boat on the Solent. She was decked over in front, but very deep in the + after part, with ropes fixed all round the sides to secure kegs when the + hold should be full. In the midst of this after-deck the mariners had + built a strong stall, in which my good steed was standing, with a bucket + full of oats in front of him. My old friend shoved his nose against my + face as I came aboard, and neighed his pleasure at finding his master once + more. We were still exchanging caresses when the grizzled head of Silas + Bolitho the mate popped out of the cabin hatchway. + </p> + <p> + ‘We are fairly on our way now, Captain Clarke,’ said he. ‘The breeze has + fallen away to nothing, as you can see, and we may be some time in running + down to our port. Are you not aweary?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am a little tired,’ I confessed. ‘My head is throbbing from the crack I + got when that hawser of yours dashed me from my saddle.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘An hour or two of sleep will make you as fresh as a Mother Carey’s + chicken,’ said the smuggler. ‘Your horse is well cared for, and you can + leave him without fear. I will set a man to tend him, though, truth to + say, the rogues know more about studding-sails and halliards than they do + of steeds and their requirements. Yet no harm can come to him, so you had + best come down and turn in.’ + </p> + <p> + I descended the steep stairs which led down into the low-roofed cabin of + the lugger. On either side a recess in the wall had been fitted up as a + couch. + </p> + <p> + ‘This is your bed,’ said he, pointing to one of them. ‘We shall call you + if there be aught to report.’ I needed no second invitation, but flinging + myself down without undressing, I sank in a few minutes into a dreamless + sleep, which neither the gentle motion of the boat nor the clank of feet + above my head could break off. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXIV. Of the Welcome that met me at Badminton + </h2> + <p> + When I opened my eyes I had some ado to recall where I was, but on sitting + up it was brought home to me by my head striking the low ceiling with a + sharp rap. On the other side of the cabin Silas Bolitho was stretched at + full length with a red woollen nightcap upon his head, fast asleep and + snoring. In the centre of the cabin hung a swing-table, much worn, and + stained all over with the marks of countless glasses and pannikins. A + wooden bench, screwed to the floor, completed the furniture, with the + exception of a stand of muskets along one side. Above and below the berths + in which we lay were rows of lockers, in which, doubtless, some of the + more choice laces and silks were stowed. The vessel was rising and falling + with a gentle motion, but from the flapping of canvas I judged that there + was little wind. Slipping quietly from my couch, so as not to wake the + mate, I stole upon deck. + </p> + <p> + We were, I found, not only becalmed, but hemmed in by a dense fog-bank + which rolled in thick, choking wreaths all round us, and hid the very + water beneath us. We might have been a ship of the air riding upon a white + cloud-bank. Now and anon a little puff of breeze caught the foresail and + bellied it out for a moment, only to let it flap back against the mast, + limp and slack, once more. A sunbeam would at times break through the + dense cloud, and would spangle the dead grey wall with a streak of rainbow + colour, but the haze would gather in again and shut off the bright + invader. Covenant was staring right and left with great questioning eyes. + The crew were gathered along the bulwarks and smoking their pipes while + they peered out into the dense fog. + </p> + <p> + ‘God den, Captain,’ said Dicon, touching his fur cap. ‘We have had a rare + run while the breeze lasted, and the mate reckoned before he turned in + that we were not many miles from Bristol town.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘In that case, my good fellow,’ I answered, ‘ye can set me ashore, for I + have not far to go.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We must e’en wait till the fog lifts,’ said Long John. ‘There’s only one + place along here, d’ye see, where we can land cargoes unquestioned. When + it clears we shall turn her head for it, but until we can take our + bearings it is anxious work wi’ the sands under our lee.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Keep a look-out there, Tom Baldock!’ cried Dicon to a man in the bows. + ‘We are in the track of every Bristol ship, and though there’s so little + wind, a high-sparred craft might catch a breeze which we miss.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sh!’ said Long John suddenly, holding up his hand in warning. ‘Sh!’ + </p> + <p> + We listened with all our ears, but there was no sound, save the gentle + wash of the unseen waves against our sides. + </p> + <p> + ‘Call the mate!’ whispered the seaman. ‘There’s a craft close by us. I + heard the rattle of a rope upon her deck.’ + </p> + <p> + Silas Bolitho was up in an instant, and we all stood straining our ears, + and peering through the dense fog-bank. We had well-nigh made up our minds + that it was a false alarm, and the mate was turning back in no very good + humour, when a clear loud bell sounded seven times quite close to us, + followed by a shrill whistle and a confused shouting and stamping. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s a King’s ship,’ growled the mate. ‘That’s seven bells, and the + bo’sun is turning out the watch below.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It was on our quarter,’ whispered one. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, I think it was on our larboard bow,’ said another. + </p> + <p> + The mate held up his hand, and we all listened for some fresh sign of the + whereabouts of our scurvy neighbour. The wind had freshened a little, and + we were slipping through the water at four or five knots an hour. Of a + sudden a hoarse voice was heard roaring at our very side. ‘’Bout ship!’ it + shouted. ‘Bear a hand on the lee-braces, there! Stand by the halliards! + Bear a hand, ye lazy rogues, or I’ll be among ye with my cane, with a + wannion to ye!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is a King’s ship, sure enough, and she lies just there,’ said Long + John, pointing out over the quarter. ‘Merchant adventurers have civil + tongues. It’s your blue-coated, gold-braided, swivel-eyed, quarter-deckers + that talk of canes. Ha! did I not tell ye!’ + </p> + <p> + As he spoke, the white screen of vapour rolled up like the curtain in a + playhouse, and uncovered a stately war-ship, lying so close that we could + have thrown a biscuit aboard. Her long, lean, black hull rose and fell + with a slow, graceful rhythm, while her beautiful spars and snow-white + sails shot aloft until they were lost in the wreaths of fog which still + hung around her. Nine bright brass cannons peeped out at us from her + portholes. Above the line of hammocks, which hung like carded wool along + her bulwarks, we could see the heads of the seamen staring down at us, and + pointing us out to each other. On the high poop stood an elderly officer + with cocked hat and trim white wig, who at once whipped up his glass and + gazed at us through it. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ahoy, there!’ he shouted, leaning over the taffrail. ‘What lugger is + that?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The <i>Lucy</i>,’ answered the mate, ‘bound from Porlock Quay to Bristol + with hides and tallow. Stand ready to tack!’ he added in a lower voice, + ‘the fog is coming down again.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ye have one of the hides with the horse still in it,’ cried the officer. + ‘Run down under our counter. We must have a closer look at ye.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, aye, sir!’ said the mate, and putting his helm hard down the boom + swung across, and the <i>Maria</i> darted off like a scared seabird into + the fog. Looking back there was nothing but a dim loom to show where we + had left the great vessel. We could hear, however, the hoarse shouting of + orders and the bustle of men. + </p> + <p> + ‘Look out for squalls, lads!’ cried the mate. ‘He’ll let us have it now.’ + </p> + <p> + He had scarcely spoken before there were half-a-dozen throbs of flame in + the mist behind, and as many balls sung among our rigging. One cut away + the end of the yard, and left it dangling; another grazed the bowsprit, + and sent a puff of white splinters into the air. + </p> + <p> + ‘Warm work, Captain, eh?’ said old Silas, rubbing his hands. ‘Zounds, they + shoot better in the dark than ever they did in the light. There have been + more shots fired at this lugger than she could carry wore she loaded with + them. And yet they never so much as knocked the paint off her before. + There they go again!’ + </p> + <p> + A fresh discharge burst from the man-of-war, but this time they had lost + all trace of us, and were firing by guess. + </p> + <p> + ‘That is their last bark, sir,’ said Dicon. + </p> + <p> + ‘No fear. They’ll blaze away for the rest of the day,’ growled another of + the smugglers. ‘Why, Lor’ bless ye, it’s good exercise for the crew, and + the ‘munition is the King’s, so it don’t cost nobody a groat.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s well the breeze freshened,’ said Long John. ‘I heard the creak o’ + davits just after the first discharge. She was lowering her boats, or I’m + a Dutchman.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The petter for you if you vas, you seven-foot stock-fish,’ cried my enemy + the cooper, whose aspect was not improved by a great strip of plaster over + his eye. ‘You might have learned something petter than to pull on a rope, + or to swab decks like a vrouw all your life.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll set you adrift in one of your own barrels, you skin of lard,’ said + the seaman. ‘How often are we to trounce you before we knock the sauce out + of you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The fog lifts a little towards the land,’ Silas remarked. ‘Methinks I see + the loom of St. Austin’s Point. It rises there upon the starboard bow.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There it is, sure enough, sir!’ cried one of the seamen, pointing to a + dark cape which cut into the mist. + </p> + <p> + ‘Steer for the three-fathom creek then,’ said the mate. ‘When we are on + the other side of the point, Captain Clarke, we shall be able to land your + horse and yourself. You will then be within a few hours’ ride of your + destination.’ + </p> + <p> + I led the old seaman aside, and having thanked him for the kindness which + he had shown me, I spoke to him of the gauger, and implored him to use his + influence to save the man. + </p> + <p> + ‘It rests with Captain Venables,’ said he gloomily. ‘If we let him go what + becomes of our cave?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Is there no way of insuring his silence?’ I asked. ‘Well, we might ship + him to the Plantations,’ said the mate. ‘We could take him to the Texel + with us, and get Captain Donders or some other to give him a lift across + the western ocean.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Do so,’ said I, ‘and I shall take care that King Monmouth shall hear of + the help which ye have given his messenger.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, we shall be there in a brace of shakes,’ he remarked. ‘Let us go + below and load your ground tier, for there is nothing like starting well + trimmed with plenty of ballast in the hold.’ + </p> + <p> + Following the sailor’s advice I went down with him and enjoyed a rude but + plentiful meal. By the time that we had finished, the lugger had been run + into a narrow creek, with shelving sandy banks on either side. The + district was wild and marshy, with few signs of any inhabitants. With much + coaxing and pushing Covenant was induced to take to the water, and swam + easily ashore, while I followed in the smuggler’s dinghy. A few words of + rough, kindly leave-taking were shouted after me; I saw the dinghy return, + and the beautiful craft glided out to sea and faded away once more into + the mists which still hung over the face of the waters. + </p> + <p> + Truly Providence works in strange ways, my children, and until a man comes + to the autumn of his days he can scarce say what hath been ill-luck and + what hath been good. For of all the seeming misfortunes which have + befallen me during my wandering life, there is not one which I have not + come to look upon as a blessing. And if you once take this into your + hearts, it is a mighty help in enabling you to meet all troubles with a + stiff lip; for why should a man grieve when he hath not yet determined + whether what hath chanced may not prove to be a cause of rejoicing. Now + here ye will perceive that I began by being dashed upon a stony road, + beaten, kicked, and finally well-nigh put to death in mistake for another. + Yet it ended in my being safely carried to my journey’s end, whereas, had + I gone by land, it is more than likely that I should have been cut off at + Weston; for, as I heard afterwards, a troop of horse were making + themselves very active in those parts by blocking the roads and seizing + all who came that way. + </p> + <p> + Being now alone, my first care was to bathe my face and hands in a stream + which ran down to the sea, and to wipe away any trace of my adventures of + the night before. My cut was but a small one, and was concealed by my + hair. Having reduced myself to some sort of order I next rubbed down my + horse as best I could, and rearranged his girth and his saddle. I then led + him by the bridle to the top of a sandhill hard by, whence I might gain + some idea as to my position. + </p> + <p> + The fog lay thick upon the Channel, but all inland was very clear and + bright. Along the coast the country was dreary and marshy, but at the + other side a goodly extent of fertile plain lay before me, well tilled and + cared for. A range of lofty hills, which I guessed to be the Mendips, + bordered the whole skyline, and further north there lay a second chain in + the blue distance. The glittering Avon wound its way over the country-side + like a silver snake in a flower-bed. Close to its mouth, and not more than + two leagues from where I stood, rose the spires and towers of stately + Bristol, the Queen of the West, which was and still may be the second city + in the kingdom. The forests of masts which shot up like a pinegrove above + the roofs of the houses bore witness to the great trade both with Ireland + and with the Plantations which had built up so flourishing a city. + </p> + <p> + As I knew that the Duke’s seat was miles on the Gloucestershire side of + the city, and as I feared lest I might be arrested and examined should I + attempt to pass the gates, I struck inland with intent to ride round the + walls and so avoid the peril. The path which I followed led me into a + country lane, which in turn opened into a broad highway crowded with + travellers, both on horseback and on foot. As the troublous times required + that a man should journey with his arms, there was naught in my outfit to + excite remark, and I was able to jog on among the other horsemen without + question or suspicion. From their appearance they were, I judged, country + farmers or squires for the most part, who were riding into Bristol to hear + the news, and to store away their things of price in a place of safety. + </p> + <p> + ‘By your leave, zur!’ said a burly, heavy-faced man in a velveteen jacket, + riding up upon my bridle-arm. ‘Can you tell me whether his Grace of + Beaufort is in Bristol or at his house o’ Badminton?’ + </p> + <p> + I answered that I could not tell, but that I was myself bound for his + presence. + </p> + <p> + ‘He was in Bristol yestreen a-drilling o’ the train-bands,’ said the + stranger; ‘but, indeed, his Grace be that loyal, and works that hard for + his Majesty’s cause, that he’s a’ ower the county, and it is but chance + work for to try and to catch him. But if you are about to zeek him, + whither shall you go?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I will to Badminton,’ I answered, ‘and await him there. Can you tell me + the way?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What! Not know the way to Badminton!’ he cried, with a blank stare of + wonder. ‘Whoy, I thought all the warld knew that. You’re not fra Wales or + the border counties, zur, that be very clear.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am a Hampshire man,’ said I. ‘I have come some distance to see the + Duke.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, so I should think!’ he cried, laughing loudly. ‘If you doan’t know + the way to Badminton you doan’t know much! But I’ll go with you, danged if + I doan’t, and I’ll show you your road, and run my chance o’ finding the + Duke there. What be your name?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Micah Clarke is my name.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And Vairmer Brown is mine—John Brown by the register, but better + knowed as the Vairmer. Tak’ this turn to the right off the high-road. Now + we can trot our beasts and not be smothered in other folk’s dust. And what + be you going to Beaufort for?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘On private matters which will not brook discussion,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Lor’, now! Affairs o’ State belike,’ said he, with a whistle. ‘Well, a + still tongue saves many a neck. I’m a cautious man myself, and these be + times when I wouldna whisper some o’ my thoughts—no, not into the + ears o’ my old brown mare here—for fear I’d see her some day + standing over against me in the witness-box.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They seem very busy over there,’ I remarked, for we were now in full + sight of the walls of Bristol, where gangs of men were working hard with + pick and shovel improving the defences. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, they be busy sure enough, makin’ ready in case the rebels come this + road. Cromwell and his tawnies found it a rasper in my vather’s time, and + Monmouth is like to do the same.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It hath a strong garrison, too,’ said I, bethinking me of Saxon’s advice + at Salisbury. ‘I see two or three regiments out yonder on the bare open + space.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They have four thousand foot and a thousand horse,’ the farmer answered. + ‘But the foot are only train-bands, and there’s no trusting them after + Axminster. They say up here that the rebels run to nigh twenty thousand, + and that they give no quarter. Well, if we must have civil war, I hope it + may be hot and sudden, not spun out for a dozen years like the last one. + If our throats are to be cut, let it be with a shairp knife, and not with + a blunt hedge shears.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What say you to a stoup of cider?’ I asked, for we were passing an + ivy-clad inn, with ‘The Beaufort Arms’ printed upon the sign. + </p> + <p> + ‘With all my heart, lad,’ my companion answered. ‘Ho, there! two pints of + the old hard-brewed! That will serve to wash the dust down. The real + Beaufort Arms is up yonder at Badminton, for at the buttery hatch one may + call for what one will in reason and never put hand to pocket.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You speak of the house as though you knew it well,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘And who should know it better?’ asked the sturdy farmer, wiping his lips, + as we resumed our journey. ‘Why, it seems but yesterday that I played + hide-and-seek wi’ my brothers in the old Boteler Castle, that stood where + the new house o’ Badminton, or Acton Turville, as some calls it, now + stands. The Duke hath built it but a few years, and, indeed, his Dukedom + itself is scarce older. There are some who think that he would have done + better to stick by the old name that his forebears bore.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What manner of man is the Duke?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hot and hasty, like all of his blood. Yet when he hath time to think, and + hath cooled down, he is just in the main. Your horse hath been in the + water this morning, vriend.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ said I shortly, ‘he hath had a bath.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am going to his Grace on the business of a horse,’ quoth my companion. + ‘His officers have pressed my piebald four-year-old, and taken it without + a “With your leave,” or “By your leave,” for the use of the King. I would + have them know that there is something higher than the Duke, or even than + the King. There is the English law, which will preserve a man’s goods and + his chattels. I would do aught in reason for King James’s service, but my + piebald four-year-old is too much.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I fear that the needs of the public service will override your + objection,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why it is enough to make a man a Whig,’ he cried. ‘Even the Roundheads + always paid their vair penny for every pennyworth they had, though they + wanted a vair pennyworth for each penny. I have heard my father say that + trade was never so brisk as in ‘forty-six, when they were down this way. + Old Noll had a noose of hemp ready for horse-stealers, were they for King + or for Parliament. But here comes his Grace’s carriage, if I mistake not.’ + </p> + <p> + As he spoke a great heavy yellow coach, drawn by six cream-coloured + Flemish mares, dashed down the road, and came swiftly towards us. Two + mounted lackeys galloped in front, and two others all in light blue and + silver liveries rode on either side. + </p> + <p> + ‘His Grace is not within, else there had been an escort behind,’ said the + farmer, as we reined our horses aside to let the carriage pass. As they + swept by he shouted out a question as to whether the Duke was at + Badminton, and received a nod from the stately bewigged coachman in reply. + </p> + <p> + ‘We are in luck to catch him,’ said Farmer Brown. ‘He’s as hard to find + these days as a crake in a wheatfield. We should be there in an hour or + less. I must thank you that I did not take a fruitless journey into + Bristol. What did you say your errand was?’ + </p> + <p> + I was again compelled to assure him that the matter was not one of which I + could speak with a stranger, on which he appeared to be huffed, and rode + for some miles without opening his mouth. Groves of trees lined the road + on either side, and the sweet smell of pines was in our nostrils. Far away + the musical pealing of a bell rose and fell on the hot, close summer air. + The shelter of the branches was pleasant, for the sun was very strong, + blazing down out of a cloudless heaven, and raising a haze from the fields + and valleys. + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis the bell from Chipping Sodbury,’ said my companion at last, wiping + his ruddy face. ‘That’s Sodbury Church yonder over the brow of the hill, + and here on the right is the entrance of Badminton Park.’ + </p> + <p> + High iron gates, with the leopard and griffin, which are the supporters of + the Beaufort arms, fixed on the pillars which flanked them, opened into a + beautiful domain of lawn and grass land with clumps of trees scattered + over it, and broad sheets of water, thick with wild fowl. At every turn as + we rode up the winding avenue some new beauty caught our eyes, all of + which were pointed out and expounded by Farmer Brown, who seemed to take + as much pride in the place as though it belonged to him. Here it was a + rockery where a thousand bright-coloured stones shone out through the + ferns and creepers which had been trained over them. There it was a pretty + prattling brook, the channel of which had been turned so as to make it + come foaming down over a steep ledge of rocks. Or perhaps it was some + statue of nymph or sylvan god, or some artfully built arbour overgrown + with roses or honeysuckle. I have never seen grounds so tastefully laid + out, and it was done, as all good work in art must be done, by following + Nature so closely that it only differed from her handiwork in its + profusion in so narrow a compass. A few years later our healthy English + taste was spoiled by the pedant gardening of the Dutch with their straight + flat ponds, and their trees all clipped and in a line like vegetable + grenadiers. In truth, I think that the Prince of Orange and Sir William + Temple had much to answer for in working this change, but things have now + come round again, I understand, and we have ceased to be wiser than Nature + in our pleasure-grounds. + </p> + <p> + As we drew near the house we came on a large extent of level sward on + which a troop of horse were exercising, who were raised, as my companion + informed me, entirely from the Duke’s own personal attendants. Passing + them we rode through a grove of rare trees and came out on a broad space + of gravel which lay in front of the house. The building itself was of + great extent, built after the new Italian fashion, rather for comfort than + for defence; but on one wing there remained, as my companion pointed out, + a portion of the old keep and battlements of the feudal castle of the + Botelers, looking as out of place as a farthingale of Queen Elizabeth + joined to a court dress fresh from Paris. The main doorway was led up to + by lines of columns and a broad flight of marble steps, on which stood a + group of footmen and grooms, who took our horses when we dismounted. A + grey-haired steward or major-domo inquired our business, and on learning + that we wished to see the Duke in person, he told us that his Grace would + give audience to strangers in the afternoon at half after three by the + clock. In the meantime he said that the guests’ dinner had just been laid + in the hall, and it was his master’s wish that none who came to Badminton + should depart hungry. My companion and I were but too glad to accept the + steward’s invitation, so having visited the bath-room and attended to the + needs of the toilet, we followed a footman, who ushered us into a great + room where the company had already assembled. + </p> + <p> + The guests may have numbered fifty or sixty, old and young, gentle and + simple, of the most varied types and appearance. I observed that many of + them cast haughty and inquiring glances round them, in the pauses between + the dishes, as though each marvelled how he came to be a member of so + motley a crew. Their only common feature appeared to be the devotion which + they showed to the platter and the wine flagon. There was little talking, + for there were few who knew their neighbours. Some were soldiers who had + come to offer their swords and their services to the King’s lieutenant; + others were merchants from Bristol, with some proposal or suggestion anent + the safety of their property. There were two or three officials of the + city, who had come out to receive instructions as to its defence, while + here and there I marked the child of Israel, who had found his way there + in the hope that in times of trouble he might find high interest and noble + borrowers. Horse-dealers, saddlers, armourers, surgeons, and clergymen + completed the company, who were waited upon by a staff of powdered and + liveried servants, who brought and removed the dishes with the silence and + deftness of long training. + </p> + <p> + The room was a contrast to the bare plainness of Sir Stephen Timewell’s + dining-hall at Taunton, for it was richly panelled and highly decorated + all round. The floor was formed of black and white marble, set in squares, + and the walls were of polished oak, and bore a long line of paintings of + the Somerset family, from John of Gaunt downwards. The ceiling, too, was + tastefully painted with flowers and nymphs, so that a man’s neck was stiff + ere he had done admiring it. At the further end of the hall yawned a great + fireplace of white marble, with the lions and lilies of the Somerset arms + carved in oak above it, and a long gilt scroll bearing the family motto, + “Mutare vel timere sperno.” The massive tables at which we sat were loaded + with silver chargers and candelabra, and bright with the rich plate for + which Badminton was famous. I could not but think that, if Saxon could + clap eyes upon it, he would not be long in urging that the war be carried + on in this direction. + </p> + <p> + After dinner we were all shown into a small ante-chamber, set round with + velvet settees, where we were to wait till the Duke was ready to see us. + In the centre of this room there stood several cases, glass-topped and + lined with silk, wherein were little steel and iron rods, with brass tubes + and divers other things, very bright and ingenious, though I could not + devise for what end they had been put together. A gentleman-in-waiting + came round with paper and ink-horn, making notes of our names and of our + business. Him I asked whether it might not be possible for me to have an + entirely private audience. + </p> + <p> + ‘His Grace never sees in private,’ he replied. ‘He has ever his chosen + councillors and officers in attendance.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But the business is one which is only fit for his own ear,’ I urged. + </p> + <p> + ‘His Grace holds that there is no business fit only for his own ear,’ said + the gentleman. ‘You must arrange matters as best you can when you are + shown in to him. I will promise, however, that your request be carried to + him, though I warn you that it cannot be granted.’ + </p> + <p> + I thanked him for his good offices, and turned away with the farmer to + look at the strange little engines within the cases. + </p> + <p> + ‘What is it?’ I asked. ‘I have never seen aught that was like it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is the work of the mad Marquis of Worcester,’ quoth he. ‘He was the + Duke’s grandfather. He was ever making and devising such toys, but they + were never of any service to himself or to others. Now, look ye here! This + wi’ the wheels were called the water-engine, and it was his crazy thought + that, by heating the water in that ere kettle, ye might make the wheels go + round, and thereby travel along iron bars quicker nor a horse could run. + ‘Oons! I’d match my old brown mare against all such contrivances to the + end o’ time. But to our places, for the Duke is coming.’ + </p> + <p> + We had scarce taken our seats with the other suitors, when the + folding-doors were flung open, and a stout, thick, short man of fifty, or + thereabouts, came bustling into the room, and strode down it between two + lines of bowing clients. He had large projecting blue eyes, with great + pouches of skin beneath them, and a yellow, sallow visage. At his heels + walked a dozen officers and men of rank, with flowing wigs and clanking + swords. They had hardly passed through the opposite door into the Duke’s + own room, when the gentleman with the list called out a name, and the + guests began one after the other to file into the great man’s presence. + </p> + <p> + ‘Methinks his Grace is in no very gentle temper,’ quoth Farmer Brown. ‘Did + you not mark how he gnawed his nether lip as he passed?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He seemed a quiet gentleman enough,’ I answered. ‘It would try Job + himself to see all these folk of an afternoon.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hark at that!’ he whispered, raising his finger. As he spoke the sound of + the Duke’s voice in a storm of wrath was heard from the inner chamber, and + a little sharp-faced man came out and flew through the ante-chamber as + though fright had turned his head. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is an armourer of Bristol,’ whispered one of my neighbours. ‘It is + likely that the Duke cannot come to terms with him over a contract.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay,’ said another. ‘He supplied Sir Marmaduke Hyson’s troop with sabres, + and it is said that the blades will bend as though they were lead. Once + used they can never be fitted back into the scabbard again.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The tall man who goes in now is an inventor,’ quoth the first. ‘He hath + the secret of some very grievous fire, such as hath been used by the + Greeks against the Turks in the Levant, which he desires to sell for the + better fortifying of Bristol.’ + </p> + <p> + The Greek fire seemed to be in no great request with the Duke, for the + inventor came out presently with his face as red as though it had been + touched by his own compound. The next upon the list was my honest friend + the farmer. The angry tones which greeted him promised badly for the fate + of the four-year-old, but a lull ensued, and the farmer came out and + resumed his seat, rubbing his great red hands with satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ecod!’ he whispered. ‘He was plaguy hot at first, but he soon came round, + and he hath promised that if I pay for the hire of a dragooner as long as + the war shall last I shall have back the piebald.’ + </p> + <p> + I had been sitting all this time wondering how in the world I was to + conduct my business amid the swarm of suppliants and the crowd of officers + who were attending the Duke. Had there been any likelihood of my gaining + audience with him in any other way I should gladly have adopted it, but + all my endeavours to that end had been useless. Unless I took this + occasion I might never come face to face with him at all. But how could he + give due thought or discussion to such a matter before others? What chance + was there of his weighing it as it should be weighed? Even if his feelings + inclined him that way, he dared not show any sign of wavering when so many + eyes were upon him. I was tempted to feign some other reason for my + coming, and trust to fortune to give me some more favourable chance for + handing him my papers. But then that chance might never arrive, and time + was pressing. It was said that he would return to Bristol next morning. On + the whole, it seemed best that I should make the fittest use I could of my + present position in the hope that the Duke’s own discretion and + self-command might, when he saw the address upon my despatches, lead to a + more private interview. + </p> + <p> + I had just come to this resolution when my name was read out, on which I + rose and advanced into the inner chamber. It was a small but lofty room, + hung in blue silk with a broad gold cornice. In the centre was a square + table littered over with piles of papers, and behind this sat his Grace + with full-bottomed wig rolling down to his shoulders, very stately and + imposing. He had the same subtle air of the court which I had observed + both in Monmouth and in Sir Gervas, which, with his high bold features and + large piercing eyes, marked him as a leader of men. His private scrivener + sat beside him, taking notes of his directions, while the others stood + behind in a half circle, or took snuff together in the deep recess of the + window. + </p> + <p> + ‘Make a note of Smithson’s order,’ he said, as I entered. ‘A hundred pots + and as many fronts and backs to be ready by Tuesday; also six score + snaphances for the musqueteers, and two hundred extra spades for the + workers. Mark that the order be declared null and void unless fulfilled + within the time appointed.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is so marked, your Grace.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Captain Micah Clarke,’ said the Duke, reading from the list in front of + him. ‘What is your wish, Captain?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘One which it would be better if I could deliver privately to your Grace,’ + I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, you are he who desired private audience? Well, Captain, these are my + council and they are as myself. So we may look upon ourselves as alone. + What I may hear they may hear. Zounds, man, never stammer and boggle, but + out with it!’ + </p> + <p> + My request had roused the interest of the company, and those who were in + the window came over to the table. Nothing could have been worse for the + success of my mission, and yet there was no help for it but to deliver my + despatches. I can say with a clear conscience, without any vainglory, that + I had no fears for myself. The doing of my duty was the one thought in my + mind. And here I may say once for all, my dear children, that I am + speaking of myself all through this statement with the same freedom as + though it were another man. In very truth the strong active lad of + one-and-twenty <i>was</i> another man from the grey-headed old fellow who + sits in the chimney corner and can do naught better than tell old tales to + the youngsters. Shallow water gives a great splash, and so a braggart has + ever been contemptible in my eyes. I trust, therefore, that ye will never + think that your grandad is singing his own praises, or setting himself up + as better than his neighbours. I do but lay the facts, as far as I can + recall them, before ye with all freedom and with all truth. + </p> + <p> + My short delay and hesitation had sent a hot flush of anger into the + Duke’s face, so I drew the packet of papers from my inner pocket and + handed them to him with a respectful bow. As his eyes fell upon the + superscription, he gave a sudden start of surprise and agitation, making a + motion as though to hide them in his bosom. If this were his impulse he + overcame it, and sat lost in thought for a minute or more with the papers + in his hand. Then with a quick toss of the head, like a man who hath + formed his resolution, he broke the seals and cast his eyes over the + contents, which he then threw down upon the table with a bitter laugh. + </p> + <p> + ‘What think ye, gentlemen!’ he cried, looking round with scornful eyes; + ‘what think ye this private message hath proved to be? It is a letter from + the traitor Monmouth, calling upon me to resign the allegiance of my + natural sovereign and to draw my sword in his behalf! If I do this I am to + have his gracious favour and protection. If not, I incur sequestration, + banishment, and ruin. He thinks Beaufort’s loyalty is to be bought like a + packman’s ware, or bullied out of him by ruffling words. The descendant of + John of Gaunt is to render fealty to the brat of a wandering playwoman!’ + </p> + <p> + Several of the company sprang to their feet, and a general buzz of + surprise and anger greeted the Duke’s words. He sat with bent brows, + beating his foot against the ground, and turning over the papers upon the + table. + </p> + <p> + ‘What hath raised his hopes to such mad heights?’ he cried. ‘How doth he + presume to send such a missive to one of my quality? Is it because he hath + seen the backs of a parcel of rascally militiamen, and because he hath + drawn a few hundred chawbacons from the plough’s tail to his standard, + that he ventures to hold such language to the President of Wales? But ye + will be my witnesses as to the spirit in which I received it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We can preserve your Grace from all danger of slander on that point,’ + said an elderly officer, while a murmur of assent from the others greeted + the remark. + </p> + <p> + ‘And you!’ cried Beaufort, raising his voice and turning his flashing eyes + upon me; ‘who are you that dare to bring such a message to Badminton? You + had surely taken leave of your senses ere you did set out upon such an + errand!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am in the hands of God here as elsewhere,’ I answered, with some flash + of my father’s fatalism. ‘I have done what I promised to do, and the rest + is no concern of mine.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You shall find it a very close concern of thine,’ he shouted, springing + from his chair and pacing up and down the room; ‘so close as to put an end + to all thy other concerns in this life. Call in the halberdiers from the + outer hall! Now, fellow, what have you to say for yourself?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is naught to be said,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘But something to be done,’ he retorted in a fury. ‘Seize this man and + secure his hands!’ + </p> + <p> + Four halberdiers who had answered the summons closed in upon me and laid + hands on me. Resistance would have been folly, for I had no wish to harm + the men in the doing of their duty. I had come to take my chance, and if + that chance should prove to be death, as seemed likely enough at present, + it must be met as a thing foreseen. I thought of those old-time lines + which Master Chillingfoot, of Petersfield, had ever held up to our + admiration— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Non civium ardor prava jubentium + Non vultus instantis tyranni + Mente quatit solida. +</pre> + <p> + Here was the ‘vultus instantis tyranni,’ in this stout, be-wigged, + lace-covered, yellow-faced man in front of me. I had obeyed the poet in so + far that my courage had not been shaken. I confess that this spinning + dust-heap of a world has never had such attractions for me that it would + be a pang to leave it. Never, at least, until my marriage—and that, + you will find, alters your thoughts about the value of your life, and many + other of your thoughts as well. This being so, I stood erect, with my eyes + fixed upon the angry nobleman, while his soldiers were putting the gyves + about my wrists. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXV. Of Strange Doings in the Boteler Dungeon + </h2> + <p> + ‘Take down this fellow’s statement,’ said the Duke to his scrivener. ‘Now, + sirrah, it may not be known to you that his gracious Majesty the King hath + conferred plenary powers upon me during these troubled times, and that I + have his warrant to deal with all traitors without either jury or judge. + You do bear a commission, I understand, in the rebellious body which is + here described as Saxon’s regiment of Wiltshire Foot? Speak the truth for + your neck’s sake.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I will speak the truth for the sake of something higher than that, your + Grace,’ I answered. ‘I command a company in that regiment.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And who is this Saxon?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I will answer all that I may concerning myself,’ said I, ‘but not a word + which may reflect upon others.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ha!’ he roared, hot with anger. ‘Our pretty gentleman must needs stand + upon the niceties of honour after taking up arms against his King. I tell + you, sir, that your honour is in such a parlous state already that you may + well throw it over and look to your safety. The sun is sinking in the + west. Ere it set your life, too, may have set for ever.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am the keeper of my own honour, your Grace,’ I answered. ‘As to my + life, I should not be standing here this moment if I had any great dread + of losing it. It is right that I should tell you that my Colonel hath + sworn to exact a return for any evil that may befall me, on you or any of + your household who may come into his power. This I say, not as a threat, + but as a warning, for I know him to be a man who is like to be as good as + his word.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your Colonel, as you call him, may find it hard enough to save himself + soon,’ the Duke answered with a sneer. ‘How many men hath Monmouth with + him?’ + </p> + <p> + I smiled and shook my head. + </p> + <p> + ‘How shall we make this traitor find his tongue?’ he asked furiously, + turning to his council. + </p> + <p> + ‘I should clap on the thumbikins,’ said one fierce-faced old soldier. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have known a lighted match between the fingers work wonders,’ another + suggested. ‘Sir Thomas Dalzell hath in the Scottish war been able to win + over several of that most stubborn and hardened race, the Western + Covenanters, by such persuasion.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sir Thomas Dalzell,’ said a grey-haired gentleman, clad in black velvet, + ‘hath studied the art of war among the Muscovites, in their barbarous and + bloody encounters with the Turks. God forbid that we Christians of England + should seek our examples among the skin-clad idolaters of a savage + country.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sir William would like to see war carried out on truly courteous + principles,’ said the first speaker. ‘A battle should be like a stately + minuet, with no loss of dignity or of etiquette.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sir,’ the other answered hotly, ‘I have been in battles when you were in + your baby-linen, and I handled a battoon when you could scarce shake a + rattle. In leaguer or onfall a soldier’s work is sharp and stern, but I + say that the use of torture, which the law of England hath abolished, + should also be laid aside by the law of nations.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Enough, gentlemen, enough!’ cried the Duke, seeing that the dispute was + like to wax warm. ‘Your opinion, Sir William, hath much weight with us, + and yours also, Colonel Hearn. We shall discuss this at greater length in + privacy. Halberdiers, remove the prisoner, and let a clergyman be sent to + look to his spiritual needs!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Shall we take him to the strong room, your Grace?’ asked the Captain of + the guard. + </p> + <p> + ‘No, to the old Boteler dungeon,’ he replied; and I heard the next name + upon the list called out, while I was led through a side door with a guard + in front and behind me. We passed through endless passages and corridors, + with heavy stop and clank of arms, until we reached the ancient wing. + Here, in the corner turret, was a small, bare room, mouldy and damp, with + a high, arched roof, and a single long slit in the outer wall to admit + light. A small wooden couch and a rude chair formed the whole of the + furniture. Into this I was shown by the Captain, who stationed a guard at + the door, and then came in after me and loosened my wrists. He was a + sad-faced man, with solemn sunken eyes and a dreary expression, which + matched ill with his bright trappings and gay sword-knot. + </p> + <p> + ‘Keep your heart up, friend,’ said he, in a hollow voice. ‘It is but a + choke and a struggle. A day or two since we had the same job to do, and + the man scarcely groaned. Old Spender, the Duke’s marshal, hath as sure a + trick of tying and as good judgment in arranging a drop as hath Dun of + Tyburn. Be of good heart, therefore, for you shall not fall into the hands + of a bungler.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I would that I could let Monmouth know that his letters were delivered,’ + I exclaimed, seating myself on the side of the bed. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ faith, they were delivered. Had you been the penny postman of Mr. + Robert Murray, of whom we heard so much in London last spring, you could + not have handed it in more directly. Why did you not talk the Duke fair? + He is a gracious nobleman, and kind of heart, save when he is thwarted or + angered. Some little talk as to the rebels’ numbers and dispositions might + have saved you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I wonder that you, as a soldier, should speak or think of such a thing,’ + said I coldly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, well! Your neck is your own. If it please you to take a leap into + nothing it were pity to thwart you. But his Grace commanded that you + should have the chaplain. I must away to him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I prythee do not bring him,’ said I. ‘I am one of a dissenting stock, and + I see that there is a Bible in yonder recess. No man can aid me in making + my peace with God.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is well,’ he answered, ‘for Dean Hewby hath come over from Chippenham, + and he is discoursing with our good chaplain on the need of self-denial, + moistening his throat the while with a flask of the prime Tokay. At dinner + I heard him put up thanks for what he was to receive, and in the same + breath ask the butler how he dared to serve a deacon of the Church with a + pullet without truffle dressing. But, perhaps, you would desire Dean + Hewby’s spiritual help? No? Well, what I can do for you in reason shall be + done, since you will not be long upon our hands. Above all, keep a cheery + heart.’ + </p> + <p> + He left the cell, but presently unlocked the door and pushed his dismal + face round the corner. ‘I am Captain Sinclair, of the Duke’s household,’ + he said, ‘should you have occasion to ask for me. You had best have + spiritual help, for I do assure you that there hath been something worse + than either warder or prisoner in this cell.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What then?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, marry, nothing less than the Devil,’ he answered, coming in and + closing the door. ‘It was in this way,’ he went on, sinking his voice: + ‘Two years agone Hector Marot, the highwayman, was shut up in this very + Boteler dungeon. I was myself on guard in the corridor that night, and saw + the prisoner at ten o’clock sitting on that bed even as you are now. At + twelve I had occasion to look in, as my custom is, with the hope of + cheering his lonely hours, when lo, he was gone! Yes, you may well stare. + Mine eyes had never been off the door, and you can judge what chance there + was of his getting through the windows. Walls and floor are both solid + stone, which might be solid rock for the thickness. When I entered there + was a plaguy smell of brimstone, and the flame of my lanthorn burned blue. + Nay, it is no smiling matter. If the Devil did not run away with Hector + Marot, pray who did? for sure I am that no angel of grace could come to + him as to Peter of old. Perchance the Evil One may desire a second bird + out of the same cage, and so I tell you this that you may be on your guard + against his assaults.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, I fear him not,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is well,’ croaked the Captain. ‘Be not cast down!’ His head vanished, + and the key turned in the creaking lock. So thick were the walls that I + could hear no sound after the door was closed. Save for the sighing of the + wind in the branches of the trees outside the narrow window, all was as + silent as the grave within the dungeon. + </p> + <p> + Thus left to myself I tried to follow Captain Sinclair’s advice as to the + keeping up of my heart, though his talk was far from being of a cheering + nature. In my young days, more particularly among the sectaries with whom + I had been brought most in contact, a belief in the occasional appearance + of the Prince of Darkness, and his interference in bodily form with the + affairs of men, was widespread and unquestioning. Philosophers in their + own quiet chambers may argue learnedly on the absurdity of such things, + but in a dim-lit dungeon, cut off from the world, with the grey gloaming + creeping down, and one’s own fate hanging in the balance, it becomes a + very different matter. The escape, if the Captain’s story were true, + appeared to border upon the miraculous. I examined the walls of the cell + very carefully. They were formed of great square stones cunningly fitted + together. The thin slit or window was cut through the centre of a single + large block. All over, as high as the hand could reach, the face of the + walls was covered with letters and legends cut by many generations of + captives. The floor was composed of old foot-worn slabs, firmly cemented + together. The closest search failed to show any hole or cranny where a rat + could have escaped, far less a man. + </p> + <p> + It is a very strange thing, my dears, to sit down in cold blood, and think + that the chances are that within a few hours your pulses will have given + their last throb, and your soul have sped away upon its final errand. + Strange and very awesome! The man who rideth down into the press of the + battle with his jaw set and his grip tight upon reign and sword-hilt + cannot feel this, for the human mind is such that one emotion will ever + push out another. Neither can the man who draws slow and catching breaths + upon the bed of deadly sickness be said to have experience of it, for the + mind weakened with disease can but submit without examining too closely + that which it submits to. When, however, a young and hale man sits alone + in quiet, and sees present death hanging over him, he hath such food for + thought that, should he survive and live to be grey-headed, his whole life + will be marked and altered by those solemn hours, as a stream is changed + in its course by some rough bank against which it hath struck. Every + little fault and blemish stands out clear in the presence of death, as the + dust specks appear when the sunbeam shines into the darkened room. I noted + them then, and I have, I trust, noted them ever since. + </p> + <p> + I was seated with my head bowed upon my breast, deeply buried in this + solemn train of thoughts, when I was startled by hearing a sharp click, + such as a man might give who wished to attract attention. I sprang to my + feet and gazed round in the gathering gloom without being able to tell + whence it came. I had well-nigh persuaded myself that my senses had + deceived me, when the sound was repeated louder than before, and casting + my eyes upwards I saw a face peering in at me through the slit, or part of + a face rather, for I could but see the eye and corner of the cheek. + Standing on my chair I made out that it was none other than the farmer who + had been my companion upon the road. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hush, lad!’ he whispered, with a warning forefinger pushed through the + narrow crack. ‘Speak low, or the guard may chance to hear. What can I do + for you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How did you come to know where I was?’ I asked in astonishment. + </p> + <p> + ‘Whoy, mun,’ he answered, ‘I know as much of this ‘ere house as Beaufort + does himsel’. Afore Badminton was built, me and my brothers has spent many + a day in climbing over the old Boteler tower. It’s not the first time that + I have spoke through this window. But, quick; what can I do for you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am much beholden to you, sir,’ I answered, ‘but I fear that there is no + help which you can give me, unless, indeed, you could convey news to my + friends in the army of what hath befallen me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I might do that,’ whispered Farmer Brown. ‘Hark ye in your ear, lad, what + I never breathed to man yet. Mine own conscience pricks me at times over + this bolstering up of a Papist to rule over a Protestant nation. Let like + rule like, say I. At the ‘lections I rode to Sudbury, and I put in my vote + for Maister Evans, of Turnford, who was in favour o’ the Exclusionists. + Sure enough, if that same Bill had been carried, the Duke would be sitting + on his father’s throne. The law would have said yes. Now, it says nay. A + wonderful thing is the law with its yea, yea, and nay, nay, like Barclay, + the Quaker man, that came down here in a leather suit, and ca’d the parson + a steepleman. There’s the law. It’s no use shootin’ at it, or passin’ + pikes through it, no, nor chargin’ at it wi’ a troop of horse. If it + begins by saying “nay” it will say “nay” to the end of the chapter. Ye + might as well fight wi’ the book o’ Genesis. Let Monmouth get the law + changed, and it will do more for him than all the dukes in England. For + all that he’s a Protestant, and I would do what I might to serve him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is a Captain Lockarby, who is serving in Colonel Saxon’s regiment, + in Monmouth’s army,’ said I. ‘Should things go wrong with me, I would take + it as a great kindness if you would bear him my love, and ask him to break + it gently, by word or by letter, to those at Havant. If I were sure that + this would be done, it would be a great ease to my mind.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It shall be done, lad,’ said the good farmer. ‘I shall send my best man + and fleetest horse this very night, that they may know the straits in + which you are. I have a file here if it would help you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay,’ I answered, ‘human aid can do little to help me here.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There used to be a hole in the roof. Look up and see if you can see aught + of it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It arches high above my head,’ I answered, looking upwards; ‘but there is + no sign of any opening.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There was one,’ he repeated. ‘My brother Roger hath swung himself down + wi’ a rope. In the old time the prisoners were put in so, like Joseph into + the pit. The door is but a new thing.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hole or no hole, it cannot help me,’ I answered. ‘I have no means of + climbing to it. Do not wait longer, kind friend, or you may find yourself + in trouble.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Good-bye then, my brave heart,’ he whispered, and the honest grey eye and + corner of ruddy cheek disappeared from the casement. Many a time during + the course of the long evening I glanced up with some wild hope that he + might return, and every creak of the branches outside brought me on to the + chair, but it was the last that I saw of Farmer Brown. + </p> + <p> + This kindly visit, short as it was, relieved my mind greatly, for I had a + trusty man’s word that, come what might, my friends should, at least, have + some news of my fate. It was now quite dark, and I was pacing up and down + the little chamber, when the key turned in the door, and the Captain + entered with a rushlight and a great bowl of bread and milk. + </p> + <p> + ‘Here is your supper, friend,’ said he. ‘Take it down, appetite or no, for + it will give you strength to play the man at the time ye wot of. They say + it was beautiful to see my Lord Russell die upon Tower Hill. Be of good + cheer! Folk may say as much of you. His Grace is in a terrible way. He + walketh up and down, and biteth his lip, and clencheth his hands like one + who can scarce contain his wrath. It may not be against you, but I know + not what else can have angered him.’ + </p> + <p> + I made no answer to this Job’s comforter, so he presently left me, placing + the bowl upon the chair, with the rushlight beside it. I finished the + food, and feeling the better for it, stretched myself upon the couch, and + fell into a heavy and dreamless sleep. This may have lasted three or four + hours, when I was suddenly awoken by a sound like the creaking of hinges. + Sitting up on the pallet I gazed around me. The rushlight had burned out + and the cell was impenetrably dark. A greyish glimmer at one end showed + dimly the position of the aperture, but all else was thick and black. I + strained my ears, but no further sound fell upon them. Yet I was certain + that I had not been deceived, and that the noise which had aroused me was + within my very chamber. I rose and felt my way slowly round the room, + passing my hand over the walls and door. Then I paced backwards and + forwards to test the flooring. Neither around me nor beneath me was there + any change. Whence did the sound come from, then? I sat down upon the side + of the bed and waited patiently in the hope of hearing it once again. + </p> + <p> + Presently it was repeated, a low groaning and creaking as though a door or + shutter long disused was being slowly and stealthily opened. At the same + time a dull yellow light streamed down from above, issuing from a thin + slit in the centre of the arched roof above me. Slowly as I watched it + this slit widened and extended as if a sliding panel were being pulled + out, until a good-sized hole was left, through which I saw a head, looking + down at me, outlined against the misty light behind it. The knotted end of + a rope was passed through this aperture, and came dangling down to the + dungeon floor. It was a good stout piece of hemp, strong enough to bear + the weight of a heavy man, and I found, upon pulling at it, that it was + firmly secured above. Clearly it was the desire of my unknown benefactor + that I should ascend by it, so I went up hand over hand, and after some + difficulty in squeezing my shoulders through the hole I succeeded in + reaching the room above. While I was still rubbing my eyes after the + sudden change from darkness into light, the rope was swiftly whisked up + and the sliding shutter closed once more. To those who were not in the + secret there was nothing to throw light upon my disappearance. + </p> + <p> + I found myself in the presence of a stout short man clad in a rude jerkin + and leather breeches, which gave him somewhat the appearance of a groom. + He wore a broad felt hat drawn down very low over his eyes, while the + lower part of his face was swathed round with a broad cravat. In his hand + he bore a horn lanthorn, by the light of which I saw that the room in + which we were was of the same size as the dungeon beneath, and differed + from it only in having a broad casement which looked out upon the park. + There was no furniture in the chamber, but a great beam ran across it, to + which the rope had been fastened by which I ascended. + </p> + <p> + ‘Speak low, friend,’ said the stranger. ‘The walls are thick and the doors + are close, yet I would not have your guardians know by what means you have + been spirited away.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Truly, sir,’ I answered, ‘I can scarce credit that it is other than a + dream. It is wondrous that my dungeon should be so easily broken into, and + more wondrous still that I should find a friend who would be willing to + risk so much for my sake.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Look there!’ quoth he, holding down his lanthorn so as to cast its light + on the part of the floor where the panel was fitted. Can you not see how + old and crumbled is the stone-work which surrounds it? This opening in the + roof is as old as the dungeon itself, and older far than the door by which + you were led into it. For this was one of those bottle-shaped cells or + oubliettes which hard men of old devised for the safe keeping of their + captives. Once lowered through this hole into the stone-girt pit a man + might eat his heart out, for his fate was sealed. Yet you see that the + very device which once hindered escape has now brought freedom within your + reach.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thanks to your clemency, your Grace,’ I answered, looking keenly at my + companion. + </p> + <p> + ‘Now out on these disguises!’ he cried, peevishly pushing back the + broad-edged hat and disclosing, as I expected, the features of the Duke. + ‘Even a blunt soldier lad can see through my attempts at concealment. I + fear, Captain, that I should make a bad plotter, for my nature is as open—well, + as thine is. I cannot better the simile.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your Grace’s voice once heard is not easily forgot,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘Especially when it talks of hemp and dungeons,’ he answered, with a + smile. ‘But if I clapped you into prison, you must confess that I have + made you amends by pulling you out again at the end of my line, like a + minnow out of a bottle. But how came you to deliver such papers in the + presence of my council?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I did what I could to deliver them in private,’ said I. ‘I sent you a + message to that effect.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is true,’ he answered; ‘but such messages come in to me from every + soldier who wishes to sell his sword, and every inventor who hath a long + tongue and a short purse. How could I tell that the matter was of real + import?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I feared to let the chance slip lest it might never return,’ said I. ‘I + hear that your Grace hath little leisure during these times.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I cannot blame you,’ he answered, pacing up and down the room. ‘But it + was untoward. I might have hid the despatches, yet it would have roused + suspicions. Your errand would have leaked out. There are many who envy my + lofty fortunes, and who would seize upon a chance of injuring me with King + James. Sunderland or Somers would either of them blow the least rumour + into a flame which might prove unquenchable. There was naught for it, + therefore, but to show the papers and to turn a harsh face on the + messenger. The most venomous tongue could not find fault in my conduct. + What course would you have advised under such circumstances?’ ‘The most + direct,’ I answered. ‘Aye, aye, Sir. Honesty. Public men have, however, to + pick their steps as best they may, for the straight path would lead too + often to the cliff-edge. The Tower would be too scanty for its guests were + we all to wear our hearts upon our sleeves. But to you in this privacy I + can tell my real thoughts without fear of betrayal or misconstruction. On + paper I will not write one word. Your memory must be the sheet which bears + my answer to Monmouth. And first of all, erase from it all that you have + heard me say in the council-room. Let it be as though it never were + spoken. Is that done?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I understand that it did not really represent your Grace’s thoughts.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very far from it, Captain. But prythee tell me what expectation of + success is there among the rebels themselves? You must have heard your + Colonel and others discuss the question, or noted by their bearing which + way their thoughts lay. Have they good hopes of holding out against the + King’s troops?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They have met with naught but success hitherto,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Against the militia. But they will find it another thing when they have + trained troops to deal with. And yet—and yet!—One thing I + know, that any defeat of Feversham’s army would cause a general rising + throughout the country. On the other hand, the King’s party are active. + Every post brings news of some fresh levy. Albemarle still holds the + militia together in the west. The Earl of Pembroke is in arms in + Wiltshire. Lord Lumley is moving from the east with the Sussex forces. The + Earl of Abingdon is up in Oxfordshire. At the university the caps and + gowns are all turning into head-pieces and steel fronts. James’s Dutch + regiments have sailed from Amsterdam. Yet Monmouth hath gained two fights, + and why not a third? They are troubled waters—troubled waters!’ The + Duke paced backwards and forwards with brows drawn down, muttering all + this to himself rather than to me, and shaking his head like one in the + sorest perplexity. + </p> + <p> + ‘I would have you tell Monmouth,’ he said at last, ‘that I thank him for + the papers which he hath sent me, and that I will duly read and weigh + them. Tell him also that I wish him well in his enterprise, and would help + him were it not that I am hemmed in by those who watch me closely, and who + would denounce me were I to show my true thoughts. Tell him that, should + he move his army into these parts, I may then openly declare myself; but + to do so now would be to ruin the fortunes of my house, without in any way + helping him. Can you bear him that message?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I shall do so, your Grace. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tell me,’ he asked, ‘how doth Monmouth bear himself in this enterprise?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Like a wise and gallant leader,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Strange,’ he murmured; ‘it was ever the jest at court that he had scarce + energy or constancy enough to finish a game at ball, but would ever throw + his racquet down ere the winning point was scored. His plans were like a + weather-vane, altered by every breeze. He was constant only in his + inconstancy. It is true that he led the King’s troops in Scotland, but all + men knew that Claverhouse and Dalzell were the real conquerors at Bothwell + Bridge. Methinks he resembles that Brutus in Roman history who feigned + weakness of mind as a cover to his ambitions.’ + </p> + <p> + The Duke was once again conversing with himself rather than with me, so + that I made no remark, save to observe that Monmouth had won the hearts of + the lower people. + </p> + <p> + ‘There lies his strength,’ said Beaufort. ‘The blood of his mother runs in + his veins. He doth not think it beneath him to shake the dirty paw of + Jerry the tinker, or to run a race against a bumpkin on the village green. + Well, events have shown that he hath been right. These same bumpkins have + stood by him when nobler friends have held aloof. I would I could see into + the future. But you have my message, Captain, and I trust that, if you + change it in the delivery, it will be in the direction of greater warmth + and kindliness. It is time now that you depart, for within three hours the + guard is changed, and your escape will be discovered.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But how depart?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Through here,’ he answered, pushing open the casement, and sliding the + rope along the beam in that direction. ‘The rope may be a foot or two + short, but you have extra inches to make matters even. When you have + reached the ground, take the gravel path which turns to the right, and + follow it until it leads you to the high trees which skirt the park. The + seventh of these hath a bough which shoots over the boundary wall. Climb + along the bough, drop over upon the other side, and you will find my own + valet waiting with your horse. Up with you, and ride, haste, haste, + post-haste, for the south. By morn you should be well out of danger’s + way.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My sword?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘All your property is there. Tell Monmouth what I have said, and let him + know that I have used you as kindly as was possible.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But what will your Grace’s council say when they find that I am gone?’ I + asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pshaw, man! Never fret about that! I will off to Bristol at daybreak, and + give my council enough to think of without their having time to devote to + your fate. The soldiers will but have another instance of the working of + the Father of Evil, who hath long been thought to have a weakness for that + cell beneath us. Faith, if all we hear be true, there have been horrors + enough acted there to call up every devil out of the pit. But time + presses. Gently through the casement! So! Remember the message.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Adieu, your Grace!’ I answered, and seizing the rope slipped rapidly and + noiselessly to the ground, upon which he drew it up and closed the + casement. As I looked round, my eye fell upon the dark narrow slit which + opened into my cell, and through which honest Farmer Brown had held + converse with me. Half-an-hour ago I had been stretched upon the prison + pallet without a hope or a thought of escape. Now I was out in the open + with no hand to stay me, breathing the air of freedom with the prison and + the gallows cast off from me, as the waking man casts off his evil dreams. + Such changes shake a man’s soul, my children. The heart that can steel + itself against death is softened by the assurance of safety. So I have + known a worthy trader bear up manfully when convinced that his fortunes + had been engulfed in the ocean, but lose all philosophy on finding that + the alarm was false, and that they had come safely through the danger. For + my own part, believing as I do that there is nothing of chance in the + affairs of this world, I felt that I had been exposed to this trial in + order to dispose me to serious thought, and that I had been saved that I + might put those thoughts into effect. As an earnest of my endeavour to do + so I knelt down on the green sward, in the shadow of the Boteler turret, + and I prayed that I might come to be of use on the earth, and that I might + be helped to rise above my own wants and interests, to aid forward + whatever of good or noble might be stirring in my days. It is well-nigh + fifty years, my dears, since I bowed my spirit before the Great Unknown in + the moon-tinted park of Badminton, but I can truly say that from that day + to this the aims which I laid down for myself have served me as a compass + over the dark waters of life—a compass which I may perchance not + always follow—for flesh is weak and frail, but which hath, at least, + been ever present, that I might turn to it in seasons of doubt and of + danger. + </p> + <p> + The path to the right led through groves and past carp ponds for a mile or + more, until I reached the line of trees which skirted the boundary wall. + Not a living thing did I see upon my way, save a herd of fallow-deer, + which scudded away like swift shadows through the shimmering moonshine. + Looking back, the high turrets and gables of the Boteler wing stood out + dark and threatening against the starlit sky. Having reached the seventh + tree, I clambered along the projecting bough which shot over the park + wall, and dropped down upon the other side, where I found my good old + dapple-grey awaiting me in the charge of a groom. Springing to my saddle, + I strapped my sword once more to my side, and galloped off as fast as the + four willing feet could carry me on my return journey. + </p> + <p> + All that night I rode hard without drawing bridle, through sleeping + hamlets, by moon-bathed farmhouses, past shining stealthy rivers, and over + birch-clad hills. When the eastern sky deepened from pink into scarlet, + and the great sun pushed his rim over the blue north Somerset hills, I was + already far upon my journey. It was a Sabbath morning, and from every + village rose the sweet tinkling and calling of the bells. I bore no + dangerous papers with me now, and might therefore be more careless as to + my route. At one point I was questioned by a keen-eyed toll-keeper as to + whence I came, but my reply that I was riding direct from his Grace of + Beaufort put an end to his suspicions. Further down, near Axbridge, I + overtook a grazier who was jogging into Wells upon his sleek cob. With him + I rode for some time, and learned that the whole of North Somerset, as + well as south, was now in open revolt, and that Wells, Shepton Mallet, and + Glastonbury were held by armed volunteers for King Monmouth. The royal + forces had all retired west, or east, until help should come. As I rode + through the villages I marked the blue flag upon the church towers, and + the rustics drilling upon the green, without any sign of trooper or + dragoon to uphold the authority of the Stuarts. + </p> + <p> + My road lay through Shepton Mallet, Piper’s Inn, Bridgewater, and North + Petherton, until in the cool of the evening I pulled up my weary horse at + the Cross Hands, and saw the towers of Taunton in the valley beneath me. A + flagon of beer for the rider, and a sieveful of oats for the steed, put + fresh mettle into both of us, and we were jogging on our way once more, + when there came galloping down the side of the hill about forty cavaliers, + as hard as their horses could carry them. So wild was their riding that I + pulled up, uncertain whether they were friend or foe, until, as they came + whirling towards me, I recognised that the two officers who rode in front + of them were none other than Reuben Lockarby and Sir Gervas Jerome. At the + sight of me they flung up their hands, and Reuben shot on to his horse’s + neck, where he sat for a moment astride of the mane, until the brute + tossed him back into the saddle. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s Micah! It’s Micah!’ he gasped, with his mouth open, and the tears + hopping down his honest face. + </p> + <p> + ‘Od’s pitlikins, man, how did you come here?’ asked Sir Gervas, poking me + with his forefinger as though to see if I were really of flesh and blood. + ‘We were leading a forlorn of horse into Beaufort’s country to beat him + up, and to burn his fine house about his ears if you had come to harm. + There has just come a groom from some farmer in those parts who hath + brought us news that you were under sentence of death, on which I came + away with my wig half frizzled, and found that friend Lockarby had leave + from Lord Grey to go north with these troopers. But how have you fared?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well and ill,’ I answered, wringing their kindly hands. ‘I had not + thought last night to see another sun rise, and yet ye see that I am here, + sound in life and limb. But all these things will take some time in the + telling.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, and King Monmouth will be on thorns to see you. Right about, my + lads, and back for the camp. Never was errand so rapidly and happily + finished as this of ours. It would have fared ill with Badminton had you + been hurt.’ + </p> + <p> + The troopers turned their horses and trotted slowly back to Taunton, while + I rode behind them between my two faithful friends, hearing from them all + that had occurred in my absence, and telling my own adventures in return. + The night had fallen ere we rode through the gates, where I handed + Covenant over to the Mayor’s groom, and went direct to the castle to + deliver an account of my mission. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXVI. Of the Strife in the Council + </h2> + <p> + King Monmouth’s council was assembled at the time of my coming, and my + entrance caused the utmost surprise and joy, as they had just heard news + of my sore danger. Even the royal presence could not prevent several + members, among whom were the old Mayor and the two soldiers of fortune, + from springing to their feet and shaking me warmly by the hand. Monmouth + himself said a few gracious words, and requested that I should be seated + at the board with the others. + </p> + <p> + ‘You have earned the right to be of our council,’ said he; ‘and lest there + should be a jealousy amongst other captains that you should come among us, + I do hereby confer upon you the special title of Scout-master, which, + though it entail few if any duties in the present state of our force, will + yet give you precedence over your fellows. We had heard that your greeting + from Beaufort was of the roughest, and that you were in sore straits in + his dungeons. But you have happily come yourself on the very heels of him + who bore the tidings. Tell us then from the beginning how things have + fared with you.’ + </p> + <p> + I should have wished to have limited my story to Beaufort and his message, + but as the council seemed to be intent upon hearing a full account of my + journey, I told in as short and simple speech as I could the various + passages which had befallen me—the ambuscado of the smugglers, the + cave, the capture of the gauger, the journey in the lugger, the + acquaintance with Farmer Brown, my being cast into prison, with the manner + of my release and the message wherewith I had been commissioned. To all of + this the council hearkened with the uttermost attention, while a muttered + oath ever and anon from a courtier or a groan and prayer from a Puritan + showed how keenly they followed the various phases of my fortunes. Above + all, they gave the greatest heed to Beaufort’s words, and stopped me more + than once when I appeared to be passing over any saying or event before + they had due time to weigh it. When I at last finished they all sat + speechless, looking into each other’s faces and waiting for an expression + of opinion. + </p> + <p> + ‘On my word,’ said Monmouth at last, ‘this is a young Ulysses, though his + Odyssey doth but take three days in the acting. Scudery might not be so + dull were she to take a hint from these smugglers’ caves and sliding + panels. How say you, Grey?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He hath indeed had his share of adventure,’ the nobleman answered, ‘and + hath also performed his mission like a fearless and zealous messenger. You + say that Beaufort gave you nought in writing?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not a word, my lord,’ I replied. + </p> + <p> + ‘And his private message was that he wished us well, and would join us if + we were in his country?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That was the effect, my lord.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yet in his council, as I understand, he did utter bitter things against + us, putting affronts upon the King, and making light of his just claims + upon the fealty of his nobility?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He did,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘He would fain stand upon both sides of the hedge at once,’ said King + Monmouth. ‘Such a man is very like to find himself on neither side, but in + the very heart of the briars. It may be as well, however, that we should + move his way, so as to give him the chance of declaring himself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘In any case, as your Majesty remembers,’ said Saxon, ‘we had determined + to march Bristolwards and attempt the town.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The works are being strengthened,’ said I, ‘and there are five thousand + of the Gloucestershire train-bands assembled within. I saw the labourers + at work upon the ramparts as I passed.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If we gain Beaufort we shall gain the town,’ quoth Sir Stephen Timewell. + ‘There are already a strong body of godly and honest folk therein, who + would rejoice to see a Protestant army within their gates. Should we have + to beleaguer it we may count upon some help from within.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hegel und blitzen!’ exclaimed the German soldier, with an impatience + which even the presence of the King could not keep in bounds; ‘how can we + talk of sieges and leaguers when we have not a breaching-piece in the + army?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The Lard will find us the breaching-pieces,’ cried Ferguson, in his + strange, nasal voice. ‘Did the Lard no breach the too’ers o’ Jericho + withoot the aid o’ gunpooder? Did the Lard no raise up the man Robert + Ferguson and presairve him through five-and-thairty indictments and + twa-and-twenty proclamations o’ the godless? What is there He canna do? + Hosannah! Hosannah!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The Doctor is right,’ said a square-faced, leather-skinned English + Independent. ‘We talk too much o’ carnal means and worldly chances, + without leaning upon that heavenly goodwill which should be to us as a + staff on stony and broken paths. Yes, gentlemen,’ he continued, raising + his voice and glancing across the table at some of the courtiers, ‘ye may + sneer at words of piety, but I say that it is you and those like you who + will bring down God’s anger upon this army.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And I say so too,’ cried another sectary fiercely. + </p> + <p> + ‘And I,’ ‘And I,’ shouted several, with Saxon, I think, among them. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is it your wish, your Majesty, that we should be insulted at your very + council board?’ cried one of the courtiers, springing to his feet with a + flushed face. ‘How long are we to be subject to this insolence because we + have the religion of a gentleman, and prefer to practise it in the privacy + of our hearts rather than at the street corners with these pharisees?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Speak not against God’s saints,’ cried a Puritan, in a loud stern voice. + ‘There is a voice within me which tells me that it were better to strike + thee dead—yea, even in the presence of the King—than to allow + thee to revile those who have been born again.’ + </p> + <p> + Several had sprung to their feet on either side. Hands were laid upon + sword-hilts, and glances as stern and as deadly as rapier thrusts were + flashing backwards and forwards; but the more neutral and reasonable + members of the council succeeded in restoring peace, and in persuading the + angry disputants to resume their seats. + </p> + <p> + ‘How now, gentlemen?’ cried the King, his face dark with anger, when + silence was at last restored. ‘Is this the extent of my authority that ye + should babble and brawl as though my council-chamber were a Fleet Street + pot-house? Is this your respect for my person? I tell ye that I would + forfeit my just claims for ever, and return to Holland, or devote my sword + to the cause of Christianity against the Turk, rather than submit to such + indignity. If any man he proved to have stirred up strife amongst the + soldiers or commonalty on the score of religion I shall know how to deal + with him. Let each preach to his own, but let him not interfere with the + flock of his neighbour. As to you, Mr. Bramwell, and you, Mr. Joyce, and + you also, Sir Henry Nuttall, we shall hold ye excused from attending these + meetings until ye have further notice from us. Ye may now separate, each + to your quarters, and to-morrow morning we shall, with the blessing of + God, start for the north to see what luck may await our enterprise in + those parts.’ + </p> + <p> + The King bowed as a sign that the formal meeting was over, and taking Lord + Grey aside, he conversed with him anxiously in a recess. The courtiers, + who numbered in their party several English and foreign gentlemen, who had + come over together with some Devonshire and Somerset country squires, + swaggered out of the room in a body, with much clinking of spurs and + clanking of swords. The Puritans drew gravely together and followed after + them, walking not with demure and downcast looks, as was their common use, + but with grim faces and knitted brows, as the Jews of old may have + appeared when, ‘To your tents, O Israel!’ was still ringing in their ears. + </p> + <p> + Indeed, religious dissension and sectarian heat were in the very air. + Outside, on the Castle Green, the voices of preachers rose up like the + drone of insects. Every waggon or barrel or chance provision case had been + converted into a pulpit, each with its own orator and little knot of eager + hearkeners. Here was a russet-coated Taunton volunteer in jackboots and + bandolier, holding forth on the justification by works. Further on a + grenadier of the militia, with blazing red coat and white cross-belt, was + deep in the mystery of the Trinity. In one or two places, where the rude + pulpits were too near to each other, the sermons had changed into a hot + discussion between the two preachers, in which the audience took part by + hums or groans, each applauding the champion whose creed was most in + accordance with his own. Through this wild scene, made more striking by + the ruddy flickering glare of the camp-fires, I picked my way with a + weight at my heart, for I felt how vain it must be to hope for success + where such division reigned, Saxon looked on, however, with glistening + eyes, and rubbed his hands with satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + ‘The leaven is working,’ quoth he. ‘Something will come of all this + ferment.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I see not what can come of it save disorder and weakness,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Good soldiers will come of it, lad,’ said he. ‘They are all sharpening + themselves, each after his own fashion, on the whetstone of religion. This + arguing breedeth fanatics, and fanatics are the stuff out of which + conquerors are fashioned. Have you not heard how Old Noll’s army divided + into Presbyterians, Independents, Ranters, Anabaptists, Fifth Monarchy + men, Brownists, and a score of other sects, out of whose strife rose the + finest regiments that ever formed line upon a field of battle? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Such as do build their faith upon + The holy text of sword and gun.” + </pre> + <p> + You know old Samuel’s couplet. I tell you, I would rather see them thus + employed than at their drill, for all their wrangling and jangling.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But how of this split in the council?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, that is indeed a graver matter. All creeds may be welded together, + but the Puritan and the scoffer are like oil and water. Yet the Puritan is + the oil, for he will be ever atop. These courtiers do but stand for + themselves, while the others are backed up by the pith and marrow of the + army. It is well that we are afoot to-morrow. The King’s troops are, I + hear, pouring across Salisbury Plain, but their ordnance and stores are + delaying them, for they know well that they must bring all they need, + since they can expect little from the goodwill of the country folk. Ah, + friend Buyse, wie geht es?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ganz gut,’ said the big German, looming up before us through the + darkness. ‘But, sapperment, what a cawing and croaking, like a rookery at + sunset! You English are a strange people—yes, donnerwetter, a very + strange people! There are no two of you who think alike upon any subject + under Himmel! The Cavalier will have his gay coat and his loose word. The + Puritan will cut your throat rather than give up his sad-coloured dress + and his Bible. “King James!” cry some, “King Monmouth!” say the peasants. + “King Jesus!” says the Fifth Monarchy man. “No King at all!” cry Master + Wade and a few others who are for a Commonwealth. Since I set foot on the + Helderenbergh at Amsterdam, my head hath been in a whirl with trying to + understand what it is that ye desire, for before I have got to the end of + one man’s tale, and begin to see a little through the finsterniss, another + will come with another story, and I am in as evil a case as ever. But, my + young Hercules, I am right glad to see you back in safety. I am half in + fear to give you my hand now, after your recent treatment of it. I trust + that you are none the worse for the danger that you have gone through.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Mine eyelids are in truth a little heavy,’ I answered. ‘Save for an hour + or two aboard the lugger, and about as long on a prison couch, I have not + closed eye since I left the camp.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We shall fall in at the second bugle call, about eight of the clock,’ + said Saxon. ‘We shall leave you, therefore, that you may restore yourself + after your fatigues. ‘With a parting nod the two old soldiers strode off + together down the crowded Fore Street, while I made the best of my way + back to the Mayor’s hospitable dwelling, where I had to repeat my story + all over again to the assembled household before I was at last suffered to + seek my room. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXVII. Of the Affair near Keynsham Bridge + </h2> + <p> + Monday, June 21, 1685, broke very dark and windy, with dull clouds moving + heavily across the sky and a constant sputter of rain. Yet a little after + daybreak Monmouth’s bugles were blowing in every quarter of the town, from + Tone Bridge to Shuttern, and by the hour appointed the regiments had + mustered, the roll had been called, and the vanguard was marching briskly + out through the eastern gate. It went forth in the same order as it + entered, our own regiment and the Taunton burghers bringing up the rear. + Mayor Timewell and Saxon had the ordering of this part of the army between + them, and being men who had seen much service, they drew the ordnance into + a less hazardous position, and placed a strong guard of horse, a cannon’s + shot in the rear, to meet any attempt of the Royal dragoons. + </p> + <p> + It was remarked on all sides that the army had improved in order and + discipline during the three days’ halt, owing perchance to the example of + our own unceasing drill and soldierly bearing. In numbers it had increased + to nigh eight thousand, and the men were well fed and light of heart. With + sturdy close-locked ranks they splashed their way through mud and puddle, + with many a rough country joke and many a lusty stave from song or hymn. + Sir Gervas rode at the head of his musqueteers, whose befloured tails hung + limp and lank with the water dripping from them. Lockarby’s pikemen and my + own company of scythesmen were mostly labourers from the country, who were + hardened against all weathers, and plodded patiently along with the + rain-drops glistening upon their ruddy faces. In front were the Taunton + foot; behind, the lumbering train of baggage waggons, with the horse in + the rear of them. So the long line wound its way over the hills. + </p> + <p> + At the summit, where the road begins to dip down upon the other side, a + halt was called to enable the regiments to close up, and we looked back at + the fair town which many of us were never to see again. From the dark + walls and house roofs we could still mark the flapping and flutter of + white kerchiefs from those whom we left behind. Reuben sat his horse + beside me, with his spare shirt streaming in the wind and his great + pikemen all agrin behind him, though his thoughts and his eyes were too + far away to note them. As we gazed, a long thin quiver of sunshine slipped + out between two cloud banks and gilded the summit of the Magdalene tower, + with the Royal standard which still waved from it. The incident was hailed + as a happy augury, and a great shout spread from rank to rank at the sight + of it, with a waving of hats and a clattering of weapons. Then the bugles + blew a fanfare, the drums struck up a point of war, Reuben thrust his + shirt into his haversack, and on we marched through mud and slush, with + the dreary clouds bending low over us, and buttressed by the no less + dreary hills on either side. A seeker for omens might have said that the + heavens were weeping over our ill-fated venture. + </p> + <p> + All day we trudged along roads which were quagmires, over our ankles in + mud, until in the evening we made our way to Bridgewater, where we gained + some recruits, and also some hundred pounds for our military chest, for it + was a well-to-do place, with a thriving coast trade carried on down the + River Parret. After a night in snug quarters we set off again in even + worse weather than before. The country in these parts is a quagmire in the + driest season, but the heavy rains had caused the fens to overflow, and + turned them into broad lakes on either side of the road. This may have + been to some degree in our favour, as shielding us from the raids of the + King’s cavalry, but it made our march very slow. All day it was splashing + and swashing through mud and mire, the rain-drops shining on the + gun-barrels and dripping from the heavy-footed horses. Past the swollen + Parret, through Eastover, by the peaceful village of Bawdrip, and over + Polden Hill we made our way, until the bugles sounded a halt under the + groves of Ashcot, and a rude meal was served out to the men. Then on + again, through the pitiless rain, past the wooded park of Piper’s Inn, + through Walton, where the floods were threatening the cottages, past the + orchards of Street, and so in the dusk of the evening into the grey old + town of Glastonbury, where the good folk did their best by the warmth of + their welcome to atone for the bitterness of the weather. + </p> + <p> + The next morning was wet still and inclement, so the army made a short + march to Wells, which is a good-sized town, well laid out, with a fine + cathedral, which hath a great number of figures carved in stone and placed + in niches on the outer side, like that which we saw at Salisbury. The + townsfolk were strong for the Protestant cause, and the army was so well + received that their victual cost little from the military chest. On this + march we first began to come into touch with the Royal horse. More than + once when the rain mist cleared we saw the gleam of arms upon the low + hills which overlook the road, and our scouts came in with reports of + strong bodies of dragoons on either flank. At one time they massed heavily + upon our rear, as though planning a descent upon the baggage. Saxon, + however, planted a regiment of pikes on either side, so that they broke up + again and glinted off over the hills. + </p> + <p> + From Wells we marched upon the twenty-fourth to Shepton Mallet, with the + ominous sabres and helmets still twinkling behind and on either side of + us. + </p> + <p> + That evening we were at Keynsham Bridge, less than two leagues from + Bristol as the crow flies, and some of our horse forded the river and + pushed on almost to the walls. + </p> + <p> + By morning the rain clouds had at last cleared, so Reuben and I rode + slowly up one of the sloping green hills which rose behind the camp, in + the hope of gaining some sight of the enemy. Our men we left littered + about upon the grass, trying to light fires with the damp sticks, or + laying out their clothes to dry in the sunshine. A strange-looking band + they were, coated and splashed with mud from head to heel, their hats all + limp and draggled, their arms rusted, and their boots so worn that many + walked barefoot, and others had swathed their kerchiefs round their feet. + Yet their short spell of soldiering had changed them from honest-faced + yokels into fierce-eyed, half-shaven, gaunt-cheeked fellows, who could + carry arms or port pikes as though they had done nought else since + childhood. + </p> + <p> + The plight of the officers was no better than that of the men, nor should + an officer, my dears, when he is upon service, ever demean himself by + partaking of any comfort which all cannot share with him. Let him lie by a + soldier’s fire and eat a soldier’s fare, or let him hence, for he is a + hindrance and a stumbling-block. Our clothes were pulp, our steel fronts + red with rust, and our chargers as stained and splashed as though they had + rolled in the mire. Our very swords and pistols were in such a plight that + we could scarce draw the one or snap the other. Sir Gervas alone succeeded + in keeping his attire and his person as neat and as dainty as ever. What + he did in the watches of the night, and how he gained his sleep, hath ever + been a mystery to me, for day after day he turned out at the bugle call, + washed, scented, brushed, with wig in order, and clothes from which every + speck of mud had been carefully removed. At his saddle-bow he bore with + him the great flour dredger which we saw him use at Taunton, and his + honest musqueteers had their heads duly dusted every morning, though in an + hour their tails would be as brown as nature made them, while the flour + would be trickling in little milky streams down their broad backs, or + forming in cakes upon the skirts of their coats. It was a long contest + between the weather and the Baronet, but our comrade proved the victor. + </p> + <p> + ‘There was a time when I was called plump Reuben,’ quoth my friend, as we + rode together up the winding track. ‘What with too little that is solid + and too much that is liquid I am like to be skeleton Reuben ere I see + Havant again. I am as full of rain-water as my father’s casks are of + October. I would, Micah, that you would wring me out and hang me to dry + upon one of these bushes.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If we are wet, King James’s men must be wetter,’ said I, ‘for at least we + have had such shelter as there was.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is poor comfort when you are starved to know that another is in the + same plight. I give you my word, Micah, I took in one hole of my + sword-belt on Monday, two on Tuesday, one yesterday, and one to-day. I + tell you, I am thawing like an icicle in the sun.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If you should chance to dwindle to nought,’ said I, laughing, ‘what + account are we to give of you in Taunton? Since you have donned armour and + taken to winning the hearts of fair maidens, you have outstripped us all + in importance, and become a man of weight and substance.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I had more substance and weight ere I began trailing over the countryside + like a Hambledon packman,’ quoth he. ‘But in very truth and with all + gravity, Micah, it is a strange thing to feel that the whole world for + you, your hopes, your ambitions, your all, are gathered into so small a + compass that a hood might cover it, and two little pattens support it. I + feel as if she were my own higher self, my loftier part, and that I, + should I be torn from her, would remain for ever an incomplete and + half-formed being. With her, I ask nothing else. Without her, all else is + nothing.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But have you spoken to the old man?’ I asked. ‘Are you indeed betrothed?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have spoken to him,’ my friend answered, ‘but he was so busy in filling + ammunition cases that I could not gain his attention. When I tried once + more he was counting the spare pikes in the Castle armoury with a tally + and an ink-horn. I told him that I had come to crave his granddaughter’s + hand, on which he turned to me and asked, “which hand?” with so blank a + stare that it was clear that his mind was elsewhere. On the third trial, + though, the day that you did come back from Badminton, I did at last + prefer my request, but he flashed out at me that this was no time for such + fooleries, and he bade me wait until King Monmouth was on the throne, when + I might ask him again. I warrant that he did not call such things + fooleries fifty years ago, when he went a-courting himself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘At least he did not refuse you,’ said I. ‘It is as good as a promise + that; should the cause be successful, you shall be so too.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘By my faith,’ cried Reuben, ‘if a man could by his own single blade bring + that about, there is none who hath so strong an interest in it as I. No, + not Monmouth himself! The apprentice Derrick hath for a long time raised + his eyes to his master’s daughter, and the old man was ready to have him + as a son, so much was he taken by his godliness and zeal. Yet I have + learned from a side-wind that he is but a debauched and low-living man, + though he covers his pleasures with a mask of piety. I thought as you did + think that he was at the head of the roisterers who tried to bear Mistress + Ruth away, though, i’ faith, I can scarce think harshly of them, since + they did me the greatest service that ever men did yet. Meanwhile I have + taken occasion, ere we left Wells two nights ago, to speak to Master + Derrick on the matter, and to warn him as he loved his life to plan no + treachery against her. + </p> + <p> + ‘And how took he this mild intimation?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘As a rat takes a rat trap. Snarled out some few words of godly hatred, + and so slunk away.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘On my life, lad,’ said I, ‘you have been having as many adventures in + your own way as I in mine. But here we are upon the hill-top, with as fair + an outlook as man could wish to have.’ + </p> + <p> + Just beneath us ran the Avon, curving in long bends through the woodlands, + with the gleam of the sun striking back from it here and there, as though + a row of baby suns had been set upon a silver string. On the further side + the peaceful, many-hued country, rising and falling in a swell of + cornfields and orchards, swept away to break in a fringe of forest upon + the distant Malverns. On our right were the green hills near Bath and on + our left the rugged Mendips, with queenly Bristol crouching behind her + forts, and the grey channel behind flecked with snow-white sails. At our + very feet lay Keynsham Bridge, and our army spotted in dark patches over + the green fields, the smoke of their fires and the babble of their voices + floating up in the still summer air. + </p> + <p> + A road ran along the Somersetshire bank of the Avon, and down this two + troops of our horse were advancing, with intent to establish outposts upon + our eastern flank. As they jangled past in somewhat loose order, their + course lay through a pine-wood, into which the road takes a sharp bend. We + were gazing down at the scene when, like lightning from a cloud, a troop + of the Horse Guards wheeled out into the open, and breaking from trot to + canter, and from canter to gallop, dashed down in a whirlwind of blue and + steel upon our unprepared squadrons. A crackle of hastily unslung carbines + broke from the leading ranks, but in an instant the Guards burst through + them and plunged on into the second troop. For a space the gallant rustics + held their own, and the dense mass of men and horses swayed backwards and + forwards, with the swirling sword-blades playing above them in flashes of + angry light. Then blue coats began to break from among the russet, the + fight rolled wildly back for a hundred paces, the dense throng was split + asunder, and the Royal Guards came pouring through the rent, and swerved + off to right and left through hedges and over ditches, stabbing and + hacking at the fleeing horsemen. The whole scene, with the stamping + horses, tossing manes, shouts of triumph or despair, gasping of hard-drawn + breath and musical clink and clatter of steel, was to us upon the hill + like some wild vision, so swiftly did it come and so swiftly go. A sharp, + stern bugle-call summoned the Blues back into the road, where they formed + up and trotted slowly away before fresh squadrons could come up from the + camp. The sun gleamed and the river rippled as ever, and there was nothing + save the long litter of men and horses to mark the course of the hell + blast which had broken so suddenly upon us. + </p> + <p> + As the Blues retired we observed that a single officer brought up the + rear, riding very slowly, as though it went much against his mood to turn + his back even to an army. The space betwixt the troop and him was steadily + growing greater, yet he made no effort to quicken his pace, but jogged + quietly on, looking back from time to time to see if he were followed. The + same thought sprang into my comrade’s mind and my own at the same instant, + and we read it in each other’s faces. + </p> + <p> + ‘This path,’ cried he eagerly. ‘It brings us out beyond the grove, and is + in the hollow all the way.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Lead the horses until we get on better ground,’ I answered. ‘We may just + cut him off if we are lucky.’ + </p> + <p> + There was no time for another word, for we hurried off down the uneven + track, sliding and slipping on the rain-soaked turf. Springing into our + saddles we dashed down the gorge, through the grove, and so out on to the + road in time to see the troop disappear in the distance, and to meet the + solitary officer face to face. + </p> + <p> + He was a sun-burned, high-featured man, with black mustachios, mounted on + a great raw-boned chestnut charger. As we broke out on to the road he + pulled up to have a good look at us. Then, having fully made up his mind + as to our hostile intent, he drew his sword, plucked a pistol out of his + holster with his left hand, and gripping the bridle between his teeth, dug + his spurs into his horse’s flanks and charged down upon us at the top of + his speed. As we dashed at him, Reuben on his bridle arm and I on the + other, he cut fiercely at me, and at the same moment fired at my + companion. The ball grazed Reuben’s cheek, leaving a red weal behind it + like a lash from a whip, and blackening his face with the powder. His cut, + however, fell short, and throwing my arm round his waist as the two horses + dashed past each other, I plucked him from the saddle and drew him face + upwards across my saddlebow. Brave Covenant lumbered on with his double + burden, and before the Guards had learned that they had lost their + officer, we had brought him safe, in spite of his struggles and writhings, + to within sight of Monmouth’s camp. + </p> + <p> + ‘A narrow shave, friend,’ quoth Reuben, with his hand to his cheek. ‘He + hath tattooed my face with powder until I shall be taken for Solomon + Sprent’s younger brother.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thank God that you are unhurt,’ said I. ‘See, our horse are advancing + along the upper road. Lord Grey himself rides at their head. We had best + take our prisoner into camp, since we can do nought here.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For Christ’s sake, either slay me or set me down!’ he cried. ‘I cannot + bear to be carried in this plight, like a half-weaned infant, through your + campful of grinning yokels.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I would not make sport of a brave man,’ I answered. ‘If you will give + your word to stay with us, you shall walk between us.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Willingly,’ said he, scrambling down and arranging his ruffled attire. + ‘By my faith, sirs, ye have taught me a lesson not to think too meanly of + mine enemies. I should have ridden with my troop had I thought that there + was a chance of falling in with outposts or videttes.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We were upon the hill before we cut you off,’ quoth Reuben. ‘Had that + pistol ball been a thought straighter, it is I that should have been truly + the cut-off one. Zounds, Micah! I was grumbling even now that I had fallen + away, but had my cheek been as round as of old the slug had been through + it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Where have I seen you before?’ asked our captive, bending his dark eyes + upon me. ‘Aye, I have it! It was in the inn at Salisbury, where my + light-headed comrade Horsford did draw upon an old soldier who was riding + with you. Mine own name is Ogilvy—Major Ogilvy of the Horse Guards + Blue. I was right glad that ye did come off safely from the hounds. Some + word had come of your errand after your departure, so this same Horsford + with the Mayor and one or two other Tantivies, whose zeal methinks outran + their humanity, slipped the dogs upon your trail.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I remember you well,’ I answered. ‘You will find Colonel Decimus Saxon, + my former companion, in the camp. No doubt you will be shortly exchanged + for some prisoner of ours.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Much more likely to have my throat cut,’ said he, with a smile. ‘I fear + that Feversham in his present temper will scarce pause to make prisoners, + and Monmouth may be tempted to pay him back in his own coin. Yet it is the + fortune of war, and I should pay for my want of all soldierly caution. + Truth to tell, my mind was far from battles and ruses at the moment, for + it had wandered away to aqua-regia and its action upon the metals, until + your appearance brought me back to soldiership.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The horse are out of sight,’ said Reuben, looking backwards, ‘ours as + well as theirs. Yet I see a clump of men over yonder at the other side of + the Avon, and there on the hillside can you not see the gleam of steel?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There are foot there,’ I answered, puckering my eyes. ‘It seems to me + that I can discern four or five regiments and as many colours of horse. + King Monmouth should know of this with all speed.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He does know of it,’ said Reuben. ‘Yonder he stands under the trees with + his council about him. See, one of them rides this way!’ + </p> + <p> + A trooper had indeed detached himself from the group and galloped towards + us. ‘If you are Captain Clarke, sir,’ he said, with a salute, ‘the King + orders you to join his council.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then I leave the Major in your keeping, Reuben,’ I cried. ‘See that he + hath what our means allow.’ So saying I spurred my horse, and soon joined + the group who were gathered round the King. There were Grey, Wade, Buyse, + Ferguson, Saxon, Hollis, and a score more, all looking very grave, and + peering down the valley with their glasses. Monmouth himself had + dismounted, and was leaning against the trunk of a tree, with his arms + folded upon his breast, and a look of white despair upon his face. Behind + the tree a lackey paced up and down leading his glossy black charger, who + pranced and tossed his lordly mane, a very king among horses. + </p> + <p> + ‘You see, friends,’ said Monmouth, turning lack-lustre eyes from one + leader to another, ‘Providence would seem to be against us. Some new + mishap is ever at our heels.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not Providence, your Majesty, but our own negligence,’ cried Saxon + boldly. ‘Had we advanced on Bristol last night, we might have been on the + right side of the ramparts by now.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But we had no thought that the enemy’s foot was so near!’ exclaimed Wade. + </p> + <p> + ‘I told ye what would come of it, and so did Oberst Buyse and the worthy + Mayor of Taunton,’ Saxon answered. ‘However, there is nought to be gained + by mourning over a broken pipkin. We must e’en piece it together as best + we may.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Let us advance on Bristol, and put oor trust in the Highest,’ quoth + Ferguson. ‘If it be His mighty will that we should tak’ it, then shall we + enter into it, yea, though drakes and sakers lay as thick as cobblestanes + in the streets.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye! aye! On to Bristol! God with us!’ cried several of the Puritans + excitedly. + </p> + <p> + ‘But it is madness—dummheit—utter foolishness,’ Buyse broke in + hotly. ‘You have the chance and you will not take it. Now the chance is + gone and you are all eager to go. Here is an army of, as near as I can + judge, five thousand men on the right side of the river. We are on the + wrong side, and yet you talk of crossing and making a beleaguering of + Bristol without breaching-pieces or spades, and with this force in our + rear. Will the town make terms when they can see from their ramparts the + van of the army which comes to help them? Or does it assist us in fighting + the army to have a strong town beside us, from which horse and foot can + make an outfall upon our flank? I say again that it is madness.’ + </p> + <p> + What the German soldier said was so clearly the truth that even the + fanatics were silenced. Away in the east the long shimmering lines of + steel, and the patches of scarlet upon the green hillside, were arguments + which the most thoughtless could not overlook. + </p> + <p> + ‘What would you advise, then?’ asked Monmouth moodily, tapping his + jewelled riding-whip against his high boots. + </p> + <p> + ‘To cross the river and come to hand-grips with them ere they can get help + from the town,’ the burly German answered bluntly. ‘I cannot understand + what we are here for if it be not to fight. If we win, the town must fall. + If we lose, We have had a bold stroke for it, and can do no more.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Is that your opinion, too, Colonel Saxon?’ the King asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Assuredly, your Majesty, if we can fight to advantage. We can scarce do + that, however, by crossing the river on a single narrow bridge in the face + of such a force. I should advise that we destroy this Keynsham Bridge, and + march down this southern bank in the hope of forcing a fight in a position + which we may choose.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We have not yet summoned Bath,’ said Wade. ‘Let us do as Colonel Saxon + proposes, and let us in the meantime march in that direction and send a + trumpet to the governor.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is yet another plan,’ quoth Sir Stephen Timewell, ‘which is to + hasten to Gloucester, to cross the Severn there, and so march through + Worcestershire into Shropshire and Cheshire. Your Majesty has many friends + in those parts.’ + </p> + <p> + Monmouth paced up and down with his hand to his forehead like one + distrait. ‘What am I to do,’ he cried at last, ‘in the midst of all this + conflicting advice, when I know that not only my own success, but the + lives of these poor faithful peasants and craftsmen depend upon my + resolution?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘With all humbleness, your Majesty,’ said Lord Grey, who had just returned + with the horse, ‘I should suggest, since there are only a few troops of + their cavalry on this side of the Avon, that we blow up the bridge and + move onwards to Bath, whence we can pass into Wiltshire, which we know to + be friendly.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So be it!’ cried the King, with the reckless air of one who accepts a + plan, not because it is the best, but because he feels that all are + equally hopeless. ‘What think you, gentlemen?’ he added, with a bitter + smile. ‘I have heard news from London this morning, that my uncle has + clapped two hundred merchants and others who are suspected of being true + to their creed into the Tower and the Fleet. He will have one half of the + nation mounting guard over the other half ere long.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Or the whole, your Majesty, mounting guard over him,’ suggested Wade. ‘He + may himself see the Traitor’s Gate some of these mornings.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ha, ha! Think ye so? think ye so!’ cried Monmouth, rubbing his hands and + brightening into a smile. ‘Well, mayhap you have nicked the truth. Who + knows? Henry’s cause seemed a losing one until Bosworth Field settled the + contention. To your charges, gentlemen. We shall march in half-an-hour. + Colonel Saxon and you, Sir Stephen, shall cover the rear and guard the + baggage—a service of honour with this fringe of horse upon our + skirts.’ + </p> + <p> + The council broke up forthwith, every man riding off to his own regiment. + The whole camp was in a stir, bugles blowing and drums rattling, until in + a very short time the army was drawn up in order, and the forlorn of + cavalry had already started along the road which leads to Bath. Five + hundred horse with the Devonshire militiamen were in the van. After them + in order came the sailor regiment, the North Somerset men, the first + Taunton regiment of burghers, the Mendip and Bagworthy miners, the lace + and wool-workers of Honiton, Wellington, and Ottery St. Mary; the woodmen, + the graziers, the marsh-men, and the men from the Quantock district. + Behind were the guns and the baggage, with our own brigade and four + colours of horse as a rearguard. On our march we could see the red coats + of Feversham keeping pace with us upon the other side of the Avon. A large + body of his horse and dragoons had forded the stream and hovered upon our + skirts, but Saxon and Sir Stephen covered the baggage so skilfully, and + faced round so fiercely with such a snarl of musketry whenever they came + too nigh, that they never ventured to charge home. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXVIII. Of the Fight in Wells Cathedral + </h2> + <p> + I am fairly tied to the chariot-wheels of history now, my dear children, + and must follow on with name and place and date, whether my tale suffer by + it or no. With such a drama as this afoot it were impertinent to speak of + myself, save in so far as I saw or heard what may make these old scenes + more vivid to you. It is no pleasant matter for me to dwell upon, yet, + convinced as I am that there is no such thing as chance either in the + great or the little things of this world, I am very sure that the + sacrifices of these brave men were not thrown away, and that their + strivings were not as profitless as might at first sight appear. If the + perfidious race of Stuart is not now seated upon the throne, and if + religion in England is still a thing of free growth, we may, to my + thinking, thank these Somerset yokels for it, who first showed how small a + thing would shake the throne of an unpopular monarch. Monmouth’s army was + but the vanguard of that which marched throe years later into London, when + James and his cruel ministers were flying as outcasts over the face of the + earth. + </p> + <p> + On the night of June 27, or rather early in the morning of June 28, we + reached the town of Frome, very wet and miserable, for the rain had come + on again, and all the roads were quagmires. From this next day we pushed + on once more to Wells, where we spent the night and the whole of the next + day, to give the men time to get their clothes dry, and to recover + themselves after their privations. + </p> + <p> + In the forenoon a parade of our Wiltshire regiment was held in the + Cathedral Close, when Monmouth praised it, as it well deserved, for the + soldierly progress made in so short a time. + </p> + <p> + As we returned to our quarters after dismissing our men we came upon a + great throng of the rough Bagworthy and Oare miners, who were assembled in + the open space in front of the Cathedral, listening to one of their own + number, who was addressing them from a cart. The wild and frenzied + gestures of the man showed us that he was one of those extreme sectaries + whose religion runs perilously near to madness. The hums and groans which + rose from the crowd proved, however, that his fiery words were well suited + to his hearers, so we halted on the verge of the multitude and hearkened + to his address. A red-bearded, fierce-faced man he was, with tangled + shaggy hair tumbling over his gleaming eyes, and a hoarse voice which + resounded over the whole square. + </p> + <p> + ‘What shall we not do for the Lord?’ he cried; ‘what shall we not do for + the Holy of Holies? Why is it that His hand is heavy upon us? Why is it + that we have not freed this land, even as Judith freed Bethulia? Behold, + we have looked for peace but no good came, and for a time of health, and + behold trouble! Why is this, I say? Truly, brothers, it is because we have + slighted the Lord, because we have not been wholehearted towards Him. Lo! + we have praised Him with our breath, but in our deeds we have been cold + towards Him. Ye know well that Prelacy is an accursed thing—a + hissing and an abomination in the eyes of the Almighty! Yet what have we, + His servants, wrought for Him in this matter? Have we not seen Prelatist + churches, churches of form and of show, where the creature is confounded + with the Creator—have we not seen them, I say, and have we not + forborne to sweep them away, and so lent our sanction to them? There is + the sin of a lukewarm and back-sliding generation! There is the cause why + the Lord should look coldly upon His people! Lo! at Shepton and at Frome + we have left such churches behind us. At Glastonbury, too, we have spared + those wicked walls which were reared by idolatrous hands of old. Woe unto + ye, if, after having put your hands to God’s plough, ye turn back from the + work! See there!’ he howled, facing round to the beautiful Cathedral, + ‘what means this great heap of stones? Is it not an altar of Baal? Is it + not built for man-worship rather than God-worship? Is it not there that + the man Ken, tricked out in his foolish rochet and baubles, may preach his + soulless and lying doctrines, which are but the old dish of Popery served + up under a new cover? And shall we suffer this thing? Shall we, the chosen + children of the Great One, allow this plague-spot to remain? Can we expect + the Almighty to help us when we will not stretch out a hand to help Him? + We have left the other temples of Prelacy behind us. Shall we leave this + one, too, my brothers?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, no!’ yelled the crowd, tossing and swaying. + </p> + <p> + ‘Shall we pluck it down, then, until no one stone is left upon another?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, yes!’ they shouted. + </p> + <p> + ‘Now, at once?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, yes!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then to work!’ he cried, and springing from the cart he rushed towards + the Cathedral, with the whole mob of wild fanatics at his heels. Some + crowded in, shouting and yelling, through the open doors, while others + swarmed up the pillars and pedestals of the front, hacking at the + sculptured ornaments, and tugging at the grey old images which filled + every niche. + </p> + <p> + ‘This must be stopped,’ said Saxon curtly. ‘We cannot afford to insult and + estray the whole Church of England to please a few hot-headed ranters. The + pillage of this Cathedral would do our cause more harm than a pitched + battle lost. Do you bring up your company, Sir Gervas, and we shall do + what we can to hold them in check until they come.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hi, Masterton!’ cried the Baronet, spying one of his under-officers among + the crowd who were looking on, neither assisting nor opposing the rioters. + ‘Do you hasten to the quarters, and tell Barker to bring up the company + with their matches burning. I may be of use here.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ha, here is Buyse!’ cried Saxon joyously, as the huge German ploughed his + way through the crowd. ‘And Lord Grey, too! We must save the Cathedral, my + lord! They would sack and burn it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘This way, gentlemen,’ cried an old grey-haired man, running out towards + us with hands outspread, and a bunch of keys clanking at his girdle. ‘Oh + hasten, gentlemen, if ye can indeed prevail over these lawless men! They + have pulled down Saint Peter, and they will have Paul down too unless help + comes. There will not be an apostle left. The east window is broken. They + have brought a hogshead of beer, and are broaching it upon the high altar. + Oh, alas, alas! That such things should be in a Christian land!’ He sobbed + aloud and stamped about in a very frenzy of grief. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is the verger, sirs,’ said one of the townsfolk. ‘He hath grown grey + in the Cathedral.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘This way to the vestry door, my lords and gentlemen,’ cried the old man, + pushing a way strenuously through the crowd. ‘Now, lack-a-day, the sainted + Paul hath gone too!’ + </p> + <p> + As he spoke a splintering crash from inside the Cathedral announced some + fresh outrage on the part of the zealots. Our guide hastened on with + renewed speed, until he came to a low oaken door heavily arched, which he + unlocked with much rasping of wards and creaking of hinges. Through this + we sidled as best we might, and hurried after the old man down a + stone-flagged corridor, which led through a wicket into the Cathedral + close by the high altar. + </p> + <p> + The great building was full of the rioters, who were rushing hither and + thither, destroying and breaking everything which they could lay their + hands on. A good number of these were genuine zealots, the followers of + the preacher whom we had listened to outside. Others, however, were on the + face of them mere rogues and thieves, such as gather round every army upon + the march. While the former were tearing down images from the walls, or + hurling the books of common prayer through the stained-glass windows, the + others were rooting up the massive brass candlesticks, and carrying away + everything which promised to be of value. One ragged fellow was in the + pulpit, tearing off the crimson velvet and hurling it down among the + crowd. Another had upset the reading-desk, and was busily engaged in + wrenching off the brazen fastenings. In the centre of the side aisle a + small group had a rope round the neck of Mark the Evangelist, and were + dragging lustily upon it, until, even as we entered, the statue, after + tottering for a few moments, came crashing down upon the marble floor. The + shouts which greeted every fresh outrage, with the splintering of + woodwork, the smashing of windows, and the clatter of falling masonry, + made up a most deafening uproar, which was increased by the droning of the + organ, until some of the rioters silenced it by slitting up the bellows. + </p> + <p> + What more immediately concerned ourselves was the scene which was being + enacted just in front of us at the high altar. A barrel of beer had been + placed upon it, and a dozen ruffians gathered round it, one of whom with + many ribald jests had climbed up, and was engaged in knocking in the top + of the cask with a hatchet. As we entered he had just succeeded in + broaching it, and the brown mead was foaming over, while the mob with + roars of laughter were passing up their dippers and pannikins. The German + soldier rapped out a rough jagged oath at this spectacle, and shouldering + his way through the roisterers he sprang upon the altar. The ringleader + was bending over his cask, black-jack in hand, when the soldier’s iron + grip fell upon his collar, and in a moment his heels were flapping in the + air, and his head three feet deep in the cask, while the beer splashed and + foamed in every direction. With a mighty heave Buyse picked up the barrel + with the half-drowned miner inside, and hurled it clattering down the + broad marble steps which led from the body of the church. At the same + time, with the aid of a dozen of our men who had followed us into the + Cathedral, we drove back the fellow’s comrades, and thrust them out beyond + the rails which divided the choir from the nave. + </p> + <p> + Our inroad had the effect of checking the riot, but it simply did so by + turning the fury of the zealots from the walls and windows to ourselves. + Images, stone-work, and wood-carvings were all abandoned, and the whole + swarm came rushing up with a hoarse buzz of rage, all discipline and order + completely lost in their religious frenzy. ‘Smite the Prelatists!’ they + howled. ‘Down with the friends of Antichrist! Cut them off even at the + horns of the altar! Down with them!’ On either side they massed, a wild, + half-demented crowd, some with arms and some without, but filled to a man + with the very spirit of murder. + </p> + <p> + ‘This is a civil war within a civil war,’ said Lord Grey, with a quiet + smile. ‘We had best draw, gentlemen, and defend the gap in the rails, if + we may hold it good until help arrives.’ He flashed out his rapier as he + spoke, and took his stand on the top of the steps, with Saxon and Sir + Gervas upon one side of him, Buyse, Reuben, and myself upon the other. + There was only room for six to wield their weapons with effect, so our + scanty band of followers scattered themselves along the line of the rails, + which were luckily so high and strong as to make an escalado difficult in + the face of any opposition. + </p> + <p> + The riot had now changed into open mutiny among these marshmen and miners. + Pikes, scythes, and knives glimmered through the dim light, while their + wild cries re-echoed from the high arched roof like the howling of a pack + of wolves. ‘Go forward, my brothers,’ cried the fanatic preacher, who had + been the cause of the outbreak—‘go forward against them! What though + they be in high places! There is One who is higher than they. Shall we + shrink from His work because of a naked sword? Shall we suffer the + Prelatist altar to be preserved by these sons of Amalek? On, on! In the + name of the Lord!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘In the name of the Lord!’ cried the crowd, with a sort of hissing gasp, + like one who is about to plunge into an icy bath. ‘In the name of the + Lord!’ From either side they came on, gathering speed and volume, until at + last with a wild cry they surged right down upon our sword-points. + </p> + <p> + I can say nothing of what took place to right or left of me during the + ruffle, for indeed there were so many pressing upon us, and the fight was + so hot, that it was all that each of us could do to hold our own. The very + number of our assailants was in our favour, by hampering their sword-arms. + One burly miner cut fiercely at me with his scythe, but missing me he + swung half round with the force of the blow, and I passed my sword through + his body before he could recover himself. It was the first time that I had + ever slain a man in anger, my dear children, and I shall never forget his + white startled face as he looked over his shoulder at me ere he fell. + Another closed in with me before I could get my weapon disengaged, but I + struck him out with my left hand, and then brought the flat of my sword + upon his head, laying him senseless upon the pavement. God knows, I did + not wish to take the lives of the misguided and ignorant zealots, but our + own were at stake. A marshman, looking more like a shaggy wild beast than + a human being, darted under my weapon and caught me round the knees, while + another brought a flail down upon my head-piece, from which it glanced on + to my shoulder. A third thrust at me with a pike, and pricked me on the + thigh, but I shore his weapon in two with one blow, and split his head + with the next. The man with the flail gave back at sight of this, and a + kick freed me from the unarmed ape-like creature at my feet, so that I + found myself clear of my assailants, and none the worse for my encounter, + save for a touch on the leg and some stiffness of the neck and shoulder. + </p> + <p> + Looking round I found that my comrades had also beaten off those who were + opposed to them. Saxon was holding his bloody rapier in his left hand, + while the blood was trickling from a slight wound upon his right. Two + miners lay across each other in front of him, but at the feet of Sir + Gervas Jerome no fewer than four bodies were piled together. He had + plucked out his snuff-box as I glanced at him, and was offering it with a + bow and a flourish to Lord Grey, as unconcernedly as though he were back + once more in his London coffee-house. Buyse leaned upon his long + broadsword, and looked gloomily at a headless trunk in front of him, which + I recognised from the dress as being that of the preacher. As to Reuben, + he was unhurt himself, but in sore distress over my own trifling scar, + though I assured the faithful lad that it was a less thing than many a + tear from branch or thorn which we had had when blackberrying together. + </p> + <p> + The fanatics, though driven back, were not men to be content with a single + repulse. They had lost ten of their number, including their leader, + without being able to break our line, but the failure only served to + increase their fury. For a minute or so they gathered panting in the + aisle. Then with a mad yell they dashed in once more, and made a desperate + effort to cut a way through to the altar. It was a fiercer and more + prolonged struggle than before. One of our followers was stabbed to the + heart over the rails, and fell without a groan. Another was stunned by a + mass of masonry hurled at him by a giant cragsman. Reuben was felled by a + club, and would have been dragged out and hacked to pieces had I not stood + over him and beaten off his assailants. Sir Gervas was borne off his legs + by the rush, but lay like a wounded wildcat, striking out furiously at + everything which came within his reach. Buyse and Saxon, back to back, + stood firm amidst the seething, rushing crowd, cutting down every man + within sweep of their swords. Yet in such a struggle numbers must in the + end prevail, and I confess that I for one had begun to have fears for the + upshot of our contest, when the heavy tramp of disciplined feet rang + through the Cathedral, and the Baronet’s musqueteers came at a quick run + up the central aisle. The fanatics did not await their charge, but darted + off over benches and pews, followed by our allies, who were furious on + seeing their beloved Captain upon the ground. There was a wild minute or + two, with confused shuffling of feet, stabs, groans, and the clatter of + musket butts on the marble floor. Of the rioters some were slain, but the + greater part threw down their arms and were arrested at the command of + Lord Grey, while a strong guard was placed at the gates to prevent any + fresh outburst of sectarian fury. + </p> + <p> + When at last the Cathedral was cleared and order restored, we had time to + look around us and to reckon our own injuries. In all my wanderings, and + the many wars in which I afterwards fought—wars compared to which + this affair of Monmouth’s was but the merest skirmish—I have never + seen a stranger or more impressive scene. In the dim, solemn light the + pile of bodies in front of the rails, with their twisted limbs and + white-set faces, had a most sad and ghost-like aspect. The evening light, + shining through one of the few unbroken stained-glass windows, cast great + splotches of vivid crimson and of sickly green upon the heap of motionless + figures. A few wounded men sat about in the front pews or lay upon the + steps moaning for water. Of our own small company not one had escaped + unscathed. Three of our followers had been slain outright, while a fourth + was lying stunned from a blow. Buyse and Sir Gervas were much bruised. + Saxon was cut on the right arm. Reuben had been felled by a bludgeon + stroke, and would certainly have been slain but for the fine temper of Sir + Jacob Clancing’s breastplate, which had turned a fierce pike-thrust. As to + myself it is scarce worth the mention, but my head sang for some hours + like a good wife’s kettle, and my boot was full of blood, which may have + been a blessing in disguise, for Sneckson, our Havant barber, was ever + dinning into my ears how much the better I should be for a phlebotomy. + </p> + <p> + In the meantime all the troops had assembled and the mutiny been swiftly + stamped out. There were doubtless many among the Puritans who had no love + for the Prelatists, but none save the most crack-brained fanatics could + fail to see that the sacking of the Cathedral would set the whole Church + of England in arms, and ruin the cause for which they were fighting. As it + was, much damage had been done; for whilst the gang within had been + smashing all which they could lay their hands upon, others outside had + chipped off cornices and gargoyles, and had even dragged the lead covering + from the roof and hurled it down in great sheets to their companions + beneath. This last led to some profit, for the army had no great store of + ammunition, so the lead was gathered up by Monmouth’s orders and recast + into bullets. The prisoners were held in custody for a time, but it was + deemed unwise to punish them, so that they were finally pardoned and + dismissed from the army. + </p> + <p> + A parade of our whole force was held in the fields outside the town upon + the second day of our stay at Wells, the weather having at last become + warm and sunny. The foot was then found to muster six regiments of nine + hundred men, or five thousand four hundred in all. Of these fifteen + hundred were musqueteers, two thousand were pikemen, and the rest were + scythesmen or peasants with flails and hammers. A few bodies, such as our + own or those from Taunton, might fairly lay claim to be soldiers, but the + most of them were still labourers and craftsmen with weapons in their + hands. Yet, ill-armed and ill-drilled as they were, they were still strong + robust Englishmen, full of native courage and of religious zeal. The light + and fickle Monmouth began to take heart once more at the sight of their + sturdy bearing, and at the sound of their hearty cheers. I heard him as I + sat my horse beside his staff speak exultantly to those around him, and + ask whether these fine fellows could possibly be beaten by mercenary + half-hearted hirelings. + </p> + <p> + ‘What say you, Wade!’ he cried. ‘Are we never to see a smile on that sad + face of yours? Do you not see a woolsack in store for you as you look upon + these brave fellows?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘God forbid that I should say a word to damp your Majesty’s ardour,’ the + lawyer answered; ‘yet I cannot but remember that there was a time when + your Majesty, at the head of these same hirelings, did drive men as brave + as these in headlong rout from Bothwell Bridge.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘True, true!’ said the King, passing his hand over his forehead—a + favourite motion when he was worried and annoyed. ‘They were bold men, the + western Covenanters, yet they could not stand against the rush of our + battalions. But they had had no training, whereas these can fight in line + and fire a platoon as well as one would wish to see.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If we hadna a gun nor a patronal among us,’ said Ferguson, ‘if we hadna + sae muckle as a sword, but just oor ain honds, yet would the Lard gie us + the victory, if it seemed good in His a’ seeing een.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘All battles are but chance work, your Majesty,’ remarked Saxon, whose + sword-arm was bound round with his kerchief. ‘Some lucky turn, some slip + or chance which none can foresee, is ever likely to turn the scale. I have + lost when I have looked to win, and I have won when I have looked to lose. + It is an uncertain game, and one never knows the finish till the last card + is played.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not till the stakes are drawn,’ said Buyse, in his deep guttural voice. + ‘There is many a leader that wins what you call the trick, and yet loses + the game.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The trick being the battle and the game the campaign,’ quoth the King, + with a smile. ‘Our German friend is a master of camp-fire metaphors. But + methinks our poor horses are in a sorry state. What would cousin William + over at The Hague, with his spruce guards, think of such a show as this?’ + </p> + <p> + During this talk the long column of foot had tramped past, still bearing + the banners which they had brought with them to the wars, though much the + worse for wind and weather. Monmouth’s remarks had been drawn forth by the + aspect of the ten troops of horse which followed. The chargers had been + sadly worn by the continued work and constant rain, while the riders, + having allowed their caps and fronts to get coated with rust, appeared to + be in as bad a plight as their steeds. It was clear to the least + experienced of us that if we were to hold our own it was upon our foot + that we must rely. On the tops of the low hills all round the frequent + shimmer of arms, glancing here and there when the sun’s rays struck upon + them, showed how strong our enemies were in the very point in which we + were so weak. Yet in the main this Wells review was cheering to us, as + showing that the men kept in good heart, and that there was no ill-feeling + at the rough handling of the zealots upon the day before. + </p> + <p> + The enemy’s horse hovered about us during these days, but the foot had + been delayed through the heavy weather and the swollen streams. On the + last day of June we marched out of Wells, and made our way across flat + sedgy plains and over the low Polden Hills to Bridgewater, where we found + some few recruits awaiting us. Here Monmouth had some thoughts of making a + stand, and even set to work raising earthworks, but it was pointed out to + him that, even could he hold the town, there was not more than a few days’ + provisions within it, while the country round had been already swept so + bare that little more could be expected from it. The works were therefore + abandoned, and, fairly driven to bay, without a loophole of escape left, + we awaited the approach of the enemy. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0029" id="link2HCH0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXIX. Of the Great Cry from the Lonely House + </h2> + <p> + And so our weary marching and counter-marching came at last to an end, and + we found ourselves with our backs fairly against the wall, and the whole + strength of the Government turned against us. Not a word came to us of a + rising or movement in our favour in any part of England. Everywhere the + Dissenters were cast into prison and the Church dominant. From north and + east and west the militia of the counties was on its march against us. In + London six regiments of Dutch troops had arrived as a loan from the Prince + of Orange. Others were said to be on their way. The City had enrolled ten + thousand men. Everywhere there was mustering and marching to succour the + flower of the English army, which was already in Somersetshire. And all + for the purpose of crushing some five or six thousand clodhoppers and + fishermen, half-armed and penniless, who were ready to throw their lives + away for a man and for an idea. + </p> + <p> + But this idea, my dear children, was a noble one, and one which a man + might very well sacrifice all for, and yet feel that all was well spent. + For though these poor peasants, in their dumb, blundering fashion, would + have found it hard to give all their reasons in words, yet in the inmost + heart of them they knew and felt that it was England’s cause which they + were fighting for, and that they were upholding their country’s true self + against those who would alter the old systems under which she had led the + nations. Three more years made all this very plain, and showed that our + simple unlettered followers had seen and judged the signs of the times + more correctly than those who called themselves their betters. There are, + to my thinking, stages of human progress for which the Church of Rome is + admirably suited. Where the mind of a nation is young, it may be best that + it should not concern itself with spiritual affairs, but should lean upon + the old staff of custom and authority. But England had cast off her + swaddling-clothes, and was a nursery of strong, thinking men, who would + bow to no authority save that which their reason and conscience approved. + It was hopeless, useless, foolish, to try to drive such men back into a + creed which they had outgrown. Such an attempt was, however, being made, + backed by all the weight of a bigoted king with a powerful and wealthy + Church as his ally. In three years the nation would understand it, and the + King would be flying from his angry people; but at present, sunk in a + torpor after the long civil wars and the corrupt reign of Charles, they + failed to see what was at stake, and turned against those who would warn + them, as a hasty man turns on the messenger who is the bearer of evil + tidings. Is it not strange, my dears, how quickly a mere shadowy thought + comes to take living form, and grow into a very tragic reality? At one end + of the chain is a king brooding over a point of doctrine; at the other are + six thousand desperate men, chivied and chased from shire to shire, + standing to bay at last amid the bleak Bridgewater marshes, with their + hearts as bitter and as hopeless as those of hunted beasts of prey. A + king’s theology is a dangerous thing for his subjects. + </p> + <p> + But if the idea for which these poor men fought was a worthy one, what + shall we say of the man who had been chosen as the champion of their + cause? Alas, that such men should have had such a leader! Swinging from + the heights of confidence to the depths of despair, choosing his future + council of state one day and proposing to fly from the army on the next, + he appeared from the start to be possessed by the very spirit of + fickleness. Yet he had borne a fair name before this enterprise. In + Scotland he had won golden opinions, not only for his success, but for the + moderation and mercy with which he treated the vanquished. On the + Continent he had commanded an English brigade in a way that earned praise + from old soldiers of Louis and the Empire. Yet now, when his own head and + his own fortunes were at stake, he was feeble, irresolute, and cowardly. + In my father’s phrase, ‘all the virtue had gone out of him.’ I declare + when I have seen him riding among his troops, with his head bowed upon his + breast and a face like a mute at a burying, casting an air of gloom and of + despair all round him, I have felt that, even in case of success, such a + man could never wear the crown of the Tudors and the Plantagenets, but + that some stronger hand, were it that of one of his own generals, would + wrest it from him. + </p> + <p> + I will do Monmouth the justice to say that from the time when it was at + last decided to fight—for the very good reason that no other course + was open—he showed up in a more soldierly and manlier spirit. For + the first few days in July no means were neglected to hearten our troops + and to nerve them for the coming battle. From morning to night we were at + work, teaching our foot how to form up in dense groups to meet the charge + of horse, and how to depend upon each other, and look to their officers + for orders. At night the streets of the little town from the Castle Field + to the Parret Bridge resounded with the praying and the preaching. There + was no need for the officers to quell irregularities, for the troops + punished them amongst themselves. One man who came out on the streets hot + with wine was well-nigh hanged by his companions, who finally cast him out + of the town as being unworthy to fight in what they looked upon as a + sacred quarrel. As to their courage, there was no occasion to quicken + that, for they were as fearless as lions, and the only danger was lest + their fiery daring should lead them into foolhardiness. Their desire was + to hurl themselves upon the enemy like a horde of Moslem fanatics, and it + was no easy matter to drill such hot-headed fellows into the steadiness + and caution which war demands. + </p> + <p> + Provisions ran low upon the third day of our stay in Bridgewater, which + was due to our having exhausted that part of the country before, and also + to the vigilance of the Royal Horse, who scoured the district round and + cut off our supplies. Lord Grey determined, therefore, to send out two + troops of horse under cover of night, to do what they could to refill the + larder. The command of the small expedition was given over to Major Martin + Hooker, an old Lifeguardsman of rough speech and curt manners, who had + done good service in drilling the headstrong farmers and yeomen into some + sort of order. Sir Gervas Jerome and I asked leave from Lord Grey to join + the foray—a favour which was readily granted, since there was little + stirring in the town. + </p> + <p> + It was about eleven o’clock on a moonless night that we sallied out of + Bridgewater, intending to explore the country in the direction of + Boroughbridge and Athelney. We had word that there was no large body of + the enemy in that quarter, and it was a fertile district where good store + of supplies might be hoped for. We took with us four empty waggons, to + carry whatever we might have the luck to find. Our commander arranged that + one troop should ride before these and one behind, while a small advance + party, under the charge of Sir Gervas, kept some hundreds of paces in + front. In this order we clattered out of the town just as the late bugles + were blowing, and swept away down the quiet shadowy roads, bringing + anxious peering faces to the casements of the wayside cottages as we + whirled past in the darkness. + </p> + <p> + That ride comes very clearly before me as I think of it. The dark loom of + the club-headed willows flitting by us, the moaning of the breeze among + the withies, the vague, blurred figures of the troopers, the dull thud of + the hoofs, and the jingling of scabbard against stirrup—eye and ear + can both conjure up those old-time memories. The Baronet and I rode in + front, knee against knee, and his light-hearted chatter of life in town, + with his little snatches of verse or song from Cowley or Waller, were a + very balm of Gilead to my sombre and somewhat heavy spirit. + </p> + <p> + ‘Life is indeed life on such a night as this,’ quoth he, as we breathed in + the fresh country air with the reeks of crops and of kine. ‘Rabbit me! but + you are to be envied, Clarke, for having been born and bred in the + country! What pleasures has the town to offer compared to the free gifts + of nature, provided always that there be a perruquier’s and a snuff + merchant’s, and a scent vendor’s, and one or two tolerable outfitters + within reach? With these and a good coffee-house and a playhouse, I think + I could make shift to lead a simple pastoral life for some months.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘In the country,’ said I, laughing, ‘we have ever the feeling that the + true life of mankind, with the growth of knowledge and wisdom, are being + wrought out in the towns.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ventre Saint-Gris! It was little knowledge or wisdom that I acquired + there,’ he answered. ‘Truth to tell, I have lived more and learned more + during these few weeks that we have been sliding about in the rain with + our ragged lads, than ever I did when I was page of the court, with the + ball of fortune at my feet. It is a sorry thing for a man’s mind to have + nothing higher to dwell upon than the turning of a compliment or the + dancing of a corranto. Zounds, lad! I have your friend the carpenter to + thank for much. As he says in his letter, unless a man can get the good + that is in him out, he is of loss value in the world than one of those + fowls that we hear cackling, for they at least fulfill their mission, if + it be only to lay eggs. Ged, it is a new creed for me to be preaching!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But,’ said I, ‘when you were a wealthy man you must have been of service + to some one, for how could one spend so much money and yet none be the + better?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You dear bucolic Micah!’ he cried, with a gay laugh. ‘You will ever speak + of my poor fortune with bated breath and in an awestruck voice, as though + it were the wealth of the Indies. You cannot think, lad, how easy it is + for a money-bag to take unto itself wings and fly. It is true that the man + who spends it doth not consume the money, but passes it on to some one who + profits thereby. Yet the fault lies in the fact that it was to the wrong + folk that we passed our money, thereby breeding a useless and debauched + class at the expense of honest callings. Od’s fish, lad! when I think of + the swarms of needy beggars, the lecherous pimps, the nose-slitting + bullies, the toadies and the flatterers who were reared by us, I feel that + in hatching such a poisonous brood our money hath done what no money can + undo. Have I not seen them thirty deep of a morning when I have held my + levee, cringing up to my bedside—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your bedside!’ I exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye! it was the mode to receive in bed, attired in laced cambric shirt + and periwig, though afterwards it was permitted to sit up in your chamber, + but dressed <i>a la negligence</i>, in gown and slippers. The mode is a + terrible tyrant, Clarke, though its arm may not extend as far as Havant. + The idle man of the town must have some rule of life, so he becomes a + slave to the law of the fashions. No man in London was more subject to it + than myself. I was regular in my irregularities, and orderly in my + disorders. At eleven o’clock to the stroke, up came my valet with the + morning cup of hippocras, an excellent thing for the qualms, and some + slight refection, as the breast of an ortolan or wing of a widgeon. Then + came the levee, twenty, thirty, or forty of the class I have spoken of, + though now and then perhaps there might be some honest case of want among + them, some needy man-of-letters in quest of a guinea, or pupil-less pedant + with much ancient learning in his head and very little modern coinage in + his pocket. It was not only that I had some power of mine own, but I was + known to have the ear of my Lord Halifax, Sidney Godolphin, Lawrence Hyde, + and others whose will might make or mar a man. Mark you those lights upon + the left! Would it not be well to see if there is not something to be had + there?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hooker hath orders to proceed to a certain farm,’ I answered. ‘This we + could take upon our return should we still have space. We shall be back + here before morning.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We must get supplies, if I have to ride back to Surrey for them,’ said + he. ‘Rat me, if I dare look my musqueteers in the face again unless I + bring them something to toast upon the end of their ramrods! They had + little more savoury than their own bullets to put in their mouths when I + left them. But I was speaking of old days in London. Our time was well + filled. Should a man of quality incline to sport there was ever something + to attract him. He might see sword-playing at Hockley, or cocking at Shoe + Lane, or baiting at Southwark, or shooting at Tothill Fields. Again, he + might walk in the physic gardens of St. James’s, or go down the river with + the ebb tide to the cherry orchards at Rotherhithe, or drive to Islington + to drink the cream, or, above all, walk in the Park, which is most modish + for a gentleman who dresses in the fashion. You see, Clarke, that we were + active in our idleness, and that there was no lack of employment. Then as + evening came on there were the playhouses to draw us, Dorset Gardens, + Lincoln’s Inn, Drury Lane, and the Queen’s—among the four there was + ever some amusement to be found.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There, at least, your time was well employed,’ said I; ‘you could not + hearken to the grand thoughts or lofty words of Shakespeare or of + Massinger without feeling some image of them in your own soul.’ + </p> + <p> + Sir Gervas chuckled quietly. ‘You are as fresh to me, Micah, as this sweet + country air,’ said he. ‘Know, thou dear babe, that it was not to see the + play that we frequented the playhouse.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then why, in Heaven’s name?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘To see each other,’ he answered. ‘It was the mode, I assure you, for a + man of fashion to stand with his back turned to the stage from the rise of + the curtain to the fall of it. There were the orange wenches to quiz—plaguey + sharp of tongue the hussies are, too—and there were the vizards of + the pit, whose little black masks did invite inquiry, and there were the + beauties of the town and the toasts of the Court, all fair mark for our + quizzing-glasses. Play, indeed! S’bud, we had something better to do than + to listen to alexandrines or weigh the merits of hexameters! ‘Tis true + that if La Jeune were dancing, or if Mrs. Bracegirdle or Mrs. Oldfield + came upon the boards, we would hum and clap, but it was the fine woman + that we applauded rather than the actress.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And when the play was over you went doubtless to supper and so to bed?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘To supper, certainly. Sometimes to the Rhenish House, sometimes to + Pontack’s in Abchurch Lane. Every one had his own taste in that matter. + Then there were dice and cards at the Groom Porter’s or under the arches + at Covent Garden, piquet, passage, hazard, primero—what you choose. + After that you could find all the world at the coffee-houses, where an + arriere supper was often served with devilled bones and prunes, to drive + the fumes of wine from the head. Zounds, Micah! If the Jews should relax + their pressure, or if this war brings us any luck, you shall come to town + with me and shall see all these things for yourself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Truth to tell, it doth not tempt me much,’ I answered. ‘Slow and solemn I + am by nature, and in such scenes as you have described I should feel a + very death’s head at a banquet.’ + </p> + <p> + Sir Gervas was about to reply, when of a sudden out of the silence of the + night there rose a long-drawn piercing scream, which thrilled through + every nerve of our bodies. I have never heard such a wail of despair. We + pulled up our horses, as did the troopers behind us, and strained our ears + for some sign as to whence the sound proceeded, for some were of opinion + that it came from our right and some from our left. The main body with the + waggons had come up, and we all listened intently for any return of the + terrible cry. Presently it broke upon us again, wild, shrill, and + agonised: the scream of a woman in mortal distress. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis over there, Major Hooker,’ cried Sir Gervas, standing up in his + stirrups and peering through the darkness. ‘There is a house about two + fields off. I can see some glimmer, as from a window with the blind + drawn.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Shall we not make for it at once?’ I asked impatiently, for our commander + sat stolidly upon his horse as though by no means sure what course he + should pursue. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am here, Captain Clarke,’ said he, ‘to convey supplies to the army, and + I am by no means justified in turning from my course to pursue other + adventures.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Death, man! there is a woman in distress,’ cried Sir Gervas. ‘Why, Major, + you would not ride past and let her call in vain for help? Hark, there she + is again!’ As he spoke the wild scream rang out once more from the lonely + house. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, I can abide this no longer,’ I cried, my blood boiling in my veins; + ‘do you go on your errand, Major Hooker, and my friend and I shall leave + you here. We shall know how to justify our action to the King. Come, Sir + Gervas!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Mark ye, this is flat mutiny, Captain Clarke,’ said Hooker; ‘you are + under my orders, and should you desert me you do so at your peril.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘In such a case I care not a groat for thy orders,’ I answered hotly. + Turning Covenant I spurred down a narrow, deeply-rutted lane which led + towards the house, followed by Sir Gervas and two or three of the + troopers. At the same moment I heard a sharp word of command from Hooker + and the creaking of wheels, showing that he had indeed abandoned us and + proceeded on his mission. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is right,’ quoth the Baronet, as we rode down the lane; ‘Saxon or any + other old soldier would commend his discipline.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There are things which are higher than discipline,’ I muttered. ‘I could + not pass on and leave this poor soul in her distress. But see—what + have we here?’ + </p> + <p> + A dark mass loomed in front of us, which proved as we approached to be + four horses fastened by their bridles to the hedge. + </p> + <p> + ‘Cavalry horses, Captain Clarke!’ cried one of the troopers who had sprung + down to examine them. ‘They have the Government saddle and holsters. Here + is a wooden gate which opens on a pathway leading to the house.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We had best dismount, then,’ said Sir Gervas, jumping down and tying his + horse beside the others. ‘Do you, lads, stay by the horses, and if we call + for ye come to our aid. Sergeant Holloway, you can come with us. Bring + your pistols with you!’ + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0030" id="link2HCH0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXX. Of the Swordsman with the Brown Jacket + </h2> + <p> + The sergeant, who was a great raw-boned west-countryman, pushed the gate + open, and we were advancing up the winding pathway, when a stream of + yellow light flooded out from a suddenly opened door, and we saw a dark + squat figure dart through it into the inside of the house. At the same + moment there rose up a babel of sounds, followed by two pistol shots, and + a roaring, gasping hubbub, with clash of swords and storm of oaths. At + this sudden uproar we all three ran at our topmost speed up the pathway + and peered in through the open door, where we saw a scene such as I shall + never forget while this old memory of mine can conjure up any picture of + the past. + </p> + <p> + The room was large and lofty, with long rows of hams and salted meats + dangling from the smoke-browned rafters, as is usual in Somersetshire + farmhouses. A high black clock ticked in a corner, and a rude table, with + plates and dishes laid out as for a meal, stood in the centre. Right in + front of the door a great fire of wood faggots was blazing, and before + this, to our unutterable horror, there hung a man head downwards, + suspended by a rope which was knotted round his ankles, and which, passing + over a hook in a beam, had been made fast to a ring in the floor. The + struggles of this unhappy man had caused the rope to whirl round, so that + he was spinning in front of the blaze like a joint of meat. Across the + threshold lay a woman, the one whose cries had attracted us, but her rigid + face and twisted body showed that our aid had come too late to save her + from the fate which she had seen impending. Close by her two swarthy + dragoons in the glaring red coats of the Royal army lay stretched across + each other upon the floor, dark and scowling even in death. In the centre + of the room two other dragoons were cutting and stabbing with their + broad-swords at a thick, short, heavy-shouldered man, clad in coarse brown + kersey stuff, who sprang about among the chairs and round the table with a + long basket-hilted rapier in his hand, parrying or dodging their blows + with wonderful adroitness, and every now and then putting in a thrust in + return. Hard pressed as he was, his set resolute face, firm mouth, and + bright well-opened eyes spoke of a bold spirit within, while the blood + which dripped from the sleeve of one of his opponents proved that the + contest was not so unequal as it might appear. Even as we gazed he sprang + back to avoid a fierce rush of the furious soldiers, and by a quick sharp + side stroke he severed the rope by which the victim was hung. The body + fell with a heavy thud upon the brick floor, while the little swordsman + danced off in a moment into another quarter of the room, still stopping or + avoiding with the utmost ease and skill the shower of blows which rained + upon him. + </p> + <p> + This strange scene held us spell-bound for a few seconds, but there was no + time for delay, for a slip or trip would prove fatal to the gallant + stranger. Rushing into the chamber, sword in hand, we fell upon the + dragoons, who, outnumbered as they were, backed into a corner and struck + out fiercely, knowing that they need expect no mercy after the devil’s + work in which they had been engaged. Holloway, our sergeant of horse, + springing furiously in, laid himself open to a thrust which stretched him + dead upon the ground. Before the dragoon could disengage his weapon, Sir + Gervas cut him down, while at the same moment the stranger got past the + guard of his antagonist, and wounded him mortally in the throat. Of the + four red-coats not one escaped alive, while the bodies of our sergeant and + of the old couple who had been the first victims increased the horror of + the scene. + </p> + <p> + ‘Poor Holloway is gone,’ said I, placing my hand over his heart. ‘Who ever + saw such a shambles? I feel sick and ill.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Here is eau-de-vie, if I mistake not,’ cried the stranger, clambering up + on a chair and reaching a bottle from the shelf. ‘Good, too, by the smell. + Take a sup, for you are as white as a new-bleached sheet.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Honest warfare I can abide, but scenes like this make my blood run cold,’ + I answered, taking a gulp from the flask. I was a very young soldier then, + my dears, but I confess that to the end of my campaigns any form of + cruelty had the same effect upon me. I give you my word that when I went + to London last fall the sight of an overworked, raw-backed cart-horse + straining with its load, and flogged for not doing that which it could not + do, gave me greater qualms than did the field of Sedgemoor, or that + greater day when ten thousand of the flower of France lay stretched before + the earthworks of Landen. + </p> + <p> + ‘The woman is dead,’ said Sir Gervas, ‘and the man is also, I fear, past + recovery. He is not burned, but suffers, I should judge, poor devil! from + the rush of blood to the head.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If that be all it may well be cured, ‘remarked the stranger; and taking a + small knife from his pocket, he rolled up the old man’s sleeve and opened + one of his veins. At first only a few sluggish black drops oozed from the + wound, but presently the blood began to flow more freely, and the injured + man showed signs of returning sense. + </p> + <p> + ‘He will live,’ said the little swordsman, putting his lancet back in his + pocket. ‘And now, who may you be to whom I owe this interference which + shortened the affair, though mayhap the result would have been the same + had you left us to settle it amongst ourselves?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We are from Monmouth’s army,’ I answered. ‘He lies at Bridgewater, and we + are scouting and seeking supplies.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And who are you?’ asked Sir Gervas. ‘And how came you into this ruffle? + S’bud, you are a game little rooster to fight four such great cockerels!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My name is Hector Marot,’ the man answered, cleaning out his empty + pistols and very carefully reloading them. ‘As to who I am, it is a matter + of small moment. Suffice it that I have helped to lessen Kirk’s horse by + four of his rogues. Mark their faces, so dusky and sun-dried even in + death. These men have learned warfare fighting against the heathen in + Africa, and now they practise on poor harmless English folk the devil’s + tricks which they have picked up amongst the savages. The Lord help + Monmouth’s men should they be beaten! These vermin are more to be feared + than hangman’s cord or headsman’s axe.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But how did you chance upon the spot at the very nick of time?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, marry, I was jogging down the road on my mare when I heard the + clatter of hoofs behind me, and concealing myself in a field, as a prudent + man would while the country is in its present state, I saw these four + rogues gallop past. They made their way up to the farmhouse here, and + presently from cries and other tokens I knew what manner of hell-fire + business they had on hand. On that I left my mare in the field and ran up, + when I saw them through the casement, tricing the good man up in front of + his fire to make him confess where his wealth lay hidden, though indeed it + is my own belief that neither he nor any other farmer in these parts hath + any wealth left to hide, after two armies have been quartered in turn upon + them. Finding that his mouth remained closed, they ran him up, as you saw, + and would assuredly have toasted him like a snipe, had I not stepped in + and winged two of them with my barkers. The others set upon me, but I + pinked one through the forearm, and should doubtless have given a good + account of both of them but for your incoming.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Right gallantly done!’ I exclaimed. ‘But where have I heard your name + before, Mr. Hector Marot?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay,’ he answered, with a sharp, sidelong look, ‘I cannot tell that.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is familiar to mine ear,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + He shrugged his broad shoulders, and continued to look to the priming of + his pistols, with a half-defiant and half-uneasy expression. He was a very + sturdy, deep-chested man, with a stern, square-jawed face, and a white + seam across his bronzed forehead as from a slash with a knife. He wore a + gold-edged riding-cap, a jacket of brown sad-coloured stuff much stained + by the weather, a pair of high rusty jack-boots, and a small bob-wig. + </p> + <p> + Sir Gervas, who had been staring very hard at the man, suddenly gave a + start, and slapped his hand against his leg. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course!’ he cried. ‘Sink me, if I could remember where I had seen your + face, but now it comes back to me very clearly.’ + </p> + <p> + The man glanced doggedly from under his bent brows at each of us in turn. + ‘It seems that I have fallen among acquaintances,’ he said gruffly; ‘yet I + have no memory of ye. Methinks, young sirs, that your fancy doth play ye + false.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not a whit,’ the Baronet answered quietly, and, bending forward, he + whispered a few words into the man’s ear, which caused him to spring from + his seat and take a couple of quick strides forward, as though to escape + from the house. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay!’ cried Sir Gervas, springing between him and the door, ‘you + shall not run away from us. Pshaw, man! never lay your hand upon your + sword. We have had bloody work enough for one night. Besides, we would not + harm you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What mean ye, then? What would ye have?’ he asked, glancing about like + some fierce wild beast in a trap. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have a most kindly feeling to you, man, after this night’s work,’ cried + Sir Gervas. ‘What is it to me how ye pick up a living, as long as you are + a true man at heart? Let me perish if I ever forget a face which I have + once seen, and your bonne mine, with the trade-mark upon your forehead, is + especially hard to overlook.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Suppose I be the same? What then?’ the man asked sullenly. + </p> + <p> + ‘There is no suppose in the matter. I could swear to you. But I would not, + lad—not if I caught you red-handed. You must know, Clarke, since + there is none to overhear us, that in the old days I was a Justice of the + Peace in Surrey, and that our friend here was brought up before me on a + charge of riding somewhat late o’ night, and of being plaguey short with + travellers. You will understand me. He was referred to assizes, but got + away in the meanwhile, and so saved his neck. Right glad I am of it, for + you will agree with me that he is too proper a man to give a tight-rope + dance at Tyburn.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And I remember well now where I have heard your name,’ said I. ‘Were you + not a captive in the Duke of Beaufort’s prison at Badminton, and did you + not succeed in escaping from the old Boteler dungeon?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, gentlemen,’ he replied, seating himself on the edge of the table, + and carelessly swinging his legs, ‘since ye know so much it would be folly + for me to attempt to deceive ye. I am indeed the same Hector Marot who + hath made his name a terror on the great Western road, and who hath seen + the inside of more prisons than any man in the south. With truth, however, + I can say that though I have been ten years upon the roads, I have never + yet taken a groat from the poor, or injured any man who did not wish to + injure me. On the contrary, I have often risked life and limb to save + those who were in trouble.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We can bear you out in that,’ I answered, ‘for if these four red-coat + devils have paid the price of their crimes, it is your doing rather than + ours.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, I can take little credit for that,’ our new acquaintance answered. + ‘Indeed, I had other scores to settle with Colonel Kirke’s horse, and was + but too glad to have this breather with them.’ + </p> + <p> + Whilst we were talking the men whom we had left with the horses had come + up, together with some of the neighbouring farmers and cottagers, who were + aghast at the scene of slaughter, and much troubled in their minds over + the vengeance which might be exacted by the Royal troops next day. + </p> + <p> + ‘For Christ’s zake, zur,’ cried one of them, an old ruddy-faced + countryman, ‘move the bodies o’ these soldier rogues into the road, and + let it zeem as how they have perished in a chance fight wi’ your own + troopers loike. Should it be known as they have met their end within a + varmhouse, there will not be a thatch left unlighted over t’ whole country + side; as it is, us can scarce keep these murthering Tangiers devils from + oor throats.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘His request is in reason,’ said the highwayman bluntly. ‘We have no right + to have our fun, and then go our way leaving others to pay the score.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, hark ye,’ said Sir Gervas, turning to the group of frightened + rustics. ‘I’ll strike a bargain with ye over the matter. We have come out + for supplies, and can scarce go back empty-handed. If ye will among ye + provide us with a cart, filling it with such breadstuffs and greens as ye + may, with a dozen bullocks as well, we shall not only screen ye in this + matter, but I shall promise payment at fair market rates if ye will come + to the Protestant camp for the money.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll spare the bullocks,’ quoth the old man whom we had rescued, who was + now sufficiently recovered to sit up. ‘Zince my poor dame is foully + murthered it matters little to me what becomes o’ the stock. I shall zee + her laid in Durston graveyard, and shall then vollow you to t’ camp, where + I shall die happy if I can but rid the earth o’ one more o’ these + incarnate devils.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You say well, gaffer!’ cried Hector Marot; ‘you show the true spirit. + Methinks I see an old birding-piece on yonder hooks, which, with a brace + of slugs in it and a bold man behind it, might bring down one of these + fine birds for all their gay feathers.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Her’s been a true mate to me for more’n thirty year,’ said the old man, + the tears coursing down his wrinkled cheeks. ‘Thirty zeed-toimes and + thirty harvests we’ve worked together. But this is a zeed-toime which + shall have a harvest o’ blood if my right hand can compass it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If you go to t’ wars, Gaffer Swain, we’ll look to your homestead,’ said + the farmer who had spoken before. ‘As to t’ greenstuffs as this gentleman + asks for he shall have not one wainload but three, if he will but gi’ us + half-an-hour to fill them up. If he does not tak them t’ others will, so + we had raither that they go to the good cause. Here, Miles, do you wak the + labourers, and zee that they throw the potato store wi’ the spinach and + the dried meats into the waggons wi’ all speed.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then we had best set about our part of the contract,’ said Hector Marot. + With the aid of our troopers he carried out the four dragoons and our dead + sergeant, and laid them on the ground some way down the lane, leading the + horses all round and between their bodies, so as to trample the earth, and + bear out the idea of a cavalry skirmish. While this was doing, some of the + labourers had washed down the brick floor of the kitchen and removed all + traces of the tragedy. The murdered woman had been carried up to her own + chamber, so that nothing was left to recall what had occurred, save the + unhappy farmer, who sat moodily in the same place, with his chin resting + upon his stringy work-worn hands, staring out in front of him with a + stony, empty gaze, unconscious apparently of all that was going on around + him. + </p> + <p> + The loading of the waggons had been quickly accomplished, and the little + drove of oxen gathered from a neighbouring field. We were just starting + upon our return journey when a young countryman rode up, with the news + that a troop of the Royal Horse were between the camp and ourselves. This + was grave tidings, for we were but seven all told, and our pace was + necessarily slow whilst we were hampered with the supplies. + </p> + <p> + ‘How about Hooker?’ I suggested. ‘Should we not send after him and give + him warning?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll goo at once,’ said the countryman. ‘I’m bound to zee him if he be on + the Athelney road.’ So saying he set spurs to his horse and galloped off + through the darkness. + </p> + <p> + ‘While we have such volunteer scouts as this,’ I remarked, ‘it is easy to + see which side the country folk have in their hearts. Hooker hath still + the better part of two troops with him, so surely he can hold his own. But + how are we to make our way back?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Zounds, Clarke! let us extemporise a fortress,’ suggested Sir Gervas. ‘We + could hold this farmhouse against all comers until Hooker returns, and + then join our forces to his. Now would our redoubtable Colonel be in his + glory, to have a chance of devising cross-fires, and flanking-fires, with + all the other refinements of a well-conducted leaguer.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay,’ I answered, ‘after leaving Major Hooker in a somewhat cavalier + fashion, it would be a bitter thing to have to ask his help now that there + is danger.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ho, ho!’ cried the Baronet. ‘It does not take a very deep lead-line to + come to the bottom of your stoical philosophy, friend Micah. For all your + cold-blooded stolidity you are keen enough where pride or honour is + concerned. Shall we then ride onwards, and chance it? I’ll lay an even + crown that we never as much as see a red coat.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If you will take my advice, gentlemen,’ said the highwayman, trotting up + upon a beautiful bay mare, ‘I should say that your best course is to allow + me to act as guide to you as far as the camp. It will be strange if I + cannot find roads which shall baffle these blundering soldiers.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A very wise and seasonable proposition,’ cried Sir Gervas. ‘Master Marot, + a pinch from my snuff-box, which is ever a covenant of friendship with its + owner. Adslidikins, man! though our acquaintance at present is limited to + my having nearly hanged you on one occasion, yet I have a kindly feeling + towards you, though I wish you had some more savoury trade.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So do many who ride o’ night,’ Marot answered, with a chuckle. ‘But we + had best start, for the east is whitening, and it will be daylight ere we + come to Bridgewater.’ + </p> + <p> + Leaving the ill-omened farmhouse behind us we set off with all military + precautions, Marot riding with me some distance in front, while two of the + troopers covered the rear. It was still very dark, though a thin grey line + on the horizon showed that the dawn was not far off. In spite of the + gloom, however, our new acquaintance guided us without a moment’s halt or + hesitation through a network of lanes and bypaths, across fields and over + bogs, where the waggons were sometimes up to their axles in bog, and + sometimes were groaning and straining over rocks and stones. So frequent + were our turnings, and so often did we change the direction of our + advance, that I feared more than once that our guide was at fault; yet, + when at last the first rays of the sun brightened the landscape we saw the + steeple of Bridgewater parish church shooting up right in front of us. + </p> + <p> + ‘Zounds, man! you must have something of the cat in you to pick your way + so in the dark,’ cried Sir Gervas, riding up to us. ‘I am right glad to + see the town, for my poor waggons have been creaking and straining until + my ears are weary with listening for the snap of the axle-bar. Master + Marot, we owe you something for this.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Is this your own particular district?’ I asked, ‘or have you a like + knowledge of every part of the south?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My range,’ said he, lighting his short, black pipe, ‘is from Kent to + Cornwall, though never north of the Thames or Bristol Channel. Through + that district there is no road which is not familiar to me, nor as much as + a break in the hedge which I could not find in blackest midnight. It is my + calling. But the trade is not what it was. If I had a son I should not + bring him up to it. It hath been spoiled by the armed guards to the + mail-coaches, and by the accursed goldsmiths, who have opened their banks + and so taken the hard money into their strong boxes, giving out instead + slips of paper, which are as useless to us as an old newsletter. I give ye + my word that only a week gone last Friday I stopped a grazier coming from + Blandford fair, and I took seven hundred guineas off him in these paper + cheques, as they call them—enough, had it been in gold, to have + lasted me for a three month rouse. Truly the country is coming to a pretty + pass when such trash as that is allowed to take the place of the King’s + coinage.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why should you persevere in such a trade?’ said I. ‘Your own knowledge + must tell you that it can only lead to ruin and the gallows. Have you ever + known one who has thriven at it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That have I,’ he answered readily. ‘There was Kingston Jones, who worked + Hounslow for many a year. He took ten thousand yellow boys on one job, + and, like a wise man, he vowed never to risk his neck again. He went into + Cheshire, with some tale of having newly arrived from the Indies, bought + an estate, and is now a flourishing country gentleman of good repute, and + a Justice of the Peace into the bargain. Zounds, man! to see him on the + bench, condemning some poor devil for stealing a dozen eggs, is as good as + a comedy in the playhouse.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay! but,’ I persisted, ‘you are a man, judging from what we have seen of + your courage and skill in the use of your weapons, who would gain speedy + preferment in any army. Surely it were better to use your gifts to the + gaining of honour and credit, than to make them a stepping-stone to + disgrace and the gallows?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For the gallows I care not a clipped shilling,’ the highwayman answered, + sending up thick blue curls of smoke into the morning air. ‘We have all to + pay nature’s debt, and whether I do it in my boots or on a feather bed, in + one year or in ten, matters as little to me as to any soldier among you. + As to disgrace, it is a matter of opinion. I see no shame myself in taking + a toll upon the wealth of the rich, since I freely expose my own skin in + the doing of it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is a right and there is a wrong,’ I answered, ‘which no words can + do away with, and it is a dangerous and unprofitable trick to juggle with + them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Besides, even if what you have said were true as to property,’ Sir Gervas + remarked, ‘it would not hold you excused for that recklessness of human + life which your trade begets.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay! it is but hunting, save that your quarry may at any time turn round + upon you, and become in turn the hunter. It is, as you say, a dangerous + game, but two can play at it, and each has an equal chance. There is no + loading of the dice, or throwing of fulhams. Now it was but a few days + back that, riding down the high-road, I perceived three jolly farmers at + full gallop across the fields with a leash of dogs yelping in front of + them, and all in pursuit of one little harmless bunny. It was a bare and + unpeopled countryside on the border of Exmoor, so I bethought me that I + could not employ my leisure better than by chasing the chasers. Odd’s + wouns! it was a proper hunt. Away went my gentlemen, whooping like madmen, + with their coat skirts flapping in the breeze, chivying on the dogs, and + having a rare morning’s sport. They never marked the quiet horseman who + rode behind them, and who without a “yoick!” or “hark-a-way!” was + relishing his chase with the loudest of them. It needed but a posse of + peace officers at my heels to make up a brave string of us, + catch-who-catch-can, like the game the lads play on the village green.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And what came of it?’ I asked, for our new acquaintance was laughing + silently to himself. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, my three friends ran down their hare, and pulled out their flasks, + as men who had done a good stroke of work. They were still hobnobbing and + laughing over the slaughtered bunny, and one had dismounted to cut off its + ears as the prize of their chase, when I came up at a hand-gallop. + “Good-morrow, gentlemen,” said I, “we have had rare sport.” They looked at + me blankly enough, I promise you, and one of them asked me what the devil + I did there, and how I dared to join in a private sport. “Nay, I was not + chasing your hare, gentlemen,” said I. “What then, fellow?” asked one of + them. “Why, marry, I was chasing you,” I answered, “and a better run I + have not had for years.” With that I lugged out my persuaders, and made + the thing clear in a few words, and I’ll warrant you would have laughed + could you have seen their faces as they slowly dragged the fat leather + purses from their fobs. Seventy-one pounds was my prize that morning, + which was better worth riding for than a hare’s ears.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Did they not raise the country on your track?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay! When Brown Alice is given her head she flies faster than the news. + Rumour spreads quick, but the good mare’s stride is quicker still.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And here we are within our own outposts,’ quoth Sir Gervas. ‘Now, mine + honest friend—for honest you have been to us, whatever others may + say of you—will you not come with us, and strike in for a good + cause? Zounds, man! you have many an ill deed to atone for, I’ll warrant. + Why not add one good one to your account, by risking your life for the + reformed faith?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not I,’ the highwayman answered, reining up his horse. ‘My own skin is + nothing, but why should I risk my mare in such a fool’s quarrel? Should + she come to harm in the ruffle, where could I get such another? Besides, + it matters nothing to her whether Papist or Protestant sits on the throne + of England—does it, my beauty?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But you might chance to gain preferment,’ I said. ‘Our Colonel, Decimus + Saxon, is one who loves a good swordsman, and his word hath power with + King Monmouth and the council.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay!’ cried Hector Marot gruffly. ‘Let every man stick to his own + trade. Kirke’s Horse I am ever ready to have a brush with, for a party of + them hung old blind Jim Houston of Milverton, who was a friend of mine. I + have sent seven of the red-handed rogues to their last account for it, and + might work through the whole regiment had I time. But I will not fight + against King James, nor will I risk the mare, so let me hear no more of + it. And now I must leave ye, for I have much to do. Farewell to you!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Farewell, farewell!’ we cried, pressing his brown horny hands; ‘our + thanks to you for your guidance.’ Raising his hat, he shook his bridle and + galloped off down the road in a rolling cloud of dust. + </p> + <p> + ‘Rat me, if I ever say a word against the thieves again!’ said Sir Gervas. + ‘I never saw a man wield sword more deftly in my life, and he must be a + rare hand with a pistol to bring those two tall fellows down with two + shots. But look over there, Clarke! Can you not see bodies of red-coats?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Surely I can,’ I answered, gazing out over the broad, reedy, + dead-coloured plain, which extended from the other side of the winding + Parret to the distant Polden Hills. ‘I can see them over yonder in the + direction of Westonzoyland, as bright as the poppies among corn.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There are more upon the left, near Chedzoy,’ quoth Sir Gervas. ‘One, two, + three, and one yonder, and two others behind—six regiments of foot + in all. Methinks I see the breastplates of horse over there, and some sign + of ordnance too. Faith! Monmouth must fight now, if he ever hopes to feel + the gold rim upon his temples. The whole of King James’s army hath closed + upon him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We must get back to our command, then,’ I answered. ‘If I mistake not, I + see the flutter of our standards in the market-place.’ We spurred our + weary steeds forward, and made our way with our little party and the + supplies which we had collected, until we found ourselves back in our + quarters, where we were hailed by the lusty cheers of our hungry comrades. + Before noon the drove of bullocks had been changed into joints and steaks, + while our green stuff and other victuals had helped to furnish the last + dinner which many of our men were ever destined to eat. Major Hooker came + in shortly after with a good store of provisions, but in no very good + case, for he had had a skirmish with the dragoons, and had lost eight or + ten of his men. He bore a complaint straightway to the council concerning + the manner in which we had deserted him; but great events were coming fast + upon us now, and there was small time to inquire into petty matters of + discipline. For myself, I freely confess, looking back on it, that as a + soldier he was entirely in the right, and that from a strict military + point of view our conduct was not to be excused. Yet I trust, my dears, + even now, when years have weighed me down, that the scream of a woman in + distress would be a signal which would draw me to her aid while these old + limbs could bear me. For the duty which we owe to the weak overrides all + other duties and is superior to all circumstances, and I for one cannot + see why the coat of the soldier should harden the heart of the man. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0031" id="link2HCH0031"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXXI. Of the Maid of the Marsh and the Bubble which rose from the + Bog + </h2> + <p> + All Bridgewater was in a ferment as we rode in, for King James’s forces + were within four miles, on the Sedgemoor Plain, and it was likely that + they would push on at once and storm the town. Some rude works had been + thrown up on the Eastover side, behind which two brigades were drawn up in + arms, while the rest of the army was held in reserve in the market-place + and Castle Field. Towards afternoon, however, parties of our horse and + peasants from the fen country came in with the news that there was no fear + of an assault being attempted. The Royal troops had quartered themselves + snugly in the little villages of the neighbourhood, and having levied + contributions of cider and of beer from the farmers, they showed no sign + of any wish to advance. + </p> + <p> + The town was full of women, the wives, mothers, and sisters of our + peasants, who had come in from far and near to see their loved ones once + more. Fleet Street or Cheapside upon a busy day are not more crowded than + were the narrow streets and lanes of the Somersetshire town. Jack-booted, + buff-coated troopers; scarlet militiamen; brown, stern-faced Tauntonians; + serge-clad pikemen; wild, ragged miners; smockfrocked yokels; reckless, + weather-tanned seamen; gaunt cragsmen from the northern coast—all + pushed and jostled each other in a thick, many-coloured crowd. Everywhere + among them were the country women, straw-bonneted and loud-tongued, + weeping, embracing, and exhorting. Here and there amid the motley dresses + and gleam of arms moved the dark, sombre figure of a Puritan minister, + with sweeping sad-coloured mantle and penthouse hat, scattering abroad + short fiery ejaculations and stern pithy texts of the old fighting order, + which warmed the men’s blood like liquor. Ever and anon a sharp, fierce + shout would rise from the people, like the yelp of a high-spirited hound + which is straining at its leash and hot to be at the throat of its enemy. + </p> + <p> + Our regiment had been taken off duty whenever it was clear that Feversham + did not mean to advance, and they were now busy upon the victuals which + our night-foray had furnished. It was a Sunday, fresh and warm, with a + clear, unclouded sky, and a gentle breeze, sweet with the smack of the + country. All day the bells of the neighbouring villages rang out their + alarm, pealing their music over the sunlit countryside. The upper windows + and red-tiled roofs of the houses were crowded with pale-faced women and + children, who peered out to eastward, where the splotches of crimson upon + the dun-coloured moor marked the position of our enemies. + </p> + <p> + At four o’clock Monmouth held a last council of war upon the square tower + out of which springs the steeple of Bridgewater parish church, whence a + good view can be obtained of all the country round. Since my ride to + Beaufort I had always been honoured with a summons to attend, in spite of + my humble rank in the army. There were some thirty councillors in all, as + many as the space would hold, soldiers and courtiers, Cavaliers and + Puritans, all drawn together now by the bond of a common danger. Indeed, + the near approach of a crisis in their fortunes had broken down much of + the distinction of manner which had served to separate them. The sectary + had lost something of his austerity and become flushed and eager at the + prospect of battle, while the giddy man of fashion was hushed into + unwonted gravity as he considered the danger of his position. Their old + feuds were forgotten as they gathered on the parapet and gazed with set + faces at the thick columns of smoke which rose along the sky-line. + </p> + <p> + King Monmouth stood among his chiefs, pale and haggard, with the + dishevelled, unkempt look of a man whose distress of mind has made him + forgetful of the care of his person. He held a pair of ivory glasses, and + as he raised them to his eyes his thin white hands shook and twitched + until it was grievous to watch him. Lord Grey handed his own glasses to + Saxon, who leaned his elbows upon the rough stone breastwork and stared + long and earnestly at the enemy. + </p> + <p> + ‘They are the very men I have myself led,’ said Monmouth at last, in a low + voice, as though uttering his thoughts aloud. ‘Over yonder at the right I + see Dumbarton’s foot. I know these men well. They will fight. Had we them + with us all would be well.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, your Majesty,’ Lord Grey answered with spirit, ‘you do your brave + followers an injustice. They, too, will fight to the last drop of their + blood in your quarrel.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Look down at them!’ said Monmouth sadly, pointing at the swarming streets + beneath us. ‘Braver hearts never beat in English breasts, yet do but mark + how they brabble and clamour like clowns on a Saturday night. Compare them + with the stern, orderly array of the trained battalions. Alas! that I + should have dragged these honest souls from their little homes to fight so + hopeless a battle!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hark at that!’ cried Wade. ‘They do not think it hopeless, nor do we.’ As + he spoke a wild shout rose from the dense crowd beneath, who were + listening to a preacher who was holding forth from a window. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is worthy Doctor Ferguson,’ said Sir Stephen Timewell, who had just + come up. ‘He is as one inspired, powerfully borne onwards in his + discourse. Verily he is even as one of the prophets of old. He has chosen + for his text, “The Lord God of gods he knoweth and Israel he shall know. + If it be in rebellion or if in transgression against the Lord, save us not + this day.”’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Amen, amen!’ cried several of the Puritan soldiers devoutly, while + another hoarse burst of shouting from below, with the clashing of + scythe-blades and the clatter of arms, showed how deeply the people were + moved by the burning words of the fanatic. + </p> + <p> + ‘They do indeed seem to be hot for battle,’ said Monmouth, with a more + sprightly look. ‘It may be that one who has commanded regular troops, as I + have done, is prone to lay too much weight upon the difference which + discipline and training make. These brave lads seem high of heart. What + think you of the enemy’s dispositions, Colonel Saxon?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘By my faith, I think very little of them, your Majesty,’ Saxon answered + bluntly. ‘I have seen armies drawn up in array in many different parts of + the world and under many commanders. I have likewise read the section + which treats of the matter in the “De re militari” of Petrinus Bellus, and + in the works of a Fleming of repute, yet I have neither seen nor heard + anything which can commend the arrangements which we see before us.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How call you the hamlet on the left—that with the square ivy-clad + church tower?’ asked Monmouth, turning to the Mayor of Bridgewater, a + small, anxious-faced man, who was evidently far from easy at the + prominence which his office had brought upon him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Westonzoyland, your Honour—that is, your Grace—I mean, your + Majesty,’ he stammered. ‘The other, two miles farther off, is Middlezoy, + and away to the left, just on the far side of the rhine, is Chedzoy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The rhine, sir! What do you mean?’ asked the King, starting violently, + and turning so fiercely upon the timid burgher, that he lost the little + balance of wits which was left to him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, the rhine, your Grace, your Majesty,’ he quavered. ‘The rhine, + which, as your Majesty’s Grace cannot but perceive, is what the country + folk call the rhine.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is a name, your Majesty, for the deep and broad ditches which drain + off the water from the great morass of Sedgemoor,’ said Sir Stephen + Timewell. + </p> + <p> + Monmouth turned white to his very lips, and several of the council + exchanged significant glances, recalling the strange prophetic jingle + which I had been the means of bringing to the camp. The silence was + broken, however, by an old Cromwellian Major named Hollis, who had been + drawing upon paper the position of the villages in which the enemy was + quartered. + </p> + <p> + ‘If it please your Majesty, there is something in their order which + recalls to my mind that of the army of the Scots upon the occasion of the + battle of Dunbar. Cromwell lay in Dunbar even as we lie in Bridgewater. + The ground around, which was boggy and treacherous, was held by the enemy. + There was not a man in the army who would not own that, had old Leslie + held his position, we should, as far as human wisdom could see, have had + to betake us to our ships, leave our stores and ordnance, and so make the + best of our way to Newcastle. He moved, however, through the blessing of + Providence, in such a manner that a quagmire intervened between his right + wing and the rest of his army, on which Cromwell fell upon that wing in + the early dawn, and dashed it to pieces, with such effect that the whole + army fled, and we had the execution of them to the very gates of Leith. + Seven thousand Scots lost their lives, but not more than a hundred or so + of the honest folk. Now, your Majesty will see through your glass that a + mile of bogland intervenes between these villages, and that the nearest + one, Chedzoy, as I think they call it, might be approached without + ourselves entering the morass. Very sure I am that were the Lord-General + with us now he would counsel us to venture some such attack.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is a bold thing with raw peasants to attack old soldiers,’ quoth Sir + Stephen Timewell. ‘Yet if it is to be done, I know well that there is not + a man born within sound of the bells of St. Mary Magdalene who will flinch + from it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You say well, Sir Stephen,’ said Monmouth. ‘At Dunbar Cromwell had + veterans at his back, and was opposed to troops who had small experience + of war.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yet there is much good sense in what Major Hollis has said,’ remarked + Lord Grey. ‘We must either fall on, or be gradually girt round and starved + out. That being so, why not take advantage at once of the chance which + Feversham’s ignorance or carelessness hath given us? To-morrow, if + Churchill can prevail over his chief, I have little doubt that we shall + find their camp rearranged, and so have cause to regret our lost + opportunity.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Their horse lie at Westonzoyland,’ said Wade. ‘The sun is so fierce now + that we can scarce see for its glare and the haze which rises up from the + marshes. Yet a little while ago I could make out through my glasses the + long lines of horses picketed on the moor beyond the village. Behind, in + Middlezoy, are two thousand militia, while in Chedzoy, where our attack + would fall, there are five regiments of regular foot.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If we could break those all would be well,’ cried Monmouth. ‘What is your + advice, Colonel Buyse?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My advice is ever the same,’ the German answered. ‘We are here to fight, + and the sooner we get to work at it the better.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And yours, Colonel Saxon? Do you agree with the opinion of your friend?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I think with Major Hollis, your Majesty, that Feversham by his + dispositions hath laid himself open to attack, and that we should take + advantage of it forthwith. Yet, considering that trained men and a + numerous horse have great advantage by daylight, I should be in favour of + a camisado or night onfall.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The same thought was in my mind,’ said Grey. ‘Our friends here know every + inch of the ground, and could guide us to Chedzoy as surely in the + darkness as in the day.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have heard,’ said Saxon, ‘that much beer and cider, with wine and + strong waters, have found their way into their camp. If this be so we may + give them a rouse while their heads are still buzzing with the liquor, + when they shall scarce know whether it is ourselves or the blue devils + which have come upon them.’ + </p> + <p> + A general chorus of approval from the whole council showed that the + prospect of at last coming to an engagement was welcome, after the weary + marchings and delays of the last few weeks. + </p> + <p> + ‘Has any cavalier anything to say against this plan?’ asked the King. + </p> + <p> + We all looked from one to the other, but though many faces were doubtful + or desponding, none had a word to say against the night attack, for it was + clear that our action in any case must be hazardous, and this had at least + the merit of promising a better chance of success than any other. Yet, my + dears, I dare say the boldest of us felt a sinking at the heart as we + looked at our downcast, sad-faced leader, and asked ourselves whether this + was a likely man to bring so desperate an enterprise to a success. + </p> + <p> + ‘If all are agreed,’ said he, ‘let our word be “Soho,” and let us come + upon them as soon after midnight as may be. What remains to be settled as + to the order of battle may be left for the meantime. You will now, + gentlemen, return to your regiments, and you will remember that be the + upshot of this what it may, whether Monmouth be the crowned King of + England or a hunted fugitive, his heart, while it can still beat, will + ever bear in memory the brave friends who stood at his side in the hour of + his trouble.’ + </p> + <p> + At this simple and kindly speech a flush of devotion, mingled in my own + case at least with a heart-whole pity for the poor, weak gentleman, swept + over us. We pressed round him with our hands upon the hilts of our swords, + swearing that we would stand by him, though all the world stood between + him and his rights. Even the rigid and impassive Puritans were moved to a + show of loyalty; while the courtiers, carried away by zeal, drew their + rapiers and shouted until the crowd beneath caught the enthusiasm, and the + air was full of the cheering. The light returned to Monmouth’s eye and the + colour to his cheek as he listened to the clamour. For a moment at least + he looked like the King which he aspired to be. + </p> + <p> + ‘My thanks to ye, dear friends and subjects,’ he cried. ‘The issue rests + with the Almighty, but what men can do will, I know well, be done by you + this night. If Monmouth cannot have all England, six feet of her shall at + least be his. Meanwhile, to your regiments, and may God defend the right!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘May God defend the right! cried the council solemnly, and separated, + leaving the King with Grey to make the final dispositions for the attack. + </p> + <p> + ‘These popinjays of the Court are ready enough to wave their rapiers and + shout when there are four good miles between them and the foe,’ said + Saxon, as we made our way through the crowd. ‘I fear that they will scarce + be as forward when there is a line of musqueteers to be faced, and a + brigade of horse perhaps charging down upon their flank. But here comes + friend Lockarby, with news written upon his face.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have a report to make, Colonel,’ said Reuben, hurrying breathlessly up + to us. ‘You may remember that I and my company were placed on guard this + day at the eastern gates?’ + </p> + <p> + Saxon nodded. + </p> + <p> + ‘Being desirous of seeing all that I could of the enemy, I clambered up a + lofty tree which stands just without the town. From this post, by the aid + of a glass, I was able to make out their lines and camp. Whilst I was + gazing I chanced to observe a man slinking along under cover of the + birch-trees half-way between their lines and the town. Watching him, I + found that he was indeed moving in our direction. Presently he came so + near that I was able to distinguish who it was—for it was one whom I + know—but instead of entering the town by my gate he walked round + under cover of the peat cuttings, and so made his way doubtless to some + other entrance. He is a man, however, who I have reason to believe has no + true love for the cause, and it is my belief that he hath been to the + Royal camp with news of our doings, and hath now come back for further + information.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye!’ said Saxon, raising his eyebrows. ‘And what is the man’s name?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘His name is Derrick, one time chief apprentice to Master Timewell at + Taunton, and now an officer in the Taunton foot.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What, the young springald who had his eye upon pretty Mistress Ruth! Now, + out on love, if it is to turn a true man into a traitor! But methought he + was one of the elect? I have heard him hold forth to the pikemen. How + comes it that one of his kidney should lend help to the Prelatist cause?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Love again,’ quoth I. ‘This same love is a pretty flower when it grows + unchecked, but a sorry weed if thwarted.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He hath an ill-feeling towards many in the camp,’ said Reuben, ‘and he + would ruin the army to avenge himself on them, as a rogue might sink a + ship in the hope of drowning one enemy. Sir Stephen himself hath incurred + his hatred for refusing to force his daughter into accepting his suit. He + has now returned into the camp, and I have reported the matter to you, + that you may judge whether it would not be well to send a file of pikemen + and lay him by the heels lest he play the spy once more.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Perhaps it would be best so,’ Saxon answered, full of thought, ‘and yet + no doubt the fellow would have some tale prepared which would outweigh our + mere suspicions. Could we not take him in the very act?’ + </p> + <p> + A thought slipped into my head. I had observed from the tower that there + was a single lonely cottage about a third of the way to the enemy’s camp, + standing by the road at a place where there were marshes on either side. + Any one journeying that way must pass it. If Derrick tried to carry our + plans to Feversham he might be cut off at this point by a party placed to + lie in wait for him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Most excellent!’ Saxon exclaimed, when I had explained the project. ‘My + learned Fleming himself could not have devised a better rusus belli. Do ye + convey as many files as ye may think fit to this point, and I shall see + that Master Derrick is primed up with some fresh news for my Lord + Feversham.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, a body of troops marching out would set tongues wagging,’ said + Reuben. ‘Why should not Micah and I go ourselves?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That would indeed be better.’ Saxon answered. ‘But ye must pledge your + words, come what may, to be back at sundown, for your companies must stand + to arms an hour before the advance.’ + </p> + <p> + We both gladly gave the desired promise; and having learned for certain + that Derrick had indeed returned to the camp, Saxon undertook to let drop + in his presence some words as to the plans for the night, while we set off + at once for our post. Our horses we left behind, and slipping out through + the eastern gate we made our way over bog and moor, concealing ourselves + as best we could, until we came out upon the lonely roadway, and found + ourselves in front of the house. + </p> + <p> + It was a plain, whitewashed, thatch-roofed cottage, with a small board + above the door, whereon was written a notice that the occupier sold milk + and butter. No smoke reeked up from the chimney, and the shutters of the + window were closed, from which we gathered that the folk who owned it had + fled away from their perilous position. On either side the marsh extended, + reedy and shallow at the edge, but deeper at a distance, with a bright + green scum which covered its treacherous surface. We knocked at the + weather-blotched door, but receiving, as we expected, no reply, I + presently put my shoulder against it and forced the staple from its + fastenings. + </p> + <p> + There was but a single chamber within, with a straight ladder in the + corner, leading through a square hole in the ceiling to the sleeping + chamber under the roof. Three or four chairs and stools were scattered + over the earthen floor, and at the side a deal table with the broad brown + milk basins upon it. Green blotches upon the wall and a sinking in of one + side of the cottage showed the effect of its damp, marsh-girt position. + </p> + <p> + To our surprise it had still one inmate within its walls. In the centre of + the room, facing the door as we entered, stood a little bright, + golden-haired maid, five or six years of age. She was clad in a clean + white smock, with trim leather belt and shining buckle about her waist. + Two plump little legs with socks and leathern boots peeped out from under + the dress, stoutly planted with right foot in advance as one who was bent + upon holding her ground. Her tiny head was thrown back, and her large blue + eyes were full of mingled wonder and defiance. As we entered the little + witch flapped her kerchief at us, and shooed as though we were two of the + intrusive fowl whom she was wont to chevy out of the house. Reuben and I + stood on the threshold, uncertain, and awkward, like a pair of overgrown + school lads, looking down at this fairy queen whose realms we had invaded, + in two minds whether to beat a retreat or to appease her wrath by soft and + coaxing words. + </p> + <p> + ‘Go ‘way!’ she cried, still waving her hands and shaking her kerchief. ‘Go + ‘way! Granny told me to tell any one that came to go ‘way!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But if they would not go away, little mistress,’ asked Reuben, ‘what were + you to do then?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I was to drive them ‘way,’ she answered, advancing boldly against us with + many flaps. ‘You bad man!’ she continued, flashing out at me, ‘you have + broken granny’s bolt.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, I’ll mend it again,’ I answered penitently, and catching up a stone + I soon fastened the injured staple. ‘There, mistress, your granddam will + never tell the difference.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ye must go ‘way all the same,’ she persisted; ‘this is granny’s house, + not yours.’ + </p> + <p> + What were we to do with this resolute little dame of the marshes? That we + should stay in the house was a crying need, for there was no other cover + or shelter among the dreary bogs where we could hide ourselves. Yet she + was bent upon driving us out with a decision and fearlessness which might + have put Monmouth to shame. + </p> + <p> + ‘You sell milk,’ said Reuben. ‘We are tired and thirsty, so we have come + to have a horn of it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay,’ she cried, breaking into smiles, ‘will ye pay me just as the folk + pay granny? Oh, heart alive! but that will be fine!’ She skipped up on to + a stool and filled a pair of deep mugs from the basins upon the table. ‘A + penny, please!’ said she. + </p> + <p> + It was strange to see the little wife hide the coin away in her smock, + with pride and joy in her innocent face at this rare stroke of business + which she had done for her absent granny. We bore our milk away to the + window, and having loosed the shutters we seated ourselves so as to have + an outlook down the road. + </p> + <p> + ‘For the Lord’s sake, drink slow!’ whispered Reuben, under his breath. ‘We + must keep on swilling milk or she will want to turn us out.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We have paid toll now,’ I answered; ‘surely she will let us bide.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If you have done you must go ‘way,’ she said firmly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Were ever two men-at-arms so tyrannised over by a little dolly such as + this!’ said I, laughing. ‘Nay, little one, we shall compound with you by + paying you this shilling, which will buy all your milk. We can stay here + and drink it at our ease.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Jinny, the cow, is just across the marsh,’ quoth she. ‘It is nigh milking + time, and I shall fetch her round if ye wish more.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Now, God forbid!’ cried Reuben. ‘It will end in our having to buy the + cow. Where is your granny, little maid?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She hath gone into the town,’ the child answered. ‘There are bad men with + red coats and guns coming to steal and to fight, but granny will soon make + them go ‘way. Granny has gone to set it all right.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We are fighting against the men with the red coats, my chuck,’ said I; + ‘we shall take care of your house with you, and let no one steal + anything.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, then ye may stay,’ quoth she, climbing up upon my knee as grave as a + sparrow upon a bough. ‘What a great boy you are!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And why not a man?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Because you have no beard upon your face. Why, granny hath more hair upon + her chin than you. Besides, only boys drink milk. Men drink cider.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then if I am a boy I shall be your sweetheart,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, indeed!’ she cried, with a toss of her golden locks. ‘I have no mind + to wed for a while, but Giles Martin of Gommatch is my sweetheart. What a + pretty shining tin smock you have, and what a great sword! Why should + people have these things to harm each other with when they are in truth + all brothers?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why are they all brothers, little mistress?’ asked Reuben. + </p> + <p> + ‘Because granny says that they are all the children of the great Father,’ + she answered. ‘If they have all one father they must be brothers, mustn’t + they?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, Micah,’ quoth Reuben, staring + out of the window. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are a rare little marsh flower,’ I said, as she clambered up to grasp + at my steel cap. ‘Is it not strange to think, Reuben, that there should be + thousands of Christian men upon either side of us, athirst for each + other’s lives, and here between them is a blue-eyed cherub who lisps out + the blessed philosophy which would send us all to our homes with softened + hearts and hale bodies?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A day of this child would sicken me for over of soldiering,’ Reuben + answered. ‘The cavalier and the butcher become too near of kin, as I + listen to her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Perhaps both are equally needful,’ said I, shrugging my shoulders. ‘We + have put our hands to the plough. But methinks I see the man for whom we + wait coming down under the shadow of yonder line of pollard willows.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is he, sure enough,’ cried Reuben, peeping through the diamond-paned + window. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then, little one, you must sit here,’ said I, raising her up from my knee + and placing her on a chair in a corner. ‘You must be a brave lass and sit + still, whatever may chance. Will you do so?’ + </p> + <p> + She pursed up her rosy lips and nodded her head. + </p> + <p> + ‘He comes on apace, Micah,’ quoth my comrade, who was still standing by + the casement. ‘Is he not like some treacherous fox or other beast of + prey?’ + </p> + <p> + There was indeed something in his lean, black-clothed figure and swift + furtive movements which was like some cruel and cunning animal. He stole + along under shadow of the stunted trees and withies, with bent body and + gliding gait, so that from Bridgewater it would be no easy matter for the + most keen-sighted to see him. Indeed, he was so far from the town that he + might safely have come out from his concealment and struck across the + moor, but the deep morass on either side prevented him from leaving the + road until he had passed the cottage. + </p> + <p> + As he came abreast of our ambush we both sprang out from the open door and + barred his way. I have heard the Independent minister at Emsworth give an + account of Satan’s appearance, but if the worthy man had been with us that + day, he need not have drawn upon his fancy. The man’s dark face whitened + into a sickly and mottled pallor, while he drew back with a long sharp + intaking of the breath and a venomous flash from his black eyes, glancing + swiftly from right to left for some means of escape. For an instant his + hand shot towards his sword-hilt, but his reason told him that he could + scarce expect to fight his way past us. Then he glanced round, but any + retreat would lead him back to the men whom he had betrayed. So he stood + sullen and stolid, with heavy, downcast face and shifting, restless eye, + the very type and symbol of treachery. + </p> + <p> + ‘We have waited some time for you, Master John Derrick,’ said I. ‘You must + now return with us to the town.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘On what grounds do you arrest me?’ he asked, in hoarse, broken tones. + ‘Where is your warranty? Who hath given you a commission to molest + travellers upon the King’s highway?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have my Colonel’s commission,’ I answered shortly. ‘You have been once + already to Feversham’s camp this morning.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is a lie,’ he snarled fiercely. ‘I do but take a stroll to enjoy the + air.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is the truth,’ said Reuben. ‘I saw you myself on your return. Let us + see that paper which peeps from your doublet.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We all know why you should set this trap for me,’ Derrick cried bitterly. + ‘You have set evil reports afloat against me, lest I stand in your light + with the Mayor’s daughter. What are you that you should dare to raise your + eyes to her! A mere vagrant and masterless man, coming none know whence. + Why should you aspire to pluck the flower which has grown up amongst us? + What had you to do with her or with us? Answer me!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is not a matter which I shall discuss, save at a more fitting time and + place,’ Reuben answered quietly. ‘Do you give over your sword and come + back with us. For my part, I promise to do what I can to save your life. + Should we win this night, your poor efforts can do little to harm us. + Should we lose, there may be few of us left to harm.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I thank you for your kindly protection,’ he replied, in the same white, + cold, bitter manner, unbuckling his sword as he spoke, and walking slowly + up to my companion. ‘You can take this as a gift to Mistress Ruth,’ he + said, presenting the weapon in his left hand, ‘and this!’ he added, + plucking a knife from his belt and burying it in my poor friend’s side. + </p> + <p> + It was done in an instant—so suddenly that I had neither time to + spring between, nor to grasp his intention before the wounded man sank + gasping on the ground, and the knife tinkled upon the pathway at my feet. + The villain set up a shrill cry of triumph, and bounding back in time to + avoid the savage sword thrust which I made at him, he turned and fled down + the road at the top of his speed. He was a far lighter man than I, and + more scantily clad, yet I had, from my long wind and length of limb, been + the best runner of my district, and he soon learned by the sound of my + feet that he had no chance of shaking me off. Twice he doubled as a hare + does when the hound is upon him, and twice my sword passed within a foot + of him, for in very truth I had no more thought of mercy than if he had + been a poisonous snake who had fastened his fangs into my friend before my + eyes. I never dreamed of giving nor did he of claiming it. At last, + hearing my steps close upon him and my breathing at his very shoulder, he + sprang wildly through the reeds and dashed into the treacherous morass. + Ankle-deep, knee-deep, thigh-deep, waist-deep, we struggled and staggered, + I still gaining upon him, until I was within arm’s-reach of him, and had + whirled up my sword to strike. It had been ordained, however, my dear + children, that he should die not the death of a man, but that of the + reptile which he was, for even as I closed upon him he sank of a sudden + with a gurgling sound, and the green marsh scum met above his head. No + ripple was there and no splash to mark the spot. It was sudden and silent, + as though some strange monster of the marshes had seized him and dragged + him down into the depths. As I stood with upraised sword still gazing upon + the spot, one single great bubble rose and burst upon the surface, and + then all was still once more, and the dreary fens lay stretched before me, + the very home of death and of desolation. I know not whether he had indeed + come upon some sudden pit which had engulfed him, or whether in his + despair he had cast himself down of set purpose. I do but know that there + in the great Sedgemoor morass are buried the bones of the traitor and the + spy. + </p> + <p> + I made my way as best I could through the oozy clinging mud to the margin, + and hastened back to where Reuben was lying. Bending over him I found that + the knife had pierced through the side leather which connected his back + and front plates, and that the blood was not only pouring out of the + wound, but was trickling from the corner of his mouth. With trembling + fingers I undid the straps and buckles, loosened the armour, and pressed + my kerchief to his side to staunch the flow. + </p> + <p> + ‘I trust that you have not slain him, Micah,’ he said of a sudden, opening + his eyes. + </p> + <p> + ‘A higher power than ours has judged him, Reuben,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Poor devil! He has had much to embitter him,’ he murmured, and + straightway fainted again. As I knelt over him, marking the lad’s white + face and laboured breathing, and bethought me of his simple, kindly nature + and of the affection which I had done so little to deserve, I am not + ashamed to say, my dears, albeit I am a man somewhat backward in my + emotions, that my tears were mingled with his blood. + </p> + <p> + As it chanced, Decimus Saxon had found time to ascend the church tower for + the purpose of watching us through his glass and seeing how we fared. + Noting that there was something amiss, he had hurried down for a skilled + chirurgeon, whom he brought out to us under an escort of scythesmen. I was + still kneeling by my senseless friend, doing what an ignorant man might to + assist him, when the party arrived and helped me to bear him into the + cottage, out of the glare of the sun. The minutes were as hours while the + man of physic with a grave face examined and probed the wound. + </p> + <p> + ‘It will scarce prove fatal,’ he said at last, and I could have embraced + him for the words. ‘The blade has glanced on a rib, though the lung is + slightly torn. We shall hear him back with us to the town.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You hear what he says,’ said Saxon kindly. ‘He is a man whose opinion is + of weight— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “A skilful leach is better far, + Than half a hundred men of war.” + </pre> + <p> + Cheer up, man! You are as white as though it were your blood and not his + which was drained away. Where is Derrick?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Drowned in the marshes,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis well! It will save us six feet of good hemp. But our position here + is somewhat exposed, since the Royal Horse might make a dash at us. Who is + this little maid who sits so white and still in the corner.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis the guardian of the house. Her granny has left her here.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You had better come with us. There may be rough work here ere all is + over.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, I must wait for granny,’ she answered, with the tears running down + her cheeks. + </p> + <p> + ‘But how if I take you to granny, little one,’ said I. ‘We cannot leave + you here. ‘I held out my arms, and the child sprang into them and nestled + up against my bosom, sobbing as though her heart would break. ‘Take me + away,’ she cried; ‘I’se frightened.’ + </p> + <p> + I soothed the little trembling thing as best I might, and bore her off + with me upon my shoulder. The scythesmen had passed the handles of their + long weapons through the sleeves of their jerkins in such a way as to form + a couch or litter, upon which poor Reuben was laid. A slight dash of + colour had come back to his cheeks in answer to some cordial given him by + the chirurgeon, and he nodded and smiled at Saxon. Thus, pacing slowly, we + returned to Bridgewater, where Reuben was carried to our quarters, and I + bore the little maid of the marshes to kind townsfolk, who promised to + restore her to her home when the troubles were over. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0032" id="link2HCH0032"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXXII. Of the Onfall at Sedgemoor + </h2> + <p> + However pressing our own private griefs and needs, we had little time now + to dwell upon them, for the moment was at hand which was to decide for the + time not only our own fates, but that of the Protestant cause in England. + None of us made light of the danger. Nothing less than a miracle could + preserve us from defeat, and most of us were of opinion that the days of + the miracles were past. Others, however, thought otherwise. I believe that + many of our Puritans, had they seen the heavens open that night, and the + armies of the Seraphim and the Cherubim descending to our aid, would have + looked upon it as by no means a wonderful or unexpected occurrence. + </p> + <p> + The whole town was loud with the preaching. Every troop or company had its + own chosen orator, and sometimes more than one, who held forth and + expounded. From barrels, from waggons, from windows, and even from + housetops, they addressed the crowds beneath; nor was their eloquence in + vain. Hoarse, fierce shouts rose up from the streets, with broken prayers + and ejaculations. Men were drunk with religion as with wine. Their faces + were flushed, their speech thick, their gestures wild. Sir Stephen and + Saxon smiled at each other as they watched them, for they knew, as old + soldiers, that of all causes which make a man valiant in deed and careless + of life, this religious fit is the strongest and the most enduring. + </p> + <p> + In the evening I found time to look in upon my wounded friend, and found + him propped up with cushions upon his couch, breathing with some pain, but + as bright and merry as ever. Our prisoner, Major Ogilvy, who had conceived + a warm affection for us, sat by his side and read aloud to him out of an + old book of plays. + </p> + <p> + ‘This wound hath come at an evil moment,’ said Reuben impatiently. ‘Is it + not too much that a little prick like this should send my men captainless + into battle, after all our marching and drilling? I have been present at + the grace, and am cut off from the dinner.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your company hath been joined to mine,’ I answered, ‘though, indeed, the + honest fellows are cast down at not having their own captain. Has the + physician been to see you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He has left even now,’ said Major Ogilvy. ‘He pronounces our friend to be + doing right well, but hath warned me against allowing him to talk.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hark to that, lad!’ said I, shaking my finger at him. ‘If I hear a word + from you I go. You will escape a rough waking this night, Major. What + think you of our chance?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have thought little of your chance from the first,’ he replied frankly. + ‘Monmouth is like a ruined gamester, who is now putting his last piece + upon the board. He cannot win much, and he may lose all.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, that is a hard saying,’ said I. ‘A success might set the whole of + the Midlands in arms.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘England is not ripe for it,’ the Major answered, with a shake of his + head. ‘It is true that it has no fancy either for Papistry or for a Papist + King, but we know that it is but a passing evil, since the next in + succession, the Prince of Orange, is a Protestant. Why, then, should we + risk so many evils to bring that about which time and patience must, + perforce, accomplish between them? Besides, the man whom ye support has + shown that he is unworthy of confidence. Did he not in his declaration + promise to leave the choice of a monarch to the Commons? And yet, in less + than a week, he proclaimed himself at Taunton Market Cross! Who could + believe one who has so little regard for truth?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Treason, Major, rank treason,’ I answered, laughing. ‘Yet if we could + order a leader as one does a coat we might, perchance, have chosen one of + a stronger texture. We are in arms not for him, but for the old liberties + and rights of Englishmen. Have you seen Sir Gervas?’ + </p> + <p> + Major Ogilvy, and even Reuben, burst out laughing. ‘You will find him in + the room above,’ said our prisoner. ‘Never did a famous toast prepare + herself for a court ball as he is preparing for his battle. If the King’s + troops take him they will assuredly think that they have the Duke. He hath + been in here to consult us as to his patches, hosen, and I know not what + beside. You had best go up to him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Adieu, then, Reuben!’ I said, grasping his hand in mine. + </p> + <p> + ‘Adieu, Micah! God shield you from harm,’ said he. + </p> + <p> + ‘Can I speak to you aside, Major?’ I whispered. ‘I think,’ I went on, as + he followed me into the passage, ‘that you will not say that your + captivity hath been made very harsh for you. May I ask, therefore, that + you will keep an eye upon my friend should we be indeed defeated this + night? No doubt if Feversham gains the upper hand there will be bloody + work. The hale can look after themselves, but he is helpless, and will + need a friend.’ + </p> + <p> + The Major pressed my hand. ‘I swear to God,’ he said, ‘that no harm shall + befall him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You have taken a load from my heart,’ I answered; ‘I know that I leave + him in safety. ‘I can now ride to battle with an easy mind.’ With a + friendly smile the soldier returned to the sick-room, whilst I ascended + the stair and entered the quarters of Sir Gervas Jerome. + </p> + <p> + He was standing before a table which was littered all over with pots, + brushes, boxes, and a score of the like trifles, which he had either + bought or borrowed for the occasion. A large hand-mirror was balanced + against the wall, with rush-lights on either side of it. In front of this, + with a most solemn and serious expression upon his pale, handsome face, + the Baronet was arranging and re-arranging a white berdash cravat. His + riding-boots were brightly polished, and the broken seam repaired. His + sword-sheath, breastplate, and trappings were clear and bright. He wore + his gayest and newest suit, and above all he had donned a most noble and + impressive full-bottomed periwig, which drooped down to his shoulders, as + white as powder could make it. From his dainty riding-hat to his shining + spur there was no speck or stain upon him—a sad set-off to my own + state, plastered as I was with a thick crust of the Sedgemoor mud, and + disordered from having ridden and worked for two days without rest or + repose. + </p> + <p> + ‘Split me, but you have come in good time!’ he exclaimed, as I entered. ‘I + have even now sent down for a flask of canary. Ah, and here it comes!’ as + a maid from the inn tripped upstairs with the bottle and glasses. ‘Here is + a gold piece, my pretty dear, the very last that I have in the whole + world. It is the only survivor of a goodly family. Pay mine host for the + wine, little one, and keep the change for thyself, to buy ribbons for the + next holiday. Now, curse me if I can get this cravat to fit unwrinkled!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is nought amiss with it,’ I answered. ‘How can such trifles occupy + you at such a time?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Trifles!’ he cried angrily. ‘Trifles! Well, there, it boots not to argue + with you. Your bucolic mind would never rise to the subtle import which + may lie in such matters—the rest of mind which it is to have them + right, and the plaguey uneasiness when aught is wrong. It comes, + doubtless, from training, and it may be that I have it more than others of + my class. I feel as a cat who would lick all day to take the least speck + from her fur. Is not the patch over the eyebrow happily chosen? Nay, you + cannot even offer an opinion; I would as soon ask friend Marot, the knight + of the pistol. Fill up your glass!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your company awaits you by the church,’ I remarked; ‘I saw them as I + passed.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How looked they?’ he asked. ‘Were they powdered and clean?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, I had little leisure to observe. I saw that they were cutting their + matches and arranging their priming.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I would that they had all snaphances,’ he answered, sprinkling himself + with scented water; ‘the matchlocks are slow and cumbersome. Have you had + wine enough?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I will take no more,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then mayhap the Major may care to finish it. It is not often I ask help + with a bottle, but I would keep my head cool this night. Let us go down + and see to our men.’ + </p> + <p> + It was ten o’clock when we descended into the street. The hubbub of the + preachers and the shouting of the people had died away, for the regiments + had fallen into their places, and stood silent and stern, with the faint + light from the lamps and windows playing over their dark serried ranks. A + cool, clear moon shone down upon us from amidst fleecy clouds, which + drifted ever and anon across her face. Away in the north tremulous rays of + light flickered up into the heavens, coming and going like long, quivering + fingers. They were the northern lights, a sight rarely seen in the + southland counties. It is little wonder that, coming at such a time, the + fanatics should have pointed to them as signals from another world, and + should have compared them to that pillar of fire which guided Israel + through the dangers of the desert. The footpaths and the windows were + crowded with women and children, who broke into shrill cries of fear or of + wonder as the strange light waxed and waned. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is half after ten by St. Mary’s clock,’ said Saxon, as we rode up to + the regiment. ‘Have we nothing to give the men?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is a hogshead of Zoyland cider in the yard of yonder inn,’ said Sir + Gervas. ‘Here, Dawson, do you take those gold sleeve links and give them + to mine host in exchange. Broach the barrel, and let each man have his + horn full. Sink me, if they shall fight with nought but cold water in + them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They will feel the need of it ere morning,’ said Saxon, as a score of + pikemen hastened off to the inn. ‘The marsh air is chilling to the blood.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I feel cold already, and Covenant is stamping with it,’ said I. ‘Might we + not, if we have time upon our hands, canter our horses down the line?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of a surety,’ Saxon answered gladly, ‘we could not do better;’ so shaking + our bridles we rode off, our horses’ hoofs striking fire from the + flint-paved streets as we passed. + </p> + <p> + Behind the horse, in a long line which stretched from the Eastover gate, + across the bridge, along the High Street, up the Cornhill, and so past the + church to the Pig Cross, stood our foot, silent and grim, save when some + woman’s voice from the windows called forth a deep, short answer from the + ranks. The fitful light gleamed on scythes-blade or gun-barrel, and showed + up the lines of rugged, hard set faces, some of mere children with never a + hair upon their cheeks, others of old men whose grey beards swept down to + their cross-belts, but all bearing the same stamp of a dogged courage and + a fierce self-contained resolution. Here were still the fisher folk of the + south. Here, too, were the fierce men from the Mendips, the wild hunters + from Porlock Quay and Minehead, the poachers of Exmoor, the shaggy + marshmen of Axbridge, the mountain men from the Quantocks, the serge and + wool-workers of Devonshire, the graziers of Bampton, the red-coats from + the Militia, the stout burghers of Taunton, and then, as the very bone and + sinew of all, the brave smockfrocked peasants of the plains, who had + turned up their jackets to the elbow, and exposed their brown and corded + arms, as was their wont when good work had to be done. As I speak to you, + dear children, fifty years rolls by like a mist in the morning, and I am + riding once more down the winding street, and see again the serried ranks + of my gallant companions. Brave hearts! They showed to all time how little + training it takes to turn an Englishman into a soldier, and what manner of + men are bred in those quiet, peaceful hamlets which dot the sunny slopes + of the Somerset and Devon downs. If ever it should be that England should + be struck upon her knees, if those who fight her battles should have + deserted her, and she should find herself unarmed in the presence of her + enemy, let her take heart and remember that every village in the realm is + a barrack, and that her real standing army is the hardy courage and simple + virtue which stand ever in the breast of the humblest of her peasants. + </p> + <p> + As we rode down the long line a buzz of greeting and welcome rose now and + again from the ranks as they recognised through the gloom Saxon’s tall, + gaunt figure. The clock was on the stroke of eleven as we returned to our + own men, and at that very moment King Monmouth rode out from the inn where + he was quartered, and trotted with his staff down the High Street. All + cheering had been forbidden, but waving caps and brandished arms spoke the + ardour of his devoted followers. No bugle was to sound the march, but as + each received the word the one in its rear followed its movements. The + clatter and shuffle of hundreds of moving feet came nearer and nearer, + until the Frome men in front of us began to march, and we found ourselves + fairly started upon the last journey which many of us were ever to take in + this world. + </p> + <p> + Our road lay across the Parret, through Eastover, and so along the winding + track past the spot where Derrick met his fate, and the lonely cottage of + the little maid. At the other side of this the road becomes a mere pathway + over the plain. A dense haze lay over the moor, gathering thickly in the + hollows, and veiling both the town which we had left and the villages + which we were approaching. Now and again it would lift for a few moments, + and then I could see in the moonlight the long black writhing line of the + army, with the shimmer of steel playing over it, and the rude white + standards flapping in the night breeze. Far on the right a great fire was + blazing—some farmhouse, doubtless, which the Tangiers devils had + made spoil of. Very slow our march was, and very careful, for the plain + was, as Sir Stephen Timewell had told us, cut across by great ditches or + rhines, which could not be passed save at some few places. These ditches + were cut for the purpose of draining the marshes, and were many feet deep + of water and of mud, so that even the horse could not cross them. The + bridges were narrow, and some time passed before the army could get over. + At last, however, the two main ones, the Black Ditch and the Langmoor + Rhine, were safely traversed and a halt was called while the foot was + formed in line, for we had reason to believe that no other force lay + between the Royal camp and ourselves. So far our enterprise had succeeded + admirably. We were within half a mile of the camp without mistake or + accident, and none of the enemy’s scouts had shown sign of their presence. + Clearly they held us in such contempt that it had never occurred to them + that we might open the attack. If ever a general deserved a beating it was + Feversham that night. As he drew up upon the moor the clock of Chedzoy + struck one. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is it not glorious?’ whispered Sir Gervas, as we reined up upon the + further side of the Langmoor Rhine. ‘What is there on earth to compare + with the excitement of this?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You speak as though it wore a cocking-match or a bull-baiting, ‘I + answered, with some little coldness. ‘It is a solemn and a sad occasion. + Win who will, English blood must soak the soil of England this night.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The more room for those who are left,’ said he lightly. ‘Mark over yonder + the glow of their camp-fires amidst the fog. What was it that your seaman + friend did recommend? Get the weather-gauge of them and board—eh? + Have you told that to the Colonel?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, this is no time for quips and cranks,’ I answered gravely; ‘the + chances are that few of us will ever see to-morrow’s sun rise.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have no great curiosity to see it,’ he remarked, with a laugh. ‘It will + be much as yesterday’s. Zounds! though I have never risen to see one in my + life, I have looked on many a hundred ere I went to bed.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have told friend Reuben such few things as I should desire to be done + in case I should fall,’ said I. ‘It has eased my mind much to know that I + leave behind some word of farewell, and little remembrance to all whom I + have known. Is there no service of the sort which I can do for you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hum!’ said he, musing. ‘If I go under, you can tell Araminta—nay, + let the poor wench alone! Why should I send her messages which may plague + her! Should you be in town, little Tommy Chichester would be glad to hear + of the fun which we have had in Somerset. You will find him at the Coca + Tree every day of the week between two and four of the clock. There is + Mother Butterworth, too, whom I might commend to your notice. She was the + queen of wet-nurses, but alas! cruel time hath dried up her business, and + she hath need of some little nursing herself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If I live and you should fall, I shall do what may be done for her,’ said + I. ‘Have you aught else to say?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Only that Hacker of Paul’s Yard is the best for vests,’ he answered. ‘It + is a small piece of knowledge, yet like most other knowledge it hath been + bought and paid for. One other thing! I have a trinket or two left which + might serve as a gift for the pretty Puritan maid, should our friend lead + her to the altar. Od’s my life, but she will make him read some queer + books! How now, Colonel, why are we stuck out on the moor like a row of + herons among the sedges?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They are ordering the line for the attack,’ said Saxon, who had ridden up + during our conversation. ‘Donnerblitz! Who ever saw a camp so exposed to + an onfall? Oh for twelve hundred good horse—for an hour of + Wessenburg’s Pandours! Would I not trample them down until their camp was + like a field of young corn after a hail-storm!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘May not our horse advance?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + The old soldier gave a deep snort of disdain. ‘If this fight is to be won + it must be by our foot,’ said he; ‘what can we hope for from such cavalry? + Keep your men well in hand, for we may have to bear the brunt of the + King’s dragoons. A flank attack would fall upon us, for we are in the post + of honour.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There are troops to the right of us,’ I answered, peering through the + darkness. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye! the Taunton burghers and the Frome peasants. Our brigade covers the + right flank. Next us are the Mendip miners, nor could I wish for better + comrades, if their zeal do not outrun their discretion. They are on their + knees in the mud at this moment.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They will fight none the worse for that,’ I remarked; ‘but surely the + troops are advancing!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, aye!’ cried Saxon joyously, plucking out his sword, and tying his + handkerchief round the handle to strengthen his grip. ‘The hour has come! + Forwards!’ + </p> + <p> + Very slowly and silently we crept on through the dense fog, our feet + splashing and slipping in the sodden soil. With all the care which we + could take, the advance of so great a number of men could not be conducted + without a deep sonorous sound from the thousands of marching feet. Ahead + of us were splotches of ruddy light twinkling through the fog which marked + the Royal watch-fires. Immediately in front in a dense column our own + horse moved forwards. Of a sudden out of the darkness there came a sharp + challenge and a shout, with the discharge of a carbine and the sound of + galloping hoofs. Away down the line we heard a ripple of shots. The first + line of outposts had been reached. At the alarm our horse charged forward + with a huzza, and we followed them as fast as our men could run. We had + crossed two or three hundred yards of moor, and could hear the blowing of + the Royal bugles quite close to us, when our horse came to a sudden halt, + and our whole advance was at a standstill. + </p> + <p> + ‘Sancta Maria!’ cried Saxon, dashing forward with the rest of us to find + out the cause of the delay. ‘We must on at any cost! A halt now will ruin + our camisado.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Forwards, forwards!’ cried Sir Gervas and I, waving our swords. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is no use, gentlemen,’ cried a cornet of horse, wringing his hands; + ‘we are undone and betrayed. There is a broad ditch without a ford in + front of us, full twenty feet across!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Give me room for my horse, and I shall show ye the way across!’ cried the + Baronet, backing his steed. ‘Now, lads, who’s for a jump?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, sir, for God’s sake!’ said a trooper, laying his hand upon his + bridle. ‘Sergeant Sexton hath sprung in even now, and horse and man have + gone to the bottom!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Let us see it, then!’ cried Saxon, pushing his way through the crowd of + horsemen. We followed close at his heels, until we found ourselves on the + borders of the vast trench which impeded our advance. + </p> + <p> + To this day I have never been able to make up my mind whether it was by + chance or by treachery on the part of our guides that this fosse was + overlooked until we stumbled upon it in the dark. There are some who say + that the Bussex Rhine, as it is called, is not either deep or broad, and + was, therefore, unmentioned by the moorsmen, but that the recent constant + rains had swollen it to an extent never before known. Others say that the + guides had been deceived by the fog, and taken a wrong course, whereas, + had we followed another track, we might have been able to come upon the + camp without crossing the ditch. However that may be, it is certain that + we found it stretching in front of us, broad, black, and forbidding, full + twenty feet from bank to bank, with the cap of the ill-fated sergeant just + visible in the centre as a mute warning to all who might attempt to ford + it. + </p> + <p> + ‘There must be a passage somewhere,’ cried Saxon furiously. ‘Every moment + is worth a troop of horse to them. Where is my Lord Grey? Hath the guide + met with his deserts?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Major Hollis hath hurled the guide into the ditch,’ the young cornet + answered. ‘My Lord Grey hath ridden along the bank seeking for a ford.’ + </p> + <p> + I caught a pike out of a footman’s hand, and probed into the black oozy + mud, standing myself up to the waist in it, and holding Covenant’s bridle + in my left hand. Nowhere could I touch bottom or find any hope of solid + foothold. + </p> + <p> + ‘Here, fellow!’ cried Saxon, seizing a trooper by the arm. ‘Make for the + rear! Gallop as though the devil were behind you! Bring up a pair of + ammunition waggons, and we shall see whether we cannot bridge this + infernal puddle.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If a few of us could make a lodgment upon the other side we might make it + good until help came,’ said Sir Gervas, as the horseman galloped off upon + his mission. + </p> + <p> + All down the rebel line a fierce low roar of disappointment and rage + showed that the whole army had met the same obstacle which hindered our + attack. On the other side of the ditch the drums beat, the bugles + screamed, and the shouts and oaths of the officers could be heard as they + marshalled their men. Glancing lights in Chedzoy, Westonzoyland, and the + other hamlets to left and right, showed how fast the alarm was extending. + Decimus Saxon rode up and down the edge of the fosse, pattering forth + foreign oaths, grinding his teeth in his fury, and rising now and again in + his stirrups to shake his gauntleted hands at the enemy. + </p> + <p> + ‘For whom are ye?’ shouted a hoarse voice out of the haze. + </p> + <p> + ‘For the King!’ roared the peasants in answer. + </p> + <p> + ‘For which King?’ cried the voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘For King Monmouth!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Let them have it, lads!’ and instantly a storm of musket bullets whistled + and sung about our ears. As the sheet of flame sprang out of the darkness + the maddened, half-broken horses dashed wildly away across the plain, + resisting the efforts of the riders to pull them up. There are some, + indeed, who say that those efforts were not very strong, and that our + troopers, disheartened at the check at the ditch, were not sorry to show + their heels to the enemy. As to my Lord Grey, I can say truly that I saw + him in the dim light among the flying squadrons, doing all that a brave + cavalier could do to bring them to a stand. Away they went, however, + thundering through the ranks of the foot and out over the moor, leaving + their companions to bear the whole brunt of the battle. + </p> + <p> + ‘On to your faces, men!’ shouted Saxon, in a voice which rose high above + the crash of the musketry and the cries of the wounded. The pikemen and + scythesmen threw themselves down at his command, while the musqueteers + knelt in front of them, loading and firing, with nothing to aim at save + the burning matches of the enemy’s pieces, which could be seen twinkling + through the darkness. All along, both to the right and the left, a rolling + fire had broken out, coming in short, quick volleys from the soldiers, and + in a continuous confused rattle from the peasants. On the further wing our + four guns had been brought into play, and we could hear their dull + growling in the distance. + </p> + <p> + ‘Sing, brothers, sing!’ cried our stout-hearted chaplain, Master Joshua + Pettigrue, bustling backwards and forwards among the prostrate ranks. ‘Let + us call upon the Lord in our day of trial!’ The men raised a loud hymn of + praise, which swelled into a great chorus as it was taken up by the + Taunton burghers upon our right and the miners upon our left. At the sound + the soldiers on the other side raised a fierce huzza, and the whole air + was full of clamour. + </p> + <p> + Our musqueteers had been brought to the very edge of the Bussex Rhine, and + the Royal troops had also advanced as far as they were able, so that there + were not five pikes’-lengths between the lines. Yet that short distance + was so impassable that, save for the more deadly fire, a quarter of a mile + might have divided us. So near were we that the burning wads from the + enemy’s muskets flew in flakes of fire over our heads, and we felt upon + our faces the hot, quick flush of their discharges. Yet though the air was + alive with bullets, the aim of the soldiers was too high for our kneeling + ranks, and very few of the men were struck. For our part, we did what we + could to keep the barrels of our muskets from inclining upwards. Saxon, + Sir Gervas, and I walked our horses up and down without ceasing, pushing + them level with our sword-blades, and calling on the men to aim steadily + and slowly. The groans and cries from the other side of the ditch showed + that some, at least, of our bullets had not been fired in vain. + </p> + <p> + ‘We hold our own in this quarter,’ said I to Saxon. ‘It seems to me that + their fire slackens.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is their horse that I fear,’ he answered. ‘They can avoid the ditch, + since they come from the hamlets on the flank. They may be upon us at any + time.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo, sir!’ shouted Sir Gervas, reining up his steed upon the very brink + of the ditch, and raising his cap in salute to a mounted officer upon the + other side. ‘Can you tell me if we have the honour to be opposed to the + foot guards?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We are Dumbarton’s regiment, sir,’ cried the other. ‘We shall give ye + good cause to remember having met us.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We shall be across presently to make your further acquaintance,’ Sir + Gervas answered, and at the same moment rolled, horse and all, into the + ditch, amid a roar of exultation from the soldiers. Half-a-dozen of his + musqueteers sprang instantly, waist deep, into the mud, and dragged our + friend out of danger, but the charger, which had been shot through the + heart, sank without a struggle. + </p> + <p> + ‘There is no harm!’ cried the Baronet, springing to his feet, ‘I would + rather fight on foot like my brave musqueteers.’ The men broke out + a-cheering at his words, and the fire on both sides became hotter than + ever. It was a marvel to me, and to many more, to see these brave peasants + with their mouths full of bullets, loading, priming, and firing as + steadily as though they had been at it all their lives, and holding their + own against a veteran regiment which has proved itself in other fields to + be second to none in the army of England. + </p> + <p> + The grey light of morning was stealing over the moor, and still the fight + was undecided. The fog hung about us in feathery streaks, and the smoke + from our guns drifted across in a dun-coloured cloud, through which the + long lines of red coats upon the other side of the rhine loomed up like a + battalion of giants. My eyes ached and my lips prinkled with the smack of + the powder. On every side of me men were falling fast, for the increased + light had improved the aim of the soldiers. Our good chaplain, in the very + midst of a psalm, had uttered a great shout of praise and thanksgiving, + and so passed on to join those of his parishioners who were scattered + round him upon the moor. Hope-above Williams and Keeper Milson, + under-officers, and among the stoutest men in the company, were both down, + the one dead and the other sorely wounded, but still ramming down charges, + and spitting bullets into his gun-barrel. The two Stukeleys of Somerton, + twins, and lads of great promise, lay silently with grey faces turned to + the grey sky, united in death as they had been in birth. Everywhere the + dead lay thick amid the living. Yet no man flinched from his place, and + Saxon still walked his horse among them with words of hope and praise, + while his stern, deep-lined face and tall sinewy figure were a very beacon + of hope to the simple rustics. Such of my scythesmen as could handle a + musket were thrown forward into the fighting line, and furnished with the + arms and pouches of those who had fallen. + </p> + <p> + Ever and anon as the light waxed I could note through the rifts in the + smoke and the fog how the fight was progressing in other parts of the + field. On the right the heath was brown with the Taunton and Frome men, + who, like ourselves, were lying down to avoid the fire. Along the borders + of the Bussex Rhine a deep fringe of their musqueteers were exchanging + murderous volleys, almost muzzle to muzzle, with the left wing of the same + regiment with which we were engaged, which was supported by a second + regiment in broad white facings, which I believe to have belonged to the + Wiltshire Militia. On either bank of the black trench a thick line of + dead, brown on the one side, and scarlet on the other, served as a screen + to their companions, who sheltered themselves behind them and rested their + musket-barrels upon their prostrate bodies. To the left amongst the + withies lay five hundred Mendip and Bagworthy miners, singing lustily, but + so ill-armed that they had scarce one gun among ten wherewith to reply to + the fire which was poured into them. They could not advance, and they + would not retreat, so they sheltered themselves as best they might, and + waited patiently until their leaders might decide what was to be done. + Further down for half a mile or more the long rolling cloud of smoke, with + petulant flashes of flame spurting out through it, showed that every one + of our raw regiments was bearing its part manfully. The cannon on the left + had ceased firing. The Dutch gunners had left the Islanders to settle + their own quarrels, and were scampering back to Bridgewater, leaving their + silent pieces to the Royal Horse. + </p> + <p> + The battle was in this state when there rose a cry of ‘The King, the + King!’ and Monmouth rode through our ranks, bare-headed and wild-eyed, + with Buyse, Wade, and a dozen more beside him. They pulled up within a + spear’s-length of me, and Saxon, spurring forward to meet them, raised his + sword to the salute. I could not but mark the contrast between the calm, + grave face of the veteran, composed yet alert, and the half frantic + bearing of the man whom we were compelled to look upon as our leader. + </p> + <p> + ‘How think ye, Colonel Saxon?’ he cried wildly. ‘How goes the fight? Is + all well with ye? What an error, alas! what an error! Shall we draw off, + eh? How say you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We hold our own here, your Majesty,’ Saxon answered. ‘Methinks had we + something after the nature of palisados or stockados, after the Swedish + fashion, we might even make it good against the horse.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, the horse!’ cried the unhappy Monmouth. ‘If we get over this, my Lord + Grey shall answer for it. They ran like a flock of sheep. What leader + could do anything with such troops? Oh, lack-a-day, lack-a-day! Shall we + not advance?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is no reason to advance, your Majesty, now that the surprise has + failed,’ said Saxon. ‘I had sent for carts to bridge over the trench, + according to the plan which is commended in the treatise, “De vallis et + fossis,” but they are useless now. We can but fight it out as we are.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘To throw troops across would be to sacrifice them,’ said Wade. ‘We have + lost heavily, Colonel Saxon, but I think from the look of yonder bank that + ye have given a good account of the red-coats.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Stand firm! For God’s sake, stand firm!’ cried Monmouth distractedly. + ‘The horse have fled, and the cannoniers also. Oh! what can I do with such + men? What shall I do? Alas, alas!’ He set spurs to his horse and galloped + off down the line, still ringing his hands and uttering his dismal + wailings. Oh, my children, how small, how very small a thing is death when + weighed in the balance with dishonour! Had this man but borne his fate + silently, as did the meanest footman who followed his banners, how proud + and glad would we have been to have discoursed of him, our princely + leader. But let him rest. The fears and agitations and petty fond + emotions, which showed upon him as the breeze shows upon the water, are + all stilled now for many a long year. Let us think of the kind heart and + forget the feeble spirit. + </p> + <p> + As his escort trooped after him, the great German man-at-arms separated + from them and turned back to us. ‘I am weary of trotting up and down like + a lust-ritter at a fair,’ said he. ‘If I bide with ye I am like to have my + share of any fighting which is going. So, steady, mein Liebchen. That ball + grazed her tail, but she is too old a soldier to wince at trifles. Hullo, + friend, where is your horse?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘At the bottom of the ditch,’ said Sir Gervas, scraping the mud off his + dress with his sword-blade. ‘’Tis now half-past two,’ he continued, ‘and + we have been at this child’s-play for an hour and more. With a line + regiment, too! It is not what I had looked forward to!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You shall have something to console you anon,’ cried the German, with his + eyes shining. ‘Mein Gott! Is it not splendid? Look to it, friend Saxon, + look to it!’ + </p> + <p> + It was no light matter which had so roused the soldier’s admiration. Out + of the haze which still lay thick upon our right there twinkled here and + there a bright gleam of silvery light, while a dull, thundering noise + broke upon our ears like that of the surf upon a rocky shore. More and + more frequent came the fitful flashes of steel, louder and yet louder grew + the hoarse gathering tumult, until of a sudden the fog was rent, and the + long lines of the Royal cavalry broke out from it, wave after wave, rich + in scarlet and blue and gold, as grand a sight as ever the eye rested + upon. There was something in the smooth, steady sweep of so great a body + of horsemen which gave the feeling of irresistible power. Rank after rank, + and line after line, with waving standards, tossing manes, and gleaming + steel, they poured onwards, an army in themselves, with either flank still + shrouded in the mist. As they thundered along, knee to knee and bridle to + bridle, there came from them such a gust of deep-chested oaths with the + jangle of harness, the clash of steel, and the measured beat of + multitudinous hoofs, that no man who hath not stood up against such a + whirlwind, with nothing but a seven-foot pike in his hand, can know how + hard it is to face it with a steady lip and a firm grip. + </p> + <p> + But wonderful as was the sight, there was, as ye may guess, my dears, + little time for us to gaze upon it. Saxon and the German flung themselves + among the pikemen and did all that men could do to thicken their array. + Sir Gervas and I did the same with the scythesmen, who had been trained to + form a triple front after the German fashion, one rank kneeling, one + stooping, and one standing erect, with weapons advanced. Close to us the + Taunton men had hardened into a dark sullen ring, bristling with steel, in + the centre of which might be seen and heard their venerable Mayor, his + long beard fluttering in the breeze, and his strident voice clanging over + the field. Louder and louder grew the roar of the horse. ‘Steady, my brave + lads,’ cried Saxon, in trumpet tones. ‘Dig the pike-butt into the earth! + Best it on the right foot! Give not an inch! Steady!’ A great shout went + up from either side, and then the living wave broke over us. + </p> + <p> + What hope is there to describe such a scene as that—the crashing of + wood, the sharp gasping cries, the snorting of horses, the jar when the + push of pike met with the sweep of sword! Who can hope to make another see + that of which he himself carries away so vague and dim an impression? One + who has acted in such a scene gathers no general sense of the whole + combat, such as might be gained by a mere onlooker, but he has stamped for + ever upon his mind just the few incidents which may chance to occur before + his own eyes. Thus my memories are confined to a swirl of smoke with steel + caps and fierce, eager faces breaking through it, with the red gaping + nostrils of horses and their pawing fore-feet as they recoiled from the + hedge of steel. I see, too, a young beardless lad, an officer of dragoons, + crawling on hands and knees under the scythes, and I hear his groan as one + of the peasants pinned him to the ground. I see a bearded, broad-faced + trooper riding a grey horse just outside the fringe of the scythes, + seeking for some entrance, and screaming the while with rage. Small things + imprint themselves upon a man’s notice at such a time. I even marked the + man’s strong white teeth and pink gums. At the same time I see a + white-faced, thin-lipped man leaning far forward over his horse’s neck and + driving at me with his sword point, cursing the while as only a dragoon + can curse. All these images start up as I think of that fierce rally, + during which I hacked and cut and thrust at man and horse without a + thought of parry or of guard. All round rose a fierce babel of shouts and + cries, godly ejaculations from the peasants and oaths from the horsemen, + with Saxon’s voice above all imploring his pikemen to stand firm. Then the + cloud of horse-men recoiled, circling off over the plain, and the shout of + triumph from my comrades, and an open snuff-box thrust out in front of me, + proclaimed that we had seen the back of as stout a squadron as ever + followed a kettledrum. + </p> + <p> + But if we could claim it as a victory, the army in general could scarce + say as much. None but the very pick of the troops could stand against the + flood of heavy horses and steel-clad men. The Frome peasants were gone, + swept utterly from the field. Many had been driven by pure weight and + pressure into the fatal mud which had checked our advance. Many others, + sorely cut and slashed, lay in ghastly heaps all over the ground which + they had held. A few by joining our ranks had saved themselves from the + fate of their companions. Further off the men of Taunton still stood fast, + though in sadly diminished numbers. A long ridge of horses and cavaliers + in front of them showed how stern had been the attack and how fierce the + resistance. On our left the wild miners had been broken at the first rush, + but had fought so savagely, throwing themselves upon the ground and + stabbing upwards at the stomachs of the horses, that they had at last + beaten off the dragoons. The Devonshire militiamen, however, had been + scattered, and shared the fate of the men of Frome. During the whole of + the struggle the foot upon the further bank of the Bussex Rhine were + pouring in a hail of bullets, which our musqueteers, having to defend + themselves against the horse, were unable to reply to. + </p> + <p> + It needed no great amount of soldierly experience to see that the battle + was lost, and that Monmouth’s cause was doomed. It was broad daylight now, + though the sun had not yet risen. Our cavalry was gone, our ordnance was + silent, our line was pierced in many places, and more than one of our + regiments had been destroyed. On the right flank the Horse Guards Blue, + the Tangiers Horse, and two dragoon regiments were forming up for a fresh + attack. On the left the foot-guards had bridged the ditch and were + fighting hand to hand with the men from North Somerset. In front a steady + fire was being poured into us, to which our reply was feeble and + uncertain, for the powder carts had gone astray in the dark, and many were + calling hoarsely for ammunition, while others were loading with pebbles + instead of ball. Add to this that the regiments which still held their + ground had all been badly shaken by the charge, and had lost a third of + their number. Yet the brave clowns sent up cheer after cheer, and shouted + words of encouragement and homely jests to each other, as though a battle + were but some rough game which must as a matter of course be played out + while there was a player left to join in it. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is Captain Clarke there?’ cried Decimus Saxon, riding up with his + sword-arm flecked with blood. ‘Ride over to Sir Stephen Timewell and tell + him to join his men to ours. Apart we shall be broken—together we + may stand another charge.’ + </p> + <p> + Setting spurs to Covenant I rode over to our companions and delivered the + message. Sir Stephen, who had been struck by a petronel bullet, and wore a + crimsoned kerchief bound round his snow-white head, saw the wisdom of the + advice, and moved his townsmen as directed. His musqueteers being better + provided with powder than ours did good service by keeping down for a time + the deadly fire from across the fosse. + </p> + <p> + ‘Who would have thought it of him?’ cried Sir Stephen, with flashing eyes, + as Buyse and Saxon rode out to meet him. ‘What think ye now of our noble + monarch, our champion of the Protestant cause?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He is no very great Krieger,’ said Buyse. ‘Yet perhaps it may be from + want of habit as much as from want of courage.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Courage!’ cried the old Mayor, in a voice of scorn. ‘Look over yonder and + behold your King.’ He pointed out over the moor with a finger which shook + as much from anger as from age. There, far away, showing up against the + dark peat-coloured soil, rode a gaily-dressed cavalier, followed by a knot + of attendants, galloping as fast as his horse would carry him from the + field of battle. There was no mistaking the fugitive. It was the recreant + Monmouth. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hush!’ cried Saxon, as we all gave a cry of horror and execration; ‘do + not dishearten our brave lads! Cowardice is catching and will run through + an army like the putrid fever.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Der Feigherzige!’ cried Buyse, grinding his teeth. ‘And the brave country + folk! It is too much.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Stand to your pikes, men!’ roared Saxon, in a voice of thunder, and we + had scarce time to form our square and throw ourselves inside of it, + before the whirlwind of horse was upon us once more. When the Taunton men + had joined us a weak spot had been left in our ranks, and through this in + an instant the Blue Guards smashed their way, pouring through the opening, + and cutting fiercely to right and left. The burghers on the one side and + our own men on the other replied by savage stabs from their pikes and + scythes, which emptied many a saddle, but while the struggle was at its + hottest the King’s cannon opened for the first time with a deafening roar + upon the other side of the rhine, and a storm of balls ploughed their way + through our dense ranks, leaving furrows of dead and wounded behind them. + At the same moment a great cry of ‘Powder! For Christ’s sake, powder!’ + arose from the musqueteers whose last charge had been fired. Again the + cannon roared, and again our men were mowed down as though Death himself + with his scythe were amongst us. At last our ranks were breaking. In the + very centre of the pikemen steel caps were gleaming, and broadswords + rising and falling. The whole body was swept back two hundred paces or + more, struggling furiously the while, and was there mixed with other like + bodies which had been dashed out of all semblance of military order, and + yet refused to fly. Men of Devon, of Dorset, of Wiltshire, and of + Somerset, trodden down by horse, slashed by dragoons, dropping by scores + under the rain of bullets, still fought on with a dogged, desperate + courage for a ruined cause and a man who had deserted them. Everywhere as + I glanced around me were set faces, clenched teeth, yells of rage and + defiance, but never a sound of fear or of submission. Some clambered up + upon the cruppers of the riders and dragged them backwards from their + saddles. Others lay upon their faces and hamstrung the chargers with their + scythe-blades, stabbing the horsemen before they could disengage + themselves. Again and again the guards crashed through them from side to + side, and yet the shattered ranks closed up behind them and continued the + long-drawn struggle. So hopeless was it and so pitiable that I could have + found it in my heart to wish that they would break and fly, were it not + that on the broad moor there was no refuge which they could make for. And + all this time, while they struggled and fought, blackened with powder and + parched with thirst, spilling their blood as though it were water, the man + who called himself their King was spurring over the countryside with a + loose rein and a quaking heart, his thoughts centred upon saving his own + neck, come what might to his gallant followers. + </p> + <p> + Large numbers of the foot fought to the death, neither giving nor + receiving quarter; but at last, scattered, broken, and without ammunition, + the main body of the peasants dispersed and fled across the moor, closely + followed by the horse. Saxon, Buyse, and I had done all that we could to + rally them once more, and had cut down some of the foremost of the + pursuers, when my eye fell suddenly upon Sir Gervas, standing hatless with + a few of his musqueteers in the midst of a swarm of dragoons. Spurring our + horses we cut a way to his rescue, and laid our swords about us until we + had cleared off his assailants for the moment. + </p> + <p> + ‘Jump up behind me!’ I cried. ‘We can make good our escape.’ + </p> + <p> + He looked up smiling and shook his head. ‘I stay with my company,’ said + he. + </p> + <p> + ‘Your company!’ Saxon cried. ‘Why, man, you are mad! Your company is cut + off to the last man.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s what I mean,’ he answered, flicking some dirt from his cravat. + ‘Don’t ye mind! Look out for yourselves. Goodbye, Clarke! Present my + compliments to—’ The dragoons charged down upon us again. We were + all borne backwards, fighting desperately, and when we could look round + the Baronet was gone for ever. We heard afterwards that the King’s troops + found upon the field a body which they mistook for that of Monmouth, on + account of the effeminate grace of the features and the richness of the + attire. No doubt it was that of our undaunted friend, Sir Gervas Jerome, a + name which shall ever be dear to my heart. When, ten years afterwards, we + heard much of the gallantry of the young courtiers of the household of the + French King, and of the sprightly courage with which they fought against + us in the Lowlands at Steinkirk and elsewhere, I have always thought, from + my recollection of Sir Gervas, that I knew what manner of men they were. + </p> + <p> + And now it was every man for himself. In no part of the field did the + insurgents continue to resist. The first rays of the sun shining slantwise + across the great dreary plain lit up the long line of the scarlet + battalions, and glittered upon the cruel swords which rose and fell among + the struggling drove of resistless fugitives. The German had become + separated from us in the tumult, and we knew not whether he lived or was + slain, though long afterwards we learned that he made good his escape, + only to be captured with the ill-fated Duke of Monmouth. Grey, Wade, + Ferguson, and others had contrived also to save themselves, while Stephen + Timewell lay in the midst of a stern ring of his hard-faced burghers, + dying as he had lived, a gallant Puritan Englishman. All this we learned + afterwards. At present we rode for our lives across the moor, followed by + a few scattered bodies of horse, who soon abandoned their pursuit in order + to fasten upon some more easy prey. + </p> + <p> + We were passing a small clump of alder bushes when a loud manly voice + raised in prayer attracted our attention. Pushing aside the branches, we + came upon a man, seated with his back up against a great stone, cutting at + his own arm with a broad-bladed knife, and giving forth the Lord’s prayer + the while, without a pause or a quiver in his tone. As he glanced up from + his terrible task we both recognised him as one Hollis, whom I have + mentioned as having been with Cromwell at Dunbar. His arm had been half + severed by a cannon-ball, and he was quietly completing the separation in + order to free himself from the dangling and useless limb. Even Saxon, used + as he was to all the forms and incidents of war, stared open-eyed and + aghast at this strange surgery; but the man, with a short nod of + recognition, went grimly forward with his task, until, even as we gazed, + he separated the last shred which held it, and lay over with blanched lips + which still murmured the prayer. (1) We could do little to help him, and, + indeed, might by our halt attract his pursuers to his hiding-place; so, + throwing him down my flask half filled with water, we hastened on upon our + way. Oh, war, my children, what a terrible thing it is! How are men + cozened and cheated by the rare trappings and prancing steeds, by the + empty terms of honour and of glory, until they forget in the outward + tinsel and show the real ghastly horror of the accursed thing! Think not + of the dazzling squadrons, nor of the spirit-stirring blare of the + trumpets, but think of that lonely man under the shadow of the alders, and + of what he was doing in a Christian age and a Christian land. Surely I, + who have grown grey in harness, and who have seen as many fields as I have + years of my life, should be the last to preach upon this subject, and yet + I can clearly see that, in honesty, men must either give up war, or else + they must confess that the words of the Redeemer are too lofty for them, + and that there is no longer any use in pretending that His teaching can be + reduced to practice. I have seen a Christian minister blessing a cannon + which had just been founded, and another blessing a war-ship as it glided + from the slips. They, the so-called representatives of Christ, blessed + these engines of destruction which cruel man has devised to destroy and + tear his fellow-worms. What would we say if we read in Holy Writ of our + Lord having blessed the battering-rams and the catapults of the legions? + Would we think that it was in agreement with His teaching? But there! As + long as the heads of the Church wander away so far from the spirit of its + teaching as to live in palaces and drive in carriages, what wonder if, + with such examples before them, the lower clergy overstep at times the + lines laid down by their great Master? + </p> + <p> + Looking back from the summit of the low hills which lie to the westward of + the moor, we could see the cloud of horse-men streaming over the bridge of + the Parret and into the town of Bridgewater, with the helpless drove of + fugitives still flying in front of them. We had pulled up our horses, and + were looking sadly and silently back at the fatal plain, when the thud of + hoofs fell upon our ears, and, turning round, we found two horsemen in the + dress of the guards riding towards us. They had made a circuit to cut us + off, for they were riding straight for us with drawn swords and eager + gestures. + </p> + <p> + ‘More slaughter,’ I said wearily. ‘Why will they force us to it?’ + </p> + <p> + Saxon glanced keenly from beneath his drooping lids at the approaching + horsemen, and a grim smile wreathed his face in a thousand lines and + wrinkles. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is our friend who set the hounds upon our track at Salisbury,’ he + said. ‘This is a happy meeting. I have a score to settle with him.’ + </p> + <p> + It was, indeed, the hot-headed young comet whom we had met at the outset + of our adventures. Some evil chance had led him to recognise the tall + figure of my companion as we rode from the field, and to follow him, in + the hope of obtaining revenge for the humiliation which he had met with at + his hands. The other was a lance-corporal, a man of square soldierly + build, riding a heavy black horse with a white blaze upon its forehead. + </p> + <p> + Saxon rode slowly towards the officer, while the trooper and I fixed our + eyes upon each other. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, boy,’ I heard my companion say, ‘I trust that you have learned to + fence since we met last.’ + </p> + <p> + The young guardsman gave a snarl of rage at the taunt, and an instant + afterwards the clink of their sword-blades showed that they had met. For + my own part I dared not spare a glance upon them, for my opponent attacked + me with such fury that it was all that I could do to keep him off. No + pistol was drawn upon either side. It was an honest contest of steel + against steel. So constant were the corporal’s thrusts, now at my face, + now at my body, that I had never an opening for one of the heavy cuts + which might have ended the matter. Our horses spun round each other, + biting and pawing, while we thrust and parried, until at last, coming + together knee to knee, we found ourselves within sword-point, and grasped + each other by the throat. He plucked a dagger from his belt and struck it + into my left arm, but I dealt him a blow with my gauntleted hand, which + smote him off his horse and stretched him speechless upon the plain. + Almost at the same moment the cornet dropped from his horse, wounded in + several places. Saxon sprang from his saddle, and picking the soldier’s + dagger from the ground, would have finished them both had I not jumped + down also and restrained him. He flashed round upon me with so savage a + face that I could see that the wild-beast nature within him was fairly + roused. + </p> + <p> + ‘What hast thou to do?’ he snarled. ‘Let go!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay! Blood enough hath been shed,’ said I. ‘Let them lie.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What mercy would they have had upon us?’ he cried passionately, + struggling to get his wrist free. ‘They have lost, and must pay forfeit.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not in cold blood,’ I said firmly. ‘I shall not abide it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Indeed, your lordship,’ he sneered, with the devil peeping out through + his eyes. With a violent wrench he freed himself from my grasp, and + springing back, picked up the sword which he had dropped. + </p> + <p> + ‘What then?’ I asked, standing on my guard astride of the wounded man. + </p> + <p> + He stood for a minute or more looking at me from under his heavy-hung + brows, with his whole face writhing with passion. Every instant I expected + that he would fly at me, but at last, with a gulp in his throat, he + sheathed his rapier with a sharp clang, and sprang back into the saddle. + </p> + <p> + ‘We part here,’ he said coldly. ‘I have twice been on the verge of slaying + you, and the third time might be too much for my patience. You are no fit + companion for a cavalier of fortune. Join the clergy, lad; it is your + vocation.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Is this Decimus Saxon who speaks, or is it Will Spotterbridge?’ I asked, + remembering his jest concerning his ancestry, but no answering smile came + upon his rugged face. Gathering up his bridle in his left hand, he shot + one last malignant glance at the bleeding officer, and galloped off along + one of the tracks which lead to the southward. I stood gazing after him, + but he never sent so much as a hand-wave back, riding on with a rigid neck + until he vanished in a dip in the moor. + </p> + <p> + ‘There goes one friend,’ thought I sadly, ‘and all forsooth because I will + not stand by and see a helpless man’s throat cut. Another friend is dead + on the field. A third, the oldest and dearest of all, lies wounded at + Bridgewater, at the mercy of a brutal soldiery. If I return to my home I + do but bring trouble and danger to those whom I love. Whither shall I + turn?’ For some minutes I stood irresolute beside the prostrate guardsmen, + while Covenant strolled slowly along cropping the scanty herbage, and + turning his dark full eyes towards me from time to time, as though to + assure me that one friend at least was steadfast. Northward I looked at + the Polden Hills, southwards, at the Blackdowns, westward at the long blue + range of the Quantocks, and eastward at the broad fen country; but nowhere + could I see any hope of safety. Truth to say, I felt sick at heart and + cared little for the time whether I escaped or no. + </p> + <p> + A muttered oath followed by a groan roused me from my meditations. The + corporal was sitting up rubbing his head with a look of stupid + astonishment upon his face, as though he were not very sure either of + where he was or how he came there. The officer, too, had opened his eyes + and shown other signs of returning consciousness. His wounds were clearly + of no very serious nature. There was no danger of their pursuing me even + should they wish to do so, for their horses had trotted off to join the + numerous other riderless steeds who were wandering all over the moorlands. + I mounted, therefore, and rode slowly away, saving my good charger as much + as possible, for the morning’s work had already told somewhat heavily upon + him. + </p> + <p> + There were many scattered bodies of horse riding hither and thither over + the marshes, but I was able to avoid them, and trotted onwards, keeping to + the waste country until I found myself eight or ten miles from the + battlefield. The few cottages and houses which I passed wore deserted, and + many of them bore signs of having been plundered. Not a peasant was to be + seen. The evil fame of Kirke’s lambs had chased away all those who had not + actually taken arms. At last, after riding for three hours, I bethought me + that I was far enough from the main line of pursuit to be free from + danger, so I chose out a sheltered spot where a clump of bushes overhung a + little brook. There, seated upon a bank of velvet moss, I rested my weary + limbs, and tried to wash the stains of battle from my person. + </p> + <p> + It was only now when I could look quietly at my own attire that it was + brought home to me how terrible the encounter must have been in which I + had been engaged, and how wonderful it was that I had come off so + scatheless. Of the blows which I had struck in the fight I had faint + remembrance, yet they must have been many and terrible, for my sword edge + was as jagged and turned as though I had hacked for an hour at an iron + bar. From head to foot I was splashed and crimsoned with blood, partly my + own, but mostly that of others. My headpiece was dinted with blows. A + petronel bullet had glanced off my front plate, striking it at an angle, + and had left a broad groove across it. Two or three other cracks and stars + showed where the good sheet of proof steel had saved me. My left arm was + stiff and well-nigh powerless from the corporal’s stab, but on stripping + off my doublet and examining the place, I found that though there had been + much bleeding the wound was on the outer side of the bone, and was + therefore of no great import. A kerchief dipped in water and bound tightly + round it eased the smart and stanched the blood. Beyond this scratch I had + no injuries, though from my own efforts I felt as stiff and sore all over + as though I had been well cudgelled, and the slight wound got in Wells + Cathedral had reopened and was bleeding. With a little patience and cold + water, however, I was able to dress it and to tie myself up as well as any + chirurgeon in the kingdom. + </p> + <p> + Having seen to my injuries I had now to attend to my appearance, for in + truth I might have stood for one of those gory giants with whom the worthy + Don Bellianis of Greece and other stout champions were wont to contend. No + woman or child but would have fled at the sight of me, for I was as red as + the parish butcher when Martinmas is nigh. A good wash, however, in the + brook soon removed those traces of war, and I was able to get the marks + off my breastplate and boots. In the case of my clothes, however, it was + so hopeless to clean them that I gave it up in despair. My good old horse + had been never so much as grazed by steel or bullet, so that with a little + watering and tending he was soon as fresh as ever, and we turned our backs + on the streamlet a better-favoured pair than we had approached it. + </p> + <p> + It was now going on to mid-day, and I began to feel very hungry, for I had + tasted nothing since the evening before. Two or three houses stood in a + cluster upon the moor, but the blackened walls and scorched thatch showed + that it was hopeless to expect anything from them. Once or twice I spied + folk in the fields or on the roadway; but at sight of an armed horseman + they ran for their lives, diving into the brushwood like wild animals. At + one place, where a high oak tree marked the meeting of three roads, two + bodies dangling from one of the branches showed that the fears of the + villagers were based upon experience. These poor men had in all likelihood + been hanged because the amount of their little hoardings had not come up + to the expectations of their plunderers; or because, having given all to + one band of robbers, they had nothing with which to appease the next. At + last, when I was fairly weary of my fruitless search for food, I espied a + windmill standing upon a green hill at the other side of some fields. + Judging from its appearance that it had escaped the general pillage, I + took the pathway which branched away to it from the high-road. (Note J, + Appendix) + </p> + <p> + 1. The incident is historically true, and may serve to show what sort of + men they were who had learned their soldiering under Cromwell. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0033" id="link2HCH0033"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXXIII. Of my Perilous Adventure at the Mill + </h2> + <p> + At the base of the mill there stood a shed which was evidently used to + stall the horses which brought the farmers’ grain. Some grass was heaped + up inside it, so I loosened Covenant’s girths and left him to have a + hearty meal. The mill itself appeared to be silent and empty. I climbed + the steep wood ladder, and pushing the door open, walked into a round + stone-flagged room, from which a second ladder led to the loft above. On + one side of this chamber was a long wooden box, and all round the walls + were ranged rows of sacks full of flour. In the fireplace stood a pile of + faggots ready for lighting, so with the aid of my tinder-box I soon had a + cheerful blaze. Taking a large handful of flour from the nearest bag I + moistened it with water from a pitcher, and having rolled it out into a + flat cake, proceeded to bake it, smiling the while to think of what my + mother would say to such rough cookery. Very sure I am that Patrick Lamb + himself, whose book, the ‘Complete Court Cook,’ was ever in the dear + soul’s left hand while she stirred and basted with her right, could not + have turned out a dish which was more to my taste at the moment, for I had + not even patience to wait for the browning of it, but snapped it up and + devoured it half hot. I then rolled a second one, and having placed it + before the fire, and drawn my pipe from my pocket, I set myself to smoke, + waiting with all the philosophy which I could muster until it should be + ready. + </p> + <p> + I was lost in thought, brooding sadly over the blow which the news would + be to my father, when I was startled by a loud sneeze, which sounded as + though it were delivered in my very ear. I started to my feet and gazed + all round me, but there was nothing save the solid wall behind and the + empty chamber before. I had almost come to persuade myself that I had been + the creature of some delusion, when again a crashing sneeze, louder and + more prolonged than the last, broke upon the silence. Could some one be + hid in one of the bags? Drawing my sword I walked round pricking the great + flour sacks, but without being able to find cause for the sound. I was + still marvelling over the matter when a most extraordinary chorus of + gasps, snorts, and whistles broke out, with cries of ‘Oh, holy mother!’ + ‘Blessed Redeemer!’ and other such exclamations. This time there could be + no doubt as to whence the uproar came. Rushing up to the great chest upon + which I had been seated, I threw back the heavy lid and gazed in. + </p> + <p> + It was more than half full of flour, in the midst of which was floundering + some creature, which was so coated and caked with the white powder, that + it would have been hard to say that it was human were it not for the + pitiable cries which it was uttering. Stooping down I dragged the man from + his hiding-place, when he dropped upon his knees upon the floor and yelled + for mercy, raising such a cloud of dust from every wriggle of his body + that I began to cough and to sneeze. As the skin of powder began to scale + off from him, I saw to my surprise that he was no miller or peasant, but + was a man-at-arms, with a huge sword girt to his side, looking at present + not unlike a frosted icicle, and a great steel-faced breastplate. His + steel cap had remained behind in the flour-bin, and his bright red hair, + the only touch of colour about him, stood straight up in the air with + terror, as he implored me to spare his life. Thinking that there was + something familiar about his voice, I drew my hand across his face, which + set him yelling as though I had slain him. There was no mistaking the + heavy cheeks and the little greedy eyes. It was none other than Master + Tetheridge, the noisy town-clerk of Taunton. + </p> + <p> + But how much changed from the town-clerk whom we had seen strutting, in + all the pomp and bravery of his office, before the good Mayor on the day + of our coming to Somersetshire! Where now was the ruddy colour like a + pippin in September? Where was the assured manner and the manly port? As + he knelt his great jack-boots clicked together with apprehension, and he + poured forth in a piping voice, like that of a Lincoln’s Inn mumper, a + string of pleadings, excuses, and entreaties, as though I were Feversham + in person, and was about to order him to instant execution. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am but a poor scrivener man, your serene Highness,’ he bawled. ‘Indeed, + I am a most unhappy clerk, your Honour, who has been driven into these + courses by the tyranny of those above him. A more loyal man, your Grace, + never wore neat’s leather, but when the mayor says “Yes,” can the clerk + say “No”? Spare me, your lordship; spare a most penitent wretch, whose + only prayer is that he may be allowed to serve King James to the last drop + of his blood!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you renounce the Duke of Monmouth?’ I asked, in a stern voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘I do—from my heart!’ said he fervently. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then prepare to die!’ I roared, whipping out my sword, ‘for I am one of + his officers.’ + </p> + <p> + At the sight of the steel the wretched clerk gave a perfect bellow of + terror, and falling upon his face he wriggled and twisted, until looking + up he perceived that I was laughing. On that he crawled up on to his knees + once more, and from that to his feet, glancing at me askance, as though by + no means assured of my intentions. + </p> + <p> + ‘You must remember me, Master Tetheridge,’ I said. ‘I am Captain Clarke, + of Saxon’s regiment of Wiltshire foot. I am surprised, indeed, that you + should have fallen away from that allegiance to which you did not only + swear yourself, but did administer the oath to so many others.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not a whit, Captain, not a whit!’ he answered, resuming his old + bantam-cock manner as soon as he saw that there was no danger. ‘I am upon + oath as true and as leal a man as ever I was.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That I can fully believe,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘I did but dissimulate,’ he continued, brushing the flour from his person. + ‘I did but practise that cunning of the serpent which should in every + warrior accompany the courage of the lion. You have read your Homer, + doubtless. Eh? I too have had a touch of the humanities. I am no mere + rough soldier, however stoutly I can hold mine own at sword-play. Master + Ulysses is my type, even as thine, I take it, is Master Ajax.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Methinks that Master Jack-in-the-box would fit you better,’ said I. ‘Wilt + have a half of this cake? How came you in the flour-bin?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, marry, in this wise,’ he answered, with his mouth full of dough. ‘It + was a wile or ruse, after the fashion of the greatest commanders, who have + always been famous for concealing their movements, and lurking where they + were least expected. For when the fight was lost, and I had cut and hacked + until my arm was weary and my edge blunted, I found that I was left alone + alive of all the Taunton men. Were we on the field you could see where I + had stood by the ring of slain which would be found within the sweep of my + sword-arm. Finding that all was lost and that our rogues were fled, I + mounted our worthy Mayor’s charger, seeing that the gallant gentleman had + no further need for it, and rode slowly from the field. I promise you that + there was that in my eye and bearing which prevented their horse from + making too close a pursuit of me. One trooper did indeed throw himself + across my path, but mine old back-handed cut was too much for him. Alas, I + have much upon my conscience? I have made both widows and orphans. Why + will they brave me when—God of mercy, what is that?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis but my horse in the stall below,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘I thought it was the dragoons,’ quoth the clerk, wiping away the drops + which had started out upon his brow. ‘You and I would have gone forth and + smitten them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Or climbed into the flour-bin,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have not yet made clear to you how I came there,’ he continued. ‘Having + ridden, then, some leagues from the field, and noting this windmill, it + did occur to me that a stout man might single-handed make it good against + a troop of horse. We have no great love of flight, we Tetheridges. It may + be mere empty pride, and yet the feeling runs strong in the family. We + have a fighting strain in us ever since my kinsman followed Ireton’s army + as a sutler. I pulled up, therefore, and had dismounted to take my + observations, when my brute of a charger gave the bridle a twitch, jerked + itself free, and was off in an instant over hedges and ditches. I had, + therefore, only my good sword left to trust to. I climbed up the ladder, + and was engaged in planning how the defence could best be conducted, when + I heard the clank of hoofs, and on the top of it you did ascend from + below. I retired at once into ambush, from which I should assuredly have + made a sudden outfall or sally, had the flour not so choked my breathing + that I felt as though I had a two-pound loaf stuck in my gizzard. For + myself, I am glad that it has so come about, for in my blind wrath I might + unwittingly have done you an injury. Hearing the clank of your sword as + you did come up the ladder, I did opine that you were one of King James’s + minions, the captain, perchance, of some troop in the fields below.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘All very clear and explicit, Master Tetheridge,’ said I, re-lighting my + pipe. ‘No doubt your demeanour when I did draw you from your hiding-place + was also a mere cloak for your valour. But enough of that. It is to the + future that we have to look. What are your intentions?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘To remain with you, Captain,’ said he. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, that you shall not,’ I answered; ‘I have no great fancy for your + companionship. Your overflowing valour may bring me into ruffles which I + had otherwise avoided.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay! I shall moderate my spirit,’ he cried. ‘In such troublous times + you will find yourself none the worse for the company of a tried fighting + man.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Tried and found wanting,’ said I, weary of the man’s braggart talk. ‘I + tell you I will go alone.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, you need not be so hot about it,’ he exclaimed, shrinking away from + me. ‘In any case, we had best stay here until nightfall, when we may make + our way to the coast.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That is the first mark of sense that you have shown,’ said I. ‘The King’s + horse will find enough to do with the Zoyland cider and the Bridgewater + ale. If we can pass through, I have friends on the north coast who would + give us a lift in their lugger as far as Holland. This help I will not + refuse to give you, since you are my fellow in misfortune. I would that + Saxon had stayed with me! I fear he will be taken!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If you mean Colonel Saxon,’ said the clerk, ‘I think that he also is one + who hath much guile as well as valour. A stern, fierce soldier he was, as + I know well, having fought back to back with him for forty minutes by the + clock, against a troop of Sarsfield’s horse. Plain of speech he was, and + perhaps a trifle inconsiderate of the honour of a cavalier, but in the + field it would have been well for the army had they had more such + commanders.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You say truly,’ I answered; ‘but now that we have refreshed ourselves it + is time that we bethought us of taking some rest, since we may have far to + travel this night. I would that I could lay my hand upon a flagon of ale.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I would gladly drink to our further acquaintanceship in the same,’ said + my companion, ‘but as to the matter of slumber that may be readily + arranged. If you ascend that ladder you will find in the loft a litter of + empty sacks, upon which you can repose. For myself, I will stay down here + for a while and cook myself another cake.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you remain on watch for two hours and then arouse me,’ I replied. ‘I + shall then keep guard whilst you sleep.’ He touched the hilt of his sword + as a sign that he would be true to his post, so not without some + misgivings I climbed up into the loft, and throwing myself upon the rude + couch was soon in a deep and dreamless slumber, lulled by the low, + mournful groaning and creaking of the sails. + </p> + <p> + I was awoken by steps beside me, and found that the little clerk had come + up the ladder and was bending over me. I asked him if the time had come + for me to rouse, on which he answered in a strange quavering voice that I + had yet an hour, and that he had come up to see if there was any service + which he could render me. I was too weary to take much note of his + slinking manner and pallid cheeks, so thanking him for his attention, I + turned over and was soon asleep once more. + </p> + <p> + My next waking was a rougher and a sterner one. There came a sudden rush + of heavy feet up the ladder, and a dozen red-coats swarmed into the room. + Springing on to my feet I put out my hand for the sword which I had laid + all ready by my side, but the trusty weapon had gone. It had been stolen + whilst I slumbered. Unarmed and taken at a vantage, I was struck down and + pinioned in a moment. One held a pistol to my head, and swore that he + would blow my brains out if I stirred, while the others wound a coil of + rope round my body and arms, until Samson himself could scarce have got + free. Feeling that my struggles were of no possible avail, I lay silent + and waited for whatever was to come. Neither now nor at any time, dear + children, have I laid great store upon my life, but far less then than + now, for each of you are tiny tendrils which bind me to this world. Yet, + when I think of the other dear ones who are waiting for me on the further + shore, I do not think that even now death would seem an evil thing in my + eyes. What a hopeless and empty thing would life be without it! + </p> + <p> + Having lashed my arms, the soldiers dragged me down the ladder, as though + I had been a truss of hay, into the room beneath, which was also crowded + with troopers. In one corner was the wretched scrivener, a picture of + abject terror, with chattering teeth and trembling knees, only prevented + from falling upon the floor by the grasp of a stalwart corporal. In front + of him stood two officers, one a little hard brown man with dark twinkling + eyes and an alert manner, the other tall and slender, with a long golden + moustache, which drooped down half-way to his shoulders. The former had my + sword in his hand, and they were both examining the blade curiously. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is a good bit of steel, Dick,’ said one, putting the point against the + stone floor, and pressing down until he touched it with the handle. ‘See, + with what a snap it rebounds! No maker’s name, but the date 1638 is + stamped upon the pommel. Where did you get it, fellow?’ he asked, fixing + his keen gaze upon my face. + </p> + <p> + ‘It was my father’s before me,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then I trust that he drew it in a better quarrel than his son hath done,’ + said the taller officer, with a sneer. + </p> + <p> + ‘In as good, though not in a better,’ I returned. ‘That sword hath always + been drawn for the rights and liberties of Englishmen, and against the + tyranny of kings and the bigotry of priests.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What a tag for a playhouse, Dick,’ cried the officer. ‘How doth it run? + “The bigotry of kings and the tyranny of priests.” Why, if well delivered + by Betterton close up to the footlights, with one hand upon his heart and + the other pointing to the sky, I warrant the pit would rise at it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very like,’ said the other, twirling his moustache. ‘But we have no time + for fine speeches now. What are we to do with the little one?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hang him,’ the other answered carelessly. + </p> + <p> + ‘No, no, your most gracious honours,’ howled Master Tetheridge, suddenly + writhing out of the corporal’s grip and flinging himself upon the floor at + their feet. ‘Did I not tell ye where ye could find one of the stoutest + soldiers of the rebel army? Did not I guide ye to him? Did not I even + creep up and remove his sword lest any of the King’s subjects be slain in + the taking of him? Surely, surely, ye would not use me so scurvily when I + have done ye these services? Have I not made good my words? Is he not as I + described him, a giant in stature and of wondrous strength? The whole army + will bear me out in it, that he was worth any two in single fight. I have + given him over to ye. Surely ye will let me go!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very well delivered—plaguily so!’ quoth the little officer, + clapping the palm of one hand softly against the back of the other. ‘The + emphasis was just, and the enunciation clear. A little further back + towards the wings, corporal, if you please. Thank you! Now, Dick, it is + your cue.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, John, you are too absurd!’ cried the other impatiently. ‘The mask + and the buskins are well enough in their place, but you look upon the play + as a reality and upon the reality as but a play. What this reptile hath + said is true. We must keep faith with him if we wish that others of the + country folk should give up the fugitives. There is no help for it!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For myself I believe in Jeddart law,’ his companion answered. ‘I would + hang the man first and then discuss the question of our promise. However, + pink me if I will obtrude my opinion on any man!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, it cannot be,’ the taller said. ‘Corporal, do you take him down. + Henderson will go with you. Take from him that plate and sword, which his + mother would wear with as good a grace. And hark ye, corporal, a few + touches of thy stirrup leathers across his fat shoulders might not be + amiss, as helping him to remember the King’s dragoons.’ + </p> + <p> + My treacherous companion was dragged off, struggling and yelping, and + presently a series of piercing howls, growing fainter and fainter as he + fled before his tormentors, announced that the hint had been taken. The + two officers rushed to the little window of the mill and roared with + laughter, while the troopers, peeping furtively over their shoulders, + could not restrain themselves from joining in their mirth, from which I + gathered that Master Tetheridge, as, spurred on by fear, he hurled his fat + body through hedges and into ditches, was a somewhat comical sight. + </p> + <p> + ‘And now for the other,’ said the little officer, turning away from the + window and wiping the tears of laughter from his face. ‘That beam over + yonder would serve our purpose. Where is Hangman Broderick, the Jack Ketch + of the Royals?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Here I am, sir,’ responded a sullen, heavy-faced trooper, shuffling + forward; ‘I have a rope here with a noose.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Throw it over the beam, then. What is amiss with your hand, you clumsy + rogue, that you should wear linen round it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘May it please you, sir,’ the man answered, ‘it was all through an + ungrateful, prick-eared Presbyterian knave whom I hung at Gommatch. I had + done all that could be done for him. Had he been at Tyburn he could scarce + have met with more attention. Yet when I did put my hand to his neck to + see that all was as it should be, he did fix me with his teeth, and hath + gnawed a great piece from my thumb.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am sorry for you,’ said the officer. ‘You know, no doubt, that the + human bite under such circumstances is as deadly as that of the mad dog, + so that you may find yourself snapping and barking one of these fine + mornings. Nay, turn not pale! I have heard you preach patience and courage + to your victims. You are not afraid of death?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not of any Christian death, your Honour. Yet, ten shillings a week is + scarce enough to pay a man for an end like that!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, it is all a lottery,’ remarked the Captain cheerily. ‘I have heard + that in these cases a man is so drawn up that his heels do beat a tattoo + against the back of his head. But, mayhap, it is not as painful as it + would appear. Meanwhile, do you proceed to do your office.’ + </p> + <p> + Three or four troopers caught me by the arms, but I shook them off as best + I might, and walked with, as I trust, a steady step and a cheerful face + under the beam, which was a great smoke-blackened rafter passing from one + side of the chamber to the other. The rope was thrown over this, and the + noose placed round my neck with trembling fingers by the hangman, who took + particular care to keep beyond the range of my teeth. Half-a-dozen + dragoons seized the further end of the coil, and stood ready to swing me + into eternity. Through all my adventurous life I have never been so close + upon the threshold of death as at that moment, and yet I declare to you + that, terrible as my position was, I could think of nothing but the tattoo + marks upon old Solomon Sprent’s arm, and the cunning fashion in which he + had interwoven the red and the blue. Yet I was keenly alive to all that + was going on around me. The scene of the bleak stone-floored room, the + single narrow window, the two lounging elegant officers, the pile of arms + in the corner, and even the texture of the coarse red serge and the + patterns of the great brass buttons upon the sleeve of the man who held + me, are all stamped clearly upon my mind. + </p> + <p> + ‘We must do our work with order,’ remarked the taller Captain, taking a + note-book from his pocket. ‘Colonel Sarsfield may desire some details. Let + me see! This is the seventeenth, is it not?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Four at the farm and five at the cross-roads,’ the other answered, + counting upon his fingers. ‘Then there was the one whom we shot in the + hedge, and the wounded one who nearly saved himself by dying, and the two + in the grove under the hill. I can remember no more, save those who were + strung up in ‘Bridgewater immediately after the action.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is well to do it in an orderly fashion,’ quoth the other, scribbling + in his book. ‘It is very well for Kirke and his men, who are half Moors + themselves, to hang and to slaughter without discrimination or ceremony, + but we should set them a better example. What is your name, sirrah?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My name is Captain Micah Clarke,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + The two officers looked at each other, and the smaller one gave a long + whistle. ‘It is the very man!’ said he. ‘This comes of asking questions! + Rat me, if I had not misgivings that it might prove to be so. They said + that he was large of limb.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Tell me, sirrah, have you ever known one Major Ogilvy of the Horse Guards + Blue?’ asked the Captain. + </p> + <p> + ‘Seeing that I had the honour of taking him prisoner,’ I replied, ‘and + seeing also that he hath shared soldier’s fare and quarters with me ever + since, I think I may fairly say that I do know him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Cast loose the cord!’ said the officer, and the hangman reluctantly + slipped the cord over my head once more. ‘Young man, you are surely + reserved for something great, for you will never be nearer your grave + until you do actually step into it. This Major Ogilvy hath made great + interest both for you and for a wounded comrade of yours who lies at + Bridgewater. Your name hath been given to the commanders of horse, with + orders to bring you in unscathed should you be taken. Yet it is but fair + to tell you that though the Major’s good word may save you from martial + law, it will stand you in small stead before a civil judge, before whom ye + must in the end take your trial.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I desire to share the same lot and fortune as has befallen my + companions-in-arms,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, that is but a sullen way to take your deliverance,’ cried the + smaller officer. ‘The situation is as flat as sutler’s beer. Otway would + have made a bettor thing of it. Can you not rise to the occasion? Where is + she?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She! Who?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘She. The she. The woman. Your wife, sweetheart, betrothed, what you + will.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is none such,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘There now! What can be done in a case like that?’ cried he despairingly. + ‘She should have rushed in from the wings and thrown herself upon your + bosom. I have seen such a situation earn three rounds from the pit. There + is good material spoiling here for want of some one to work it up.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We have something else to work up, Jack,’ exclaimed his companion + impatiently. ‘Sergeant Gredder, do you with two troopers conduct the + prisoner to Gommatch Church. It is time that we were once more upon our + way, for in a few hours the darkness will hinder the pursuit.’ + </p> + <p> + At the word of command the troopers descended into the field where their + horses were picketed, and were speedily on the march once more, the tall + Captain leading them, and the stage-struck cornet bringing up the rear. + The sergeant to whose care I had been committed—a great + square-shouldered, dark-browed man—ordered my own horse to be + brought out, and helped me to mount it. He removed the pistols from the + holsters, however, and hung them with my sword at his own saddle-bow. + </p> + <p> + ‘Shall I tie his feet under the horse’s belly?’ asked one of the dragoons. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, the lad hath an honest face,’ the sergeant answered. ‘If he promises + to be quiet we shall cast free his arms.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have no desire to escape,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then untie the rope. A brave man in misfortune hath ever my goodwill, + strike me dumb else! Sergeant Gredder is my name, formerly of Mackay’s and + now of the Royals—as hard-worked and badly-paid a man as any in his + Majesty’s service. Right wheel, and down the pathway! Do ye ride on either + side, and I behind! Our carbines are primed, friend, so stand true to your + promise!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, you can rely upon it,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Your little comrade did play you a scurvy trick,’ said the sergeant, ‘for + seeing us ride down the road he did make across to us, and bargained with + the Captain that his life should be spared, on condition that he should + deliver into our hands what he described as one of the stoutest soldiers + in the rebel army. Truly you have thews and sinews enough, though you are + surely too young to have seen much service.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘This hath been my first campaign,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘And is like to be your last,’ he remarked, with soldierly frankness. ‘I + hear that the Privy Council intend to make such an example as will take + the heart out of the Whigs for twenty years to come. They have a lawyer + coming from London whose wig is more to be feared than our helmets. He + will slay more men in a day than a troop of horse in a ten-mile chase. + Faith! I would sooner they took this butcher-work into their own hands. + See those bodies on yonder tree. It is an evil season when such acorns + grow upon English oaks.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is an evil season,’ said I, ‘when men who call themselves Christians + inflict such vengeance upon poor simple peasants, who have done no more + than their conscience urged them. That the leaders and officers should + suffer is but fair. They stood to win in case of success, and should pay + forfeit now that they have lost. But it goes to my heart to see those poor + godly country folk so treated.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, there is truth in that,’ said the sergeant. ‘Now if it were some of + these snuffle-nosed preachers, the old lank-haired bell-wethers who have + led their flocks to the devil, it would be another thing. Why can they not + conform to the Church, and be plagued to them? It is good enough for the + King, so surely it is good enough for them; or are their souls so delicate + that they cannot satisfy themselves with that on which every honest + Englishman thrives? The main road to Heaven is too common for them. They + must needs have each a by-path of their own, and cry out against all who + will not follow it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why,’ said I, ‘there are pious men of all creeds. If a man lead a life of + virtue, what matter what he believes? + </p> + <p> + ‘Let a man keep his virtue in his heart,’ quoth Sergeant Gredder. ‘Let him + pack it deep in the knapsack of his soul. I suspect godliness which shows + upon the surface, the snuffling talk, the rolling eyes, the groaning and + the hawking. It is like the forged money, which can be told by its being + more bright and more showy than the real.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘An apt comparison!’ said I. ‘But how comes it, sergeant, that you have + given attention to these matters? Unless they are much belied, the Royal + Dragoons find other things to think of.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I was one of Mackay’s foot,’ he answered shortly. ‘I have heard of him,’ + said I. ‘A man, I believe, both of parts and of piety.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That, indeed, he is,’ cried Sergeant Gredder warmly. ‘He is a man stern + and soldierly to the outer eye, but with the heart of a saint within him. + I promise you there was little need of the strapado in his regiment, for + there was not a man who did not fear the look of sorrow in his Colonel’s + eyes far more than he did the provost-marshal.’ + </p> + <p> + During the whole of our long ride I found the worthy sergeant a true + follower of the excellent Colonel Mackay, for he proved to be a man of + more than ordinary intelligence, and of serious and thoughtful habit. As + to the two troopers, they rode on either side of me as silent as statues; + for the common dragoons of those days could but talk of wine and women, + and were helpless and speechless when aught else was to the fore. When we + at last rode into the little village of Gommatch, which overlooks the + plain of Sedgemoor, it was with regret on each side that I bade my + guardian adieu. As a parting favour I begged him to take charge of + Covenant for me, promising to pay a certain sum by the month for his keep, + and commissioning him to retain the horse for his own use should I fail to + claim him within the year. It was a load off my mind when I saw my trusty + companion led away, staring back at me with questioning eyes, as though + unable to understand the separation. Come what might, I knew now that, he + was in the keeping of a good man who would see that no harm befell him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0034" id="link2HCH0034"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXXIV. Of the Coming of Solomon Sprent + </h2> + <p> + The church of Gommatch was a small ivy-clad building with a square Norman + tower, standing in the centre of the hamlet of that name. Its great oaken + doors, studded with iron, and high narrow windows, fitted it well for the + use to which it was now turned. Two companies of Dumbarton’s Foot had been + quartered in the village, with a portly Major at their head, to whom I was + handed over by Sergeant Gredder, with some account of my capture, and of + the reasons which had prevented my summary execution. + </p> + <p> + Night was now drawing in, but a few dim lamps, hung here and there upon + the walls, cast an uncertain, flickering light over the scene. A hundred + or more prisoners were scattered about upon the stone floor, many of them + wounded, and some evidently dying. The hale had gathered in silent, + subdued groups round their stricken friends, and were doing what they + could to lessen their sufferings. Some had even removed the greater part + of their clothing in order to furnish head-rests and pallets for the + wounded. Here and there in the shadows dark kneeling figures might be + seen, and the measured sound of their prayers rang through the aisles, + with a groan now and again, or a choking gasp as some poor sufferer + battled for breath. The dim, yellow light streaming over the earnest + pain-drawn faces, and the tattered mud-coloured figures, would have made + it a fitting study for any of those Low Country painters whose pictures I + saw long afterwards at The Hague. + </p> + <p> + On Thursday morning, the third day after the battle, we were all conveyed + into Bridgewater, where we were confined for the remainder of the week in + St. Mary’s Church, the very one from the tower of which Monmouth and his + commanders had inspected Feversham’s position. The more we heard of the + fight from the soldiers and others, the more clear it became that, but for + the most unfortunate accidents, there was every chance that our night + attack might have succeeded. There was scarcely a fault which a General + could commit which Feversham had not been guilty of. He had thought too + lightly of his enemy, and left his camp entirely open to a surprise. When + the firing broke out he sprang from his couch, but failing to find his + wig, he had groped about his tent while the battle was being decided, and + only came out when it was well-nigh over. All were agreed that had it not + been for the chance of the Bussex Rhine having been overlooked by our + guides and scouts, we should have been among the tents before the men + could have been called to arms. Only this and the fiery energy of John + Churchill, the second in command, afterwards better known under a higher + name, both to French and to English history, prevented the Royal army from + meeting with a reverse which might have altered the result of the + campaign.(Note K, Appendix.) Should ye hear or read, then, my dear + children, that Monmouth’s rising was easily put down, or that it was + hopeless from the first, remember that I, who was concerned in it, say + confidently that it really trembled in the balance, and that this handful + of resolute peasants with their pikes and their scythes were within an ace + of altering the whole course of English history. The ferocity of the Privy + Council, after the rebellion was quelled, arose from their knowledge of + how very close it had been to success. + </p> + <p> + I do not wish to say too much of the cruelty and barbarity of the victors, + for it is not good for your childish ears to hear of such doings. The + sluggard Feversham and the brutal Kirke have earned themselves a name in + the West, which is second only to that of the arch villain who came after + them. As for their victims, when they had hanged and quartered and done + their wicked worst upon them, at least they left their names in their own + little villages, to be treasured up and handed from generation to + generation, as brave men and true who had died for a noble cause. Go now + to Milverton, or to Wiveliscombe, or to Minehead, or to Colyford, or to + any village through the whole breadth and length of Somersetshire, and you + will find that they have not forgotten what they proudly call their + martyrs. But where now is Kirke and where is Feversham? Their names are + preserved, it is true, but preserved in a county’s hatred. Who can fail to + see now that these men in punishing others brought a far heavier + punishment upon themselves? Their sin hath indeed found them out. + </p> + <p> + They did all that wicked and callous-hearted men could do, knowing well + that such deeds were acceptable to the cold-blooded, bigoted hypocrite who + sat upon the throne. They worked to win his favour, and they won it. Men + were hanged and cut down and hanged again. Every cross-road in the country + was ghastly with gibbets. There was not an insult or a contumely which + might make the pangs of death more unendurable, which was not heaped upon + these long-suffering men; yet it is proudly recounted in their native + shire that of all the host of victims there was not one who did not meet + his end with a firm lip, protesting that if the thing were to do again he + was ready to do it. + </p> + <p> + At the end of a week or two news came of the fugitives. Monmouth, it + seems, had been captured by Portman’s yellow coats when trying to make his + way to the New Forest, whence he hoped to escape to the Continent. He was + dragged, gaunt, unshaven, and trembling, out of a bean-field in which he + had taken refuge, and was carried to Ringwood, in Hampshire. Strange + rumours reached us concerning his behaviour—rumours which came to + our ears through the coarse jests of our guards. Some said that he had + gone on his knees to the yokels who had seized him. Others that he had + written to the King offering to do anything, even to throw over the + Protestant cause, to save his head from the scaffold.(Note L, Appendix.) + We laughed at these stories at the time, and set them down as inventions + of our enemies. It seemed too impossible that at a time when his + supporters were so sternly and so loyally standing true to him, he, their + leader, with the eyes of all men upon him, should be showing less courage + than every little drummer-boy displays, who trips along at the head of his + regiment upon the field of battle. Alas! time showed that the stories were + indeed true, and that there was no depth of infamy to which this unhappy + man would not descend, in the hope of prolonging for a few years that + existence which had proved a curse to so many who trusted him. + </p> + <p> + Of Saxon no news had come, good or bad, which encouraged me to hope that + he had found a hiding-place for himself. Reuben was still confined to his + couch by his wound, and was under the care and protection of Major Ogilvy. + The good gentleman came to see me more than once, and endeavoured to add + to my comfort, until I made him understand that it pained me to find + myself upon a different footing to the brave fellows with whom I had + shared the perils of the campaign. One great favour he did me in writing + to my father, and informing him that I was well and in no pressing danger. + In reply to this letter I had a stout Christian answer from the old man, + bidding me to be of good courage, and quoting largely from a sermon on + patience by the Reverend Josiah Seaton of Petersfield. My mother, he said, + was in deep distress at my position, but was held up by her confidence in + the decrees of Providence. He enclosed a draft for Major Ogilvy, + commissioning him to use it in whatever way I should suggest. This money, + together with the small hoard which my mother had sewed into my collar, + proved to be invaluable, for when the gaol fever broke out amongst us I + was able to get fitting food for the sick, and also to pay for the + services of physicians, so that the disease was stamped out ere it had + time to spread. + </p> + <p> + Early in August we were brought from Bridgewater to Taunton, where we were + thrown with hundreds of others into the same wool storehouse where our + regiment had been quartered in the early days of the campaign. We gained + little by the change, save that we found that our new guards were somewhat + more satiated with cruelty than our old ones, and were therefore less + exacting upon their prisoners. Not only were friends allowed in + occasionally to see us, but books and papers could be obtained by the aid + of a small present to the sergeant on duty. We were able, therefore, to + spend our time with some degree of comfort during the month or more which + passed before our trial. + </p> + <p> + One evening I was standing listlessly with my back against the wall, + looking up at a thin slit of blue sky which showed itself through the + narrow window, and fancying myself back in the meadows of Havant once + more, when a voice fell upon my ear which did, indeed, recall me to my + Hampshire home. Those deep, husky tones, rising at times into an angry + roar, could belong to none other than my old friend the seaman. I + approached the door from which the uproar came, and all doubt vanished as + I listened to the conversation. + </p> + <p> + ‘Won’t let me pass, won’t ye?’ he was shouting. ‘Let me tell you I’ve held + on my course when better men than you have asked me to veil topsails. I + tell you I have the admiral’s permit, and I won’t clew up for a bit of a + red-painted cock-boat; so move from athwart my hawse, or I may chance to + run you down.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We don’t know nothing about admirals here,’ said the sergeant of the + guard. ‘The time for seeing prisoners is over for the day, and if you do + not take your ill-favoured body out of this I may try the weight o’ my + halberd on your back.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have taken blows and given them ere you were ever thought of, you + land-swab,’ roared old Solomon. ‘I was yardarm and yardarm with De Ruyter + when you were learning to suck milk; but, old as I am, I would have you + know that I am not condemned yet, and that I am fit to exchange broadsides + with any lobster-tailed piccaroon that ever was triced up to a triangle + and had the King’s diamonds cut in his back. If I tack back to Major + Ogilvy and signal him the way that I have been welcomed, he’ll make your + hide redder than ever your coat was.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Major Ogilvy!’ exclaimed the sergeant, in a more respectful voice. ‘If + you had said that your permit was from Major Ogilvy it would have been + another thing, but you did rave of admirals and commodores, and God knows + what other outlandish talk!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Shame on your parents that they should have reared you with so slight a + knowledge o’ the King’s English!’ grumbled Solomon. ‘In truth, friend, it + is a marvel to me why sailor men should be able to show a lead to those on + shore in the matter of lingo. For out of seven hundred men in the ship <i>Worcester</i>—the + same that sank in the Bay of Funchal—there was not so much as a + powder-boy but could understand every word that I said, whereas on shore + there is many a great jolterhead, like thyself, who might be a Portugee + for all the English that he knows, and who stares at me like a pig in a + hurricane if I do lint ask him what he makes the reckoning, or how many + bells have gone.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Whom is it that you would see?’ asked the sergeant gruffly. ‘You have a + most infernally long tongue.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, and a rough one, too, when I have fools to deal with,’ returned the + seaman. ‘If I had you in my watch, lad, for a three years’ cruise, I would + make a man of you yet.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Pass the old man through!’ cried the sergeant furiously, and the sailor + came stumping in, with his bronzed face all screwed up and twisted, partly + with amusement at his victory over the sergeant, and partly from a great + chunk of tobacco which he was wont to stow within his cheek. Having + glanced round without perceiving me, he put his hands to his mouth and + bellowed out my name, with a string of ‘Ahoys!’ which rang through the + building. + </p> + <p> + ‘Here I am, Solomon,’ said I, touching him on the shoulder. + </p> + <p> + ‘God bless you, lad! God bless you!’ he cried, wringing my hand. ‘I could + not see you, for my port eye is as foggy as the Newfoundland banks, and + has been ever since Long Sue Williams of the Point hove a quart pot at it + in the Tiger inn nigh thirty year agone. How are you? All sound, alow and + aloft?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘As well as might be,’ I answered. ‘I have little to complain of.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘None of your standing rigging shot away!’ said he. ‘No spars crippled? No + shots between wind and water, eh? You have not been hulled, nor raked, nor + laid aboard of?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘None of these things,’ said I, laughing. + </p> + <p> + ‘Faith! you are leaner than of old, and have aged ten years in two months. + You did go forth as smart and trim a fighting ship as over answered helm, + and now you are like the same ship when the battle and the storm have + taken the gloss from her sides and torn the love-pennants from her peak. + Yet am I right glad to see you sound in wind and limb.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have looked upon sights,’ said I, ‘which might well add ten years to a + man’s age.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, aye!’ he answered, with a hollow groan, shaking his head from side + to side. ‘It is a most accursed affair. Yet, bad as the tempest is, the + calm will ever come afterwards if you will but ride it out with your + anchor placed deep in Providence. Ah, lad, that is good holding ground! + But if I know you aright, your grief is more for these poor wretches + around you than for yourself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is, indeed, a sore sight to see them suffer so patiently and + uncomplainingly,’ I answered, ‘and for such a man, too!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, the chicken-livered swab!’ growled the seaman, grinding his teeth. + </p> + <p> + ‘How are my mother and my father,’ I asked, ‘and how came you so far from + home?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, I should have grounded on my beef bones had I waited longer at my + moorings. I cut my cable, therefore, and, making a northerly tack as far + as Salisbury, I run down with a fair wind. Thy father hath set his face + hard, and goes about his work as usual, though much troubled by the + Justices, who have twice had him up to Winchester for examination, but + have found his papers all right and no charge to be brought against him. + Your mother, poor soul, hath little time to mope or to pipe her eye, for + she hath such a sense of duty that, were the ship to founder under her, it + is a plate galleon to a china orange that she would stand fast in the + caboose curing marigolds or rolling pastry. They have taken to prayer as + some would to rum, and warm their hearts with it when the wind of + misfortune blows chill. They were right glad that I should come down to + you, and I gave them the word of a sailor that I would get you out of the + bilboes if it might anyhow be done.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Get me out, Solomon!’ said I; ‘nay, that may be put outside the question. + How could you get me out?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There are many ways,’ he answered, sinking his voice to a whisper, and + nodding his grizzled head as one who talks upon what has cost him much + time and thought. ‘There is scuttling.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Scuttling?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, lad! When I was quartermaster of the galley <i>Providence</i> in the + second Dutch war, we were caught betwixt a lee shore and Van Tromp’s + squadron, so that after fighting until our sticks were shot away and our + scuppers were arun with blood, we were carried by boarding and sent as + prisoners to the Texel. We were stowed away in irons in the afterhold, + amongst the bilge water and the rats, with hatches battened down and + guards atop, but even then they could not keep us, for the irons got + adrift, and Will Adams, the carpenter’s mate, picked a hole in the seams + so that the vessel nearly foundered, and in the confusion we fell upon the + prize crew, and, using our fetters as cudgels, regained possession of the + vessel. But you smile, as though there were little hopes from any such + plan!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If this wool-house were the galley <i>Providence</i> and Taunton Deane + were the Bay of Biscay, it might be attempted,’ I said. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have indeed got out o’ the channel,’ he answered, with a wrinkled brow. + ‘There is, however, another most excellent plan which I have conceived, + which is to blow up the building.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘To blow it up!’ I cried. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye! A brace of kegs and a slow match would do it any dark night. Then + where would be these walls which now shut ye in?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Where would be the folk that are now inside them!’ I asked. ‘Would you + not blow them up as well?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Plague take it, I had forgot that,’ cried Solomon. ‘Nay, then, I leave it + with you. What have you to propose? Do but give your sailing orders, and, + with or without a consort, you will find that I will steer by them as long + as this old hulk can answer to her helm.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then my advice is, my dear old friend,’ said I, ‘that you leave matters + to take their course, and hie back to Havant with a message from me to + those who know me, telling them to be of good cheer, and to hope for the + best. Neither you nor any other man can help me now, for I have thrown in + my lot with these poor folk, and I would not leave them if I could. Do + what you can to cheer my mother’s heart, and commend me to Zachary Palmer. + Your visit hath been a joy to me, and your return will be the same to + them. You can serve me better so than by biding here.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sink me if I like going back without a blow struck,’ he growled. ‘Yet if + it is your will there is an end of the matter. Tell me, lad. Has that + lank-sparred, slab-sided, herring-gutted friend of yours played you false? + for if he has, by the eternal, old as I am, my hanger shall scrape + acquaintance with the longshore tuck which hangs at his girdle. I know + where he hath laid himself up, moored stem and stern, all snug and + shipshape, waiting for the turn of the tide.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What, Saxon!’ I cried. ‘Do you indeed know where he is? For God’s sake + speak low, for it would mean a commission and five hundred good pounds to + any one of these soldiers could he lay hands upon him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They are scarce like to do that,’ said Solomon. ‘On my journey hither I + chanced to put into port at a place called Bruton, where there is an inn + that will compare with most, and the skipper is a wench with a glib tongue + and a merry eye. I was drinking a glass of spiced ale, as is my custom + about six bells of the middle watch, when I chanced to notice a great + lanky carter, who was loading up a waggon in the yard with a cargo o’ beer + casks. Looking closer it seemed to me that the man’s nose, like the beak + of a goshawk, and his glinting eyes with the lids only half-reefed, were + known to me, but when I overheard him swearing to himself in good High + Dutch, then his figurehead came back to me in a moment. I put out into the + yard, and touched him on the shoulder. Zounds, lad! you should have seen + him spring back and spit at me like a wildcat with every hair of his head + in a bristle. He whipped a knife from under his smock, for he thought, + doubtless, that I was about to earn the reward by handing him over to the + red-coats. I told him that his secret was safe with me, and I asked him if + he had heard that you were laid by the heels. He answered that he knew it, + and that he would be answerable that no harm befell you, though in truth + it seemed to me that he had his hands full in trimming his own sails, + without acting as pilot to another. However, there I left him, and there I + shall find him again if so be as he has done you an injury.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay,’ I answered, ‘I am right glad that he has found this refuge. We did + separate upon a difference of opinion, but I have no cause to complain of + him. In many ways he hath shown me both kindness and goodwill.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He is as crafty as a purser’s clerk,’ quoth Solomon. ‘I have seen Reuben + Lockarby, who sends his love to you. He is still kept in his bunk from his + wound, but he meets with good treatment. Major Ogilvy tells me that he has + made such interest for him that there is every chance that he will gain + his discharge, the more particularly since he was not present at the + battle. Your own chance of pardon would, he thinks, be greater if you had + fought less stoutly, but you have marked yourself as a dangerous man, more + especially as you have the love of many of the common folk among the + rebels.’ + </p> + <p> + The good old seaman stayed with me until late in the night, listening to + my adventures, and narrating in return the simple gossip of the village, + which is of more interest to the absent wanderer than the rise and fall of + empires. Before he left he drew a great handful of silver pieces from his + pouch, and went round amongst the prisoners, listening to their wants, and + doing what he could with rough sailor talk and dropping coins to lighten + their troubles. There is a language in the kindly eye and the honest brow + which all men may understand; and though the seaman’s speeches might have + been in Greek, for all that they conveyed to the Somersetshire peasants, + yet they crowded round him as he departed and called blessings upon his + head. I felt as though he had brought a whiff of his own pure ocean + breezes into our close and noisome prison, and left us the sweeter and the + healthier. + </p> + <p> + Late in August the judges started from London upon that wicked journey + which blighted the lives and the homes of so many, and hath left a memory + in the counties through which they passed which shall never fade while a + father can speak to a son. We heard reports of them from day to day, for + the guards took pleasure in detailing them with many coarse and foul + jests, that we might know what was in store for us, and lose none of what + they called the pleasures of anticipation. At Winchester the sainted and + honoured Lady Alice Lisle was sentenced by Chief Justice Jeffreys to be + burned alive, and the exertions and prayers of her friends could scarce + prevail upon him to allow her the small boon of the axe instead of the + faggot. Her graceful head was hewn from her body amidst the groans and the + cries of a weeping multitude in the market-place of the town. At + Dorchester the slaughter was wholesale. Three hundred were condemned to + death, and seventy-four were actually executed, until the most loyal and + Tory of the country squires had to complain of the universal presence of + the dangling bodies. Thence the judges proceeded to Exeter and thence to + Taunton, which they reached in the first week of September, more like + furious and ravenous beasts which have tasted blood and cannot quench + their cravings for slaughter, than just-minded men, trained to distinguish + the various degrees of guilt, or to pick out the innocent and screen him + from injustice. A rare field was open for their cruelty, for in Taunton + alone there lay a thousand hapless prisoners, many of whom were so little + trained to express their thoughts, and so hampered by the strange dialect + in which they spoke, that they might have been born dumb for all the + chance they had of making either judge or counsel understand the pleadings + which they wished to lay before them. + </p> + <p> + It was on a Monday evening that the Lord Chief Justice made his entry. + From one of the windows of the room in which we were confined I saw him + pass. First rode the dragoons with their standards and kettledrums, then + the javelin-men with their halberds, and behind them the line of coaches + full of the high dignitaries of the law. Last of all, drawn by six + long-tailed Flemish mares, came a great open coach, thickly crusted with + gold, in which, reclining amidst velvet cushions, sat the infamous Judge, + wrapped in a cloak of crimson plush with a heavy white periwig upon his + head, which was so long that it dropped down over his shoulders. They say + that he wore scarlet in order to strike terror into the hearts of the + people, and that his courts were for the same reason draped in the colour + of blood. As for himself, it hath ever been the custom, since his + wickedness hath come to be known to all men, to picture him as a man whose + expression and features were as monstrous and as hideous as was the mind + behind them. This is by no means the case. On the contrary, he was a man + who, in his younger days, must have been remarkable for his extreme + beauty.(1) He was not, it is true, very old, as years go, when I saw him, + but debauchery and low living had left their traces upon his countenance, + without, however entirely destroying the regularity and the beauty of his + features. He was dark, more like a Spaniard than an Englishman, with black + eyes and olive complexion. His expression was lofty and noble, but his + temper was so easily aflame that the slightest cross or annoyance would + set him raving like a madman, with blazing eyes and foaming mouth. I have + seen him myself with the froth upon his lips and his whole face twitching + with passion, like one who hath the falling sickness. Yet his other + emotions were under as little control, for I have heard say that a very + little would cause him to sob and to weep, more especially when he had + himself been slighted by those who were above him. He was, I believe, a + man who had great powers either for good or for evil, but by pandering to + the darker side of his nature and neglecting the other, he brought himself + to be as near a fiend as it is possible for a man to be. It must indeed + have been an evil government where so vile and foul-mouthed a wretch was + chosen out to hold the scales of justice. As he drove past, a Tory + gentleman riding by the side of his coach drew his attention to the faces + of the prisoners looking out at him. He glanced up at them with a quick, + malicious gleam of his white teeth, then settled down again amongst the + cushions. I observed that as he passed not a hat was raised among the + crowd, and that even the rude soldiers appeared to look upon him half in + terror, half in disgust, as a lion might look upon some foul, + blood-sucking bat which battened upon the prey which he had himself struck + down. + </p> + <p> + (1) The painting of Jeffreys in the National Portrait Gallery more than + bears out Micah Clarke’s remarks. He is the handsomest man in the + collection. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0035" id="link2HCH0035"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXXV. Of the Devil in Wig and Gown + </h2> + <p> + There was no delay in the work of slaughter. That very night the great + gallows was erected outside the White Hart inn. Hour after hour we could + hear the blows of mallets and the sawing of beams, mingled with the + shoutings and the ribald choruses of the Chief Justice’s suite, who were + carousing with the officers of the Tangiers regiment in the front room, + which overlooked the gibbet. Amongst the prisoners the night was passed in + prayer and meditation, the stout-hearted holding forth to their weaker + brethren, and exhorting them to play the man, and to go to their death in + a fashion which should be an example to true Protestants throughout the + world. The Puritan divines had been mostly strung up off-hand immediately + after the battle, but a few were left to sustain the courage of their + flocks, and to show them the way upon the scaffold. Never have I seen + anything so admirable as the cool and cheerful bravery wherewith these + poor clowns faced their fate. Their courage on the battlefield paled + before that which they showed in the shambles of the law. So amid the low + murmur of prayer and appeals for mercy to God from tongues which never yet + asked mercy from man, the morning broke, the last morning which many of us + were to spend upon earth. + </p> + <p> + The court should have opened at nine, but my Lord Chief Justice was + indisposed, having sat up somewhat late with Colonel Kirke. It was nearly + eleven before the trumpeters and criers announced that he had taken his + seat. One by one my fellow-prisoners were called out by name, the more + prominent being chosen first. They went out from amongst us amid + hand-shakings and blessings, but we saw and heard no more of them, save + that a sudden fierce rattle of kettledrums would rise up now and again, + which was, as our guards told us, to drown any dying words which might + fall from the sufferers and bear fruit in the breasts of those who heard + them. With firm steps and smiling faces the roll of martyrs went forth to + their fate during the whole of that long autumn day, until the rough + soldiers of the guard stood silent and awed in the presence of a courage + which they could not but recognise as higher and nobler than their own. + Folk may call it a trial that they received, and a trial it really was, + but not in the sense that we Englishmen use it. It was but being haled + before a Judge, and insulted before being dragged to the gibbet. The + court-house was the thorny path which led to the scaffold. What use to put + a witness up, when he was shouted down, cursed at, and threatened by the + Chief Justice, who bellowed and swore until the frightened burghers in + Fore Street could hear him? I have heard from those who were there that + day that he raved like a demoniac, and that his black eyes shone with a + vivid vindictive brightness which was scarce human. The jury shrank from + him as from a venomous thing when he turned his baleful glance upon them. + At times, as I have been told, his sternness gave place to a still more + terrible merriment, and he would lean back in his seat of justice and + laugh until the tears hopped down upon his ermine. Nearly a hundred were + either executed or condemned to death upon that opening day. + </p> + <p> + I had expected to be amongst the first of those called, and no doubt I + should have been so but for the exertions of Major Ogilvy. As it was, the + second day passed, but I still found myself overlooked. On the third and + fourth days the slaughter was slackened, not on account of any awakening + grace on the part of the Judge, but because the great Tory landowners, and + the chief supporters of the Government, had still some bowels of + compassion, which revolted at this butchery of defenceless men. Had it not + been for the influence which these gentlemen brought to bear upon the + Judge, I have no doubt at all that Jeffreys would have hung the whole + eleven hundred prisoners then confined in Taunton. As it was, two hundred + and fifty fell victims to this accursed monster’s thirst for human blood. + </p> + <p> + On the eighth day of the assizes there were but fifty of us left in the + wool warehouse. For the last few days prisoners had been tried in batches + of ten and twenty, but now the whole of us were taken in a drove, under + escort, to the court-house, where as many as could be squeezed in were + ranged in the dock, while the rest were penned, like calves in the market, + in the body of the hall. The Judge reclined in a high chair, with a + scarlet dais above him, while two other Judges, in less elevated seats, + were stationed on either side of him. On the right hand was the jury-box, + containing twelve carefully picked men—Tories of the old school—firm + upholders of the doctrines of non-resistance and the divine right of + kings. Much care had been taken by the Crown in the choice of these men, + and there was not one of them but would have sentenced his own father had + there been so much as a suspicion that he leaned to Presbyterianism or to + Whiggery. Just under the Judge was a broad table, covered with green cloth + and strewn with papers. On the right hand of this were a long array of + Crown lawyers, grim, ferret-faced men, each with a sheaf of papers in his + hands, which they sniffed through again and again, as though they were so + many bloodhounds picking up the trail along which they were to hunt us + down. On the other side of the table sat a single fresh-faced young man, + in silk gown and wig, with a nervous, shuffling manner. This was the + barrister, Master Helstrop, whom the Crown in its clemency had allowed us + for our defence, lest any should be bold enough to say that we had not had + every fairness in our trial. The remainder of the court was filled with + the servants of the Justices’ retinue and the soldiers of the garrison, + who used the place as their common lounge, looking on the whole thing as a + mighty cheap form of sport, and roaring with laughter at the rude banter + and coarse pleasantries of his Lordship. + </p> + <p> + The clerk having gabbled through the usual form that we, the prisoners at + the bar, having shaken off the fear of God, had unlawfully and + traitorously assembled, and so onwards, the Lord Justice proceeded to take + matters into his own hands, as was his wont. + </p> + <p> + ‘I trust that we shall come well out of this!’ he broke out. ‘I trust that + no judgment will fall upon this building! Was ever so much wickedness + fitted into one court-house before? Who ever saw such an array of + villainous faces? Ah, rogues, I see a rope ready for every one of ye! Art + not afraid of judgment? Art not afraid of hell-fire? You grey-bearded + rascal in the corner, how comes it that you have not had more of the grace + of God in you than to take up arms against your most gracious and loving + sovereign?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have followed the guidance of my conscience, my Lord,’ said the + venerable cloth-worker of Wellington, to whom he spoke. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ha, your conscience!’ howled Jeffreys. ‘A ranter with a conscience! Where + has your conscience been these two months back, you villain and rogue? + Your conscience will stand you in little stead, sirrah, when you are + dancing on nothing with a rope round your neck. Was ever such wickedness? + Who ever heard such effrontery? And you, you great hulking rebel, have you + not grace enough to cast your eyes down, but must needs look justice in + the face as though you were an honest man? Are you not afeared, sirrah? Do + you not see death close upon you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have seen that before now, my Lord, and I was not afeared,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Generation of vipers!’ he cried, throwing up his hands. ‘The best of + fathers! The kindest of kings! See that my words are placed upon the + record, clerk! The most indulgent of parents! But wayward children must, + with all kindness, be flogged into obedience. Here he broke into a savage + grin. ‘The King will save your own natural parents all further care on + your account. If they had wished to keep ye, they should have brought ye + up in better principles. Rogues, we shall be merciful to ye—oh, + merciful, merciful! How many are here, recorder?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Fifty and one, my Lord.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, sink of villainy! Fifty and one as arrant knaves as ever lay on a + hurdle! Oh, what a mass of corruption have we here! Who defends the + villains?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I defend the prisoners, your Lordship,’ replied the young lawyer. + </p> + <p> + ‘Master Helstrop, Master Helstrop!’ cried Jeffreys, shaking his great wig + until the powder flew out of it; ‘you are in all these dirty cases, Master + Helstrop. You might find yourself in a parlous condition, Master Helstrop. + I think sometimes that I see you yourself in the dock, Master Helstrop. + You may yourself soon need the help of a gentleman of the long robe, + Master Helstrop. Oh, have a care! Have a care!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The brief is from the Crown, your Lordship,’ the lawyer answered, in a + quavering voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘Must I be answered back, then!’ roared Jeffreys, his black eyes blazing + with the rage of a demon. ‘Am I to be insulted in my own court? Is every + five-groat piece of a pleader, because he chance to have a wig and a gown, + to browbeat the Lord Justice, and to fly in the face of the ruling of the + Court? Oh, Master Helstrop, I fear that I shall live to see some evil come + upon you!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I crave your Lordship’s pardon!’ cried the faint-hearted barrister, with + his face the colour of his brief. + </p> + <p> + ‘Keep a guard upon your words and upon your actions?’ Jeffreys answered, + in a menacing voice. ‘See that you are not too zealous in the cause of the + scum of the earth. How now, then? What do these one and fifty villains + desire to say for themselves? What is their lie? Gentlemen of the jury, I + beg that ye will take particular notice of the cut-throat faces of these + men. ‘Tis well that Colonel Kirke hath afforded the Court a sufficient + guard, for neither justice nor the Church is safe at their hands.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Forty of them desire to plead guilty to the charge of taking up arms + against the King,’ replied our barrister. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ roared the Judge. ‘Was ever such unparalleled impudence? Was there + ever such brazen effrontery? Guilty, quotha! Have they expressed their + repentance for this sin against a most kind and long-suffering monarch! + Put down those words on the record, clerk!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They have refused to express repentance, your Lordship!’ replied the + counsel for the defence. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, the parricides! Oh, the shameless rogues!’ cried the Judge. ‘Put the + forty together on this side of the enclosure. Oh, gentlemen, have ye ever + seen such a concentration of vice? See how baseness and wickedness can + stand with head erect! Oh, hardened monsters! But the other eleven. How + can they expect us to believe this transparent falsehood—this + palpable device? How can they foist it upon the Court?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My Lord, their defence hath not yet been advanced!’ stammered Master + Helstrop. + </p> + <p> + ‘I can sniff a lie before it is uttered,’ roared the Judge, by no means + abashed. ‘I can read it as quick as ye can think it. Come, come, the + Court’s time is precious. Put forward a defence, or seat yourself, and let + judgment be passed.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘These men, my Lord,’ said the counsel, who was trembling until the + parchment rattled in his hand. ‘These eleven men, my Lord—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Eleven devils, my Lord,’ interrupted Jeffreys. + </p> + <p> + ‘They are innocent peasants, my Lord, who love God and the King, and have + in no wise mingled themselves in this recent business. They have been + dragged from their homes, my Lord, not because there was suspicion against + them, but because they could not satisfy the greed of certain common + soldiers who were balked of plunder in—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, shame, shame!’ cried Jeffreys, in a voice of thunder. ‘Oh, threefold + shame, Master Helstrop! Are you not content with bolstering up rebels, but + you must go out of your way to slander the King’s troops? What is this + world coming to? What, in a word, is the defence of these rogues?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘An alibi, your Lordship.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ha! The common plea of every scoundrel. Have they witnesses?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We have here a list of forty witnesses, your Lordship. They are waiting + below, many of them having come great distances, and with much toil and + trouble.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Who are they? What are they?’ cried Jeffreys. + </p> + <p> + ‘They are country folk, your Lordship. Cottagers and farmers, the + neighbours of these poor men, who knew them well, and can speak as to + their doings.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Cottagers and farmers!’ the Judge shouted. ‘Why, then, they are drawn + from the very class from which these men come. Would you have us believe + the oath of those who are themselves Whigs, Presbyterians, Somersetshire + ranters, the pothouse companions of the men whom we are trying? I warrant + they have arranged it all snugly over their beer—snugly, snugly, the + rogues!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Will you not hear the witnesses, your Lordship?’ cried our counsel, + shamed into some little sense of manhood by this outrage. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not a word from them, sirrah,’ said Jeffreys. ‘It is a question whether + my duty towards my kind master the King—write down “kind master,” + clerk—doth not warrant me in placing all your witnesses in the dock + as the aiders and abettors of treason.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If it please your Lordship,’ cried one of the prisoners, ‘I have for + witnesses Mr. Johnson, of Nether Stowey, who is a good Tory, and also Mr. + Shepperton, the clergyman.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The more shame to them to appear in such a cause,’ replied Jeffreys. + ‘What are we to say, gentlemen of the jury, when we see county gentry and + the clergy of the Established Church supporting treason and rebellion in + this fashion? Surely the last days are at hand! You are a most malignant + and dangerous Whig to have so far drawn them from their duty.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But hear me, my Lord!’ cried one of the prisoners. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hear you, you bellowing calf!’ shouted the Judge. ‘We can hear naught + else. Do you think that you are back in your conventicle, that you should + dare to raise your voice in such a fashion? Hear you, quotha! We shall + hear you at the end of a rope, ere many days.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We scarce think, your Lordship,’ said one of the Crown lawyers, springing + to his feet amid a great rustling of papers, ‘we scarce think that it is + necessary for the Crown to state any case. We have already heard the whole + tale of this most damnable and execrable attempt many times over. The men + in the dock before your Lordship have for the most part confessed to their + guilt, and of those who hold out there is not one who has given us any + reason to believe that he is innocent of the foul crime laid to his + charge. The gentlemen of the long robe are therefore unanimously of + opinion that the jury may at once be required to pronounce a single + verdict upon the whole of the prisoners.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Which is—?’ asked Jeffreys, glancing round at the foreman— + </p> + <p> + ‘Guilty, your Lordship,’ said he, with a grin, while his brother jurymen + nodded their heads and laughed to one another. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course, of course! guilty as Judas Iscariot!’ cried the Judge, looking + down with exultant eyes at the throng of peasants and burghers before him. + ‘Move them a little forwards, ushers, that I may see them to more + advantage. Oh, ye cunning ones! Are ye not taken? Are ye not compassed + around? Where now can ye fly? Do ye not see hell opening at your feet? Eh? + Are ye not afraid? Oh, short, short shall be your shrift!’ The very devil + seemed to be in the man, for as he spoke he writhed with unholy laughter, + and drummed his hand upon the red cushion in front of him. I glanced round + at my companions, but their faces were all as though they had been + chiselled out of marble. If he had hoped to see a moist eye or a quivering + lip, the satisfaction was denied him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Had I my way,’ said he, ‘there is not one of ye but should swing for it. + Aye, and if I had my way, some of those whose stomachs are too nice for + this work, and who profess to serve the King with their lips while they + intercede for his worst enemies, should themselves have cause to remember + Taunton assizes. Oh, most ungrateful rebels! Have ye not heard how your + most soft-hearted and compassionate monarch, the best of men—put it + down in the record, clerk—on the intercession of that great and + charitable statesman, Lord Sunderland—mark it down, clerk—hath + had pity on ye? Hath it not melted ye? Hath it not made ye loathe + yourselves? I declare, when I think of it’—here, with a sudden + catching of the breath, he burst out a-sobbing, the tears running down his + cheeks—‘when I think of it, the Christian forbearance, the ineffable + mercy, it doth bring forcibly to my mind that great Judge before whom all + of us—even I—shall one day have to render an account. Shall I + repeat it, clerk, or have you it down?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have it down, your Lordship.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then write “sobs” in the margin. ‘Tis well that the King should know our + opinion on such matters. Know, then, you most traitorous and unnatural + rebels, that this good father whom ye have spurned has stepped in between + yourselves and the laws which ye have offended. At his command we withhold + from ye the chastisement which ye have merited. If ye can indeed pray, and + if your soul-cursing conventicles have not driven all grace out of ye, + drop on your knees and offer up thanks when I tell ye that he hath + ordained that ye shall all have a free pardon.’ Here the Judge rose from + his seat as though about to descend from the tribunal, and we gazed upon + each other in the utmost astonishment at this most unlooked-for end to the + trial. The soldiers and lawyers were equally amazed, while a hum of joy + and applause rose up from the few country folk who had dared to venture + within the accursed precincts. + </p> + <p> + ‘This pardon, however,’ continued Jeffreys, turning round with a malicious + smile upon his face, ‘is coupled with certain conditions and limitations. + Ye shall all be removed from here to Poole, in chains, where ye shall find + a vessel awaiting ye. With others ye shall be stowed away in the hold of + the said vessel, and conveyed at the King’s expense to the Plantations, + there to be sold as slaves. God send ye masters who will know by the free + use of wood and leather to soften your stubborn thoughts and incline your + mind to better things.’ He was again about to withdraw, when one of the + Crown lawyers whispered something across to him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well thought of, coz,’ cried the Judge. ‘I had forgot. Bring back the + prisoners, ushers! Perhaps ye think that by the Plantations I mean his + Majesty’s American dominions. Unhappily, there are too many of your breed + in that part already. Ye would fall among friends who might strengthen ye + in your evil courses, and so risk your salvation. To send ye there would + be to add one brand to another and yet hope to put out the fire. By the + Plantations, therefore, I mean Barbadoes and the Indies, where ye shall + live with the other slaves, whose skins may be blacker than yours, but I + dare warrant that their souls are more white.’ With this concluding speech + the trial ended, and we were led back through the crowded streets to the + prison from which we had been brought. On either side of the street, as we + passed, we could see the limbs of former companions dangling in the wind, + and their heads grinning at us from the tops of poles and pikes. No savage + country in the heart of heathen Africa could have presented a more + dreadful sight than did the old English town of Taunton when Jeffreys and + Kirke had the ordering of it. There was death in the air, and the + townsfolk crept silently about, scarcely daring to wear black for those + whom they had loved and lost, lest it should be twisted into an act of + treason. + </p> + <p> + We were scarce back in the wool-house once more when a file of guards with + a sergeant entered, escorting a long, pale-faced man with protruding + teeth, whose bright blue coat and white silk breeches, gold-headed sword, + and glancing shoe-buckles, proclaimed him to be one of those London + exquisites whom interest or curiosity had brought down to the scene of the + rebellion. He tripped along upon his tiptoes like a French dancing-master, + waving his scented kerchief in front of his thin high nose, and inhaling + aromatic salts from a blue phial which he carried in his left hand. + </p> + <p> + ‘By the Lard!’ he cried, ‘but the stench of these filthy wretches is + enough to stap one’s breath. It is, by the Lard! Smite my vitals if I + would venture among them if I were not a very rake hell. Is there a danger + of prison fever, sergeant? Heh?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They are all sound as roaches, your honour,’ said the under-officer, + touching his cap. + </p> + <p> + ‘Heh, heh!’ cried the exquisite, with a shrill treble laugh. ‘It is not + often ye have a visit from a person of quality, I’ll warrant. It is + business, sergeant, business! “Auri sacra fames”—you remember what + Virgilius Maro says, sergeant?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Never heard the gentleman speak, sir—at least not to my knowledge, + sir,’ said the sergeant. + </p> + <p> + ‘Heh, heh! Never heard him speak, heh? That will do for Slaughter’s, + sergeant. That will set them all in a titter at Slaughter’s. Pink my soul! + but when I venture on a story the folk complain that they can’t get + served, for the drawers laugh until there is no work to be got out of + them. Oh, lay me bleeding, but these are a filthy and most ungodly crew! + Let the musqueteers stand close, sergeant, lest they fly at me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We shall see to that, your honour.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have a grant of a dozen of them, and Captain Pogram hath offered me + twelve pounds a head. But they must be brawny rogues—strong and + brawny, for the voyage kills many, sergeant, and the climate doth also + tell upon them. Now here is one whom I must have. Yes, in very truth he is + a young man, and hath much life in him and much strength. Tick him off, + sergeant, tick him off!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘His name is Clarke,’ said the soldier. ‘I have marked him down.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If this is the clerk I would I had a parson to match him,’ cried the fop, + sniffing at his bottle. ‘Do you see the pleasantry, sergeant. Heh, heh! + Does your sluggish mind rise to the occasion? Strike me purple, but I am + in excellent fettle! There is yonder man with the brown face, you can mark + him down. And the young man beside him, also. Tick him off. Ha, he waves + his hand towards me! Stand firm, sergeant! Where are my salts? What is it, + man, what is it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If it plaize your han’r,’ said the young peasant, ‘if so be as you have + chose me to be of a pairty, I trust that you will allow my vaither yander + to go with us also.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Pshaw, pshaw!’ cried the fop, ‘you are beyond reason, you are indeed! Who + ever heard of such a thing? Honour forbids it! How could I foist an old + man upon mine honest friend, Captain Pogram. Fie, fie! Split me asunder if + he would not say that I had choused him! There is yonder lusty fellow with + the red head, sergeant! The blacks will think he is a-fire. Those, and + these six stout yokels, will make up my dozen.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You have indeed the pick of them,’ said the sergeant. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, sink me, but I have a quick eye for horse, man, or woman! I’ll pick + the best of a batch with most. Twelve twelves, close on a hundred and + fifty pieces, sergeant, and all for a few words, my friend, all for a few + words. I did but send my wife, a demmed handsome woman, mark you, and + dresses in the mode, to my good friend the secretary to ask for some + rebels. “How many?” says he. “A dozen will do,” says she. It was all done + in a penstroke. What a cursed fool she was not to have asked for a + hundred! But what is this, sergeant, what is this?’ + </p> + <p> + A small, brisk, pippin-faced fellow in a riding-coat and high boots had + come clanking into the wool-house with much assurance and authority, with + a great old-fashioned sword trailing behind him, and a riding-whip + switching in his hand. + </p> + <p> + ‘Morning, sergeant!’ said he, in a loud, overbearing voice. ‘You may have + heard my name? I am Master John Wooton, of Langmere House, near Dulverton, + who bestirred himself so for the King, and hath been termed by Mr. + Godolphin, in the House of Commons, one of the local pillars of the State. + Those were his words. Fine, were they not? Pillars, mark ye, the conceit + being that the State was, as it were, a palace or a temple, and the loyal + men so many pillars, amongst whom I also was one. I am a local pillar. I + have received a Royal permit, sergeant, to choose from amongst your + prisoners ten sturdy rogues whom I may sell as a reward to me for my + exertions. Draw them up, therefore, that I may make my choice!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then, sir, we are upon the same errand,’ quoth the Londoner, bowing with + his hand over his heart, until his sword seemed to point straight up to + the ceiling. ‘The Honourable George Dawnish, at your service! Your very + humble and devoted servant, sir! Yours to command in any or all ways. It + is a real joy and privilege to me, sir, to make your distinguished + acquaintance. Hem!’ + </p> + <p> + The country squire appeared to be somewhat taken aback at this shower of + London compliments. ‘Ahem, sir! Yes, sir!’ said he, bobbing his head. + ‘Glad to see you, sir! Most damnably so! But these men, sergeant? Time + presses, for to-morrow is Shepton market, and I would fain see my old + twenty-score boar once more before he is sold. There is a beefy one. I’ll + have him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ged, I’ve forestalled you,’ cried the courtier. ‘Sink me, but it gives me + real pain. He is mine.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then this,’ said the other, pointing with his whip. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is mine, too. Heh, heh, heh! Strike me stiff, but this is too funny!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Od’s wounds! How many are yours!’ cried the Dulverton squire. + </p> + <p> + ‘A dozen. Heh, heh! A round dozen. All those who stand upon this side. + Pink me, but I have got the best of you there! The early bird—you + know the old saw!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is a disgrace,’ the squire cried hotly. ‘A shame and a disgrace. We + must needs fight for the King and risk our skins, and then when all is + done, down come a drove of lacqueys in waiting, and snap up the pickings + before their betters are served.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Lacqueys in waiting, sir!’ shrieked the exquisite. ‘S’death, sir! This + toucheth mine honour very nearly! I have seen blood flow, yes, sir, and + wounds gape on less provocation. Retract, sir, retract!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Away, you clothes-pole!’ cried the other contemptuously. ‘You are come + like the other birds of carrion when the fight is o’er. Have you been + named in full Parliament? Are you a local pillar? Away, away, you tailor’s + dummy!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You insolent clodhopper!’ cried the fop. ‘You most foul-mouthed bumpkin! + The only local pillar that you have ever deserved to make acquaintance + with is the whipping-post. Ha, sergeant, he lays his hand upon his sword! + Stop him, sergeant, stop him, or I may do him an injury.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, gentlemen,’ cried the under officer. ‘This quarrel must not continue + here. We must have no brawling within the prison. Yet there is a level + turf without, and as fine elbow-room as a gentleman could wish for a + breather.’ + </p> + <p> + This proposal did not appear to commend itself to either of the angry + gentlemen, who proceeded to exchange the length of their swords, and to + promise that each should hear from the other before sunset. Our owner, as + I may call him, the fop, took his departure at last, and the country + squire having chosen the next ton swaggered off, cursing the courtiers, + the Londoners, the sergeant, the prisoners, and above all, the ingratitude + of the Government which had made him so small a return for his exertions. + This was but the first of many such scenes, for the Government, in + endeavouring to satisfy the claims of its supporters, had promised many + more than there were prisoners. I am grieved to say that I have seen not + only men, but even my own countrywomen, and ladies of title to boot, + wringing their hands and bewailing themselves because they were unable to + get any of the poor Somersetshire folk to sell as slaves. Indeed, it was + only with difficulty that they could be made to see that their claim upon + Government did not give them the right of seizing any burgher or peasant + who might come in their way, and shipping him right off for the + Plantations. + </p> + <p> + Well, my dear grandchildren, from night to night through this long and + weary winter I have taken you back with me into the past, and made you see + scenes the players in which are all beneath the turf, save that perhaps + here and there some greybeard like myself may have a recollection of them. + I understand that you, Joseph, have every morning set down upon paper that + which I have narrated the night before. It is as well that you should do + so, for your own children and your children’s children may find it of + interest, and even perhaps take a pride in hearing that their ancestors + played a part in such scenes. But now the spring is coming, and the green + is bare of snow, so that there are better things for you to do than to sit + listening to the stories of a garrulous old man. Nay, nay, you shake your + heads, but indeed those young limbs want exercising and strengthening and + knitting together, which can never come from sitting toasting round the + blaze. Besides, my story draws quickly to an end now, for I had never + intended to tell you more than the events connected with the Western + rising. If the closing part hath been of the dreariest, and if all doth + not wind up with the ringing of bells and the joining of hands, like the + tales in the chap-books, you must blame history and not me. For Truth is a + stern mistress, and when one hath once started off with her one must + follow on after the jade, though she lead in flat defiance of all the + rules and conditions which would fain turn that tangled wilderness the + world into the trim Dutch garden of the story-tellers. + </p> + <p> + Three days after our trial we were drawn up in North Street in front of + the Castle with others from the other prisons who were to share our fate. + We were placed four abreast, with a rope connecting each rank, and of + these ranks I counted fifty, which would bring our total to two hundred. + On each side of us rode dragoons, and in front and behind were companies + of musqueteers to prevent any attempt at rescue or escape. In this order + we set off upon the tenth day of September, amidst the weeping and wailing + of the townsfolk, many of whom saw their sons or brothers marching off + into exile without their being able to exchange a last word or embrace + with them. Some of these poor folk, doddering old men and wrinkled, + decrepit women, toiled for miles after us down the high-road, until the + rearguard of foot faced round upon them, and drove them away with curses + and blows from their ramrods. + </p> + <p> + That day we made our way through Yeovil and Sherborne, and on the morrow + proceeded over the North Downs as far as Blandford, where we were penned + together like cattle and left for the night. On the third day we resumed + our march through Wimbourne and a line of pretty Dorsetshire villages—the + last English villages which most of us were destined to see for many a + long year to come. Late in the afternoon the spars and rigging of the + shipping in Poole Harbour rose up before us, and in another hour we had + descended the steep and craggy path which leads to the town. Here we were + drawn up upon the quay opposite the broad-decked, heavy-sparred brig which + was destined to carry us into slavery. Through all this march we met with + the greatest kindness from the common people, who flocked out from their + cottages with fruit and with milk, which they divided amongst us. At other + places, at, the risk of their lives, Dissenting ministers came forth and + stood by the wayside, blessing us as we passed, in spite of the rough + jeers and oaths of the soldiers. + </p> + <p> + We were marched aboard and led below by the mate of the vessel, a tall + red-faced seaman with ear-rings in his ears, while the captain stood on + the poop with his legs apart and a pipe in his mouth, checking us off one + by one by means of a list which he held in his hand. As he looked at the + sturdy build and rustic health of the peasants, which even their long + confinement had been unable to break down, his eyes glistened, and he + rubbed his big red hands together with delight. + </p> + <p> + ‘Show them down, Jem!’ he kept shouting to the mate. ‘Stow them safe, Jem! + There’s lodgings for a duchess down there, s’help me, there’s lodgings for + a duchess! Pack ‘em away!’ + </p> + <p> + One by one we passed before the delighted captain, and down the steep + ladder which led into the hold. Here we were led along a narrow passage, + on either side of which opened the stalls which were prepared for us. As + each man came opposite to the one set aside for him he was thrown into it + by the brawny mate, and fastened down with anklets of iron by the seaman + armourer in attendance. It was dark before we were all secured, but the + captain came round with a lanthorn to satisfy himself that all his + property was really safe. I could hear the mate and him reckoning the + value of each prisoner, and counting what he would fetch in the Barbadoes + market. + </p> + <p> + ‘Have you served out their fodder, Jem?’ he asked, flashing his light into + each stall in turn. ‘Have you seen that they had their rations?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A rye bread loaf and a pint o’ water,’ answered the mate. + </p> + <p> + ‘Fit for a duchess, s’help me!’ cried the captain. ‘Look to this one, Jem. + He is a lusty rogue. Look to his great hands. He might work for years in + the rice-swamps ere the land crabs have the picking of him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, we’ll have smart bidding amid the settlers for this lot. ‘Cod, + captain, but you have made a bargain of it! Od’s bud! you have done these + London fools to some purpose.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What is this?’ roared the captain. ‘Here is one who hath not touched his + allowance. How now, sirrah, art too dainty in the stomach to eat what your + betters have eaten before you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have no hairt for food, zur,’ the prisoner answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘What, you must have your whims and fancies! You must pick and you must + choose! I tell you, sirrah, that you are mine, body and soul! Twelve good + pieces I paid for you, and now, forsooth, I am to be told that you will + not eat! Turn to it at this instant, you saucy rogue, or I shall have you + triced to the triangles!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Here is another,’ said the mate, ‘who sits ever with his head sunk upon + his breast without spirit or life.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Mutinous, obstinate dog!’ cried the captain. ‘What ails you then? Why + have you a face like an underwriter in a tempest?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If it plaize you, zur,’ the prisoner answered, ‘Oi do but think o’ m’ + ould mother at Wellington, and woonder who will kape her now that Oi’m + gone!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And what is that to me?’ shouted the brutal seaman. ‘How can you arrive + at your journey’s end sound and hearty if you sit like a sick fowl upon a + perch? Laugh, man, and be merry, or I will give you something to weep for. + Out on you, you chicken-hearted swab, to sulk and fret like a babe new + weaned! Have you not all that heart could desire? Give him a touch with + the rope’s-end, Jem, if ever you do observe him fretting. It is but to + spite us that he doth it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If it please your honour,’ said a seaman, coming hurriedly down from the + deck, ‘there is a stranger upon the poop who will have speech with your + honour.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What manner of man, sirrah?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Surely he is a person of quality, your honour. He is as free wi’ his + words as though he were the captain o’ the ship. The boatswain did but jog + against him, and he swore so woundily at him and stared at him so, wi’ een + like a tiger-cat, that Job Harrison says we have shipped the devil + himsel.’ The men don’t like the look of him, your honour!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Who the plague can this spark be?’ said the skipper. ‘Go on deck, Jem, + and tell him that I am counting my live stock, and that I shall be with + him anon.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, your honour! There will trouble come of it unless you come up. He + swears that he will not bear to be put off, and that he must see you on + the instant.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Curse his blood, whoever he be!’ growled the seaman. ‘Every cock on his + own dunghill. What doth the rogue mean? Were he the Lord High Privy Seal, + I would have him to know that I am lord of my own quarter-deck!’ So + saying, with many snorts of indignation, the mate and the captain withdrew + together up the ladder, banging the heavy hatchways down as they passed + through. + </p> + <p> + A single oil-lamp swinging from a beam in the centre of the gangway which + led between the rows of cells was the only light which was vouchsafed us. + By its yellow, murky glimmer we could dimly see the great wooden ribs of + the vessel, arching up on either side of us, and crossed by the huge beams + which held the deck. A grievous stench from foul bilge water poisoned the + close, heavy air. Every now and then, with a squeak and a clutter, a rat + would dart across the little zone of light and vanish in the gloom upon + the further side. Heavy breathing all round me showed that my companions, + wearied out by their journey and their sufferings, had dropped into a + slumber. From time to time one could hear the dismal clank of fetters, and + the start and incatching of the breath, as some poor peasant, fresh from + dreams of his humble homestead amid the groves of the Mendips, awoke of a + sudden to see the great wooden coffin around him, and to breathe the + venomous air of the prison ship. + </p> + <p> + I lay long awake full of thought both for myself and for the poor souls + around me. At last, however, the measured swash of the water against the + side of the vessel and the slight rise and fall had lulled me into a + sleep, from which I was suddenly aroused by the flashing of a light in my + eyes. Sitting up, I found several sailors gathered about me, and a tall + man with a black cloak swathed round him swinging a lanthorn over me. + </p> + <p> + ‘That is the man,’ he said. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come, mate, you are to come on deck!’ said the seaman armourer. With a + few blows from his hammer he knocked the irons from my feet. + </p> + <p> + ‘Follow me!’ said the tall stranger, and led the way up the hatchway + ladder. It was heavenly to come out into the pure air once more. The stars + were shining brightly overhead. A fresh breeze blew from the shore, and + hummed a pleasant tune among the cordage. Close beside us the lights of + the town gleamed yellow and cheery. Beyond, the moon was peeping over the + Bournemouth hills. + </p> + <p> + ‘This way, sir,’ said the sailor, ‘right aft into the cabin, sir.’ + </p> + <p> + Still following my guide, I found myself in the low cabin of the brig. A + square shining table stood in the centre, with a bright swinging lamp + above it. At the further end in the glare of the light sat the captain—his + face shining with greed and expectation. On the table stood a small pile + of gold pieces, a rum-flask, glasses, a tobacco-box, and two long pipes. + </p> + <p> + ‘My compliments to you, Captain Clarke,’ said the skipper, bobbing his + round bristling head. ‘An honest seaman’s compliments to you. It seems + that we are not to be shipmates this voyage, after all.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Captain Micah Clarke must do a voyage of his own,’ said the stranger. + </p> + <p> + At the sound of his voice I sprang round in amazement. ‘Good Heavens!’ I + cried, ‘Saxon!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You have nicked it,’ said he, throwing down his mantle and showing the + well-known face and figure of the soldier of fortune. ‘Zounds, man! if you + can pick me out of the Solent, I suppose that I may pick you out of this + accursed rat-trap in which I find you. Tie and tie, as we say at the green + table. In truth, I was huffed with you when last we parted, but I have had + you in my mind for all that.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A seat and a glass, Captain Clarke,’ cried the skipper. ‘Od’s bud! I + should think that you would be glad to raise your little finger and wet + your whistle after what you have gone through.’ + </p> + <p> + I seated myself by the table with my brain in a whirl. ‘This is more than + I can fathom,’ said I. ‘What is the meaning of it, and how comes it + about?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For my own part, the meaning is as clear as the glass of my binnacle,’ + quoth the seaman. ‘Your good friend Colonel Saxon, as I understand his + name to be, has offered me as much as I could hope to gain by selling you + in the Indies. Sink it, I may be rough and ready, but my heart is in the + right place! Aye, aye! I would not maroon a man if I could set him free. + But we have all to look for ourselves, and trade is dull.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then I am free!’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are free,’ he answered. ‘There is your purchase-money upon the table. + You can go where you will, save only upon the land of England, where you + are still an outlaw under sentence.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How have you done this, Saxon?’ I asked. ‘Are you not afraid for + yourself?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ho, ho!’ laughed the old soldier. ‘I am a free man, my lad! I hold my + pardon, and care not a maravedi for spy or informer. Who should I meet but + Colonel Kirke a day or so back. Yes, lad! I met him in the street, and I + cocked my hat in his face. The villain laid his hand upon his hilt, and I + should have out bilbo and sent his soul to hell had they not come between + us. I care not the ashes of this pipe for Jeffreys or any other of them. I + can snap this finger and thumb at them, so! They would rather see Decimus + Saxon’s back than his face, I promise ye!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But how comes this about?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, marry, it is no mystery. Cunning old birds are not to be caught with + chaff. When I left you I made for a certain inn where I could count upon + finding a friend. There I lay by for a while, en cachette, as the + Messieurs call it, while I could work out the plan that was in my head. + Donner wetter! but I got a fright from that old seaman friend of yours, + who should be sold as a picture, for he is of little use as a man. Well, I + bethought me early in the affair of your visit to Badminton, and of the + Duke of B. We shall mention no names, but you can follow my meaning. To + him I sent a messenger, to the effect that I purposed to purchase my own + pardon by letting out all that I knew concerning his double dealing with + the rebels. The message was carried to him secretly, and his answer was + that I should meet him at a certain spot by night. I sent my messenger + instead of myself, and he was found in the morning stiff and stark, with + more holes in his doublet than ever the tailor made. On this I sent again, + raising my demands, and insisting upon a speedy settlement. He asked my + conditions. I replied, a free pardon and a command for myself. For you, + money enough to land you safely in some foreign country where you can + pursue the noble profession of arms. I got them both, though it was like + drawing teeth from his head. His name hath much power at Court just now, + and the King can refuse him nothing. I have my pardon and a command of + troops in New England. For you I have two hundred pieces, of which thirty + have been paid in ransom to the captain, while twenty are due to me for my + disbursements over the matter. In this bag you will find the odd hundred + and fifty, of which you will pay fifteen to the fishermen who have + promised to see you safe to Flushing.’ + </p> + <p> + I was, as you may readily believe, my dear children, bewildered by this + sudden and most unlooked-for turn which events had taken. When Saxon had + ceased to speak I sat as one stunned, trying to realise what he had said + to me. There came a thought into my head, however, which chilled the glow + of hope and of happiness which had sprung up in me at the thought of + recovering my freedom. My presence had been a support and a comfort to my + unhappy companions. Would it not be a cruel thing to leave them in their + distress? There was not one of them who did not look to me in his trouble, + and to the best of my poor power I had befriended and consoled them. How + could I desert them now? + </p> + <p> + ‘I am much beholden to you, Saxon,’ I said at last, speaking slowly and + with some difficulty, for the words were hard to utter. ‘But I fear that + your pains have been thrown away. These poor country folk have none to + look after or assist them. They are as simple as babes, and as little + fitted to be landed in a strange country. I cannot find it in my heart to + leave them!’ + </p> + <p> + Saxon burst out laughing, and leaned back in his seat with his long legs + stretched straight out and his hands in his breeches pockets. + </p> + <p> + ‘This is too much!’ he said at last. ‘I saw many difficulties in my way, + yet I did not foresee this one. You are in very truth the most contrary + man that ever stood in neat’s leather. You have ever some outlandish + reason for jibbing and shying like a hot-blooded, half-broken colt. Yet I + think that I can overcome these strange scruples of yours by a little + persuasion.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘As to the prisoners, Captain Clarke,’ said the seaman, ‘I’ll be as good + as a father to them. S’help me, I will, on the word of an honest sailor! + If you should choose to lay out a trifle of twenty pieces upon their + comfort, I shall see that their food is such as mayhap many of them never + got at their own tables. They shall come on deck, too, in watches, and + have an hour or two o’ fresh air in the day. I can’t say fairer!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A word or two with you on deck!’ said Saxon. He walked out of the cabin + and I followed him to the far end of the poop, where we stood leaning + against the bulwarks. One by one the lights had gone out in the town, + until the black ocean beat against a blacker shore. + </p> + <p> + ‘You need not have any fear of the future of the prisoners,’ he said, in a + low whisper. ‘They are not bound for the Barbadoes, nor will this + skinflint of a captain have the selling of them, for all that he is so + cocksure. If he can bring his own skin out of the business, it will be + more than I expect. He hath a man aboard his ship who would think no more + of giving him a tilt over the side than I should.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What mean you, Saxon?’ I cried. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hast ever heard of a man named Marot?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hector Marot! Yes, surely I knew him well. A highwayman he was, but a + mighty stout man with a kind heart beneath a thief’s jacket.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The same. He is as you say a stout man and a resolute swordsman, though + from what I have seen of his play he is weak in stoccado, and perhaps + somewhat too much attached to the edge, and doth not give prominence + enough to the point, in which respect he neglects the advice and teaching + of the most noteworthy fencers in Europe. Well, well, folk differ on this + as on every other subject! Yet it seems to me that I would sooner be + carried off the field after using my weapon secundum artem, than walk off + unscathed after breaking the laws d’escrime. Quarte, tierce, and saccoon, + say I, and the devil take your estramacons and passados!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But what of Marot?’ I asked impatiently. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is aboard,’ said Saxon. ‘It appears that he was much disturbed in his + mind over the cruelties which were inflicted on the country folk after the + battle at Bridgewater. Being a man of a somewhat stern and fierce turn of + mind, his disapproval did vent itself in actions rather than words. + Soldiers were found here and there over the countryside pistolled or + stabbed, and no trace left of their assailant. A dozen or more were cut + off in this way, and soon it came to be whispered about that Marot the + highwayman was the man that did it, and the chase became hot at his + heels.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, and what then?’ I asked, for Saxon had stopped to light his pipe at + the same old metal tinder-box which he had used when first I met him. When + I picture Saxon to myself it is usually of that moment that I think, when + the red glow beat upon his hard, eager, hawk-like face, and showed up the + thousand little seams and wrinkles which time and care had imprinted upon + his brown, weather-beaten skin. Sometimes in my dreams that face in the + darkness comes back to me, and his half-closed eyelids and shifting, + blinky eyes are turned towards me in his sidelong fashion, until I find + myself sitting up and holding out my hand into empty space, half expecting + to feel another thin sinewy hand close round it. A bad man he was in many + ways, my dears, cunning and wily, with little scruple or conscience; and + yet so strange a thing is human nature, and so difficult is it for us to + control our feelings, that my heart warms when I think of him, and that + fifty years have increased rather than weakened the kindliness which I + hear to him. + </p> + <p> + ‘I had heard,’ quoth he, puffing slowly at his pipe, ‘that Marot was a man + of this kidney, and also that he was so compassed round that he was in + peril of capture. I sought him out, therefore, and held council with him. + His mare, it seems, had been slain by some chance shot, and as he was much + attached to the brute, the accident made him more savage and more + dangerous than ever. He had no heart, he said, to continue in his old + trade. Indeed, he was ripe for anything—the very stuff out of which + useful tools are made. I found that in his youth he had had a training for + the sea. When I heard that, I saw my way in the snap of a petronel.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What then?’ I asked. ‘I am still in the dark.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, it is surely plain enough to you now. Marot’s end was to baffle his + pursuers and to benefit the exiles. How could he do this better than by + engaging as a seaman aboard this brig, the <i>Dorothy Fox</i>, and sailing + away from England in her? There are but thirty of a crew. Below hatches + are close on two hundred men, who, simple as they may be, are, as you and + I know, second to none in the cut-and-thrust work, without order or + discipline, which will be needed in such an affair. Marot has but to go + down amongst them some dark night, knock off their anklets, and fit them + up with a few stanchions or cudgels. Ho, ho, Micah! what think you? The + planters may dig their plantations themselves for all the help they are + like to get from West countrymen this bout.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is, indeed, a well-conceived plan,’ said I. ‘It is a pity, Saxon, that + your ready wit and quick invention hath not had a fair field. You are, us + I know well, as fit to command armies and to order campaigns as any man + that ever bore a truncheon.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Mark ye there!’ whispered Saxon, grasping me by the arm. ‘See where the + moonlight falls beside the hatchway! Do you not see that short squat + seaman who stands alone, lost in thought, with his head sunk upon his + breast? It is Marot! I tell you that if I were Captain Pogram I would + rather have the devil himself, horns, hoofs, and tail, for my first mate + and bunk companion, than have that man aboard my ship. You need not + concern yourself about the prisoners, Micah. Their future is decided.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then, Saxon,’ I answered, ‘it only remains for me to thank you, and to + accept the means of safety which you have placed within my reach.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Spoken like a man,’ said he; ‘is there aught which I may do for thee in + England? though, by the Mass, I may not be here very long myself, for, as + I understand, I am to be entrusted with the command of an expedition that + is fitting out against the Indians, who have ravaged the plantations of + our settlers. It will be good to get to some profitable employment, for + such a war, without either fighting or plunder, I have never seen. I give + you my word that I have scarce fingered silver since the beginning of it. + I would not for the sacking of London go through with it again.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is a friend whom Sir Gervas Jerome did commend to my care,’ I + remarked; ‘I have, however, already taken measures to have his wishes + carried out. There is naught else save to assure all in Havant that a King + who hath battened upon his subjects, as this one of ours hath done, is not + one who is like to keep his seat very long upon the throne of England. + When he falls I shall return, and perhaps it may be sooner than folk + think.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘These doings in the West have indeed stirred up much ill-feeling all over + the country,’ said my companion. ‘On all hands I hear that there is more + hatred of the King and of his ministers than before the outbreak. What ho, + Captain Pogram, this way! We have settled the matter, and my friend is + willing to go.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I thought he would tack round,’ the captain said, staggering towards us + with a gait which showed that he had made the rum bottle his companion + since we had left him. ‘S’help me, I was sure of it! Though, by the Mass, + I don’t wonder that he thought twice before leaving the <i>Dorothy Fox</i>, + for she is fitted up fit for a duchess, s’help me! Where is your boat?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Alongside,’ replied Saxon; ‘my friend joins with me in hoping that you, + Captain Pogram, will have a pleasant and profitable voyage.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am cursedly beholden to him,’ said the captain, with a flourish of his + three-cornered hat. + </p> + <p> + ‘Also that you will reach Barbadoes in safety.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Little doubt of that!’ quoth the captain. + </p> + <p> + ‘And that you will dispose of your wares in a manner which will repay you + for your charity and humanity.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, these are handsome words,’ cried the captain. ‘Sir, I am your + debtor.’ + </p> + <p> + A fishing-boat was lying alongside the brig. By the murky light of the + poop lanterns I could see the figures upon her deck, and the great brown + sail all ready for hoisting. I climbed the bulwark and set my foot upon + the rope-ladder which led down to her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Good-bye, Decimus!’ said I. + </p> + <p> + ‘Good-bye, my lad! You have your pieces all safe?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then I have one other present to make you. It was brought to me by a + sergeant of the Royal Horse. It is that, Micah, on which you must now + depend for food, lodging, raiment, and all which you would have. It is + that to which a brave man can always look for his living. It is the knife + wherewith you can open the world’s oyster. See, lad, it is your sword!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The old sword! My father’s sword!’ I cried in delight, as Saxon drew from + under his mantle and handed to me the discoloured, old-fashioned leathern + sheath with the heavy brass hilt which I knew so well. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are now,’ said he, ‘one of the old and honourable guild of soldiers + of fortune. While the Turk is still snarling at the gates of Vienna there + will ever be work for strong arms and brave hearts. You will find that + among these wandering, fighting men, drawn from all climes and nations, + the name of Englishman stands high. Well I know that it will stand none + the lower for your having joined the brotherhood. I would that I could + come with you, but I am promised pay and position which it would be ill to + set aside. Farewell, lad, and may fortune go with you!’ + </p> + <p> + I pressed the rough soldier’s horny hand, and descended into the + fishing-boat. The rope that held us was cast off, the sail mounted up, and + the boat shot out across the bay. Onward she went and on, through the + gathering gloom—a gloom as dark and impenetrable as the future + towards which my life’s bark was driving. Soon the long rise and fall told + us that we were over the harbour bar and out in the open channel. On the + land, scattered twinkling lights at long stretches marked the line of the + coast. As I gazed backwards a cloud trailed off from the moon, and I saw + the hard lines of the brig’s rigging stand out against the white cold + disk. By the shrouds stood the veteran, holding to a rope with one hand, + and waving the other in farewell and encouragement. Another groat cloud + blurred out the light, and that lean sinewy figure with its long extended + arm was the last which I saw for a weary time of the dear country where I + was born and bred. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0036" id="link2HCH0036"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XXXVI. Of the End of it All + </h2> + <p> + And so, my dear children, I come to the end of the history of a failure—a + brave failure and a noble one, but a failure none the less. In three more + years England was to come to herself, to tear the fetters from her free + limbs, and to send James and his poisonous brood flying from her shores + even as I was flying then. We had made the error of being before our time. + Yet there came days when folk thought kindly of the lads who had fought so + stoutly in the West, and when their limbs, gathered from many a hangman’s + pit and waste place, were borne amid the silent sorrow of a nation to the + pretty country burial-grounds where they would have chosen to lie. There, + within the sound of the bell which from infancy had called them to prayer, + beneath the turf over which they had wandered, under the shadow of those + Mendip and Quantock Hills which they loved so well, these brave hearts lie + still and peaceful, like tired children in the bosom of their mother. + Requiescant-requiescant in pace! + </p> + <p> + Not another word about myself, dear children. This narrative doth already + bristle with I’s, as though it were an Argus which is a flash of wit, + though I doubt if ye will understand it. I set myself to tell ye the tale + of the war in the West, and that tale ye have heard, nor will I be coaxed + or cajoled into one word further. Ah! ye know well how garrulous the old + man is, and that if you could but get to Flushing with him he would take + ye to the wars of the Empire, to William’s Court, and to the second + invasion of the West, which had a better outcome than the first. But not + an inch further will I budge. On to the green, ye young rogues! Have ye + not other limbs to exercise besides your ears, that ye should be so fond + of squatting round grandad’s chair? If I am spared to next winter, and if + the rheumatiz keeps away, it is like that I may take up once more the + broken thread of my story. + </p> + <p> + Of the others I can only tell ye what I know. Some slipped out of my ken + entirely. Of others I have heard vague and incomplete accounts. The + leaders of the insurrection got off much more lightly than their + followers, for they found that the passion of greed was even stronger than + the passion of cruelty. Grey, Buyse, Wade, and others bought themselves + free at the price of all their possessions. Ferguson escaped. Monmouth was + executed on Tower Hill, and showed in his last moments some faint traces + of that spirit which spurted up now and again from his feeble nature, like + the momentary flash of an expiring fire. + </p> + <p> + My father and my mother lived to see the Protestant religion regain its + place once more, and to see England become the champion of the reformed + faith upon the Continent. Three years later I found them in Havant much as + I had left them, save that there were more silver hairs amongst the brown + braided tresses of my mother, and that my father’s great shoulders were a + trifle bowed and his brow furrowed with the lines of care. Hand in hand + they passed onwards down life’s journey, the Puritan and the Church woman, + and I have never despaired of the healing of religious feud in England + since I have seen how easy it is for two folks to retain the strongest + belief in their own creeds, and yet to bear the heartiest love and respect + for the professor of another. The days may come when the Church and the + Chapel may be as a younger and an elder brother, each working to one end, + and each joying in the other’s success. Let the contest between them be + not with pike and pistol, not with court and prison; but let the strife be + which shall lead the higher life, which shall take the broader view, which + shall boast the happiest and best cared-for poor. Then their rivalry shall + be not a curse, but a blessing to this land of England. + </p> + <p> + Reuben Lockarby was ill for many months, but when he at last recovered he + found a pardon awaiting him through the interest of Major Ogilvy. After a + time, when the troubles were all blown over, he married the daughter of + Mayor Timewell, and he still lives in Taunton, a well-to-do and prosperous + citizen. Thirty years ago there was a little Micah Lockarby, and now I am + told that there is another, the son of the first, who promises to be as + arrant a little Roundhead as ever marched to the tuck of drum. + </p> + <p> + Of Saxon I have heard more than once. So skilfully did he use his hold + over the Duke of Beaufort, that he was appointed through his interest to + the command of an expedition which had been sent to chastise the savages + of Virginia, who had wrought great cruelties upon the settlers. There he + did so out-ambush their ambushes, and out-trick their most cunning + warriors, that he hath left a great name among them, and is still + remembered there by an Indian word which signifieth ‘The long-legged wily + one with the eye of a rat.’ Having at last driven the tribes far into the + wilderness he was presented with a tract of country for his services, + where he settled down. There he married, and spent the rest of his days in + rearing tobacco and in teaching the principles of war to a long line of + gaunt and slab-sided children. They tell me that a great nation of + exceeding strength and of wondrous size promises some day to rise up on + the other side of the water. If this should indeed come to pass, it may + perhaps happen that these young Saxons or their children may have a hand + in the building of it. God grant that they may never let their hearts + harden to the little isle of the sea, which is and must ever be the cradle + of their race. + </p> + <p> + Solomon Sprent married and lived for many years as happily as his friends + could wish. I had a letter from him when I was abroad, in which he said + that though his consort and he had started alone on the voyage of wedlock, + they were now accompanied by a jolly-boat and a gig. One winter’s night + when the snow was on the ground he sent down for my father, who hurried up + to his house. He found the old man sitting up in bed, with his flask of + rumbo within reach, his tobacco-box beside him, and a great brown Bible + balanced against his updrawn knees. He was breathing heavily, and was in + sore distress. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ve strained a plank, and have nine feet in the well,’ said he. ‘It + comes in quicker than I can put it out. In truth, friend, I have not been + seaworthy this many a day, and it is time that I was condemned and broken + up.’ + </p> + <p> + My father shook his head sadly as he marked his dusky face and laboured + breathing. ‘How of your soul?’ he asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye!’ said Solomon, ‘that’s a cargo that we carry under our hatches, + though we can’t see it, and had no hand in the stowing of it. I’ve been + overhauling the sailing orders here, and the ten articles of war, but I + can’t find that I’ve gone so far out of my course that I may not hope to + come into the channel again.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Trust not in yourself, but in Christ,’ said my father. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is the pilot, in course,’ replied the old seaman. ‘When I had a pilot + aboard o’ my ship, however, it was my way always to keep my own weather + eye open, d’ye see, and so I’ll do now. The pilot don’t think none the + worse of ye for it. So I’ll throw my own lead line, though I hear as how + there are no soundings in the ocean of God’s mercy. Say, friend, d’ye + think this very body, this same hull o’ mine, will rise again?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So we are taught,’ my father answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’d know it anywhere from the tattoo marks,’ said Solomon. ‘They was done + when I was with Sir Christopher in the West Indies, and I’d be sorry to + part with them. For myself, d’ye see, I’ve never borne ill-will to any + one, not even to the Dutch lubbers, though I fought three wars wi’ them, + and they carried off one of my spars, and be hanged to them! If I’ve let + daylight into a few of them, d’ye see, it’s all in good part and by way of + duty. I’ve drunk my share—enough to sweeten my bilge-water—but + there are few that have seen me cranky in the upper rigging or refusing to + answer to my helm. I never drew pay or prize-money that my mate in + distress was not welcome to the half of it. As to the Polls, the less said + the better. I’ve been a true consort to my Phoebe since she agreed to look + to me for signals. Those are my papers, all clear and aboveboard. If I’m + summoned aft this very night by the great Lord High Admiral of all, I + ain’t afeared that He’ll clap me into the bilboes, for though I’m only a + poor sailor man, I’ve got His promise in this here book, and I’m not + afraid of His going back from it.’ + </p> + <p> + My father sat with the old man for some hours and did all that he could to + comfort and assist him, for it was clear that he was sinking rapidly. When + he at last left him, with his faithful wife beside him, he grasped the + brown but wasted hand which lay above the clothes. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll see you again soon,’ he said. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes. In the latitude of heaven,’ replied the dying seaman. His foreboding + was right, for in the early hours of the morning his wife, bending over + him, saw a bright smile upon his tanned, weather-beaten face. Raising + himself upon his pillow he touched his forelock, as is the habit of + sailor-men, and so sank slowly and peacefully back into the long sleep + which wakes when the night has ceased to be. + </p> + <p> + You will ask me doubtless what became of Hector Marot and of the strange + shipload which had set sail from Poole Harbour. There was never a word + heard of them again, unless indeed a story which was spread some months + afterwards by Captain Elias Hopkins, of the Bristol ship <i>Caroline</i>, + may be taken as bearing upon their fate. For Captain Hopkins relates that, + being on his homeward voyage from our settlements, he chanced to meet with + thick fogs and a head wind in the neighbourhood of the great cod banks. + One night as he was beating about, with the weather so thick that he could + scarce see the truck of his own mast, a most strange passage befell him. + For as he and others stood upon the deck, they heard to their astonishment + the sound of many voices joined in a great chorus, which was at first + faint and distant, but which presently waxed and increased until it + appeared to pass within a stone-throw of his vessel, when it slowly died + away once more and was lost in the distance. There were some among the + crew who set the matter down as the doing of the evil one, but, as Captain + Elias Hopkins was wont to remark, it was a strange thing that the foul + fiend should choose West-country hymns for his nightly exercise, and + stranger still that the dwellers in the pit should sing with a strong + Somersetshire burr. For myself, I have little doubt that it was indeed the + <i>Dorothy Fox</i> which had swept past in the fog, and that the + prisoners, having won their freedom, were celebrating their delivery in + true Puritan style. Whether they were driven on to the rocky coast of + Labrador, or whether they found a home in some desolate land whence no + kingly cruelty could harry them, is what must remain for ever unknown. + </p> + <p> + Zachariah Palmer lived for many years, a venerable and honoured old man, + before he, too, was called to his fathers. A sweet and simple village + philosopher he was, with a child’s heart in his aged breast. The very + thought of him is to me as the smell of violets; for if in my views of + life and in my hopes of the future I differ somewhat from the hard and + gloomy teaching of my father, I know that I owe it to the wise words and + kindly training of the carpenter. If, as he was himself wont to say, deeds + are everything in this world and dogma is nothing, then his sinless, + blameless life might be a pattern to you and to all. May the dust lie + light upon him! + </p> + <p> + One word of another friend—the last mentioned, but not the least + valued. When Dutch William had been ten years upon the English throne + there was still to be seen in the field by my father’s house a tall, + strong-boned horse, whose grey skin was flecked with dashes of white. And + it was ever observed that, should the soldiers be passing from Portsmouth, + or should the clank of trumpet or the rattle of drum break upon his ear, + he would arch his old neck, throw out his grey-streaked tail, and raise + his stiff knees in a pompous and pedantic canter. The country folk would + stop to watch these antics of the old horse, and then the chances are that + one of them would tell the rest how that charger had borne one of their + own village lads to the wars, and how, when the rider had to fly the + country, a kindly sergeant in the King’s troops had brought the steed as a + remembrance of him to his father at home. So Covenant passed the last + years of his life, a veteran among steeds, well fed and cared for, and + much given, mayhap, to telling in equine language to all the poor, silly + country steeds the wonderful passages which had befallen him in the West. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_APPE" id="link2H_APPE"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APPENDIX + </h2> + <p> + Note A.—Hatred of Learning among the Puritans. + </p> + <p> + In spite of the presence in their ranks of such ripe scholars as John + Milton, Colonel Hutchinson, and others, there was among the Independents + and Anabaptists a profound distrust of learning, which is commented upon + by writers of all shades of politics. Dr. South in his sermons remarks + that ‘All learning was cried down, so that with them the best preachers + were such as could not read, and the best divines such as could not write. + In all their preachments they so highly pretended to the Spirit, that some + of them could hardly spell a letter. To be blind with them was a proper + qualification of a spiritual guide, and to be book-learned, as they called + it, and to be irreligious, were almost convertible terms. None save + tradesmen and mechanics were allowed to have the Spirit, and those only + were accounted like St. Paul who could work with their hands, and were + able to make a pulpit before preaching in it.’ + </p> + <p> + In the collection of loyal ballads reprinted in 1731, the Royalist bard + harps upon the same characteristic: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ‘We’ll down with universities + Where learning is professed, + Because they practise and maintain + The language of the beast. + We’ll drive the doctors out of doors, + And parts, whate’er they be, + We’ll cry all parts and learning down, + And heigh, then up go we!’ +</pre> + <p> + Note B.—On the Speed of Couriers. + </p> + <p> + It is difficult for us in these days of steam and electricity to realise + how long it took to despatch a message in the seventeenth century, even + when the occasion was most pressing. Thus, Monmouth landed at Lyme on the + morning of Thursday, the 11th of June. Gregory Alford, the Tory mayor of + Lyme, instantly fled to Honiton, whence he despatched a messenger to the + Privy Council. Yet it was five o’clock in the morning of Saturday, the + 13th, before the news reached London, though the distance is but 156 + miles. + </p> + <p> + Note C.—On the Claims of the Lender of a Horse. + </p> + <p> + The difficulty touched upon by Decimus Saxon, as to the claim of the + lender of a horse upon the booty gained by the rider, is one frequently + discussed by writers of that date upon the usages of war. One + distinguished authority says: Praefectus turmae equitum Hispanorum, cum + proelio tuba caneret, unum ex equitibus suae turmae obvium habuit; qui + questus est quod paucis ante diebus equum suum in certamine amiserat, + propter quod non poterat imminenti proelio interesse; unde jussit + Praefectus ut unum ex suis equis conscenderet et ipsum comitaretur. Miles, + equo conscenso, inter fugandum hostes, incidit in ipsum ducem hostilis + exercitus, quem cepit et consignavit Duci exercitus Hispani, qui a captivo + vicena aureorum millia est consequutus. Dicebat Praefectus partem pretii + hujus redemptionis sibi debere, quod miles equo suo dimicaverat, qui alias + proelio interesse non potuit. Petrinus Bellus affirmat se, cum esset + Bruxellis in curia Hispaniarum Regis de hac quaestione consultum, et + censuisse, pro Praefecto facere aequitatem quae praecipue respicitur inter + milites, quorum controversiae ex aequo et bono dirimendae sunt; unde ultra + conventa quis obligatur ad id quod alterum alteri prasstare oportet.’ The + case, it appears, ultimately went against the horse-lending praefect. + </p> + <p> + Note D.—On the Pronunciation of Exquisites. + </p> + <p> + The substitution of the a for the o was a common affectation in the speech + of the fops of the period, as may be found in Vanbrugh’s <i>Relapse</i>. + The notorious Titus Oates, in his efforts to be in the mode, pushed this + trick to excess, and his cries of ‘Oh Lard! Oh Lard!’ were familiar sounds + in Westminster Hall at the time when the Salamanca doctor was at the flood + of his fortune. + </p> + <p> + Note E.—Hour-glasses in Pulpits. + </p> + <p> + In those days it was customary to have an hour-glass stationed in a frame + of iron at the side of the pulpit, and visible to the whole congregation. + It was turned up as soon as the text was announced, and a minister earned + a name as a lazy preacher if he did not hold out until the sand had ceased + to run. If, on the other hand, he exceeded that limit, his audience would + signify by gapes and yawns that they had had as much spiritual food as + they could digest. Sir Roger L’Estrange (<i>Fables</i>, Part II. Fab. 262) + tells of a notorious spin-text who, having exhausted his glass and being + half-way through a second one, was at last arrested in his career by a + valiant sexton, who rose and departed, remarking as he did so, ‘Pray, sir, + be pleased when you have done to leave the key under the door.’ + </p> + <p> + Note F.—Disturbances at the old Gast House of Little Burton. + </p> + <p> + The circumstances referred to by the Mayor of Taunton in his allusion to + the Drummer of Tedsworth are probably too well known to require + elucidation. The haunting of the old Gast House at Burton would, however, + be fresh at that time in the minds of Somersetshire folk, occurring as it + did in 1677. Some short account from documents of that date may be of + interest. + </p> + <p> + ‘The first night that I was there, with Hugh Mellmore and Edward Smith, + they heard as it were the washing of water over their heads. Then, taking + the candle and going up the stairs, there was a wet cloth thrown at them, + but it fell on the stairs. They, going up further, there was another + thrown as before. And when they were come up into the chamber there stood + a bowl of water, looking white, as though soap had been used in it. The + bowl just before was in the kitchen, and could not be carried up but + through the room where they were. The next thing was a terrible noise, + like a clap of thunder, and shortly afterwards they heard a great + scratching about the bedstead, and after that great knocking with a hammer + against the bed’s-head, so that the two maids that were in bed cried out + for help. Then they ran up the stairs, and there lay the hammer on the + bed, and on the bed’s-head there were near a thousand prints of the + hammer. The maids said that they were scratched and pinched with a hand + which had exceeding long nails. + </p> + <p> + ‘The second night that James Sherring and Thomas Hillary were there, James + Sherring sat down in the chimney to fill a pipe of tobacco. He used the + tongs to lift a coal to light his pipe, and by-and-by the tongs were drawn + up the stairs and were cast upon the bed. The same night one of the maids + left her shoes by the fire, and they were carried up into the chamber, and + the old man’s brought down and set in their places. As they were going + upstairs there were many things thrown at them which were just before in + the low room, and when they went down the stairs the old man’s breeches + were thrown down after them. + </p> + <p> + ‘On another night a saddle did come into the house from a pin in the + entry, and did hop about the place from table to table. It was very + troublesome to them, until they broke it into small pieces and threw it + out into the roadway. So for some weeks the haunting continued, with + rappings, scratching, movements of heavy articles, and many other strange + things, as are attested by all who were in the village, until at last they + ceased as suddenly as they had begun.’ + </p> + <p> + Note G.—Monmouth’s Progress in the West. + </p> + <p> + During his triumphal progress through the western shires, some years + before the rebellion, Monmouth first ventured to exhibit upon his + escutcheon the lions of England and the lilies of France, without the + baton sinister. A still more ominous sign was that he ventured to touch + for the king’s evil. The appended letter, extracted from the collection of + tracts in the British Museum, may be of interest as first-hand evidence of + the occasional efficacy of that curious ceremony. + </p> + <p> + ‘His Grace the Duke of Monmouth honoured in his progress in the West of + England, in an account of an extraordinary cure of the king’s evil. + </p> + <p> + ‘Given in a letter from Crewkhorn, in Somerset, from the minister of the + parish and many others. + </p> + <p> + ‘We, whose names are underwritten, do certify the miraculous cure of a + girl of this town, about twenty, by name Elizabeth Parcet, a poor widow’s + daughter, who hath languished under sad affliction from that distemper of + the king’s evil termed the joint evil, being said to be the worst evil. + For about ten or twelve years’ time she had in her right hand four running + wounds, one on the inside, three on the back of her hand, as well as two + more in the same arm, one above her hand-wrist, the other above the + bending of her arm. She had betwixt her arm-pits a swollen bunch, which + the doctors said fed those six running wounds. She had the same distemper + also on her left eye, so she was almost blind. Her mother, despairing of + preserving her sight, and being not of ability to send her to London to be + touched by the king, being miserably poor, having many poor children, and + this girl not being able to work, her mother, desirous to have her + daughter cured, sent to the chirurgeons for help, who tampered with it for + some time, but could do no good. She went likewise ten or eleven miles to + a seventh son, but all in vain. No visible hopes remained, and she + expected nothing but the grave. + </p> + <p> + ‘But now, in this the girl’s great extremity, God, the great physician, + dictates to her, then languishing in her miserable, hopeless condition, + what course to take and what to do for a cure, which was to go and touch + the Duke of Monmouth. The girl told her mother that, if she could but + touch the Duke she would be well. The mother reproved her for her foolish + conceit, but the girl did often persuade her mother to go to Lackington to + the Duke, who then lay with Mr. Speaks. “Certainly,” said she, “I should + be well if I could touch him.” The mother slighted these pressing + requests, but the more she slighted and reproved, the more earnest the + girl was for it. A few days after, the girl having noticed that Sir John + Sydenham intended to treat the Duke at White Lodge in Henton Park, this + girl with many of her neighbours went to the said park. She being there + timely waited the Duke’s coming. When first she observed the Duke she + pressed in among a crowd of people and caught him by the hand, his glove + being on, and she likewise having a glove to cover her wounds. She not + being herewith satisfied at the first attempt of touching his glove only, + but her mind was she must touch some part of his bare skin, she, weighing + his coming forth, intended a second attempt. The poor girl, thus between + hope and fear, waited his motion. On a sudden there was news of the Duke’s + coming on, which she to be prepared rent off her glove, that was clung to + the sores, in such haste that she broke her glove, and brought away not + only the sores but the skin. The Duke’s glove, as Providence would have + it, the upper part hung down, so that his hand-wrist was bare. She pressed + on, and caught him by the bare hand-wrist with her running hand, crying, + “God bless your highness!” and the Duke said “God bless you!” The girl, + not a little transported at her good success, came and assured her friends + that she would now be well. She came home to her mother in great joy, and + told her that she had touched the Duke’s hand. The mother, hearing what + she had done, reproved her sharply for her boldness, asked how she durst + do such a thing, and threatened to beat her for it. She cried out, “Oh, + mother, I shall be well again, and healed of my wounds!” And as God + Almighty would have it, to the wonder and admiration of all, the six + wounds were speedily dried up, the eye became perfectly well, and the girl + was in good health. All which has been discovered to us by the mother and + daughter, and by neighbours that know her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Henry Clark, minister; Captain James Bale, &c &c. Whoever doubts + the truth of this relation may see the original under the hands of the + persons mentioned at the Amsterdam Coffee House, Bartholomew Lane, Royal + Exchange.’ + </p> + <p> + In spite of the uncouth verbiage of the old narrative, there is a touch of + human pathos about it which makes it worthy of reproduction. + </p> + <p> + Note H.—Monmouth’s Contention of Legitimacy. + </p> + <p> + Sir Patrick Hume, relating a talk with Monmouth before his expedition, + says: ‘I urged if he considered himself as lawful son of King Charles, + late deceased. He said he did. I asked him if he were able to make out and + prove the marriage of his mother to King Charles, and whether he intended + to lay claim to the crown. He answered that he had been able lately to + prove the marriage, and if some persons are not lately dead, of which he + would inform himself, he would yet be able to prove it. As for his + claiming the crown, he intended not to do it unless it were advised to be + done by those who should concern themselves and join for the delivery of + the nations.’ + </p> + <p> + It may be remarked that in Monmouth’s commission to be general, dated + April 1668, he is styled ‘our most entirely beloved and natural son.’ + Again, in a commission for the government of Hull, April 1673, he is ‘our + well-beloved natural son.’ + </p> + <p> + Note I.—Dragooners and Chargers. + </p> + <p> + The dragoons, being really mounted infantry, were provided with very + inferior animals to the real cavalry. From a letter of Cromwell’s (‘Squire + Correspondence,’ April 3, 1643), it will be seen that a dragooner was + worth twenty pieces, while a charger could not be obtained under sixty. + </p> + <p> + Note J.—Battle of Sedgemoor. + </p> + <p> + A curious little sidelight upon the battle is afforded by the two + following letters exhibited to the Royal Archaeological Institute by the + Rev. C. W. Bingham. + </p> + <p> + ‘To Mrs. Chaffin at Chettle House.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Monday, about ye forenoon, July 6, 1685.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My dearest creature,—This morning about one o’clock the rebbells + fell upon us whilest we were in our tents in King’s Sedgemoor, with their + whole army.... We have killed and taken at least 1000 of them. They are + fled into Bridgewater. It is said that we have taken all their cannon, but + sure it is that most are, if all be not. A coat with stars on ‘t is taken. + ‘’Tis run through the back. By some ‘tis thought that the Duke rebbell had + it on and is killed, but most doe think that a servant wore it. I wish he + were called, that the wars may be ended. It’s thought he’ll never be able + to make his men fight again. I thank God I am very well without the least + hurt, soe are our Dorsetshire friends. Prythee let Biddy know this by the + first opportunity. I am thyne onely deare, TOSSEY.’ + </p> + <p> + BRIDGEWATER: July 7, 1685. + </p> + <p> + ‘We have totally routed the enemies of God and the King, and can’t hear of + fifty men together of the whole rebel army. We pick them up every houre in + cornfields and ditches. Williams, the late Duke’s valet de chambre, is + taken, who gives a very ingenious account of the whole affair, which is + too long to write. The last word that he said to him was at the time when + his army fled, that he was undone and must shift for himself. We think to + march with the General this day to Wells, on his way homeward. At present + he is 3 miles off at the camp, soe I can’t certainly tell whether he + intends for Wells. I shall be home certainly on Saturday at farthest. I + believe my deare Nan would for 500 pounds that her Tossey had served the + King to the end of the war. + </p> + <p> + I am thyne, my deare childe, for ever.’ + </p> + <p> + Note K.—Lord Grey and the Horse at Sedgemoor. + </p> + <p> + It is only fair to state that Ferguson is held by many to have been as + doughty a soldier as he was zealous in religion. His own account of + Sedgemoor is interesting, as showing what was thought by those who were + actually engaged on the causes of their failure. + </p> + <p> + ‘Now besides these two troops, whose officers though they had no great + skill yet had courage enough to have done something honourably, had they + not for want of a guide met with the aforesaid obstruction, there was no + one of all the rest of our troops that ever advanced to charge or + approached as near to the enemy as to give or receive a wound. Mr. Hacker, + one of our captains, came no sooner within view of their camp than he + villainously fired a pistol to give them notice of our approach, and then + forsook his charge and rode oft with all the speed he could, to take the + benefit of a proclamation emitted by the King, offering pardon to all such + as should return home within such a time. And this he pleaded at his + tryal, but was answered by Jeffreys “that he above all other men deserved + to be hanged, and that for his treachery to Monmouth as well as his + treason to the King.” And though no other of our officers acted so + villainously, yet they were useless and unserviceable, as never once + attempting to charge, nor so much as keeping their men in a body. And I + dare affirm that if our horse had never fired a pistol, but only stood in + a posture to have given jealousy and apprehension to the enemy, our foot + alone would have carried the day and been triumphant. But our horse + standing scattered and disunited, and flying upon every approach of a + squadron of theirs, commanded by Oglethorpe, gave that body of their + cavalry an advantage, after they had hovered up and down in the field + without thinking it necessary to attack those whom their own fears had + dispersed, to fall in at last in the rear of our battalions, and to wrest + that victory out of their hands which they were grasping at, and stood + almost possessed of. Nor was that party of their horse above three hundred + at most, whereas we had more than enough had they had any courage, and + been commanded by a gallant man, to have attacked them with ease both in + front and flank. These things I can declare with more certainty, because I + was a doleful spectator of them; for having contrary to my custom left + attending upon the Duke, who advanced with the foot, I betook myself to + the horse, because the first of that morning’s action was expected from + them, which was to break in and disorder the enemy’s camp. Against the + time that our battalions should come up, I endeavoured whatsoever I was + capable of performing, for I not only struck at several troopers who had + forsaken their station, but upbraided divers of the captains for being + wanting in their duty. But I spoke with great warmth to my Lord Grey, and + conjured him to charge, and not suffer the victory, which our foot had in + a manner taken hold of, to be ravished from us. But instead of hearkening, + he not only as an unworthy man and cowardly poltroon deserted that part of + the field and forsook his command, but rode with the utmost speed to the + Duke, telling him that all was lost and it was more than time to shift for + himself. Wherebye, as an addition to all the mischief he had been the + occasion of before, he drew the easy and unfortunate gentleman to leave + the battalions while they were courageously disputing on which side the + victory should fall. And this fell most unhappily out, while a certain + person was endeavouring to find out the Duke to have begged of him to come + and charge at the head of his own troops. However, this I dare affirm, + that if the Duke had been but master of two hundred horse, well mounted, + completely armed, personally valiant, and commanded by experienced + officers, they would have been victorious. This is acknowledged by our + enemies, who have often confessed they were ready to fly through the + impressions made upon them by our foot, and must have been beaten had our + horse done their part, and not tamely looked on till their cavalry + retrieved the day by falling into the rear of our battalions. Nor was the + fault in the private men, who had courage to have followed their leaders, + but it was in those who led them, particularly my Lord Grey, in whom, if + cowardice may be called treachery, we may safely charge him with betraying + our cause.’ + </p> + <p> + Extract from MS. of Dr. Ferguson, quoted in ‘Ferguson the Plotter,’ an + interesting work by his immediate descendant, an advocate of Edinburgh. + </p> + <p> + Note L.—Monmouth’s Attitude after Capture. + </p> + <p> + The following letter, written by Monmouth to the Queen from the Tower, is + indicative of his abject state of mind. + </p> + <p> + ‘Madam,—I would not take the boldness of writing to your Majesty + till I had shown the King how I do abhor the thing that I have done, and + how much I desire to live to serve him. I hope, madam, by what I have said + to the King to-day will satisfy how sincere I am, and how much I detest + all those people who have brought me to this. Having done this, madam, I + thought I was in a fitt condition to beg your intercession, which I am + sure you never refuse to the distressed, and I am sure, madam, that I am + an object of your pity, having been cousened and cheated into this horrid + business. Did I wish, madam, to live for living sake I would never give + you this trouble, but it is to have life to serve the King, which I am + able to doe, and will doe beyond what I can express. Therefore, madam, + upon such an account as I may take the boldness to press you and beg of + you to intersaid for me, for I am sure, madam, the King will hearken to + you. Your prairs can never be refused, especially when it is begging for a + life only to serve the King. I hope, madam, by the King’s generosity and + goodness, and your intercession, I may hope for my life which if I have + shall be ever employed in showing to your Majesty all the sense + immaginable of gratitude, and in serving of the King like a true subject. + And ever be your Majesty’s most dutiful and obedient servant, MONMOUTH.’ + </p> + <p> + THE END <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Micah Clarke, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MICAH CLARKE *** + +***** This file should be named 9504-h.htm or 9504-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/5/0/9504/ + +Produced by Lionel G. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Micah Clarke + His Statement as made to his three Grandchildren Joseph, + Gervas and Reuben During the Hard Winter of 1734 + +Author: Arthur Conan Doyle + +Posting Date: March 11, 2009 [EBook #9504] +Release Date: December, 2005 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MICAH CLARKE *** + + + + +Produced by Lionel G. Sear + + + + + +MICAH CLARKE + +HIS STATEMENT AS MADE TO HIS THREE GRANDCHILDREN JOSEPH, GERVAS, AND +REUBEN DURING THE HARD WINTER OF 1734 + + +By Arthur Conan Doyle + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER. + +I. OF CORNET JOSEPH CLARKE OF THE IRONSIDES. + +II. OF MY GOING TO SCHOOL AND OF MY COMING THENCE. + +III. OF TWO FRIENDS OF MY YOUTH. + +IV. OF THE STRANGE FISH THAT WE CAUGHT AT SPITHEAD. + +V. OF THE MAN WITH THE DROOPING LIDS. + +VI. OF THE LETTER THAT CAME FROM THE LOWLANDS. + +VII. OF THE HORSEMAN WHO RODE FROM THE WEST. + +VIII. OF OUR START FOR THE WARS. + +IX. OF A PASSAGE OF ARMS AT THE BLUE BOAR. + +X. OF OUR PERILOUS ADVENTURE ON THE PLAIN. + +XI. OF THE LONELY MAN AND THE GOLD CHEST. + +XII. OF CERTAIN PASSAGES UPON THE MOOR. + +XIII. OF SIR GERVAS JEROME, KNIGHT BANNERET OF THE COUNTY OF SURREY. + +XIV. OF THE STIFF-LEGGED PARSON AND HIS FLOCK. + +XV. OF OUR BRUSH WITH THE KING'S DRAGOONS. + +XVI. OF OUR COMING TO TAUNTON. + +XVII. OF THE GATHERING IN THE MARKET-SQUARE. + +XVIII. OF MASTER STEPHEN TIMEWELL, MAYOR OF TAUNTON. + +XIX. OF A BRAWL IN THE NIGHT. + +XX. OF THE MUSTER OF THE MEN OF THE WEST. + +XXI. OF MY HAND-GRIPS WITH THE BRANDENBURGER. + +XXII. OF THE NEWS FROM HAVANT. + +XXIII. OF THE SNARE ON THE WESTON ROAD. + +XXIV. OF THE WELCOME THAT MET ME AT BADMINTON. + +XXV. OF STRANGE DOINGS IN THE BOTELER DUNGEON. + +XXVI. OF THE STRIFE IN THE COUNCIL. + +XXVII OF THE AFFAIR NEAR KEYNSHAM BRIDGE. + +XXVIII OF THE FIGHT IN WELLS CATHEDRAL. + +XXIX. OF THE GREAT CRY FROM THE LONELY HOUSE. + +XXX OF THE SWORDSMAN WITH THE BROWN JACKET. + +XXXI. OF THE MAID OF THE MARSH AND THE BUBBLE WHICH ROSE FROM THE + BOG. + +XXXII. OF THE ONFALL AT SEDGEMOOR. + +XXXIII. OF MY PERILOUS ADVENTURE AT THE MILL. + +XXXIV. OF THE COMING OF SOLOMON SPRENT. + +XXXV. OF THE DEVIL IN WIG AND GOWN. + +XXXVI. OF THE END OF IT ALL. + + APPENDIX + + + + + +Chapter I. Of Cornet Joseph Clarke of the Ironsides + +It may be, my dear grandchildren, that at one time or another I +have told you nearly all the incidents which have occurred during my +adventurous life. To your father and to your mother, at least, I know +that none of them are unfamiliar. Yet when I consider that time wears +on, and that a grey head is apt to contain a failing memory, I am +prompted to use these long winter evenings in putting it all before +you from the beginning, that you may have it as one clear story in your +minds, and pass it on as such to those who come after you. For now that +the house of Brunswick is firmly established upon the throne and that +peace prevails in the land, it will become less easy for you every +year to understand how men felt when Englishmen were in arms against +Englishmen, and when he who should have been the shield and the +protector of his subjects had no thought but to force upon them what +they most abhorred and detested. + +My story is one which you may well treasure up in your memories, and +tell again to others, for it is not likely that in this whole county of +Hampshire, or even perhaps in all England, there is another left alive +who is so well able to speak from his own knowledge of these events, +or who has played a more forward part in them. All that I know I shall +endeavour soberly and in due order to put before you. I shall try to +make these dead men quicken into life for your behoof, and to call back +out of the mists of the past those scenes which were brisk enough in +the acting, though they read so dully and so heavily in the pages of the +worthy men who have set themselves to record them. Perchance my words, +too, might, in the ears of strangers, seem to be but an old man's +gossip. To you, however, who know that these eyes which are looking at +you looked also at the things which I describe, and that this hand has +struck in for a good cause, it will, I know, be different. Bear in mind +as you listen that it was your quarrel as well as our own in which +we fought, and that if now you grow up to be free men in a free land, +privileged to think or to pray as your consciences shall direct, you may +thank God that you are reaping the harvest which your fathers sowed in +blood and suffering when the Stuarts were on the throne. + +I was born then in the year 1664, at Havant, which is a flourishing +village a few miles from Portsmouth off the main London road, and there +it was that I spent the greater part of my youth. It is now as it was +then, a pleasant, healthy spot, with a hundred or more brick cottages +scattered along in a single irregular street, each with its little +garden in front, and maybe a fruit tree or two at the back. In the +middle of the village stood the old church with the square tower, and +the great sun-dial like a wrinkle upon its grey weather-blotched face. +On the outskirts the Presbyterians had their chapel; but when the Act of +Uniformity was passed, their good minister, Master Breckinridge, whose +discourses had often crowded his rude benches while the comfortable pews +of the church were empty, was cast into gaol, and his flock dispersed. +As to the Independents, of whom my father was one, they also were under +the ban of the law, but they attended conventicle at Emsworth, whither +we would trudge, rain or shine, on every Sabbath morning. These meetings +were broken up more than once, but the congregation was composed of such +harmless folk, so well beloved and respected by their neighbours, that +the peace officers came after a time to ignore them, and to let them +worship in their own fashion. There were Papists, too, amongst us, who +were compelled to go as far as Portsmouth for their Mass. Thus, you see, +small as was our village, we were a fair miniature of the whole country, +for we had our sects and our factions, which were all the more bitter +for being confined in so narrow a compass. + +My father, Joseph Clarke, was better known over the countryside by the +name of Ironside Joe, for he had served in his youth in the Yaxley +troop of Oliver Cromwell's famous regiment of horse, and had preached +so lustily and fought so stoutly that old Noll himself called him out +of the ranks after the fight at Dunbar, and raised him to a cornetcy. +It chanced, however, that having some little time later fallen into an +argument with one of his troopers concerning the mystery of the Trinity, +the man, who was a half-crazy zealot, smote my father across the face, a +favour which he returned by a thrust from his broadsword, which sent his +adversary to test in person the truth of his beliefs. In most armies +it would have been conceded that my father was within his rights +in punishing promptly so rank an act of mutiny, but the soldiers of +Cromwell had so high a notion of their own importance and privileges, +that they resented this summary justice upon their companion. A +court-martial sat upon my father, and it is likely that he would have +been offered up as a sacrifice to appease the angry soldiery, had not +the Lord Protector interfered, and limited the punishment to dismissal +from the army. Cornet Clarke was accordingly stripped of his buff +coat and steel cap, and wandered down to Havant, where he settled into +business as a leather merchant and tanner, thereby depriving Parliament +of as trusty a soldier as ever drew blade in its service. Finding +that he prospered in trade, he took as wife Mary Shepstone, a young +Churchwoman, and I, Micah Clarke, was the first pledge of their union. + +My father, as I remember him first, was tall and straight, with a great +spread of shoulder and a mighty chest. His face was craggy and stern, +with large harsh features, shaggy over-hanging brows, high-bridged +fleshy nose, and a full-lipped mouth which tightened and set when he +was angry. His grey eyes were piercing and soldier-like, yet I have seen +them lighten up into a kindly and merry twinkle. His voice was the most +tremendous and awe-inspiring that I have ever listened to. I can well +believe what I have heard, that when he chanted the Hundredth Psalm as +he rode down among the blue bonnets at Dunbar, the sound of him rose +above the blare of trumpets and the crash of guns, like the deep roll of +a breaking wave. Yet though he possessed every quality which was +needed to raise him to distinction as an officer, he had thrown off his +military habits when he returned to civil life. As he prospered and grew +rich he might well have worn a sword, but instead he would ever bear a +small copy of the Scriptures bound to his girdle, where other men hung +their weapons. He was sober and measured in his speech, and it was +seldom, even in the bosom of his own family, that he would speak of the +scenes which he had taken part in, or of the great men, Fleetwood and +Harrison, Blake and Ireton, Desborough and Lambert, some of whom had +been simple troopers like himself when the troubles broke out. He was +frugal in his eating, backward in drinking, and allowed himself no +pleasures save three pipes a day of Oronooko tobacco, which he kept ever +in a brown jar by the great wooden chair on the left-hand side of the +mantelshelf. + +Yet for all his self-restraint the old leaven would at times begin to +work in him, and bring on fits of what his enemies would call fanaticism +and his friends piety, though it must be confessed that this piety +was prone to take a fierce and fiery shape. As I look back, one or two +instances of that stand out so hard and clear in my recollection that +they might be scenes which I had seen of late in the playhouse, instead +of memories of my childhood more than threescore years ago, when the +second Charles was on the throne. + +The first of these occurred when I was so young that I can remember +neither what went before nor what immediately after it. It stuck in my +infant mind when other things slipped through it. We were all in the +house one sultry summer evening, when there came a rattle of kettledrums +and a clatter of hoofs, which brought my mother and my father to the +door, she with me in her arms that I might have the better view. It was +a regiment of horse on their way from Chichester to Portsmouth, with +colours flying and band playing, making the bravest show that ever my +youthful eyes had rested upon. With what wonder and admiration did I +gaze at the sleek prancing steeds, the steel morions, the plumed hats +of the officers, the scarfs and bandoliers. Never, I thought, had such +a gallant company assembled, and I clapped my hands and cried out in my +delight. My father smiled gravely, and took me from my mother's arms. +'Nay, lad,' he said, 'thou art a soldier's son, and should have more +judgment than to commend such a rabble as this. Canst thou not, child as +thou art, see that their arms are ill-found, their stirrup-irons rusted, +and their ranks without order or cohesion? Neither have they thrown out +a troop in advance, as should even in times of peace be done, and their +rear is straggling from here to Bedhampton. Yea,' he continued, suddenly +shaking his long arm at the troopers, and calling out to them, 'ye are +corn ripe for the sickle and waiting only for the reapers!' Several of +them reined up at this sudden out-flame. 'Hit the crop-eared rascal over +the pate, Jack!' cried one to another, wheeling his horse round; but +there was that in my father's face which caused him to fall back into +the ranks again with his purpose unfulfilled. The regiment jingled on +down the road, and my mother laid her thin hands upon my father's arm, +and lulled with her pretty coaxing ways the sleeping devil which had +stirred within him. + +On another occasion which I can remember, about my seventh or eighth +year, his wrath burst out with more dangerous effect. I was playing +about him as he worked in the tanning-yard one spring afternoon, when +in through the open doorway strutted two stately gentlemen, with +gold facings to their coats and smart cockades at the side of their +three-cornered hats. They were, as I afterwards understood, officers of +the fleet who were passing through Havant, and seeing us at work in the +yard, designed to ask us some question as to their route. The younger of +the pair accosted my father and began his speech by a great clatter of +words which were all High Dutch to me, though I now see that they were a +string of such oaths as are common in the mouth of a sailor; though why +the very men who are in most danger of appearing before the Almighty +should go out of their way to insult Him, hath ever been a mystery to +me. My father in a rough stern voice bade him speak with more reverence +of sacred things, on which the pair of them gave tongue together, +swearing tenfold worse than before, and calling my father a canting +rogue and a smug-faced Presbytery Jack. What more they might have said I +know not, for my father picked up the great roller wherewith he smoothed +the leather, and dashing at them he brought it down on the side of one +of their heads with such a swashing blow, that had it not been for his +stiff hat the man would never have uttered oath again. As it was, he +dropped like a log upon the stones of the yard, while his companion +whipped out his rapier and made a vicious thrust; but my father, who was +as active as he was strong, sprung aside, and bringing his cudgel down +upon the outstretched arm of the officer, cracked it like the stem of +a tobacco-pipe. This affair made no little stir, for it occurred at +the time when those arch-liars, Oates, Bedloe, and Carstairs, were +disturbing the public mind by their rumours of plots, and a rising of +some sort was expected throughout the country. Within a few days all +Hampshire was ringing with an account of the malcontent tanner of +Havant, who had broken the head and the arm of two of his Majesty's +servants. An inquiry showed, however, that there was no treasonable +meaning in the matter, and the officers having confessed that the first +words came from them, the Justices contented themselves with imposing a +fine upon my father, and binding him over to keep the peace for a period +of six months. + +I tell you these incidents that you may have an idea of the fierce and +earnest religion which filled not only your own ancestor, but most of +those men who were trained in the parliamentary armies. In many ways +they were more like those fanatic Saracens, who believe in conversion by +the sword, than the followers of a Christian creed. Yet they have this +great merit, that their own lives were for the most part clean and +commendable, for they rigidly adhered themselves to those laws which +they would gladly have forced at the sword's point upon others. It is +true that among so many there were some whose piety was a shell for +their ambition, and others who practised in secret what they denounced +in public, but no cause however good is free from such hypocritical +parasites. That the greater part of the saints, as they termed +themselves, were men of sober and God-fearing lives, may be shown by the +fact that, after the disbanding of the army of the Commonwealth, the old +soldiers flocked into trade throughout the country, and made their mark +wherever they went by their industry and worth. There is many a wealthy +business house now in England which can trace its rise to the thrift and +honesty of some simple pikeman of Ireton or Cromwell. + +But that I may help you to understand the character of your +great-grandfather, I shall give an incident which shows how fervent and +real were the emotions which prompted the violent moods which I have +described. I was about twelve at the time, my brothers Hosea and Ephraim +were respectively nine and seven, while little Ruth could scarce have +been more than four. It chanced that a few days before a wandering +preacher of the Independents had put up at our house, and his religious +ministrations had left my father moody and excitable. One night I had +gone to bed as usual, and was sound asleep with my two brothers beside +me, when we were roused and ordered to come downstairs. Huddling on our +clothes we followed him into the kitchen, where my mother was sitting +pale and scared with Ruth upon her knee. + +'Gather round me, my children,' he said, in a deep reverent voice, 'that +we may all appear before the throne together. The kingdom of the Lord is +at hand-oh, be ye ready to receive Him! This very night, my loved ones, +ye shall see Him in His splendour, with the angels and the archangels in +their might and their glory. At the third hour shall He come-that very +third hour which is now drawing upon us.' + +'Dear Joe,' said my mother, in soothing tones, 'thou art scaring thyself +and the children to no avail. If the Son of Man be indeed coming, what +matters it whether we be abed or afoot?' + +'Peace, woman,' he answered sternly; 'has He not said that He will come +like a thief in the night, and that it is for us to await Him? Join +with me, then, in prayerful outpourings that we may be found as those in +bridal array. Let us offer up thanks that He has graciously vouchsafed +to warn us through the words of His servant. Oh, great Lord, look down +upon this small flock and lead it to the sheep fold! Mix not the +little wheat with the great world of chaff. Oh, merciful Father! look +graciously upon my wife, and forgive her the sin of Erastianism, she +being but a woman and little fitted to cast off the bonds of antichrist +wherein she was born. And these too, my little ones, Micah and Hosea, +Ephraim and Ruth, all named after Thy faithful servants of old, oh let +them stand upon Thy right hand this night!' Thus he prayed on in a wild +rush of burning, pleading words, writhing prostrate upon the floor +in the vehemence of his supplication, while we, poor trembling mites, +huddled round our mother's skirts and gazed with terror at the contorted +figure seen by the dim light of the simple oil lamp. On a sudden the +clang of the new church clock told that the hour had come. My father +sprang from the floor, and rushing to the casement, stared up with wild +expectant eyes at the starry heavens. Whether he conjured up some vision +in his excited brain, or whether the rush of feeling on finding that his +expectations were in vain, was too much for him, it is certain that +he threw his long arms upwards, uttered a hoarse scream, and tumbled +backwards with foaming lips and twitching limbs upon the ground. For an +hour or more my poor mother and I did what we could to soothe him, while +the children whimpered in a corner, until at last he staggered slowly to +his feet, and in brief broken words ordered us to our rooms. From that +time I have never heard him allude to the matter, nor did he ever give +us any reason why he should so confidently have expected the second +coming upon that particular night. I have learned since, however, +that the preacher who visited us was what was called in those days a +fifth-monarchy man, and that this particular sect was very liable to +these premonitions. I have no doubt that something which he had said had +put the thought into my father's head, and that the fiery nature of the +man had done the rest. + +So much for your great-grandfather, Ironside Joe. I have preferred to +put these passages before you, for on the principle that actions speak +louder than words, I find that in describing a man's character it is +better to give examples of his ways than to speak in broad and general +terms. Had I said that he was fierce in ins religion and subject to +strange fits of piety, the words might have made little impression +upon you; but when I tell you of his attack upon the officers in the +tanning-yard, and his summoning us down in the dead of the night to +await the second coming, you can judge for yourselves the lengths to +which his belief would carry him. For the rest, he was an excellent man +of business, fair and even generous in his dealings, respected by all +and loved by few, for his nature was too self-contained to admit of much +affection. To us he was a stern and rigid father, punishing us heavily +for whatever he regarded as amiss in our conduct. He bad a store of such +proverbs as 'Give a child its will and a whelp its fill, and neither +will strive,' or 'Children are certain cares and uncertain comforts,' +wherewith he would temper my mother's more kindly impulses. He could not +bear that we should play trick-track upon the green, or dance with the +other children upon the Saturday night. + +As to my mother, dear soul, it was her calm, peaceful influence which +kept my father within bounds, and softened his austere rule. Seldom +indeed, even in his darkest moods, did the touch of her gentle hand and +the sound of her voice fail to soothe his fiery spirit. She came of a +Church stock, and held to her religion with a quiet grip which was proof +against every attempt to turn her from it. I imagine that at one time +her husband had argued much with her upon Arminianism and the sin of +simony, but finding his exhortations useless, he had abandoned the +subject save on very rare occasions. In spite of her Episcopacy, +however, she remained a staunch Whig, and never allowed her loyalty to +the throne to cloud her judgment as to the doings of the monarch who sat +upon it. + +Women were good housekeepers fitly years ago, but she was conspicuous +among the best. To see her spotless cuffs and snowy kirtle one would +scarce credit how hard she laboured. It was only the well ordered house +and the dustless rooms which proclaimed her constant industry. She +made salves and eyewaters, powders and confects, cordials and persico, +orangeflower water and cherry brandy, each in its due season, and all of +the best. She was wise, too, in herbs and simples. The villagers and the +farm labourers would rather any day have her advice upon their ailments +than that of Dr. Jackson of Purbrook, who never mixed a draught under +a silver crown. Over the whole countryside there was no woman more +deservedly respected and more esteemed both by those above her and by +those beneath. + +Such were my parents as I remember them in my childhood. As to myself, I +shall let my story explain the growth of my own nature. My brothers and +my sister were all brownfaced, sturdy little country children, with no +very marked traits save a love of mischief controlled by the fear of +their father. These, with Martha the serving-maid, formed our whole +household during those boyish years when the pliant soul of the child +is hardening into the settled character of the man. How these influences +affected me I shall leave for a future sitting, and if I weary you by +recording them, you must remember that I am telling these things rather +for your profit than for your amusement; that it may assist you in your +journey through life to know how another has picked out the path before +you. + + + +Chapter II. Of my going to school and of my coming thence. + + +With the home influences which I have described, it may be readily +imagined that my young mind turned very much upon the subject of +religion, the more so as my father and mother took different views upon +it. The old Puritan soldier held that the bible alone contained all +things essential to salvation, and that though it might be advisable +that those who were gifted with wisdom or eloquence should expound the +Scriptures to their brethren, it was by no means necessary, but rather +hurtful and degrading, that any organised body of ministers or of +bishops should claim special prerogatives, or take the place of +mediators between the creature and the Creator. For the wealthy +dignitaries of the Church, rolling in their carriages to their +cathedrals, in order to preach the doctrines of their Master, who wore +His sandals out in tramping over the countryside, he professed the most +bitter contempt; nor was he more lenient to those poorer members of the +clergy who winked at the vices of their patrons that they might secure +a seat at their table, and who would sit through a long evening of +profanity rather than bid good-bye to the cheesecakes and the wine +flask. That such men represented religious truth was abhorrent to +his mind, nor would he even give his adhesion to that form of church +government dear to the Presbyterians, where a general council of the +ministers directed the affairs of their church. Every man was, in his +opinion, equal in the eyes of the Almighty, and none had a right to +claim any precedence over his neighbour in matters of religion. The book +was written for all, and all were equally able to read it, provided that +their minds were enlightened by the Holy Spirit. + +My mother, on the other hand, held that the very essence of a church +was that it should have a hierarchy and a graduated government within +itself, with the king at the apex, the archbishops beneath him, the +bishops under their control, and so down through the ministry to the +common folk. Such was, in her opinion, the Church as established in the +beginning, and no religion without these characteristics could lay any +claim to being the true one. Ritual was to her of as great importance +as morality, and if every tradesman and farmer were allowed to invent +prayers, and change the service as the fancy seized him, it would be +impossible to preserve the purity of the Christian creed. She agreed +that religion was based upon the Bible, but the Bible was a book which +contained much that was obscure, and unless that obscurity were +cleared away by a duly elected and consecrated servant of God, a +lineal descendant of the Disciples, all human wisdom might not serve to +interpret it aright. That was my mother's position, and neither argument +nor entreaty could move her from it. The only question of belief on +which my two parents were equally ardent was their mutual dislike +and distrust of the Roman Catholic forms of worship, and in this the +Churchwoman was every whit as decided as the fanatical Independent. + +It may seem strange to you in these days of tolerance, that the +adherents of this venerable creed should have met with such universal +ill-will from successive generations of Englishmen. We recognise now +that there are no more useful or loyal citizens in the state than our +Catholic brethren, and Mr. Alexander Pope or any other leading Papist is +no more looked down upon for his religion than was Mr. William Penn +for his Quakerism in the reign of King James. We can scarce credit how +noblemen like Lord Stafford, ecclesiastics like Archbishop Plunkett, +and commoners like Langhorne and Pickering, were dragged to death on +the testimony of the vilest of the vile, without a voice being raised in +their behalf; or how it could be considered a patriotic act on the part +of an English Protestant to carry a flail loaded with lead beneath his +cloak as a menace against his harmless neighbours who differed from +him on points of doctrine. It was a long madness which has now happily +passed off, or at least shows itself in a milder and rarer form. + +Foolish as it appears to us, there were some solid reasons to account +for it. You have read doubtless how, a century before I was born, the +great kingdom of Spain waxed and prospered. Her ships covered every +sea. Her troops were victorious wherever they appeared. In letters, in +learning, in all the arts of war and peace they were the foremost nation +in Europe. You have heard also of the ill-blood which existed between +this great nation and ourselves; how our adventurers harried their +possessions across the Atlantic, while they retorted by burning such +of our seamen as they could catch by their devilish Inquisition, and by +threatening our coasts both from Cadiz and from their provinces in the +Netherlands. At last so hot became the quarrel that the other nations +stood off, as I have seen the folk clear a space for the sword-players +at Hockley-in-the-Hole, so that the Spanish giant and tough little +England were left face to face to fight the matter out. Throughout all +that business it was as the emissary of the Pope, and as the avenger of +the dishonoured Roman Church, that King Philip professed to come. It +is true that Lord Howard and many another gentleman of the old religion +fought stoutly against the Dons, but the people could never forget that +the reformed faith had been the flag under which they had conquered, and +that the blessing of the Pontiff had rested with their opponents. Then +came the cruel and foolish attempt of Mary to force upon them a creed +for which they had no sympathy, and at the heels of it another great +Roman Catholic power menaced our liberty from the Continent. The growing +strength of France promoted a corresponding distrust of Papistry in +England, which reached a head when, at about the time of which I write, +Louis XIV. threatened us with invasion at the very moment when, by +the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, he showed his intolerant spirit +towards the faith which we held dear. The narrow Protestantism of +England was less a religious sentiment than a patriotic reply to +the aggressive bigotry of her enemies. Our Catholic countrymen were +unpopular, not so much because they believed in Transubstantiation, as +because they were unjustly suspected of sympathising with the Emperor or +with the King of France. Now that our military successes have secured us +against all fear of attack, we have happily lost that bitter religious +hatred but for which Oates and Dangerfield would have lied in vain. + +In the days when I was young, special causes had inflamed this dislike +and made it all the more bitter because there was a spice of fear +mingled with it. As long as the Catholics were only an obscure faction +they might be ignored, but when, towards the close of the reign of the +second Charles, it appeared to be absolutely certain that a Catholic +dynasty was about to fill the throne, and that Catholicism was to be the +court religion and the stepping-stone to preferment, it was felt that +a day of vengeance might be at hand for those who had trampled upon +it when it was defenceless. There was alarm and uneasiness amongst all +classes. The Church of England, which depends upon the monarch as an +arch depends upon the keystone; the nobility, whose estates and coffers +had been enriched by the plunder of the abbeys; the mob, whose ideas of +Papistry were mixed up with thumbscrews and Fox's Martyrology, were all +equally disturbed. Nor was the prospect a hopeful one for their cause. +Charles was a very lukewarm Protestant, and indeed showed upon his +deathbed that he was no Protestant at all. There was no longer any +chance of his having legitimate offspring. The Duke of York, his younger +brother, was therefore heir to the throne, and he was known to be an +austere and narrow Papist, while his spouse, Mary of Modena, was +as bigoted as himself. Should they have children, there could be +no question but that they would be brought up in the faith of their +parents, and that a line of Catholic monarchs would occupy the throne +of England. To the Church, as represented by my mother, and to +Nonconformity, in the person of my father, this was an equally +intolerable prospect. + +I have been telling you all this old history because you will find, as +I go on, that this state of things caused in the end such a seething and +fermenting throughout the nation that even I, a simple village lad, was +dragged into the whirl and had my whole life influenced by it. If I did +not make the course of events clear to you, you would hardly understand +the influences which had such an effect upon my whole history. In the +meantime, I wish you to remember that when King James II. ascended the +throne he did so amid a sullen silence on the part of a large class of +his subjects, and that both my father and my mother were among those who +were zealous for a Protestant succession. + +My childhood was, as I have already said, a gloomy one. Now and again +when there chanced to be a fair at Portsdown Hill, or when a passing +raree showman set up his booth in the village, my dear mother would +slip a penny or two from her housekeeping money into my hand, and with +a warning finger upon her lip would send me off to see the sights. These +treats were, however, rare events, and made such a mark upon my mind, +that when I was sixteen years of age I could have checked off upon my +fingers all that I had ever seen. There was William Harker the strong +man, who lifted Farmer Alcott's roan mare; and there was Tubby Lawson +the dwarf, who could fit himself into a pickle jar--these two I well +remember from the wonder wherewith they struck my youthful soul. Then +there was the show of the playing dolls, and that of the enchanted +island and Mynheer Munster from the Lowlands, who could turn himself +round upon a tight-rope while playing most sweetly upon a virginal. +Last, but far the best in my estimation, was the grand play at the +Portsdown Fair, entitled 'The true and ancient story of Maudlin, the +merchant's daughter of Bristol, and of her lover Antonio. How they were +cast away on the shores of Barbary, where the mermaids are seen floating +upon the sea and singing in the rocks, foretelling their danger.' This +little piece gave me keener pleasure than ever in after years I received +from the grandest comedies of Mr. Congreve and of Mr. Dryden, though +acted by Kynaston, Betterton, and the whole strength of the King's own +company. At Chichester once I remember that I paid a penny to see the +left shoe of the youngest sister of Potiphar's wife, but as it looked +much like any other old shoe, and was just about the size to have fitted +the show-woman, I have often feared that my penny fell into the hands of +rogues. + +There were other shows, however, which I might see for nothing, and yet +were more real and every whit as interesting as any for which I +paid. Now and again upon a holiday I was permitted to walk down to +Portsmouth--once I was even taken in front of my father upon his pad +nag, and there I wandered with him through the streets with wondering +eyes, marvelling over the strange sights around me. The walls and the +moats, the gates and the sentinels, the long High Street with the great +government buildings, and the constant rattle of drums and blare of +trumpets; they made my little heart beat quicker beneath my sagathy +stuff jacket. Here was the house in which some thirty years before the +proud Duke of Buckingham had been struck down by the assassin's dagger. +There, too, was the Governor's dwelling, and I remember that even as I +looked he came riding up to it, red-faced and choleric, with a nose such +as a Governor should have, and his breast all slashed with gold. 'Is he +not a fine man?' I said, looking up at my father. He laughed and drew +his hat down over his brows. 'It is the first time that I have seen Sir +Ralph Lingard's face,' said he, 'but I saw his back at Preston fight. +Ah, lad, proud as he looks, if he did but see old Noll coming in through +the door he would not think it beneath him to climb out through the +window!' The clank of steel or the sight of a buff-coat would always +serve to stir up the old Roundhead bitterness in my father's breast. + +But there were other sights in Portsmouth besides the red-coats and +their Governor. The yard was the second in the kingdom, after Chatham, +and there was ever some new war-ship ready upon the slips. Then there +was a squadron of King's ships, and sometimes the whole fleet at +Spithead, when the streets would be full of sailors, with their faces as +brown as mahogany and pigtails as stiff and hard as their cutlasses. To +watch their rolling gait, and to hear their strange, quaint talk, +and their tales of the Dutch wars, was a rare treat to me; and I have +sometimes when I was alone fastened myself on to a group of them, and +passed the day in wandering from tavern to tavern. It chanced one day, +however, that one of them insisted upon my sharing his glass of Canary +wine, and afterwards out of roguishness persuaded me to take a second, +with the result that I was sent home speechless in the carrier's cart, +and was never again allowed to go into Portsmouth alone. My father was +less shocked at the incident than I should have expected, and reminded +my mother that Noah had been overtaken in a similar manner. He also +narrated how a certain field-chaplain Grant, of Desborough's regiment, +having after a hot and dusty day drunk sundry flagons of mum, had +thereafter sung certain ungodly songs, and danced in a manner unbecoming +to his sacred profession. Also, how he had afterwards explained that +such backslidings were not to be regarded us faults of the individual, +but rather as actual obsessions of the evil one, who contrived in this +manner to give scandal to the faithful, and selected the most godly for +his evil purpose. This ingenious defence of the field-chaplain was the +saving of my back, for my father, who was a believer in Solomon's axiom, +had a stout ash stick and a strong arm for whatever seemed to him to be +a falling away from the true path. + +From the day that I first learned my letters from the horn-book at my +mother's knee I was always hungry to increase my knowledge, and never a +piece of print came in my way that I did not eagerly master. My father +pushed the sectarian hatred of learning to such a length that he was +averse to having any worldly books within his doors. (Note A, Appendix) +I was dependent therefore for my supply upon one or two of my friends in +the village, who lent me a volume at a time from their small libraries. +These I would carry inside my shirt, and would only dare to produce when +I could slip away into the fields, and lie hid among the long grass, or +at night when the rushlight was still burning, and my father's snoring +assured me that there was no danger of his detecting me. In this way +I worked up from Don Bellianis of Greece and the 'Seven Champions,' +through Tarleton's 'Jests' and other such books, until I could take +pleasure in the poetry of Waller and of Herrick, or in the plays of +Massinger and Shakespeare. How sweet were the hours when I could lay +aside all thought of freewill and of predestination, to lie with my +heels in the air among the scented clover, and listen to old Chaucer +telling the sweet story of Grisel the patient, or to weep for the chaste +Desdemona, and mourn over the untimely end of her gallant spouse. There +were times as I rose up with my mind full of the noble poetry, and +glanced over the fair slope of the countryside, with the gleaming sea +beyond it, and the purple outline of the Isle of Wight upon the horizon; +when it would be borne in upon me that the Being who created all this, +and who gave man the power of pouring out these beautiful thoughts, was +not the possession of one sect or another, or of this nation or that, +but was the kindly Father of every one of the little children whom +He had let loose on this fair playground. It grieved me then, and it +grieves me now, that a man of such sincerity and lofty purpose as your +great grandfather should have been so tied down by iron doctrines, and +should imagine his Creator to be so niggard of His mercy as to withhold +it from nine-and-ninety in the hundred. Well, a man is as he is trained, +and if my father bore a narrow mind upon his broad shoulders, he has at +least the credit that he was ready to do and to suffer all things +for what he conceived to be the truth. If you, my dears, have more +enlightened views, take heed that they bring you to lead a more +enlightened life. + +When I was fourteen years of age, a yellow-haired, brown-faced lad, I +was packed off to a small private school at Petersfield, and there I +remained for a year, returning home for the last Saturday in each month. +I took with me only a scanty outfit of schoolbooks, with Lilly's 'Latin +Grammar,' and Rosse's 'View of all the Religions in the World from the +Creation down to our own Times,' which was shoved into my hands by my +good mother as a parting present. With this small stock of letters I +might have fared badly, had it not happened that my master, Mr. Thomas +Chillingfoot, had himself a good library, and took a pleasure in +lending his books to any of his scholars who showed a desire to improve +themselves. Under this good old man's care I not only picked up some +smattering of Latin and Greek, but I found means to read good English +translations of many of the classics, and to acquire a knowledge of the +history of my own and other countries. I was rapidly growing in mind as +well as in body, when my school career was cut short by no less an event +than my summary and ignominious expulsion. How this unlooked-for ending +to my studies came about I must now set before you. + +Petersfield had always been a great stronghold of the Church, having +hardly a Nonconformist within its bounds. The reason of this was that +most of the house property was owned by zealous Churchmen, who refused +to allow any one who differed from the Established Church to settle +there. The Vicar, whose name was Pinfold, possessed in this manner great +power in the town, and as he was a man with a high inflamed countenance +and a pompous manner, he inspired no little awe among the quiet +inhabitants. I can see him now with his beaked nose, his rounded +waistcoat, and his bandy legs, which looked as if they had given way +beneath the load of learning which they were compelled to carry. Walking +slowly with right hand stiffly extended, tapping the pavement at every +step with his metal-headed stick, he would pause as each person passed +him, and wait to see that he was given the salute which he thought due +to his dignity. This courtesy he never dreamed of returning, save in +the case of some of his richer parishioners; but if by chance it were +omitted, he would hurry after the culprit, and, shaking his stick in his +face, insist upon his doffing his cap to him. We youngsters, if we met +him on our walks, would scuttle by him like a brood of chickens passing +an old turkey cock, and even our worthy master showed a disposition to +turn down a side-street when the portly figure of the Vicar was seen +rolling in our direction. This proud priest made a point of knowing the +history of every one within his parish, and having learnt that I was the +son of an Independent, he spoke severely to Mr. Chillingfoot upon the +indiscretion which he had shown in admitting me to his school. Indeed, +nothing but my mother's good name for orthodoxy prevented him from +insisting upon my dismissal. + +At the other end of the village there was a large day-school. A constant +feud prevailed between the scholars who attended it and the lads who +studied under our master. No one could tell how the war broke out, but +for many years there had been a standing quarrel between the two, which +resulted in skirmishes, sallies, and ambuscades, with now and then a +pitched battle. No great harm was done in these encounters, for the +weapons were usually snowballs in winter and pine-cones or clods of +earth in the summer. Even when the contest got closer and we came to +fisticuffs, a few bruises and a little blood was the worst that could +come of it. Our opponents were more numerous than we, but we had the +advantage of being always together and of having a secure asylum upon +which to retreat, while they, living in scattered houses all over the +parish, had no common rallying-point. A stream, crossed by two bridges, +ran through the centre of the town, and this was the boundary which +separated our territories from those of our enemies. The boy who crossed +the bridge found himself in hostile country. + +It chanced that in the first conflict which occurred after my arrival at +the school I distinguished myself by singling out the most redoubtable +of our foemen, and smiting him such a blow that he was knocked helpless +and was carried off by our party as a prisoner. This feat of arms +established my good name as a warrior, so I came at last to be regarded +as the leader of our forces, and to be looked up to by bigger boys than +myself. This promotion tickled my fancy so much, that I set to work to +prove that I deserved it by devising fresh and ingenious schemes for the +defeat of our enemies. + +One winter's evening news reached us that our rivals were about to make +a raid upon us under cover of night, and that they proposed coming by +the little used plank bridge, so as to escape our notice. This bridge +lay almost out of the town, and consisted of a single broad piece of +wood without a rail, erected for the good of the town clerk, who lived, +just opposite to it. We proposed to hide ourselves amongst the bushes on +our side of the stream, and make an unexpected attack upon the invaders +as they crossed. As we started, however, I bethought me of an ingenious +stratagem which I had read of as being practised in the German wars, and +having expounded it to the great delight of my companions, we took Mr. +Chillingfoot's saw, and set off for the seat of action. + +On reaching the bridge all was quiet and still. It was quite dark and +very cold, for Christmas was approaching. There were no signs of our +opponents. We exchanged a few whispers as to who should do the daring +deed, but as the others shrank from it, and as I was too proud to +propose what I dare not execute, I gripped the saw, and sitting +astraddle upon the plank set to work upon the very centre of it. + +My purpose was to weaken it in such a way that, though it would bear the +weight of one, it would collapse when the main body of our foemen were +upon it, and so precipitate them into the ice-cold stream. The water was +but a couple of feet deep at the place, so that there was nothing for +them but a fright and a ducking. So cool a reception ought to deter +them from ever invading us again, and confirm my reputation as a daring +leader. Reuben Lockarby, my lieutenant, son of old John Lockarby of the +Wheatsheaf, marshalled our forces behind the hedgerow, whilst I sawed +vigorously at the plank until I had nearly severed it across. I had no +compunction about the destruction of the bridge, for I knew enough of +carpentry to see that a skilful joiner could in an hour's work make +it stronger than ever by putting a prop beneath the point where I had +divided it. When at last I felt by the yielding of the plank that I had +done enough, and that the least strain would snap it, I crawled quietly +off, and taking up my position with my schoolfellows, awaited the coming +of the enemy. + +I had scarce concealed myself when we heard the steps of some one +approaching down the footpath which led to the bridge. We crouched +behind the cover, convinced that the sound must come from some scout +whom our foemen had sent on in front--a big boy evidently, for his step +was heavy and slow, with a clinking noise mingling with it, of which we +could make nothing. Nearer came the sound and nearer, until a shadowy +figure loomed out of the darkness upon the other side, and after pausing +and peering for a moment, came straight for the bridge. It was only as +he was setting foot upon the plank and beginning gingerly to pick his +way across it, that we discerned the outlines of the familiar form, and +realised the dreadful truth that the stranger whom we had taken for the +advance guard of our enemy was in truth none other than Vicar Pinfold, +and that it was the rhythmic pat of his stick which we heard mingling +with his footfalls. Fascinated by the sight, we lay bereft of all power +to warn him--a line of staring eyeballs. One step, two steps, three +steps did the haughty Churchman take, when there was a rending crack, +and he vanished with a mighty splash into the swift-flowing stream. He +must have fallen upon his back, for we could see the curved outline +of his portly figure standing out above the surface as he struggled +desperately to regain his feet. At last he managed to get erect, and +came spluttering for the bank with such a mixture of godly ejaculations +and of profane oaths that, even in our terror, we could not keep from +laughter. Rising from under his feet like a covey of wild-fowl, we +scurried off across the fields and so back to the school, where, as you +may imagine, we said nothing to our good master of what had occurred. + +The matter was too serious, however, to be hushed up. The sudden chill +set up some manner of disturbance in the bottle of sack which the Vicar +had just been drinking with the town clerk, and an attack of gout set in +which laid him on his back for a fortnight. Meanwhile an examination of +the bridge had shown that it had been sawn across, and an inquiry traced +the matter to Mr. Chillingfoot's boarders. To save a wholesale expulsion +of the school from the town, I was forced to acknowledge myself as both +the inventor and perpetrator of the deed. Chillingfoot was entirely in +the power of the Vicar, so he was forced to read me a long homily +in public--which he balanced by an affectionate leave-taking in +private--and to expel me solemnly from the school. I never saw my old +master again, for he died not many years afterwards; but I hear that his +second son William is still carrying on the business, which is larger +and more prosperous than of old. His eldest son turned Quaker and went +out to Penn's settlement, where he is reported to have been slain by the +savages. + +This adventure shocked my dear mother, but it found great favour in the +eyes of my father, who laughed until the whole village resounded +with his stentorian merriment. It reminded him, he said, of a similar +stratagem executed at Market Drayton by that God-fearing soldier Colonel +Pride, whereby a captain and three troopers of Lunsford's own regiment +of horse had been drowned, and many others precipitated into a river, to +the great glory of the true Church and to the satisfaction of the +chosen people. Even of the Church folk many were secretly glad at the +misfortune which had overtaken the Vicar, for his pretensions and his +pride had made him hated throughout the district. + +By this time I had grown into a sturdy, broad-shouldered lad, and every +month added to my strength and my stature. When I was sixteen I could +carry a bag of wheat or a cask of beer against any man in the village, +and I could throw the fifteen-pound putting-stone to a distance of +thirty-six feet, which was four feet further than could Ted Dawson, the +blacksmith. Once when my father was unable to carry a bale of skins out +of the yard, I whipped it up and bare it away upon my shoulders. The +old man would often look gravely at me from under his heavy thatched +eyebrows, and shake his grizzled head as he sat in his arm-chair puffing +his pipe. 'You grow too big for the nest, lad,' he would say. 'I doubt +some of these days you'll find your wings and away!' In my heart I +longed that the time would come, for I was weary of the quiet life of +the village, and was anxious to see the great world of which I had heard +and read so much. I could not look southward without my spirit stirring +within me as my eyes fell upon those dark waves, the white crests of +which are like a fluttering signal ever waving to an English youth and +beckoning him to some unknown but glorious goal. + + + +Chapter III. Of Two Friends of my Youth + + +I fear, my children, that you will think that the prologue is over long +for the play; but the foundations must be laid before the building is +erected, and a statement of this sort is a sorry and a barren thing +unless you have a knowledge of the folk concerned. Be patient, then, +while I speak to you of the old friends of my youth, some of whom you +may hear more of hereafter, while others remained behind in the country +hamlet, and yet left traces of our early intercourse upon my character +which might still be discerned there. + +Foremost for good amongst all whom I knew was Zachary Palmer, the +village carpenter, a man whose aged and labour-warped body contained the +simplest and purest of spirits. Yet his simplicity was by no means the +result of ignorance, for from the teachings of Plato to those of Hobbes +there were few systems ever thought out by man which he had not studied +and weighed. Books were far dearer in my boyhood than they are now, +and carpenters were less well paid, but old Palmer had neither wife nor +child, and spent little on food or raiment. Thus it came about that on +the shelf over his bed he had a more choice collection of books--few as +they were in number--than the squire or the parson, and these books he +had read until he not only understood them himself, but could impart +them to others. + +This white-bearded and venerable village philosopher would sit by his +cabin door upon a summer evening, and was never so pleased as when +some of the young fellows would slip away from their bowls and their +quoit-playing in order to lie in the grass at his feet, and ask him +questions about the great men of old, their words and their deeds. But +of all the youths I and Reuben Lockarby, the innkeeper's son, were his +two favourites, for we would come the earliest and stop the latest to +hear the old man talk. No father could have loved his children better +than he did us, and he would spare no pains to get at our callow +thoughts, and to throw light upon whatever perplexed or troubled us. +Like all growing things, we had run our heads against the problem of +the universe. We had peeped and pryed with our boyish eyes into those +profound depths in which the keenest-sighted of the human race had seen +no bottom. Yet when we looked around us in our own village world, and +saw the bitterness and rancour which pervaded every sect, we could not +but think that a tree which bore such fruit must have something amiss +with it. This was one of the thoughts unspoken to our parents which +we carried to good old Zachary, and on which he had much to say which +cheered and comforted us. + +'These janglings and wranglings,' said he, 'are but on the surface, +and spring from the infinite variety of the human mind, which will ever +adapt a creed to suit its own turn of thought. It is the solid core that +underlies every Christian creed which is of importance. Could you +but live among the Romans or the Greeks, in the days before this new +doctrine was preached, you would then know the change that it has +wrought in the world. How this or that text should be construed is a +matter of no moment, however warm men may get over it. What is of the +very greatest moment is, that every man should have a good and solid +reason for living a simple, cleanly life. This the Christian creed has +given us.' + +'I would not have you be virtuous out of fear,' he said upon another +occasion. 'The experience of a long life has taught me, however, that +sin is always punished in this world, whatever may come in the next. +There is always some penalty in health, in comfort, or in peace of +mind to be paid for every wrong. It is with nations as it is with +individuals. A book of history is a book of sermons. See how the +luxurious Babylonians were destroyed by the frugal Persians, and how +these same Persians when they learned the vices of prosperity were put +to the sword by the Greeks. Read on and mark how the sensual Greeks were +trodden down by the more robust and hardier Romans, and finally how the +Romans, having lost their manly virtues, were subdued by the nations +of the north. Vice and destruction came ever hand in hand. Thus did +Providence use each in turn as a scourge wherewith to chastise the +follies of the other. These things do not come by chance. They are part +of a great system which is at work in your own lives. The longer you +live the more you will see that sin and sadness are never far apart, and +that no true prosperity can exist away from virtue.' + +A very different teacher was the sea-dog Solomon Sprent, who lived in +the second last cottage on the left-hand side of the main street of the +village. He was one of the old tarpaulin breed, who had fought under +the red cross ensign against Frenchman, Don, Dutchman, and Moor, until a +round shot carried off his foot and put an end to his battles for ever. +In person he was thin, and hard, and brown, as lithe and active as a +cat, with a short body and very long arms, each ending in a great hand +which was ever half closed as though shutting on a rope. From head to +foot he was covered with the most marvellous tattooings, done in blue, +red, and green, beginning with the Creation upon his neck and winding up +with the Ascension upon his left ankle. Never have I seen such a walking +work of art. He was wont to say that had he been owned and his body cast +up upon some savage land, the natives might have learned the whole of +the blessed gospel from a contemplation of his carcass. Yet with sorrow +I must say that the seaman's religion appeared to have all worked into +his skin, so that very little was left for inner use. It had broken out +upon the surface, like the spotted fever, but his system was clear of +it elsewhere. He could swear in eleven languages and three-and-twenty +dialects, nor did he ever let his great powers rust for want of +practice. He would swear when he was happy or when he was sad, when he +was angry or when he was loving, but this swearing was so mere a trick +of speech, without malice or bitterness, that even my father could +hardly deal harshly with the sinner. As time passed, however, the old +man grew more sober and more thoughtful, until in his latter days he +went back to the simple beliefs of his childhood, and learned to fight +the devil with the same steady courage with which he had faced the +enemies of his country. + +Old Solomon was a never-failing source of amusement and of interest to +my friend Lockarby and myself. On gala days he would have us in to dine +with him, when he would regale us with lobscouse and salmagundi, or +perhaps with an outland dish, a pillaw or olla podrida, or fish broiled +after the fashion of the Azores, for he had a famous trick of cooking, +and could produce the delicacies of all nations. And all the time that +we were with him he would tell us the most marvellous stories of Rupert, +under whom he served; how he would shout from the poop to his squadron +to wheel to the right, or to charge, or to halt, as the case might be, +as if he were still with his regiment of horse. Of Blake, too, he had +many stories to tell. But even the name of Blake was not so dear to our +old sailor as was that of Sir Christopher Mings. Solomon had at one time +been his coxswain, and could talk by the hour of those gallant deeds +which had distinguished him from the day that he entered the navy as a +cabin boy until he fell upon his own quarter-deck, a full admiral of the +red, and was borne by his weeping ship's company to his grave in Chatham +churchyard. 'If so be as there's a jasper sea up aloft,' said the old +seaman, 'I'll wager that Sir Christopher will see that the English flag +has proper respect paid to it upon it, and that we are not fooled by +foreigners. I've served under him in this world, and I ask nothing +better than to be his coxswain in the next--if so be as he should chance +to have a vacancy for such.' These remembrances would always end in the +brewing of an extra bowl of punch, and the drinking of a solemn bumper +to the memory of the departed hero. + +Stirring as were Solomon Sprent's accounts of his old commanders, their +effect upon us was not so great as when, about his second or third +glass, the floodgates of his memory would be opened, and he would pour +out long tales of the lands which he had visited, and the peoples which +he had seen. Leaning forward in our seats with our chins resting upon +our hands, we two youngsters would sit for hours, with our eyes fixed +upon the old adventurer, drinking in his words, while he, pleased at the +interest which he excited, would puff slowly at his pipe and reel off +story after story of what he had seen or done. In those days, my dears, +there was no Defoe to tell us the wonders of the world, no _Spectator_ +to lie upon our breakfast table, no Gulliver to satisfy our love of +adventure by telling us of such adventures as never were. Not once in +a month did a common newsletter fall into our hands. Personal hazards, +therefore, were of more value then than they are now, and the talk of a +man like old Solomon was a library in itself. To us it was all real. His +husky tones and ill-chosen words were as the voice of an angel, and our +eager minds filled in the details and supplied all that was wanting in +his narratives. In one evening we have engaged a Sallee rover off the +Pillars of Hercules; we have coasted down the shores of the African +continent, and seen the great breakers of the Spanish Main foaming upon +the yellow sand; we have passed the black ivory merchants with their +human cargoes; we have faced the terrible storms which blow ever around +the Cape de Boa Esperanza; and finally, we have sailed away out over the +great ocean beyond, amid the palm-clad coral islands, with the knowledge +that the realms of Prester John lie somewhere behind the golden haze +which shimmers upon the horizon. After such a flight as that we would +feel, as we came back to the Hampshire village and the dull realities +of country life, like wild birds who had been snared by the fowler and +clapped into narrow cages. Then it was that the words of my father, 'You +will find your wings some day and fly away,' would come back to me, and +set up such a restlessness as all the wise words of Zachary Palmer could +not allay. + + +Chapter IV. Of the Strange Fish that we Caught at Spithead + +One evening in the month of May 1685, about the end of the first week +of the month, my friend Reuben Lockarby and I borrowed Ned Marley's +pleasure boat, and went a-fishing out of Langston Bay. At that time I +was close on one-and-twenty years of age, while my companion was one +year younger. A great intimacy had sprung up between us, founded on +mutual esteem, for he being a little undergrown man was proud of my +strength and stature, while my melancholy and somewhat heavy spirit took +a pleasure in the energy and joviality which never deserted him, and +in the wit which gleamed as bright and as innocent as summer lightning +through all that he said. In person he was short and broad, round-faced, +ruddy-cheeked, and in truth a little inclined to be fat, though he would +never confess to more than a pleasing plumpness, which was held, he +said, to be the acme of manly beauty amongst the ancients. The stern +test of common danger and mutual hardship entitle me to say that no +man could have desired a stauncher or more trusty comrade. As he was +destined to be with me in the sequel, it was but fitting that he should +have been at my side on that May evening which was the starting-point of +our adventures. + +We pulled out beyond the Warner Sands to a place half-way between them +and the Nab, where we usually found bass in plenty. There we cast the +heavy stone which served us as an anchor overboard, and proceeded to +set our lines. The sun sinking slowly behind a fog-bank had slashed the +whole western sky with scarlet streaks, against which the wooded slopes +of the Isle of Wight stood out vaporous and purple. A fresh breeze was +blowing from the south-east, flecking the long green waves with crests +of foam, and filling our eyes and lips with the smack of the salt spray. +Over near St. Helen's Point a King's ship was making her way down the +channel, while a single large brig was tacking about a quarter of a mile +or less from where we lay. So near were we that we could catch a glimpse +of the figures upon her deck as she heeled over to the breeze, and could +bear the creaking of her yards and the flapping of her weather-stained +canvas as she prepared to go about. + +'Look ye, Micah,' said my companion, looking up from his fishing-line. +'That is a most weak-minded ship--a ship which will make no way in the +world. See how she hangs in the wind, neither keeping on her course nor +tacking. She is a trimmer of the seas--the Lord Halifax of the ocean.' + +'Why, there is something amiss with her,' I replied, staring across with +hand-shaded eyes. 'She yaws about as though there were no one at the +helm. Her main-yard goes aback! Now it is forward again! The folk on her +deck seem to me to be either fighting or dancing. Up with the anchor, +Reuben, and let us pull to her.' + +'Up with the anchor and let us get out of her way,' he answered, still +gazing at the stranger. 'Why will you ever run that meddlesome head of +yours into danger's way? She flies Dutch colours, but who can say whence +she really comes? A pretty thing if we were snapped up by a buccaneer +and sold in the Plantations!' + +'A buccaneer in the Solent!' cried I derisively. 'We shall be seeing the +black flag in Emsworth Creek next. But hark! What is that?' + +The crack of a musket sounded from aboard the brig. Then came a moment's +silence and another musket shot rang out, followed by a chorus of shouts +and cries. Simultaneously the yards swung round into position, the sails +caught the breeze once more, and the vessel darted away on a course +which would take her past Bembridge Point out to the English Channel. As +she flew along her helm was put hard down, a puff of smoke shot out +from her quarter, and a cannon ball came hopping and splashing over +the waves, passing within a hundred yards of where we lay. With this +farewell greeting she came up into the wind again and continued her +course to the southward. + +'Heart o' grace!' ejaculated Reuben in loose lipped astonishment. 'The +murdering villains!' + +'I would to the Lord that King's ship would snap them up!' cried I +savagely, for the attack was so unprovoked that it stirred my bile. +'What could the rogues have meant? They are surely drunk or mad!' + +'Pull at the anchor, man, pull at the anchor!' my companion shouted, +springing up from the seat. 'I understand it! Pull at the anchor!' + +'What then?' I asked, helping him to haul the great stone up, hand over +hand, until it came dripping over the side. + +'They were not firing at us, lad. They were aiming at some one in the +water between us and them. Pull, Micah! Put your back into it! Some poor +fellow may he drowning.' + +'Why, I declare!' said I, looking over my shoulder as I rowed, 'there +is his head upon the crest of a wave. Easy, or we shall be over him! Two +more strokes and be ready to seize him! Keep up, friend! There's help at +hand!' + +'Take help to those who need help' said a voice out of the sea. 'Zounds, +man, keep a guard on your oar! I fear a pat from it very much more than +I do the water.' + +These words were delivered in so calm and self-possessed a tone that all +concern for the swimmer was set at rest. Drawing in our oars we faced +round to have a look at him. The drift of the boat had brought us so +close that he could have grasped the gunwale had he been so minded. + +'Sapperment!' he cried in a peevish voice; 'to think of my brother Nonus +serving me such a trick! What would our blessed mother have said could +she have seen it? My whole kit gone, to say nothing of my venture in +the voyage! And now I have kicked off a pair of new jack boots that +cost sixteen rix-dollars at Vanseddar's at Amsterdam. I can't swim in +jack-boots, nor can I walk without them.' + +'Won't you come in out of the wet, sir?' asked Reuben, who could scarce +keep serious at the stranger's appearance and address. A pair of long +arms shot out of the water, and in a moment, with a lithe, snake-like +motion, the man wound himself into the boat and coiled his great length +upon the stern-sheets. Very lanky he was and very thin, with a craggy +hard face, clean-shaven and sunburned, with a thousand little wrinkles +intersecting it in every direction. He had lost his hat, and his short +wiry hair, slightly flecked with grey, stood up in a bristle all over +his head. It was hard to guess at his age, but he could scarce have been +under his fiftieth year, though the ease with which he had boarded our +boat proved that his strength and energy were unimpaired. Of all his +characteristics, however, nothing attracted my attention so much as his +eyes, which were almost covered by their drooping lids, and yet looked +out through the thin slits which remained with marvellous brightness and +keenness. A passing glance might give the idea that he was languid and +half asleep, but a closer one would reveal those glittering, shifting +lines of light, and warn the prudent man not to trust too much to his +first impressions. + +'I could swim to Portsmouth,' he remarked, rummaging in the pockets of +his sodden jacket; 'I could swim well-nigh anywhere. I once swam from +Gran on the Danube to Buda, while a hundred thousand Janissaries +danced with rage on the nether bank. I did, by the keys of St. Peter! +Wessenburg's Pandours would tell you whether Decimus Saxon could +swim. Take my advice, young men, and always carry your tobacco in a +water-tight metal box.' + +As he spoke he drew a flat box from his pocket, and several wooden +tubes, which he screwed together to form a long pipe. This he stuffed +with tobacco, and having lit it by means of a flint and steel with a +piece of touch-paper from the inside of his box, he curled his legs +under him in Eastern fashion, and settled down to enjoy a smoke. There +was something so peculiar about the whole incident, and so preposterous +about the man's appearance and actions, that we both broke into a roar +of laughter, which lasted until for very exhaustion we were compelled +to stop. He neither joined in our merriment nor expressed offence at +it, but continued to suck away at his long wooden tube with a perfectly +stolid and impassive face, save that the half-covered eyes glinted +rapidly backwards and forwards from one to the other of us. + +'You will excuse our laughter, sir,' I said at last; 'my friend and I +are unused to such adventures, and are merry at the happy ending of it. +May we ask whom it is that we have picked up?' + +'Decimus Saxon is my name,' the stranger answered; 'I am the tenth child +of a worthy father, as the Latin implies. There are but nine betwixt me +and an inheritance. Who knows? Small-pox might do it, or the plague!' + +'We heard a shot aboard of the brig,' said Reuben. + +'That was my brother Nonus shooting at me,' the stranger observed, +shaking his head sadly. + +'But there was a second shot.' + +'Ah, that was me shooting at my brother Nonus.' + +'Good lack!' I cried. 'I trust that thou hast done him no hurt.' + +'But a flesh wound, at the most,' he answered. 'I thought it best to +come away, however, lest the affair grow into a quarrel. I am sure that +it was he who trained the nine-pounder on me when I was in the water. +It came near enough to part my hair. He was always a good shot with a +falconet or a mortar-piece. He could not have been hurt, however, to get +down from the poop to the main-deck in the time.' + +There was a pause after this, while the stranger drew a long knife from +his belt, and cleaned out his pipe with it. Reuben and I took up our +oars, and having pulled up our tangled fishing-lines, which had been +streaming behind the boat, we proceeded to pull in towards the land. + +'The question now is,' said the stranger, 'where we are to go to?' + +'We are going down Langston Bay,' I answered. + +'Oh, we are, are we?' he cried, in a mocking voice; 'you are sure of it +eh? You are certain we are not going to France? We have a mast and sail +there, I see, and water in the beaker. All we want are a few fish, +which I hear are plentiful in these waters, and we might make a push for +Barfleur.' + +'We are going down Langston Bay,' I repeated coldly. + +'You see might is right upon the waters,' he explained, with a smile +which broke his whole face up into crinkles. 'I am an old soldier, a +tough fighting man, and you are two raw lads. I have a knife, and you +are unarmed. D'ye see the line of argument? The question now is, Where +are we to go?' + +I faced round upon him with the oar in my hand. 'You boasted that you +could swim to Portsmouth,' said I, 'and so you shall. Into the water +with you, you sea-viper, or I'll push you in as sure as my name is Micah +Clarke.' + +'Throw your knife down, or I'll drive the boat hook through you,' cried +Reuben, pushing it forward to within a few inches of the man's throat. + +'Sink me, but this is most commendable!' he said, sheathing his weapon, +and laughing softly to himself. 'I love to draw spirit out of the young +fellows. I am the steel, d'ye see, which knocks the valour out of your +flint. A notable simile, and one in every way worthy of that most witty +of mankind, Samuel Butler. This,' he continued, tapping a protuberance +which I had remarked over his chest, 'is not a natural deformity, but is +a copy of that inestimable "Hudibras," which combines the light touch +of Horace with the broader mirth of Catullus. Heh! what think you of the +criticism?' + +'Give up that knife,' said I sternly. + +'Certainly,' he replied, handing it over to me with a polite bow. 'Is +there any other reasonable matter in which I can oblige ye? I will +give up anything to do ye pleasure-save only my good name and soldierly +repute, or this same copy of "Hudibras," which, together with a Latin +treatise upon the usages of war, written by a Fleming and printed in +Liege in the Lowlands, I do ever bear in my bosom.' + +I sat down beside him with the knife in my hand. 'You pull both oars,' +I said to Reuben; 'I'll keep guard over the fellow and see that he plays +us no trick. I believe that you are right, and that he is nothing better +than a pirate. He shall be given over to the justices when we get to +Havant.' + +I thought that our passenger's coolness deserted him for a moment, and +that a look of annoyance passed over his face. + +'Wait a bit!' he said; 'your name, I gather is Clarke, and your home is +Havant. Are you a kinsman of Joseph Clarke, the old Roundhead of that +town?' + +'He is my father,' I answered. + +'Hark to that, now!' he cried, with a throb of laughter; 'I have a +trick of falling on my feet. Look at this, lad! Look at this!' He drew +a packet of letters from his inside pocket, wrapped in a bit of tarred +cloth, and opening it he picked one out and placed it upon my knee. +'Read!' said he, pointing at it with his long thin finger. + +It was inscribed in large plain characters, 'To Joseph Clarke, leather +merchant of Havant, by the hand of Master Decimus Saxon, part-owner of +the ship _Providence_, from Amsterdam to Portsmouth.' At each side it +was sealed with a massive red seal, and was additionally secured with a +broad band of silk. + +'I have three-and-twenty of them to deliver in the neighbourhood,' he +remarked. 'That shows what folk think of Decimus Saxon. Three-and-twenty +lives and liberties are in my hands. Ah, lad, invoices and bills of +lading are not done up in that fashion. It is not a cargo of Flemish +skins that is coming for the old man. The skins have good English hearts +in them; ay, and English swords in their fists to strike out for freedom +and for conscience. I risk my life in carrying this letter to your +father; and you, his son, threaten to hand me over to the justices! For +shame! For shame! I blush for you!' + +'I don't know what you are hinting at,' I answered. 'You must speak +plainer if I am to understand you.' + +'Can we trust him?' he asked, jerking his head in the direction of +Reuben. + +'As myself.' + +'How very charming!' said he, with something between a smile and +a sneer. 'David and Jonathan--or, to be more classical and less +scriptural, Damon and Pythias--eh?' These papers, then, are from the +faithful abroad, the exiles in Holland, ye understand, who are thinking +of making a move and of coming over to see King James in his own country +with their swords strapped on their thighs. The letters are to those +from whom they expect sympathy, and notify when and where they will make +a landing. Now, my dear lad, you will perceive that instead of my being +in your power, you are so completely in mine that it needs but a word +from me to destroy your whole family. Decimus Saxon is staunch, though, +and that word shall never be spoken.' + +'If all this be true,' said I, 'and if your mission is indeed as you +have said, why did you even now propose to make for France?' + +'Aptly asked, and yet the answer is clear enough,' he replied; 'sweet +and ingenuous as are your faces, I could not read upon them that ye +would prove to be Whigs and friends of the good old cause. Ye might have +taken me to where excisemen or others would have wanted to pry and peep, +and so endangered my commission. Better a voyage to France in an open +boat than that.' + +'I will take you to my father,' said I, after a few moments' thought. +'You can deliver your letter and make good your story to him. If you +are indeed a true man, you will meet with a warm welcome; but should you +prove, as I shrewdly suspect, to be a rogue, you need expect no mercy.' + +'Bless the youngster! he speaks like the Lord High Chancellor of +England! What is it the old man says? + + "He could not ope + His mouth, but out there fell a trope." + +But it should be a threat, which is the ware in which you are fond of +dealing. + + "He could not let + A minute pass without a threat." + +How's that, eh? Waller himself could not have capped the couplet +neater.' + +All this time Reuben had been swinging away at his oars, and we had made +our way into Langston Bay, down the sheltered waters of which we were +rapidly shooting. Sitting in the sheets, I turned over in my mind +all that this waif had said. I had glanced over his shoulder at the +addresses of some of the letters--Steadman of Basingstoke, Wintle +of Alresford, Fortescue of Bognor, all well-known leaders of the +Dissenters. If they were what he represented them to be, it was no +exaggeration to say that he held the fortunes and fates of these men +entirely in his hands. Government would be only too glad to have a valid +reason for striking hard at the men whom they feared. On the whole it +was well to tread carefully in the matter, so I restored our prisoner's +knife to him, and treated him with increased consideration. It was +well-nigh dark when we beached the boat, and entirely so before we +reached Havant, which was fortunate, as the bootless and hatless state +of our dripping companion could not have failed to set tongues wagging, +and perhaps to excite the inquiries of the authorities. As it was, we +scarce met a soul before reaching my father's door. + + + +Chapter V. Of the Man with the Drooping Lids + +My mother and my father were sitting in their high-backed chairs on +either side of the empty fireplace when we arrived, he smoking his +evening pipe of Oronooko, and she working at her embroidery. The moment +that I opened the door the man whom I had brought stepped briskly in, +and bowing to the old people began to make glib excuses for the lateness +of his visit, and to explain the manner in which we had picked him up. I +could not help smiling at the utter amazement expressed upon my mother's +face as she gazed at him, for the loss of his jack-boots exposed a pair +of interminable spindle-shanks which were in ludicrous contrast to the +baggy low country knee-breeches which surmounted them. His tunic was +made of coarse sad-coloured kersey stuff with flat new gilded brass +buttons, beneath which was a whitish callamanca vest edged with silver. +Round the neck of his coat was a broad white collar after the Dutch +fashion, out of which his long scraggy throat shot upwards with his +round head and bristle of hair balanced upon the top of it, like the +turnip on a stick at which we used to throw at the fairs. In this guise +he stood blinking and winking in the glare of light, and pattering out +his excuses with as many bows and scrapes as Sir Peter Witling in the +play. I was in the act of following him into the room, when Reuben +plucked at my sleeve to detain me. + +'Nay, I won't come in with you, Micah,' said he; 'there's mischief +likely to come of all this. My father may grumble over his beer jugs, +but he's a Churchman and a Tantivy for all that. I'd best keep out of +it.' + +'You are right,' I answered. 'There is no need for you to meddle in the +business. Be mum as to all that you have heard.' + +'Mum as a mouse,' said he, and pressing my hand turned away into the +darkness. When I returned to the sitting-room I found that my mother had +hurried into the kitchen, where the crackling of sticks showed that she +was busy in building a fire. Decimus Saxon was seated at the edge of +the iron-bound oak chest at the side of my father, and was watching him +keenly with his little twinkling eyes, while the old man was fixing +his horn glasses and breaking the seals of the packet which his strange +visitor had just handed to him. + +I saw that when my father looked at the signature at the end of the +long, closely written letter he gave a whiff of surprise and sat +motionless for a moment or so staring at it. Then he turned to the +commencement and read it very carefully through, after which he turned +it over and read it again. Clearly it brought no unwelcome news, for his +eyes sparkled with joy when he looked up from his reading, and more than +once he laughed aloud. Finally he asked the man Saxon how it had come +into his possession, and whether he was aware of the contents. + +'Why, as to that,' said the messenger, 'it was handed to me by no less +a person than Dicky Rumbold himself, and in the presence of others whom +it's not for me to name. As to the contents, your own sense will tell +you that I would scarce risk my neck by bearing a message without I +knew what the message was. I am no chicken at the trade, sir. Cartels, +_pronunciamientos_, challenges, flags of truce, and proposals for +waffenstillstands, as the Deutschers call it--they've all gone through +my hands, and never one, gone awry.' + +'Indeed!' quoth my father. 'You are yourself one of the faithful?' + +'I trust that I am one of those who are on the narrow and thorny track,' +said he, speaking through his nose, as was the habit of the extreme +sectaries. + +'A track upon which no prelate can guide us,' said my father. + +'Where man is nought and the Lord is all,' rejoined Saxon. + +'Good! good!' cried my father. 'Micah, you shall take this worthy man +to my room, and see that he hath dry linen, and my second-best suit of +Utrecht velvet. It may serve until his own are dried. My boots, too, +may perchance be useful--my riding ones of untanned leather. A hat with +silver braiding hangs above them in the cupboard. See that he lacks for +nothing which the house can furnish. Supper will be ready when he hath +changed his attire. I beg that you will go at once, good Master Saxon, +lest you take a chill.' + +'There is but one thing that we have omitted,' said our visitor, +solemnly rising up from his chair and clasping his long nervous hands +together. 'Let us delay no longer to send up a word of praise to the +Almighty for His manifold blessings, and for the mercy wherewith He +plucked me and my letters out of the deep, even as Jonah was saved from +the violence of the wicked ones who hurled him overboard, and it may be +fired falconets at him, though we are not so informed in Holy Writ. Let +us pray, my friends!' Then in a high-toned chanting voice he offered up +a long prayer of thanksgiving, winding up with a petition for grace and +enlightenment for the house and all its inmates. Having concluded by a +sonorous amen, he at last suffered himself to be led upstairs; while +my mother, who had slipped in and listened with much edification to his +words, hurried away to prepare him a bumper of green usquebaugh with ten +drops of Daffy's Elixir therein, which was her sovereign recipe against +the effects of a soaking. There was no event in life, from a christening +to a marriage, but had some appropriate food or drink in my mother's +vocabulary, and no ailment for which she had not some pleasant cure in +her well-stocked cupboards. + +Master Decimus Saxon in my father's black Utrecht velvet and untanned +riding boots looked a very different man to the bedraggled castaway who +had crawled like a conger eel into our fishing-boat. It seemed as if he +had cast off his manner with his raiment, for he behaved to my mother +during supper with an air of demure gallantry which sat upon him better +than the pert and flippant carriage which he had shown towards us in the +boat. Truth to say, if he was now more reserved, there was a very good +reason for it, for he played such havoc amongst the eatables that there +was little time for talk. At last, after passing from the round of cold +beef to a capon pasty, and topping up with a two-pound perch, washed +down by a great jug of ale, he smiled upon us all and told us that his +fleshly necessities were satisfied for the nonce. 'It is my rule,' he +remarked, 'to obey the wise precept which advises a man to rise from +table feeling that he could yet eat as much as he has partaken of.' + +'I gather from your words, sir, that you have yourself seen hard +service,' my father remarked when the board had been cleared and my +mother had retired for the night. + +'I am an old fighting man,' our visitor answered, screwing his pipe +together, 'a lean old dog of the hold-fast breed. This body of mine +bears the mark of many a cut and slash received for the most part in +the service of the Protestant faith, though some few were caught for the +sake of Christendom in general when warring against the Turk. There is +blood of mine, sir, Spotted all over the map of Europe. Some of it, I +confess, was spilled in no public cause, but for the protection of mine +own honour in the private duello or holmgang, as it was called among the +nations of the north. It is necessary that a cavaliero of fortune, being +for the greater part a stranger in a strange land, should be somewhat +nice in matters of the sort, since he stands, as it were, as the +representative of his country, whose good name should be more dear to +him than his own.' + +'Your weapon on such occasions was, I suppose, the sword?' my father +asked, shifting uneasily in his seat, as he would do when his old +instincts were waking up. + +'Broadsword, rapier, Toledo, spontoon, battle-axe, pike or half-pike, +morgenstiern, and halbert. I speak with all due modesty, but with +backsword, sword and dagger, sword and buckler, single falchion, case of +falchions, or any other such exercise, I will hold mine own against any +man that ever wore neat's leather, save only my elder brother Quartus.' + +'By my faith,' said my father with his eyes shining, 'were I twenty +years younger I should have at you! My backsword play hath been thought +well of by stout men of war. God forgive me that my heart should still +turn to such vanities.' + +'I have heard godly men speak well of it,' remarked Saxon. 'Master +Richard Rumbold himself spake of your deeds of arms to the Duke of +Argyle. Was there not a Scotsman, one Storr or Stour?' + +'Ay, ay! Storr of Drumlithie. I cut him nigh to the saddle-bow in a +skirmish on the eve of Dunbar. So Dicky Rumbold had not forgotten it, +eh? He was a hard one both at praying and at fighting. We have ridden +knee to knee in the field, and we have sought truth together in the +chamber. So, Dick will be in harness once again! He could not be still +if a blow were to be struck for the trampled faith. If the tide of war +set in this direction, I too--who knows? who knows?' + +'And here is a stout man-at-arms,' said Saxon, passing his hand down my +arm.' He hath thew and sinew, and can use proud words too upon occasion, +as I have good cause to know, even in our short acquaintance. Might it +not be that he too should strike in this quarrel?' + +'We shall discuss it,' my father answered, looking thoughtfully at me +from under his heavy brows. 'But I pray you, friend Saxon, to give us +some further account upon these matters. My son Micah, as I understand, +hath picked you out of the waves. How came you there?' + +Decimus Saxon puffed at his pipe for a minute or more in silence, as one +who is marshalling facts each in its due order. + +'It came about in this wise,' he said at last. 'When John of Poland +chased the Turk from the gates of Vienna, peace broke out in the +Principalities, and many a wandering cavaliero like myself found his +occupation gone. There was no war waging save only some petty Italian +skirmish, in which a soldier could scarce expect to reap either dollars +or repute, so I wandered across the Continent, much cast down at the +strange peace which prevailed in every quarter. At last, however, on +reaching the Lowlands, I chanced to hear that the _Providence_, owned +and commanded by my two brothers, Nonus and Quartus, was about to start +from Amsterdam for an adventure to the Guinea coast. I proposed to them +that I should join them, and was accordingly taken into partnership on +condition that I paid one-third of the cost of the cargo. While waiting +at the port I chanced to come across some of the exiles, who, having +heard of my devotion to the Protestant cause, brought me to the Duke and +to Master Rumbold, who committed these letters to my charge. This makes +it clear how they came into my possession.' + +'But not how you and they came into the water,' my father suggested. + +'Why, that was but the veriest chance,' the adventurer answered with +some little confusion of manner. 'It was the _fortuna belli_, or more +properly _pacis_. I had asked my brothers to put into Portsmouth that I +might get rid of these letters, on which they replied in a boorish and +unmannerly fashion that they were still waiting for the thousand guineas +which represented my share of the venture. To this I answered with +brotherly familiarity that it was a small thing, and should be paid +for out of the profits of our enterprise. Their reply was I that I had +promised to pay the money down, and that money down they must have. I +then proceeded to prove, both by the Aristotelian and by the Platonic +or deductive method, that having no guineas in my possession it was +impossible for me to produce a thousand of them, at the same time +pointing out that the association of an honest man in the business was +in itself an ample return for the money, since their own reputations had +been somewhat blown on. I further offered in the same frank and friendly +spirit to meet either of them with sword or with pistol, a proposal +which should have satisfied any honour-loving Cavaliero. Their base +mercantile souls prompted them, however, to catch up two muskets, one of +which Nonus discharged at me, and it is likely that Quartus would have +followed suit had I not plucked the gun from his hand and unloaded it to +prevent further mischief. In unloading it I fear that one of the slugs +blew a hole in brother Nonus. Seeing that there was a chance of further +disagreements aboard the vessel, I at once decided to leave her, in +doing which I was forced to kick off my beautiful jack-boots, which were +said by Vanseddars himself to be he finest pair that ever went out of +his shop, square-toed, double-soled--alas! alas!' + +'Strange that you should have been picked up by the son of the very man +to whom you had a letter.' + +'The working of Providence,' Saxon answered. 'I have two-and-twenty +other letters which must all be delivered by hand. If you will permit me +to use your house for a while, I shall make it my headquarters.' + +'Use it as though it were your own,' said my father. + +'Your most grateful servant, sir,' he cried, jumping up and bowing +with his hand over his heart. 'This is indeed a haven of rest after the +ungodly and profane company of my brothers. Shall we then put up a hymn, +and retire from the business of the day?' + +My father willingly agreed, and we sang 'Oh, happy land!' after which +our visitor followed me to his room, bearing with him the unfinished +bottle of usquebaugh which my mother had left on the table. He took it +with him, he explained, as a precaution against Persian ague, contracted +while battling against the Ottoman, and liable to recur at strange +moments. I left him in our best spare bedroom, and returned to my +father, who was still seated, heavy with thought, in his old corner. + +'What think you of my find, Dad?' I asked. + +'A man of parts and of piety,' he answered; 'but in truth he has brought +me news so much after my heart, that he could not be unwelcome were he +the Pope of Rome.' + +'What news, then?' + +'This, this!' he cried joyously, plucking the letter out of his bosom. +'I will read it to you, lad. Nay, perhaps I had best sleep the night +upon it, and read it to-morrow when our heads are clearer. May the Lord +guide my path, and confound the tyrant! Pray for light, boy, for my life +and yours may be equally at stake.' + + + + +Chapter VI. Of the Letter that came from the Lowlands + +In the morning I was up betimes, and went forthwith, after the country +fashion, to our quest's room to see if there was aught in which I could +serve him. On pushing at his door, I found that it was fastened, which +surprised me the more as I knew that there was neither key nor bolt upon +the inside. On my pressing against it, however, it began to yield, and +I could then see that a heavy chest which was used to stand near the +window had been pulled round in order to shut out any intrusion. This +precaution, taken under my father's roof, as though he were in a den of +thieves, angered me, and I gave a butt with my shoulder which cleared +the box out of the way, and enabled me to enter the room. + +The man Saxon was sitting up in bed, staring about him as though he +were not very certain for the moment where he was. He had tied a white +kerchief round his head by way of night bonnet, and his hard-visaged, +clean-shaven face, looking out through this, together with his bony +figure, gave him some resemblance to a gigantic old woman. The bottle +of usquebaugh stood empty by his bedside. Clearly his fears had been +realised, and he had had an attack of the Persian ague. + +'Ah, my young friend!' he said at last. 'Is it, then, the custom of this +part of the country to carry your visitor's rooms by storm or escalado +in the early hours of the morning?' + +'Is it the custom,' I answered sternly, 'to barricade up your door when +you are sleeping under the roof-tree of an honest man? What did you +fear, that you should take such a precaution?' + +'Nay, you are indeed a spitfire,' he replied, sinking back upon the +pillow, and drawing the clothes round him, 'a feuerkopf as the Germans +call it, or sometimes tollkopf, which in its literal significance +meaneth a fool's head. Your father was, as I have heard, a strong and a +fierce man when the blood of youth ran in his veins; but you, I should +judge, are in no way behind him. Know, then, that the bearer of papers +of import, _documenta preciosa sed periculosa_, is bound to leave +nought to chance, but to guard in every way the charge which hath been +committed to him. True it is that I am in the house of an honest man, +but I know not who may come or who may go during the hours of the night. +Indeed, for the matter of that--but enough is said. I shall be with you +anon.' + +'Your clothes are dry and are ready for you,' I remarked. + +'Enough! enough!' he answered. 'I have no quarrel with the suit which +your father has lent me. It may be that I have been used to better, but +they will serve my turn. The camp is not the court.' + +It was evident to me that my father's suit was infinitely better, both +in texture and material, than that which our visitor had brought +with him. As he had withdrawn his head, however, entirely beneath the +bedclothes, there was nothing more to be said, so I descended to the +lower room, where I found toy father busily engaged fastening a new +buckle to his sword-belt while my mother and the maid were preparing the +morning meal. + +'Come into the yard with me, Micah,' quoth my father; 'I would have +a word with you.' The workmen had not yet come to their work, so we +strolled out into the sweet morning air, and seated ourselves on the low +stone bankment on which the skins are dressed. + +'I have been out here this morning trying my hand at the broadsword +exercise, 'said he; 'I find that I am as quick as ever on a thrust, but +my cuts are sadly stiff. I might be of use at a pinch, but, alas! I +am not the same swordsman who led the left troop of the finest horse +regiment that ever followed a kettledrum. The Lord hath given, and the +Lord hath taken away! Yet, if I am old and worn, there is the fruit of +my loins to stand in my place and to wield the same sword in the same +cause. You shall go in my place, Micah.' + +'Go! Go whither?' + +'Hush, lad, and listen! Let not your mother know too much, for the +hearts of women are soft. When Abraham offered up his eldest born, I +trow that he said little to Sarah on the matter. Here is the letter. +Know you who this Dicky Rumbold is?' + +'Surely I have heard you speak of him as an old companion of yours.' + +'The same--a staunch man and true. So faithful was he--faithful even to +slaying--that when the army of the righteous dispersed, he did not lay +aside his zeal with his buff-coat. He took to business as a maltster at +Hoddesdon, and in his house was planned the famous Rye House Plot, in +which so many good men were involved.' + +'Was it not a foul assassination plot?' I asked. + +'Nay, nay, be not led away by terms! It is a vile invention of the +malignants that these men planned assassination. What they would do they +purposed doing in broad daylight, thirty of them against fifty of the +Royal Guard, when Charles and James passed on their way to Newmarket. If +the royal brothers got pistol-bullet or sword-stab, it would be in open +fight, and at the risk of their attackers. It was give and take, and no +murder.' + +He paused and looked inquiringly at me; but I could not truthfully +say that I was satisfied, for an attack upon the lives of unarmed and +unsuspecting men, even though surrounded by a bodyguard, could not, to +my mind, be justified. + +'When the plot failed,' my father continued, 'Rumbold had to fly for his +life, but he succeeded in giving his pursuers the slip and in making his +way to the Lowlands. There he found that many enemies of the Government +had gathered together. Repeated messages from England, especially from +the western counties and from London, assured them that if they would +but attempt an invasion they might rely upon help both in men and in +money. They were, however, at fault for some time for want of a leader +of sufficient weight to carry through so large a project; but now +at last they have one, who is the best that could have been singled +out--none other than the well-beloved Protestant chieftain James, Duke +of Monnmouth, son of Charles II.' + +'Illegitimate son,' I remarked. + +'That may or may not be. There are those who say that Lucy Walters was +a lawful wife. Bastard or no, he holds the sound principles of the true +Church, and he is beloved by the people. Let him appear in the West, and +soldiers will rise up like the flowers in the spring time.' + +He paused, and led me away to the farther end of the yard, for the +workmen had begun to arrive and to cluster round the dipping trough. + +'Monmouth is coming over,' he continued, 'and he expects every brave +Protestant man to rally to his standard. The Duke of Argyle is to +command a separate expedition, which will set the Highlands of Scotland +in a blaze. Between them they hope to bring the persecutor of the +faithful on his knees. But I hear the voice of the man Saxon, and I must +not let him say that I have treated him in a churlish fashion. Here is +the letter, lad. Read it with care, and remember that when brave men are +striving for their rights it is fitting that one of the old rebel house +of Clarke should be among them.' + +I took the letter, and wandering off into the fields, I settled myself +under a convenient tree, and set myself to read it. This yellow sheet +which I now hold in my hand is the very one which was brought by Decimus +Saxon, and read by me that bright May morning under the hawthorn shade. +I give it to you as it stands; + + +'To my friend and companion in the cause of the Lord, Joseph +Clarke.--Know, friend, that aid and delivery is coming upon Israel, +and that the wicked king and those who uphold him shall be smitten and +entirely cast down, until their place in the land shall know them no +more. Hasten, then, to testify to thy own faith, that in the day of +trouble ye be not found wanting. + +'It has chanced from time to time that many of the suffering Church, +both from our own land and from among the Scots, have assembled in this +good Lutheran town of Amsterdam, until enough are gathered together to +take a good work in hand. For amongst our own folk there are my +Lord Grey of Wark, Wade, Dare of Taunton, Ayloffe, Holmes, Hollis, +Goodenough, and others whom thou shalt know. Of the Scots there are the +Duke of Argyle, who has suffered sorely for the Covenant, Sir Patrick +Hume, Fletcher of Saltoun, Sir John Cochrane, Dr. Ferguson, Major +Elphinstone, and others. To these we would fain have added Locke and old +Hal Ludlow, but they are, as those of the Laodicean Church, neither cold +nor warm. + +'It has now come to pass, however, that Monmouth, who has long lived in +dalliance with the Midianitish woman known by the name of Wentworth, has +at last turned him to higher things, and has consented to make a bid for +the crown. It was found that the Scots preferred to follow a chieftain +of their own, and it has therefore been determined that Argyle--M'Callum +More, as the breechless savages of Inverary call him--shall command a +separate expedition landing upon the western coast of Scotland. There +he hopes to raise five thousand Campbells, and to be joined by all the +Covenanters and Western Whigs, men who would make troops of the old +breed had they but God-fearing officers with an experience of the chance +of fields and the usages of war. With such a following he should be able +to hold Glasgow, and to draw away the King's force to the north. Ayloffe +and I go with Argyle. It is likely that our feet may be upon Scottish +ground before thy eyes read these words. + +'The stronger expedition starts with Monmouth, and lands at a fitting +place in the West, where we are assured that we have many friends. I +cannot name the spot lest this letter miscarry, but thou shalt hear +anon. I have written to all good men along the coast, bidding them to +be prepared to support the rising. The King is weak, and hated by the +greater part of his subjects. It doth but need one good stroke to bring +his crown in the dust. Monmouth will start in a few weeks, when his +equipment is finished and the weather favourable. If thou canst come, +mine old comrade, I know well that thou wilt need no bidding of mine to +bring thee to our banner. Should perchance a peaceful life and waning +strength forbid thy attendance, I trust that thou wilt wrestle for us +in prayer, even as the holy prophet of old; and perchance, since I hear +that thou hast prospered according to the things of this world, thou +mayst be able to fit out a pikeman or two, or to send a gift towards the +military chest, which will be none too plentifully lined. We trust +not to gold, but to steel and to our own good cause, yet gold will be +welcome none the less. Should we fall, we fall like men and Christians. +Should we succeed, we shall see how the perjured James, the persecutor +of the saints with the heart like a nether millstone, the man who smiled +when the thumbs of the faithful were wrenched out of their sockets at +Edinburgh--we shall see how manfully he can bear adversity when it falls +to his lot. May the hand of the Almighty be over us! + +'I know little of the bearer of this, save that he professes to be of +the elect. Shouldst thou go to Monmouth's camp, see that thou take him +with thee, for I hear that he hath had good experience in the German, +Swedish, and Otttoman wars.--Yours in the faith of Christ, Richard +Rumbold. + +'Present my services to thy spouse. Let her read Timothy chapter two, +ninth to fifteenth verses.' + + +This long letter I read very carefully, and then putting it in my pocket +returned indoors to my breakfast. My father looked at me, as I entered, +with questioning eyes, but I had no answer to return him, for my own +mind was clouded and uncertain. + +That day Decimus Saxon left us, intending to make a round of the country +and to deliver his letters, but promising to be back again ere long. We +had a small mishap ere he went, for as we were talking of his journey +my brother Hosea must needs start playing with my father's powder-flask, +which in some way went off with a sudden fluff, spattering the walls +with fragments of metal. So unexpected and loud was the explosion, +that both my father and I sprang to our feet; but Saxon, whose back +was turned to my brother, sat four-square in his chair without a glance +behind him or a shade of change in his rugged face. As luck would have +it, no one was injured, not even Hosea, but the incident made me think +more highly of our new acquaintance. As he started off down the village +street, his long stringy figure and strange gnarled visage, with my +father's silver-braided hat cocked over his eye, attracted rather +more attention than I cared to see, considering the importance of the +missives which he bore, and the certainty of their discovery should he +be arrested as a masterless man. Fortunately, however, the curiosity +of the country folk did but lead them to cluster round their doors and +windows, staring open-eyed, while he, pleased at the attention which +he excited, strode along with his head in the air and a cudgel of +mine twirling in his hand. He had left golden opinions behind him. My +father's good wishes had been won by his piety and by the sacrifices +which he claimed to have made for the faith. My mother he had taught how +wimples are worn amongst the Serbs, and had also demonstrated to her a +new method of curing marigolds in use in some parts of Lithuania. For +myself, I confess that I retained a vague distrust of the man, and +was determined to avoid putting faith in him more than was needful. At +present, however, we had no choice hut to treat him as an ambassador +from friends. + +And I? What was I to do? Should I follow my father's wishes, and draw +my maiden sword on behalf of the insurgents, or should I stand aside and +see how events shaped themselves? It was more fitting that I should +go than he. But, on the other hand, I was no keen religious zealot. +Papistry, Church, Dissent, I believed that there was good in all of +them, but that not one was worth the spilling of human blood. James +might be a perjurer and a villain, but he was, as far as I could see, +the rightful king of England, and no tales of secret marriages or black +boxes could alter the fact that his rival was apparently an illegitimate +son, and as such ineligible to the throne. Who could say what evil act +upon the part of a monarch justified his people in setting him aside? +Who was the judge in such a case? Yet, on the other hand, the man had +notoriously broken his own pledges, and that surely should absolve +his subjects from their allegiance. It was a weighty question for a +country-bred lad to have to settle, and yet settled it must be, and that +speedily. I took up my hat and wandered away down the village street, +turning the matter over in my head. + +But it was no easy thing for me to think seriously of anything in the +hamlet; for I was in some way, my dear children, though I say it myself, +a favourite with the young and with the old, so that I could not walk +ten paces without some greeting or address. There were my own brothers +trailing behind me, Baker Mitford's children tugging at my skirts, and +the millwright's two little maidens one on either hand. Then, when I had +persuaded these young rompers to leave me, out came Dame Fullarton the +widow, with a sad tale about how her grindstone had fallen out of its +frame, and neither she nor her household could lift it in again. That +matter I set straight and proceeded on my way; but I could not pass the +sign of the Wheatsheaf without John Lockarby, Reuben's father, plunging +out at me and insisting upon my coming in with him for a morning cup. + +'The best glass of mead in the countryside, and brewed under my own +roof,' said he proudly, as he poured it into the flagon. 'Why, bless +you, master Micah, a man with a frame like yours wants store o' good +malt to keep it up wi'.' + +'And malt like this is worthy of a good frame to contain it,' quoth +Reuben, who was at work among the flasks. + +'What think ye, Micah?' said the landlord. 'There was the Squire o' +Milton over here yester morning wi' Johnny Ferneley o' the Bank side, +and they will have it that there's a man in Fareham who could wrestle +you, the best of three, and find your own grip, for a good round stake.' + +'Tut! tut!' I answered; 'you would have me like a prize mastiff, showing +my teeth to the whole countryside. What matter if the man can throw me, +or I him?' + +'What matter? Why, the honour of Havant,' quoth he. 'Is that no matter? +But you are right,' he continued, draining off his horn. 'What is all +this village life with its small successes to such as you? You are as +much out of your place as a vintage wine at a harvest supper. The whole +of broad England, and not the streets of Havant, is the fit stage for +a man of your kidney. What have you to do with the beating of skins and +the tanning of leather?' + +'My father would have you go forth as a knight-errant, Micah,' said +Reuben, laughing. 'You might chance to get your own skin beaten and your +own leather tanned.' + +'Who ever knew so long a tongue in so short a body?' cried the +innkeeper. 'But in good sooth, Master Micah, I am in sober earnest when +I say that you are indeed wasting the years of your youth, when life is +sparkling and clear, and that you will regret it when you have come to +the flat and flavourless dregs of old age.' + +'There spoke the brewer,' said Reuben; 'but indeed, Micah, my father is +right, for all that he hath such a hops-and-water manner of putting it.' + +'I will think over it,' I answered, and with a nod to the kindly couple +proceeded on my way. + +Zachariah Palmer was planing a plank as I passed. Looking up he bade me +good-morrow. + +'I have a book for you, lad,' he said. + +'I have but now finished the "Comus,"' I answered, for he had lent me +John Milton's poem. 'But what is this new book, daddy?' + +'It is by the learned Locke, and treateth of states and statecraft. It +is but a small thing, but if wisdom could show in the scales it would +weigh down many a library. You shall have it when I have finished it, +to-morrow mayhap or the day after. A good man is Master Locke. Is he not +at this moment a wanderer in the Lowlands, rather than bow his knee to +what his conscience approved not of?' + +'There are many good men among the exiles, are there not?' said I. + +'The pick of the country,' he answered. 'Ill fares the land that drives +the highest and bravest of its citizens away from it. The day is coming, +I fear, when every man will have to choose betwixt his beliefs and his +freedom. I am an old man, Micah boy, but I may live long enough to see +strange things in this once Protestant kingdom.' + +'But if these exiles had their way,' I objected, 'they would place +Monmouth upon the throne, and so unjustly alter the succession.' + +'Nay, nay,' old Zachary answered, laying down his plane. 'If they use +Monmouth's name, it is but to strengthen their cause, and to show that +they have a leader of repute. Were James driven from the throne, the +Commons of England in Parliament assembled would be called upon to +name his successor. There are men at Monmouth's back who would not stir +unless this were so.' + +'Then, daddy,' said I, 'since I can trust you, and since you will tell +me what you do really think, would it be well, if Monmouth's standard be +raised, that I should join it?' + +The carpenter stroked his white beard and pondered for a while. 'It is a +pregnant question,' he said at last, 'and yet methinks that there is but +one answer to it, especially for your father's son. Should an end be put +to James's rule, it is not too late to preserve the nation in its old +faith; but if the disease is allowed to spread, it may be that even the +tyrant's removal would not prevent his evil seed from sprouting. I hold, +therefore, that should the exiles make such an attempt, it is the duty +of every man who values liberty of conscience to rally round them. And +you, my son, the pride of the village, what better use could you make +of your strength than to devote it to helping to relieve your country +of this insupportable yoke? It is treasonable and dangerous +counsel--counsel which might lead to a short shrift and a bloody +death--but, as the Lord liveth, if you were child of mine I should say +the same.' + +So spoke the old carpenter with a voice which trembled with earnestness, +and went to work upon his plank once more, while I, with a few words of +gratitude, went on my way pondering over what he had said to me. I had +not gone far, however, before the hoarse voice of Solomon Sprent broke +in upon my meditations. + +'Hoy there! Ahoy!' he bellowed, though his mouth was but a few yards +from my ear. 'Would ye come across my hawse without slacking weigh? Clew +up, d'ye see, clew up!' + +'Why, Captain,' I said, 'I did not see you. I was lost in thought.' + +'All adrift and without look-outs,' quoth he, pushing his way through +the break in the garden hedge. 'Odd's niggars, man! friends are not +so plentiful, d'ye see, that ye need pass 'em by without a dip o' the +ensign. So help me, if I had had a barker I'd have fired a shot across +your bows.' + +'No offence, Captain,' said I, for the veteran appeared to be nettled; +'I have much to think of this morning.' + +'And so have I, mate,' he answered, in a softer voice. 'What think ye of +my rig, eh?' He turned himself slowly round in the sunlight as he spoke, +and I perceived that he was dressed with unusual care. He had a blue +suit of broadcloth trimmed with eight rows of buttons, and breeches of +the same material with great bunches of ribbon at the knee. His vest +was of lighter blue picked out with anchors in silver, and edged with +a finger's-breadth of lace. His boot was so wide that he might have had +his foot in a bucket, and he wore a cutlass at his side suspended from a +buff belt, which passed over his right shoulder. + +'I've had a new coat o' paint all over,' said he, with a wink. +'Carramba! the old ship is water-tight yet. What would ye say, now, were +I about to sling my hawser over a little scow, and take her in tow?' + +'A cow!' I cried. + +'A cow! what d'ye take me for? A wench, man, and as tight a little craft +as ever sailed into the port of wedlock.' + +'I have heard no better news for many a long day,' said I; 'I did not +even know that you were betrothed. When thou is the wedding to be?' + +'Go slow, friend--go slow, and heave your lead-line! You have got out +of your channel, and are in shoal water. I never said as how I was +betrothed.' + +'What then?' I asked. + +'I am getting up anchor now, to run down to her and summon her. Look +ye, lad,' he continued, plucking off his cap and scratching his +ragged locks; 'I've had to do wi' wenches enow from the Levant to the +Antilles--wenches such as a sailorman meets, who are all paint and +pocket. It's but the heaving of a hand grenade, and they strike their +colours. This is a craft of another guess build, and unless I steer wi' +care she may put one in between wind and water before I so much as +know that I am engaged. What think ye, heh? Should I lay myself boldly +alongside, d'ye see, and ply her with small arms, or should I work +myself clear and try a long range action? I am none of your slippery, +grease-tongued, long-shore lawyers, but if so be as she's willing for a +mate, I'll stand by her in wind and weather while my planks hold out.' + +'I can scarce give advice in such a case,' said I, 'for my experience is +less than yours. I should say though that you had best speak to her from +your heart, in plain sailor language.' + +'Aye, aye, she can take it or leave it. Phoebe Dawson it is, the sister +of the blacksmith. Let us work back and have a drop of the right Nants +before we go. I have an anker newly come, which never paid the King a +groat.' + +'Nay, you had best leave it alone,' I answered. + +'Say you so? Well, mayhap you are right. Throw off your moorings, then, +and clap on sail, for we must go.' + +'But I am not concerned,' said I. + +'Not concerned! Not--' he was too much overcome to go on, and could +but look at me with a face full of reproach. 'I thought better of you, +Micah. Would you let this crazy old hulk go into action, and not stand +by to fire a broadside?' + +'What would you have me do then?' + +'Why, I would have you help me as the occasion may arise. If I start +to board her, I would have you work across the bows so as to rake +her. Should I range, up on the larboard quarter, do you lie, on the +starboard. If I get crippled, do you draw her fire until I refit. What, +man, you would not desert me!' + +The old seaman's tropes and maritime conceits were not always +intelligible to me, but it was clear that he had set his heart upon my +accompanying him, which I was equally determined not to do. At last +by much reasoning I made him understand that my presence would be more +hindrance than help, and would probably be fatal to his chances of +success. + +'Well, well,' he grumbled at last, 'I've been concerned in no such +expedition before. An' it be the custom for single ships to engage, I'll +stand to it alone. You shall come with me as consort, though, and stand +to and fro in the offing, or sink me if I stir a step.' + +My mind was full of my father's plans and of the courses which lay +before me. There seemed to be no choice, however, as old Solomon was +in dead earnest, but to lay the matter aside for the moment and see the +upshot of this adventure. + +'Mind, Solomon,' said I, 'I don't cross the threshold.' + +'Aye, aye, mate. You can please yourself. We have to beat up against the +wind all the way. She's on the look-out, for I hailed her yesternight, +and let her know as how I should bear down on her about seven bells of +the morning watch.' + +I was thinking as we trudged down the road that Phoebe would need to be +learned in sea terms to make out the old man's meaning, when he pulled +up short and clapped his hands to his pockets. + +'Zounds!' he cried, 'I have forgot to bring a pistol.' + +'In Heaven's name!' I said in amazement, 'what could you want with a +pistol?' + +'Why, to make signals with,' said he. 'Odds me that I should have forgot +it! How is one's consort to know what is going forward when the flagship +carries no artillery? Had the lass been kind I should have fired one +gun, that you might know it.' + +'Why,' I answered, 'if you come not out I shall judge that all is well. +If things go amiss I shall see you soon.' + +'Aye--or stay! I'll hoist a white jack at the port-hole. A white jack +means that she hath hauled down her colours. Nombre de Dios, when I +was a powder-boy in the old ship _Lion_, the day that we engaged the +_Spiritus Sanctus_ of two tier o' guns--the first time that ever I heard +the screech of ball--my heart never thumped as it does now. What say ye +if we run back with a fair wind and broach that anker of Nants?' + +'Nay, stand to it, man,' said I; for by this time, we had come to the +ivy-clad cottage behind which was the village smithy. 'What, Solomon! +an English seaman never feared a foe, either with petticoats or without +them.' + +'No, curse me if he did!' quoth Solomon, squaring his shoulders, 'never +a one, Don, Devil, or Dutchman; so here goes for her!' So saying he made +his way into the cottage, leaving me standing by the garden wicket, half +amused and half annoyed at this interruption to my musings. + +As it proved, the sailor had no very great difficulty with his suit, and +soon managed to capture his prize, to use his own language. I heard from +the garden the growling of his gruff voice, and a good deal of shrill +laughter ending in a small squeak, which meant, I suppose, that he was +coming to close quarters. Then there was silence for a little while, and +at last I saw a white kerchief waving from the window, and perceived, +moreover, that it was Phoebe herself who was fluttering it. Well, she +was a smart, kindly-hearted lass, and I was glad in my heart that the +old seaman should have such a one to look after him. + +Here, then, was one good friend settled down finally for life. Another +warned me that I was wasting my best years in the hamlet. A third, the +most respected of all, advised me openly to throw in my lot with the +insurgents, should the occasion arise. If I refused, I should have +the shame of seeing my aged father setting off for the wars, whilst +I lingered at home. And why should I refuse? Had it not long been the +secret wish of my heart to see something of the great world, and what +fairer chance could present itself? My wishes, my friend's advice, and +my father's hopes all pointed in the one direction. + +'Father,' said I, when I returned home, 'I am ready to go where you +will.' + +'May the Lord be glorified!' he cried solemnly. 'May He watch over +your young life, and keep your heart steadfast to the cause which is +assuredly His!' + +And so, my dear grandsons, the great resolution was taken, and I found +myself committed to one side in the national quarrel. + + + +Chapter VII. Of the Horseman who rode from the West + +My father set to work forthwith preparing for our equipment, furnishing +Saxon out as well as myself on the most liberal scale, for he was +determined that the wealth of his age should be as devoted to the cause +as was the strength of his youth. These arrangements had to be carried +out with the most extreme caution, for there were many Prelatists in +the village, and in the present disturbed state of the public mind any +activity on the part of so well known a man would have at once attracted +attention. So carefully did the wary old soldier manage matters, +however, that we soon found ourselves in a position to start at an +hour's notice, without any of our neighbours being a whit the wiser. + +His first move was to purchase through an agent two suitable horses at +Chichester fair, which were conveyed to the stables of a trusty Whig +farmer living near Portchester, who was ordered to keep them until +they were called for. Of these animals one was a mottled grey, of great +mettle and power, standing seventeen and a half hands high, and well up +to my weight, for in those days, my dears, I had not laid on flesh, and +weighed a little under sixteen stone for all my height and strength. +A critic might have said that Covenant, for so I named my steed, was a +trifle heavy about the head and neck, but I found him a trusty, willing +brute, with great power and endurance. Saxon, who when fully accoutred +could scarce have weighed more than twelve stone, had a light bay +Spanish jennet, of great speed and spirit. This mare he named Chloe, +'after a godly maiden of his acquaintance,' though, as my father +remarked, there was a somewhat ungodly and heathenish smack about the +appellation. These horses and their harness were bought and held ready +without my father appearing in the matter in any way. + +This important point having been settled, there was the further question +of arms to be discussed, which gave rise to much weighty controversy +between Decimus Saxon and my father, each citing many instances from +their own experiences where the presence or absence of some taslet +or arm-guard had been of the deepest import to the wearer. Your +great-grandfather had set his heart upon my wearing the breastplate +which still bore the dints of the Scottish spears at Dunbar, but on +trying it on we found it was too small for me. I confess that this was a +surprise, for when I looked back at the awe with which I had regarded +my father's huge proportions, it was marvellous to me to have +this convincing proof that I had outgrown him. By ripping down the +side-leather and piercing holes through which a lace could be passed, my +mother managed to arrange it so that I could wear it without discomfort. +A pair of taslets or thigh-pieces, with guards for the upper arm and +gauntlets, were all borrowed from the old Parliamentary equipment, +together with the heavy straight sword and pair of horse pistols which +formed the usual weapons of a cavalier. My father had chosen me a +head-piece in Portsmouth, fluted, with good barrets, padded inside with +soft leather, very light and yet very strong. When fully equipped, +both Saxon and my father agreed that I had all that was requisite for +a well-appointed soldier. Saxon had purchased a buff-coat, a steel cap, +and a pair of jack-boots, so that with the rapier and pistols which my +father had presented him with, he was ready to take the field at any +time. + +There would, we hoped, be no great difficulty in our reaching Monmouth's +forces when the hour came. In those troublous times the main roads were +so infested by highwaymen and footpads, that it was usual for travellers +to carry weapons and even armour for their protection. There was no +reason therefore why our appearance should excite suspicion. Should +questions be asked, Saxon had a long story prepared, to the effect that +we were travelling to join Henry Somerset, Duke of Beaufort, to whose +household we belonged. This invention he explained to me, with many +points of corroboration which I was to furnish, but when I said +positively that I should rather be hanged as a rebel than speak a +falsehood, he looked at me open-eyed, and shook his head as one much +shocked. A few weeks of campaigning, he said, would soon cure me of my +squeamishness. For himself, no more truthful child had ever carried a +horn-book, but he had learned to lie upon the Danube, and looked upon +it as a necessary part of the soldier's upbringing. 'For what are all +stratagems, ambuscades, and outfalls but lying upon a large scale?' he +argued. 'What is an adroit commander but one who hath a facility for +disguising the truth? When, at the battle of Senlac, William the Norman +ordered his men to feign flight in order that they might break his +enemy's array, a wile much practised both by the Scythians of old and by +the Croats of our own day, pray what is it but the acting of a lie? Or +when Hannibal, having tied torches to the horns of great droves of oxen, +caused the Roman Consuls to imagine that his army was in retreat, was it +not a deception or infraction of the truth?--a point well brought out +by a soldier of repute in the treatise "An in bello dolo uti liceat; +an apud hostes falsiloquio uti liceat." And so if, after these great +models, I in order to gain mine ends do announce that we are bound to +Beaufort when we are in truth making for Monmouth, is it not in accord +with the usages of war and the customs of great commanders?' All which +specious argument I made no attempt to answer, beyond repeating that he +might avail himself of the usage, but that he must not look to me for +corroboration. On the other hand, I promised to hold my speech and to +say nothing which might hamper him, with which pledge he was forced to +be contented. + +And now at last, my patient listeners, I shall be able to carry you out +of the humble life of the village, and to cease my gossip of the men who +were old when I was young, and who are now lying this many a year in +the Bedhampton churchyard. You shall come with me now, and you shall see +England as it was in those days, and you shall hear of how we set forth +to the wars, and of all the adventures which overtook us. And if what +I tell you should ever chance to differ from what you have read in the +book of Mr. Coke or of Mr. Oldmixon, or of any one else who has set +these matters down in print, do ye bear in mind that I am telling of +what I saw with these very eyes, and that I have helped to make history, +which is a higher thing than to write it. + +It was, then, towards nightfall upon the twelfth day of June 1685 that +the news reached our part of the country that Monmouth had landed the +day before at Lyme, a small seaport on the boundary between Dorsetshire +and Devonshire. A great beacon blaze upon Portsdown Hill was the first +news that we had of it, and then came a rattling and a drumming +from Portsmouth, where the troops were assembled under arms. Mounted +messengers clattered through the village street with their heads low on +their horses' necks, for the great tidings must be carried to London, +that the Governor of Portsmouth might know how to act. (Note B, +Appendix.) We were standing at our doorway in the gloaming, watching +the coming and the going, and the line of beacon fires which were +lengthening away to the eastward, when a little man galloped up to the +door and pulled his panting horse up. + +'Is Joseph Clarke here?' he asked. + +'I am he,' said my father. + +'Are these men true?' he whispered, pointing with his whip at Saxon and +myself. 'Then the trysting-place is Taunton. Pass it on to all whom ye +know. Give my horse a bait and a drink, I beg of ye, for I must get on +my way.' + +My young brother Hosea looked to the tired creature, while we brought +the rider inside and drew him a stoup of beer. A wiry, sharp-faced man +he was, with a birth-mark upon his temple. His face and clothes were +caked with dust, and his limbs were so stiff from the saddle that he +could scarce put one foot before another. + +'One horse hath died under me,' he said, 'and this can scarce last +another twenty miles. I must be in London by morning, for we hope that +Danvers and Wildman may be able to raise the city. Yester-evening I left +Monmouth's camp. His blue flag floats over Lyme.' + +'What force hath he?' my father asked anxiously. + +'He hath but brought over leaders. The force must come from you folk at +home. He has with him Lord Grey of Wark, with Wade, the German Buyse, +and eighty or a hundred more. Alas! that two who came are already lost +to us. It is an evil, evil omen.' + +'What is amiss, then?' + +'Dare, the goldsmith of Taunton, hath been slain by Fletcher of Saltoun +in some child's quarrel about a horse. The peasants cried out for the +blood of the Scot, and he was forced to fly aboard the ships. A sad +mishap it is, for he was a skilful leader and a veteran soldier.' + +'Aye, aye,' cried Saxon impatiently, 'there will be some more skilful +leaders and veteran soldiers in the West presently to take his place. +But if he knew the usages of war, how came it that he should fight upon +a private quarrel at such a time?' He drew a flat brown book from +his bosom, and ran his long thin finger down the table of contents. +'Subisectio nona'--'here is the very case set forth, "An in hello +publico provocatus ad duellum privatae amicitiae causa declinare +possit," in which the learned Fleming layeth it down that a man's +private honour must give way to the good of the cause. Did it not happen +in my own case that, on the eve of the raising of the Anlagerung of +Vienna, we stranger officers having been invited to the tent of the +General, it chanced that a red-headed Irisher, one O'Daffy, an ancient +in the regiment of Pappenheimer, did claim precedence of me on the +ground of superiority of blood? On this I drew my glove across his face, +not, mark ye, in anger, but as showing that I differed in some degree +from his opinion. At which dissent he did at once offer to sustain his +contention, but I, having read this subsection to him, did make it clear +to him that we could not in honour settle the point until the Turk was +chased from the city. So after the onfall--' + +'Nay, sir, I may hear the narrative some future day,' said the +messenger, staggering to his feet. 'I hope to find a relay at +Chichester, and time presses. Work for the cause now, or be slaves for +ever. Farewell!' He clambered into his saddle, and we heard the clatter +of his hoofs dying away down the London road. + +'The time hath come for you to go, Micah,' said my father solemnly.' +Nay, wife, do not weep, but rather hearten the lad on his way by a +blithe word and a merry face. I need not tell you to fight manfully +and fearlessly in this quarrel. Should the tide of war set in this +direction, you may find your old father riding by your side. Let us now +bow down and implore the favour of the Almighty upon this expedition.' + +We all knelt down in the low-roofed, heavy-raftered room while the old +man offered up an earnest, strenuous prayer for our success. Even now, +as I speak to ye, that group rises up before mine eyes. I see once +again your ancestor's stern, rugged face, with his brows knitted and +his corded hands writhed together in the fervour of his supplication. My +mother kneels beside him with the tears trickling down her sweet, placid +face, stifling her sobs lest the sound of them make my leave-taking more +bitter. The children are in the sleeping-room upstairs, and we hear the +patter of their bare feet upon the floor. The man Saxon sprawls across +one of the oaken chairs, half kneeling, half reclining, with his long +legs trailing out behind, and his face buried in his hands. All round +in the flickering light of the hanging lamp I see the objects which have +been so familiar to me from childhood--the settle by the fireplace, +the high-back stiff-elbowed chairs, the stuffed fox above the door, the +picture of Christian viewing the Promised Land from the summit of the +Delectable Mountains--all small trifles in themselves, but making up +among them the marvellous thing we call home, the all-powerful lodestone +which draws the wanderer's heart from the farther end of the earth. +Should I ever see it again save in my dreams--I, who was leaving this +sheltered cove to plunge into the heart of the storm? + +The prayer finished, we all rose with the exception of Saxon, who +remained with his face buried in his hands for a minute or so before +starting to his feet. I shrewdly suspect that he had been fast asleep, +though he explained that he had paused to offer up an additional +supplication. My father placed his hands upon my head and invoked the +blessing of Heaven upon me. He then drew my companion aside, and I +heard the jingling of coin, from which I judge that he was giving him +something wherewith to start upon his travels. My mother clasped me to +her heart, and slipped a small square of paper into my hand, saying that +I was to look at it at my leisure, and that I should make her happy if +I would but conform to the instructions contained in it. This I promised +to do, and tearing myself away I set off down the darkened village +street, with my long-limbed companion striding by my side. + +It was close upon one in the morning, and all the country folk had been +long abed. Passing the Wheatsheaf and the house of old Solomon, I could +not but wonder what they would think of my martial garb were they afoot. +I had scarce time to form the same thought before Zachary Palmer's +cottage when his door flew open, and the carpenter came running out with +his white hair streaming in the fresh night breeze. + +'I have been awaiting you, Micah,' he cried. 'I had heard that Monmouth +was up, and I knew that you would not lose a night ere starting. God +bless you, lad, God bless you! Strong of arm and soft of heart, tender +to the weak and stern to the oppressor, you have the prayers and the +love of all who know you.' I pressed his extended hands, and the last +I saw of my native hamlet was the shadowy figure of the carpenter as he +waved his good wishes to me through the darkness. + +We made our way across the fields to the house of Whittier, the Whig +farmer, where Saxon got into his war harness. We found our horses ready +saddled and bridled, for my father had at the first alarm sent a message +across that we should need them. By two in the morning we were breasting +Portsdown Hill, armed, mounted, and fairly started on our journey to the +rebel camp. + + +Chapter VIII. Of our Start for the Wars + +All along the ridge of Portsdown Hill we had the lights of Portsmouth +and of the harbour ships twinkling beneath us on the left, while on +the right the Forest of Bere was ablaze with the signal fires which +proclaimed the landing of the invader. One great beacon throbbed upon +the summit of Butser, while beyond that, as far as eye could reach, +twinkling sparks of light showed how the tidings were being carried +north into Berkshire and eastward into Sussex. Of these fires, some were +composed of faggots piled into heaps, and others of tar barrels set upon +poles. We passed one of these last just opposite to Portchester, and the +watchers around it, hearing the tramp of our horses and the clank of +our arms, set up a loud huzza, thinking doubtless that we were King's +officers bound for the West. + +Master Decimus Saxon had flung to the winds the precise demeanour which +he had assumed in the presence of my father, and rattled away with many +a jest and scrap of rhyme or song as we galloped through the darkness. + +'Gadzooks!' said he frankly, 'it is good to be able to speak freely +without being expected to tag every sentence with a hallelujah or an +amen.' + +'You were ever the leader in those pious exercises,' I remarked drily. + +'Aye, indeed. You have nicked it there! If a thing must be done, then +take a lead in it, whatever it may be. A plaguy good precept, which has +stood me in excellent stead before now. I cannot bear in mind whether I +told you how I was at one time taken prisoner by the Turks and conveyed +to Stamboul. There were a hundred of us or more, but the others either +perished under the bastinado, or are to this day chained to an oar in +the Imperial Ottoman galleys, where they are like to remain until they +die under the lash, or until some Venetian or Genoese bullet finds its +way into their wretched carcasses. I alone came off with my freedom.' + +'And pray, how did you make your escape?' I asked. + +'By the use of the wit wherewith Providence hath endowed me,' he +answered complacently; 'for, seeing that their accursed religion is the +blind side of these infidels, I did set myself to work upon it. To this +end I observed the fashion in which our guard performed their morning +and evening exercises, and having transformed my doublet into a praying +cloth, I did imitate them, save only that I prayed at greater length and +with more fervour.' + +'What!' I cried in horror. 'You did pretend to be a Mussulman?' + +'Nay, there was no pretence. I became a Mussulman. That, however, +betwixt ourselves, as it might not stand me in very good stead with some +Reverend Aminadab Fount-of-Grace in the rebel camp, who is no admirer of +Mahmoud.' + +I was so astounded at the impudence of this confession, coming from the +mouth of one who had been leading the exercises of a pious Christian +family, that I was fairly bereft of speech. Decimus Saxon whistled a few +bars of a sprightly tune, and then continued-- + +'My perseverance in these exercises soon led to my being singled out +from among the other prisoners, until I so prevailed upon my gaolers +that the doors were opened for me, and I was allowed out on condition +of presenting myself at the prison gates once a day. What use, think ye, +did I make of my freedom?' + +'Nay, you are capable of anything,' said I. + +'I set off forthwith to their chief mosque--that of St. Sophia. When the +doors opened and the muezzin called, I was ever the first to hurry into +devotions and the last to leave them. Did I see a Mussulman strike his +head upon the pavement, I would strike mine twice. Did I see him bend +and bow, I was ready to prostrate myself. In this way ere long the piety +of the converted Giaour became the talk of the city, and I was provided +with a hut in which to make my sacred meditations. Here I might have +done well, and indeed I had well-nigh made up my mind to set up as +a prophet and write an extra chapter to the Koran, when some foolish +trifle made the faithful suspicious of my honesty. It was but some +nonsense of a wench being found in my hut by some who came to consult +me upon a point of faith, but it was enough to set their heathen tongues +wagging; so I thought it wisest to give them the slip in a Levantine +coaster and leave the Koran uncompleted. It is perhaps as well, for it +would be a sore trial to have to give up Christian women and pork, for +their garlic-breathing houris and accursed kybobs of sheep's flesh.' + +We had passed through Fareham and Botley during this conversation, and +were now making our way down the Bishopstoke road. The soil changes +about here from chalk to sand, so that our horses' hoofs did but make +a dull subdued rattle, which was no bar to our talk--or rather to my +companion's, for I did little more than listen. In truth, my mind was so +full of anticipations of what was before us, and of thoughts of the +home behind, that I was in no humour for sprightly chatter. The sky was +somewhat clouded, but the moon glinted out between the rifts, showing +us the long road which wound away in front of us. On either side were +scattered houses with gardens sloping down toward the road. The heavy, +sickly scent of strawberries was in the air. + +'Hast ever slain a man in anger?' asked Saxon, as we galloped along. + +'Never,' I answered. + +'Ha! You will find that when you hear the clink of steel against steel, +and see your foeman's eyes, you will straightway forget all rules, +maxims, and precepts of the fence which your father or others may have +taught you.' + +'I have learned little of the sort,' said I. My father did but teach +me to strike an honest downright blow. This sword can shear through a +square inch of iron bar.' + +'Scanderbeg's sword must have Scanderbeg's arm,' he remarked. 'I +have observed that it is a fine piece of steel. One of the real old +text-compellers and psalm-expounders which the faithful drew in the days +of yore, when they would: + + "Prove their religion orthodox, + By Apostolic blows and knocks." + +You have not fenced much, then?' + +'Scarce at all,' said I. + +'It is as well. With an old and tried swordsman like myself, knowledge +of the use of his weapon is everything; but with a young Hotspur of your +temper, strength and energy go for much. I have oft remarked that those +who are most skilled at the shooting of the popinjay, the cleaving of +the Turk's head, and other such sports, are ever laggards in the field. +Had the popinjay a crossbow as well, and an arrow on the string, or +had the Turk a fist as well as a head, our young gallant's nerves would +scarce be as steady over the business. I make no doubt, Master Clarke, +that we shall make trusty comrades. What saith old Butler? + + "Never did trusty squire with knight, + Or knight with squire ere jump more right." + +I have scarce dared to quote "Hudibras" for these weeks past, lest I +should set the Covenant fermenting in the old man's veins.' + +'If we are indeed to be comrades,' said I sternly, 'you must learn to +speak with more reverence and less flippancy of my father, who would +assuredly never have harboured you had he heard the tale which you have +told me even now.' + +'Belike not,' the adventurer answered, chuckling to himself. 'It is a +long stride from a mosque to a conventicle. But be not so hot-headed, +my friend. You lack that repose of character which will come to you, +no doubt, in your more mature years. What, man! within five minutes of +seeing me you would have smitten me on the head with an oar, and ever +since you have been like a bandog at my heels, ready to hark if I do but +set my foot over what you regard as the straight line. Remember that you +go now among men who fight on small occasion of quarrel. A word awry may +mean a rapier thrust.' + +'Do you bear the same in mind,' I answered hotly; 'my temper is +peaceful, but covert threats and veiled menace I shall not abide.' + +'Odd's mercy!' he cried. 'I see that you will start carving me anon, and +take me to Monmouth's camp in sections. Nay, nay, we shall have fighting +enow without falling out among ourselves. What houses are those on the +left?' + +'The village of Swathling,' I replied. 'The lights of Bishopstoke lie to +the right, in the hollow.' + +'Then we are fifteen miles on our way, and methinks there is already +some faint flush of dawn in the east. Hullo, what have we here? Beds +must be scarce if folks sleep on the highways.' + +A dark blur which I had remarked upon the roadway in front of us had +resolved itself as we approached into the figure of a man, stretched +at full length, with his face downwards, and his head resting upon his +crossed arms. + +'Some reveler, mayhap, from the village inn,' I remarked. + +'There's blood in the air,' said Saxon, raising up his beak-like nose +like a vulture which scents carrion. 'Methinks he sleeps the sleep which +knows no waking.' + +He sprang down from his saddle, and turned the figure over upon his +back. The cold pale light of the early dawn shimmering upon his staring +eyes and colourless face showed that the old soldier's instinct was +correct, and that he had indeed drawn his last breath. + +'Here's a pretty piece of work,' said Saxon, kneeling by the dead man's +side and passing his hands over his pockets. 'Footpads, doubtless. Not a +stiver in his pockets, nor as much as a sleeve-link to help pay for the +burial.' + +'How was he slain!' I asked in horror, looking down at the poor vacant +face, the empty house from which the tenant had departed. + +'A stab from behind and a tap on the head from the butt of a pistol. +He cannot have been dead long, and yet every groat is gone. A man of +position, too, I should judge from his dress--broadcloth coat by the +feel, satin breeches, and silver buckles on his shoes. The rogues must +have had some plunder with him. Could we but run across them, Clarke, it +would be a great and grand thing.' + +'It would indeed,' said I heartily. 'What greater privilege than to +execute justice upon such cowardly murderers!' + +'Pooh! pooh!' he cried. 'Justice is a slippery dame, and hath a +two-edged sword in her hand. We may have enough of justice in our +character as rebels to give us a surfeit of it. I would fain overtake +these robbers that we may relieve them of their _spolia opima_, together +with any other wealth which they may have unlawfully amassed. My learned +friend the Fleming layeth it down that it is no robbery to rob a robber. +But where shall we conceal this body?' + +'Wherefore should we conceal it?' I asked. + +'Why, man, unused to war or the precautions of a warrior, you must yet +see that should this body be found here, there will be a hue and cry +through the country, and that strangers like ourselves will be arrested +on suspicion. Should we clear ourselves, which is no very easy matter, +the justice will at least want to know whence we come and whither we +go, which may lead to inquiries that may bode us little good. I shall +therefore take the liberty, mine unknown and silent friend, of dragging +you into yon bushes, where for a day or two at least you are like to lie +unobserved, and so bring no harm upon honest men.' + +'For God's sake do not treat it so unkindly,' I cried, springing down +from my horse and laying my hand upon my companion's arm. 'There is no +need to trail it in so unseemly a fashion. If it must be moved hence, I +shall carry it with all due reverence. 'So saying, I picked the body up +in my arms, and bearing it to a wayside clump of yellow gorse bushes, I +laid it solemnly down and drew the branches over it to conceal it. + +'You have the thews of an ox and the heart of a woman, 'muttered my +companion. 'By the Mass, that old white-headed psalm-singer was right; +for if my memory serves me, he said words to that effect. A few handfuls +of dust will hide the stains. Now we may jog upon our way without any +fear of being called upon to answer for another man's sins. Let me but +get my girth tightened and we may soon be out of danger's way.' + +'I have had to do,' said Saxon, as we rode onwards, 'with many gentry +of this sort, with Albanian brigands, the banditti of Piedmont, the +Lanzknechte and Freiritter of the Rhine, Algerine picaroons, and other +such folk. Yet I cannot call to mind one who hath ever been able to +retire in his old age on a sufficient competence. It is but a precarious +trade, and must end sooner or later in a dance on nothing in a tight +cravat, with some kind friend tugging at your legs to ease you of any +breath that you might have left.' + +'Nor does that end all,' I remarked. + +'No. There is Tophet behind and the flames of hell. So our good friends +the parsons tell us. Well, if a man is to make no money in this world, +be hanged at the end of it, and finally burn for ever, he hath assuredly +wandered on to a thorny track. If, on the other hand, one could always +lay one's hands on a well-lined purse, as those rogues have done +to-night, one might be content to risk something in the world to come.' + +'But what can the well-filled purse do for them?' said I. 'What will +the few score pieces which these bloodthirsty wretches have filched from +this poor creature avail them when their own hour of death comes round?' + +'True,' said Saxon dryly; 'they may, however, prove useful in the +meantime. This you say is Bishopstoke. What are the lights over yonder?' + +'They come, I think, from Bishop's Waltham,' I answered. + +'We must press on, for I would fain be in Salisbury before it is broad +day. There we shall put our horses up until evening and have some rest, +for there is nothing gained by man or beast coming jaded to the wars. +All this day the western roads will be crowded with couriers, and mayhap +patrolled by cavalry as well, so that we cannot show our faces upon it +without a risk of being stopped and examined. Now if we lie by all day, +and push on at dusk, keeping off the main road and making our way across +Salisbury Plain and the Somersetshire downs, we shall be less likely to +come to harm.' + +'But what if Monmouth be engaged before we come up to him?' I asked. + +'Then we shall have missed a chance of getting our throats cut. Why, +man, supposing that he has been routed and entirely dispersed, would +it not be a merry conceit for us to appear upon the scene as two loyal +yeomen, who had ridden all the way from Hampshire to strike in against +the King's enemies? We might chance to get some reward in money or in +land for our zeal. Nay, frown not, for I was but jesting. Breathe our +horses by walking them up this hill. My jennet is as fresh as when we +started, but those great limbs of thine are telling upon the grey.' + +The patch of light in the east had increased and broadened, and the sky +was mottled with little pink feathers of cloud. As we passed over +the low hills by Chandler's Ford and Romsey we could see the smoke of +Southampton to the south-east, and the broad dark expanse of the New +Forest with the haze of morning hanging over it. A few horsemen passed +us, pricking along, too much engrossed in their own errand to inquire +ours. A couple of carts and a long string of pack-horses, laden +principally with bales of wool, came straggling along a byroad, and +the drivers waved their broad hats to us and wished us God-speed. At +Dunbridge the folk were just stirring, and paused in taking down the +cottage shutters to come to the garden railings and watch us pass. As we +entered Dean, the great red sun pushed its rosy rim over the edge of the +horizon, and the air was filled with the buzz of insects and the sweet +scent of the morning. We dismounted at this latter village, and had a +cup of ale while resting and watering the horses. The landlord could +tell us nothing about the insurgents, and indeed seemed to care very +little about the matter one way or the other. 'As long as brandy pays a +duty of six shillings and eightpence a gallon, and freight and leakage +comes to half a crown, while I am expected to sell it at twelve +shillings, it matters little to me who is King of England. Give me a +king that will prevent the hop-blight and I am his man.' Those were the +landlord's politics, and I dare say a good many more were of his way of +thinking. + +From Dean to Salisbury is all straight road with moor, morass, and +fenland on either side, broken only by the single hamlet of Aldersbury, +just over the Wiltshire border. Our horses, refreshed by the short rest, +stepped out gallantly, and the brisk motion, with the sunlight and the +beauty of the morning, combined to raise our spirits and cheer us after +the depression of the long ride through the darkness, and the incident +of the murdered traveller. Wild duck, widgeon, and snipe flapped up from +either side of the road at the sound of the horses' hoofs, and once a +herd of red deer sprang to their feet from among the ferns and scampered +away in the direction of the forest. Once, too, when passing a dense +clump of trees, we saw a shadowy white creature half hidden by the +trunks, which must, I fancy, have been one of those wild cattle of +which I have heard the peasants speak, who dwell in the recesses of +the southern woods, and are so fierce and intractable that none dare +approach them. The breadth of the view, the keenness of the air, and the +novelty of the sense of having great work to do, all combined to send a +flush of life through my veins such as the quiet village existence +had never been able to give. My more experienced companion felt the +influence too, for he lifted up a cracked voice and broke into a droning +chant, which he assured me was an Eastern ode which had been taught him +by the second sister of the Hospodar of Wallachia. + +'Anent Monmouth,' he remarked, coming back suddenly to the realities of +our position. 'It is unlikely that he can take the field for some days, +though much depends upon his striking a blow soon, and so raising the +courage of his followers before the King's troops can come down upon +him. He has, mark ye, not only his troops to find, but their weapons, +which is like to prove a more difficult matter. Suppose he can raise +five thousand men--and he cannot stir with less--he will not have one +musket in five, so the rest must do as they can with pikes and bills, or +such other rude arms as they can find. All this takes time, and though +there may be skirmishes, there can scarce be any engagement of import +before we arrive.' + +'He will have been landed three or four days ere we reach him,' said I. + +'Hardly time for him with his small staff of officers to enrol his men +and divide them into regiments. I scarce expect to find him at Taunton, +though we were so directed. Hast ever heard whether there are any rich +Papists in those parts?' + +'I know not,' I replied. + +'If so there might be plate chests and silver chargers, to say nothing +of my lady's jewels and other such trifles to reward a faithful soldier. +What would war be without plunder! A bottle without the wine--a shell +without the oyster. See the house yonder that peeps through the trees. +I warrant there is a store of all good things under that roof, which you +and I might have for the asking, did we but ask with our swords in our +grip. You are my witness that your father did give and not lend me this +horse.' + +'Why say you that, then?' + +'Lest he claim a half of whatever booty I may chance to gain. What saith +my learned Fleming under the heading "an qui militi equum praebuit, +praedae ab eo captae particeps esse debeat?" which signifieth "whether +he who lendeth a horse hath a claim on the plunder of him who borroweth +it." In this discourse he cites a case wherein a Spanish commander +having lent a steed to one of his captains, and the said captain having +captured the general of the enemy, the commander did sue him for a +half share of the twenty thousand crowns which formed the ransom of the +prisoner. A like case is noted by the famous Petrinus Bellus in his book +"De Re Militari," much read by leaders of repute.' (Note C. Appendix.) + +'I can promise you,' I answered, 'that no such claim shall ever be made +by my father upon you. See yonder, over the brow of the hill, how the +sun shines upon the high cathedral tower, which points upwards with its +great stone finger to the road that every man must travel.' + +'There is good store of silver and plate in these same churches,' quoth +my companion. 'I remember that at Leipsic, when I was serving my first +campaign, I got a candlestick, which I was forced to sell to a Jew +broker for a fourth of its value; yet even at his price it sufficed to +fill my haversack with broad pieces.' + +It chanced that Saxon's mare had gained a stride or two upon mine whilst +he spoke, so that I was able to get a good view of him without turning +my head. I had scarce had light during our ride to see how his harness +sat upon him, but now I was amazed on looking at him to mark the change +which it had wrought in the man. In his civil dress his lankiness and +length of limb gave him an awkward appearance, but on horse-back, with +his lean, gaunt face looking out from his steel cap, his breastplate +and buff jacket filling out his figure, and his high boots of untanned +leather reaching to the centre of his thighs, he looked the veteran +man-at-arms which he purported to be. The ease with which he sat his +horse, the high, bold expression upon his face, and the great length of +his arms, all marked him as one who could give a good account of himself +in a fray. In his words alone I could have placed little trust, but +there was that in his bearing which assured even a novice like myself +that he was indeed a trained man of war. + +'That is the Avon which glitters amongst the trees,' I remarked. 'We are +about three miles from Salisbury town.' + +'It is a noble spire,' said he, glancing at the great stone spire in +front of us. 'The men of old would seem to have spent all their days in +piling stones upon stones. And yet we read of tough battles and shrewd +blows struck, showing that they had some time for soldierly relaxation, +and were not always at this mason work.' + +'The Church was rich in those days,' I answered, shaking my bridle, for +Covenant was beginning to show signs of laziness. 'But here comes one +who might perhaps tell us something of the war.' + +A horseman who bore traces of having ridden long and hard was rapidly +approaching us. Both rider and steed were grey with dust and splashed +with mire, yet he galloped with loosened rein and bent body, as one to +whom every extra stride is of value. + +'What ho, friend!' cried Saxon, reining his mare across the road so as +to bar the man's passage. 'What news from the West?' + +'I must not tarry,' the messenger gasped, slackening his speed for an +instant. 'I bear papers of import from Gregory Alford, Mayor of Lyme, to +Ins Majesty's Council. The rebels make great head, and gather together +like bees in the swarming time. There are some thousands in arms +already, and all Devonshire is on the move. The rebel horse under Lord +Grey hath been beaten back from Bridport by the red militia of Dorset, +but every prickeared Whig from the Channel to the Severn is making his +way to Monmouth.' With this brief summary of the news he pushed his way +past us and clattered on in a cloud of dust upon his mission. + +'The broth is fairly on the fire, then,' quoth Decimus Saxon, as we rode +onwards. 'Now that skins have been slit the rebels may draw their swords +and fling away their scabbards, for it's either victory for them or +their quarters will be dangling in every market town of the county. Heh, +lad? we throw a main for a brave stake.' + +'Marked ye that Lord Grey had met with a check,' said I. + +'Pshaw! it is of no import. A cavalry skirmish at the most, for it is +impossible that Monmouth could have brought his main forces to Bridport; +nor would he if he could, for it is out of his track. It was one of +those three-shots-and-a-gallop affrays, where each side runs away and +each claims the victory. But here we are in the streets of Salisbury. +Now leave the talking to me, or your wrong-headed truthfulness may lay +us by the heels before our time.' + +Passing down the broad High Street we dismounted in front of the Blue +Boar inn, and handed our tired horses over to the ostler, to whom +Saxon, in a loud voice, and with many rough military oaths, gave strict +injunctions as to their treatment. He then clanked into the inn parlour, +and throwing himself into one chair with his feet upon another, he +summoned the landlord up before him, and explained our needs in a tone +and manner which should give him a due sense of our quality. + +'Of your best, and at once,' quoth he. 'Have your largest double-couched +chamber ready with your softest lavender-scented sheets, for we have had +a weary ride and must rest. And hark ye, landlord, no palming off your +stale, musty goods as fresh, or of your washy French wines for the true +Hainault vintage. I would have you to understand that my friend here and +I are men who meet with some consideration in the world, though we +care not to speak our names to every underling. Deserve well of us, +therefore, or it may be the worse for you.' + +This speech, combined with my companion's haughty manner and fierce +face, had such an effect upon the landlord that he straightway sent +us in the breakfast which had been prepared for three officers of the +Blues, who were waiting for it in the next apartment. This kept them +fasting for another half-hour, and we could hear their oaths and +complaints through the partition while we were devouring their capon and +venison pie. Having eaten a hearty meal and washed it down with a bottle +of Burgundy we sought our room, and throwing our tired limbs upon the +bed, were soon in a deep slumber. + + + +Chapter IX. Of a Passage of Arms at the Blue Boar + +I had slept several hours when I was suddenly aroused by a prodigious +crash, followed by the clash of arms and shrill cries from the lower +floor. Springing to my feet I found that the bed upon which my comrade +had lain was vacant, and that the door of the apartment was opened. As +the uproar still continued, and as I seemed to discern his voice in the +midst of it, I caught up my sword, and without waiting to put on either +head-piece, steel-breast, or arm-plates, I hurried to the scene of the +commotion. + +The hall and passage were filled with silly maids and staring drawers, +attracted, like myself, by the uproar. Through these I pushed my way +into the apartment where we had breakfasted in the morning, which was +a scene of the wildest disorder. The round table in the centre had +been tilted over upon its side, and three broken bottles of wine, with +apples, pears, nuts, and the fragments of the dishes containing them, +were littered over the floor. A couple of packs of cards and a dice-box +lay amongst the scattered feast. Close by the door stood Decimus Saxon, +with his drawn rapier in his hand and a second one beneath his feet, +while facing him there was a young officer in a blue uniform, whose face +was reddened with shame and anger, and who looked wildly about the room +as though in search of some weapon to replace that of which he had been +deprived. He might have served Cibber or Gibbons as a model for a statue +of impotent rage. Two other officers dressed in the same blue uniform +stood by their comrade, and as I observed that they had laid their hands +upon the hilts of their swords, I took my place by Saxon's side, and +stood ready to strike in should the occasion arise. + +'What would the maitre d'armes say--the maitre d'escrime?' cried my +companion. 'Methinks he should lose his place for not teaching you to +make a better show. Out on him! Is this the way that he teaches the +officers of his Majesty's guard to use their weapons?' + +'This raillery, sir,' said the elder of the three, a squat, brown, +heavy-faced man, 'is not undeserved, and yet might perchance be +dispensed with. I am free to say that our friend attacked you somewhat +hastily, and that a little more deference should have been shown by so +young a soldier to a cavalier of your experience.' + +The other officer, who was a fine-looking, noble-featured man, expressed +himself in much the same manner. 'If this apology will serve,' said he, +'I am prepared to join in it. If, however, more is required, I shall be +happy to take the quarrel upon myself.' + +'Nay, nay, take your bradawl!' Saxon answered good-humouredly, kicking +the sword towards his youthful opponent. 'But, mark you! when you would +lunge, direct your point upwards rather than down, for otherwise you +must throw your wrist open to your antagonist, who can scarce fail to +disarm you. In quarte, tierce, or saccoon the same holds good.' + +The youth sheathed his sword, but was so overcome by his own easy defeat +and the contemptuous way in which his opponent had dismissed him, that +he turned and hurried out of the room. Meanwhile Decimus Saxon and the +two officers set to work getting the table upon its legs and restoring +the room to some sort of order, in which I did what I could to assist +them. + +'I held three queens for the first time to-day,' grumbled the soldier of +fortune. 'I was about to declare them when this young bantam flew at my +throat. He hath likewise been the cause of our losing three flasks of +most excellent muscadine. When he hath drunk as much bad wine as I have +been forced to do, he will not be so hasty in wasting the good.' + +'He is a hot-headed youngster,' the older officer replied, 'and a little +solitary reflection added to the lesson which you have taught him may +bring him profit. As for the muscadine, that loss will soon be repaired, +the more gladly as your friend here will help us to drink it.' + +'I was roused by the crash of weapons,' said I, 'and I scarce know now +what has occurred.' + +'Why, a mere tavern brawl, which your friend's skill and judgment +prevented from becoming serious. I prythee take the rush-bottomed chair, +and do you, Jack, order the wine. If our comrade hath spilled the last +it is for us to furnish this, and the best the cellars contain. We have +been having a hand at basset, which Mr. Saxon here playeth as skilfully +as he wields the small-sword. It chanced that the luck ran against young +Horsford, which doubtless made him prone to be quick in taking offence. +Your friend in conversation, when discoursing of his experiences in +foreign countries, remarked that the French household troops were to +his mind brought to a higher state of discipline than any of our own +regiments, on which Horsford fired up, and after a hot word or two they +found themselves, as you have seen, at drawn bilbo. The boy hath seen no +service, and is therefore over-eager to give proof of his valour.' + +'Wherein,' said the tall officer, 'he showed a want of thought towards +me, for had the words been offensive it was for me, who am a senior +captain and brevet-major, to take it up, and not for a slip of a cornet, +who scarce knows enough to put his troop through the exercise.' + +'You say right, Ogilvy,' said the other, resuming his seat by the table +and wiping the cards which had been splashed by the wine.' Had the +comparison been made by an officer of Louis's guard for the purpose +of contumely and braggadocio, it would then indeed have become us to +venture a passado. But when spoken by an Englishman of ripe experience +it becomes a matter of instructive criticism, which should profit rather +than annoy.' + +'True, Ambrose,' the other answered. 'Without such criticism a force +would become stagnant, and could never hope to keep level with those +continental armies, which are ever striving amongst themselves for +increased efficacy.' + +So pleased was I at these sensible remarks on the part of the strangers, +that I was right glad to have the opportunity of making their closer +acquaintance over a flask of excellent wine. My father's prejudices +had led me to believe that a King's officer was ever a compound of the +coxcomb and the bully, but I found on testing it that this idea, like +most others which a man takes upon trust, had very little foundation +upon truth. As a matter of fact, had they been dressed in less warlike +garb and deprived of their swords and jack-boots, they would have passed +as particularly mild-mannered men, for their conversation ran in the +learned channels, and they discussed Boyle's researches in chemistry and +the ponderation of air with much gravity and show of knowledge. At +the same time, their brisk bearing and manly carriage showed that in +cultivating the scholar they hail not sacrificed the soldier. + +'May I ask, sir,' said one of them, addressing Saxon, 'whether in +your wide experiences you have ever met with any of those sages and +philosophers who have conferred such honour and fame upon France and +Germany?' + +My companion looked ill at ease, as one who feels that he has been taken +off his ground. 'There was indeed one such at Nurnberg,' he answered, +'one Gervinus or Gervanus, who, the folk said, could turn an ingot of +iron into an ingot of gold as easily as I turn this tobacco into ashes. +Old Pappenheimer shut him up with a ton of metal, and threatened to put +the thumbikins upon him unless he changed it into gold pieces. I can +vouch for it that there was not a yellow boy there, for I was captain of +the guard and searched the whole dungeon through. To my sorrow I say it, +for I had myself added a small iron brazier to the heap, thinking that +if there should be any such change it would be as well that I should +have some small share in the experiment.' + +'Alchemy, transmutation of metals, and the like have been set aside by +true science,' remarked the taller officer. 'Even old Sir Thomas Browne +of Norwich, who is ever ready to plead the cause of the ancients, can +find nothing to say in favour of it. From Trismegistus downwards through +Albertus Magnus, Aquinas, Raymond Lullius, Basil Valentine, Paracelsus, +and the rest, there is not one who has left more than a cloud of words +behind him.' + +'Nor did the rogue I mention,' said Saxon. 'There was another, +Van Helstatt, who was a man of learning, and cast horoscopes in +consideration of some small fee or honorarium. I have never met so wise +a man, for he would talk of the planets and constellations as though he +kept them all in his own backyard. He made no more of a comet than if it +were a mouldy china orange, and he explained their nature to us, saying +that they were but common stars which had had a hole knocked in them, so +that their insides or viscera protruded. He was indeed a philosopher!' + +'And did you ever put his skill to the test?' asked one of the officers, +with a smile. + +'Not I, forsooth, for I have ever kept myself clear of black magic or +diablerie of the sort. My comrade Pierce Scotton, who was an Oberst +in the Imperial cavalry brigade, did pay him a rose noble to have his +future expounded. If I remember aright, the stars said that he was +over-fond of wine and women--he had a wicked eye and a nose like a +carbuncle. 'They foretold also that he would attain a marshal's baton +and die at a ripe age, which might well have come true had he not been +unhorsed a month later at Ober-Graustock, and slain by the hoofs of his +own troop. Neither the planets nor even the experienced farrier of +the regiment could have told that the brute would have foundered so +completely.' + +The officers laughed heartily at my companion's views, and rose from +their chairs, for the bottle was empty and the evening beginning to +draw in. 'We have work to do here,' said the one addressed as Ogilvy. +'Besides, we must find this foolish boy of ours, and tell him that it is +no disgrace to be disarmed by so expert a swordsman. We have to prepare +the quarters for the regiment, who will be up to join Churchill's +forces not later than to-night. Ye are yourselves bound for the West, I +understand?' + +'We belong to the Duke of Beaufort's household,' said Saxon. + +'Indeed! I thought ye might belong to Portman's yellow regiment of +militia. I trust that the Duke will muster every man he can, and make +play until the royal forces come up.' + +'How many will Churchill bring?' asked my companion carelessly. + +'Eight hundred horse at the most, but my Lord Feversham will follow +after with close on four thousand foot.' + +'We may meet on the field of battle, if not before,' said I, and we bade +our friendly enemies a very cordial adieu. + +'A skilful equivoque that last of yours, Master Micah,' quoth Decimus +Saxon, 'though smacking of double dealing in a truth-lover like +yourself. If we meet them in battle I trust that it may be with +chevaux-de-frise of pikes and morgenstierns before us, and a litter of +caltrops in front of them, for Monmouth has no cavalry that could stand +for a moment against the Royal Guards.' + +'How came you to make their acquaintance?' I asked. + +'I slept a few hours, but I have learned in camps to do with little +rest. Finding you in sound slumber, and hearing the rattle of the +dice-box below, I came softly down and found means to join their +party--whereby I am a richer man by fifteen guineas, and might have +had more had that young fool not lugged out at me, or had the talk not +turned afterwards upon such unseemly subjects as the laws of chemistry +and the like. Prythee, what have the Horse Guards Blue to do with the +laws of chemistry? Wessenburg of the Pandours would, even at his own +mess table, suffer much free talk--more perhaps than fits in with the +dignity of a leader. Had his officers ventured upon such matter as +this, however, there would have been a drum-head court-martial, or a +cashiering at the least.' + +Without stopping to dispute either Master Saxon's judgment or that of +Wessenburg of the Pandours, I proposed that we should order an evening +meal, and should employ the remaining hour or two of daylight in looking +over the city. The principal sight is of course the noble cathedral, +which is built in such exact proportion that one would fail to +understand its great size did one not actually enter it and pace round +the long dim aisles. So solemn were its sweeping arches and the long +shafts of coloured light which shone through the stained-glass windows, +throwing strange shadows amongst the pillars, that even my companion, +albeit not readily impressed, was silent and subdued. It was a great +prayer in stone. + +On our way back to the inn we passed the town lock-up, with a railed +space in front of it, in which three great black-muzzled bloodhounds +were stalking about, with fierce crimsoned eyes and red tongues lolling +out of their mouths. They were used, a bystander told us, for the +hunting down of criminals upon Salisbury Plain, which had been a refuge +for rogues and thieves, until this means had been adopted for following +them to their hiding-places. It was well-nigh dark before we returned to +the hostel, and entirely so by the time that we had eaten our suppers, +paid our reckoning, and got ready for the road. + +Before we set off I bethought me of the paper which my mother had +slipped into my hand on parting, and drawing it from my pouch I read +it by the rushlight in our chamber. It still bore the splotches of the +tears which she had dropped on it, poor soul, and ran in this wise:-- + +'Instructions from Mistress Mary Clarke to her son Micah, on the twelfth +day of June in the year of our Lord sixteen hundred and eighty-five. + +'On occasion of his going forth, like David of old, to do battle +with the Goliath of Papistry, which hath overshadowed and thrown into +disrepute that true and reverent regard for ritual which should exist in +the real Church of England, as ordained by law. + +'Let these points be observed by him, namely, to wit: + +'1. Change your hosen when the occasion serves. You have two pairs in +your saddle-bag, and can buy more, for the wool work is good in the +West. + +'2. A hare's foot suspended round the neck driveth away colic. + +'3. Say the Lord's Prayer night and morning. Also read the scriptures, +especially Job, the Psalms, and the Gospel according to St. Matthew. + +'4. Daffy's elixir possesses extraordinary powers in purifying the blood +and working off all phlegms, humours, vapours, or rheums. The dose is +five drops. A small phial of it will be found in the barrel of your left +pistol, with wadding around it lest it come to harm. + +'5. Ten golden pieces are sewn into the hem of your under doublet. Touch +them not, save as a last resource. + +'6. Fight stoutly for the Lord, and yet I pray you, Micah, be not too +forward in battle, but let others do their turn also. + +Press not into the heart of the fray, and yet flinch not from the +standard of the Protestant faith. + +'And oh, Micah, my own bright boy, come back safe to your mother, or my +very heart will break! + +'And the deponent will ever pray.' + + +The sudden gush of tenderness in the last few lines made the tears +spring to my eyes, and yet I could scarce forbear from smiling at the +whole composition, for my dear mother had little time to cultivate the +graces of style, and it was evidently her thought that in order to make +her instructions binding it was needful to express them in some sort of +legal form. I had little time to think over her advice, however, for I +had scarce finished reading it before the voice of Decimus Saxon, and +the clink of the horses' hoofs upon the cobble-stones of the yard, +informed me that all was ready for our departure. + + + + +Chapter X. Of our Perilous Adventure on the Plain + +We were not half a mile from the town before the roll of kettledrums and +the blare of bugles swelling up musically through the darkness announced +the arrival of the regiment of horse which our friends at the inn had +been expecting. + +'It is as well, perhaps,' said Saxon, 'that we gave them the slip, +for that young springald might have smelled a rat and played us some +ill-turn. Have you chanced to see my silken kerchief?' + +'Not I,' I answered. + +'Nay, then, it must have fallen from my bosom during our ruffle. I +can ill afford to leave it, for I travel light in such matters. Eight +hundred men, quoth the major, and three thousand to follow. Should I +meet this same Oglethorpe or Ogilvy when the little business is over, +I shall read him a lesson on thinking less of chemistry and more of +the need of preserving military precautions. It is well always to be +courteous to strangers and to give them information, but it is well also +that the information should be false.' + +'As his may have been,' I suggested. + +'Nay, nay, the words came too glibly from his tongue. So ho, Chloe, so +ho! She is full of oats and would fain gallop, but it is so plaguy dark +that we can scarce see where we are going.' + +We had been trotting down the broad high-road shimmering vaguely white +in the gloom, with the shadowy trees dancing past us on either side, +scarce outlined against the dark background of cloud. We were now coming +upon the eastern edge of the great plain, which extends forty miles one +way and twenty the other, over the greater part of Wiltshire and past +the boundaries of Somersetshire. The main road to the West skirts this +wilderness, but we had agreed to follow a less important track, +which would lead us to our goal, though in a more tedious manner. Its +insignificance would, we hoped, prevent it from being guarded by the +King's horse. We had come to the point where this byroad branches off +from the main highway when we heard the clatter of horses' hoofs behind +us. + +'Here comes some one who is not afraid to gallop,' I remarked. + +'Halt here in the shadow!' cried Saxon, in a short, quick whisper. 'Have +your blade loose in the scabbard. He must have a set errand who rides so +fast o' nights.' + +Looking down the road we could make out through the darkness a shadowy +blur which soon resolved itself into man and horse. The rider was +well-nigh abreast of us before he was aware of our presence, when he +pulled up his steed in a strange, awkward fashion, and faced round in +our direction. + +'Is Micah Clarke there?' he said, in a voice which was strangely +familiar to my ears. + +'I am Micah Clarke,' said I. + +'And I am Reuben Lockarby,' cried our pursuer, in a mock heroic voice. +'Ah, Micah lad, I'd embrace you were it not that I should assuredly fall +out of the saddle if I attempted it, and perchance drag you along. That +sudden pull up well-nigh landed me on the roadway. I have been sliding +off and clambering on ever since I bade goodbye to Havant. Sure, such a +horse for slipping from under one was never bestridden by man.' + +'Good Heavens, Reuben!' I cried in amazement, 'what brings you all this +way from home?' + +'The very same cause which brings you, Micah, and also Don Decimo Saxon, +late of the Solent, whom methinks I see in the shadow behind you. How +fares it, oh illustrious one?' + +'It is you, then, young cock of the woods!' growled Saxon, in no very +overjoyed voice. + +'No less a person,' said Reuben. 'And now, my gay cavalieros, round with +your horses and trot on your way, for there is no time to be lost. We +ought all to be at Taunton to-morrow.' + +'But, my dear Reuben,' said I, 'it cannot be that you are coming with us +to join Monmouth. What would your father say? This is no holiday jaunt, +but one that may have a sad and stern ending. At the best, victory can +only come through much bloodshed and danger. At the worst, we are as +like to wind up upon a scaffold as not.' + +'Forwards, lads, forwards!' cried he, spurring on his horse, 'it is all +arranged and settled. I am about to offer my august person, together +with a sword which I borrowed and a horse which I stole, to his most +Protestant highness, James, Duke of Monmouth.' + +'But how comes it all?' I asked, as we rode on together. 'It warms my +very heart to see you, but you were never concerned either in religion +or in politics. Whence, then, this sudden resolution?' + +'Well, truth to tell,' he replied, 'I am neither a king's man nor a +duke's man, nor would I give a button which sat upon the throne. I do +not suppose that either one or the other would increase the custom of +the Wheatsheaf, or want Reuben Lockarby for a councillor. I am a Micah +Clarke man, though, from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet; +and if he rides to the wars, may the plague strike me if I don't stick +to his elbow!' He raised his hand excitedly as he spoke, and instantly +losing his balance, he shot into a dense clump of bushes by the roadside +whence his legs flapped helplessly in the darkness. + +'That makes the tenth,' said he, scrambling out and clambering into +his saddle once more. 'My father used to tell me not to sit a horse too +closely. "A gentle rise and fall," said the old man. Egad, there is more +fall than rise, and it is anything but gentle.' + +'Odd's truth!' exclaimed Saxon. 'How in the name of all the saints in +the calendar do you expect to keep your seat in the presence of an enemy +if you lose it on a peaceful high-road?' + +'I can but try, my illustrious,' he answered, rearranging his ruffled +clothing. 'Perchance the sudden and unexpected character of my movements +may disconcert the said enemy.' + +'Well, well, there may be more truth in that than you are aware of,' +quoth Saxon, riding upon Lockarby's bridle arm, so that there was scarce +room for him to fall between us. 'I had sooner fight a man like that +young fool at the inn, who knew a little of the use of his weapon, than +one like Micah here, or yourself, who know nothing. You can tell what +the one is after, but the other will invent a system of his own which +will serve his turn for the nonce. Ober-hauptmann Muller was reckoned to +be the finest player at the small-sword in the Kaiser's army, and could +for a wager snick any button from an opponent's vest without cutting the +cloth. Yet was he slain in an encounter with Fahnfuhrer Zollner, who was +a cornet in our own Pandour corps, and who knew as much of the rapier as +you do of horsemanship. For the rapier, be it understood, is designed +to thrust and not to cut, so that no man wielding it ever thinks of +guarding a side-stroke. But Zollner, being a long-armed man, smote his +antagonist across the face with his weapon as though it had been a +cane, and then, ere he had time to recover himself, fairly pinked him. +Doubtless if the matter were to do again, the Oberhauptmann would have +got his thrust in sooner, but as it was, no explanation or excuse could +get over the fact that the man was dead.' + +'If want of knowledge maketh a dangerous swordsman,' quoth Reuben, 'then +am I even more deadly than the unpronounceable gentleman whom you have +mentioned. To continue my story, however, which I broke off in order to +step down from my horse, I found out early in the morning that ye were +gone, and Zachary Palmer was able to tell me whither. I made up my mind, +therefore, that I would out into the world also. To this end I borrowed +a sword from Solomon Sprent, and my father having gone to Gosport, +I helped myself to the best nag in his stables--for I have too much +respect for the old man to allow one of his flesh and blood to go +ill-provided to the wars. All day I have ridden, since early morning, +being twice stopped on suspicion of being ill-affected, but having the +good luck to get away each time. I knew that I was close at your heels, +for I found them searching for you at the Salisbury Inn.' + +Decimus whistled. 'Searching for us?' said he. + +'Yes. It seems that they had some notion that ye were not what ye +professed to be, so the inn was surrounded as I passed, but none knew +which road ye had taken.' + +'Said I not so?' cried Saxon. 'That young viper hath stirred up the +regiment against us. We must push on, for they may send a party on our +track.' + +'We are off the main road now, 'I remarked; 'even should they pursue us, +they would be unlikely to follow this side track.' + +'Yet it would be wise to show them a clean pair of heels,' said Saxon, +spurring his mare into a gallop. Lockarby and I followed his example, +and we all three rode swiftly along the rough moorland track. + +We passed through scattered belts of pinewood, where the wild cat howled +and the owl screeched, and across broad stretches of fenland and moor, +where the silence was only broken by the booming cry of the bittern or +the fluttering of wild duck far above our heads. The road was in parts +overgrown with brambles, and was so deeply rutted and so studded with +sharp and dangerous hollows, that our horses came more than once upon +their knees. In one place the wooden bridge which led over a stream had +broken down, and no attempt had been made to repair it, so that we were +compelled to ride our horses girth deep through the torrent. At first +some scattered lights had shown that we were in the neighbourhood of +human habitations, but these became fewer as we advanced, until the last +died away and we found ourselves upon the desolate moor which stretched +away in unbroken solitude to the shadowy horizon. The moon had broken +through the clouds and now shone hazily through wreaths of mist, +throwing a dim light over the wild scene, and enabling us to keep to +the track, which was not fenced in in any way and could scarce be +distinguished from the plain around it. + +We had slackened our pace under the impression that all fear of pursuit +was at an end, and Reuben was amazing us by an account of the excitement +which had been caused in Havant by our disappearance, when through the +stillness of the night a dull, muffled rat-tat-tat struck upon my ear. +At the same moment Saxon sprang from his horse and listened intently +with sidelong head. + +'Boot and saddle!' he cried, springing into his seat again. 'They are +after us as sure as fate. A dozen troopers by the sound. We must shake +them off, or goodbye to Monmouth.' + +'Give them their heads,' I answered, and striking spurs into our steeds, +we thundered on through the darkness. Covenant and Chloe were as fresh +as could be wished, and soon settled down into a long springy gallop. +Our friend's horse however, had been travelling all day, and its +long-drawn, laboured breathing showed that it could not hold out for +long. Through the clatter of our horses' hoofs I could still from time +to time hear the ominous murmur from behind us. + +'This will never do, Reuben,' said I anxiously, as the weary creature +stumbled, and the rider came perilously near to shooting over its head. + +'The old horse is nearly foundered,' he answered ruefully. 'We are off +the road now, and the rough ground is too much for her.' + +'Yes, we are off the track,' cried Saxon over his shoulder--for he led +us by a few paces. 'Bear in mind that the Bluecoats have been on the +march all day, so that their horses may also be blown. How in Himmel +came they to know which road we took?' + +As if in answer to his ejaculation, there rose out of the still night +behind us a single, clear, bell-like note, swelling and increasing in +volume until it seemed to fill the whole air with its harmony. + +'A bloodhound!' cried Saxon. + +A second sharper, keener note, ending in an unmistakable howl, answered +the first. + +'Another of them,' said he. 'They have loosed the brutes that we saw +near the Cathedral. Gad! we little thought when we peered over the rails +at them, a few hours ago, that they would so soon be on our own track. +Keep a firm knee and a steady seat, for a slip now would be your last.' + +'Holy mother!' cried Reuben, 'I had steeled myself to die in battle--but +to be dogsmeat! It is something outside the contract.' + +'They hold them in leash,' said Saxon, between his teeth, 'else they +would outstrip the horses and be lost in the darkness. + +Could we but come on running water we might put them off our track.' + +'My horse cannot hold on at this pace for more than a very few minutes,' +Reuben cried. 'If I break down, do ye go on, for ye must remember +that they are upon your track and not mine. They have found cause for +suspicion of the two strangers of the inn, but none of me.' + +'Nay, Reuben, we shall stand or fall together,' said I sadly, for at +every step his horse grew more and more feeble. 'In this darkness they +will make little distinction between persons.' + +'Keep a good heart,' shouted the old soldier, who was now leading us by +twenty yards or more. 'We can hear them because the wind blows from that +way, but it's odds whether they have heard us. Methinks they slacken in +their pursuit.' + +'The sound of their horses has indeed grown fainter,' said I joyfully. + +'So faint that I can hear it no longer,' my companion cried. + +We reined up our panting steeds and strained our ears, but not a +sound could we hear save the gentle murmur of the breeze amongst the +whin-bushes, and the melancholy cry of the night-jar. Behind us the +broad rolling plain, half light and half shadow, stretched away to +the dim horizon without sign of life or movement. 'We have either +outstripped them completely, or else they have given up the chase,' said +I. 'What ails the horses that they should tremble and snort?' + +'My poor beast is nearly done for,' Reuben remarked, leaning forward and +passing his hand down the creature's reeking neck. + +'For all that we cannot rest,' said Saxon. 'We may not be out of danger +yet. Another mile or two may shake us clear. But I like it not.' + +'Like not what?' + +'These horses and their terrors. The beasts can at times both see and +hear more than we, as I could show by divers examples drawn from mine +own experience on the Danube and in the Palatinate, were the time and +place more fitting. Let us on, then, before we rest.' + +The weary horses responded bravely to the call, and struggled onwards +over the broken ground for a considerable time. At last we were thinking +of pulling up in good earnest, and of congratulating ourselves upon +having tired out our pursuers, when of a sudden the bell-like baying +broke upon our ears far louder than it had been before--so loud, indeed, +that it was evident that the dogs were close upon our heels. + +'The accursed hounds!' cried Saxon, putting spurs to his horse and +shooting ahead of us; 'I feared as much. They have freed them from the +leash. There is no escape from the devils, but we can choose the spot +where we shall make our stand.' + +'Come on, Reuben,' I shouted. 'We have only to reckon with the dogs now. +Their masters have let them loose, and turned back for Salisbury.' + +'Pray heaven they break their necks before they get there!' he cried. +'They set dogs on us as though we were rats in a cock-pit. Yet they call +England a Christian country! It's no use, Micah. Poor Dido can't stir +another step.' + +As he spoke, the sharp fierce bay of the hounds rose again, clear and +stern on the night air, swelling up from a low hoarse growl to a high +angry yelp. There seemed to be a ring of exultation in their wild cry, +as though they knew that their quarry was almost run to earth. + +'Not another step!' said Reuben Lockarby, pulling up and drawing his +sword. 'If I must fight, I shall fight here.' + +'There could be no better place,' I replied. Two great jagged rocks rose +before us, jutting abruptly out of the ground, and leaving a space of +twelve or fifteen feet between them. Through this gap we rode, and +I shouted loudly for Saxon to join us. His horse, however, had been +steadily gaining upon ours, and at the renewed alarm had darted off +again, so that he was already some hundred yards from us. It was useless +to summon him, even could he hear our voices, for the hounds would be +upon us before he could return. + +'Never heed him,' I said hurriedly. 'Do you rein your steed behind +that rock, and I behind this. They will serve to break the force of the +attack. Dismount not, but strike down, and strike hard.' + +On either side in the shadow of the rock we waited in silence for our +terrible pursuers. Looking back at it, my dear children, I cannot but +think that it was a great trial on such young soldiers as Reuben and +myself to be put, on the first occasion of drawing our swords, into such +a position. For I have found, and others have confirmed my opinion, +that of all dangers that a man is called upon to face, that arising from +savage and determined animals is the most unnerving. For with men there +is ever the chance that some trait of weakness or of want of courage may +give you an advantage over them, but with fierce beasts there is no such +hope. We knew that the creatures to whom we were opposed could never +be turned from our throats while there was breath in their bodies. One +feels in one's heart, too, that the combat is an unequal one, for your +life is precious at least to your friends, while their lives, what are +they? All this and a great deal more passed swiftly through our minds +as we sat with drawn swords, soothing our trembling horses as best we +might, and waiting for the coming of the hounds. + +Nor had we long to wait. Another long, deep, thunderous bay sounded +in our ears, followed by a profound silence, broken only by the quick +shivering breathing of the horses. Then suddenly, and noiselessly, a +great tawny brute, with its black muzzle to the earth, and its overhung +cheeks napping on either side, sprang into the band of moonlight between +the rocks, and on into the shadow beyond. It never paused or swerved for +an instant, but pursued its course straight onwards without a glance +to right or to left. Close behind it came a second, and behind that a +third, all of enormous size, and looking even larger and more terrible +than they were in the dim shifting light. Like the first, they took no +notice of our presence, but bounded on along the trail left by Decimus +Saxon. + +The first and second I let pass, for I hardly realised that they so +completely overlooked us. When the third, however, sprang out into the +moonlight, I drew my right-hand pistol from its holster, and resting +its long barrel across my left forearm, I fired at it as it passed. The +bullet struck the mark, for the brute gave a fierce howl of rage and +pain, but true to the scent it never turned or swerved. Lockarby fired +also as it disappeared among the brushwood, but with no apparent effect. +So swiftly and so noiselessly did the great hounds pass, that they might +have been grim silent spirits of the night, the phantom dogs of Herne +the hunter, but for that one fierce yelp which followed my shot. + +'What brutes!' my companion ejaculated; 'what shall we do, Micah?' + +'They have clearly been laid on Saxon's trail,' said I. 'We must follow +them up, or they will be too many for him. Can you hear anything of our +pursuers?' + +'Nothing.' + +'They have given up the chase, then, and let the dogs loose as a last +resource. Doubtless the creatures are trained to return to the town. But +we must push on, Reuben, if we are to help our companion.' + +'One more spurt, then, little Dido,' cried Reuben; 'can you muster +strength for one more? Nay, I have not the heart to put spurs to you. If +you can do it, I know you will.' + +The brave mare snorted, as though she understood her riders words, and +stretched her weary limbs into a gallop. So stoutly did she answer the +appeal that, though I pressed Covenant to his topmost speed, she was +never more than a few strides behind him. + +'He took this direction,' said I, peering anxiously out into the +darkness. 'He can scarce have gone far, for he spoke of making a stand. +Or, perhaps, finding that we are not with him, he may trust to the speed +of his horse.' + +'What chance hath a horse of outstripping these brutes?' Reuben +answered. 'They must run him to earth, and he knows it. Hullo! what have +we here?' + +A dark dim form lay stretched in the moonlight in front of us. It was +the dead body of a hound--the one evidently at which I had fired. + +'There is one of them disposed of, 'I cried joyously; 'we have but two +to settle with now.' + +'As I spoke we heard the crack of two pistol-shots some little distance +to the left. Heading our steeds in that direction, we pressed on at the +top of our speed. Presently out of the darkness in front of us there +arose such a roaring and a yelping as sent the hearts into our mouths. +It was not a single cry, such as the hounds had uttered when they were +on the scent, but a continuous deep-mouthed uproar, so fierce and so +prolonged, that we could not doubt that they had come to the end of +their run. + +'Pray God that they have not got him down!' cried Reuben, in a faltering +voice. + +The same thought had crossed my own mind, for I have heard a similar +though lesser din come from a pack of otter hounds when they had +overtaken their prey and were tearing it to pieces. Sick at heart, I +drew my sword with the determination that, if we were too late to save +our companion, we should at least revenge him upon the four-footed +fiends. Bursting through a thick belt of scrub and tangled gorse bushes, +we came upon a scene so unlike what we had expected that we pulled up +our horses in astonishment. + +A circular clearing lay in front of us, brightly illuminated by the +silvery moonshine. In the centre of this rose a giant stone, one +of those high dark columns which are found all over the plain, and +especially in the parts round Stonehenge. It could not have been less +than fifteen feet in height, and had doubtless been originally straight, +but wind and weather, or the crumbling of the soil, had gradually +suffered it to tilt over until it inclined at such an angle that an +active man might clamber up to the summit. On the top of this ancient +stone, cross-legged and motionless, like some strange carved idol of +former days, sat Decimus Saxon, puffing sedately at the long pipe which +was ever his comfort in moments of difficulty. Beneath him, at the base +of the monolith, as our learned men call them, the two great bloodhounds +were rearing and springing, clambering over each other's backs in their +frenzied and futile eagerness to reach the impassive figure perched +above them, while they gave vent to their rage and disappointment in the +hideous uproar which had suggested such terrible thoughts to our mind. + +We had little time, however, to gaze at this strange scene, for upon our +appearance the hounds abandoned their helpless attempts to reach Saxon, +and flew, with a fierce snarl of satisfaction, at Reuben and myself. +One great brute, with flaring eyes and yawning mouth, his white fangs +glistening in the moonlight, sprang at my horse's neck; but I met him +fair with a single sweeping cut, which shore away his muzzle, and left +him wallowing and writhing in a pool of blood. Reuben, meanwhile, had +spurred his horse forward to meet his assailant; but the poor tired +steed flinched at the sight of the fierce hound, and pulled up suddenly, +with the result that her rider rolled headlong into the very jaws of the +animal. It might have gone ill with Reuben had he been left to his own +resources. At the most he could only have kept the cruel teeth from +his throat for a very few moments; but seeing the mischance, I drew my +remaining pistol, and springing from my horse, discharged it full into +the creature's flank while it struggled with my friend. With a last +yell of rage and pain it brought its fierce jaws together in one wild +impotent snap, and then sank slowly over upon its side, while Reuben +crawled from beneath it, scared and bruised, but none the worse +otherwise for his perilous adventure. + +'I owe you one for that, Micah,' he said gratefully. 'I may live to do +as much for you.' + +'And I owe ye both one,' said Saxon, who had scrambled down from his +place of refuge. 'I pay my debts, too, whether for good or evil. I might +have stayed up there until I had eaten my jack-boots, for all the chance +I had of ever getting down again. Sancta Maria! but that was a shrewd +blow of yours, Clarke! The brute's head flew in halves like a rotten +pumpkin. No wonder that they stuck to my track, for I have left both my +spare girth and my kerchief behind me, which would serve to put them on +Chloe's scent as well as mine own.' + +'And where is Chloe?' I asked, wiping my sword. + +'Chloe had to look out for herself. I found the brutes gaining on me, +you see, and I let drive at them with my barkers; but with a horse +flying at twenty mile an hour, what chance is there for a single slug +finding its way home?' Things looked black then, for I had no time to +reload, and the rapier, though the king of weapons in the duello, is +scarce strong enough to rely upon on an occasion like this. As luck +would have it, just as I was fairly puzzled, what should I come across +but this handy stone, which the good priests of old did erect, as far as +I can see, for no other purpose than to provide worthy cavalieros with +an escape from such ignoble and scurvy enemies. I had no time to spare +in clambering up it, for I had to tear my heel out of the mouth of the +foremost of them, and might have been dragged down by it had he not +found my spur too tough a morsel for his chewing. But surely one of my +bullets must have readied its mark.' Lighting the touch-paper in his +tobacco-box, he passed it over the body of the hound which had attacked +me, and then of the other. + +'Why, this one is riddled like a sieve,' he cried. 'What do you load +your petronels with, good Master Clarke?' + +'With two leaden slugs.' + +'Yet two leaden slugs have made a score of holes at the least! And of +all things in this world, here is the neck of a bottle stuck in the +brute's hide!' + +'Good heavens!' I exclaimed. 'I remember. My dear mother packed a bottle +of Daffy's elixir in the barrel of my pistol.' + +'And you have shot it into the bloodhound!' roared Reuben. 'Ho! ho! When +they hear that tale at the tap of the Wheatsheaf, there will be some +throats dry with laughter. Saved my life by shooting a dog with a bottle +of Daffy's elixir!' + +'And a bullet as well, Reuben, though I dare warrant the gossips will +soon contrive to leave that detail out. It is a mercy the pistol did not +burst. But what do you propose to do now, Master Saxon?' + +'Why, to recover my mare if it can anywise be done,' said the +adventurer.' Though on this vast moor, in the dark, she will be as +difficult to find as a Scotsman's breeches or a flavourless line in +"Hudibras."' + +'And Reuben Lockarby's steed can go no further,' I remarked. 'But do +mine eyes deceive me, or is there a glimmer of light over yonder?' + +'A Will-o'-the-wisp,' said Saxon. + + "An _ignis fatuus_ that bewitches, + And leads men into pools and ditches." + +Yet I confess that it burns steady and clear, as though it came from +lamp, candle, rushlight, lanthorn, or other human agency.' + +'Where there is light there is life,' cried Reuben. 'Let us make for it, +and see what chance of shelter we may find there.' + +'It cannot come from our dragoon friends,' remarked Decimus. 'A murrain +on them! how came they to guess our true character; or was it on the +score of some insult to the regiment that that young Fahnfuhrer has set +them on our track? If I have him at my sword's point again, he shall +not come off so free. Well, do ye lead your horses, and we shall explore +this light, since no better course is open to us.' + +Picking our way across the moor, we directed our course for the bright +point which twinkled in the distance; and as we advanced we hazarded +a thousand conjectures as to whence it could come. If it were a human +dwelling, what sort of being could it be who, not content with living in +the heart of this wilderness, had chosen a spot so far removed from the +ordinary tracks which crossed it? The roadway was miles behind us, and +it was probable that no one save those driven by such a necessity as +that which had overtaken us would ever find themselves in that desolate +region. No hermit could have desired an abode more completely isolated +from all communion with his kind. + +As we approached we saw that the light did indeed come from a small +cottage, which was built in a hollow, so as to be invisible from any +quarter save that from which we approached it. In front of this humble +dwelling a small patch of ground had been cleared of shrub, and in the +centre of this little piece of sward our missing steed stood grazing at +her leisure upon the scanty herbage. The same light which had attracted +us had doubtless caught her eye, and drawn her towards it by hopes of +oats and of water. With a grunt of satisfaction Saxon resumed possession +of his lost property, and leading her by the bridle, approached the door +of the solitary cottage. + + + +Chapter XI. Of the Lonely Man and the Gold Chest + +The strong yellow glare which had attracted us across the moor found its +way out through a single narrow slit alongside the door which served the +purpose of a rude window. As we advanced towards it the light changed +suddenly to red, and that again to green, throwing a ghastly pallor over +our faces, and especially heightening the cadaverous effect of Saxon's +austere features. At the same time we became aware of a most subtle +and noxious odour which poisoned the air all round the cottage. +This combination of portents in so lonely a spot worked upon the old +man-at-arms' superstitious feelings to such an extent that he paused +and looked back at us inquiringly. Both Reuben and I were determined, +however, to carry the adventure through, so he contented himself with +falling a little behind us, and pattering to himself some exorcism +appropriate to the occasion. Walking up to the door, I rapped upon it +with the hilt of my sword and announced that we were weary travellers +who were seeking a night's shelter. + +The first result of my appeal was a sound as of some one bustling +rapidly about, with the clinking of metal and noise of the turning of +locks. This died away into a hush, and I was about to knock once more +when a crackling voice greeted us from the other side of the door. + +'There is little shelter here, gentlemen, and less provisions,' it said. +'It is but six miles to Amesbury, where at the Cecil Arms ye shall find, +I doubt not, all that is needful for man and for beast.' + +'Nay, nay, mine invisible friend,' quoth Saxon, who was much reassured +by the sound of a human voice, 'this is surely but a scurvy reception. +One of our horses is completely foundered, and none of them are in +very good plight, so that we could no more make for the Cecil Arms at +Amesbury than for the Gruner Mann at Lubeck. I prythee, therefore, that +you will allow us to pass the remainder of the night under your roof.' + +At this appeal there was much creaking of locks and rasping of bolts, +which ended in the door swinging slowly open, and disclosing the person +who had addressed us. + +By the strong light which shone out from behind him we could see that +he was a man of venerable aspect, with snow-white hair and a countenance +which bespoke a thoughtful and yet fiery nature. The high pensive brow +and flowing beard smacked of the philosopher, but the keen sparkling +eye, the curved aquiline nose, and the lithe upright figure which the +weight of years had been unable to bend, were all suggestive of the +soldier. His lofty bearing, and his rich though severe costume of black +velvet, were at strange variance with the humble nature of the abode +which he had chosen for his dwelling-place. + +'Ho!' said he, looking keenly at us. 'Two of ye unused to war, and the +other an old soldier. Ye have been pursued, I see!' + +'How did you know that, then?' asked Decimus Saxon. + +'Ah, my friend, I too have served in my time. My eyes are not so old but +that they can tell when horses have been spurred to the utmost, nor is +it difficult to see that this young giant's sword hath been employed in +something less innocent than toasting bacon. Your story, however, can +keep. Every true soldier thinks first of his horse, so I pray that you +will tether yours without, since I have neither ostler nor serving man +to whom I may entrust them.' + +The strange dwelling into which we presently entered had been prolonged +into the side of the little hill against which it had been built, so +as to form a very long narrow hall. The ends of this great room, as we +entered, were wrapped in shadow, but in the centre was a bright glare +from a brazier full of coals, over which a brass pipkin was suspended. +Beside the fire a long wooden table was plentifully covered with curved +glass flasks, basins, tubings, and other instruments of which I knew +neither the name nor the purpose. A long row of bottles containing +various coloured liquids and powders were arranged along a shelf, whilst +above it another shelf bore a goodly array of brown volumes. For the +rest there was a second rough-hewn table, a pair of cupboards, three or +four wooden settles, and several large screens pinned to the walls +and covered all over with figures and symbols, of which I could make +nothing. The vile smell which had greeted us outside was very much worse +within the chamber, and arose apparently from the fumes of the boiling, +bubbling contents of the brazen pot. + +'Ye behold in me,' said our host, bowing courteously to us, 'the last of +an ancient family. I am Sir Jacob Clancing of Snellaby Hall.' + +'Smellaby it should be, methinks,' whispered Reuben, in a voice which +fortunately did not reach the ears of the old knight. + +'I pray that ye be seated,' he continued, 'and that ye lay aside your +plates and headpieces, and remove your boots. Consider this to be your +inn, and behave as freely. Ye will hold me excused if for a moment I +turn my attention from you to this operation on which I am engaged, +which will not brook delay.' + +Saxon began forthwith to undo his buckles and to pull off his harness, +while Reuben, throwing himself into a chair, appeared to be too weary +to do more than unfasten his sword-belt. For my own part, I was glad +to throw off my gear, but I kept my attention all the while upon the +movements of our host, whose graceful manners and learned appearance had +aroused my curiosity and admiration. + +He approached the evil-smelling pot, and stirred it up with a face +which indicated so much anxiety that it was clear that he had pushed his +courtesy to us so far as to risk the ruin of some important experiment. +Dipping his ladle into the compound, he scooped some up, and then poured +it slowly back into the vessel, showing a yellow turbid fluid. The +appearance of it evidently reassured him, for the look of anxiety +cleared away from his features, and he uttered an exclamation of relief. +Taking a handful of a whitish powder from a trencher at his side he +threw it into the pipkin, the contents of which began immediately to +seethe and froth over into the fire, causing the flames to assume +the strange greenish hue which we had observed before entering. This +treatment had the effect of clearing the fluid, for the chemist was +enabled to pour off into a bottle a quantity of perfectly watery +transparent liquid, while a brownish sediment remained in the vessel, +and was emptied out upon a sheet of paper. This done, Sir Jacob Clancing +pushed aside all his bottles, and turned towards us with a smiling face +and a lighter air. + +'We shall see what my poor larder can furnish forth,' said he. +'Meanwhile, this odour may be offensive to your untrained nostrils, so +we shall away with it. He threw a few grains of some balsamic resin +into the brazier, which at once filled the chamber with a most agreeable +perfume. He then laid a white cloth upon the table, and taking from a +cupboard a dish of cold trout and a large meat pasty, he placed them +upon it, and invited us to draw up our settles and set to work. + +'I would that I had more toothsome fare to offer ye,' said he. 'Were +we at Snellaby Hall, ye should not be put off in this scurvy fashion, I +promise ye. This may serve, however, for hungry men, and I can still +lay my hands upon a brace of bottles of the old Alicant.' So saying, he +brought a pair of flasks out from a recess, and having seen us served +and our glasses filled, he seated himself in a high-backed oaken chair +and presided with old-fashioned courtesy over our feast. As we supped, I +explained to him what our errand was, and narrated the adventures of the +night, without making mention of our destination. + +'You are bound for Monmouth's camp,' he said quietly, when I had +finished, looking me full in the face with his keen dark eyes. 'I know +it, but ye need not fear lest I betray you, even were it in my power. +What chance, think ye, hath the Duke against the King's forces?' + +'As much chance as a farmyard fowl against a spurred gamecock, did he +rely only on those whom he hath with him,' Saxon answered. 'He hath +reason to think, however, that all England is like a powder magazine, +and he hopes to be the spark to set it alight.' + +The old man shook his head sadly. 'The King hath great resources,' he +remarked. 'Where is Monmouth to get his trained soldiers?' + +'There is the militia,' I suggested. + +'And there are many of the old parliamentary breed, who are not too far +gone to strike a blow for their belief,' said Saxon. 'Do you but get +half-a-dozen broad-brimmed, snuffle-nosed preachers into a camp, and the +whole Presbytery tribe will swarm round them like flies on a honey-pot. +No recruiting sergeants will ever raise such an army as did Noll's +preachers in the eastern counties, where the promise of a seat by the +throne was thought of more value than a ten-pound bounty. I would I +could pay mine own debts with these same promises.' + +'I should judge from your speech, sir,' our host observed, 'that you are +not one of the sectaries. How comes it, then, that you are throwing the +weight of your sword and your experience into the weaker scale?' + +'For the very reason that it is the weaker scale,' said the soldier of +fortune. 'I should gladly have gone with my brother to the Guinea coast +and had no say in the matter one way or the other, beyond delivering +letters and such trifles. Since I must be doing something, I choose to +fight for Protestantism and Monmouth. It is nothing to me whether James +Stuart or James Walters sits upon the throne, but the court and army of +the King are already made up. Now, since Monmouth hath both courtiers +and soldiers to find, it may well happen that he may be glad of my +services and reward them with honourable preferment.' + +'Your logic is sound,' said our host, 'save only that you have omitted +the very great chance which you will incur of losing your head if the +Duke's party are borne down by the odds against them.' + +'A man cannot throw a main without putting a stake on the board,' said +Saxon. + +'And you, young sir,' the old man asked, 'what has caused you to take a +hand in so dangerous a game?' + +'I come of a Roundhead stock,' I answered, 'and my folk have always +fought for the liberty of the people and the humbling of tyranny. I come +in the place of my father.' + +'And you, sir?' our questioner continued, looking at Reuben. + +'I have come to see something of the world, and to be with my friend and +companion here,' he replied. + +'And I have stronger reasons than any of ye,' Sir Jacob cried, 'for +appearing in arms against any man who bears the name of Stuart. Had I +not a mission here which cannot be neglected, I might myself be tempted +to hie westward with ye, and put these grey hairs of mine once more into +the rough clasp of a steel headpiece. For where now is the noble castle +of Snellaby, and where those glades and woods amidst which the Clancings +have grown up, and lived and died, ere ever Norman William set his +foot on English soil? A man of trade--a man who, by the sweat of his +half-starved workers, had laid by ill-gotten wealth, is now the owner +of all that fair property. Should I, the last of the Clancings, show +my face upon it, I might be handed over to the village beadle as a +trespasser, or scourged off it perhaps by the bowstrings of insolent +huntsmen.' + +'And how comes so sudden a reverse of fortune?' I asked. + +'Fill up your glasses!' cried the old man, suiting the action to the +word. 'Here's a toast for you! Perdition to all faithless princes! +How came it about, ye ask? Why, when the troubles came upon the first +Charles, I stood by him as though he had been mine own brother. At +Edgehill, at Naseby, in twenty skirmishes and battles, I fought stoutly +in his cause, maintaining a troop of horse at my own expense, formed +from among my own gardeners, grooms, and attendants. Then the military +chest ran low, and money must be had to carry on the contest. My silver +chargers and candlesticks were thrown into the melting-pot, as were +those of many another cavalier. They went in metal and they came out +as troopers and pikemen. So we tided over a few months until again the +purse was empty, and again we filled it amongst us. This time it was the +home farm and the oak trees that went. Then came Marston Moor, and every +penny and man was needed to repair that great disaster. I flinched not, +but gave everything. This boiler of soap, a prudent, fat-cheeked man, +had kept himself free from civil broils, and had long had a covetous eye +upon the castle. It was his ambition, poor worm, to be a gentleman, as +though a gabled roof and a crumbling house could ever make him that. I +let him have his way, however, and threw the sum received, every guinea +of it, into the King's coffers. And so I held out until the final ruin +of Worcester, when I covered the retreat of the young prince, and may +indeed say that save in the Isle of Man I was the last Royalist who +upheld the authority of the crown. The Commonwealth had set a price upon +my head as a dangerous malignant, so I was forced to take my passage in +a Harwich ketch, and arrived in the Lowlands with nothing save my sword +and a few broad pieces in my pocket.' + +'A cavalier might do well even then,' remarked Saxon. 'There are ever +wars in Germany where a man is worth his hire. When the North Germans +are not in arms against the Swedes or French, the South Germans are sure +to be having a turn with the janissaries.' + +'I did indeed take arms for a time in the employ of the United +Provinces, by which means I came face to face once more with mine old +foes, the Roundheads. Oliver had lent Reynolds's brigade to the French, +and right glad was Louis to have the service of such seasoned troops. +'Fore God, I stood on the counterscarp at Dunkirk, and I found myself, +when I should have been helping the defence, actually cheering on the +attack. My very heart rose when I saw the bull-dog fellows clambering up +the breach with their pikes at the trail, and never quavering in their +psalm-tune, though the bullets sung around them as thick as bees in the +hiving time. And when they did come to close hugs with the Flemings, I +tell you they set up such a rough cry of soldierly joy that my pride +in them as Englishmen overtopped my hatred of them as foes. However, my +soldiering was of no great duration, for peace was soon declared, and +I then pursued the study of chemistry, for which I had a strong turn, +first with Vorhaager of Leyden, and later with De Huy of Strasburg, +though I fear that these weighty names are but sounds to your ears.' + +'Truly,' said Saxon, 'there seemeth to be some fatal attraction in this +same chemistry, for we met two officers of the Blue Guards in Salisbury, +who, though they were stout soldierly men in other respects, had also a +weakness in that direction.' + +'Ha!' cried Sir Jacob, with interest. 'To what school did they belong?' + +'Nay, I know nothing of the matter,' Saxon answered, 'save that they +denied that Gervinus of Nurnberg, whom I guarded in prison, or any other +man, could transmute metals.' + +'For Gervinus I cannot answer,' said our host, 'but for the possibility +of it I can pledge my knightly word. However, of that anon. The time +came at last when the second Charles was invited back to his throne, +and all of us, from Jeffrey Hudson, the court dwarf, up to my Lord +Clarendon, were in high feather at the hope of regaining our own once +more. For my own claim, I let it stand for some time, thinking that it +would be a more graceful act for the King to help a poor cavalier who +had ruined himself for the sake of his family without solicitation on +his part. I waited and waited, but no word came, so at last I betook +myself to the levee and was duly presented to him. "Ah," said he, +greeting me with the cordiality which he could assume so well, "you +are, if I mistake not, Sir Jasper Killigrew?" "Nay, your Majesty," +I answered, "I am Sir Jacob Clancing, formerly of Snellaby Hall, in +Staffordshire;" and with that I reminded him of Worcester fight and of +many passages which had occurred to us in common. "Od's fish!" he cried, +"how could I be so forgetful! And how are all at Snellaby?" I then +explained to him that the Hall had passed out of my hands, and told him +in a few words the state to which I had been reduced. His face clouded +over and his manner chilled to me at once. "They are all on to me for +money and for places," he said, "and truly the Commons are so niggardly +to me that I can scarce be generous to others. However, Sir Jacob, we +shall see what can be done for thee," and with that he dismissed me. +That same night the secretary of my Lord Clarendon came to me, and +announced with much form and show that, in consideration of my long +devotion and the losses which I had sustained, the King was graciously +pleased to make me a lottery cavalier.' + +'And pray, sir, what is a lottery cavalier?' I asked. + +'It is nothing else than a licensed keeper of a gambling-house. This +was his reward to me. I was to be allowed to have a den in the piazza +of Covent Garden, and there to decoy the young sparks of the town and +fleece them at ombre. To restore my own fortunes I was to ruin others. +My honour, my family, my reputation, they were all to weigh for +nothing so long as I had the means of bubbling a few fools out of their +guineas.' + +'I have heard that some of the lottery cavaliers did well,' remarked +Saxon reflectively. + +'Well or ill, it way no employment for me. I waited upon the King and +implored that his bounty would take another form. His only reply was +that for one so poor I was strangely fastidious. For weeks I hung about +the court--I and other poor cavaliers like myself, watching the royal +brothers squandering upon their gaming and their harlots sums which +would have restored us to our patrimonies. I have seen Charles put upon +one turn of a card as much as would have satisfied the most exacting of +us. In the parks of St. James, or in the Gallery at Whitehall, I still +endeavoured to keep myself before his eyes, in the hope that some +provision would be made for me. At last I received a second message from +him. It was that unless I could dress more in the mode he could dispense +with my attendance. That was his message to the old broken soldier who +had sacrificed health, wealth, position, everything in the service of +his father and himself.' + +'Shameful!' we cried, all three. + +'Can you wonder, then, that I cursed the whole Stuart race, +false-hearted, lecherous, and cruel? For the Hall, I could buy it back +to-morrow if I chose, but why should I do so when I have no heir?' + +'Ho, you have prospered then!' said Decimus Saxon, with one of his +shrewd sidelong looks. 'Perhaps you have yourself found out how to +convert pots and pans into gold in the way you have spoken of. But that +cannot be, for I see iron and brass in this room which would hardly +remain there could you convert it to gold.' + +'Gold has its uses, and iron has its uses,' said Sir Jacob oracularly. +'The one can never supplant the other.' + +'Yet these officers,' I remarked, 'did declare to us that it was but a +superstition of the vulgar.' + +'Then these officers did show that their knowledge was less than their +prejudice. Alexander Setonius, a Scot, was first of the moderns to +achieve it. In the month of March 1602 he did change a bar of lead into +gold in the house of a certain Hansen, at Rotterdam, who hath testified +to it. He then not only repeated the same process before three learned +men sent by the Kaiser Rudolph, but he taught Johann Wolfgang Dienheim +of Freibourg, and Gustenhofer of Strasburg, which latter taught it to my +own illustrious master--' + +'Who in turn taught it to you,' cried Saxon triumphantly. 'I have no +great store of metal with me, good sir, but there are my head-piece, +back and breast-plate, taslets and thigh-pieces, together with my +sword, spurs, and the buckles of my harness. I pray you to use your most +excellent and praiseworthy art upon these, and I will promise within a +few days to bring round a mass of metal which shall be more worthy of +your skill.' + +'Nay, nay,' said the alchemist, smiling and shaking his head. 'It can +indeed be done, but only slowly and in order, small pieces at a time, +and with much expenditure of work and patience. For a man to enrich +himself at it he must labour hard and long; yet in the end I will not +deny that he may compass it. And now, since the flasks are empty and +your young comrade is nodding in his chair, it will perhaps be as well +for you to spend as much of the night as is left in repose.' He drew +several blankets and rugs from a corner and scattered them over the +floor. 'It is a soldier's couch,' he remarked; 'but ye may sleep on +worse before ye put Monmouth on the English throne. For myself, it is +my custom to sleep in an inside chamber, which is hollowed out of the +hill.' With a few last words and precautions for our comfort he withdrew +with the lamp, passing through a door which had escaped our notice at +the further end of the apartment. + +Reuben, having had no rest since he left Havant, had already dropped +upon the rugs, and was fast asleep, with a saddle for a pillow. Saxon +and I sat for a few minutes longer by the light of the burning brazier. + +'One might do worse than take to this same chemical business,' my +companion remarked, knocking the ashes out of his pipe. 'See you yon +iron-bound chest in the corner?' + +'What of it?' + +'It is two thirds full of gold, which this worthy gentleman hath +manufactured.' + +'How know you that?' I asked incredulously. + +'When you did strike the door panel with the hilt of your sword, as +though you would drive it in, you may have heard some scuttling about, +and the turning of a lock. Well, thanks to my inches, I was able to look +through yon slit in the wall, and I saw our friend throw something into +the chest with a chink, and then lock it. It was but a glance at the +contents, yet I could swear that that dull yellow light could come from +no metal but gold. Let us see if it be indeed locked.' Rising from his +seat he walked over to the box and pulled vigorously at the lid. + +'Forbear, Saxon, forbear!' I cried angrily. 'What would our host say, +should he come upon you?' + +'Nay, then, he should not keep such things beneath his roof. With a +chisel or a dagger now, this might be prized open.' + +'By Heaven!' I whispered, 'if you should attempt it I shall lay you on +your back.' + +'Well, well, young Anak! it was but a passing fancy to see the treasure +again. Now, if he were but well favoured to the King, this would be +fair prize of war. Marked ye not that he claimed to have been the last +Royalist who drew sword in England? and he confessed that he had been +proscribed as a malignant. Your father, godly as he is, would have +little compunction in despoiling such an Amalekite. Besides, bethink +you, he can make more as easily as your good mother maketh cranberry +dumplings.' + +'Enough said!' I answered sternly. 'It will not bear discussion. Get ye +to your couch, lest I summon our host and tell him what manner of man he +hath entertained.' + +With many grumbles Saxon consented at last to curl his long limbs up +upon a mat, whilst I lay by his side and remained awake until the mellow +light of morning streamed through the chinks between the ill-covered +rafters. Truth to tell, I feared to sleep, lest the freebooting habits +of the soldier of fortune should be too strong for him, and he should +disgrace us in the eyes of our kindly and generous entertainer. At last, +however, his long-drawn breathing assured me that he was asleep, and I +was able to settle down to a few hours of welcome rest. + + + +Chapter XII. Of certain Passages upon the Moor + +In the morning, after a breakfast furnished by the remains of our +supper, we looked to our horses and prepared for our departure. Ere we +could mount, however, our kindly host came running out to us with a load +of armour in his arms. + +'Come hither,' said he, beckoning to Reuben. 'It is not meet, lad, that +you should go bare-breasted against the enemy when your comrades are +girt with steel. I have here mine own old breastplate and head-piece, +which should, methinks, fit you, for if you have more flesh than I, I am +a larger framework of a man. Ah, said I not so! Were't measured for you +by Silas Thomson, the court armourer, it could not grip better. Now +on with the head-piece. A close fit again. You are now a cavalier whom +Monmouth or any other leader might be proud to see ride beneath his +banner.' + +Both helmet and body-plates were of the finest Milan steel, richly +inlaid with silver and with gold, and carved all over in rare and +curious devices. So stern and soldierly was the effect, that the +ruddy, kindly visage of our friend staring out of such a panoply had an +ill-matched and somewhat ludicrous appearance. + +'Nay, nay,' cried the old cavalier, seeing a smile upon our features, +'it is but right that so precious a jewel as a faithful heart should +have a fitting casket to protect it.' + +'I am truly beholden to you, sir,' said Reuben; 'I can scarce find words +to express my thanks. Holy mother! I have a mind to ride straight back +to Havant, to show them how stout a man-at-arms hath been reared amongst +them.' + +'It is steel of proof,' Sir Jacob remarked; 'a pistol-bullet might +glance from it. And you,' he continued, turning to me, 'here is a small +gift by which you shall remember this meeting. I did observe that you +did cast a wistful eye upon my bookshelf. It is Plutarch's lives of the +ancient worthies, done into English by the ingenious Mr. Latimer. Carry +this volume with you, and shape your life after the example of the giant +men whose deeds are here set forth. In your saddle-bag I place a small +but weighty packet, which I desire you to hand over to Monmouth upon +the day of your arrival in his camp. As to you, sir,' addressing Decimus +Saxon, 'here is a slug of virgin gold for you, which may fashion into a +pin or such like ornament. You may wear it with a quiet conscience, for +it is fairly given to you and not filched from your entertainer whilst +he slept.' + +Saxon and I shot a sharp glance of surprise at each other at this +speech, which showed that our words of the night before were not unknown +to him. Sir Jacob, however, showed no signs of anger, but proceeded to +point out our road and to advise us as to our journey. + +'You must follow this sheep-track until you come on another and broader +pathway which makes for the West,' said he. 'It is little used, and +there is small chance of your falling in with any of your enemies upon +it. This path will lead you between the villages of Fovant and Hindon, +and soon to Mere, which is no great distance from Bruton, upon the +Somersetshire border.' + +Thanking our venerable host for his great kindness towards us we gave +rein to our horses, and left him once more to the strange solitary +existence in which we had found him. So artfully had the site of +his cottage been chosen, that when we looked back to give him a last +greeting both he and his dwelling had disappeared already from our view, +nor could we, among the many mounds and hollows, determine where the +cottage lay which had given us such welcome shelter. In front of us and +on either side the great uneven dun-coloured plain stretched away to the +horizon, without a break in its barren gorse-covered surface. Over the +whole expanse there was no sign of life, save for an occasional rabbit +which whisked into its burrow on hearing our approach, or a few thin and +hungry sheep, who could scarce sustain life by feeding on the coarse and +wiry grass which sprang from the unfruitful soil. + +The pathway was so narrow that only one of us could ride upon it at a +time, but we presently abandoned it altogether, using it simply as a +guide, and galloping along side by side over the rolling plain. We were +all silent, Reuben meditating upon his new corslet, as I could see from +his frequent glances at it; while Saxon, with his eyes half closed, was +brooding over some matter of his own. For my own part, my thoughts ran +upon the ignominy of the old soldier's designs upon the gold chest, and +the additional shame which rose from the knowledge that our host had in +some way divined his intention. No good could come of an alliance with a +man so devoid of all feelings of honour or of gratitude. So strongly did +I feel upon it that I at last broke the silence by pointing to a +cross path, which turned away from the one which we were pursuing, and +recommending him to follow it, since he had proved that he was no fit +company for honest men. + +'By the living rood!' he cried, laying his hand upon the hilt of his +rapier,' have you taken leave of your senses? These are words such as no +honourable cavaliero can abide.' + +'They are none the less words of truth,' I answered. + +His blade flashed out in an instant, while his mare bounded twice her +length under the sharp dig of his spurs. + +'We have here,' he cried, reining her round, with his fierce lean face +all of a quiver with passion, 'an excellent level stretch on which to +discuss the matter. Out with your bilbo and maintain your words.' + +'I shall not stir a hair's-breadth to attack you,' I answered. 'Why +should I, when I bear you no ill-will? If you come against me, however, +I will assuredly beat you out of your saddle, for all your tricky sword +play.' I drew my broadsword as I spoke, and stood upon my guard, for I +guessed that with so old a soldier the onset would be sharp and sudden. + +'By all the saints in heaven!' cried Reuben, 'which ever of ye strikes +first at the other I'll snap this pistol at his head. None of your +jokes, Don Decimo, for by the Lord I'll let drive at you if you were my +own mother's son. Put up your sword, for the trigger falls easy, and my +finger is a twitching.' + +'Curse you for a spoil-sport!' growled Saxon, sulkily sheathing his +weapon. 'Nay, Clarke,' he added, after a few moments of reflection, +'this is but child's play, that two camarados with a purpose in view +should fall out over such a trifle. I, who am old enough to be your +father, should have known better than to have drawn upon you, for a +boy's tongue wags on impulse and without due thought. Do but say that +you have said more than you meant.' + +'My way of saying it may have been over plain and rough,' I answered, +for I saw that he did but want a little salve where my short words had +galled him. 'At the same time, our ways differ from your ways, and that +difference must be mended, or you can be no true comrade of ours.' + +'All right, Master Morality,' quoth he, 'I must e'en unlearn some of the +tricks of my trade. Od's feet, man, if ye object to me, what the henker +would ye think of some whom I have known? However, let that pass. It +is time that we were at the wars, for our good swords will not bide in +their scabbards. + + "The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty, + For want of fighting was grown rusty, + And ate into itself for lack + Of somebody to hew and hack." + +You cannot think a thought but old Samuel hath been before you.' + +'Surely we shall be at the end of this dreary plain presently,' Reuben +cried. 'Its insipid flatness is enough to set the best of friends by the +ears. We might be in the deserts of Libya instead of his most graceless +Majesty's county of Wiltshire.' + +'There is smoke over yonder, upon the side of that hill,' said Saxon, +pointing to the southward. + +'Methinks I see one straight line of houses there,' I observed, shading +my eyes with my hand. 'But it is distant, and the shimmer of the sun +disturbs the sight.' + +'It must be the hamlet of Hindon,' said Reuben. 'Oh, the heat of this +steel coat! I wonder if it were very un-soldierly to slip it off and tie +it about Dido's neck. I shall be baked alive else, like a crab in its +shell. How say you, illustrious, is it contravened by any of those +thirty-nine articles of war which you bear about in your bosom?' + +'The bearing of the weight of your harness, young man,' Saxon answered +gravely, 'is one of the exercises of war, and as such only attainable by +such practice as you are now undergoing. You have many things to learn, +and one of them is not to present petronels too readily at folk's heads +when you are on horseback. The jerk of your charger's movement even now +might have drawn your trigger, and so deprived Monmouth of an old and +tried soldier.' + +'There would be much weight in your contention,' my friend answered, +'were it not that I now bethink me that I had forgot to recharge my +pistol since discharging it at that great yellow beast yesternight.' + +Decimus Saxon shook his head sadly. 'I doubt we shall never make a +soldier of you,' he remarked. 'You fall from your horse if the brute +does bit change his step, you show a levity which will not jump with the +gravity of the true soldado, you present empty petronels as a menace, +and finally, you crave permission to tie your armour--armour which the +Cid himself might be proud to wear--around the neck of your horse. Yet +you have heart and mettle, I believe, else you would not be here.' + +'Gracias, Signor!' cried Reuben, with a bow which nearly unhorsed him; +'the last remark makes up for all the rest, else had I been forced to +cross blades with you, to maintain my soldierly repute.' + +'Touching that same incident last night,' said Saxon, 'of the chest +filled, as I surmise, with gold, which I was inclined to take as lawful +plunder, I am now ready to admit that I may have shown an undue haste +and precipitance, considering that the old man treated us fairly.' + +'Say no more of it,' I answered, 'if you will but guard against such +impulses for the future.' + +'They do not properly come from me,' he replied, 'but from Will +Spotterbridge, who was a man of no character at all.' + +'And how comes he to be mixed up in the matter?' I asked curiously. + +'Why, marry, in this wise. My father married the daughter of this same +Will Spotterbridge, and so weakened a good old stock by an unhealthy +strain. Will was a rake-hell of Fleet Street in the days of James, a +chosen light of Alsatia, the home of bullies and of brawlers. His blood +hath through his daughter been transmitted to the ten of us, though I +rejoice to say that I, being the tenth, it had by that time lost much +of its virulence, and indeed amounts to little more than a proper pride, +and a laudable desire to prosper.' + +'How, then, has it affected the race?' I asked. + +'Why,' he answered, 'the Saxons of old were a round-faced, contented +generation, with their ledgers in their hands for six days and their +bibles on the seventh. If my father did but drink a cup of small beer +more than his wont, or did break out upon provocation into any fond +oath, as "Od's niggers!" or "Heart alive!" he would mourn over it as +though it were the seven deadly sins. Was this a man, think ye, in the +ordinary course of nature to beget ten long lanky children, nine of +whom might have been first cousins of Lucifer, and foster-brothers of +Beelzebub?' + +'It was hard upon him,' remarked Reuben. + +'On him! Nay, the hardship was all with us. If he with his eyes +open chose to marry the daughter of an incarnate devil like Will +Spotterbridge, because she chanced to be powdered and patched to his +liking, what reason hath he for complaint? It is we, who have the blood +of this Hector of the taverns grafted upon our own good honest stream, +who have most reason to lift up our voices.' + +'Faith, by the same chain of reasoning,' said Reuben, 'one of my +ancestors must have married a woman with a plaguy dry throat, for both +my father and I are much troubled with the complaint.' + +'You have assuredly inherited a plaguy pert tongue,' growled Saxon. +'From what I have told you, you will see that our whole life is a +conflict between our natural Saxon virtue and the ungodly impulses of +the Spotterbridge taint. That of which you have had cause to complain +yesternight is but an example of the evil to which I am subjected.' + +'And your brothers and sisters?' I asked; 'how hath this circumstance +affected them?' The road was bleak and long, so that the old soldier's +gossip was a welcome break to the tedium of the journey. + +'They have all succumbed,' said Saxon, with a groan. 'Alas, alas! they +were a goodly company could they have turned their talents to better +uses. Prima was our eldest born. She did well until she attained +womanhood. Secundus was a stout seaman, and owned his own vessel when +he was yet a young man. It was remarked, however, that he started on a +voyage in a schooner and came back in a brig, which gave rise to some +inquiry. It may be, as he said, that he found it drifting about in the +North Sea, and abandoned his own vessel in favour of it, but they hung +him before he could prove it. Tertia ran away with a north-country +drover, and hath been on the run ever since. Quartus and Nonus have been +long engaged in busying themselves over the rescue of the black folk +from their own benighted and heathen country, conveying them over by the +shipload to the plantations, where they may learn the beauties of the +Christian religion. They are, however, men of violent temper and profane +speech, who cherish no affection for their younger brother. Quintus was +a lad of promise, but he found a hogshead of rumbo which was thrown up +from a wreck, and he died soon afterwards. Sextus might have done well, +for he became clerk to Johnny Tranter the attorney; but he was of an +enterprising turn, and he shifted the whole business, papers, cash, and +all to the Lowlands, to the no small inconvenience of his employer, who +hath never been able to lay hands either on one or the other from that +day to this. Septimus died young. As to Octavius, Will Spotterbridge +broke out early in him, and he was slain in a quarrel over some dice, +which were said by his enemies to be so weighted that the six must ever +come upwards. Let this moving recital be a warning to ye, if ye are +fools enough to saddle yourselves with a wife, to see that she hath +no vice in her, for a fair face is a sorry make-weight against a foul +mind.' + +Reuben and I could not but laugh over this frank family confession, +which our companion delivered without a sign of shame or embarrassment. +'Ye have paid a heavy price for your father's want of discretion,' I +remarked. 'But what in the name of fate is this upon our left?' + +'A gibbet, by the look of it,' said Saxon, peering across at the gaunt +framework of wood, which rose up from a little knoll. 'Let us ride past +it, for it is little out of our way. They are rare things in England, +though by my faith there were more gallows than milestones when Turenne +was in the Palatinate. What between the spies and traitors who were bred +by the war, the rascally Schwartzritter and Lanzknechte, the Bohemian +vagabonds, and an occasional countryman who was put out of the way lest +he do something amiss, there was never such a brave time for the crows.' + +As we approached this lonely gibbet we saw that a dried-up wisp of a +thing which could hardly be recognised as having once been a human being +was dangling from the centre of it. This wretched relic of mortality +was secured to the cross-bar by an iron chain, and flapped drearily +backwards and forwards in the summer breeze. We had pulled up our +horses, and were gazing in silence at this sign-post of death, when what +had seemed to us to be a bundle of rags thrown down at the foot of the +gallows began suddenly to move, and turned towards us the wizened face +of an aged woman, so marked with evil passions and so malignant in its +expression that it inspired us with even more horror than the unclean +thing which dangled above her head. + +'Gott in Himmel!' cried Saxon, 'it is ever thus! A gibbet draws witches +as a magnet draws needles. All the hexerei of the country side will sit +round one, like cats round a milk-pail. Beware of her! she hath the evil +eye!' + +'Poor soul! It is the evil stomach that she hath,' said Reuben, walking +his horse up to her. 'Whoever saw such a bag of bones! I warrant that +she is pining away for want of a crust of bread.' + +The creature whined, and thrust out two skinny claws to grab the piece +of silver which our friend had thrown down to her. Her fierce dark +eyes and beak-like nose, with the gaunt bones over which the yellow +parchment-like skin was stretched tightly, gave her a fear-inspiring +aspect, like some foul bird of prey, or one of those vampires of whom +the story-tellers write. + +'What use is money in the wilderness?' I remarked; 'she cannot feed +herself upon a silver piece.' + +She tied the coin hurriedly into the corner of her rags, as though she +feared that I might try to wrest it from her. 'It will buy bread,' she +croaked. + +'But who is there to sell it, good mistress?' I asked. + +'They sell it at Fovant, and they sell it at Hindon,' she answered. 'I +bide here o' days, but I travel at night.' + +'I warrant she does, and on a broomstick,' quoth Saxon; 'but tell us, +mother, who is it who hangs above your head?' + +'It is he who slew my youngest born,' cried the old woman, casting a +malignant look at the mummy above her, and shaking a clenched hand at it +which was hardly more fleshy than its own. 'It is he who slew my bonny +boy. Out here upon the wide moor he met him, and he took his young life +from him when no kind hand was near to stop the blow. On that ground +there my lad's blood was shed, and from that watering hath grown this +goodly gallows-tree with its fine ripe fruit upon it. And here, come +rain, come shine, shall I, his mother, sit while two bones hang together +of the man who slow my heart's darling.' She nestled down in her rags +as she spoke, and leaning her chin upon her hands stared up with an +intensity of hatred at the hideous remnant. + +'Come away, Reuben,' I cried, for the sight was enough to make one +loathe one's kind. 'She is a ghoul, not a woman.' + +'Pah! it gives one a foul taste in the mouth,' quoth Saxon. 'Who is for +a fresh gallop over the Downs? Away with care and carrion! + + "Sir John got on his bonny brown steed, + To Monmouth for to ride--a. + A brave buff coat upon his back, + A broadsword by his side--a. + Ha, ha, young man, we rebels can + Pull down King James's pride--a!" + +Hark away, lads, with a loose rein and a bloody heel!' + +We spurred our steeds and galloped from the unholy spot as fast as our +brave beasts could carry us. To all of us the air had a purer flavour +and the heath a sweeter scent by contrast with the grim couple whom we +had left behind us. What a sweet world would this be, my children, were +it not for man and his cruel ways! + +When we at last pulled up we had set some three or four miles between +the gibbet and ourselves. Right over against us, on the side of a gentle +slope, stood a bright little village, with a red-roofed church rising up +from amidst a clump of trees. To our eyes, after the dull sward of the +plain, it was a glad sight to see the green spread of the branches and +the pleasant gardens which girt the hamlet round. All morning we had +seen no sight of a human being, save the old hag upon the moor and a few +peat-cutters in the distance. Our belts, too, were beginning to be loose +upon us, and the remembrance of our breakfast more faint. + +'This,' said I, 'must be the village of Mere, which we were to pass +before coming to Bruton. We shall soon be over the Somersetshire +border.' + +'I trust that we shall soon be over a dish of beefsteaks,' groaned +Reuben. 'I am well-nigh famished. So fair a village must needs have a +passable inn, though I have not seen one yet upon my travels which would +compare with the old Wheatsheaf.' + +'Neither inn nor dinner for us just yet,' said Saxon. 'Look yonder to +the north, and tell me what you see.' + +On the extreme horizon there was visible a long line of gleaming, +glittering points, which shone and sparkled like a string of diamonds. +These brilliant specks were all in rapid motion, and yet kept their +positions to each other. + +'What is it, then?' we both cried. + +'Horse upon the march,' quoth Saxon. 'It may be our friends of +Salisbury, who have made a long day's journey; or, as I am inclined +to think, it may be some other body of the King's horse. They are far +distant, and what we see is but the sun shining on their casques; yet +they are bound for this very village, if I mistake not. It would be +wisest to avoid entering it, lest the rustics set them upon our track. +Let us skirt it and push on for Bruton, where we may spare time for bite +and sup.' + +'Alas, alas! for our dinners!' cried Reuben ruefully. 'I have fallen +away until my body rattles about, inside this shell of armour, like a +pea in a pod. However, lads, it is all for the Protestant faith.' + +'One more good stretch to Bruton, and we may rest in peace,' said Saxon. +'It is ill dining when a dragoon may be served up as a grace after meat. +Our horses are still fresh, and we should be there in little over an +hour.' + +We pushed on our way accordingly, passing at a safe distance from Mere, +which is the village where the second Charles did conceal himself after +the battle of Worcester. The road beyond was much crowded by peasants, +who were making their way out of Somersetshire, and by farmers' waggons, +which were taking loads of food to the West, ready to turn a few guineas +either from the King's men or from the rebels. We questioned many as to +the news from the war, but though we were now on the outskirts of the +disturbed country, we could gain no clear account of how matters stood, +save that all agreed that the rising was on the increase. The country +through which we rode was a beautiful one, consisting of low swelling +hills, well tilled and watered by numerous streamlets. Crossing over the +river Brue by a good stone bridge, we at last reached the small country +town for which we had been making, which lies embowered in the midst of +a broad expanse of fertile meadows, orchards, and sheep-walks. From the +rising ground by the town we looked back over the plain without seeing +any traces of the troopers. We learned, too, from an old woman of the +place, that though a troop of the Wiltshire Yeomanry had passed through +the day before, there were no soldiers quartered at present in the +neighbourhood. Thus assured we rode boldly into the town, and soon found +our way to the principal inn. I have some dim remembrance of an +ancient church upon an eminence, and of a quaint stone cross within the +market-place, but assuredly, of all the recollections which I retain of +Bruton there is none so pleasing as that of the buxom landlady's face, +and of the steaming dishes which she lost no time in setting before us. + + + +Chapter XIII. Of Sir Gervas Jerome, Knight Banneret of the County of +Surrey + +The inn was very full of company, being occupied not only by many +Government agents and couriers on their way to and from the seat of +the rising, but also by all the local gossips, who gathered there to +exchange news and consume Dame Hobson the landlady's home-brewed. In +spite, however, of this stress of custom and the consequent uproar, the +hostess conducted us into her own private room, where we could consume +her excellent cheer in peace and quietness. This favour was due, I +think, to a little sly manoeuvring and a few whispered words from Saxon, +who amongst other accomplishments which he had picked up during his +chequered career had a pleasing knack of establishing friendly relations +with the fair sex, irrespective of age, size, or character. Gentle +and simple, Church and Dissent, Whig and Tory, if they did but wear a +petticoat our comrade never failed, in spite of his fifty years, to make +his way into their good graces by the help of his voluble tongue mid +assured manner. + +'We are your grateful servants, mistress,' said he, when the smoking +joint and the batter pudding had been placed upon the table. 'We have +robbed you of your room. Will you not honour us so far as to sit down +with us and share our repast?' + +'Nay, kind sir,' said the portly dame, much flattered by the proposal; +'it is not for me to sit with gentles like yourselves.' + +'Beauty has a claim which persons of quality, and above all cavalieros +of the sword, are the first to acknowledge,' cried Saxon, with his +little twinkling eyes fixed in admiration upon her buxom countenance. +'Nay, by my troth, you shall not leave us. I shall lock the door first. +If you will not eat, you shall at least drink a cup of Alicant with me.' + +'Nay, sir, it is too much honour,' cried Dame Hobson, with a simper. 'I +shall go down into the cellars and bring a flask of the best.' + +'Nay, by my manhood, you shall not,' said Saxon, springing up from his +seat. 'What are all these infernal lazy drawers here for if you are to +descend to menial offices?' Handing the widow to a chair he clanked away +into the tap-room, where we heard him swearing at the men-servants, and +cursing them for a droning set of rascals who had taken advantage of +the angelic goodness of their mistress and her incomparable sweetness of +temper. + +'Here is the wine, fair mistress,' said he, returning presently with a +bottle in either hand. 'Let me fill your glass. Ha! it flows clear and +yellow like a prime vintage. These rogues can stir their limbs when they +find that there is a man to command them.' + +'Would that there were ever such,' said the widow meaningly, with a +languishing look at our companion. 'Here is to you, sir--and to ye, too, +young sirs,' she added, sipping at her wine. 'May there be a speedy end +to the insurrection, for I judge, from your gallant equipment, that ye +be serving the King.' + +'His business takes us to the West,' said Reuben, 'and we have every +reason to hope that there will be a speedy end to the insurrection.' + +'Aye, aye, though blood will be shed first,' she said, shaking her head. +'They tell me that the rebels are as many as seven thousand, and that +they swear to give an' take no quarter, the murderous villains! Alas! +how any gentleman can fall to such bloody work when he might have a +clean honourable occupation, such as innkeeping or the like, is more +than my poor mind can understand. There is a sad difference betwixt the +man who lieth on the cold ground, not knowing how long it may be before +he is three feet deep in it, and he who passeth his nights upon a warm +feather bed, with mayhap a cellar beneath it stocked with even such +wines as we are now drinking.' She again looked hard at Saxon as she +spoke, while Reuben and I nudged each other beneath the table. + +'This business hath doubtless increased your trade, fair mistress,' +quoth Saxon. + +'Aye, and in the way that payeth best,' said she. 'The few kilderkins of +beer which are drunk by the common folk make little difference one way +or the other. But now, when we have lieutenants of counties, officers, +mayors, and gentry spurring it for very life down the highways, I have +sold more of my rare old wines in three days than ever I did before in +a calendar month. It is not ale, or strong waters, I promise you, that +those gentles drink, but Priniac, Languedoc, Tent, Muscadine, Chiante, +and Tokay--never a flask under the half-guinea.' + +'So indeed!' quoth Saxon thoughtfully. 'A snug home and a steady +income.' + +'Would that my poor Peter had lived to share it with me,' said Dame +Hobson, laying down her glass, and rubbing her eyes with a corner of +her kerchief. 'He was a good man, poor soul, though in very truth and +between friends he did at last become as broad and as thick as one of +his own puncheons. All well, the heart is the thing! Marry come up! if a +woman were ever to wait until her own fancy came her way, there would be +more maids than mothers in the land.' + +'Prythee, good dame, how runs your own fancy?' asked Reuben +mischievously. + +'Not in the direction of fat, young man,' she answered smartly, with a +merry glance at our plump companion. + +'She has hit you there, Reuben,' said I. + +'I would have no pert young springald,' she continued, 'but one who hath +knowledge of the world, and ripe experience. Tall he should be, and of +sinewy build, free of speech that he might lighten the weary hours, and +help entertain the gentles when they crack a flagon of wine. Of business +habits he must be, too, forsooth, for is there not a busy hostel and two +hundred good pounds a year to pass through his fingers? If Jane Hobson +is to be led to the altar again it must be by such a man as this.' + +Saxon had listened with much attention to the widow's words, and had +just opened his mouth to make some reply to her when a clattering and +bustle outside announced the arrival of some traveller. Our +hostess drank off her wine and pricked up her ears, but when a loud +authoritative voice was heard in the passage, demanding a private room +and a draught of sack, her call to duty overcame her private concerns, +and she bustled off with a few words of apology to take the measure of +the new-comer. + +'Body o' me, lads!' quoth Decimus Saxon the moment that she disappeared, +'ye can see how the land lies. I have half a mind to let Monmouth carve +his own road, and to pitch my tent in this quiet English township.' + +'Your tent, indeed!' cried Reuben; 'it is a brave tent that is furnished +with cellars of such wine as we are drinking. And as to the quiet, my +illustrious, if you take up your residence here I'll warrant that the +quiet soon comes to an end.' + +'You have seen the woman,' said Saxon, with his brow all in a wrinkle +with thought. 'She hath much to commend her. A man must look to himself. +Two hundred pounds a year are not to be picked off the roadside every +June morning. It is not princely, but it is something for an old soldier +of fortune who hath been in the wars for five-and-thirty years, and +foresees the time when his limbs will grow stiff in his harness. What +sayeth our learned Fleming--"an mulier--" but what in the name of the +devil have we here?' + +Our companion's ejaculation was called forth by a noise as of a slight +scuffle outside the door, with a smothered 'Oh, sir!' and 'What will the +maids think?' The contest was terminated by the door being opened, and +Dame Hobson re-entering the room with her face in a glow, and a slim +young man dressed in the height of fashion at her heels. + +'I am sure, good gentlemen,' said she, 'that ye will not object to this +young nobleman drinking his wine in the same room with ye, since all the +others are filled with the townsfolk and commonalty.' + +'Faith! I must needs be mine own usher,' said the stranger, sticking his +gold-laced cap under his left arm and laying his hand upon his heart, +while he bowed until his forehead nearly struck the edge of the table. +'Your very humble servant, gentlemen, Sir Gervas Jerome, knight banneret +of his Majesty's county of Surrey, and at one time custos rotulorum of +the district of Beacham Ford.' + +'Welcome, sir,' quoth Reuben, with a merry twinkle in his eye. 'You have +before you Don Decimo Saxon of the Spanish nobility, together with Sir +Micah Clarke and Sir Reuben Lockarby, both of his Majesty's county of +Hampshire.' + +'Proud and glad to meet ye, gentlemen!' cried the newcomer, with a +flourish. 'But what is this upon the table? Alicant? Fie, fie, it is a +drink for boys. Let us have some good sack with plenty of body in it. +Claret for youth, say I, sack for maturity, and strong waters in old +age. Fly, my sweetest, move those dainty feet of thine, for egad! my +throat is like leather. Od's 'oons, I drank deep last night, and yet +it is clear that I could not have drunk enough, for I was as dry as a +concordance when I awoke.' + +Saxon sat silently at the table, looking so viciously at the stranger +out of his half-closed glittering eyes that I feared that we should +have another such brawl as occurred at Salisbury, with perhaps a more +unpleasant ending. Finally, however, his ill-humour at the gallant's +free and easy attention to our hostess spent itself in a few muttered +oaths, and he lit his long pipe, the never-failing remedy of a ruffled +spirit. As to Reuben and myself, we watched our new companion half in +wonder and half in amusement, for his appearance and manners were novel +enough to raise the interest of inexperienced youngsters like ourselves. + +I have said that he was dressed in the height of fashion, and such +indeed was the impression which a glance would give. His face was thin +and aristocratic, with a well-marked nose, delicate features, and gay +careless expression. Some little paleness of the cheeks and darkness +under the eyes, the result of hard travel or dissipation, did but add a +chastening grace to his appearance. His white periwig, velvet and silver +riding coat, lavender vest and red satin knee-breeches were all of the +best style and cut, but when looked at closely, each and all of these +articles of attire bore evidence of having seen better days. Beside the +dust and stains of travel, there was a shininess or a fading of colour +here and there which scarce accorded with the costliness of their +material or the bearing of their wearer. His long riding-boots had a +gaping seam in the side of one of them, whilst his toe was pushing +its way through the end of the other. For the rest, he wore a handsome +silver-hilted rapier at his side, and had a frilled cambric shirt +somewhat the worse for wear and open at the front, as was the mode with +the gallants of those days. All the time he was speaking he mumbled a +toothpick, which together with his constant habit of pronouncing his +o's as a's made his conversation sound strange to our ears. (Note D +Appendix) Whilst we were noting these peculiarities he was reclining +upon Dame Hobson's best taffatta-covered settee, tranquilly combing his +wig with a delicate ivory comb which he had taken from a small satin bag +which hung upon the right of his sword-belt. + +'Lard preserve us from country inns!' he remarked. 'What with the boors +that swarm in every chamber, and the want of mirrors, and jasmine water, +and other necessaries, blister me if one has not to do one's toilet +in the common room. 'Oons! I'd as soon travel in the land of the Great +Mogul!' + +'When you shall come to be my age, young sir,' Saxon answered, 'you may +know better than to decry a comfortable country hostel.' + +'Very like, sir, very like!' the gallant answered, with a careless +laugh. 'For all that, being mine own age, I feel the wilds of Wiltshire +and the inns of Bruton to be a sorry change after the Mall, and the fare +of Pontack's or the Coca Tree. Ah, Lud! here comes the sack! Open it, my +pretty Hebe, and send a drawer with fresh glasses, for these gentlemen +must do me the honour of drinking with me. A pinch of snuff, sirs? Aye, +ye may well look hard at the box. A pretty little thing, sirs, from a +certain lady of title, who shall be nameless; though, if I were to say +that her title begins with a D and her name with a C, a gentleman of the +Court might hazard a guess.' + +Our hostess, having brought fresh glasses, withdrew, and Decimus +Saxon soon found an opportunity for following her. Sir Gervas Jerome +continued, however, to chatter freely to Reuben and myself over +the wine, rattling along as gaily and airily as though we were old +acquaintances. + +'Sink me, if I have not frighted your comrade away!' he remarked, 'Or is +it possible that he hath gone on the slot of the plump widow? Methought +he looked in no very good temper when I kissed her at the door. Yet it +is a civility which I seldom refuse to anything which wears a cap. Your +friend's appearance smacked more of Mars than of Venus, though, indeed, +those who worship the god are wont to be on good terms with the goddess. +A hardy old soldier, I should judge, from his feature and attire.' + +'One who hath seen much service abroad,' I answered. + +'Ha! ye are lucky to ride to the wars in the company of so accomplished +a cavalier. For I presume that it is to the wars that ye are riding, +since ye are all so armed and accoutred.' + +'We are indeed bound for the West,' I replied, with some reserve, for in +Saxon's absence I did not care to be too loose-tongued. + +'And in what capacity?' he persisted. 'Will ye risk your crowns in +defence of King James's one, or will ye strike in, hit or miss, with +these rogues of Devon and Somerset? Stop my vital breath, if I would not +as soon side with the clown as with the crown, with all due respect to +your own principles!' + +'You are a daring man,' said I, 'if you air your opinions thus in every +inn parlour. Dost not know that a word of what you have said, whispered +to the nearest justice of the peace, might mean your liberty, if not +your life?' + +'I don't care the rind of a rotten orange for life or liberty either,' +cried our acquaintance, snapping his finger and thumb. 'Burn me if +it wouldn't be a new sensation to bandy words with some heavy-chopped +country justice, with the Popish plot still stuck in his gizzard, and +be thereafter consigned to a dungeon, like the hero in John Dryden's +latest. I have been round-housed many a time by the watch in the old +Hawkubite days; but this would be a more dramatic matter, with high +treason, block, and axe all looming in the background.' + +'And rack and pincers for a prologue,' said Reuben. 'This ambition is +the strangest that I have ever heard tell of.' + +'Anything for a change,' cried Sir Gervas, filling up a bumper. 'Here's +to the maid that's next our heart, and here's to the heart that loves +the maids! War, wine, and women, 'twould be a dull world without them. +But you have not answered my question.' + +'Why truly, sir,' said I, 'frank as you have been with us, I can scarce +be equally so with you, without the permission of the gentleman who has +just left the room. He is the leader of our party. Pleasant as our short +intercourse has been, these are parlous times, and hasty confidences are +apt to lead to repentance.' + +'A Daniel come to judgment!' cried our new acquaintance. 'What ancient, +ancient words from so young a head! You are, I'll warrant, five years +younger than a scatterbrain like myself, and yet you talk like the seven +wise men of Greece. Wilt take me as a valet?' + +'A valet!' I exclaimed. + +'Aye, a valet, a man-servant. I have been waited upon so long that it is +my turn to wait now, and I would not wish a more likely master. By the +Lard! I must, in applying for a place, give an account of my character +and a list of my accomplishments. So my rascals ever did with me, though +in good truth I seldom listened to their recital. Honesty--there I +score a trick. Sober--Ananias himself could scarce say that I am +that. Trustworthy--indifferently so. Steady--hum! about as much so +as Garraway's weathercock. Hang it, man, I am choke full of good +resolutions, but a sparkling glass or a roguish eye will deflect me, as +the mariners say of the compass. So much for my weaknesses. Now let me +see what qualifications I can produce. A steady nerve, save only when I +have my morning qualms, and a cheerful heart; I score two on that. I +can dance saraband, minuet, or corranto; fence, ride, and sing French +chansons. Good Lard! who ever heard a valet urge such accomplishments? I +can play the best game of piquet in London. So said Sir George Etherege +when I won a cool thousand off him at the Groom Parter. But that won't +advance me much, either. What is there, then, to commend me? Why, marry, +I can brew a bowl of punch, and I can broil a devilled fowl. It is not +much, but I can do it well.' + +'Truly, good sir,' I said, with a smile, 'neither of these +accomplishments is like to prove of much use to us on our present +errand. You do, however, but jest, no doubt, when you talk of descending +to such a position.' + +'Not a whit! not a whit!' he replied earnestly. '"To such base uses do +we come," as Will Shakespeare has it. If you would be able to say that +you have in your service Sir Gervas Jerome, knight banneret, and sole +owner of Beacham Ford Park, with a rent-roll of four thousand good +pounds a year, he is now up for sale, and will be knocked down to the +bidder who pleases him best. Say but the word, and we'll have another +flagon of sack to clinch the bargain.' + +'But,' said I, 'if you are indeed owner of this fair property, why +should you descend to so menial an occupation?' + +'The Jews, the Jews, oh most astute and yet most slow-witted master! The +ten tribes have been upon me, and I have been harried and wasted, bound, +ravished, and despoiled. Never was Agag, king of Amalek, more completely +in the hands of the chosen, and the sole difference is that they have +hewed into pieces mine estate instead of myself.' + +'Have you lost all, then?' Reuben asked, open-eyed. + +'Why no--not all--by no means all!' he answered, with a merry laugh; 'I +have a gold Jacobus and a guinea or two in my purse. 'Twill serve for +a flask or so yet. There is my silver-hilted rapier, my rings, my gold +snuff-box, and my watch by Tompion at the sign of the Three Crowns. +It was never bought under a hundred, I'll warrant. Then there are such +relics of grandeur as you see upon my person, though they begin to +look as frail and worn as a waiting-woman's virtue. In this bag, too, +I retain the means for preserving that niceness and elegance of person +which made me, though I say it, as well groomed a man as ever set foot +in St. James's Park. Here are French scissors, eyebrow brush, toothpick +case, patch-box, powder-bag, comb, puff, and my pair of red-heeled +shoes. What could a man wish for more? These, with a dry throat, a +cheerful heart, and a ready hand, are my whole stock in trade.' + +Reuben and I could not forbear from laughing at the curious inventory of +articles which Sir Gervas had saved from the wreck of his fortunes. He +upon seeing our mirth was so tickled at his own misfortunes, that he +laughed in a high treble key until the whole house resounded with his +merriment. 'By the Mass,' he cried at last, 'I have never had so much +honest amusement out of my prosperity as hath been caused in me by my +downfall. Fill up your glasses!' + +'We have still some distance to travel this evening, and must not drink +more,' I observed, for prudence told me that it was dangerous work for +two sober country lads to keep pace with an experienced toper. + +'So!' said he in surprise. 'I should have thought that would be a +"raison de plus," as the French say. But I wish your long-legged friend +would come back, even if he were intent upon slitting my weazand for my +attention to the widow. He is not a man to flinch from his liquor, I'll +warrant. Curse this Wiltshire dust that clings to my periwig!' + +'Until my comrade returns, Sir Gervas,' said I, 'you might, since the +subject does not appear to be a painful one to you, let us know how +these evil times, which you bear with such philosophy, came upon you.' + +'The old story!' he answered, flicking away a few grains of snuff with +his deeply-laced cambric handkerchief. 'The old, old story! My father, a +good, easy country baronet, finding the family purse somewhat full, must +needs carry me up to town to make a man of me. There as a young lad I +was presented at Court, and being a slim active youngster with a pert +tongue and assured manner, I caught the notice of the Queen, who made +me one of her pages of honour. This post I held until I grew out of +it, when I withdrew from town, but egad! I found I must get back to it +again, for Beacham Ford Park was as dull as a monastery after the life +which I had been living. In town I stayed then with such boon companions +as Tommy Lawson, my Lord Halifax, Sir Jasper Lemarck, little Geordie +Chichester, aye, and old Sidney Godolphin of the Treasury; for with all +his staid ways and long-winded budgets he could drain a cup with the +best of us, and was as keen on a main of cocks as on a committee of ways +and means. Well, it was rare sport while it lasted, and sink me if +I wouldn't do the same again if I had my time once more. It is like +sliding down a greased plank though, for at first a man goes slow +enough, and thinks he can pull himself up, but presently he goes faster +and faster, until he comes with a crash on to the rocks of ruin at the +bottom.' + +'And did you run through four thousand pounds a year?' I exclaimed. + +'Od's bodikins, man, you speak as if this paltry sum were all the +wealth of the Indies. Why, from Ormonde or Buckingham, with their twenty +thousand, down to ranting Dicky Talbot, there was not one of my set who +could not have bought me out. Yet I must have my coach and four, my town +house, my liveried servants, and my stable full of horses. To be in the +mode I must have my poet, and throw him a handful of guineas for his +dedication. Well, poor devil, he is one who will miss me. I warrant his +heart was as heavy as his verses when he found me gone, though perchance +he has turned a few guineas by this time by writing a satire upon me. +It would have a ready sale among my friends. Gad's life! I wonder how +my levees get on, and whom all my suitors have fastened on to now. There +they were morning after morning, the French pimp, the English bully, the +needy man o' letters, the neglected inventor--I never thought to have +got rid of them, but indeed I have shaken them off very effectually now. +When the honey-pot is broken it is farewell to the flies.' + +'And your noble friends?' I asked. 'Did none of them stand by you in +your adversity?' + +'Well, well, I have nought to complain of!' exclaimed Sir Gervas. 'They +were brave-hearted boys for the most part. I might have had their names +on my bills as long as their fingers could hold a pen, but slit me if I +like bleeding my own companions. They might have found a place for me, +too, had I consented to play second-fiddle where I had been used to lead +the band. I' faith, I care not what I turn my hand to amongst strangers, +but I would fain leave my memory sweet in town.' + +'As to what you proposed, of serving us as a valet,' said I, 'it is not +to be thought of. We are, in spite of my friend's waggishness, but two +plain blunt countrymen, and have no more need of a valet than one of +those poets which you have spoken of. On the other hand, if you should +care to attach yourself to our party, we shall take you where you +will see service which shall be more to your taste than the curling of +periwigs or the brushing of eyebrows.' + +'Nay, nay, my friend. Speak not with unseemly levity of the mysteries +of the toilet,' he cried. 'Ye would yourselves be none the worse for +a touch of mine ivory comb, and a closer acquaintance with the famous +skin-purifying wash of Murphy which I am myself in the habit of using.' + +'I am beholden to you, sir,' said Reuben, 'but the famous spring water +wash by Providence is quite good enough for the purpose.' + +'And Dame Nature hath placed a wig of her own upon me,' I added, 'which +I should be very loth to change.' + +'Goths! Perfect Goths!' cried the exquisite, throwing up his white +hands. 'But here comes a heavy tread and the clink of armour in the +passage. 'Tis our friend the knight of the wrathful countenance, if I +mistake not.' + +It was indeed Saxon, who strode into the room to tell us that our horses +were at the door, and that all was ready for our departure. Taking +him aside I explained to him in a whisper what had passed between the +stranger and ourselves, with the circumstances which had led me to +suggest that he should join our party. The old soldier frowned at the +news. + +'What have we to do with such a coxcomb?' he said. 'We have hard fare +and harder blows before us. He is not fit for the work.' + +'You said yourself that Monmouth will be weak in horse,' I answered. +'Here is a well-appointed cavalier, who is to all appearance a desperate +man and ready for anything. Why should we not enrol him?' + +'I fear,' said Saxon, 'that his body may prove to be like the bran of +a fine cushion, of value only for what it has around it. However, it is +perhaps for the best. The handle to his name may make him welcome in the +camp, for from what I hear there is some dissatisfaction at the way in +which the gentry stand aloof from the enterprise.' + +'I had feared,' I remarked, still speaking in a whisper, 'that we were +about to lose one of our party instead of gaining one in this Bruton +inn.' + +'I have thought better of it,' he answered, with a smile. 'Nay, I'll +tell you of it anon. Well, Sir Gervas Jerome,' he added aloud, turning +to our new associate, 'I hear that you are coming with us. For a day you +must be content to follow without question or remark. Is that agreed!' + +'With all my heart,' cried Sir Gervas. + +'Then here's a bumper to our better acquaintance,' cried Saxon, raising +his glass. + +'I pledge ye all,' quoth the gallant. 'Here's to a fair fight, and may +the best men win.' + +'Donnerblitz, man!' said Saxon. 'I believe there's mettle in you for all +your gay plumes. I do conceive a liking for you. Give me your hand!' + +The soldier of fortune's great brown grip enclosed the delicate hand +of our new friend in a pledge of comradeship. Then, having paid our +reckoning and bade a cordial adieu to Dame Hobson, who glanced methought +somewhat reproachfully or expectantly at Saxon, we sprang on our steeds +and continued our journey amidst a crowd of staring villagers, who +huzzaed lustily as we rode out from amongst them. + + + +Chapter XIV. Of the Stiff-legged Parson and his Flock + +Our road lay through Castle Carey and Somerton, which are small towns +lying in the midst of a most beautiful pastoral country, well wooded and +watered by many streams. The valleys along the centre of which the road +lies are rich and luxuriant, sheltered from the winds by long rolling +hills, which are themselves highly cultivated. Here and there we passed +the ivy-clad turret of an old castle or the peaked gables of a rambling +country house, protruding from amongst the trees and marking the country +seat of some family of repute. More than once, when these mansions were +not far from the road, we were able to perceive the unrepaired dints and +fractures on the walls received during the stormy period of the civil +troubles. Fairfax it seems had been down that way, and had left abundant +traces of his visit. I have no doubt that my father would have had much +to say of these signs of Puritan wrath had he been riding at our side. + +The road was crowded with peasants who were travelling in two strong +currents, the one setting from east to west, and the other from west to +east. The latter consisted principally of aged people and of children, +who were being sent out of harm's way to reside in the less disturbed +counties until the troubles should be over. Many of these poor folk were +pushing barrows in front of them, in which a few bedclothes and some +cracked utensils represented the whole of their worldly goods. Others +more prosperous had small carts, drawn by the wild shaggy colts which +are bred on the Somerset moors. What with the spirit of the half-tamed +beasts and the feebleness of the drivers, accidents were not uncommon, +and we passed several unhappy groups who had been tumbled with their +property into a ditch, or who were standing in anxious debate round a +cracked shaft or a broken axle. + +The countrymen who were making for the West were upon the other hand +men in the prime of life, with little or no baggage. Their brown faces, +heavy boots, and smockfrocks proclaimed most of them to be mere hinds, +though here and there we overtook men who, by their top-boots and +corduroys, may have been small farmers or yeomen. These fellows walked +in gangs, and were armed for the most part with stout oak cudgels, +which were carried as an aid to their journey, but which in the hands of +powerful men might become formidable weapons. From time to time one +of these travellers would strike up a psalm tune, when all the others +within earshot would join in, until the melody rippled away down the +road. As we passed some scowled angrily at us, while others whispered +together and shook their heads, in evident doubt as to our character and +aims. Now and again among the people we marked the tall broad-brimmed +hat and Geneva mantle which were the badges of the Puritan clergy. + +'We are in Monmouth's country at last,' said Saxon to me, for Reuben +Lockarby and Sir Gervas Jerome had ridden on ahead. 'This is the raw +material which we shall have to lick into soldiership.' + +'And no bad material either,' I replied, taking note of the sturdy +figures and bold hearty faces of the men. 'Think ye that they are bound +for Monmouth's camp, then?' + +'Aye, are they. See you yon long-limbed parson on the left--him with the +pent-house hat. Markest thou not the stiffness wherewith he moves his +left leg!' + +'Why, yes; he is travel-worn doubtless.' + +'Ho! ho!' laughed my companion. 'I have seen such a stiffness before +now. The man hath a straight sword within he leg of his breeches. A +regular Parliamentary tuck, I'll warrant. When he is on safe ground he +will produce it, aye, and use it too, but until he is out of all danger +of falling in with the King's horse he is shy of strapping it to his +belt. He is one of the old breed by his cut, who: + + "Call fire and sword and desolation, + A godly thorough reformation." + +Old Samuel hath them to a penstroke! There is another ahead of him +there, with the head of a scythe inside his smock. Can you not see the +outline? I warrant there is not one of the rascals but hath a pike-head +or sickle-blade concealed somewhere about him. I begin to feel the +breath of war once more, and to grow younger with it. Hark ye, lad! I am +glad that I did not tarry at the inn.' + +'You seemed to be in two minds about it,' said I. + +'Aye, aye. She was a fine woman, and the quarters were comfortable. I do +not gainsay it. But marriage, d'ye see, is a citadel that it is plaguy +easy to find one's way into, but once in old Tilly himself could not +bring one out again with credit, I have known such a device on the +Danube, where at the first onfall the Mamelukes have abandoned the +breach for the very purpose of ensnaring the Imperial troops in the +narrow streets beyond, from which few ever returned. Old birds are not +caught with such wiles. I did succeed in gaining the ear of one of the +gossips, and asking him what he could tell me of the good dame and her +inn. It seemeth that she is somewhat of a shrew upon occasion, and that +her tongue had more to do with her husband's death than the dropsy which +the leech put it down to. Again, a new inn hath been started in the +village, which is well-managed, and is like to draw the custom from +her. It is, too, as you have said, a dull sleepy spot. All these reasons +weighed with me, and I decided that it would be best to raise my siege +of the widow, and to retreat whilst I could yet do so with the credit +and honours of war.' + +''Tis best so,' said I; 'you could not have settled down to a life of +toping and ease. But our new comrade, what think you of him?' + +'Faith!' Saxon answered, 'we shall extend into a troop of horse if we +add to our number every gallant who is in want of a job. As to this Sir +Gervas, however, I think, as I said at the inn, that he hath more mettle +in him than one would judge at first sight. These young sprigs of the +gentry will always fight, but I doubt if he is hardened enough or +hath constancy enough for such a campaign as this is like to be. His +appearance, too, will be against him in the eyes of the saints; and +though Monmouth is a man of easy virtue, the saints are like to have the +chief voice in his councils. Now do but look at him as he reins up that +showy grey stallion and gazes back at us. Mark his riding-hat tilted +over his eye, his open bosom, his whip dangling from his button-hole, +his hand on his hip, and as many oaths in his mouth as there are ribbons +to his doublet. Above all, mark the air with which he looks down upon +the peasants beside him. He will have to change his style if he is to +fight by the side of the fanatics. But hark! I am much mistaken if they +have not already got themselves into trouble.' + +Our friends had pulled up their horses to await our coming. They had +scarce halted, however, before the stream of peasants who had been +moving along abreast of them slackened their pace, and gathered round +them with a deep ominous murmur and threatening gestures. Other +rustics, seeing that there was something afoot, hurried up to help their +companions. Saxon and I put spurs to our horses, and pushing through the +throng, which was becoming every instant larger and more menacing, made +our way to the aid of our friends, who were hemmed in on every side by +the rabble. Reuben had laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword, while +Sir Gervas was placidly chewing his toothpick and looking down at the +angry mob with an air of amused contempt. + +'A flask or two of scent amongst them would not be amiss,' he remarked; +'I would I had a casting bottle.' + +'Stand on your guard, but do not draw,' cried Saxon. 'What the henker +hath come over the chaw-bacons? They mean mischief. How now, friends, +why this uproar?' + +This question instead of allaying the tumult appeared to make it tenfold +worse. All round us twenty deep were savage faces and angry eyes, +with the glint here and there of a weapon half drawn from its place of +concealment. The uproar, which had been a mere hoarse growl, began to +take shape and form. 'Down with the Papists!' was the cry. 'Down with +the Prelatists!' 'Smite the Erastian butchers!' 'Smite the Philistine +horsemen!' 'Down with them!' + +A stone or two had already whistled past our ears, and we had been +forced in self-defence to draw our swords, when the tall minister whom +we had already observed shoved his way through the crowd, and by dint of +his lofty stature and commanding voice prevailed upon them to be silent. + +'How say ye,' he asked, turning upon us, 'fight ye for Baal or for the +Lord? He who is not with us is against us.' + +'Which is the side of Baal, most reverend sir, and which of the Lord?' +asked Sir Gervas Jerome. 'Methinks if you were to speak plain English +instead of Hebrew we might come to an understanding sooner.' + +'This is no time for light words,' the minister cried, with a flush of +anger upon his face. 'If ye would keep your skins whole, tell me, are ye +for the bloody usurper James Stuart, or are ye for his most Protestant +Majesty King Monmouth?' + +'What! He hath come to the title already!' exclaimed Saxon. 'Know then +that we are four unworthy vessels upon our way to offer our services to +the Protestant cause.' + +'He lies, good Master Pettigrue, he lies most foully,' shouted a burly +fellow from the edge of the crowd. 'Who ever saw a good Protestant in +such a Punchinello dress as yonder? Is not Amalekite written upon his +raiment? Is he not attired as becometh the bridegroom of the harlot of +Rome? Why then should we not smite him?' + +'I thank you, my worthy friend,' said Sir Gervas, whose attire had moved +this champion's wrath. 'If I were nearer I should give you some return +for the notice which you have taken of me.' + +'What proof have we that ye are not in the pay of the usurper, and on +your way to oppress the faithful?' asked the Puritan divine. + +'I tell you, man,' said Saxon impatiently, 'that we have travelled all +the way from Hampshire to fight against James Stuart. We will ride with +ye to Monmouth's camp, and what better proof could ye desire than that?' + +'It may be that ye do but seek an opportunity of escaping from our +bondage,' the minister observed, after conferring with one or two of the +leading peasants. 'It is our opinion, therefore, that before coming +with us ye must deliver unto us your swords, pistols, and other carnal +weapons.' + +'Nay, good sir, that cannot be,' our leader answered. 'A cavalier may +not with honour surrender his blade or his liberty in the manner ye +demand. Keep close to my bridle-arm, Clarke, and strike home at any +rogue who lays hands on you.' + +A hum of anger rose from the crowd, and a score of sticks and +scythe-blades were raised against us, when the minister again interposed +and silenced his noisy following. + +'Did I hear aright?' he asked. 'Is your name Clarke?' + +'It is,' I answered. + +'Your Christian name?' + +'Micah.' + +'Living at?' + +'Havant.' + +The clergyman conferred for a few moments with a grizzly-bearded, +harsh-faced man dressed in black buckram who stood at his elbow. + +'If you are really Micah Clarke of Havant,' quoth he, 'you will be able +to tell us the name of an old soldier, skilled in the German wars, who +was to have come with ye to the camp of the faithful.' + +'Why, this is he,' I answered; 'Decimus Saxon is his name.' + +'Aye, aye, Master Pettigrue,' cried the old man. 'The very name given by +Dicky Rumbold. He said that either the old Roundhead Clarke or his son +would go with him. But who are these?' + +'This is Master Reuben Lockarby, also of Havant, and Sir Gervas Jerome +of Surrey,' I replied. 'They are both here as volunteers desiring to +serve under the Duke of Monmouth.' + +'Right glad I am to see ye, then,' said the stalwart minister heartily. +'Friends, I can answer for these gentlemen that they favour the honest +folk and the old cause.' + +At these words the rage of the mob turned in an instant into the most +extravagant adulation and delight. They crowded round us, patting our +riding-boots, pulling at the skirts of our dress, pressing our hands and +calling down blessings upon our heads, until their pastor succeeded +at last in rescuing us from their attentions and in persuading them to +resume their journey. We walked our horses in the midst of them whilst +the clergyman strode along betwixt Saxon and myself. He was, as Reuben +remarked, well fitted to be an intermediary between us, for he was +taller though not so broad as I was, and broader though not so tall as +the adventurer. His face was long, thin, and hollow-cheeked, with a pair +of great thatched eyebrows and deep sunken melancholy eyes, which lit up +upon occasion with a sudden quick flash of fiery enthusiasm. + +'Joshua Pettigrue is my name, gentlemen,' said he; 'I am an unworthy +worker in the Lord's vineyard, testifying with voice and with arm to His +holy covenant. These are my faithful flock, whom I am bringing westward +that they may be ready for the reaping when it pleases the Almighty to +gather them in.' + +'And why have you not brought them into some show of order or +formation?' asked Saxon. 'They are straggling along the road like a line +of geese upon a common when Michaelmas is nigh. Have you no fears? Is +it not written that your calamity cometh suddenly--suddenly shall you be +broken down without remedy?' + +'Aye, friend, but is it not also written, "Trust in the Lord with all +thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding!" Mark ye, if I +were to draw up my men in military fashion it would invite attention and +attack from any of James Stuart's horse who may come our way. It is my +desire to bring my flock to the camp and obtain pieces for them before +exposing them to so unequal a contest.' + +'Truly, sir, it is a wise resolution,' said Saxon grimly, 'for if a +troop of horse came down upon these good people the pastor would find +himself without his flock.' + +'Nay, that could never be!' cried Master Pettigrue with fervour. 'Say +rather that pastor, flock, and all would find their way along the thorny +track of martyrdom to the new Jerusalem. Know, friend, that I have come +from Monmouth in order to conduct these men to his standard. I received +from him, or rather from Master Ferguson, instructions to be on the +lookout for ye and for several others of the faithful we expect to join +us from the East. By what route came ye?' + +'Over Salisbury Plain and so through Bruton.' + +'And saw ye or met ye any of our people upon the way?' + +'None,' Saxon answered. 'We left the Blue Guards at Salisbury, however, +and we saw either them or some other horse regiment near this side of +the Plain at the village of Mere.' + +'Ah, there is a gathering of the eagles,' cried Master Joshua Pettigrue, +shaking his head. 'They are men of fine raiment, with war-horses and +chariots and trappings, like the Assyrians of old, yet shall the angel +of the Lord breathe upon them in the night. Yea, He shall cut them off +utterly in His wrath, and they shall be destroyed.' + +'Amen! Amen!' cried as many of the peasants as were within earshot. + +'They have elevated their horn, Master Pettigrue,' said the +grizzly-haired Puritan. 'They have set up their candlestick on high--the +candlestick of a perverse ritual and of an idolatrous service. Shall it +not be dashed down by the hands of the righteous?' + +'Lo, this same candle waxed big and burned sooty, even as an offence to +the nostrils, in the days of our fathers,' cried a burly red-faced man, +whose dress proclaimed him to be one of the yeoman class. 'So was it +when Old Noll did get his snuffing shears to work upon it. It is a wick +which can only be trimmed by the sword of the faithful.' A grim laugh +from the whole party proclaimed their appreciation of the pious waggery +of their companion. + +'Ah, Brother Sandcroft,' cried the pastor, 'there is much sweetness and +manna hidden in thy conversation. But the way is long and dreary. Shall +we not lighten it by a song of praise? Where is Brother Thistlethwaite, +whose voice is as the cymbal, the tabor, and the dulcimer?' + +'Lo, most pious Master Pettigrue,' said Saxon, 'I have myself at times +ventured to lift up my voice before the Lord.' Without any further +apology he broke out in stentorian tones into the following hymn, the +refrain of which was caught up by pastor and congregation. + + The Lord He is a morion + That guards me from all wound; + The Lord He is a coat of mail + That circles me all round. + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord? + + The Lord He is the buckler true + That swings on my left arm; + The Lord He is the plate of proof + That shieldeth me from harm. + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord? + + Who then dreads the violent, + Or fears the man of pride? + Or shall I flee from two or three + If He be by my side? + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord! + + My faith is like a citadel + Girt round with moat and wall, + No mine, or sap, or breach, or gap + Can ere prevail at all. + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord? + +Saxon ceased, but the Reverend Joshua Pettigrue waved his long arms and +repeated the refrain, which was taken up again and again by the long +column of marching peasants. + +'It is a godly hymn,' said our companion, who had, to my disgust and +to the evident astonishment of Reuben and Sir Gervas, resumed the +snuffling, whining voice which he had used in the presence of my father. +'It hath availed much on the field of battle.' + +'Truly,' returned the clergyman, 'if your comrades are of as sweet +a savour as yourself, ye will be worth a brigade of pikes to the +faithful,' a sentiment which raised a murmur of assent from the Puritans +around. 'Since, sir,' he continued, 'you have had much experience in the +wiles of war, I shall be glad to hand over to you the command of this +small body of the faithful, until such time as we reach the army.' + +'It is time, too, in good faith, that ye had a soldier at your head,' +Decimus Saxon answered quietly. 'My eyes deceive me strangely if I +do not see the gleam of sword and cuirass upon the brow of yonder +declivity. Methinks our pious exercises have brought the enemy upon us.' + + + +Chapter XV. Of our Brush with the King's Dragoons + +Some little distance from us a branch road ran into that along which we +and our motley assemblage of companions-in-arms were travelling. This +road curved down the side of a well-wooded hill, and then over the level +for a quarter of a mile or so before opening on the other. Just at the +brow of the rising ground there stood a thick bristle of trees, amid the +trunks of which there came and went a bright shimmer of sparkling steel, +which proclaimed the presence of armed men. Farther back, where the road +took a sudden turn and ran along the ridge of the hill, several horsemen +could be plainly seen outlined against the evening sky. So peaceful, +however, was the long sweep of countryside, mellowed by the golden light +of the setting sun, with a score of village steeples and manor-houses +peeping out from amongst the woods, that it was hard to think that the +thundercloud of war was really lowering over that fair valley, and that +at any instant the lightning might break from it. + +The country folk, however, appeared to have no difficulty at all in +understanding the danger to which they were exposed. The fugitives from +the West gave a yell of consternation, and ran wildly down the road or +whipped up their beasts of burden in the endeavour to place as safe a +distance as possible between themselves and the threatened attack. The +chorus of shrill cries and shouts, with the cracking of whips, creaking +of wheels, and the occasional crash when some cart load of goods came to +grief, made up a most deafening uproar, above which our leader's voice +resounded in sharp, eager exhortation and command. When, however, the +loud brazen shriek from a bugle broke from the wood, and the head of +a troop of horse began to descend the slope, the panic became greater +still, and it was difficult for us to preserve any order at all amidst +the wild rush of the terrified fugitives. + +'Stop that cart, Clarke,' cried Saxon vehemently, pointing with his +sword to an old waggon, piled high with furniture and bedding, which was +lumbering along drawn by two raw-boned colts. At the same moment I saw +him drive his horse into the crowd and catch at the reins of another +similar one. + +Giving Covenant's bridle a shake I was soon abreast of the cart which +he had indicated, and managed to bring the furious young horses to a +stand-still. + +'Bring it up!' cried our leader, working with the coolness which only a +long apprenticeship to war can give. 'Now, friends, cut the traces!' +A dozen knives were at work in a moment, and the kicking, struggling +animals scampered off, leaving their burdens behind them. Saxon sprang +off his horse and set the example in dragging the waggon across the +roadway, while some of the peasants, under the direction of Reuben +Lockarby and of Master Joshua Pettigrue, arranged a couple of other +carts to block the way fifty yards further down. The latter precaution +was to guard against the chance of the royal horse riding through +the fields and attacking us from behind. So speedily was the scheme +conceived and carried out, that within a very few minutes of the first +alarm we found ourselves protected front and rear by a lofty barricade, +while within this improvised fortress was a garrison of a hundred and +fifty men. + +'What firearms have we amongst us?' asked Saxon hurriedly. + +'A dozen pistols at the most,' replied the elderly Puritan, who was +addressed by his companions as Hope-above Williams. 'John Rodway, +the coachman, hath his blunderbuss. There are also two godly men from +Hungerford, who are keepers of game, and who have brought their pieces +with them.' + +'They are here, sir,' cried another, pointing to two stout, bearded +fellows, who were ramming charges into their long-barrelled muskets. +'Their names are Wat and Nat Millman.' + +'Two who can hit their mark are worth a battalion who shoot wide,' our +leader remarked, 'Get under the waggon, my friends, and rest your pieces +upon the spokes. Never draw trigger until the sons of Belial are within +three pikes' length of ye.' + +'My brother and I,' quoth one of them, 'can hit a running doe at two +hundred paces. Our lives are in the hands of the Lord, but two, at +least, of these hired butchers we shall send before us.' + +'As gladly as ever we slew stoat or wild-cat,' cried the other, slipping +under the waggon. 'We are keeping the Lord's preserves now, brother Wat, +and truly these are some of the vermin that infest them.' + +'Let all who have pistols line the waggon,' said Saxon, tying his mare +to the hedge--an example which we all followed. 'Clarke, do you take +charge upon the right with Sir Gervas, while Lockarby assists Master +Pettigrue upon the left. Ye others shall stand behind with stones. +Should they break through our barricades, slash at the horses with your +scythes. Once down, the riders are no match for ye.' + +A low sullen murmur of determined resolution rose from the peasants, +mingled with pious ejaculations and little scraps of hymn or of prayer. +They had all produced from under their smocks rustic weapons of some +sort. Ten or twelve had petronels, which, from their antique look and +rusty condition, threatened to be more dangerous to their possessors +than to the enemy. Others had sickles, scythe-blades, flails, +half-pikes, or hammers, while the remainder carried long knives and +oaken clubs. Simple as were these weapons, history has proved that in +the hands of men who are deeply stirred by religious fanaticism they are +by no means to be despised. One had but to look at the stern, set faces +of our followers, and the gleam of exultation and expectancy which shone +from their eyes, to see that they were not the men to quail, either from +superior numbers or equipment. + +'By the Mass!' whispered Sir Gervas, 'it is magnificent! An hour of this +is worth a year in the Mall. The old Puritan bull is fairly at bay. Let +us see what sort of sport the bull-pups make in the baiting of him! I'll +lay five pieces to four on the chaw-bacons!' + +'Nay, it's no matter for idle betting,' said I shortly, for his +light-hearted chatter annoyed me at so solemn a moment. + +'Five to four on the soldiers, then!' he persisted. 'It is too good a +match not to have a stake on it one way or the other.' + +'Our lives are the stake,' said I. + +'Faith, I had forgot it!' he replied, still mumbling his toothpick. '"To +be or not to be?" as Will of Stratford says. Kynaston was great on the +passage. But here is the bell that rings the curtain up.' + +Whilst we had been making our dispositions the troop of horse--for there +appeared to be but one--had trotted down the cross-road, and had drawn +up across the main highway. They numbered, as far as I could judge, +about ninety troopers, and it was evident from their three-cornered +hats, steel plates, red sleeves, and bandoliers, that they were dragoons +of the regular army. The main body halted a quarter of a mile from us, +while three officers rode to the front and held a short consultation, +which ended in one of them setting spurs to his horse and cantering down +in our direction. A bugler followed a few paces behind him, waving a +white kerchief and blowing an occasional blast upon his trumpet. + +'Here comes an envoy,' cried Saxon, who was standing up in the waggon. +'Now, my brethren, we have neither kettle-drum nor tinkling brass, but +we have the instrument wherewith Providence hath endowed us. Let us show +the redcoats that we know how to use it. + + "Who then dreads the violent, + Or fears the man of pride? + Or shall I flee from two or three + If He be by my side?"' + +Seven score voices broke in, in a hoarse roar, upon the chorus-- + + 'Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord?' + +I could well believe at that moment that the Spartans had found the lame +singer Tyrtaeus the most successful of their generals, for the sound of +their own voices increased the confidence of the country folk, while the +martial words of the old hymn roused the dogged spirit in their breasts. +So high did their courage run that they broke off their song with a +loud warlike shout, waving their weapons above their heads, and ready I +verily believe to march out from their barricades and make straight for +the horsemen. In the midst of this clamour and turmoil the young dragoon +officer, a handsome, olive-faced lad, rode fearlessly up to the barrier, +and pulling up his beautiful roan steed, held up his hand with an +imperious gesture which demanded silence. + +'Who is the leader of this conventicle?' he asked. + +'Address your message to me, sir,' said our leader from the top of +the waggon, 'but understand that your white flag will only protect you +whilst you use such language as may come from one courteous adversary to +another. Say your say or retire.' + +'Courtesy and honour,' said the officer, with a sneer, 'are not extended +to rebels who are in arms against their lawful sovereign. If you are the +leader of this rabble, I warn you if they are not dispersed within five +minutes by this watch'--he pulled out an elegant gold time-piece--'we +shall ride down upon them and cut them to pieces.' + +'The Lord can protect His own,' Saxon answered, amid a fierce hum of +approval from the crowd. 'Is this all thy message?' + +'It is all, and you will find it enough, you Presbyterian traitor,' +cried the dragoon cornet. 'Listen to me, misguided fools,' he continued, +standing up upon his stirrups and speaking to the peasants at the +other side of the waggon. 'What chance have ye with your whittles and +cheese-scrapers? Ye may yet save your skins if ye will but deliver up +your leaders, throw down what ye are pleased to call your arms, and +trust to the King's mercy.' + +'This exceedeth the limitations of your privileges,' said Saxon, drawing +a pistol from his belt and cocking it. 'If you say another word to +seduce these people from their allegiance, I fire.' + +'Hope not to benefit Monmouth,' cried the young officer, disregarding +the threat, and still addressing his words to the peasants. 'The whole +royal army is drawing round him and--' + +'Have a care!' shouted our leader, in a deep harsh voice. + +'His head within a month shall roll upon the scaffold.' + +'But you shall never live to see it,' said Saxon, and stooping over +he fired straight at the cornet's head. At the flash of the pistol the +trumpeter wheeled round and galloped for his life, while the roan horse +turned and followed with its master still seated firmly in the saddle. + +'Verily you have missed the Midianite!' cried Hope-above Williams. + +'He is dead,' said our leader, pouring a fresh charge into his pistol. +'It is the law of war, Clarke,' he added, looking round at me. 'He hath +chosen to break it, and must pay forfeit.' + +As he spoke I saw the young officer lean gradually over in his saddle, +until, when about half-way back to his friends, he lost his balance and +fell heavily in the roadway, turning over two or three times with +the force of his fall, and lying at last still and motionless, a +dust-coloured heap. A loud yell of rage broke from the troopers at +the sight, which was answered by a shout of defiance from the Puritan +peasantry. + +'Down on your faces!' cried Saxon; 'they are about to fire.' + +The crackle of musketry and a storm of bullets, pinging on the hard +ground, or cutting twigs from the hedges on either side of us, lent +emphasis to our leader's order. Many of the peasants crouched behind the +feather beds and tables which had been pulled out of the cart. Some lay +in the waggon itself, and some sheltered themselves behind or underneath +it. Others again lined the ditches on either side or lay flat upon the +roadway, while a few showed their belief in the workings of Providence +by standing upright without flinching from the bullets. Amongst these +latter were Saxon and Sir Gervas, the former to set an example to his +raw troops, and the latter out of pure laziness and indifference. +Reuben and I sat together in the ditch, and I can assure you, my dear +grandchildren, that we felt very much inclined to bob our heads when we +heard the bullets piping all around them. If any soldier ever told you +that he did not the first time that he was under fire, then that soldier +is not a man to trust. After sitting rigid and silent, however, as if +we had both stiff necks, for a very few minutes, the feeling passed +completely away, and from that day to this it has never returned to me. +You see familiarity breeds contempt with bullets as with other things, +and though it is no easy matter to come to like them, like the King of +Sweden or my Lord Cutts, it is not so very hard to become indifferent to +them. + +The cornet's death did not remain long unavenged. A little old man with +a sickle, who had been standing near Sir Gervas, gave a sudden sharp +cry, and springing up into the air with a loud 'Glory to God!' fell flat +upon his face dead. A bullet had struck him just over the right eye. +Almost at the same moment one of the peasants in the waggon was shot +through the chest, and sat up coughing blood all over the wheel. I saw +Master Joshua Pettigrue catch him in his long arms, and settle some +bedding under his head, so that he lay breathing heavily and pattering +forth prayers. The minister showed himself a man that day, for amid the +fierce carbine fire he walked boldly up and down, with a drawn rapier in +his left hand--for he was a left-handed man--and his Bible in the other. +'This is what you are dying for, dear brothers,' he cried continually, +holding the brown volume up in the air; 'are ye not ready to die for +this?' And every time he asked the question a low eager murmur of assent +rose from the ditches, the waggon, and the road. + +'They aim like yokels at a Wappenschaw,' said Saxon, seating himself +on the side of the waggon. 'Like all young soldiers they fire too high. +When I was an adjutant it was my custom to press down the barrels of the +muskets until my eye told me that they were level. These rogues think +that they have done their part if they do but let the gun off, though +they are as like to hit the plovers above us as ourselves.' + +'Five of the faithful have fallen,' said Hope-above Williams. 'Shall we +not sally forth and do battle with the children of Antichrist? Are we to +lie here like so many popinjays at a fair for the troopers to practise +upon?' + +'There is a stone barn over yonder on the hill-side,' I remarked. 'If +we who have horses, and a few others, were to keep the dragoons in +play, the people might be able to reach it, and so be sheltered from the +fire.' + +'At least let my brother and me have a shot or two back at them,' cried +one of the marksmen beside the wheel. + +To all our entreaties and suggestions, however, our leader only replied +by a shake of the head, and continued to swing his long legs over the +side of the waggon with his eyes fixed intently upon the horsemen, many +of whom had dismounted and were leaning their carbines over the cruppers +of their chargers. + +'This cannot go on, sir,' said the pastor, in a low earnest voice; 'two +more men have just been hit.' + +'If fifty more men are hit we must wait until they charge,' Saxon +answered. 'What would you do, man? If you leave this shelter you will +be cut off and utterly destroyed. When you have seen as much of war as +I have done, you will learn to put up quietly with what is not to be +avoided. I remember on such another occasion when the rearguard or +nachhut of the Imperial troops was followed by Croats, who were in +the pay of the Grand Turk, I lost half my company before the mercenary +renegades came to close fighting. Ha, my brave boys, they are mounting! +We shall not have to wait long now.' + +The dragoons were indeed climbing into their saddles again, and forming +across the road, with the evident intention of charging down upon us. +At the same time about thirty men detached themselves from the main body +and trotted away into the fields upon our right. Saxon growled a hearty +oath under his breath as he observed them. + +'They have some knowledge of warfare after all,' said he. 'They mean to +charge us flank and front. Master Joshua, see that your scythesmen +line the quickset hedge upon the right. Stand well up, my brothers, and +flinch not from the horses. You men with the sickles, lie in the ditch +there, and cut at the legs of the brutes. A line of stone throwers +behind that. A heavy stone is as sure as a bullet at close quarters. If +ye would see your wives and children again, make that hedge good against +the horsemen. Now for the front attack. Let the men who carry petronels +come into the waggon. Two of yours, Clarke, and two of yours, Lockarby. +I can spare one also. That makes five. Now here are ten others of a sort +and three muskets. Twenty shots in all. Have you no pistols, Sir Gervas? + +'No, but I can get a pair,' said our companion, and springing upon his +horse he forced his way through the ditch, past the barrier, and so down +the road in the direction of the dragoons. + +The movement was so sudden and so unexpected that there was a dead +silence for a few seconds, which was broken by a general howl of hatred +and execration from the peasants. 'Shoot upon him! Shoot down the false +Amalekite!' they shrieked. 'He hath gone to join his kind! He hath +delivered us up into the hands of the enemy! Judas! Judas!' As to the +horsemen, who were still forming up for a charge and waiting for the +flanking party to get into position, they sat still and silent, not +knowing what to make of the gaily-dressed cavalier who was speeding +towards them. + +We were not left long in doubt, however. He had no sooner reached the +spot where the cornet had fallen than he sprang from his horse and +helped himself to the dead man's pistols, and to the belt which +contained his powder and ball. Mounting at his leisure, amid a shower of +bullets which puffed up the white dust all around him, he rode onwards +towards the dragoons and discharged one of his pistols at them. Wheeling +round he politely raised his cap, and galloped back to us, none the +worse for his adventure, though a ball had grazed his horse's fetlock +and another had left a hole in the skirt of his riding-coat. The +peasants raised a shout of jubilation as he rode in, and from that day +forward our friend was permitted to wear his gay trappings and to bear +himself as he would, without being suspected of having mounted the +livery of Satan or of being wanting in zeal for the cause of the saints. + +'They are coming,' cried Saxon. 'Let no man draw trigger until he sees +me shoot. If any does, I shall send a bullet through him, though it was +my last shot and the troopers were amongst us.' + +As our leader uttered this threat and looked grimly round upon us with +an evident intention of executing it, a shrill blare of a bugle burst +from the horsemen in front of us, and was answered by those upon our +flank. At the signal both bodies set spurs to their horses and dashed +down upon us at the top of their speed. Those in the field were delayed +for a few moments, and thrown into some disorder, by finding that the +ground immediately in front of them was soft and boggy, but having +made their way through it they re-formed upon the other side and rode +gallantly at the hedge. Our own opponents, having a clear course before +them, never slackened for an instant, but came thundering down with a +jingling of harness and a tempest of oaths upon our rude barricades. + +Ah, my children! when a man in his age tries to describe such things as +these, and to make others see what he has seen, it is only then that he +understands what a small stock of language a plain man keeps by him for +his ordinary use in the world, and how unfit it is to meet any call +upon it. For though at this very moment I can myself see that white +Somersetshire road, with the wild whirling charge of the horsemen, the +red angry faces of the men, and the gaping nostrils of the horses all +wreathed and framed in clouds of dust, I cannot hope to make it clear +to your young eyes, which never have looked, and, I trust, never shall +look, upon such a scene. When, too, I think of the sound, a mere rattle +and jingle at first, but growing in strength and volume with every step, +until it came upon us with a thunderous rush and roar which gave the +impression of irresistible power, I feel that that too is beyond the +power of my feeble words to express. To inexperienced soldiers like +ourselves it seemed impossible that our frail defence and our feeble +weapons could check for an instant the impetus and weight of the +dragoons. To right and left I saw white set faces, open-eyed and rigid, +unflinching, with a stubbornness which rose less from hope than from +despair. All round rose exclamations and prayers. 'Lord, save Thy +people!' 'Mercy, Lord, mercy!' 'Be with us this day!' 'Receive our +souls, O merciful Father!' Saxon lay across the waggon with his eyes +glinting like diamonds and his petronel presented at the full length +of his rigid arm. Following his example we all took aim as steadily as +possible at the first rank of the enemy. Our only hope of safety lay +in making that one discharge so deadly that our opponents should be too +much shaken to continue their attack. + +Would the man never fire? They could not be more than ten paces from us. +I could see the buckles of the men's plates and the powder charges in +their bandoliers. One more stride yet, and at last our leader's pistol +flashed and we poured in a close volley, supported by a shower of heavy +stones from the sturdy peasants behind. I could hear them splintering +against casque and cuirass like hail upon a casement. The cloud of smoke +veiling for an instant the line of galloping steeds and gallant riders +drifted slowly aside to show a very different scene. A dozen men and +horses were rolling in one wild blood-spurting heap, the unwounded +falling over those whom our balls and stones had brought down. +Struggling, snorting chargers, iron-shod feet, staggering figures rising +and falling, wild, hatless, bewildered men half stunned by a fall, and +not knowing which way to turn--that was the foreground of the picture, +while behind them the remainder of the troop were riding furiously back, +wounded and hale, all driven by the one desire of getting to a place of +safety where they might rally their shattered formation. A great shout +of praise and thanksgiving rose from the delighted peasants, and +surging over the barricade they struck down or secured the few uninjured +troopers who had boon unable or unwilling to join their companions in +their flight. The carbines, swords, and bandoliers were eagerly pounced +upon by the victors, some of whom had served in the militia, and knew +well how to handle the weapons which they had won. + +The victory, however, was by no means completed. The flanking squadron +had ridden boldly at the hedge, and a dozen or more had forced their way +through, in spite of the showers of stones and the desperate thrusts of +the pikemen and scythemen. Once amongst the peasants, the long swords +and the armour of the dragoons gave them a great advantage, and though +the sickles brought several of the horses to the ground the soldiers +continued to lay about them freely, and to beat back the fierce but +ill-armed resistance of their opponents. A dragoon sergeant, a man of +great resolution and of prodigious strength, appeared to be the leader +of the party, and encouraged his followers both by word and example. +A stab from a half-pike brought his horse to the ground, but he +sprang from the saddle as it fell, and avenged its death by a sweeping +back-handed cut from his broadsword. Waving his hat in his left hand he +continued to rally his men, and to strike down every Puritan who came +against him, until a blow from a hatchet brought him on his knees and +a flail stroke broke his sword close by the hilt. At the fall of their +leader his comrades turned and fled through the hedge, but the gallant +fellow, wounded and bleeding, still showed fight, and would assuredly +have been knocked upon the head for his pains had I not picked him up +and thrown him into the waggon, where he had the good sense to lie quiet +until the skirmish was at an end. Of the dozen who broke through, not +more than four escaped, and several others lay dead or wounded upon the +other side of the hedge, impaled by scythe-blades or knocked off +their horses by stones. Altogether nine of the dragoons were slain +and fourteen wounded, while we retained seven unscathed prisoners, ten +horses fit for service, and a score or so of carbines, with good store +of match, powder, and ball. The remainder of the troop fired a +single, straggling, irregular volley, and then galloped away down the +cross-road, disappearing amongst the trees from which they had emerged. + +All this, however, had not been accomplished without severe loss upon +our side. Three men had been killed and six wounded, one of them +very seriously, by the musketry fire. Five had been cut down when +the flanking party broke their way in, and only one of these could be +expected to recover. In addition to this, one man had lost his life +through the bursting of an ancient petronel, and another had his arm +broken by the kick of a horse. Our total losses, therefore, were eight +killed and the same wounded, which could not but be regarded as a very +moderate number when we consider the fierceness of the skirmish, and the +superiority of our enemy both in discipline and in equipment. + +So elated were the peasants by their victory, that those who had secured +horses were clamorous to be allowed to follow the dragoons, the more so +as Sir Gervas Jerome and Reuben were both eager to lead them. Decimus +Saxon refused, however, to listen to any such scheme, nor did he show +more favour to the Reverend Joshua Pettigrue's proposal, that he should +in his capacity as pastor mount immediately upon the waggon, and improve +the occasion by a few words of healing and unction. + +'It is true, good Master Pettigrue, that we owe much praise and much +outpouring, and much sweet and holy contending, for this blessing which +hath come upon Israel,' said he, 'but the time hath not yet arrived. +There is an hour for prayer and an hour for labour. Hark ye, friend'--to +one of the prisoners--'to what regiment do you belong?' + +'It is not for me to reply to your questions,' the man answered sulkily. + +Nay, then, we'll try if a string round your scalp and a few twists of a +drumstick will make you find your tongue,' said Saxon, pushing his face +up to that of the prisoner, and staring into his eyes with so savage an +expression that the man shrank away affrighted. + +'It is a troop of the second dragoon regiment,' he said. + +'Where is the regiment itself?' + +'We left it on the Ilchester and Langport road.' + +'You hear,' said our leader. 'We have not a moment to spare, or we may +have the whole crew about our ears. Put our dead and wounded in the +carts, and we can harness two of these chargers to them. We shall not be +in safety until we are in Taunton town.' + +Even Master Joshua saw that the matter was too pressing to permit of +any spiritual exercises. The wounded men were lifted into the waggon and +laid upon the bedding, while our dead were placed in the cart which had +defended our rear. The peasants who owned these, far from making any +objection to this disposal of their property, assisted us in every way, +tightening girths and buckling traces. Within an hour of the ending of +the skirmish we found ourselves pursuing our way once more, and looking +back through the twilight at the scattered black dots upon the white +road, where the bodies of the dragoons marked the scene of our victory. + + + + +Chapter XVI. Of our Coming to Taunton + +The purple shadows of evening had fallen over the countryside, and the +sun had sunk behind the distant Quantock and Brendon Hills, as our rude +column of rustic infantry plodded through Curry Rivell, Wrantage, and +Henlade. At every wayside cottage and red-tiled farmhouse the people +swarmed out us we passed, with jugs full of milk or beer, shaking hands +with our yokels, and pressing food and drink upon them. In the little +villages old and young came buzzing to greet us, and cheered long and +loud for King Monmouth and the Protestant cause. The stay-at-homes were +mostly elderly folks and children, but here and there a young labourer, +whom hesitation or duties had kept back, was so carried away by our +martial appearance, and by the visible trophies of our victory, that he +snatched up a weapon and joined our ranks. + +The skirmish had reduced our numbers, but it had done much to turn our +rabble of peasants into a real military force. The leadership of Saxon, +and his stern, short words of praise or of censure had done even more. +The men kept some sort of formation, and stepped together briskly in a +compact body. The old soldier and I rode at the head of the column, with +Master Pettigrue still walking between us. Then came the cartful of +our dead, whom we were carrying with us to insure their decent burial. +Behind this walked two score of scythe and sickle men, with their rude +weapons over their shoulders, preceding the waggon in which the wounded +were carried. This was followed by the main body of the peasants, +and the rear was brought up by ten or twelve men under the command of +Lockarby and Sir Gervas, mounted upon captured chargers, and wearing the +breastplates, swords, and carbines of the dragoons. + +I observed that Saxon rode with his chin upon his shoulder, casting +continual uneasy glances behind him, and halting at every piece of +rising ground to make sure that there were no pursuers at our heels. It +was not until, after many weary miles of marching, the lights of Taunton +could be seen twinkling far off in the valley beneath us that he at last +heaved a deep sigh of relief, and expressed his belief that all danger +was over. + +'I am not prone to be fearful upon small occasion,' he remarked, 'but +hampered as we are with wounded men and prisoners, it might have puzzled +Petrinus himself to know what we should have done had the cavalry +overtaken us. I can now, Master Pettigrue, smoke my pipe in peace, +without pricking up my ears at every chance rumble of a wheel or shout +of a village roisterer.' + +'Even had they pursued us,' said the minister stoutly, 'as long as the +hand of the Lord shall shield us, why should we fear them?' + +'Aye, aye!' Saxon answered impatiently, 'but the devil prevaileth at +times. Were not the chosen people themselves overthrown and led into +captivity? How say you, Clarke?' + +'One such skirmish is enough for a day,' I remarked. 'Faith! if instead +of charging us they had continued that carbine fire, we must either have +come forth or been shot where we lay.' + +'For that reason I forbade our friends with the muskets to answer it,' +said Saxon. 'Our silence led them to think that we had but a pistol or +two among us, and so brought them to charge us. Thus our volley became +the more terrifying since it was unexpected. I'll wager there was not a +man amongst them who did not feel that he had been led into a trap. Mark +you how the rogues wheeled and fled with one accord, as though it had +been part of their daily drill!' + +'The peasants stood to it like men,' I remarked. + +'There is nothing like a tincture of Calvinism for stiffening a line of +battle,' said Saxon. 'Look at the Swede when he is at home. What more +honest, simple-hearted fellow could you find, with no single soldierly +virtue, save that he could put away more spruce beer than you would care +to pay for. Yet if you do but cram him with a few strong, homely texts, +place a pike in his hand, and give him a Gustavus to lead him, there is +no infantry in the world that can stand against him. On the other hand, +I have seen young Turks, untrained to arms, strike in on behalf of the +Koran as lustily as these brave fellows behind us did for the Bible +which Master Pettigrue held up in front of them.' + +'I trust, sir,' said the minister gravely, 'that you do not, by +these remarks, intend to institute any comparison between our sacred +scriptures and the writings of the impostor Mahomet, or to infer that +there is any similarity between the devil-inspired fury of the infidel +Saracens and the Christian fortitude of the struggling faithful!' + +'By no means,' Saxon answered, grinning at me over the minister's head. +'I was but showing how closely the Evil One can imitate the workings of +the Spirit.' + +'Too true, Master Saxon, too true!' the clergyman answered sadly. 'Amid +the conflict and discord it is hard to pick out the true path. But +I marvel much that amidst the snares and temptations that beset a +soldier's life you have kept yourself unsullied, with your heart still +set upon the true faith.' + +'It was through no strength of mine own,' said Saxon piously. + +'In very truth, such men as you are much needed in Monmouth's army,' +Master Joshua exclaimed. 'They have there several, as I understand, from +Holland, Brandenburg, and Scotland, who have been trained in arms, but +who care so little for the cause which we uphold that they curse and +swear in a manner that affrights the peasants, and threatens to call +down a judgment upon the army. Others there are who cling close to the +true faith, and have been born again among the righteous; but alas! they +have had no experience of camps and fields. Our blessed Master can work +by means of weak instruments, yet the fact remains that a man may be +a chosen light in a pulpit, and yet be of little avail in an onslaught +such as we have seen this day. I can myself arrange my discourse to the +satisfaction of my flock, so that they grieve when the sand is run out; +(Note E. Appendix) but I am aware that this power would stand me in +little stead when it came to the raising of barricades and the use of +carnal weapons. In this way it comes about, in the army of the faithful, +that those who are fit to lead are hateful to the people, while those to +whose words the people will hearken know little of war. Now we have this +day seen that you are ready of head and of hand, of much experience of +battle, and yet of demure and sober life, full of yearnings after the +word, and strivings against Apollyon. I therefore repeat that you shall +be as a very Joshua amongst them, or as a Samson, destined to tear +down the twin pillars of Prelacy and Popery, so as to bury this corrupt +government in its fall.' + +Decimus Saxon's only reply to this eulogy was one of those groans which +were supposed, among the zealots, to be the symbol of intense inner +conflict and emotion. So austere and holy was his expression, so solemn +his demeanour, and so frequent the upturnings of his eyes, clasping +of his hands, and other signs which marked the extreme sectary, that +I could not but marvel at the depths and completeness of the hypocrisy +which had cast so complete a cloak over his rapacious self. For very +mischief's sake I could not refrain from reminding him that there was +one at least who valued his professions at their real value. + +'Have you told the worthy minister,' said I, 'of your captivity amongst +the Mussulmans, and of the noble way in which you did uphold the +Christian faith at Stamboul?' + +'Nay,' cried our companion, 'I would fain hear the tale. I marvel much +that one so faithful and unbending as thyself was ever let loose by the +unclean and bloodthirsty followers of Mahomet.' + +'It does not become me to tell the tale,' Saxon answered with great +presence of mind, casting at the same time a most venomous sidelong +glance at me. 'It is for my comrades in misfortune and not for me to +describe what I endured for the faith. I have little doubt, Master +Pettigrue, that you would have done as much had you been there. The town +of Taunton lies very quiet beneath us, and there are few lights for so +early an hour, seeing that it has not yet gone ten. It is clear that +Monmouth's forces have not reached it yet, else had there been some show +of camp-fires in the valley; for though it is warm enough to lie out in +the open, the men must have fires to cook their victual.' + +'The army could scarce have come so far,' said the pastor. 'They have, +I hear, been much delayed by the want of arms and by the need of +discipline. Bethink ye, it was on the eleventh day of the month that +Monmouth landed at Lyme, and it is now but the night of the fourteenth. +There was much to be done in the time.' + +'Four whole days!' growled the old soldier. 'Yet I expected no better, +seeing that they have, so far as I can hear, no tried soldiers amongst +them. By my sword, Tilly or Wallenstein would not have taken four days +to come from Lyme to Taunton, though all James Stuart's cavalry barred +the way. Great enterprises are not pushed through in this halting +fashion. The blow should be sharp and sudden. But tell me, worthy sir, +all that you know about the matter, for we have heard little upon the +road save rumour and surmise. Was there not some fashion of onfall at +Bridport?' + +'There was indeed some shedding of blood at that place. The first two +days were consumed, as I understand, in the enrolling of the faithful +and the search for arms wherewith to equip them. You may well shake your +head, for the hours were precious. At last five hundred men were broken +into some sort of order, and marched along the coast under command of +Lord Grey of Wark and Wade the lawyer. At Bridport they were opposed +by the red Dorset militia and part of Portman's yellow coats. If all +be true that is said, neither side had much to boast of. Grey and his +cavalry never tightened bridle until they were back in Lyme once more, +though it is said their flight had more to do with the hard mouths +of their horses than with the soft hearts of the riders. Wade and his +footmen did bravely, and had the best of it against the King's troops. +There was much outcry against Grey in the camp, but Monmouth can +scarce afford to be severe upon the only nobleman who hath joined his +standard.' + +'Pshaw!' cried Saxon peevishly. 'There was no great stock of noblemen in +Cromwell's army, I trow, and yet they held their own against the King, +who had as many lords by him as there are haws in a thicket. If ye have +the people on your side, why should ye crave for these bewigged fine +gentlemen, whose white hands and delicate rapiers are of as much service +as so many ladies' bodkins?' + +'Faith!' said I, 'if all the fops are as careless for their lives as our +friend Sir Gervas, I could wish no better comrades in the field.' + +'In good sooth, yes!' cried Master Pettigrue heartily. 'What though he +be clothed in a Joseph's coat of many colours, and hath strange turns +of speech! No man could have fought more stoutly or shown a bolder front +against the enemies of Israel. Surely the youth hath good in his heart, +and will become a seat of grace and a vessel of the Spirit, though +at present he be entangled in the net of worldly follies and carnal +vanities.' + +'It is to be hoped so,' quoth Saxon devoutly. 'And what else can you +tell us of the revolt, worthy sir?' + +'Very little, save that the peasants have flocked in in such numbers +that many have had to be turned away for want of arms. Every tithing-man +in Somersetshire is searching for axes and scythes. There is not +a blacksmith but is at his forge from morn to night at work upon +pike-heads. There are six thousand men of a sort in the camp, but +not one in five carries a musket. They have advanced, I hear, upon +Axminster, where they must meet the Duke of Albemarle, who hath set out +from Exeter with four thousand of the train bands.' + +'Then we shall be too late, after all,' I exclaimed. + +'You will have enough of battles before Monmouth exchanges his +riding-hat for a crown, and his laced roquelaure for the royal purple,' +quoth Saxon. 'Should our worthy friend here be correctly informed and +such an engagement take place, it will but be the prologue to the play. +When Feversham and Churchill come up with the King's own troops, it is +then that Monmouth takes the last spring, that lands him either on the +throne or the scaffold.' + +Whilst this conversation had been proceeding we had been walking our +horses down the winding track which leads along the eastern slope of +Taunton Deane. For some time past we had been able to see in the valley +beneath us the lights of Taunton town and the long silver strip of +the river Tone. The moon was shining brightly in a cloudless heaven, +throwing a still and peaceful radiance over the fairest and richest of +English valleys. Lordly manorial houses, pinnacled towers, clusters of +nestling thatch-roofed cottages, broad silent stretches of cornland, +dark groves with the glint of lamp-lit windows shining from their +recesses--it all lay around us like the shadowy, voiceless landscapes +which stretch before us in our dreams. So calm and so beautiful was the +scene that we reined up our horses at the bend of the pathway, the tired +and footsore peasants came to a halt, while even the wounded raised +themselves in the waggon in order to feast their eyes upon this land of +promise. Suddenly, in the stillness, a strong fervent voice was heard +calling upon the source of all life to guard and preserve that which +He had created. It was Joshua Pettigrue, who had flung himself upon his +knees, and who, while asking for future guidance, was returning thanks +for the safe deliverance which his flock had experienced from the many +perils which had beset them upon their journey. I would, my children, +that I had one of those magic crystals of which we have read, that I +might show you that scene. The dark figures of the horsemen, the grave, +earnest bearing of the rustics as they knelt in prayer or leaned upon +their rude weapons, the half-cowed, half-sneering expression of the +captive dragoons, the line of white pain-drawn faces that peeped +over the side of the waggon, and the chorus of groans, cries, and +ejaculations which broke in upon the steady earnest voice of the pastor. +Above us the brilliant heavens, beneath us the beautiful sloping valley, +stretching away in the white moonlight as far as the eye could reach. +Could I but paint such a scene with the brush of a Verrio or Laguerre, I +should have no need to describe it in these halting and feeble words. + +Master Pettigrue had concluded his thanksgiving, and was in the act of +rising to his feet, when the musical peal of a bell rose up from the +sleeping town before us. For a minute or more it rose and fell in its +sweet clear cadence. Then a second with a deeper, harsher note joined +in, and then a third, until he air was filled with the merry jangling. +At the same time a buzz of shouting or huzzaing could be heard, which +increased and spread until it swelled into a mighty uproar. Lights +flashed in the windows, drums beat, and the whole place was astir. These +sudden signs of rejoicing coming at the heels of the minister's prayer +were seized upon as a happy omen by the superstitious peasants, who set +up a glad cry, and pushing onwards were soon within the outskirts of the +town. + +The footpaths and causeway were black with throngs of the townsfolk, +men, women, and children, many of whom were bearing torches and +lanthorns, all flocking in the same direction. Following them we found +ourselves in the market-place, where crowds of apprentice lads were +piling up faggots for a bonfire, while others were broaching two or +three great puncheons of ale. The cause of this sudden outbreak of +rejoicing was, we learned, that news had just come in that Albemarle's +Devonshire militia had partly deserted and partly been defeated at +Axminster that very morning. On hearing of our own successful skirmish +the joy of the people became more tumultuous than ever. They rushed in +amongst us, pouring blessings on our heads, in their strange burring +west-country speech, and embracing our horses as well as ourselves. +Preparations were soon made for our weary companions. A long empty wool +warehouse, thickly littered with straw, was put at their disposal, with +a tub of ale and a plentiful supply of cold meats and wheaten bread. +For our own part we made our way down East Street through the clamorous +hand-shaking crowd to the White Hart Inn, where after a hasty meal we +were right glad to seek our couches. Late into the night, however, our +slumbers were disturbed by the rejoicings of the mob, who, having burned +the effigies of Lord Sunderland and of Gregory Alford, Mayor of Lyme, +continued to sing west-country songs and Puritan hymns into the small +hours of the morning. + + + +Chapter XVII. Of the Gathering in the Market-square + +The fair town in which we now found ourselves was, although Monmouth +had not yet reached it, the real centre of the rebellion. It was a +prosperous place, with a great woollen and kersey trade, which gave +occupation to as many as seven thousand inhabitants. It stood high, +therefore, amongst English boroughs, being inferior only to Bristol, +Norwich, Bath, Exeter, York, Worcester, and Nottingham amongst the +country towns. Taunton had long been famous not only for its own +resources and for the spirit of its inhabitants, but also for the +beautiful and highly cultivated country which spread around it, and gave +rise to a gallant breed of yeomen. From time immemorial the town had +been a rallying-point for the party of liberty, and for many years it +had leaned to the side of Republicanism in politics and of Puritanism +in religion. No place in the kingdom had fought more stoutly for +the Parliament, and though it had been twice besieged by Goring, the +burghers, headed by the brave Robert Blake, had fought so desperately, +that the Royalists had been compelled each time to retire discomfited. +On the second occasion the garrison had been reduced to dog's-flesh and +horse-flesh, but no word of surrender had come either from them or +their heroic commander, who was the same Blake under whom the old seaman +Solomon Sprent had fought against the Dutch. After the Restoration the +Privy Council had shown their recollection of the part played by the +Somersetshire town, by issuing a special order that the battlements +which fenced round the maiden stronghold should be destroyed. Thus, +at the time of which I speak, nothing but a line of ruins and a few +unsightly mounds represented the massive line of wall which had been +so bravely defended by the last generation of townsmen. There were not +wanting, however, many other relics of those stormy times. The houses on +the outskirts were still scarred and splintered from the effects of +the bombs and grenades of the Cavaliers. Indeed, the whole town bore a +grimly martial appearance, as though she were a veteran among boroughs +who had served in the past, and was not averse to seeing the flash of +guns and hearing the screech of shot once more. + +Charles's Council might destroy the battlements which his soldiers had +been unable to take, but no royal edict could do away with the resolute +spirit and strong opinions of the burghers. Many of them, born and bred +amidst the clash of civil strife, had been fired from their infancy by +the tales of the old war, and by reminiscences of the great assault when +Lunsford's babe-eaters were hurled down the main breach by the strong +arms of their fathers. In this way there was bred in Taunton a fiercer +and more soldierly spirit than is usual in an English country town, and +this flame was fanned by the unwearied ministerings of a chosen band +of Nonconformist clergymen, amongst whom Joseph Alleine was the most +conspicuous. No better focus for a revolt could have been chosen, for +no city valued so highly those liberties and that creed which was in +jeopardy. + +A large body of the burghers had already set out to join the rebel army, +but a good number had remained behind to guard the city, and these were +reinforced by gangs of peasants, like the one to which we had attached +ourselves, who had trooped in from the surrounding country, and now +divided their time between listening to their favourite preachers and +learning to step in line and to handle their weapons. In yard, street, +and market-square there was marching and drilling, night, morning, and +noon. As we rode out after breakfast the whole town was ringing with the +shouting of orders and the clatter of arms. Our own friends of yesterday +marched into the market-place at the moment we entered it, and no sooner +did they catch sight of us than they plucked off their hats and cheered +lustily, nor would they desist until we cantered over to them and took +our places at their head. + +'They have vowed that none other should lead them,' said the minister, +standing by Saxon's stirrup. + +'I could not wish to lead stouter fellows,' said he. 'Let them deploy +into double line in front of the town-hall. So, so, smartly there, rear +rank!' he shouted, facing his horse towards them. 'Now swing round into +position. Keep your ground, left flank, and let the others pivot upon +you. So--as hard and as straight as an Andrea Ferrara. I prythee, +friend, do not carry your pike as though it were a hoe, though I trust +you will do some weeding in the Lord's vineyard with it. And you, sir, +your musquetoon should be sloped upon your shoulder, and not borne under +your arm like a dandy's cane. Did ever an unhappy soldier find himself +called upon to make order among so motley a crew! Even my good friend +the Fleming cannot so avail here, nor does Petrinus, in his "De re +militari," lay down any injunctions as to the method of drilling a man +who is armed with a sickle or a scythe.' + +'Shoulder scythe, port scythe, present scythe--mow!' whispered Reuben to +Sir Gervas, and the pair began to laugh, heedless of the angry frowns of +Saxon. + +'Let us divide them,' he said, 'into three companies of eighty men. Or +stay--how many musketeers have we in all? Five-and-fifty. Let them stand +forward, and form the first line or company. Sir Gervas Jerome, you have +officered the militia of your county, and have doubtless some knowledge +of the manual exercise. If I am commandant of this force I hand over the +captaincy of this company to you. It shall be the first line in battle, +a position which I know you will not be averse to.' + +'Gad, they'll have to powder their heads,' said Sir Gervas, with +decision. + +'You shall have the entire ordering of them,' Saxon answered. 'Let the +first company take six paces to the front--so! Now let the pikemen stand +out. Eighty-seven, a serviceable company! Lockarby, do you take these +men in hand, and never forget that the German wars have proved that the +best of horse has no more chance against steady pikemen than the waves +against a crag. Take the captaincy of the second company, and ride at +their head.' + +'Faith! If they don't fight better than their captain rides,' whispered +Reuben, 'it will be an evil business. I trust they will be firmer in the +field than I am in the saddle.' + +'The third company of scythesmen I commit to your charge, Captain Micah +Clarke,' continued Saxon. 'Good Master Joshua Pettigrue will be our +field-chaplain. Shall not his voice and his presence be to us as +manna in the wilderness, and as springs of water in dry places? The +under-officers I see that you have yourselves chosen, and your captains +shall have power to add to the number from those who smite boldly and +spare not. Now one thing I have to say to you, and I speak it that all +may hear, and that none may hereafter complain that the rules he serves +under were not made clear to him. For I tell you now that when the +evening bugle calls, and the helm and pike are laid aside, I am as you +and you as I, fellow-workers in the same field, and drinkers from the +same wells of life. Lo, I will pray with you, or preach with you, or +hearken with you, or expound to you, or do aught that may become a +brother pilgrim upon the weary road. But hark you, friends! when we are +in arms and the good work is to be done, on the march, in the field, or +on parade, then let your bearing be strict, soldierly, and scrupulous, +quick to hear and alert to obey, for I shall have no sluggards or +laggards, and if there be any such my hand shall be heavy upon them, +yea, even to the cutting of them off. I say there shall be no mercy for +such,' here he paused and surveyed his force with a set face and his +eyelids drawn low over his glinting, shifting eyes. 'If, then,' he +continued, 'there is any man among you who fears to serve under a hard +discipline, let him stand forth now, and let him betake him to some +easier leader, for I say to you that whilst I command this corps, +Saxon's regiment of Wiltshire foot shall be worthy to testify in this +great and soul-raising cause.' + +The Colonel stopped and sat silent upon his mare. The long lines of +rustic faces looked up, some stolidly, some admiringly, some with an +expression of fear at his stern, gaunt face and baneful eyes. None +moved, however, so he continued. + +'Worthy Master Timewell, the Mayor of this fair town of Taunton, who +has been a tower of strength to the faithful during these long and +spirit-trying times, is about to inspect us when the others shall have +assembled. Captains, to your companies then! Close up there on the +musqueteers, with three paces between each line. Scythesmen, take ground +to your left. Let the under-officers stand on the flanks and rear. So! +'tis smartly done for a first venture, though a good adjutant with a +prugel after the Imperial fashion might find work to do.' + +Whilst we were thus rapidly and effectively organising ourselves into a +regiment, other bodies of peasantry more or less disciplined had marched +into the market-square, and had taken up their position there. Those +on our right had come from Frome and Radstock, in the north of +Somersetshire, and were a mere rabble armed with flails, hammers, and +other such weapons, with no common sign of order or cohesion save the +green boughs which waved in their hat-bands. The body upon our left, who +bore a banner amongst them announcing that they were men of Dorset, were +fewer in number but better equipped, having a front rank, like our own, +entirely armed with muskets. + +The good townsmen of Taunton, with their wives and their daughters, +had meanwhile been assembling on the balconies and at the windows which +overlooked the square, whence they might have a view of the pageant. The +grave, square-bearded, broadclothed burghers, and their portly dames in +velvet and three-piled taffeta, looked down from every post of vantage, +while here and there a pretty, timid face peeping out from a Puritan +coif made good the old claim, that Taunton excelled in beautiful women +as well as in gallant men. The side-walks were crowded with the commoner +folk--old white-bearded wool-workers, stern-faced matrons, country +lasses with their shawls over their heads, and swarms of children, who +cried out with their treble voices for King Monmouth and the Protestant +succession. + +'By my faith!' said Sir Gervas, reining back his steed until he was +abreast of me, 'our square-toed friends need not be in such post-haste +to get to heaven when they have so many angels among them on earth. +Gad's wounds, are they not beautiful? Never a patch or a diamond amongst +them, and yet what would not our faded belles of the Mall or the Piazza +give for their innocence and freshness?' + +'Nay, for Heaven's sake do not smile and bow at them,' said I. 'These +courtesies may pass in London, but they may be misunderstood among +simple Somerset maidens and their hot-headed, hard-handed kinsfolk.' + +I had hardly spoken before the folding-doors of the town-hall were +thrown open, and a procession of the city fathers emerged into the +market-place. Two trumpeters in parti-coloured jerkins preceded them, +who blew a flourish upon their instruments as they advanced. Behind came +the aldermen and councilmen, grave and reverend elders, clad in their +sweeping gowns of black silk, trimmed and tippeted with costly furs. +In rear of these walked a pursy little red-faced man, the town clerk, +bearing a staff of office in his hand, while the line of dignitaries +was closed by the tall and stately figure of Stephen Timewell, Mayor of +Taunton. + +There was much in this magistrate's appearance to attract attention, for +all the characteristics of the Puritan party to which he belonged were +embodied and exaggerated in his person. Of great height he was and very +thin, with a long-drawn, heavy eyelidded expression, which spoke of +fasts and vigils. The bent shoulders and the head sunk upon the breast +proclaimed the advances of age, but his bright steel-grey eyes and the +animation of his eager face showed how the enthusiasm of religion +could rise superior to bodily weakness. A peaked, straggling grey beard +descended half-way to his waist, and his long snow-white hairs fluttered +out from under a velvet skull-cap. The latter was drawn tightly down +upon his head, so as to make his ears protrude in an unnatural manner +on either side, a custom which had earned for his party the title of +'prickeared,' so often applied to them by their opponents. His attire +was of studious plainness and sombre in colour, consisting of his black +mantle, dark velvet breeches, and silk hosen, with velvet bows upon his +shoes instead of the silver buckles then in vogue. A broad chain of gold +around his neck formed the badge of his office. In front of him strutted +the fat red-vested town clerk, one hand upon his hip, the other extended +and bearing his wand of office, looking pompously to right and left, +and occasionally bowing as though the plaudits were entirely on his own +behalf. This little man had tied a huge broadsword to his girdle, which +clanked along the cobble stones when he walked and occasionally inserted +itself between his legs, when he would gravely cock his foot over it +again and walk on without any abatement of his dignity. At last, finding +these interruptions become rather too frequent, he depressed the hilt of +his great sword in order to elevate the point, and so strutted onwards +like a bantam cock with a tingle straight feather in its tail. + +Having passed round the front and rear of the various bodies, and +inspected them with a minuteness and attention which showed that his +years had not dulled his soldier's faculties, the Mayor faced round with +the evident intention of addressing us. His clerk instantly darted in +front of him, and waving his arms began to shout 'Silence, good people! +Silence for his most worshipful the Mayor of Taunton! Silence for +the worthy Master Stephen Timewell!' until in the midst of his +gesticulations and cries he got entangled once more with his overgrown +weapon, and went sprawling on his hands and knees in the kennel. + +'Silence yourself, Master Tetheridge,' said the chief magistrate +severely. 'If your sword and your tongue were both clipped, it would be +as well for yourself and us. Shall I not speak a few words in season +to these good people but you must interrupt with your discordant +bellowings?' + +The busybody gathered himself together and slunk behind the group of +councilmen, while the Mayor slowly ascended the steps of the market +cross. From this position he addressed us, speaking in a high piping +voice which gathered strength as he proceeded, until it was audible at +the remotest corners of the square. + +'Friends in the faith,' he said, 'I thank the Lord that I have been +spared in my old age to look down upon this goodly assembly. For we of +Taunton have ever kept the flame of the Covenant burning amongst us, +obscured it may be at times by time-servers and Laodiceans, but none the +less burning in the hearts of our people. All round us, however, +there was a worse than Egyptian darkness, where Popery and Prelacy, +Arminianism, Erastianism, and Simony might rage and riot unchecked and +unconfined. But what do I see now? Do I see the faithful cowering +in their hiding-places and straining their ears for the sound of the +horsehoof's of their oppressors? Do I see a time-serving generation, +with lies on their lips and truth buried in their hearts? No! I see +before me godly men, not from this fair city only, but from the broad +country round, and from Dorset, and from Wiltshire, and some even as I +hear from Hampshire, all ready and eager to do mighty work in the cause +of the Lord. And when I see these faithful men, and when I think that +every broad piece in the strong boxes of my townsmen is ready to support +them, and when I know that the persecuted remnant throughout the country +is wrestling hard in prayer for us, then a voice speaks within me and +tells me that we shall tear down the idols of Dagon, and build up in +this England of ours such a temple of the true faith that not Popery, +nor Prelacy, nor idolatry, nor any other device of the Evil One shall +ever prevail against it.' + +A deep irrepressible hum of approval burst from the close ranks of +the insurgent infantry, with a clang of arms as musquetoon or pike was +grounded upon the stone pavement. + +Saxon half-turned his fierce face, raising an impatient hand, and the +hoarse murmur died away among our men, though our less-disciplined +companions to right and left continued to wave their green boughs and to +clatter their arms. The Taunton men opposite stood grim and silent, but +their set faces and bent brows showed that their townsman's oratory had +stirred the deep fanatic spirit which distinguished them. + +'In my hands,' continued the Mayor, drawing a roll of paper from his +bosom, 'is the proclamation which our royal leader hath sent in advance +of him. In his great goodness and self-abnegation he had, in his early +declaration given forth at Lyme, declared that he should leave the +choice of a monarch to the Commons of England, but having found that +his enemies did most scandalously and basely make use of this his +self-denial, and did assert that he had so little confidence in his own +cause that he dared not take publicly the title which is due to him, he +hath determined that this should have an end. Know, therefore, that it +is hereby proclaimed that James, Duke of Monmouth, is now and henceforth +rightful King of England; that James Stuart, the Papist and fratricide, +is a wicked usurper, upon whose head, dead or alive, a price of five +thousand guineas is affixed; and that the assembly now sitting at +Westminster, and calling itself the Commons of England, is an illegal +assembly, and its acts are null and void in the sight of the law. God +bless King Monmouth and the Protestant religion!' + +The trumpeters struck up a flourish and the people huzzaed, but the +Mayor raised his thin white hands as a signal for silence. 'A messenger +hath reached me this morning from the King,' he continued. 'He sends a +greeting to all his faithful Protestant subjects, and having halted at +Axminster to rest after his victory, he will advance presently and be +with ye in two days at the latest. + +'Ye will grieve to hear that good Alderman Rider was struck down in the +thick of the fray. He hath died like a man and a Christian, leaving all +his worldly goods, together with his cloth-works and household property, +to the carrying on of the war. Of the other slain there are not more +than ten of Taunton birth. Two gallant young brothers have been cut off, +Oliver and Ephraim Hollis, whose poor mother--' + +'Grieve not for me, good Master Timewell,' cried a female voice from the +crowd. 'I have three others as stout, who shall all be offered in the +same quarrel.' + +'You are a worthy woman, Mistress Hollis,' the Mayor answered, 'and your +children shall not be lost to you. The next name upon my list is Jesse +Trefail, then come Joseph Millar, and Aminadab Holt--' + +An elderly musqueteer in the first line of the Taunton foot pulled his +hat down over his brows and cried out in a loud steady voice, 'The Lord +hath given and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the +Lord.' + +'It is your only son, Master Holt,' said the Mayor, 'but the Lord also +sacrificed His only Son that you and I might drink the waters of eternal +life. The others are Path of Light Regan, James Fletcher, Salvation +Smith, and Robert Johnstone.' + +The old Puritan gravely rolled up his papers, and having stood for a +few moments with his hands folded across his breast in silent prayer, he +descended from the market cross, and moved off, followed by the aldermen +and councilmen. The crowd began likewise to disperse in sedate and sober +fashion, with grave earnest faces and downcast eyes. A large number of +the countryfolk, however, more curious or less devout than the citizens, +gathered round our regiment to see the men who had beaten off the +dragoons. + +'See the mon wi' a face like a gerfalcon,' cried one, pointing to Saxon; +''tis he that slew the Philistine officer yestreen, an' brought the +faithful off victorious.' + +'Mark ye yon other one,' cried an old dame, 'him wi' the white face an' +the clothes like a prince. He's one o' the Quality, what's come a' the +way froe Lunnon to testify to the Protestant creed. He's a main pious +gentleman, he is, an' if he had bided in the wicked city they'd ha' had +his head off, like they did the good Lord Roossell, or put him in chains +wi' the worthy Maister Baxter.' + +'Marry come up, gossip,' cried a third. 'The girt mun on the grey horse +is the soldier for me. He has the smooth cheeks o' a wench, an' limbs +like Goliath o' Gath. I'll war'nt he could pick up my old gaffer Jones +an' awa' wi' him at his saddle-bow, as easy as Towser does a rotten! But +here's good Maister Tetheridge, the clerk, and on great business too, +for he's a mun that spares ne time ne trooble in the great cause.' + +'Room, good people, room! 'cried the little clerk, bustling up with an +air of authority. 'Hinder not the high officials of the Corporation in +the discharge of their functions. Neither should ye hamper the flanks +of fighting men, seeing that you thereby prevent that deploying and +extending of the line which is now advocated by many high commanders. +I prythee, who commands this cohort, or legion rather, seeing that you +have auxiliary horse attached to it?' + +''Tis a regiment, sirrah,' said Saxon sternly. 'Colonel Saxon's regiment +of Wiltshire foot, which I have the honour to command.' + +'I beg your Colonelship's pardon, 'cried the clerk nervously, edging +away from the swarthy-faced soldier. 'I have heard speak of your +Colonelship, and of your doings in the German wars. I have myself +trailed a pike in my youth and have broken a head or two, aye, and a +heart or two also, when I wore buff and bandolier.' + +'Discharge your message,' said our Colonel shortly. + +''Tis from his most worshipful the Mayor, and is addressed to yourself +and to your captains, who are doubtless these tall cavaliers whom I see +on either side of me. Pretty fellows, by my faith! but you and I know +well, Colonel, that a little trick of fence will set the smallest of us +on a level with the brawniest. Now I warrant that you and I, being +old soldiers, could, back to back, make it good against these three +gallants.' + +'Speak, fellow,' snarled Saxon, and reaching out a long sinewy arm he +seized the loquacious clerk by the lappet of his gown, and shook him +until his long sword clattered again. + +'How, Colonel, how?' cried Master Tetheridge, while his vest seemed to +acquire a deeper tint from the sudden pallor of his face. 'Would you +lay an angry hand upon the Mayor's representative? I wear a bilbo by my +side, as you can see. I am also somewhat quick and choleric, and warn +you therefore not to do aught which I might perchance construe into a +personal slight. As to my message, it was that his most worshipful +the Mayor did desire to have word with you and your captains in the +town-hall.' + +'We shall be there anon,' said Saxon, and turning to the regiment he set +himself to explain some of the simpler movements and exercises, teaching +his officers as well as his men, for though Sir Gervas knew something of +the manual, Lockarby and I brought little but our good-will to the task. +When the order to dismiss was at last given, our companies marched back +to their barracks in the wool warehouse, while we handed over our horses +to the grooms from the White Hart, and set off to pay our respects to +the Mayor. + + + +Chapter XVIII. Of Master Stephen Timewell, Mayor of Taunton + +Within the town-hall all was bustle and turmoil. At one side behind a +low table covered with green baize sat two scriveners with great rolls +of paper in front of them. A long line of citizens passed slowly before +them, each in turn putting down a roll or bag of coins which was duly +noted by the receivers. A square iron-bound chest stood by their side, +into which the money was thrown, and we noted as we passed that it was +half full of gold pieces. We could not but mark that many of the givers +were men whose threadbare doublets and pinched faces showed that the +wealth which they were dashing down so readily must have been hoarded up +for such a purpose, at the cost of scanty fare and hard living. Most of +them accompanied their gift by a few words of prayer, or by some pithy +text anent the treasure which rusteth not, or the lending to the Lord. +The town clerk stood by the table giving forth the vouchers for each +sum, and the constant clack of his tongue filled the hall, as he read +aloud the names and amounts, with his own remarks between. + +'Abraham Willis,' he shouted as we entered; 'put him down twenty-six +pounds and ten shillings. You shall receive ten per centum upon this +earth, Master Willis, and I warrant that it shall not be forgotten +hereafter. John Standish, two pounds. William Simons, two guineas. +Stand-fast Healing, forty-five pounds. That is a rare blow which you +have struck into the ribs of Prelacy, good Master Healing. Solomon +Warren, five guineas. James White, five shillings--the widow's mite, +James! Thomas Bakewell, ten pounds. Nay, Master Bakewell, surely out of +three farms on the banks of Tone, and grazing land in the fattest part +of Athelney, you can spare more than this for the good cause. We shall +doubtless see you again. Alderman Smithson, ninety pounds. Aha! There is +a slap for the scarlet woman! A few more such and her throne shall be a +ducking-stool. We shall break her down, worthy Master Smithson, even as +Jehu, the son of Nimshi, broke down the house of Baal.' So he babbled on +with praise, precept, and rebuke, though the grave and solemn burghers +took little notice of his empty clamour. + +At the other side of the hall were several long wooden drinking-troughs, +which were used for the storing of pikes and scythes. Special messengers +and tithing-men had been sent out to scour the country for arms, who, +as they returned, placed their prizes here under the care of the +armourer-general. Besides the common weapons of the peasants there was a +puncheon half full of pistols and petronels, together with a good number +of muskets, screw-guns, snaphances, birding-pieces, and carbines, with +a dozen bell-mouthed brass blunderbusses, and a few old-fashioned +wall-pieces, such as sakers and culverins taken from the manor-houses of +the county. From the walls and the lumber-rooms of these old dwellings +many other arms had been brought to light which were doubtless esteemed +as things of price by our forefathers, but which would seem strange to +your eyes in these days, when a musket may be fired once in every two +minutes, and will carry a ball to a distance of four hundred paces. +There were halberds, battle-axes, morning stars, brown bills, maces, and +ancient coats of chain mail, which might even now save a man from sword +stroke or pike thrust. + +In the midst of the coming and the going stood Master Timewell, the +Mayor, ordering all things like a skilful and provident commander. I +could understand the trust and love which his townsmen had for him, as +I watched him labouring with all the wisdom of an old man and the +blithesomeness of a young one. He was hard at work as we approached in +trying the lock of a falconet; but perceiving us, he came forward and +saluted us with much kindliness. + +'I have heard much of ye,' said he; 'how ye caused the faithful to +gather to a head, and so beat off the horsemen of the usurper. It will +not be the last time, I trust, that ye shall see their backs. I hear, +Colonel Saxon, that ye have seen much service abroad.' + +'I have been the humble tool of Providence in much good work,' +said Saxon, with a bow. 'I have fought with the Swedes against the +Brandenburgers, and again with the Brandenburgers against the Swedes, my +time and conditions with the latter having been duly carried out. I +have afterwards in the Bavarian service fought against Swedes and +Brandenburgers combined, besides having undergone the great wars on the +Danube against the Turk, and two campaigns with the Messieurs in the +Palatinate, which latter might be better termed holiday-making than +fighting.' + +'A soldierly record in very truth,' cried the Mayor, stroking his white +beard. 'I hear that you are also powerfully borne onwards in prayer and +song. You are, I perceive, one of the old breed of '44, Colonel--the men +who were in the saddle all day, and on their knees half the night. When +shall we see the like of them again? A few such broken wrecks as I are +left, with the fire of our youth all burned out and nought left but the +ashes of lethargy and lukewarmness.' + +'Nay, nay,' said Saxon, 'your position and present business will scarce +jump with the modesty of your words. But here are young men who will +find the fire if their elders bring the brains. This is Captain Micah +Clarke, and Captain Lockarby, and Captain the Honourable Sir Gervas +Jerome, who have all come far to draw their swords for the downtrodden +faith.' + +'Taunton welcomes ye, young sirs,' said the Mayor, looking a +trifle askance, as I thought, at the baronet, who had drawn out his +pocket-mirror, and was engaged in the brushing of his eyebrows. 'I trust +that during your stay in this town ye will all four take up your abode +with me. 'Tis a homely roof and simple fare, but a soldier's wants are +few. And now, Colonel, I would fain have your advice as to these three +drakes, whether if rehooped they may be deemed fit for service; and also +as to these demi-cannons, which were used in the old Parliamentary days, +and may yet have a word to say in the people's cause.' + +The old soldier and the Puritan instantly plunged into a deep +and learned disquisition upon the merits of wall-pieces, drakes, +demi-culverins, sakers, minions, mortar-pieces, falcons, and +pattereroes, concerning all which pieces of ordnance Saxon had strong +opinions to offer, fortified by many personal hazards and experiences. +He then dwelt upon the merits of fire-arrows and fire-pikes in the +attack or defence of places of strength, and had finally begun to +descant upon sconces, 'directis lateribus,' and upon works, semilunar, +rectilineal, horizontal, or orbicular, with so many references to his +Imperial Majesty's lines at Gran, that it seemed that his discourse +would never find an end. We slipped away at last, leaving him still +discussing the effects produced by the Austrian grenadoes upon a +Bavarian brigade of pikes at the battle of Ober-Graustock. + +'Curse me if I like accepting this old fellow's offer,' said Sir Gervas, +in an undertone. 'I have heard of these Puritan households. Much grace +to little sack, and texts flying about as hard and as jagged as flint +stones. To bed at sundown, and a sermon ready if ye do but look kindly +at the waiting-wench or hum the refrain of a ditty.' + +'His home may be larger, but it could scarce be stricter than that of my +own father,' I remarked. + +'I'll warrant that,' cried Reuben. 'When we have been a morris-dancing, +or having a Saturday night game of "kiss-in-the-ring," or +"parson-has-lost-his-coat," I have seen Ironside Joe stride past us, and +cast a glance at us which hath frozen the smile upon our lips. I warrant +that he would have aided Colonel Pride to shoot the bears and hack down +the maypoles.' + +''Twere fratricide for such a man to shoot a bear,' quoth Sir Gervas, +'with all respect, friend Clarke, for your honoured progenitor.' + +'No more than for you to shoot at a popinjay,' I answered, laughing; +'but as to the Mayor's offer, we can but go to meat with him now, and +should it prove irksome it will be easy for you to plead some excuse, +and so get honourably quit of it. But bear in mind, Sir Gervas, that +such households are in very truth different to any with which you are +acquainted, so curb your tongue or offence may come of it. Should I cry +"hem!" or cough, it will be a sign to you that you had best beware.' + +'Agreed, young Solomon!' cried he. 'It is, indeed, well to have a pilot +like yourself who knows these godly waters. For my own part, I should +never know how near I was to the shoals. But our friends have finished +the battle of Ober what's its name, and are coming towards us. I trust, +worthy Mr. Mayor, that your difficulties have been resolved?' + +'They are, sir,' replied the Puritan. 'I have been much edified by your +Colonel's discourse, and I have little doubt that by serving under him +ye will profit much by his ripe experience.' + +'Very like, sir, very like,' said Sir Gervas carelessly. + +'But it is nigh one o'clock,' the Mayor continued, 'our frail flesh +cries aloud for meat and drink. I beg that ye will do me the favour to +accompany me to my humble dwelling, where we shall find the household +board already dressed.' + +With these words he led the way out of the hall and paced slowly down +Fore Street, the people falling back to right and to left as he passed, +and raising their caps to do him reverence. Here and there, as he +pointed out to us, arrangements had been made for barring the road with +strong chains to prevent any sudden rush of cavalry. In places, too, at +the corner of a house, a hole had been knocked in the masonry through +which peeped the dark muzzle of a carronade or wall-piece. These +precautions were the more necessary as several bodies of the Royal +Horse, besides the one which we had repulsed, were known to be within +the Deane, and the town, deprived of its ramparts, was open to an +incursion from any daring commander. + +The chief magistrate's house was a squat square-faced stone building +within a court which opened on to East Street. The peaked oak door, +spangled with broad iron nails, had a gloomy and surly aspect, but +the hall within was lightful and airy, with a bright polished cedar +planking, and high panelling of some dark-grained wood which gave forth +a pleasant smell as of violets. A broad night of steps rose up from the +farther end of the hall, down which as we entered a young sweet-faced +maid came tripping, with an old dame behind her, who bore in her hands a +pile of fresh napery. At the sight of us the elder one retreated up the +stairs again, whilst the younger came flying down three steps at a +time, threw her arms round the old Mayor's neck, and kissed him fondly, +looking hard into his face the while, as a mother gazes into that of a +child with whom she fears that aught may have gone amiss. + +'Weary again, daddy, weary again,' she said, shaking her head anxiously, +with a small white hand upon each of his shoulders. 'Indeed, and indeed, +thy spirit is greater than thy strength.' + +'Nay, nay, lass,' said he, passing his hand fondly over her rich brown +hair. The workman must toil until the hour of rest is rung. This, +gentlemen, is my granddaughter Ruth, the sole relic of my family and the +light of mine old age. The whole grove hath been cut down, and only the +oldest oak and the youngest sapling left. These cavaliers, little one, +have come from afar to serve the cause, and they have done us the honour +to accept of our poor hospitality.' + +'Ye are come in good time, gentlemen,' she answered, looking us straight +in the eyes with a kindly smile as a sister might greet her brothers. +'The household is gathered round the table and the meal is ready.' + +'But not more ready than we,' cried the stout old burgher. 'Do thou +conduct our guests to their places, whilst I seek my room and doff these +robes of office, with my chain and tippet, ere I break my fast.' + +Following our fair guide we passed into a very large and lofty room, the +walls of which were wainscoted with carved oak, and hung at either end +with tapestry. The floor was tesselated after the French fashion, and +plentifully strewn with skins and rugs. At one end of the apartment +stood a great white marble fireplace, like a small room in itself, +fitted up, as was the ancient custom, with an iron stand in the centre, +and with broad stone benches in the recess on either side. Lines of +hooks above the chimneypiece had been used, as I surmise, to support +arms, for the wealthy merchants of England were wont to keep enough in +their houses to at least equip their apprentices and craftsmen. They +had now, however, been removed, nor was there any token of the troublous +times save a single heap of pikes and halberds piled together in a +corner. + +Down the centre of this room there ran a long and massive table, which +was surrounded by thirty or forty people, the greater part of whom were +men. They were on their feet as we entered, and a grave-faced man at the +farther end was drawling forth an interminable grace, which began as a +thanksgiving for food, but wandered away into questions of Church and +State, and finally ended in a supplication for Israel now in arms to do +battle for the Lord. While this was proceeding we stood in a group +by the door with our caps doffed, and spent our time in observing the +company more closely than we could have done with courtesy had their +eyes not been cast down and their thoughts elsewhere. + +They were of all ages, from greybeards down to lads scarce out of their +teens, all with the same solemn and austere expression of countenance, +and clad in the same homely and sombre garb. Save their wide white +collars and cuffs, not a string of any colour lessened the sad severity +of their attire. Their black coats and doublets were cut straight and +close, and their cordovan leather shoes, which in the days of our youth +were usually the seat of some little ornament, were uniformly square +toed and tied with sad-coloured ribbon. Most of them wore plain +sword-belts of untanned hide, but the weapons themselves, with their +broad felt hats and black cloaks, were laid under the benches or placed +upon the settles which lined the walls. They stood with their hands +clasped and their heads bent, listening to the untimely address, and +occasionally by some groan or exclamation testifying that the preacher's +words had moved them. + +The overgrown grace came at last to an end, when the company sat +silently down, and proceeded without pause or ceremony to attack the +great joints which smoked before them. Our young hostess led us to the +end of the table, where a high carded chair with a black cushion upon it +marked the position of the master of the house. Mistress Timewell seated +herself upon the right of the Mayor's place, with Sir Gervas beside her, +while the post of honour upon the left was assigned to Saxon. On my left +sat Lockarby, whose eyes I observed had been fixed in undisguised and +all-absorbing admiration upon the Puritan maiden from the first moment +that he had seen her. The table was of no great breadth, so that we +could talk across in spite of the clatter of plates and dishes, the +bustle of servants, and the deep murmur of voices. + +'This is my father's household,' said our hostess, addressing herself to +Saxon. 'There is not one of them who is not in his employ. He hath many +apprentices in the wool trade. We sit down forty to meat every day in +the year.' + +'And to right good fare, too,' quoth Saxon, glancing down the table. +'Salmon, ribs of beef, loin of mutton, veal, pasties--what could man +wish for more? Plenty of good home-brewed, too, to wash it down. If +worthy Master Timewell can arrange that the army be victualled after the +same fashion, I for one shell be beholden to him. A cup of dirty water +and a charred morsel cooked on a ramrod over the camp fire are like to +take the place of these toothsome dainties.' + +'Is it not best to have faith?' said the Puritan maiden. 'Shall not the +Almighty feed His soldiers even as Elisha was fed in the wilderness and +Hagar in the desert?' + +'Aye,' exclaimed a lanky-haired, swarthy young man who sat upon the +right of Sir Gervas, 'he will provide for us, even as the stream of +water gushed forth out of dry places, even as the quails and the manna +lay thick upon barren soil.' + +'So I trust, young sir,' quoth Saxon, 'but we must none the less arrange +a victual-train, with a staff of wains, duly numbered, and an intendant +over each, after the German fashion. Such things should not be left to +chance.' + +Pretty Mistress Timewell glanced up with a half startled look at this +remark, as though shocked at the want of faith implied in it. Her +thoughts might have taken the form of words had not her father entered +the room at the moment, the whole company rising and bowing to him as he +advanced to his seat. + +'Be seated, friends,' said he, with a wave of his hand; 'we are a homely +folk, Colonel Saxon, and the old-time virtue of respect for our elders +has not entirely forsaken us. I trust, Ruth,' he continued, 'that thou +hast seen to the wants of our guests.' + +We all protested that we had never received such attention and +hospitality. + +''Tis well, 'tis well,' said the good wool-worker. 'But your plates are +clear and your glasses empty. William, look to it! A good workman +is ever a good trencherman. If a 'prentice of mine cannot clean his +platter, I know that I shall get little from him with carder and teazel. +Thew and sinew need building up. A slice from that round of beef, +William! Touching that same battle of Ober-Graustock, Colonel, what part +was played in the fray by that regiment of Pandour horse, in which, as I +understand, thou didst hold a commission?' + +This was a question on which, as may be imagined, Saxon had much to say, +and the pair were soon involved in a heated discussion, in which the +experiences of Roundway Down and Marston Moor were balanced against the +results of a score of unpronounceable fights in the Styrian Alps and +along the Danube. Stephen Timewell in his lusty youth had led first +a troop and then a regiment through the wars of the Parliament, from +Chalgrove Field to the final battle at Worcester, so that his warlike +passages, though less varied and extensive than those of our companion, +were enough to enable him to form and hold strong opinions. These were +in the main the same as those of the soldier of fortune, but when their +ideas differed upon any point, there arose forthwith such a cross-fire +of military jargon, such speech of estacados and palisados, such +comparisons of light horse and heavy, of pikemen and musqueteers, +of Lanzknechte, Leaguers, and on-falls, that the unused ear became +bewildered with the babble. At last, on some question of fortification, +the Mayor drew his outworks with the spoons and knives, on which Saxon +opened his parallels with lines of bread, and pushing them rapidly +up with traverses and covered ways, he established himself upon the +re-entering angle of the Mayor's redoubt. This opened up a fresh +question as to counter-mines, with the result that the dispute raged +with renewed vigour. + +Whilst this friendly strife was proceeding between the elders, Sir +Gervas Jerome and Mistress Ruth had fallen into conversation at the +other side of the table. I have seldom seen, my dear children, so +beautiful a face as that of this Puritan damsel; and it was beautiful +with that sort of modest and maidenly comeliness where the features +derive their sweetness from the sweet soul which shines through them. +The perfectly-moulded body appeared to be but the outer expression of +the perfect spirit within. Her dark-brown hair swept back from a broad +and white forehead, which surmounted a pair of well-marked eyebrows and +large blue thoughtful eyes. The whole cast of her features was gentle +and dove-like, yet there was a firmness in the mouth and delicate +prominence of the chin which might indicate that in times of trouble and +danger the little maid would prove to be no unworthy descendant of the +Roundhead soldier and Puritan magistrate. I doubt not that where more +loud-tongued and assertive dames might be cowed, the Mayor's soft-voiced +daughter would begin to cast off her gentler disposition, and to show +the stronger nature which underlay it. It amused me much to listen to +the efforts which Sir Gervas made to converse with her, for the damsel +and he lived so entirely in two different worlds, that it took all his +gallantry and ready wit to keep on ground which would be intelligible to +her. + +'No doubt you spend much of your time in reading, Mistress Ruth,' he +remarked. 'It puzzles me to think what else you can do so far from +town?' + +'Town!' said she in surprise. 'What is Taunton but a town?' + +'Heaven forbid that I should deny it,' replied Sir Gervas, 'more +especially in the presence of so many worthy burghers, who have the name +of being somewhat jealous of the honour of their native city. Yet the +fact remains, fair mistress, that the town of London so far transcends +all other towns that it is called, even as I called it just now, _the_ +town.' + +'Is it so very large, then?' she cried, with pretty wonder. 'But new +louses are building in Taunton, outside the old walls, and beyond +Shuttern, and some even at the other side of the river. Perhaps in time +it may be as large.' + +'If all the folks in Taunton were to be added to London,' said Sir +Gervas, 'no one there would observe that there had been any increase.' + +'Nay, there you are laughing at me. That is against all reason,' cried +the country maiden. + +'Your grandfather will bear out my words,' said Sir Gervas. 'But to +return to your reading, I'll warrant that there is not a page of +Scudery and her "Grand Cyrus" which you have not read. You are familiar, +doubtless, with every sentiment in Cowley, or Waller, or Dryden?' + +'Who are these?' she asked. 'At what church do they preach?' + +'Faith!' cried the baronet, with a laugh, 'honest John preaches at the +church of Will Unwin, commonly known as Will's, where many a time it +is two in the morning before he comes to the end of his sermon. But why +this question? Do you think that no one may put pen to paper unless they +have also a right to wear a gown and climb up to a pulpit? I had thought +that all of your sex had read Dryden. Pray, what are your own favourite +books?' + +'There is Alleine's "Alarm to the Unconverted,"' said she. 'It is a +stirring work, and one which hath wrought much good. Hast thou not found +it to fructify within thee?' + +'I have not read the book you name,' Sir Gervas confessed. + +'Not read it?' she cried, with raised eyebrows. 'Truly I had thought +that every one had read the "Alarm." What dost thou think, then, of +"Faithful Contendings"?' + +'I have not read it.' + +'Or of Baxter's Sermons?' she asked. + +'I have not read them.' + +'Of Bull's "Spirit Cordial," then?' + +'I have not read it.' + +Mistress Ruth Timewell stared at him in undisguised wonder. 'You may +think me ill-bred to say it, sir,' she remarked, 'but I cannot but +marvel where you have been, or what you have done all your life. Why, +the very children in the street have read these books.' + +'In truth, such works come little in our way in London,' Sir Gervas +answered. 'A play of George Etherege's, or a jingle of Sir John +Suckling's is lighter, though mayhap less wholesome food for the mind. +A man in London may keep pace with the world of letters without +much reading, for what with the gossip of the coffee-houses and the +news-letters that fall in his way, and the babble of poets or wits +at the assemblies, with mayhap an evening or two in the week at the +playhouse, with Vanbrugh or Farquhar, one can never part company for +long with the muses. Then, after the play, if a man is in no humour for +a turn of luck at the green table at the Groom Porter's, he may stroll +down to the Coca Tree if he be a Tory, or to St. James's if he be a +Whig, and it is ten to one if the talk turn not upon the turning of +alcaics, or the contest between blank verse or rhyme. Then one may, +after an arriere supper, drop into Will's or Slaughter's and find Old +John, with Tickell and Congreve and the rest of them, hard at work +on the dramatic unities, or poetical justice, or some such matter. I +confess that my own tastes lay little in that line, for about that hour +I was likely to be worse employed with wine-flask, dice-box, or--' + +'Hem! hem!' cried I warningly, for several of the Puritans were +listening with faces which expressed anything but approval. + +'What you say of London is of much interest to me,' said the Puritan +maiden, 'though these names and places have little meaning to my +ignorant ears. You did speak, however, of the playhouse. Surely no +worthy man goes near those sinks of iniquity, the baited traps of the +Evil One? Has not the good and sanctified Master Bull declared from +the pulpit that they are the gathering-place of the froward, the chosen +haunts of the perverse Assyrians, as dangerous to the soul as any +of those Papal steeple-houses wherein the creature is sacrilegiously +confounded with the Creator?' + +'Well and truly spoken, Mistress Timewell,' cried the lean young +Puritan upon the right, who had been an attentive listener to the whole +conversation. 'There is more evil in such houses than even in the cities +of the plain. I doubt not that the wrath of the Lord will descend +upon them, and destroy them, and wreck them utterly, together with the +dissolute men and abandoned women who frequent them.' + +'Your strong opinions, friend,' said Sir Gervas quietly, 'are borne out +doubtless by your full knowledge of the subject. How often, prythee, +have you been in these playhouses which you are so ready to decry?' + +'I thank the Lord that I have never been so far tempted from the +straight path as to set foot within one,' the Puritan answered, 'nor +have I ever been in that great sewer which is called London. I trust, +however, that I with others of the faithful may find our way thither +with our tucks at our sides ere this business is finished, when we shall +not be content, I'll warrant, with shutting these homes of vice, as +Cromwell did, but we shall not leave one stone upon another, and shall +sow the spot with salt, that it may be a hissing and a byword amongst +the people.' + +'You are right, John Derrick,' said the Mayor, who had overheard the +latter part of his remarks. 'Yet methinks that a lower tone and a more +backward manner would become you better when you are speaking with your +master's guests. Touching these same playhouses, Colonel, when we have +carried the upper hand this time, we shall not allow the old tares to +check the new wheat. We know what fruit these places have borne in the +days of Charles, the Gwynnes, the Palmers, and the whole base crew of +foul lecherous parasites. Have you ever been in London, Captain Clarke?' + +'Nay, sir; I am country born and bred.' + +'The better man you,' said our host. 'I have been there twice. The first +time was in the days of the Rump, when Lambert brought in his division +to overawe the Commons. I was then quartered at the sign of the Four +Crosses in Southwark, then kept by a worthy man, one John Dolman, with +whom I had much edifying speech concerning predestination. All was +quiet and sober then, I promise you, and you might have walked from +Westminster to the Tower in the dead of the night without hearing aught +save the murmur of prayer and the chanting of hymns. Not a ruffler or +a wench was in the streets after dark, nor any one save staid citizens +upon their business, or the halberdiers of the watch. The second visit +which I made was over this business of the levelling of the ramparts, +when I and neighbour Foster, the glover, were sent at the head of a +deputation from this town to the Privy Council of Charles. Who could +have credited that a few years would have made such a change? Every evil +thing that had been stamped underground had spawned and festered until +its vermin brood flooded the streets, and the godly wore themselves +driven to shun the light of day. Apollyon had indeed triumphed for a +while. A quiet man could not walk the highways without being elbowed +into the kennel by swaggering swashbucklers, or accosted by painted +hussies. Padders and michers, laced cloaks, jingling spurs, slashed +boots, tall plumes, bullies and pimps, oaths and blasphemies--I promise +you hell was waxing fat. Even in the solitude of one's coach one was not +free from the robber.' + +'How that, sir?' asked Reuben. + +'Why marry, in this wise. As I was the sufferer I have the best right +to tell the tale. Ye must know that after our reception--which was +cold enough, for we were about as welcome to the Privy Council as the +hearth-tax man is to the village housewife--we were asked, more as +I guess from derision than from courtesy, to the evening levee at +Buckingham Palace. We would both fain have been excused from going but +we feared that our refusal might give undue offence, and so hinder the +success of our mission. My homespun garments ware somewhat rough for +such an occasion, yet I determined to appear in them, with the addition +of a new black baize waistcoat faced with silk, and a good periwig, for +which I gave three pounds ten shillings in the Haymarket.' + +The young Puritan opposite turned up his eyes and murmured something +about 'sacrificing to Dagon,' which fortunately for him was inaudible to +the high-spirited old man. + +'It was but a worldly vanity,' quoth the Mayor; 'for, with all +deference, Sir Gervas Jerome, a man's own hair arranged with some taste, +and with perhaps a sprinkling of powder, is to my mind the fittest +ornament to his head. It is the contents and not the case which +availeth. Having donned this frippery, good Master Foster and I hired +a calash and drove to the Palace. We were deep in grave and, I trust, +profitable converse speeding through the endless streets, when of a +sudden I felt a sharp tug at my head, and my hat fluttered down on to my +knees. I raised my hands, and lo! they came upon my bare pate. The wig +had vanished. We were rolling down Fleet Street at the moment, and there +was no one in the calash save neighbour Foster, who sat as astounded as +I. We looked high and low, on the seats and beneath them, but not a sign +of the periwig was there. It was gone utterly and without a trace.' + +'Whither then?' we asked with one voice. + +'That was the question which we set ourselves to solve. For a moment I +do assure ye that we bethought us that it might be a judgment upon us +for our attention to such carnal follies. Then it crossed my mind +that it might be the doing of some malicious sprite, as the Drummer of +Tedworth, or those who occasioned the disturbances no very long time +since at the old Gast House at Little Burton here in Somersetshire. +(Note F. Appendix.) With this thought we hallooed to the coachman, and +told him what had occurred to us. The fellow came down from his +perch, and having heard our story, he burst straightway into much foul +language, and walking round to the back of his calash, showed us that +a slit had been made in the leather wherewith it was fashioned. Through +this the thief had thrust his hand and had drawn my wig through the +hole, resting the while on the crossbar of the coach. It was no uncommon +thing, he said, and the wig-snatchers were a numerous body who waited +beside the peruke-maker's shops, and when they saw a customer come forth +with a purchase which was worth their pains they would follow him, and, +should he chance to drive, deprive him of it in this fashion. Be that as +it may, I never saw my wig again, and had to purchase another before I +could venture into the royal presence.' + +'A strange adventure truly,' exclaimed Saxon. 'How fared it with you for +the remainder of the evening?' + +'But scurvily, for Charles's face, which was black enough at all +times, was blackest of all to us; nor was his brother the Papist more +complaisant. They had but brought us there that they might dazzle us +with their glitter and gee-gaws, in order that we might bear a fine +report of them back to the West with us. There were supple-backed +courtiers, and strutting nobles, and hussies with their shoulders bare, +who should for all their high birth have been sent to Bridewell as +readily as any poor girl who ever walked at the cart's tail. Then there +were the gentlemen of the chamber, with cinnamon and plum-coloured +coats, and a brave show of gold lace and silk and ostrich feather. +Neighbour Foster and I felt as two crows might do who have wandered +among the peacocks. Yet we bare in mind in whose image we were +fashioned, and we carried ourselves, I trust, as independent English +burghers. His Grace of Buckingham had his flout at us, and Rochester +sneered, and the women simpered; but we stood four square, my friend +and I, discussing, as I well remember, the most precious doctrines of +election and reprobation, without giving much heed either to those who +mocked us, or to the gamesters upon our left, or to the dancers upon +our right. So we stood throughout the evening, until, finding that they +could get little sport from us, my Lord Clarendon, the Chancellor, gave +us the word to retire, which we did at our leisure after saluting the +King and the company.' + +'Nay, that I should never have done!' cried the young Puritan, who had +listened intently to his elder's narrative. 'Would it not have been +more fitting to have raised up your hands and called down vengeance upon +them, as the holy man of old did upon the wicked cities?' + +'More fitting, quotha!' said the Mayor impatiently. 'It is most fitting +that youth should be silent until his opinion is asked on such matters. +God's wrath comes with leaden feet, but it strikes with iron hands. In +His own good time He has judged when the cup of these men's iniquities +is overflowing. It is not for us to instruct Him. Curses have, as the +wise man said, a habit of coming home to roost. Bear that in mind, +Master John Derrick, and be not too liberal with them.' + +The young apprentice, for such he was, bowed his head sullenly to the +rebuke, whilst the Mayor, after a short pause, resumed his story. + +'Being a fine night,' said he, 'we chose to walk back to our lodgings; +but never shall I forget the wicked scenes wherewith we were encountered +on the way. Good Master Bunyan, of Elstow, might have added some +pages to his account of Vanity Fair had he been with us. The women, +be-patched, be-ruddled, and brazen; the men swaggering, roistering, +cursing--the brawling, the drabbing, and the drunkenness! It was a fit +kingdom to be ruled over by such a court. At last we had made our way to +more quiet streets, and were hoping that our adventures were at an end, +when of a sudden there came a rush of half-drunken cavaliers from a side +street, who set upon the passers-by with their swords, as though we had +fallen into an ambuscade of savages in some Paynim country. They were, +as I surmise, of the same breed as those of whom the excellent John +Milton wrote: "The sons of Belial, flown with insolence and wine." Alas! +my memory is not what it was, for at one time I could say by rote whole +books of that noble and godly poem.' + +'And, pray, how fared ye with these rufflers, sir?' I asked. + +'They beset us, and some few other honest citizens who were wending +their ways homewards, and waving their naked swords they called upon us +to lay down our arms and pay homage. "To whom?" I asked. They pointed +to one of their number who was more gaudily dressed and somewhat +drunker than the rest. "This is our most sovereign liege," they cried. +"Sovereign over whom?" I asked. "Over the Tityre Tus," they answered. +"Oh, most barbarous and cuckoldy citizen, do you not recognise that you +have fallen into the hands of that most noble order?" "This is not your +real monarch," said I, "for he is down beneath us chained in the pit, +where some day he will gather his dutiful subjects around him." "Lo, he +hath spoken treason!" they cried, on which, without much more ado, they +set upon us with sword and dagger. Neighbour Foster and I placed our +backs against a wall, and with our cloaks round our left arms we made +play with our tucks, and managed to put in one or two of the old Wigan +Lane raspers. In particular, friend Foster pinked the King in such wise +that his Majesty ran howling down the street like a gored bull-pup. We +were beset by numbers, however, and might have ended our mission then +and there had not the watch appeared upon the scene, struck up our +weapons with their halberds, and so arrested the whole party. Whilst the +fray lasted the burghers from the adjoining houses were pouring water +upon us, as though we were cats on the tiles, which, though it did +not cool our ardour in the fight, left us in a scurvy and unsavoury +condition. In this guise we were dragged to the round-house, where we +spent the night amidst bullies, thieves, and orange wenches, to whom I +am proud to say that both neighbour Foster and myself spoke some words +of joy and comfort. In the morning we were released, and forthwith shook +the dust of London from our feet; nor do I ever wish to return thither, +unless it be at the head of our Somersetshire regiments, to see King +Monmouth don the crown which he had wrested in fair fight from the +Popish perverter.' + +As Master Stephen Timewell ended his tale a general shuffling and rising +announced the conclusion of the meal. The company filed slowly out in +order of seniority, all wearing the same gloomy and earnest expression, +with grave gait and downcast eyes. These Puritan ways were, it is true, +familiar to me from childhood, yet I had never before seen a large +household conforming to them, or marked their effect upon so many young +men. + +'You shall bide behind for a while,' said the Mayor, as we were about +to follow the others. 'William, do you bring a flask of the old green +sealed sack. These creature comforts I do not produce before my lads, +for beef and honest malt is the fittest food for such. On occasion, +however, I am of Paul's opinion, that a flagon of wine among friends is +no bad thing for mind or for body. You can away now, sweetheart, if you +have aught to engage you.' + +'Do you go out again?' asked Mistress Ruth. + +'Presently, to the town-hall. The survey of arms is not yet complete.' + +'I shall have your robes ready, and also the rooms of our guests,' she +answered, and so, with a bright smile to us, tripped away upon her duty. + +'I would that I could order our town as that maiden orders this house,' +said the Mayor. 'There is not a want that is not supplied before it is +felt. She reads my thoughts and acts upon them ere my lips have time to +form them. If I have still strength to spend in the public service, it +is because my private life is full of restful peace. Do not fear the +sack, sirs. It cometh from Brooke and Hellier's of Abchurch Lane, and +may be relied upon.' + +'Which showeth that one good thing cometh out of London,' remarked Sir +Gervas. + +'Aye, truly,' said the old man, smiling. 'But what think ye of my young +men, sir? They must needs be of a very different class to any with +whom you are acquainted, if, as I understand, you have frequented court +circles.' + +'Why, marry, they are good enough young men, no doubt,' Sir Gervas +answered lightly. 'Methinks, however, that there is a want of sap about +them. It is not blood, but sour buttermilk that flows in their veins.' + +'Nay, nay,' the Mayor responded warmly. 'There you do them an injustice. +Their passions and feelings are under control, as the skilful rider +keeps his horse in hand; but they are as surely there as is the speed +and endurance of the animal. Did you observe the godly youth who sat +upon your right, whom I had occasion to reprove more than once for +over-zeal? He is a fit example of how a man may take the upper hand of +his feelings, and keep them in control.' + +'And how has he done so?' I asked. + +'Why, between friends,' quoth the Mayor, 'it was but last Lady-day that +he asked the hand of my granddaughter Ruth in marriage. His time is +nearly served, and his father, Sam Derrick, is an honourable craftsman, +so that the match would have been no unfitting one. The maiden turned +against him, however--young girls will have their fancies--and the +matter came to an end. Yet here he dwells under the same roof-tree, at +her elbow from morn to night, with never a sign of that passion which +can scarce have died out so soon. Twice my wool warehouse hath been +nigh burned to the ground since then, and twice he hath headed those who +fought the flames. There are not many whose suit hath been rejected who +would bear themselves in so resigned and patient a fashion.' + +'I am prepared to find that your judgment is the correct one,' said Sir +Gervas Jerome. 'I have learned to distrust too hasty dislikes, and bear +in mind that couplet of John Dryden-- + + "Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow. + He who would search for pearls must dive below."' + +'Or worthy Dr. Samuel Butler,' said Saxon, 'who, in his immortal poem of +"Hudibras," says-- + + "The fool can only see the skin: + The wise man tries to peep within."' + +'I wonder, Colonel Saxon,' said our host severely, 'that you should +speak favourably of that licentious poem, which is composed, as I have +heard, for the sole purpose of casting ridicule upon the godly. I should +as soon have expected to hear you praise the wicked and foolish work of +Hobbes, with his mischievous thesis, "A Deo rex, a rege lex."' + +'It is true that I contemn and despise the use which Butler hath made of +his satire,' said Saxon adroitly; 'yet I may admire the satire itself, +just as one may admire a damascened blade without approving of the +quarrel in which it is drawn.' + +'These distinctions are, I fear, too subtle for my old brain,' said the +stout old Puritan. 'This England of ours is divided into two camps, that +of God and that of Antichrist. He who is not with us is against us, nor +shall any who serve under the devil's banner have anything from me save +my scorn and the sharp edge of my sword.' + +'Well, well,' said Saxon, filling up his glass, 'I am no Laodicean or +time-server. The cause shall not find me wanting with tongue or with +sword.' + +'Of that I am well convinced, my worthy friend,' the Mayor answered, +'and if I have spoken over sharply you will hold me excused. But I +regret to have evil tidings to announce to you. I have not told the +commonalty lest it cast them down, but I know that adversity will be +but the whetstone to give your ardour a finer edge. Argyle's rising has +failed, and he and his companions are prisoners in the hands of the man +who never knew what pity was.' + +We all started in our chairs at this, and looked at one another aghast, +save only Sir Gervas Jerome, whose natural serenity was, I am well +convinced, proof against any disturbance. For you may remember, my +children, that I stated when I first took it in hand to narrate to you +these passages of my life, that the hopes of Monmouth's party rested +very much upon the raid which Argyle and the Scottish exiles had +made upon Ayrshire, where it was hoped that they would create such a +disturbance as would divert a good share of King James's forces, and so +make our march to London less difficult. This was the more confidently +expected since Argyle's own estates lay upon that side of Scotland, +where he could raise five thousand swordsmen among his own clansmen. +The western counties abounded, too, in fierce zealots who were ready to +assert the cause of the Covenant, and who had proved themselves in many +a skirmish to be valiant warriors. With the help of the Highlanders and +of the Covenanters it seemed certain that Argyle would be able to hold +his own, the more so since he took with him to Scotland the English +Puritan Rumbold, and many others skilled in warfare. This sudden news +of his total defeat and downfall was therefore a heavy blow, since it +turned the whole forces of the Government upon ourselves. + +'Have you the news from a trusty source?' asked Decimus Saxon, after a +long silence. + +'It is beyond all doubt or question,' Master Stephen Timewell answered. +'Yet I can well understand your surprise, for the Duke had trusty +councillors with him. There was Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth--' + +'All talk and no fight,' said Saxon. + +'And Richard Rumbold.' + +'All fight and no talk,' quoth our companion. 'He should, methinks, have +rendered a better account of himself.' + +'Then there was Major Elphinstone.' + +'A bragging fool!' cried Saxon.' + +'And Sir John Cochrane.' + +'A captious, long-tongued, short-witted sluggard,' said the soldier of +fortune. 'The expedition was doomed from the first with such men at +its head. Yet I had thought that could they have done nought else, they +might at least have flung themselves into the mountain country, where +these bare-legged caterans could have held their own amid their native +clouds and mists. All taken, you say! It is a lesson and a warning +to us. I tell you that unless Monmouth infuses more energy into his +councils, and thrusts straight for the heart instead of fencing and +foining at the extremities, we shall find ourselves as Argyle and +Rumbold. What mean these two days wasted at Axminster at a time when +every hour is of import? Is he, every time that he brushes a party +of militia aside, to stop forty-eight hours and chant "Te Deums" when +Churchill and Feversham are, as I know, pushing for the West with every +available man, and the Dutch grenadiers are swarming over like rats into +a granary?' + +'You are very right, Colonel Saxon,' the Mayor answered. 'And I trust +that when the King comes here we may stir him up to more prompt action. +He has much need of more soldierly advisers, for since Fletcher hath +gone there is hardly a man about him who hath been trained to arms.' + +'Well,' said Saxon moodily, 'now that Argyle hath gone under we are face +to face with James, with nothing but our own good swords to trust to.' + +'To them and to the justice of our cause. How like ye the news, young +sirs? Has the wine lost its smack on account of it? Are ye disposed to +flinch from the standard of the Lord?' + +'For my own part I shall see the matter through,' said I. + +'And I shall bide where Micah Clarke bides,' quoth Reuben Lockarby. + +'And to me,' said Sir Gervas, 'it is a matter of indifference, so long +as I am in good company and there is something stirring.' + +'In that case,' said the Mayor, 'we had best each turn to his own work, +and have all ready for the King's arrival. Until then I trust that ye +will honour my humble roof.' + +'I fear that I cannot accept your kindness,' Saxon answered. 'When I am +in harness I come and go early and late. I shall therefore take up my +quarters in the inn, which is not very well furnished with victual, +and yet can supply me with the simple fare, which with a black Jack of +October and a pipe of Trinidado is all I require.' + +As Saxon was firm in this resolution the Mayor forbore to press it upon +him, but my two friends gladly joined with me in accepting the worthy +wool-worker's offer, and took up our quarters for the time under his +hospitable roof. + + + +Chapter XIX. Of a Brawl in the Night + +Decimus Saxon refused to avail himself of Master Timewell's house and +table for the reason, as I afterwards learned, that, the Mayor being a +firm Presbyterian, he thought it might stand him in ill stead with the +Independents and other zealots were he to allow too great an intimacy +to spring up between them. Indeed, my dears, from this time onward this +cunning man framed his whole life and actions in such a way as to make +friends of the sectaries, and to cause them to look upon him as their +leader. For he had a firm belief that in all such outbreaks as that in +which we were engaged, the most extreme party is sure in the end to gain +the upper hand. 'Fanatics,' he said to me one day, 'mean fervour, and +fervour means hard work, and hard work means power.' That was the centre +point of all his plotting and scheming. + +And first of all he set himself to show how excellent a soldier he was, +and he spared neither time nor work to make this apparent. From morn +till midday, and from afternoon till night, we drilled and drilled until +in very truth the shouting of the orders and the clatter of the arms +became wearisome to our ears. The good burghers may well have +thought that Colonel Saxon's Wiltshire foot were as much part of the +market-place as the town cross or the parish stocks. There was much to +be done in very little time, so much that many would have thought it +hopeless to attempt it. Not only was there the general muster of the +regiment, but we had each to practise our own companies in their several +drills, and to learn as best we could the names and the wants of the +men. Yet our work was made easier to us by the assurance that it was not +thrown away, for at every gathering our bumpkins stood more erect, +and handled their weapons more deftly. From cock-crow to sun-down the +streets resounded with 'Poise your muskets! Order your muskets! Rest +your muskets! Handle your primers!' and all the other orders of the old +manual exercise. + +As we became more soldierly we increased in numbers, for our smart +appearance drew the pick of the new-comers into our ranks. My own +company swelled until it had to be divided, and others enlarged in +proportion. The baronet's musqueteers mustered a full hundred, skilled +for the most part in the use of the gun. Altogether we sprang from +three hundred to four hundred and fifty, and our drill improved until we +received praise from all sides on the state of our men. + +Late in the evening I was riding slowly back to the house of Master +Timewell when Reuben clattered after me, and besought me to turn back +with him to see a noteworthy sight. Though feeling little in the mood +for such things, I turned Covenant and rode with him down the length of +High Street, and into the suburb which is known as Shuttern, where my +companion pulled up at a bare barn-like building, and bade me look in +through the window. + +The interior, which consisted of a single great hall, the empty +warehouse in which wool had used to be stored, was all alight with lamps +and candles. A great throng of men, whom I recognised as belonging to +my own company, or that of my companion, lay about on either side, some +smoking, some praying, and some burnishing their arms. Down the middle a +line of benches had been drawn up, on which there were seated astraddle +the whole hundred of the baronet's musqueteers, each engaged in plaiting +into a queue the hair of the man who sat in front of him. A boy walked +up and down with a pot of grease, by the aid of which with some whipcord +the work was going forward merrily. Sir Gervas himself with a great +flour dredger sat perched upon a bale of wool at the head of the line, +and as quickly as any queue was finished he examined it through his +quizzing glass, and if it found favour in his eyes, daintily powdered it +from his dredger, with as much care and reverence as though it were some +service of the Church. No cook seasoning a dish could have added +his spices with more nicety of judgment than our friend displayed in +whitening the pates of his company. Glancing up from his labours he saw +our two smiling faces looking in at him through the window, but his work +was too engrossing to allow him to leave it, and we rode off at last +without having speech with him. + +By this time the town was very quiet and still, for the folk in those +parts were early bed-goers, save when some special occasion kept them +afoot. We rode slowly together through the silent streets, our horses' +hoofs ringing out sharp against the cobble stones, talking about such +light matters as engage the mind of youth. The moon was shining very +brightly above us, silvering the broad streets, and casting a fretwork +of shadows from the peaks and pinnacles of the churches. At Master +Timewell's courtyard I sprang from my saddle, but Reuben, attracted by +the peace and beauty of the scene, rode onwards with the intention of +going as far as the town gate. + +I was still at work upon my girth buckles, undoing my harness, when of +a sudden there came from the street a shouting and a rushing, with the +clinking of blades, and my comrade's voice calling upon me for help. +Drawing my sword I ran out. Some little way down there was a clear +space, white with the moonshine, in the centre of which I caught a +glimpse of the sturdy figure of my friend springing about with an +activity for which I had never given him credit, and exchanging sword +thrusts with three or four men who were pressing him closely. On the +ground there lay a dark figure, and behind the struggling group Reuben's +mare reared and plunged in sympathy with her master's peril. As I rushed +down, shouting and waving my sword, the assailants took flight down +a side street, save one, a tall sinewy swordsman, who rushed in upon +Reuben, stabbing furiously at him, and cursing him the while for a +spoil-sport. To my horror I saw, as I ran, the fellow's blade slip +inside my friend's guard, who threw up his arms and fell prostrate, +while the other with a final thrust dashed off down one of the narrow +winding lanes which lead from East Street to the banks of the Tone. + +'For Heaven's sake where are you hurt?' I cried, throwing myself upon my +knees beside his prostrate body. 'Where is your injury, Reuben?' + +'In the wind, mostly,' quoth he, blowing like a smithy bellows; +'likewise on the back of my pate. Give me your hand, I pray.' + +'And are you indeed scathless?' I cried, with a great lightening of +the heart as I helped him to his feet. 'I thought that the villain had +stabbed you.' + +'As well stab a Warsash crab with a bodkin,' said he. 'Thanks to good +Sir Jacob Clancing, once of Snellaby Hall and now of Salisbury Plain, +their rapiers did no more than scratch my plate of proof. But how is it +with the maid?' + +'The maid?' said I. + +'Aye, it was to save her that I drew. She was beset by these night +walkers. See, she rises! They threw her down when I set upon them.' + +'How is it with you, Mistress?' I asked; for the prostrate figure +had arisen and taken the form of a woman, young and graceful to all +appearance, with her face muffled in a mantle. 'I trust that you have +met with no hurt.' + +'None, sir,' she answered, in a low, sweet voice, 'but that I have +escaped is due to the ready valour of your friend, and the guiding +wisdom of Him who confutes the plots of the wicked. Doubtless a true man +would have rendered this help to any damsel in distress, and yet it may +add to your satisfaction to know that she whom you have served is no +stranger to you.' With these words she dropped her mantle and turned her +face towards us in the moonlight. + +'Good lack! it is Mistress Timewell!' I cried, in amazement. + +'Let us homewards,' she said, in firm, quick tones. 'The neighbours are +alarmed, and there will be a rabble collected anon. Let us escape from +the babblement.' + +Windows had indeed begun to clatter up in every direction, and loud +voices to demand what was amiss. Far away down the street we could +see the glint of lanthorns swinging to and fro as the watch hurried +thitherwards. We slipped along in the shadow, however, and found +ourselves safe within the Mayor's courtyard without let or hindrance. + +'I trust, sir, that you have really met with no hurt,' said the maiden +to my companion. + +Reuben had said not a word since she had uncovered her face, and bore +the face of a man who finds himself in some pleasant dream and is vexed +only by the fear lest he wake up from it. 'Nay, I am not hurt,' he +answered, 'but I would that you could tell us who these roving blades +may be, and where they may be found.' + +'Nay, nay,' said she, with uplifted finger, 'you shall not follow the +matter further. As to the men, I cannot say with certainty who they +may have been. I had gone forth to visit Dame Clatworthy, who hath the +tertian ague, and they did beset me on my return. Perchance they are +some who are not of my grandfather's way of thinking in affairs of +State, and who struck at him through me. But ye have both been so kind +that ye will not refuse me one other favour which I shall ask ye?' + +We protested that we could not, with our hands upon our sword-hilts. + +'Nay, keep them for the Lord's quarrel,' said she, smiling at the +action. 'All that I ask is that ye will say nothing if this matter to my +grandsire. He is choleric, and a little matter doth set him in a flame, +so old as he is. I would not have his mind turned from the public needs +to a private trifle of this sort. Have I your promises?' + +'Mine,' said I, bowing. + +'And mine,' said Lockarby. + +'Thanks, good friends. Alack! I have dropped my gauntlet in the street. +But it is of no import. I thank God that no harm has come to any one. My +thanks once more, and may pleasant dreams await ye.' She sprang up the +steps and was gone in an instant. + +Reuben and I unharnessed our horses and saw them cared for in silence. +We then entered the house and ascended to our chambers, still without a +word. Outside his room door my friend paused. + +'I have heard that long man's voice before, Micah,' said he. + +'And so have I,' I answered. 'The old man must beware of his 'prentices. +I have half a mind to go back for the little maiden's gauntlet.' + +A merry twinkle shot through the cloud which hid gathered on Reuben's +brow. He opened his left hand and showed me the doe-skin glove crumpled +up in his palm. + +'I would not barter it for all the gold in her grandsire's coffers,' +said he, with a sudden outflame, and then half-laughing, half-blushing +at his own heat, he whisked in and left me to my thoughts. + +And so I learned for the first time, my dears, that my good comrade had +been struck by the little god's arrows. When a man's years number one +score, love springs up in him, as the gourd grew in the Scriptures, in a +single night. I have told my story ill if I have not made you understand +that my friend was a frank, warm-hearted lad of impulse, whose reason +seldom stood sentry over his inclinations. Such a man can no more draw +away from a winning maid than the needle can shun the magnet. He loves +as the mavis sings or the kitten plays. Now, a slow-witted, heavy fellow +like myself, in whose veins the blood has always flowed somewhat coolly +and temperately, may go into love as a horse goes into a shelving +stream, step by step, but a man like Reuben is kicking his heels upon +the bank one moment, and is over ears in the deepest pool the nest. + +Heaven only knows what match it was that had set the tow alight. I can +but say that from that day on my comrade was sad and cloudy one hour, +gay and blithesome the next. His even flow of good spirits had deserted +him, and he became as dismal as a moulting chicken, which has ever +seemed to me to be one of the strangest outcomes of what poets have +called the joyous state of love. But, indeed, pain and pleasure are so +very nearly akin in this world, that it is as if they were tethered +in neighbouring stalls, and a kick would at any time bring down the +partition. Here is a man who is as full of sighs as a grenade is of +powder, his face is sad, his brow is downcast, his wits are wandering; +yet if you remark to him that it is an ill thing that he should be +in this state, he will answer you, as like as not, that he would not +exchange it for all the powers and principalities. Tears to him are +golden, and laughter is but base coin. Well, my dears, it is useless +for me to expound to you that which I cannot myself understand. If, as I +have heard, it is impossible to get the thumb-marks of any two men to +be alike, how can we expect their inmost thoughts and feelings to tally? +Yet this I can say with all truth, that when I asked your grandmother's +hand I did not demean myself as if I were chief mourner at a funeral. +She will bear me out that I walked up to her with a smile upon my face, +though mayhap there was a little flutter at my heart, and I took her +hand and I said--but, lack-a-day, whither have I wandered? What has all +this to do with Taunton town and the rising of 1685? + +On the night of Wednesday, June 17, we learned that the King, as +Monmouth was called throughout the West, was lying less than ten miles +off with his forces, and that he would make his entry into the loyal +town of Taunton the next morning. Every effort was made, as ye may well +guess, to give him a welcome which should be worthy of the most Whiggish +and Protestant town in England. An arch of evergreens had already +been built up at the western gate, bearing the motto, 'Welcome to King +Monmouth!' and another spanned the entrance to the market-place from the +upper window of the White Hart Inn, with 'Hail to the Protestant Chief!' +in great scarlet letters. A third, if I remember right, bridged the +entrance to the Castle yard, but the motto on it has escaped me. The +cloth and wool industry is, as I have told you, the staple trade of +the town, and the merchants had no mercy on their wares, but used them +freely to beautify the streets. Rich tapestries, glossy velvets, and +costly brocades fluttered from the windows or lined the balconies. East +Street, High Street, and Fore Street were draped from garret to basement +with rare and beautiful fabrics, while gay flags hung from the roofs +on either side, or fluttered in long festoons from house to house. +The royal banner of England floated from the lofty tower of St. Mary +Magdalene, while the blue ensign of Monmouth waved from the sister +turret of St. James. Late into the night there was planing and +hammering, working and devising, until when the sun rose upon Thursday, +June 18, it shone on as brave a show of bunting and evergreen as ever +graced a town. Taunton had changed as by magic from a city into a flower +garden. + +Master Stephen Timewell had busied himself in these preparations, but he +had borne in mind at the same time that the most welcome sight which +he could present to Monmouth's eyes was the large body of armed men who +were prepared to follow his fortunes. There were sixteen hundred in the +town, two hundred of which were horse, mostly well armed and equipped. +These were disposed in such a way that the King should pass them in his +progress. The townsmen lined the market-place three deep from the +Castle gate to the entrance to the High Street; from thence to Shuttern, +Dorsetshire, and Frome peasants were drawn up on either side of the +street; while our own regiment was stationed at the western gate. With +arms well burnished, serried ranks, and fresh sprigs of green in every +bonnet, no leader could desire a better addition to his army. When +all were in their places, and the burghers and their wives had arrayed +themselves in their holiday gear, with gladsome faces and baskets of +new-cut flowers, all was ready for the royal visitor's reception. + +'My orders are,' said Saxon, riding up to us as we sat our horses reside +our companions, 'that I and my captains should fall in with the King's +escort as he passes, and so accompany him to the market-place. Your men +shall present arms, and shall then stand their ground until we return.' + +We all three drew our swords and saluted. + +'If ye will come with me, gentlemen, and take position to the right of +the gate here,' said he, 'I may be able to tell ye something of these +folk as they pass. Thirty years of war in many climes should give me the +master craftsman's right to expound to his apprentices.' + +We all very gladly followed his advice, and passed out through the gate, +which was now nothing more than a broad gap amongst the mounds which +marked the lines of the old walls. 'There is no sign of them yet,' I +remarked, as we pulled up upon a convenient hillock. 'I suppose that +they must come by this road which winds through the valley before us.' + +'There are two sorts of bad general,' quoth Saxon, 'the man who is too +fast and the man who is too slow. His Majesty's advisers will never be +accused of the former failing, whatever other mistakes they may fall +into. There was old Marshal Grunberg, with whom I did twenty-six months' +soldiering in Bohemia. He would fly through the country pell-mell, +horse, foot, and artillery, as if the devil were at his heels. He might +make fifty blunders, but the enemy had never time to take advantage. I +call to mind a raid which we made into Silesia, when, after two days or +so of mountain roads, his Oberhauptmann of the staff told him that it +was impossible for the artillery to keep up. "Lass es hinter!" says he. +So the guns were left, and by the evening of the next day the foot were +dead-beat. "They cannot walk another mile!" says the Oberhauptmann. +"Lassen Sie hinter!" says he. So on we went with the horse--I was in his +Pandour regiment, worse luck! But after a skirmish or two, what with the +roads and what with the enemy, our horses were foundered and useless. +"The horses are used up!" says the Oberhauptmann. "Lassen Sie hinter!" +he cries; and I warrant that he would have pushed on to Prague with his +staff, had they allowed him. "General Hinterlassen" we called him after +that.' + +'A dashing commander, too,' cried Sir Gervas. 'I would fain have served +under him.' + +'Aye, and he had a way of knocking his recruits into shape which would +scarce be relished by our good friends here in the west country,' said +Saxon. 'I remember that after the leaguer of Salzburg, when we had taken +the castle or fortalice of that name, we were joined by some thousand +untrained foot, which had been raised in Dalmatia in the Emperor's +employ. As they approached our lines with waving of hands and blowing of +bugles, old Marshal Hinterlassen discharged a volley of all the cannon +upon the walls at them, killing three score and striking great panic +into the others. "The rogues must get used to standing fire sooner +or later," said he, "so they may as well commence their education at +once."' + +'He was a rough schoolmaster,' I remarked. 'He might have left that part +of the drill to the enemy.' + +'Yet his soldiers loved him,' said Saxon. 'He was not a man, when a city +had been forced, to inquire into every squawk of a woman, or give ear to +every burgess who chanced to find his strong-box a trifle the lighter. +But as to the slow commanders, I have known none to equal Brigadier +Baumgarten, also of the Imperial service. He would break up his +winter-quarters and sit down before some place of strength, where he +would raise a sconce here, and sink a sap there, until his soldiers were +sick of the very sight of the place. So he would play with it, as a cat +with a mouse, until at last it was about to open its gates, when, +as like as not, he would raise the leaguer and march back into his +winter-quarters. I served two campaigns under him without honour, sack, +plunder, or emolument, save a beggarly stipend of three gulden a day, +paid in clipped money, six months in arrear. But mark ye the folk upon +yonder tower! They are waving their kerchiefs as though something were +visible to them.' + +'I can see nothing,' I answered, shading my eyes and gazing down the +tree-sprinkled valley which rose slowly in green uplands to the grassy +Blackdown hills. + +'Those on the housetops are waving and pointing,' said Reuben. 'Methinks +I can myself see the flash of steel among yonder woods.' + +'There it is,' cried Saxon, extending his gauntleted hand, 'on the +western bank of the Tone, hard by the wooden bridge. Follow my finger, +Clarke, and see if you cannot distinguish it.' + +'Yes, truly,' I exclaimed, 'I see a bright shimmer coming and going. And +there to the left, where the road curves over the hill, mark you that +dense mass of men! Ha! the head of the column begins to emerge from the +trees.' + +There was not a cloud in the sky, but the great heat had caused a haze +to overlie the valley, gathering thickly along the winding course of +the river, and hanging in little sprays and feathers over the woodlands +which clothe its banks. Through this filmy vapour there broke from time +to time fierce sparkles of brilliant light as the sun's rays fell upon +breastplate or headpiece. Now and again the gentle summer breeze +wafted up sudden pulses of martial music to our ears, with the blare of +trumpets and the long deep snarl of the drums. As we gazed, the van of +the army began to roll out from the cover of the trees and to darken the +white dusty roads. The long line slowly extended itself, writhing out of +the forest land like a dark snake with sparkling scales, until the whole +rebel army--horse, foot, and ordnance--were visible beneath us. The +gleam of the weapons, the waving of numerous banners, the plumes of the +leaders, and the deep columns of marching men, made up a picture which +stirred the very hearts of the citizens, who, from the housetops and +from the ruinous summit of the dismantled walls, were enabled to gaze +down upon the champions of their faith. If the mere sight of a passing +regiment will cause a thrill in your bosoms, you can fancy how it is +when the soldiers upon whom you look are in actual arms for your own +dearest and most cherished interests, and have just come out victorious +from a bloody struggle. If every other man's hand was against us, these +at least were on our side, and our hearts went out to them as to friends +and brothers. Of all the ties that unite men in this world, that of a +common danger is the strongest. + +It all appeared to be most warlike and most imposing to my inexperienced +eyes, and I thought as I looked at the long array that our cause was as +good as won. To my surprise, however, Saxon pished and pshawed under his +breath, until at last, unable to contain his impatience, he broke out in +hot discontent. + +'Do but look at that vanguard as they breast the slope,' he cried. +'Where is the advance party, or Vorreiter, as the Germans call them? +Where, too, is the space which should be left between the fore-guard and +the main battle? By the sword of Scanderbeg, they remind me more of a +drove of pilgrims, as I have seen them approaching the shrine of St. +Sebaldus of Nurnberg with their banners and streamers. There in +the centre, amid that cavalcade of cavaliers, rides our new monarch +doubtless. Pity he hath not a man by him who can put this swarm of +peasants into something like campaign order. Now do but look at those +four pieces of ordnance trailing along like lame sheep behind the flock. +Caracco, I would that I were a young King's officer with a troop of +light horse on the ridge yonder! My faith, how I should sweep down yon +cross road like a kestrel on a brood of young plover! Then heh for cut +and thrust, down with the skulking cannoniers, a carbine fire to cover +us, round with the horses, and away go the rebel guns in a cloud of +dust! How's that, Sir Gervas?' + +'Good sport, Colonel,' said the baronet, with a touch of colour in his +white cheeks. 'I warrant that you did keep your Pandours on the trot.' + +'Aye, the rogues had to work or hang--one or t'other. But methinks our +friends here are scarce as numerous as reported. I reckon them to be a +thousand horse, and mayhap five thousand two hundred foot. I have been +thought a good tally-man on such occasions. With fifteen hundred in the +town that would bring us to close on eight thousand men, which is no +great force to invade a kingdom and dispute a crown.' + +'If the West can give eight thousand, how many can all the counties of +England afford?' I asked. 'Is not that the fairer way to look at it?' + +'Monmouth's popularity lies mostly in the West,' Saxon answered. 'It +was the memory of that which prompted him to raise his standard in these +counties.' + +'His standards, rather,' quoth Reuben. 'Why, it looks as though they had +hung their linen up to dry all down the line.' + +'True! They have more ensigns than ever I saw with so small a force,' +Saxon answered, rising in his stirrups. 'One or two are blue, and the +rest, as far as I can see for the sun shining upon them, are white, with +some motto or device.' + +Whilst we had been conversing, the body of horse which formed the +vanguard of the Protestant army had approached within a quarter of a +mile or less of the town, when a loud, clear bugle-call brought them to +a halt. In each successive regiment or squadron the signal was repeated, +so that the sound passed swiftly down the long array until it died away +in the distance. As the coil of men formed up upon the white road, with +just a tremulous shifting motion along the curved and undulating line, +its likeness to a giant serpent occurred again to my mind. + +'I could fancy it a great boa,' I remarked, 'which was drawing its coils +round the town.' + +'A rattlesnake, rather,' said Reuben, pointing to the guns in the rear. +'It keeps all its noise in its tail.' + +'Here comes its head, if I mistake not,' quoth Saxon. 'It were best +perhaps that we stand at the side of the gate.' + +As he spoke a group of gaily dressed cavaliers broke away from the main +body and rode straight for the town. Their leader was a tall, slim, +elegant young man, who sat his horse with the grace of a skilled rider, +and who was remarkable amongst those around him for the gallantry of his +bearing and the richness of his trappings. As he galloped towards the +gate a roar of welcome burst from the assembled multitude, which was +taken up and prolonged by the crowds behind, who, though unable to see +what was going forward, gathered from the shouting that the King was +approaching. + + + +Chapter XX. Of the Muster of the Men of the West + +Monmouth was at that time in his thirty-sixth year, and was remarkable +for those superficial graces which please the multitude and fit a man to +lead in a popular cause. He was young, well-spoken, witty, and skilled +in all martial and manly exercises. On his progress in the West he had +not thought it beneath him to kiss the village maidens, to offer prizes +at the rural sports, and to run races in his boots against the fleetest +of the barefooted countrymen. (Note G., Appendix) His nature was vain +and prodigal, but he excelled in that showy magnificence and careless +generosity which wins the hearts of the people. Both on the Continent +and at Bothwell Bridge, in Scotland, he had led armies with success, and +his kindness and mercy to the Covenanters after his victory had caused +him to be as much esteemed amongst the Whigs as Dalzell and Claverhouse +were hated. As he reined up his beautiful black horse at the gate of the +city, and raised his plumed montero cap to the shouting crowd, the grace +and dignity of his bearing were such as might befit the knight-errant +in a Romance who is fighting at long odds for a crown which a tyrant has +filched from him. + +He was reckoned well-favoured, but I cannot say that I found him so. His +face was, I thought, too long and white for comeliness, yet his features +were high and noble, with well-marked nose and clear, searching eyes. In +his mouth might perchance be noticed some trace of that weakness which +marred his character, though the expression was sweet and amiable. He +wore a dark purple roquelaure riding-jacket, faced and lapelled with +gold lace, through the open front of which shone a silver breastplate. +A velvet suit of a lighter shade than the jacket, a pair of high yellow +Cordovan boots, with a gold-hilted rapier on one side, and a poniard +of Parma on the other, each hung from the morocco-leather sword-belt, +completed his attire. A broad collar of Mechlin lace flowed over his +shoulders, while wristbands of the same costly material dangled from his +sleeves. Again and again he raised his cap and bent to the saddle-bow in +response to the storm of cheering. 'A Monmouth! A Monmouth!' cried +the people; 'Hail to the Protestant chief!' 'Long live the noble King +Monmouth!' while from every window, and roof, and balcony fluttering +kerchief or waving hat brightened the joyous scene. The rebel van caught +fire at the sight and raised a great deep-chested shout, which was taken +up again and again by the rest of the army, until the whole countryside +was sonorous. + +In the meanwhile the city elders, headed by our friend the Mayor, +advanced from the gate in all the dignity of silk and fur to pay homage +to the King. Sinking upon one knee by Monmouth's stirrup, he kissed the +hand which was graciously extended to him. + +'Nay, good Master Mayor,' said the King, in a clear, strong voice, 'it +is for my enemies to sink before me, and not for my friends. Prythee, +what is this scroll which you do unroll?' + +'It is an address of welcome and of allegiance, your Majesty, from your +loyal town of Taunton.' + +'I need no such address,' said King Monmouth, looking round. 'It is +written all around me in fairer characters than ever found themselves +upon parchment. My good friends have made me feel that I was welcome +without the aid of clerk or scrivener. Your name, good Master Mayor, is +Stephen Timewell, as I understand?' + +'The same, your Majesty.' + +'Too curt a name for so trusty a man,' said the King, drawing his sword +and touching him upon the shoulder with it. 'I shall make it longer by +three letters. Rise up, Sir Stephen, and may I find that there are many +other knights in my dominions as loyal and as stout.' + +Amidst the huzzahs which broke out afresh at this honour done to the +town, the Mayor withdrew with the councilmen to the left side of the +gate, whilst Monmouth with his staff gathered upon the right. At a +signal a trumpeter blew a fanfare, the drums struck up a point of war, +and the insurgent army, with serried ranks and waving banners, resumed +its advance upon the town. As it approached, Saxon pointed out to us the +various leaders and men of note who surrounded the King, giving us their +names and some few words as to their characters. + +'That is Lord Grey of Wark,' said he; 'the little middle-aged lean man +at the King's bridle arm. He hath been in the Tower once for treason. +'Twas he who fled with the Lady Henrietta Berkeley, his wife's sister. A +fine leader truly for a godly cause! The man upon his left, with the +red swollen face and the white feather in his cap, is Colonel Holmes. +I trust that he will never show the white feather save on his head. The +other upon the high chestnut horse is a lawyer, though, by my soul, he +is a better man at ordering a battalion than at drawing a bill of costs. +He is the republican Wade who led the foot at the skirmish at Bridport, +and brought them off with safety. The tall heavy-faced soldier in the +steel bonnet is Anthony Buyse, the Brandenburger, a soldado of fortune, +and a man of high heart, as are most of his countrymen. I have fought +both with him and against him ere now.' + +'Mark ye the long thin man behind him?' cried Reuben. 'He hath drawn his +sword, and waves it over his head. 'Tis a strange time and place for the +broadsword exercise. He is surely mad.' + +'Perhaps you are not far amiss,' said Saxon. 'Yet, by my hilt, were it +not for that man there would be no Protestant army advancing upon us +down yonder road. 'Tis he who by dangling the crown before Monmouth's +eyes beguiled him away from his snug retreat in Brabant. There is not +one of these men whom he hath not tempted into this affair by some bait +or other. With Grey it was a dukedom, with Wade the woolsack, with Buyse +the plunder of Cheapside. Every one hath his own motive, but the clues +to them all are in the hands of yonder crazy fanatic, who makes the +puppets dance as he will. He hath plotted more, lied more, and suffered +less than any Whig in the party.' + +'It must be that Dr. Robert Ferguson of whom I have heard my father +speak,' said I. + +'You are right. 'Tis he. I have but seen him once in Amsterdam, and yet +I know him by his shock wig and crooked shoulders. It is whispered +that of late his overweening conceit hath unseated his reason. See, the +German places his hand upon his shoulder and persuades him to sheathe +his weapon. King Monmouth glances round too, and smiles as though he +were the Court buffoon with a Geneva cloak instead of the motley. But +the van is upon us. To your companies, and mind that ye raise your +swords to the salute while the colours of each troop go by.' + +Whilst our companion had been talking, the whole Protestant army had +been streaming towards the town, and the head of the fore-guard was +abreast with the gateway. Four troops of horse led the way, badly +equipped and mounted, with ropes instead of bridles, and in some cases +squares of sacking in place of saddles. The men were armed for the most +part with sword and pistol, while a few had the buff-coats, plates, and +headpieces taken at Axminster, still stained sometimes with the blood of +the last wearer. In the midst of them rode a banner-bearer, who carried +a great square ensign hung upon a pole, which was supported upon a +socket let into the side of the girth. Upon it was printed in golden +letters the legend, 'Pro libertate et religione nostra.' These +horse-soldiers were made up of yeomen's and farmers' sons, unused to +discipline, and having a high regard for themselves as volunteers, which +caused them to cavil and argue over every order. For this cause, though +not wanting in natural courage, they did little service during the war, +and were a hindrance rather than a help to the army. + +Behind the horse came the foot, walking six abreast, divided into +companies of varying size, each company bearing a banner which gave the +name of the town or village from which it had been raised. This manner +of arranging the troops had been chosen because it had been found to be +impossible to separate men who were akin and neighbours to each other. +They would fight, they said, side by side, or they would not fight at +all. For my own part, I think that it is no bad plan, for when it comes +to push of pike, a man stands all the faster when he knows that he +hath old and tried friends on either side of him. Many of these country +places I came to know afterwards from the talk of the men, and many +others I have travelled through, so that the names upon the banners have +come to have a real meaning with me. Homer hath, I remember, a chapter +or book wherein he records the names of all the Grecian chiefs and +whence they came, and how many men they brought to the common muster. It +is pity that there is not some Western Homer who could record the names +of these brave peasants and artisans, and recount what each did or +suffered in upholding a noble though disastrous cause. Their places of +birth at least shall not be lost as far as mine own feeble memory can +carry me. + +The first foot regiment, if so rudely formed a band could be so called, +consisted of men of the sea, fishers and coastmen, clad in the +heavy blue jerkins and rude garb of their class. They were bronzed, +weather-beaten tarpaulins, with hard mahogany faces, variously armed +with birding pieces, cutlasses, or pistols. I have a notion that it +was not the first time that those weapons had been turned against +King James's servants, for the Somerset and Devon coasts were famous +breeding-places for smugglers, and many a saucy lugger was doubtless +lying up in creek or in bay whilst her crew had gone a-soldiering to +Taunton. As to discipline, they had no notion of it, but rolled along in +true blue-water style, with many a shout and halloo to each other or to +the crowd. From Star Point to Portland Roads there would be few nets +for many weeks to come, and fish would swim the narrow seas which should +have been heaped on Lyme Cobb or exposed for sale in Plymouth market. +Each group, or band, of these men of the sea bore with it its own +banner, that of Lyme in the front, followed by Topsham, Colyford, +Bridport, Sidmouth, Otterton, Abbotsbury, and Charmouth, all southern +towns, which are on or near the coast. So they trooped past us, rough +and careless, with caps cocked, and the reek of their tobacco rising +up from them like the steam from a tired horse. In number they may have +been four hundred or thereabouts. + +The peasants of Rockbere, with flail and scythe, led the next column, +followed by the banner of Honiton, which was supported by two hundred +stout lacemakers from the banks of the Otter. These men showed by the +colour of their faces that their work kept them within four walls, yet +they excelled their peasant companions in their alert and soldierly +bearing. Indeed, with all the troops, we observed that, though the +countrymen were the stouter and heartier, the craftsmen were the most +ready to catch the air and spirit of the camp. Behind the men of Honiton +came the Puritan clothworkers of Wellington, with their mayor upon +a white horse beside their standard-bearer, and a band of twenty +instruments before him. Grim-visaged, thoughtful, sober men, they were +for the most part clad in grey suits and wearing broad-brimmed hats. +'For God and faith' was the motto of a streamer which floated from +amongst them. The clothworkers formed three strong companies, and the +whole regiment may have numbered close on six hundred men. + +The third regiment was headed by five hundred foot from Taunton, men +of peaceful and industrious life, but deeply imbued with those great +principles of civil and religious liberty which were three years later +to carry all before them in England. As they passed the gates they were +greeted by a thunderous welcome from their townsmen upon the walls and +at the windows. Their steady, solid ranks, and broad, honest burgher +faces, seemed to me to smack of discipline and of work well done. Behind +them came the musters of Winterbourne, Ilminster, Chard, Yeovil, and +Collumpton, a hundred or more pikesmen to each, bringing the tally of +the regiment to a thousand men. + +A squadron of horse trotted by, closely followed by the fourth regiment, +bearing in its van the standards of Beaminster, Crewkerne, Langport, +and Chidiock, all quiet Somersetshire villages, which had sent out their +manhood to strike a blow for the old cause. Puritan ministers, with +their steeple hats and Geneva gowns, once black, but now white with +dust, marched sturdily along beside their flocks. Then came a strong +company of wild half-armed shepherds from the great plains which extend +from the Blackdowns on the south to the Mendips on the north--very +different fellows, I promise you, from the Corydons and Strephons of +Master Waller or Master Dryden, who have depicted the shepherd as ever +shedding tears of love, and tootling upon a plaintive pipe. I fear that +Chloe or Phyllis would have met with rough wooing at the hands of these +Western savages. Behind them were musqueteers from Dorchester, pikemen +from Newton Poppleford, and a body of stout infantry from among the +serge workers of Ottery St. Mary. This fourth regiment numbered rather +better than eight hundred, but was inferior in arms and in discipline to +that which preceded it. + +The fifth regiment was headed by a column of fen men from the dreary +marches which stretch round Athelney. These men, in their sad and sordid +dwellings, had retained the same free and bold spirit which had made +them in past days the last resource of the good King Alfred and the +protectors of the Western shires from the inroads of the Danes, who +were never able to force their way into their watery strongholds. Two +companies of them, towsy-headed and bare-legged, but loud in hymn and +prayer, had come out from their fastnesses to help the Protestant cause. +At their heels came the woodmen and lumberers of Bishop's Lidiard, big, +sturdy men in green jerkins, and the white-smocked villagers of Huish +Champflower. The rear of the regiment was formed by four hundred men in +scarlet coats, with white cross-belts and well-burnished muskets. +These were deserters from the Devonshire Militia, who had marched with +Albemarle from Exeter, and who had come over to Monmouth on the field +at Axminster. These kept together in a body, but there were many other +militiamen, both in red and in yellow coats, amongst the various bodies +which I have set forth. This regiment may have numbered seven hundred +men. + +The sixth and last column of foot was headed by a body of peasants +bearing 'Minehead' upon their banner, and the ensign of the three +wool-bales and the sailing ship, which is the sign of that ancient +borough. They had come for the most part from the wild country which +lies to the north of Dunster Castle and skirts the shores of the Bristol +Channel. Behind them were the poachers and huntsmen of Porlock Quay, who +had left the red deer of Exmoor to graze in peace whilst they followed +a nobler quarry. They were followed by men from Dulverton, men from +Milverton, men from Wiveliscombe and the sunny slopes of the Quantocks, +swart, fierce men from the bleak moors of Dunkerry Beacon, and tall, +stalwart pony rearers and graziers from Bampton. The banners of +Bridgewater, of Shepton Mallet, and of Nether Stowey swept past us, with +that of the fishers of Clovelly and the quarrymen of the Blackdowns. In +the rear were three companies of strange men, giants in stature, though +somewhat bowed with labour, with long tangled beards, and unkempt hair +hanging over their eyes. These were the miners from the Mendip hills and +from the Oare and Bagworthy valleys, rough, half-savage men, whose eyes +rolled up at the velvets and brocades of the shouting citizens, or fixed +themselves upon their smiling dames with a fierce intensity which scared +the peaceful burghers. So the long line rolled in until three squadrons +of horse and four small cannon, with the blue-coated Dutch cannoniers as +stiff as their own ramrods, brought up the rear. A long train of carts +and of waggons which had followed the army were led into the fields +outside the walls and there quartered. + +When the last soldier had passed through the Shuttern Gate, Monmouth and +his leaders rode slowly in, the Mayor walking by the King's charger. +As we saluted they all faced round to us, and I saw a quick flush of +surprise and pleasure come over Monmouth's pale face as he noted our +close lines and soldierly bearing. + +'By my faith, gentlemen,' he said, glancing round at his staff, 'our +worthy friend the Mayor must have inherited Cadmus's dragon teeth. Where +raised ye this pretty crop, Sir Stephen? How came ye to bring them +to such perfection too, even, I declare, to the hair powder of the +grenadiers?' + +'I have fifteen hundred in the town,' the old wool-worker answered +proudly; 'though some are scarce as disciplined. + +These men come from Wiltshire, and the officers from Hampshire. As to +their order, the credit is due not to me, but to the old soldier Colonel +Decimus Saxon, whom they have chosen as their commander, as well as to +the captains who serve under him.' + +'My thanks are due to you, Colonel,' said the King, turning to Saxon, +who bowed and sank the point of his sword to the earth, 'and to you +also, gentlemen. I shall not forget the warm loyalty which brought you +from Hampshire in so short a time. Would that I could find the same +virtue in higher places! But, Colonel Saxon, you have, I gather, seen +much service abroad. What think you of the army which hath just passed +before you?' + +'If it please your Majesty,' Saxon answered, 'it is like so much +uncarded wool, which is rough enough in itself, and yet may in time come +to be woven into a noble garment.' + +'Hem! There is not much leisure for the weaving,' said Monmouth. 'But +they fight well. You should have seen them fall on at Axminster! We hope +to see you and to hear your views at the council table. But how is this? +Have I not seen this gentleman's face before?' + +'It is the Honourable Sir Gervas Jerome of the county of Surrey,' quoth +Saxon. + +'Your Majesty may have seen me at St. James's,' said the baronet, +raising his hat, 'or in the balcony at Whitehall. I was much at Court +during the latter years of the late king.' + +'Yes, yes. I remember the name as well as the face,' cried Monmouth. +'You see, gentlemen,' he continued, turning to his staff, 'the courtiers +begin to come in at last. Were you not the man who did fight Sir Thomas +Killigrew behind Dunkirk House? I thought as much. Will you not attach +yourself to my personal attendants?' + +'If it please your Majesty,' Sir Gervas answered, 'I am of opinion +that I could do your royal cause better service at the head of my +musqueteers.' + +'So be it! So be it!' said King Monmouth. Setting spurs to his horse, he +raised his hat in response to the cheers of the troops and cantered down +the High Street under a rain of flowers, which showered from roof and +window upon him, his staff, and his escort. We had joined in his train, +as commanded, so that we came in for our share of this merry crossfire. +One rose as it fluttered down was caught by Reuben, who, I observed, +pressed it to his lips, and then pushed it inside his breastplate. +Glancing up, I caught sight, of the smiling face of our host's daughter +peeping down at us from a casement. + +'Well caught, Reuben!' I whispered. 'At trick-track or trap and ball you +were ever our best player.' + +'Ah, Micah,' said he, 'I bless the day that ever I followed you to the +wars. I would not change places with Monmouth this day.' + +'Has it gone so far then!' I exclaimed. 'Why, lad, I thought that you +were but opening your trenches, and you speak as though you had carried +the city.' + +'Perhaps I am over-hopeful,' he cried, turning from hot to cold, as a +man doth when he is in love, or hath the tertian ague, or other bodily +trouble. 'God knows that I am little worthy of her, and yet--' + +'Set not your heart too firmly upon that which may prove to be beyond +your reach,' said I. 'The old man is rich, and will look higher.' + +'I would he were poor!' sighed Reuben, with all the selfishness of a +lover. 'If this war last I may win myself some honour or title. Who +knows? Others have done it, and why not I!' + +'Of our three from Havant,' I remarked, 'one is spurred onwards by +ambition, and one by love. Now, what am I to do who care neither for +high office nor for the face of a maid? What is to carry me into the +fight?' + +'Our motives come and go, but yours is ever with you,' said Reuben. +'Honour and duty are the two stars, Micah, by which you have ever +steered your course.' + +'Faith, Mistress Ruth has taught you to make pretty speeches,' said I, +'but methinks she ought to be here amid the beauty of Taunton.' + +As I spoke we were riding into the market-place, which was now crowded +with our troops. Round the cross were grouped a score of maidens clad in +white muslin dresses with blue scarfs around their waists. As the King +approached, these little maids, with much pretty nervousness, advanced +to meet him, and handed him a banner which they had worked for him, and +also a dainty gold-clasped Bible. Monmouth handed the flag to one of his +captains, but he raised the book above his head, exclaiming that he +had come there to defend the truths contained within it, at which the +cheerings and acclamations broke forth with redoubled vigour. It had +been expected that he might address the people from the cross, but he +contented himself with waiting while the heralds proclaimed his titles +to the Crown, when he gave the word to disperse, and the troops marched +off to the different centres where food had been provided for them. The +King and his chief officers took up their quarters in the Castle, while +the Mayor and richer burgesses found bed and board for the rest. As to +the common soldiers, many were billeted among the townsfolk, many others +encamped in the streets and Castle grounds, while the remainder took up +their dwelling among the waggons in the fields outside the city, where +they lit up great fires, and had sheep roasting and beer flowing as +merrily as though a march on London were but a holiday outing. + + + +Chapter XXI. Of my Hand-grips with the Brandenburger + +King Monmouth had called a council meeting for the evening, and summoned +Colonel Decimus Saxon to attend it, with whom I went, bearing with me +the small package which Sir Jacob Clancing had given over to my keeping. +On arriving at the Castle we found that the King had not yet come out +from his chamber, but we were shown into the great hall to await him, a +fine room with lofty windows and a noble ceiling of carved woodwork. At +the further end the royal arms had been erected without the bar sinister +which Monmouth had formerly worn. Here were assembled the principal +chiefs of the army, with many of the inferior commanders, town officers, +and others who had petitions to offer. Lord Grey of Wark stood silently +by the window, looking out over the countryside with a gloomy face. Wade +and Holmes shook their heads and whispered in a corner. Ferguson strode +about with his wig awry, shouting out exhortations and prayers in a +broad Scottish accent. A few of the more gaily dressed gathered round +the empty fireplace, and listened to a tale from one of their number +which appeared to be shrouded in many oaths, and which was greeted with +shouts of laughter. In another corner a numerous group of zealots, clad +in black or russet gowns, with broad white bands and hanging mantles, +stood round some favourite preacher, and discussed in an undertone +Calvinistic philosophy and its relation to statecraft. A few plain +homely soldiers, who were neither sectaries nor courtiers, wandered up +and down, or stared out through the windows at the busy encampment upon +the Castle Green. To one of these, remarkable for his great size and +breadth of shoulder, Saxon led me, and touching him on the sleeve, he +held out his hand as to an old friend. 'Mein Gott!' cried the German +soldier of fortune, for it was the same man whom my companion had +pointed out in the morning, 'I thought it was you, Saxon, when I saw you +by the gate, though you are even thinner than of old. How a man could +suck up so much good Bavarian beer as you have done, and yet make so +little flesh upon it, is more than I can verstehen. How have all things +gone with you?' + +'As of old,' said Saxon. 'More blows than thalers, and greater need of +a surgeon than of a strong-box. When did I see you last, friend? Was +it not at the onfall at Nurnberg, when I led the right and you the left +wing of the heavy horse?' + +'Nay,' said Buyse. 'I have met you in the way of business since then. +Have you forgot the skirmish on the Rhine bank, when you did flash your +snapphahn at me? Sapperment! Had some rascally schelm not stabbed my +horse I should have swept your head off as a boy cuts thistles mit a +stick.' + +'Aye, aye,' Saxon answered composedly, 'I had forgot it. You were taken, +if I remember aright, but did afterwards brain the sentry with your +fetters, and swam the Rhine under the fire of a regiment. Yet, I think +that we did offer you the same terms that you were having with the +others.' + +'Some such base offer was indeed made me,' said the German sternly. 'To +which I answered that, though I sold my sword, I did not sell my honour. +It is well that cavaliers of fortune should show that an engagement is +with them--how do ye say it?--unbreakable until the war is over. Then by +all means let him change his paymaster. Warum nicht?' + +'True, friend, true!' replied Saxon. 'These beggarly Italians and Swiss +have made such a trade of the matter, and sold themselves so freely, +body and soul, to the longest purse, that it is well that we should be +nice upon points of honour. But you remember the old hand-grip which no +man in the Palatinate could exchange with you? Here is my captain, Micah +Clarke. Let him see how warm a North German welcome may be.' + +The Brandenburger showed his white teeth in a grin as he held out his +broad brown hand to me. The instant that mine was enclosed in it he +suddenly bent his whole strength upon it, and squeezed my fingers +together until the blood tingled in the nails, and the whole hand was +limp and powerless. + +'Donnerwetter!' he cried, laughing heartily at my start of pain and +surprise. 'It is a rough Prussian game, and the English lads have not +much stomach for it.' + +'Truly, sir,' said I, 'it is the first time that I have seen the +pastime, and I would fain practise it under so able a master.' + +'What, another!' he cried. 'Why, you must be still pringling from the +first. Nay, if you will I shall not refuse you, though I fear it may +weaken your hold upon your sword-hilt.' + +He held out his hand as he spoke, and I grasped it firmly, thumb to +thumb, keeping my elbow high so as to bear all my force upon it. His own +trick was, as I observed, to gain command of the other hand by a great +output of strength at the onset. This I prevented by myself putting out +all my power. For a minute or more we stood motionless, gazing into each +other's faces. Then I saw a bead of sweat trickle down his forehead, and +I knew that he was beaten. Slowly his grip relaxed, and his hand grew +limp and slack while my own tightened ever upon it, until he was forced +in a surly, muttering voice to request that I should unhand him. + +'Teufel und hexerei!' he cried, wiping away the blood which oozed from +under his nails, 'I might as well put my fingers in a rat-trap. You +are the first man that ever yet exchanged fair hand-grips with Anthony +Buyse.' + +'We breed brawn in England as well as in Brandenburg,' said Saxon, who +was shaking with laughter over the German soldier's discomfiture. 'Why, +I have seen that lad pick up a full-size sergeant of dragoons and throw +him into a cart as though he had been a clod of earth.' + +'Strong he is,' grumbled Buyse, still wringing his injured hand, 'strong +as old Gotz mit de iron grip. But what good is strength alone in the +handling of a weapon? It is not the force of a blow, but the way in +which it is geschlagen, that makes the effect. Your sword now is heavier +than mine, by the look of it, and yet my blade would bite deeper. Eh? Is +not that a more soldierly sport than kinderspiel such as hand-grasping +and the like?' + +'He is a modest youth,' said Saxon. 'Yet I would match his stroke +against yours.' + +'For what?' snarled the German. + +'For as much wine as we can take at a sitting. + +'No small amount, either,' said Buyse; 'a brace of gallons at the least. +Well, be it so. Do you accept the contest?' + +'I shall do what I may,' I answered, 'though I can scarce hope to strike +as heavy a blow as so old and tried a soldier.' + +'Henker take your compliments,' he cried gruffly. 'It was with sweet +words that you did coax my fingers into that fool-catcher of yours. Now, +here is my old headpiece of Spanish steel. It has, as you can see, one +or two dints of blows, and a fresh one will not hurt it. I place it here +upon this oaken stool high enough to be within fair sword-sweep. Have at +it, Junker, and let us see if you can leave your mark upon it!' + +'Do you strike first, sir,' said I, 'since the challenge is yours.' + +'I must bruise my own headpiece to regain my soldierly credit,' he +grumbled. 'Well, well, it has stood a cut or two in its day.' Drawing +his broadsword, he waved back the crowd who had gathered around us, +while he swung the great weapon with tremendous force round his head, +and brought it down with a full, clean sweep on to the smooth cap of +steel. The headpiece sprang high into the air and then clattered down +upon the oaken floor with a long, deep line bitten into the solid metal. + +'Well struck!' 'A brave stroke!' cried the spectators. 'It is proof +steel thrice welded, and warranted to turn a sword-blade,' one remarked, +raising up the helmet to examine it, and then replacing it upon the +stool. + +'I have seen my father cut through proof steel with this very sword,' +said I, drawing the fifty-year-old weapon. 'He put rather more of his +weight into it than you have done. I have heard him say that a good +stroke should come from the back and loins rather than from the mere +muscles of the arm.' + +'It is not a lecture we want, but a beispiel or example,' sneered the +German. 'It is with your stroke that we have to do, and not with the +teaching of your father.' + +'My stroke,' said I, 'is in accordance with his teaching;' and, +whistling round the sword, I brought it down with all my might and +strength upon the German's helmet. The good old Commonwealth blade shore +through the plate of steel, cut the stool asunder, and buried its point +two inches deep in the oaken floor. 'It is but a trick,' I explained. 'I +have practised it in the winter evenings at home.' + +'It is not a trick that I should care to have played upon me,' said Lord +Grey, amid a general murmur of applause and surprise. 'Od's bud, man, +you have lived two centuries too late. What would not your thews have +been worth before gunpowder put all men upon a level!' + +'Wunderbar!' growled Buyse, 'wunderbar! I am past my prime, young sir, +and may well resign the palm of strength to you. It was a right noble +stroke. It hath cost me a runlet or two of canary, and a good old +helmet; but I grudge it not, for it was fairly done. I am thankful +that my head was not darin. Saxon, here, used to show us some brave +schwertspielerei, but he hath not the weight for such smashing blows as +this.' + +'My eye is still true and my hand firm, though both are perhaps a trifle +the worse for want of use,' said Saxon, only too glad at the chance +of drawing the eyes of the chiefs upon him. 'At backsword, sword and +dagger, sword and buckler, single falchion and case of falchions, mine +old challenge still holds good against any comer, save only my brother +Quartus, who plays as well as I do, but hath an extra half-inch in reach +which gives him the vantage.' + +'I studied sword-play under Signor Contarini of Paris,' said Lord Grey. +'Who was your master?' + +'I have studied, my lord, under Signer Stern Necessity of Europe,' quoth +Saxon. 'For five-and-thirty years my life has depended from day to day +upon being able to cover myself with this slip of steel. Here is a +small trick which showeth some nicety of eye: to throw this ring to the +ceiling and catch it upon a rapier point. It seems simple, perchance, +and yet is only to be attained by some practice.' + +'Simple!' cried Wade the lawyer, a square-faced, bold-eyed man. 'Why, +the ring is but the girth of your little finger. A man might do it once +by good luck, but none could ensure it.' + +'I will lay a guinea a thrust on it,' said Saxon; and tossing the little +gold circlet up into the air, he flashed out his rapier and made a pass +at it. The ring rasped down the steel blade and tinkled against the +hilt, fairly impaled. By a sharp motion of the wrist he shot it up +to the ceiling again, where it struck a carved rafter and altered its +course; but again, with a quick step forward, he got beneath it and +received it on his sword-point. 'Surely there is some cavalier present +who is as apt at the trick as I am,' he said, replacing the ring upon +his finger. + +'I think, Colonel, that I could venture upon it,' said a voice; and +looking round, we found that Monmouth had entered the room and was +standing quietly on the outskirts of the throng, unperceived in +the general interest which our contention had excited. 'Nay, nay, +gentlemen,' he continued pleasantly, as we uncovered and bowed with +some little embarrassment; 'how could my faithful followers be better +employed than by breathing themselves in a little sword-play? I prythee +lend me your rapier, Colonel.' He drew a diamond ring from his finger, +and spinning it up into the air, he transfixed it as deftly as Saxon +had done. 'I practised the trick at The Hague, where, by my faith, I had +only too many hours to devote to such trifles. But how come these steel +links and splinters of wood to be littered over the floor?' + +'A son of Anak hath appaired amang us,' said Ferguson, turning his +face, all scarred and reddened with the king's evil, in my direction. 'A +Goliath o' Gath, wha hath a stroke like untae a weaver's beam. Hath he +no the smooth face o' a bairn and the thews' o' Behemoth?' + +'A shrewd blow indeed,' King Monmouth remarked, picking up half the +stool. 'How is our champion named?' + +'He is my captain, your Majesty,' Saxon answered, resheathing the sword +which the King had handed to him; 'Micah Clarke, a man of Hampshire +birth.' + +'They breed a good old English stock in those parts,' said Monmouth; +'but how comes it that you are here, sir? I summoned this meeting for my +own immediate household, and for the colonels of the regiments. If every +captain is to be admitted into our councils, we must hold our meetings +on the Castle Green, for no apartment could contain us.' + +'I ventured to come here, your Majesty,' I replied, 'because on my way +hither I received a commission, which was that I should deliver this +small but weighty package into your hands. I therefore thought it my +duty to lose no time in fulfilling my errand.' + +'What is in it?' he asked. + +'I know not,' I answered. + +Doctor Ferguson whispered a few words into the King's ear, who laughed +and held out his hand for the packet. + +'Tut! tut!' said he. 'The days of the Borgias and the Medicis are over, +Doctor. Besides, the lad is no Italian conspirator, but hath honest blue +eyes and flaxen hair as Nature's certificate to his character. This +is passing heavy--an ingot of lead, by the feel. Lend me your dagger, +Colonel Holmes. It is stitched round with packthread. Ha! it is a bar +of gold--solid virgin gold by all that is wonderful. Take charge of it, +Wade, and see that it is added to the common fund. This little piece +of metal may furnish ten pikemen. What have we here? A letter and an +enclosure. "To James, Duke of Monmouth"--hum! It was written before we +assumed our royal state. "Sir Jacob Glancing, late of Snellaby Hall, +sends greeting and a pledge of affection. Carry out the good work. +A hundred more such ingots await you when you have crossed Salisbury +Plain." Bravely promised, Sir Jacob! I would that you had sent them. +Well, gentlemen, ye see how support and tokens of goodwill come pouring +in upon us. Is not the tide upon the turn? Can the usurper hope to hold +his own? Will his men stand by him? Within a month or less I shall see +ye all gathered round me at Westminster, and no duty will then be +so pleasing to me as to see that ye are all, from the highest to the +lowest, rewarded for your loyalty to your monarch in this the hour of +his darkness and his danger.' + +A murmur of thanks rose up from the courtiers at this gracious speech, +but the German plucked at Saxon's sleeve and whispered, 'He hath his +warm fit upon him. You shall see him cold anon.' + +'Fifteen hundred men have joined me here where I did but expect a +thousand at the most,' the King continued. 'If we had high hopes when +we landed at Lyme Cobb with eighty at our back, what should we think now +when we find ourselves in the chief city of Somerset with eight thousand +brave men around us? 'Tis but one other affair like that at Axminster, +and my uncle's power will go down like a house of cards. But gather +round the table, gentlemen, and we shall discuss matters in due form.' + +'There is yet a scrap of paper which you have not read, sire,' said +Wade, picking up a little slip which had been enclosed in the note. + +'It is a rhyming catch or the posy of a ring,' said Monmouth, glancing +at it. 'What are we to make of this? + + "When thy star is in trine, + Between darkness and shine, + Duke Monmouth, Duke Monmouth, + Beware of the Rhine!" + +Thy star in trine! What tomfoolery is this?' + +'If it please your Majesty,' said I, 'I have reason to believe that the +man who sent you this message is one of those who are deeply skilled +in the arts of divination, and who pretend from the motions of the +celestial bodies to foretell the fates of men.' + +'This gentleman is right, sir,' remarked Lord Grey. '"Thy star in trine" +is an astrological term, which signifieth when your natal planet shall +be in a certain quarter of the heavens. The verse is of the nature of a +prophecy. The Chaldeans and Egyptians of old are said to have attained +much skill in the art, but I confess that I have no great opinion of +those latter-day prophets who busy themselves in answering the foolish +questions of every housewife.' + + 'And tell by Venus and the moon, + Who stole a thimble or a spoon.' +muttered Saxon, quoting from his favourite poem. + +'Why, here are our Colonels catching the rhyming complaint,' said the +King, laughing. 'We shall be dropping the sword and taking to the harp +anon, as Alfred did in these very parts. Or I shall become a king of +bards and trouveurs, like good King Rene of Provence. But, gentlemen, +if this be indeed a prophecy, it should, methinks, bode well for our +enterprise. It is true that I am warned against the Rhine, but there is +little prospect of our fighting this quarrel upon its banks.' + +'Worse luck!' murmured the German, under his breath. + +'We may, therefore, thank this Sir Jacob and his giant messenger for +his forecast as well as for his gold. But here comes the worthy Mayor of +Taunton, the oldest of our councillors and the youngest of our knights. +Captain Clarke, I desire you to stand at the inside of the door and to +prevent intrusion. What passes amongst us will, I am well convinced, be +safe in your keeping.' + +I bowed and took up my post as ordered, while the council-men and +commanders gathered round the great oaken table which ran down the +centre of the hall. The mellow evening light was streaming through the +three western windows, while the distant babble of the soldiers upon the +Castle Green sounded like the sleepy drone of insects. Monmouth paced +with quick uneasy steps up and down the further end of the room until +all were seated, when he turned towards them and addressed them. + +'You will have surmised, gentlemen,' he said, 'that I have called you +together to-day that I might have the benefit of your collective wisdom +in determining what our next steps should be. We have now marched some +forty miles into our kingdom, and we have met wherever we have gone with +the warm welcome which we expected. Close upon eight thousand men follow +our standards, and as many more have been turned away for want of +arms. We have twice met the enemy, with the effect that we have armed +ourselves with their muskets and field-pieces. From first to last there +hath been nothing which has not prospered with us. We must look to it +that the future be as successful as the past. To insure this I have +called ye together, and I now ask ye to give me your opinions of our +situation, leaving me after I have listened to your views to form our +plan of action. There are statesmen among ye, and there are soldiers +among ye, and there are godly men among ye who may chance to get a flash +of light when statesman and soldier are in the dark. Speak fearlessly, +then, and let me know what is in your minds.' + +From my central post by the door I could see the lines of faces on +either side of the board, the solemn close-shaven Puritans, sunburned +soldiers, and white-wigged moustachioed courtiers. My eyes rested +particularly upon Ferguson's scorbutic features, Saxon's hard aquiline +profile, the German's burly face, and the peaky thoughtful countenance +of the Lord of Wark. + +'If naebody else will gie an opeenion,' cried the fanatical Doctor, +'I'll een speak mysel' as led by the inward voice. For have I no worked +in the cause and slaved in it, much enduring and suffering mony things +at the honds o' the froward, whereby my ain speerit hath plentifully +fructified? Have I no been bruised as in a wine-press, and cast oot wi' +hissing and scorning into waste places?' + +'We know your merits and your sufferings, Doctor,' said the King. 'The +question before us is as to our course of action.' + +'Was there no a voice heard in the East?' cried the old Whig. 'Was there +no a soond as o' a great crying, the crying for a broken covenant and a +sinful generation? Whence came the cry? Wha's was the voice? Was it no +that o' the man Robert Ferguson, wha raised himsel' up against the great +ones in the land, and wouldna be appeased?' + +'Aye, aye, Doctor,' said Monmouth impatiently. 'Speak to the point, or +give place to another.' + +'I shall mak' mysel' clear, your Majesty. Have we no heard that Argyle +is cutten off? And why was he cutten off? Because he hadna due faith +in the workings o' the Almighty, and must needs reject the help o' the +children o' light in favour o' the bare-legged spawn o' Prelacy, wha are +half Pagan, half Popish. Had he walked in the path o' the Lord he wudna +be lying in the Tolbooth o' Edinburgh wi' the tow or the axe before +him. Why did he no gird up his loins and march straight onwards wi' +the banner o' light, instead o' dallying here and biding there like a +half-hairted Didymus? And the same or waur will fa' upon us if we dinna +march on intae the land and plant our ensigns afore the wicked toun o' +London--the toun where the Lord's wark is tae be done, and the tares tae +be separated frae the wheat, and piled up for the burning.' + +'Your advice, in short, is that we march on!' said Monmouth. + +'That we march on, your Majesty, and that we prepare oorselves tae be +the vessels o' grace, and forbear frae polluting the cause o' the Gospel +by wearing the livery o' the devil'--here he glared at a gaily attired +cavalier at the other side of the table--'or by the playing o' cairds, +the singing o' profane songs and the swearing o' oaths, all which are +nichtly done by members o' this army, wi' the effect o' giving much +scandal tae God's ain folk.' + +A hum of assent and approval rose up from the more Puritan members of +the council at this expression of opinion, while the courtiers glanced +at each other and curled their lips in derision. Monmouth took two or +three turns and then called for another opinion. + +'You, Lord Grey,' he said, 'are a soldier and a man of experience. What +is your advice? Should we halt here or push forward towards London?' + +'To advance to the East would, in my humble judgment, be fatal to us,' +Grey answered, speaking slowly, with the manner of a man who has thought +long and deeply before delivering an opinion. 'James Stuart is strong +in horse, and we have none. We can hold our own amongst hedgerows or in +broken country, but what chance could we have in the middle of Salisbury +Plain? With the dragoons round us we should be like a flock of sheep +amid a pack of wolves. Again, every step which we take towards London +removes us from our natural vantage ground, and from the fertile country +which supplies our necessities, while it strengthens our enemy by +shortening the distance he has to convey his troops and his victuals. +Unless, therefore, we hear of some great outbreak elsewhere, or of some +general movement in London in our favour, we would do best to hold our +ground and wait an attack.' + +'You argue shrewdly and well, my Lord Grey,' said the King. 'But how +long are we to wait for this outbreak which never comes, and for this +support which is ever promised and never provided? We have now been +seven long days in England, and during that time of all the House of +Commons no single man hath come over to us, and of the lords none gave +my Lord Grey, who was himself an exile. Not a baron or an earl, and only +one baronet, hath taken up arms for me. Where are the men whom Danvers +and Wildman promised me from London? Where are the brisk boys of the +City who were said to be longing for me? Where are the breakings out +from Berwick to Portland which they foretold? Not a man hath moved +save only these good peasants. I have been deluded, ensnared, +trapped--trapped by vile agents who have led me into the shambles.' He +paced up and down, wringing his hands and biting his lips, with despair +stamped upon his face. I observed that Buyse smiled and whispered +something to Saxon--a hint, I suppose, that this was the cold fit of +which he spoke. + +'Tell me, Colonel Buyse,' said the King, mastering his emotion by a +strong effort. 'Do you, as a soldier, agree with my Lord Grey?' + +'Ask Saxon, your Majesty,' the German answered. 'My opinion in a +Raths-Versammlung is, I have observed, ever the same as his.' + +'Then we turn to you, Colonel Saxon,' said Monmouth. 'We have in this +council a party who are in favour of an advance and a party who wish +to stand their ground. Their weight and numbers are, methinks, nearly +equal. If you had the casting vote how would you decide?' All eyes were +bent upon our leader, for his martial bearing, and the respect shown to +him by the veteran Buyse, made it likely that his opinion might really +turn the scale. He sat for a few moments in silence with his hands +before his face. + +'I will give my opinion, your Majesty,' he said at last. 'Feversham and +Churchill are making for Salisbury with three thousand foot, and they +have pushed on eight hundred of the Blue Guards, and two or three +dragoon regiments. We should, therefore, as Lord Grey says, have to +fight on Salisbury Plain, and our foot armed with a medley of weapons +could scarce make head against their horse. All is possible to the Lord, +as Dr. Ferguson wisely says. We are as grains of dust in the hollow of +His hand. Yet He hath given us brains wherewith to choose the better +course, and if we neglect it we must suffer the consequence of our +folly.' + +Ferguson laughed contemptuously, and breathed out a prayer, but many of +the other Puritans nodded their heads to acknowledge that this was not +an unreasonable view to take of it. + +'On the other hand, sire,' Saxon continued, 'it appears to me that to +remain here is equally impossible. Your Majesty's friends throughout +England would lose all heart if the army lay motionless and struck no +blow. The rustics would flock off to their wives and homes. Such an +example is catching. I have seen a great army thaw away like an icicle +in the sunshine. Once gone, it is no easy matter to collect them again. +To keep them we must employ them. Never let them have an idle minute. +Drill them. March them. Exercise them. Work them. Preach to them. Make +them obey God and their Colonel. This cannot be done in snug quarters. +They must travel. We cannot hope to end this business until we get +to London. London, then, must be our goal. But there are many ways of +reaching it. You have, sire, as I have heard, many friends at Bristol +and in the Midlands. If I might advise, I should say let us march round +in that direction. Every day that passes will serve to swell your forces +and improve your troops, while all will feel something is astirring. +Should we take Bristol--and I hear that the works are not very +strong--it would give us a very good command of shipping, and a rare +centre from which to act. If all goes well with us, we could make +our way to London through Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. In the +meantime I might suggest that a day of fast and humiliation be called to +bring down a blessing on the cause.' + +This address, skilfully compounded of worldly wisdom and of spiritual +zeal, won the applause of the whole council, and especially that of King +Monmouth, whose melancholy vanished as if by magic. + +'By my faith, Colonel,' said he, 'you make it all as clear as day. +Of course, if we make ourselves strong in the West, and my uncle is +threatened with disaffection elsewhere, he will have no chance to hold +out against us. Should he wish to fight us upon our own ground, he must +needs drain his troops from north, south, and east, which is not to be +thought of. We may very well march to London by way of Bristol.' + +'I think that the advice is good,' Lord Grey observed; 'but I should +like to ask Colonel Saxon what warrant he hath for saying that Churchill +and Feversham are on their way, with three thousand regular foot and +several regiments of horse?' + +'The word of an officer of the Blues with whom I conversed at +Salisbury,' Saxon answered. 'He confided in me, believing me to be one +of the Duke of Beaufort's household. As to the horse, one party pursued +us on Salisbury Plain with bloodhounds, and another attacked us not +twenty miles from here and lost a score of troopers and a cornet.' + +'We heard something of the brush,' said the King. 'It was bravely done. +But if these men are so close we have no great time for preparation.' + +'Their foot cannot be here before a week,' said the Mayor. 'By that time +we might be behind the walls of Bristol.' + +'There is one point which might be urged,' observed Wade the lawyer. 'We +have, as your Majesty most truly says, met with heavy discouragement in +the fact that no noblemen and few commoners of repute have declared for +us. The reason is, I opine, that each doth wait for his neighbour to +make a move. Should one or two come over the others would soon follow. +How, then, are we to bring a duke or two to our standards?' + +'There's the question, Master Wade,' said Monmouth, shaking his head +despondently. + +'I think that it might be done,' continued the Whig lawyer. 'Mere +proclamations addressed to the commonalty will not catch these gold +fish. They are not to be angled for with a naked hook. I should +recommend that some form of summons or writ be served upon each of them, +calling upon them to appear in our camp within a certain date under pain +of high treason.' + +'There spake the legal mind,' quoth King Monmouth, with a laugh. 'But +you have omitted to tell us how the said writ or summons is to be +conveyed to these same delinquents.' + +'There is the Duke of Beaufort,' continued Wade, disregarding the King's +objection. 'He is President of Wales, and he is, as your Majesty knows, +lieutenant of four English counties. His influence overshadows the whole +West. He hath two hundred horses in his stables at Badminton, and a +thousand men, as I have heard, sit down at his tables every day. Why +should not a special effort be made to gain over such a one, the more so +as we intend to march in his direction?' + +'Henry, Duke of Beaufort, is unfortunately already in arms against his +sovereign,' said Monmouth gloomily. + +'He is, sire, but he may be induced to turn in your favour the weapon +which he hath raised against you. He is a Protestant. He is said to be a +Whig. Why should we not send a message to him? Flatter his pride. Appeal +to his religion. Coax and threaten him. Who knows? He may have private +grievances of which we know nothing, and may be ripe for such a move.' + +'Your counsel is good, Wade,' said Lord Grey, 'but methinks his Majesty +hath asked a pertinent question. Your messenger would, I fear, find +himself swinging upon one of the Badminton oaks if the Duke desired to +show his loyalty to James Stuart. Where are we to find a man who is wary +enough and bold enough for such a mission, without risking one of our +leaders, who could be ill-spared at such a time?' + +'It is true,' said the King. 'It were better not to venture it at all +than to do it in a clumsy and halting fashion. Beaufort would think that +it was a plot not to gain him over, but to throw discredit upon him. But +what means our giant at the door by signing to us?' + +'If it please your Majesty,' I asked, 'have I permission to speak?' + +'We would fain hear you, Captain,' he answered graciously. 'If your +understanding is in any degree correspondent to your strength, your +opinion should be of weight.' + +'Then, your Majesty,' said I, 'I would offer myself as a fitting +messenger in this matter. My father bid me spare neither life nor limb +in this quarrel, and if this honourable council thinks that the Duke +may be gained over, I am ready to guarantee that the message shall be +conveyed to him if man and horse can do it.' + +'I'll warrant that no better herald could be found,' cried Saxon. 'The +lad hath a cool head and a staunch heart.' + +'Then, young sir, we shall accept your loyal and gallant offer,' said +Monmouth. 'Are ye all agreed, gentlemen, upon the point?' A murmur of +assent rose from the company. + +'You shall draw up the paper, Wade. Offer him money, a seniority amongst +the dukes, the perpetual Presidentship of Wales--what you will, if you +can but shake him. If not, sequestration, exile, and everlasting infamy. +And, hark ye! you can enclose a copy of the papers drawn up by Van +Brunow, which prove the marriage of my mother, together with the +attestations of the witnesses. Have them ready by to-morrow at daybreak, +when the messenger may start.' (Note H, Appendix.) + +'They shall be ready, your Majesty,' said Wade. + +'In that case, gentlemen,' continued King Monmouth, 'I may now dismiss +ye to your posts. Should anything fresh arise I shall summon ye again, +that I may profit by your wisdom. Here we shall stay, if Sir Stephen +Timewell will have us, until the men are refreshed and the recruits +enrolled. We shall then make our way Bristolwards, and see what luck +awaits us in the North. If Beaufort comes over all will be well. +Farewell, my kind friends! I need not tell ye to be diligent and +faithful.' + +The council rose at the King's salutation, and bowing to him they began +to file out of the Castle hall. Several of the members clustered round +me with hints for my journey or suggestions as to my conduct. + +'He is a proud, froward man,' said one. 'Speak humbly to him or he will +never hearken to your message, but will order you to be scourged out of +his presence.' + +'Nay, nay!' cried another. 'He is hot, but he loves a man that is a +man. Speak boldly and honestly to him, and he is more like to listen to +reason.' + +'Speak as the Lord shall direct you,' said a Puritan. 'It is His message +which you bear as well as the King's.' + +'Entice him out alone upon some excuse,' said Buyse, 'then up and away +mit him upon your crupper. Hagelsturm! that would be a proper game.' + +'Leave him alone,' cried Saxon. 'The lad hath as much sense as any of +ye. He will see which way the cat jumps. Come, friend, let us make our +way back to our men.' + +'I am sorry, indeed, to lose you,' he said, as we threaded our way +through the throng of peasants and soldiers upon the Castle Green. 'Your +company will miss you sorely. Lockarby must see to the two. If all goes +well you should be back in three or four days. I need not tell you that +there is a real danger. If the Duke wishes to prove to James that +he would not allow himself to be tampered with, he can only do it by +punishing the messenger, which as lieutenant of a county he hath power +to do in times of civil commotion. He is a hard man if all reports be +true. On the other hand, if you should chance to succeed it may lay the +foundations of your fortunes and be the means of saving Monmouth. He +needs help, by the Lord Harry! Never have I seen such a rabble as this +army of his. Buyse says that they fought lustily at this ruffle at +Axminster, but he is of one mind with me, that a few whiffs of shot and +cavalry charges would scatter them over the countryside. Have you any +message to leave?' + +'None, save my love to my mother,' said I. + +'It is well. Should you fall in any unfair way, I shall not forget his +Grace of Beaufort, and the next of his gentlemen who comes in my way +shall hang as high as Haman. And now you had best make for your chamber, +and have as good a slumber as you may, since to-morrow at cock-crow +begins your new mission.' + + + +Chapter XXII. Of the News from Havant + +Having given my orders that Covenant should be saddled and bridled by +daybreak, I had gone to my room and was preparing for a long night's +rest, when Sir Gervas, who slept in the same apartment, came dancing in +with a bundle of papers waving over his head. + +'Three guesses, Clarke!' he cried. 'What would you most desire?' + +'Letters from Havant,' said I eagerly. + +'Right,' he answered, throwing them into my lap. 'Three of them, and not +a woman's hand among them. Sink me, if I can understand what you have +been doing all your life. + + "How can youthful heart resign + Lovely woman, sparkling wine?" + +But you are so lost in your news that you have not observed my +transformation.' + +'Why, wherever did you get these?' I asked in astonishment, for he +was attired in a delicate plum-coloured suit with gold buttons and +trimmings, set off by silken hosen and Spanish leather shoes with roses +on the instep. + +'It smacks more of the court than of the camp,' quoth Sir Gervas, +rubbing his hands and glancing down at himself with some satisfaction. +'I am also revictualled in the matter of ratafia and orange-flower +water, together with two new wigs, a bob and a court, a pound of the +Imperial snuff from the sign of the Black Man, a box of De Crepigny's +hair powder, my foxskin muff, and several other necessaries. But I +hinder you in your reading.' + +'I have seen enough to tell me that all is well at home,' I answered, +glancing over my father's letter. 'But how came these things?' + +'Some horsemen have come in from Petersfield, bearing them with them. As +to my little box, which a fair friend of mine in town packed for me, +it was to be forwarded to Bristol, where I am now supposed to be, and +should be were it not for my good fortune in meeting your party. It +chanced to find its way, however, to the Bruton inn, and the good woman +there, whom I had conciliated, found means to send it after me. It is a +good rule to go upon, Clarke, in this earthly pilgrimage, always to +kiss the landlady. It may seem a small thing, and yet life is made up +of small things. I have few fixed principles, I fear, but two there are +which I can say from my heart that I never transgress. I always carry a +corkscrew, and I never forget to kiss the landlady.' + +'From what I have seen of you,' said I, laughing, 'I could be warranty +that those two duties are ever fulfilled.' + +'I have letters, too,' said he, sitting on the side of the bed and +turning over a sheaf of papers. '"Your broken-hearted Araminta." Hum! +The wench cannot know that I am ruined or her heart would speedily be +restored. What's this? A challenge to match my bird Julius against my +Lord Dorchester's cockerel for a hundred guineas. Faith! I am too busy +backing the Monmouth rooster for the champion stakes. Another asking me +to chase the stag at Epping. Zounds! had I not cleared off I should +have been run down myself, with a pack of bandog bailiffs at my heels. +A dunning letter from my clothier. He can afford to lose this bill. +He hath had many a long one out of me. An offer of three thousand from +little Dicky Chichester. No, no, Dicky, it won't do. A gentleman can't +live upon his friends. None the less grateful. How now? From Mrs. +Butterworth! No money for three weeks! Bailiffs in the house! Now, curse +me, if this is not too bad!' + +'What is the matter?' I asked, glancing up from my own letters. The +baronet's pale face had taken a tinge of red, and he was striding +furiously up and down the bedroom with a letter crumpled up in his hand. + +'It is a burning shame, Clarke,' he cried. 'Hang it, she shall have my +watch. It is by Tompion, of the sign of the Three Crowns in Paul's +Yard, and cost a hundred when new. It should keep her for a few months. +Mortimer shall measure swords with me for this. I shall write villain +upon him with my rapier's point.' + +'I have never seen you ruffled before,' said I. + +'No,' he answered, laughing. 'Many have lived with me for years and +would give me a certificate for temper. But this is too much. Sir Edward +Mortimer is my mother's younger brother, Clarke, but he is not many +years older than myself. A proper, strait-laced, soft-voiced lad he has +ever been, and, as a consequence, he throve in the world, and joined +land to land after the scriptural fashion. I had befriended him from my +purse in the old days, but he soon came to be a richer man than I, for +all that he gained he kept, whereas all I got--well, it went off like +the smoke of the pipe which you are lighting. When I found that all was +up with me I received from Mortimer an advance, which was sufficient to +take me according to my wish over to Virginia, together with a horse and +a personal outfit. There was some chance, Clarke, of the Jerome acres +going to him should aught befall me, so that he was not averse to +helping me off to a land of fevers and scalping knives. Nay, never shake +your head, my dear country lad, you little know the wiles of the world.' + +'Give him credit for the best until the worst is proved,' said I, +sitting up in bed smoking, with my letters littered about in front of +me. + +'The worst _is_ proved,' said Sir Gervas, with a darkening face. 'I +have, as I said, done Mortimer some turns which he might remember, +though it did not become me to remind him of them. This Mistress +Butterworth is mine old wet-nurse, and it hath been the custom of the +family to provide for her. I could not bear the thought that in the ruin +of my fortune she should lose the paltry guinea or so a week which stood +between her and hunger. My only request to Mortimer, therefore, made on +the score of old friendship, was that he should continue this pittance, +I promising that should I prosper I would return whatever he should +disburse. The mean-hearted villain wrung my hand and swore that it +should be so. How vile a thing is human nature, Clarke! For the sake of +this paltry sum he, a rich man, hath broken his pledge, and left this +poor woman to starve. But he shall answer to me for it. He thinks that +I am on the Atlantic. If I march back to London with these brave boys +I shall disturb the tenor of his sainted existence. Meanwhile I shall +trust to sun-dials, and off goes my watch to Mother Butterworth. Bless +her ample bosoms! I have tried many liquors, but I dare bet that the +first was the most healthy. But how of your own letters? You have been +frowning and smiling like an April day.' + +'There is one from my father, with a few words attached from my mother,' +said I. 'The second is from an old friend of mine, Zachariah Palmer, the +village carpenter. The third is from Solomon Sprent, a retired seaman, +for whom I have an affection and respect.' + +'You have a rare trio of newsmen. I would I knew your father, Clarke, he +must, from what you say, be a stout bit of British oak. I spoke even now +of your knowing little of the world, but indeed it may be that in your +village you can see mankind without the varnish, and so come to learn +more of the good of human nature. Varnish or none, the bad will ever +peep through. Now this carpenter and seaman show themselves no doubt for +what they are. A man might know my friends of the court for a lifetime, +and never come upon their real selves, nor would it perhaps repay the +search when you had come across it. Sink me, but I wax philosophical, +which is the old refuge of the ruined man. Give me a tub, and I shall +set up in the Piazza of Covent Garden, and be the Diogenes of London. I +would not be wealthy again, Micah! How goes the old lilt?-- + + "Our money shall never indite us + Or drag us to Goldsmith Hall, + No pirates or wrecks can affright us. + We that have no estates + Fear no plunder or rates, + Nor care to lock gates. + He that lies on the ground cannot fall!" + +That last would make a good motto for an almshouse.' + +'You will have Sir Stephen up,' said I warningly, for he was carolling +away at the pitch of his lungs. + +'Never fear! He and his 'prentices were all at the broad-sword exercise +in the hall as I came by. It is worth something to see the old fellow +stamp, and swing his sword, and cry, "Ha!" on the down-cut. Mistress +Ruth and friend Lockarby are in the tapestried room, she spinning and he +reading aloud one of those entertaining volumes which she would have me +read. Methinks she hath taken his conversion in hand, which may end in +his converting her from a maid into a wife. And so you go to the Duke of +Beaufort! Well, I would that I could travel with you, but Saxon will not +hear of it, and my musqueteers must be my first care. God send you safe +back! Where is my jasmine powder and the patch-box? Read me your letters +if there be aught in them of interest. I have been splitting a flask +with our gallant Colonel at his inn, and he hath told me enough of your +home at Havant to make me wish to know more.' + +'This one is somewhat grave,' said I. + +'Nay, I am in the humour for grave things. Have at it, if it contain the +whole Platonic philosophy.' + +''Tis from the venerable carpenter who hath for many years been my +adviser and friend. He is one who is religious without being sectarian, +philosophic without being a partisan, and loving without being weak.' + +'A paragon, truly!' exclaimed Sir Gervas, who was busy with his eyebrow +brush. + +'This is what he saith,' I continued, and proceeded to read the very +letter which I now read to you. + +'"Having heard from your father, my dear lad, that there was some chance +of being able to send a letter to you, I have written this, and am +now sending it under the charge of the worthy John Packingham, of +Chichester, who is bound for the West. I trust that you are now safe +with Monmouth's army, and that you have received honourable appointment +therein. I doubt not that you will find among your comrades some who +are extreme sectaries, and others who are scoffers and disbelievers. +Be advised by me, friend, and avoid both the one and the other. For the +zealot is a man who not only defends his own right of worship, wherein +he hath justice, but wishes to impose upon the consciences of others, +by which he falls into the very error against which he fights. The mere +brainless scoffer is, on the other hand, lower than the beast of +the field, since he lacks the animal's self-respect and humble +resignation."' + +'My faith!' cried the Baronet, 'the old gentleman hath a rough side to +his tongue.' + +'"Let us take religion upon its broadest base, for the truth must be +broader than aught which we can conceive. The presence of a table doth +prove the existence of a carpenter, and so the presence of a universe +proves the existence of a universe Maker, call Him by what name +you will. So far the ground is very firm beneath us, without either +inspiration, teaching, or any aid whatever. Since, then, there _must_ be +a world Maker, let us judge of His nature by His work. We cannot observe +the glories of the firmament, its infinite extent, its beauty, and the +Divine skill wherewith every plant and animal hath its wants cared for, +without seeing that He is full of wisdom, intelligence, and power. We +are still, you will perceive, upon solid ground, without having to call +to our aid aught save pure reason."' + +'"Having got so far, let us inquire to what end the universe was made, +and we put upon it. The teaching of all nature shows that it must be to +the end of improvement and upward growth, the increase in real virtue, +in knowledge, and in wisdom. Nature is a silent preacher which holds +forth upon week-days as on Sabbaths. We see the acorn grow into the oak, +the egg into the bird, the maggot into the butterfly. Shall we doubt, +then, that the human soul, the most precious of all things, is also +upon the upward path? And how can the soul progress save through the +cultivation of virtue and self-mastery? What other way is there? There +is none. We may say with confidence, then, that we are placed here to +increase in knowledge and in virtue."' + +'"This is the core of all religion, and this much needs no faith in +the acceptance. It is as true and as capable of proof as one of those +exercises of Euclid which we have gone over together. On this common +ground men have raised many different buildings. Christianity, the creed +of Mahomet, the creed of the Easterns, have all the same essence. The +difference lies in the forms and the details. Let us hold to our own +Christian creed, the beautiful, often-professed, and seldom-practised +doctrine of love, but let us not despise our fellow-men, for we are all +branches from the common root of truth."' + +'"Man comes out of darkness into light. He tarries awhile and then +passes into darkness again. Micah, lad, the days are passing, mine as +well as thine. Let them not be wasted. They are few in number. What says +Petrarch?' To him that enters, life seems infinite; to him that +departs, nothing.' Let every day, every hour, be spent in furthering the +Creator's end--in getting out whatever power for good there is in you. +What is pain, or work, or trouble? The cloud that passes over the sun. +But the result of work well done is everything. It is eternal. It lives +and waxes stronger through the centuries. Pause not for rest. The rest +will come when the hour of work is past."' + +'"May God protect and guard you! There is no great news. The Portsmouth +garrison hath marched to the West. Sir John Lawson, the magistrate, hath +been down here threatening your father and others, but he can do little +for want of proofs. Church and Dissent are at each other's throats as +ever. Truly the stern law of Moses is more enduring than the sweet words +of Christ. Adieu, my dear lad! All good wishes from your grey-headed +friend, ZACHARIAH PALMER."' + +'Od's fish!' cried Sir Gervas, as I folded up the letter, 'I have heard +Stillingfleet and Tenison, but I never listened to a better sermon. This +is a bishop disguised as a carpenter. The crozier would suit his hand +better than the plane. But how of our seaman friend? Is he a tarpaulin +theologian--a divine among the tarry-breeks?' + +'Solomon Sprent is a very different man, though good enough in his way,' +said I. 'But you shall judge him from his letter.' + +'"Master Clarke. Sir,--When last we was in company I had run in under +the batteries on cutting-out service, while you did stand on and off in +the channel and wait signals. Having stopped to refit and to overhaul my +prize, which proved to be in proper trim alow and aloft--"' + +'What the devil doth he mean?' asked Sir Gervas. + +'It is a maid of whom he talks--Phoebe Dawson, the sister of the +blacksmith. He hath scarce put foot on land for nigh forty years, and +can as a consequence only speak in this sea jargon, though he fancies +that he uses as pure King's English as any man in Hampshire.' + +'Proceed, then,' quoth the Baronet. + +'"Having also read her the articles of war, I explained to her the +conditions under which we were to sail in company on life's voyage, +namely:"' + +'"First. She to obey signals without question as soon as received."' + +'"Second. She to steer by my reckoning."' + +'"Third. She to stand by me as true consort in foul weather, battle, or +shipwreck."' + +'"Fourth. She to run under my guns if assailed by picaroons, +privateeros, or garda-costas."' + +'"Fifth. Me to keep her in due repair, dry-dock her at intervals, +and see that she hath her allowance of coats of paint, streamers, and +bunting, as befits a saucy pleasure boat."' + +'"Sixth. Me to take no other craft in tow, and if any be now attached, +to cut their hawsers."' + +'"Seventh. Me to revictual her day by day."' + +'"Eighth. Should she chance to spring a leak, or be blown on her beam +ends by the winds of misfortune, to stand by her and see her pumped out +or righted."' + +'"Ninth. To fly the Protestant ensign at the peak during life's voyage, +and to lay our course for the great harbour, in the hope that moorings +and ground to swing may be found for two British-built crafts when laid +up for eternity."' + +'"'Twas close on eight-bells before these articles were signed and +sealed. When I headed after you I could not so much as catch a glimpse +of your topsail. Soon after I heard as you had gone a-soldiering, +together with that lean, rakish, long-sparred, picaroon-like craft which +I have seen of late in the village. I take it unkind of you that you +have not so much as dipped ensign to me on leaving. But perchance +the tide was favourable, and you could not tarry. Had I not been +jury-rigged, with one of my spars shot away, I should have dearly loved +to have strapped on my hanger and come with you to smell gunpowder once +more. I would do it now, timber-toe and all, were it not for my consort, +who might claim it as a breach of the articles, and so sheer off. I must +follow the light on her poop until we are fairly joined."' + +'"Farewell, mate! In action, take an old sailor's advice. Keep the +weather-gauge and board! Tell that to your admiral on the day of battle. +Whisper it in his ear. Say to him, 'Keep the weather-gauge and board!' +Tell him also to strike quick, strike hard, and keep on striking. That's +the word of Christopher Mings, and a better man has not been launched, +though he did climb in through the hawse-pipe.--Yours to command, +SOLOMON SPRENT."' + +Sir Gervas had been chuckling to himself during the reading of this +epistle, but at the last part we both broke out a-laughing. + +'Land or sea, he will have it that battles are fought in ships,' +said the Baronet. 'You should have had that sage piece of advice for +Monmouth's council to-day. Should he ever ask your opinion it must be, +"Keep the weather-gauge and board!"' + +'I must to sleep,' said I, laying aside my pipe. 'I should be on the +road by daybreak.' + +'Nay, I prythee, complete your kindness by letting me have a glimpse of +your respected parent, the Roundhead.' + +''Tis but a few lines,' I answered. 'He was ever short of speech. But +if they interest you, you shall hear them. "I am sending this by a godly +man, my dear son, to say that I trust that you are bearing yourself as +becomes you. In all danger and difficulty trust not to yourself, but +ask help from on high. If you are in authority, teach your men to sing +psalms when they fall on, as is the good old custom. In action give +point rather than edge. A thrust must beat a cut. Your mother and the +others send their affection to you. Sir John Lawson hath been down +here like a ravening wolf, but could find no proof against me. John +Marchbank, of Bedhampton, is cast into prison. Truly Antichrist reigns +in the land, but the kingdom of light is at hand. Strike lustily for +truth and conscience.--Your loving father, JOSEPH CLARKE."' + +'"Postscriptum (from my mother).--I trust that you will remember what I +have said concerning your hosen and also the broad linen collars, which +you will find in the bag. It is little over a week since you left, yet +it seems a year. When cold or wet, take ten drops of Daffy's elixir in a +small glass of strong waters. Should your feet chafe, rub tallow on the +inside of your boots. Commend me to Master Saxon and to Master Lockarby, +if he be with you. His father was mad at his going, for he hath a great +brewing going forward, and none to mind the mash-tub. Ruth hath baked a +cake, but the oven hath played her false, and it is lumpy in the inside. +A thousand kisses, dear heart, from your loving mother, M. C."' + +'A right sensible couple,' quoth Sir Gervas, who, having completed his +toilet, had betaken him to his couch. 'I now begin to understand your +manufacture, Clarke. I see the threads that are used in the weaving of +you. Your father looks to your spiritual wants. Your mother concerns +herself with the material. Yet the old carpenter's preaching is, +methinks, more to your taste. You are a rank latitudinarian, man. Sir +Stephen would cry fie upon you, and Joshua Pettigrue abjure you! Well, +out with the light, for we should both be stirring at cock-crow. That is +our religion at present.' + +'Early Christians,' I suggested, and we both laughed as we settled down +to sleep. + + + +Chapter XXIII. Of the Snare on the Weston Road + +Just after sunrise I was awoke by one of the Mayor's servants, who +brought word that the Honourable Master Wade was awaiting me downstairs. +Having dressed and descended, I found him seated by the table in the +sitting-room with papers and wafer-box, sealing up the missive which I +was to carry. He was a small, worn, grey-faced man, very erect in his +bearing and sudden in his speech, with more of the soldier than of the +lawyer in his appearance. + +'So,' said he, pressing his seal above the fastening of the string, 'I +see that your horse is ready for you outside. You had best make your way +round by Nether Stowey and the Bristol Channel, for we have heard that +the enemy's horse guard the roads on the far side of Wells. Here is your +packet.' + +I bowed and placed it in the inside of my tunic. + +'It is a written order as suggested in the council. The Duke's reply may +be written, or it may be by word of mouth. In either case guard it well. +This packet contains also a copy of the depositions of the clergyman at +The Hague, and of the other witnesses who saw Charles of England marry +Lucy Walters, the mother of his Majesty. Your mission is one of such +importance that the whole success of our enterprise may turn upon it. +See that you serve the paper upon Beaufort in person, and not through +any intermediary, or it might not stand in a court of law.' + +I promised to do so if possible. + +'I should advise you also,' he continued, 'to carry sword and pistol as +a protection against the chance dangers of the road, but to discard your +head-piece and steel-front as giving you too warlike an aspect for a +peaceful messenger.' + +'I had already come to that resolve,' said I. + +'There is nothing more to be said, Captain,' said the lawyer, giving me +his hand. 'May all good fortune go with you. Keep a still tongue and a +quick ear. Watch keenly how all things go. Mark whose face is gloomy and +whose content. The Duke may be at Bristol, but you had best make for his +seat at Badminton. Our sign of the day is Tewkesbury.' + +Thanking my instructor for his advice I went out and mounted Covenant, +who pawed and champed at his bit in his delight at getting started +once more. Few of the townsmen were stirring, though here and there +a night-bonneted head stared out at me through a casement. I took the +precaution of walking the horse very quietly until we were some distance +from the house, for I had told Reuben nothing of my intended journey, +and I was convinced that if he knew of it neither discipline, nor even +his new ties of love, would prevent him from coming with me. Covenant's +iron-shod feet rang sharply, in spite of my care, upon the cobblestones, +but looking back I saw that the blinds of my faithful friend's room +were undrawn, and that all seemed quiet in the house. I shook my bridle, +therefore, and rode at a brisk trot through the silent streets, which +were still strewn with faded flowers and gay with streamers. At the +north gate a guard of half a company was stationed, who let me pass upon +hearing the word. Once beyond the old walls I found myself out on the +country side, with my face to the north and a clear road in front of me. + +It was a blithesome morning. The sun was rising over the distant hills, +and heaven and earth were ruddy and golden. The trees in the wayside +orchards were full of swarms of birds, who chattered and sang until the +air was full of their piping. There was lightsomeness and gladness in +every breath. The wistful-eyed red Somerset kine stood along by the +hedgerows, casting great shadows down the fields and gazing at me as +I passed. Farm horses leaned over wooden gates, and snorted a word of +greeting to their glossy-coated brother. A great herd of snowy-fleeced +sheep streamed towards us over the hillside and frisked and gambolled in +the sunshine. All was innocent life, from the lark which sang on high +to the little shrew-mouse which ran amongst the ripening corn, or the +martin which dashed away at the sound of my approach. All alive and all +innocent. What are we to think, my dear children, when we see the beasts +of the field full of kindness and virtue and gratitude? Where is this +superiority of which we talk? + +From the high ground to the north I looked back upon the sleeping town, +with the broad edging of tents and waggons, which showed how suddenly +its population had outgrown it. The Royal Standard still fluttered +from the tower of St. Mary Magdalene, while close by its beautiful +brother-turret of St. James bore aloft the blue flag of Monmouth. As +I gazed the quick petulant roll of a drum rose up on the still morning +air, with the clear ringing call of the bugles summoning the troops from +their slumbers. Beyond the town, and on either side of it, stretched a +glorious view of the Somersetshire downs, rolling away to the distant +sea, with town and hamlet, castle turret and church tower, wooded coombe +and stretch of grain-land--as fair a scene as the eye could wish to rest +upon. As I wheeled my horse and sped upon my way I felt, my dears, that +this was a land worth fighting for, and that a man's life was a small +thing if he could but aid, in however trifling a degree, in working out +its freedom and its happiness. At a little village over the hill I fell +in with an outpost of horse, the commander of which rode some distance +with me, and set me on my road to Nether Stowey. It seemed strange to +my Hampshire eyes to note that the earth is all red in these parts--very +different to the chalk and gravel of Havant. The cows, too, are mostly +red. The cottages are built neither of brick nor of wood, but of some +form of plaster, which they call cob, which is strong and smooth so +long as no water comes near it. They shelter the walls from the rain, +therefore, by great overhanging thatches. There is scarcely a steeple in +the whole country-side, which also seems strange to a man from any other +part of England. Every church hath a square tower, with pinnacles upon +the top, and they are mostly very large, with fine peals of bells. + +My course ran along by the foot of the beautiful Quantock Hills, where +heavy-wooded coombes are scattered over the broad heathery downs, deep +with bracken and whortle-bushes. On either side of the track steep +winding glens sloped downwards, lined with yellow gorse, which blazed +out from the deep-red soil like a flame from embers. Peat-coloured +streams splashed down these valleys and over the road, through which +Covenant ploughed fetlock deep, and shied to see the broad-backed trout +darting from between his fore feet. + +All day I rode through this beautiful country, meeting few folk, for +I kept away from the main roads. A few shepherds and farmers, a +long-legged clergyman, a packman with his mule, and a horseman with a +great bag, whom I took to be a buyer of hair, are all that I can recall. +A black jack of ale and the heel of a loaf at a wayside inn were all my +refreshments. Near Combwich, Covenant cast a shoe, and two hours were +wasted before I found a smithy in the town and had the matter set right. +It was not until evening that I at last came out upon the banks of the +Bristol Channel, at a place called Shurton Bars, where the muddy Parret +makes its way into the sea. At this point the channel is so broad that +the Welsh mountains can scarcely be distinguished. The shore is flat +and black and oozy, flecked over with white patches of sea-birds, but +further to the east there rises a line of hills, very wild and rugged, +rising in places into steep precipices. These cliffs run out into the +sea, and numerous little harbours and bays are formed in their broken +surface, which are dry half the day, but can float a good-sized boat at +half-tide. The road wound over these bleak and rocky hills, which are +sparsely inhabited by a wild race of fishermen, or shepherds, who came +to their cabin doors on hearing the clatter of my horse's hoofs, and +shot some rough West-country jest at me as I passed. As the night drew +in the country became bleaker and more deserted. An occasional light +twinkling in the distance from some lonely hillside cottage was the only +sign of the presence of man. The rough track still skirted the sea, and +high as it was, the spray from the breakers drifted across it. The salt +prinkled on my lips, and the air was filled with the hoarse roar of the +surge and the thin piping of curlews, who flitted past in the darkness +like white, shadowy, sad-voiced creatures from some other world. The +wind blew in short, quick, angry puffs from the westward, and far out on +the black waters a single glimmer of light rising and falling, tossing +up, and then sinking out of sight, showed how fierce a sea had risen in +the channel. + +Riding through the gloaming in this strange wild scenery my mind +naturally turned towards the past. I thought of my father and my mother, +of the old carpenter and of Solomon Sprent. Then I pondered over Decimus +Saxon, his many-faced character having in it so much to be admired and +so much to be abhorred. Did I like him or no? It was more than I could +say. From him I wandered off to my faithful Reuben, and to his love +passage with the pretty Puritan, which in turn brought me to Sir Gervas +and the wreck of his fortunes. My mind then wandered to the state of the +army and the prospects of the rising, which led me to my present mission +with its perils and its difficulties. Having turned over all these +things in my mind I began to doze upon my horse's back, overcome by the +fatigue of the journey and the drowsy lullaby of the waves. I had just +fallen into a dream in which I saw Reuben Lockarby crowned King of +England by Mistress Ruth Timewell, while Decimus Saxon endeavoured to +shoot him with a bottle of Daffy's elixir, when in an instant, +without warning, I was dashed violently from my horse, and left lying +half-conscious on the stony track. + +So stunned and shaken was I by the sudden fall, that though I had a dim +knowledge of shadowy figures bending over me, and of hoarse laughter +sounding in my ears, I could not tell for a few minutes where I was nor +what had befallen me. When at last I did make an attempt to recover my +feet I found that a loop of rope had been slipped round my arms and my +legs so as to secure them. With a hard struggle I got one hand free, and +dashed it in the face of one of the men who were holding me down; but +the whole gang of a dozen or more set upon me at once, and while some +thumped and kicked at me, others tied a fresh cord round my elbows, and +deftly fastened it in such a way as to pinion me completely. Finding +that in my weak and dazed state all efforts were of no avail, I lay +sullen and watchful, taking no heed of the random blows which were still +showered upon me. So dark was it that I could neither see the faces of +my attackers, nor form any guess as to who they might be, or how they +had hurled me from my saddle. The champing and stamping of a horse hard +by showed me that Covenant was a prisoner as well as his master. + +'Dutch Pete's got as much as he can carry,' said a rough, harsh voice. +'He lies on the track as limp as a conger.' + +'Ah, poor Pete!' muttered another. 'He'll never deal a card or drain a +glass of the right Cognac again.' + +'There you lie, mine goot vriend,' said the injured man, in weak, +quavering tones. 'And I will prove that you lie if you have a flaschen +in your pocket.' + +'If Pete were dead and buried,' the first speaker said, 'a word about +strong waters would bring him to. Give him a sup from your bottle, +Dicon.' + +There was a great gurgling and sucking in the darkness, followed by a +gasp from the drinker. 'Gott sei gelobt,' he exclaimed in a stronger +voice, 'I have seen more stars than ever were made. Had my kopf not +been well hooped he would have knocked it in like an ill-staved cask. He +shlags like the kick of a horse.' + +As he spoke the edge of the moon peeped over a cliff and threw a flood +of cold clear light upon the scene. Looking up I saw that a strong rope +had been tied across the road from one tree trunk to another about eight +feet above the ground. This could not be seen by me, even had I been +fully awake, in the dusk; but catching me across the breast as Covenant +trotted under it, it had swept me off and dashed me with great force to +the ground. Either the fall or the blows which I had received had cut me +badly, for I could feel the blood trickling in a warm stream past my +ear and down my neck. I made no attempt to move, however, but waited in +silence to find out who these men were into whose hands I had fallen. +My one fear was lest my letters should be taken away from me, and my +mission rendered of no avail. That in this, my first trust, I should be +disarmed without a blow and lose the papers which had been confided to +me, was a chance which made me flush and tingle with shame at the very +thought. + +The gang who had seized me were rough-bearded fellows in fur caps and +fustian jackets, with buff belts round their waists, from which hung +short straight whinyards. Their dark sun-dried faces and their great +boots marked them as fishermen or seamen, as might be guessed from their +rude sailor speech. A pair knelt on either side with their hands upon +my arms, a third stood behind with a cocked pistol pointed at my head, +while the others, seven or eight in number, were helping to his feet the +man whom I had struck, who was bleeding freely from a cut over the eye. + +'Take the horse up to Daddy Mycroft's,' said a stout, black-bearded man, +who seemed to be their leader. 'It is no mere dragooner hack,(Note +I. Appendix) but a comely, full-blooded brute, which will fetch sixty +pieces at the least. Your share of that, Peter, will buy salve and +plaster for your cut.' + +'Ha, houndsfoot!' cried the Dutchman, shaking his fist at me. 'You +would strike Peter, would you? You would draw Peter's blood, would you? +Tausend Teufel, man! if you and I were together upon the hillside we +should see vich vas the petter man.' + +'Slack your jaw tackle, Pete,' growled one of his comrades. 'This fellow +is a limb of Satan for sure, and doth follow a calling that none but a +mean, snivelling, baseborn son of a gun would take to. Yet I warrant, +from the look of him, that he could truss you like a woodcock if he had +his great hands upon you. And you would howl for help as you did last +Martinmas, when you did mistake Cooper Dick's wife for a gauger.' + +'Truss me, would he? Todt und Holle!' cried the other, whom the blow +and the brandy had driven to madness. 'We shall see. Take that, thou +deyvil's spawn, take that!' He ran at me, and kicked me as hard as he +could with his heavy sea-boots. + +Some of the gang laughed, but the man who had spoken before gave +the Dutchman a shove that sent him whirling. 'None of that,' he said +sternly. 'We'll have British fair-play on British soil, and none of your +cursed longshore tricks. I won't stand by and see an Englishman +kicked, d'ye see, by a tub-bellied, round-starned, schnapps-swilling, +chicken-hearted son of an Amsterdam lust-vrouw. Hang him, if the skipper +likes. That's all above board, but by thunder, if it's a fight that you +will have, touch that man again.' + +'All right, Dicon,' said their leader soothingly. 'We all know that +Pete's not a fighting man, but he's the best cooper on the coast, eh, +Pete? There is not his equal at staving, hooping, and bumping. He'll +take a plank of wood and turn it into a keg while another man would be +thinking of it.' + +'Oh, you remember that, Captain Murgatroyd,' said the Dutchman sulkily. +'But you see me knocked about and shlagged, and bullied, and called +names, and what help have I? So help me, when the _Maria_ is in the +Texel next, I'll take to my old trade, I will, and never set foot on her +again.' + +'No fear,' the Captain answered, laughing. 'While the _Maria_ brings in +five thousand good pieces a year, and can show her heels to any cutter +on the coast, there is no fear of greedy Pete losing his share of her. +Why, man, at this rate you may have a lust-haus of your own in a year or +two, with a trimmed lawn, and the trees all clipped like peacocks, and +the flowers in pattern, and a canal by the door, and a great bouncing +house-wife just like any Burgomeister. There's many such a fortune been +made out of Mechlin and Cognac.' + +'Aye, and there's many a broken kopf got over Mechlin and Cognac,' +grumbled my enemy. 'Donner! There are other things beside lust-houses +and flower-beds. There are lee-shores and nor'-westers, beaks and +preventives.' + +'And there's where the smart seaman has the pull over the herring buss, +or the skulking coaster that works from Christmas to Christmas with all +the danger and none of the little pickings. But enough said! Up with the +prisoner, and let us get him safely into the bilboes.' + +I was raised to my feet and half carried, half dragged along in the +midst of the gang. My horse had already been led away in the opposite +direction. Our course lay off the road, down a very rocky and rugged +ravine which sloped away towards the sea. There seemed to be no trace of +a path, and I could only stumble along over rocks and bushes as best I +might in my fettered and crippled state. The blood, however, had +dried over my wounds, and the cool sea breeze playing upon my forehead +refreshed me, and helped me to take a clearer view of my position. + +It was plain from their talk that these men were smugglers. As such, +they were not likely to have any great love for the Government, or +desire to uphold King James in any way. On the contrary, their goodwill +would probably be with Monmouth, for had I not seen the day before a +whole regiment of foot in his army, raised from among the coaster folk? +On the other hand, their greed might be stronger than their loyalty, and +might lead them to hand me over to justice in the hope of reward. On the +whole it would be best, I thought, to say nothing of my mission, and to +keep my papers secret as long as possible. + +But I could not but wonder, as I was dragged along, what had led these +men to lie in wait for me as they had done. The road along which I had +travelled was a lonely one, and yet a fair number of travellers bound +from the West through Weston to Bristol must use it. The gang could +not lie in perpetual guard over it. Why had they set a trap on this +particular night, then? The smugglers were a lawless and desperate body, +but they did not, as a rule, descend to foot-paddery or robbery. As long +as no one interfered with them they were seldom the first to break the +peace. Then, why had they lain in wait for me, who had never injured +them? Could it possibly be that I had been betrayed? I was still turning +over these questions in my mind when we all came to a halt, and the +Captain blew a shrill note on a whistle which hung round his neck. + +The place where we found ourselves was the darkest and most rugged spot +in the whole wild gorge. On either side great cliffs shot up, which +arched over our heads, with a fringe of ferns and bracken on either lip, +so that the dark sky and the few twinkling stars were well-nigh hid. +Great black rocks loomed vaguely out in the shadowy light, while in +front a high tangle of what seemed to be brushwood barred our road. At a +second whistle, however, a glint of light was seen through the branches, +and the whole mass was swung to one side as though it moved upon a +hinge. Beyond it a dark winding passage opened into the side of the +hill, down which we went with our backs bowed, for the rock ceiling was +of no great height. On every side of us sounded the throbbing of the +sea. + +Passing through the entrance, which must have been dug with great labour +through the solid rock, we came out into a lofty and roomy cave, lit +up by a fire at one end, and by several torches. By their smoky yellow +glare I could see that the roof was, at least, fifty feet above us, and +was hung by long lime-crystals, which sparkled and gleamed with great +brightness. The floor of the cave was formed of fine sand, as soft and +velvety as a Wilton carpet, sloping down in a way which showed that the +cave must at its mouth open upon the sea, which was confirmed by the +booming and splashing of the waves, and by the fresh salt air which +filled the whole cavern. No water could be seen, however, as a sharp +turn cut off our view of the outlet. + +In this rock-girt space, which may have been sixty paces long and +thirty across, there were gathered great piles of casks, kegs and cases; +muskets, cutlasses, staves, cudgels, and straw were littered about upon +the floor. At one end a high wood fire blazed merrily, casting strange +shadows along the walls, and sparkling like a thousand diamonds among +the crystals on the roof. The smoke was carried away through a great +cleft in the rocks. Seated on boxes, or stretched on the sand round the +fire, there were seven or eight more of the band, who sprang to their +feet and ran eagerly towards us as we entered. + +Have ye got him?' they cried. 'Did he indeed come? Had he attendants?' + +'He is here, and he is alone,' the Captain answered. 'Our hawser fetched +him off his horse as neatly as ever a gull was netted by a cragsman. +What have ye done in our absence, Silas!' + +'We have the packs ready for carriage,' said the man addressed, a +sturdy, weather-beaten seaman of middle age. 'The silk and lace are done +in these squares covered over with sacking. The one I have marked "yarn" +and the other "jute"--a thousand of Mechlin to a hundred of the shiny. +They will sling over a mule's back. Brandy, schnapps, Schiedam, and +Hamburg Goldwasser are all set out in due order. The 'baccy is in the +flat cases over by the Black Drop there. A plaguey job we had carrying +it all out, but here it is ship-shape at last, and the lugger floats +like a skimming dish, with scarce ballast enough to stand up to a +five-knot breeze.' + +'Any signs of the _Fairy Queen_?' asked the smuggler. + +'None. Long John is down at the water's edge looking out for her +flash-light. This wind should bring her up if she has rounded +Combe-Martin Point. There was a sail about ten miles to the +east-nor'-east at sundown. She might have been a Bristol schooner, or +she might have been a King's fly-boat.' + +'A King's crawl-boat,' said Captain Murgatroyd, with a sneer. 'We cannot +hang the gauger until Venables brings up the _Fairy Queen_, for after +all it was one of his hands that was snackled. Let him do his own dirty +work.' + +'Tausend Blitzen!' cried the ruffian Dutchman, 'would it not be a kindly +grass to Captain Venables to chuck the gauger down the Black Drop ere he +come? He may have such another job to do for us some day.' + +'Zounds, man, are you in command or am I?' said the leader angrily. +'Bring the prisoner forward to the fire! Now, hark ye, dog of a +land-shark; you are as surely a dead man as though you were laid out +with the tapers burning. See here'--he lifted a torch, and showed by +its red light a great crack in the floor across the far end of the +cave--'you can judge of the Black Drop's depth!' he said, raising an +empty keg and tossing it over into the yawning gulf. For ten seconds +we stood silent before a dull distant clatter told that it had at last +reached the bottom. + +'It will carry him half-way to hell before the breath leaves him,' said +one. + +'It's an easier death than the Devizes gallows!' cried a second. + +'Nay, he shall have the gallows first!' a third shouted. 'It is but his +burial that we are arranging.' + +'He hath not opened his mouth since we took him,' said the man who was +called Dicon. 'Is he a mute, then? Find your tongue, my fine fellow, and +let us hear what your name is. It would have been well for you if you +had been born dumb, so that you could not have sworn our comrade's life +away.' + +'I have been waiting for a civil question after all this brawling and +brabbling,' said I. 'My name is Micah Clarke. Now, pray inform me who ye +may be, and by what warrant ye stop peaceful travellers upon the public +highway?' + +'This is our warrant,' Murgatroyd answered, touching the hilt of his +cutlass. 'As to who we are, ye know that well enough. Your name is +not Clarke, but Westhouse, or Waterhouse, and you are the same cursed +exciseman who snackled our poor comrade, Cooper Dick, and swore away his +life at Ilchester.' + +'I swear that you are mistaken,' I replied. 'I have never in my life +been in these parts before.' + +'Fine words! Fine words!' cried another smuggler. 'Gauger or no, you +must jump for it, since you know the secret of our cave.' + +'Your secret is safe with me,' I answered. 'But if ye wish to murder me, +I shall meet my fate as a soldier should. I should have chosen to die on +the field of battle, rather than to lie at the mercy of such a pack of +water-rats in their burrow.' + +'My faith!' said Murgatroyd. 'This is too tall talk for a gauger. He +bears himself like a soldier, too. It is possible that in snaring the +owl we have caught the falcon. Yet we had certain token that he would +come this way, and on such another horse.' + +'Call up Long John,' suggested the Dutchman. 'I vould not give a plug of +Trinidado for the Schelm's word. Long John was with Cooper Dick when he +was taken.' + +'Aye,' growled the mate Silas. 'He got a wipe over the arm from the +gauger's whinyard. He'll know his face, if any will.' + +'Call him, then,' said Murgatroyd, and presently a long, loose-limbed +seaman came up from the mouth of the cave, where he had been on watch. +He wore a red kerchief round his forehead, and a blue jerkin, the sleeve +of which he slowly rolled up as he came nigh. + +'Where is Gauger Westhouse?' he cried; 'he has left his mark on my arm. +Rat me, if the scar is healed yet. The sun is on our side of the wall +now, gauger. But hullo, mates! Who be this that ye have clapped into +irons? This is not our man!' + +'Not our man!' they cried, with a volley of curses. + +'Why, this fellow would make two of the gauger, and leave enough over +to fashion a magistrate's clerk. Ye may hang him to make sure, but still +he's not the man.' + +'Yes, hang him!' said Dutch Pete. 'Sapperment! is our cave to be the +talk of all the country? Vere is the pretty _Maria_ to go then, vid her +silks and her satins, her kegs and her cases'? Are we to risk our +cave for the sake of this fellow? Besides, has he not schlagged my +kopf--schlagged your cooper's kopf--as if he had hit me mit mine own +mallet? Is that not vorth a hemp cravat?' + +'Worth a jorum of rumbo,' cried Dicon. 'By your leave, Captain, I would +say that we are not a gang of padders and michers, but a crew of honest +seamen, who harm none but those who harm us. Exciseman Westhouse hath +slain Cooper Dick, and it is just that he should die for it; but as to +taking this young soldier's life, I'd as soon think of scuttling the +saucy _Maria_, or of mounting the Jolly Roger at her peak.' + +What answer would have been given to this speech I cannot tell, for +at that moment a shrill whistle resounded outside the cave, and two +smugglers appeared bearing between them the body of a man. It hung so +limp that I thought at first that he might be dead, but when they threw +him on the sand he moved, and at last sat up like one who is but half +awoken from a swoon. He was a square dogged-faced fellow, with a long +white scar down his cheek, and a close-fitting blue coat with brass +buttons. + +'It's Gauger Westhouse!' cried a chorus of voices. 'Yes, it is Gauger +Westhouse,' said the man calmly, giving his neck a wriggle as though he +were in pain. 'I represent the King's law, and in its name I arrest ye +all, and declare all the contraband goods which I see around me to be +confiscate and forfeited, according to the second section of the first +clause of the statute upon illegal dealing. If there are any honest men +in this company, they will assist me in the execution of my duty.' He +staggered to his feet as he spoke, but his spirit was greater than his +strength, and he sank back upon the sand amid a roar of laughter from +the rough seamen. + +'We found him lying on the road when we came from Daddy Mycroft's,' said +one of the new-comers, who were the same men who had led away my horse. +'He must have passed just after you left, and the rope caught him under +the chin and threw him a dozen paces. We saw the revenue button on his +coat, so we brought him down. Body o' me, but he kicked and plunged for +all that he was three-quarters stunned.' + +'Have ye slacked the hawser?' the Captain asked. + +'We cast one end loose and let it hang.' + +''Tis well. We must keep him for Captain Venables. But now, as to our +other prisoner: we must overhaul him and examine his papers, for so many +craft are sailing under false colours that we must needs be careful. +Hark ye, Mister Soldier! What brings you to these parts, and what king +do you serve? for I hear there's a mutiny broke out, and two skippers +claim equal rating in the old British ship.' + +'I am serving under King Monmouth,' I answered, seeing that the proposed +search must end in the finding of my papers. + +'Under King Monmouth!' cried the smuggler. 'Nay, friend, that rings +somewhat false. The good King hath, I hear, too much need of his friends +in the south to let an able soldier go wandering along the sea coast +like a Cornish wrecker in a sou'-wester.' + +'I bear despatches,' said I, 'from the King's own hand to Henry Duke +of Beaufort, at his castle at Badminton. Ye can find them in my inner +pocket, but I pray ye not to break the seal, lest it bring discredit +upon my mission.' + +'Sir,' cried the gauger, raising himself upon his elbow, 'I do hereby +arrest you on the charge of being a traitor, a promoter of treason, a +vagrant, and a masterless man within the meaning of the fourth statute +of the Act. As an officer of the law I call upon you to submit to my +warrant.' + +'Brace up his jaw with your scarf, Jim,' said Murgatroyd. 'When Venables +comes he will soon find a way to check his gab. Yes,' he continued, +looking at the back of my papers, 'it is marked, as you say, "From James +the Second of England, known lately as the Duke of Monmouth, to Henry +Duke of Beaufort, President of Wales, by the hand of Captain Micah +Clarke, of Saxon's regiment of Wiltshire foot." Cast off the lashings, +Dicon. So, Captain, you are a free man once more, and I grieve that we +should have unwittingly harmed you. We are good Lutherans to a man, and +would rather speed you than hinder you on this mission.' + +'Could we not indeed help him on his way!' said the mate Silas. 'For +myself, I don't fear a wet jacket or a tarry hand for the cause, and +I doubt not ye are all of my way of thinking. Now with this breeze we +could run up to Bristol and drop the Captain by morning, which would +save him from being snapped up by any land-sharks on the road.' + +'Aye, aye,' cried Long John. 'The King's horse are out beyond Weston, +but he could give them the slip if he had the _Maria_ under him.' + +'Well,' said Murgatroyd, 'we could get back by three long tacks. +Venables will need a day or so to get his goods ashore. If we are to +sail back in company we shall have time on our hands. How would the plan +suit you, Captain?' + +'My horse!' I objected. + +'It need not stop us. I can rig up a handy horse-stall with my spare +spars and the grating. The wind has died down. The lugger could be +brought to Dead Man's Edge, and the horse led down to it. Run up to +Daddy's, Jim; and you, Silas, see to the boat. Here is some cold junk +and biscuit--seaman's fare, Captain--and a glass o' the real Jamaica to +wash it down an' thy stomach be not too dainty for rough living.' + +I seated myself on a barrel by the fire, and stretched my limbs, which +were cramped and stiffened by their confinement, while one of the seamen +bathed the cut on my head with a wet kerchief, and another laid out some +food on a case in front of me. The rest of the gang had trooped away to +the mouth of the cave to prepare the lugger, save only two or three who +stood on guard round the ill-fated gauger. He lay with his back resting +against the wall of the cave, and his arms crossed over his breast, +glancing round from time to time at the smugglers with menacing eyes, as +a staunch old hound might gaze at a pack of wolves who had overmatched +him. I was turning it over in my own mind whether aught could be done to +help him, when Murgatroyd came over, and dipping a tin pannikin into the +open rum tub, drained it to the success of my mission. + +'I shall send Silas Bolitho with you,' said he, 'while I bide here to +meet Venables, who commands my consort. If there is aught that I can do +to repay you for your ill usage--' + +'There is but one thing, Captain,' I broke in eagerly. 'It is as much, +or more, for your own sake than mine that I ask it. Do not allow this +unhappy man to be murdered.' + +Murgatroyd's face flushed with anger. 'You are a plain speaker, Captain +Clarke,' said he. 'This is no murder. It is justice. What harm do we +here? There is not an old housewife over the whole countryside who does +not bless us. Where is she to buy her souchong, or her strong waters, +except from us! We charge little, and force our goods on no one. We are +peaceful traders. Yet this man and his fellows are ever yelping at our +heels, like so many dogfish on a cod bank. We have been harried, and +chivied, and shot at until we are driven into such dens as this. A month +ago, four of our men were bearing a keg up the hillside to Farmer Black, +who hath dealt with us these five years back. Of a sudden, down came +half a score of horse, led by this gauger, hacked and slashed with their +broad-swords, cut Long John's arm open, and took Cooper Dick prisoner. +Dick was haled to Ilchester Gaol, and hung up after the assizes like +a stoat on a gamekeeper's door. This night we had news that this very +gauger was coming this way, little knowing that we should be on the +look-out for him. Is it a wonder that we should lay a trap for him, and +that, having caught him, we should give him the same justice as he gave +our comrades?' + +'He is but a servant, I argued. 'He hath not made the law. It is his +duty to enforce it. It is with the law itself that your quarrel is.' + +'You are right,' said the smuggler gloomily. 'It is with Judge Moorcroft +that we have our chief account to square. He may pass this road upon his +circuit. Heaven send he does! But we shall hang the gauger too. He knows +our cave now, and it would be madness to let him go.' + +I saw that it was useless to argue longer, so I contented myself with +dropping my pocket-knife on the sand within reach of the prisoner, in +the hope that it might prove to be of some service to him. His guards +were laughing and joking together, and giving little heed to their +charge, but the gauger was keen enough, for I saw his hand close over +it. + +I had walked and smoked for an hour or more, when Silas the mate +appeared, and said that the lugger was ready and the horse aboard. +Bidding Murgatroyd farewell, I ventured a few more words in favour of +the gauger, which were received with a frown and an angry shake of the +head. A boat was drawn up on the sand, inside the cave, at the water's +edge. Into this I stepped, as directed, with my sword and pistols, which +had been given back to me, while the crew pushed her off and sprang in +as she glided into deep water. + +I could see by the dim light of the single torch which Murgatroyd held +upon the margin, that the roof of the cave sloped sheer down upon us as +we sculled slowly out towards the entrance. So low did it come at last +that there was only a space of a few feet between it and the water, and +we had to bend our heads to avoid the rocks above us. The boatmen gave +two strong strokes, and we shot out from under the overhanging ledge, +and found ourselves in the open with the stars shining murkily above +us, and the moon showing herself dimly and cloudily through a gathering +haze. Right in front of us was a dark blur, which, as we pulled towards +it, took the outline of a large lugger rising and falling with the pulse +of the sea. Her tall thin spars and delicate network of cordage towered +above us as we glided under the counter, while the creaking of blocks +and rattle of ropes showed that she was all ready to glide off upon her +journey. Lightly and daintily she rode upon the waters, like some giant +seafowl, spreading one white pinion after another in preparation for +her flight. The boatmen ran us alongside and steadied the dinghy while I +climbed over the bulwarks on to the deck. + +She was a roomy vessel, very broad in the beam, with a graceful curve in +her bows, and masts which were taller than any that I had seen on such +a boat on the Solent. She was decked over in front, but very deep in the +after part, with ropes fixed all round the sides to secure kegs when the +hold should be full. In the midst of this after-deck the mariners had +built a strong stall, in which my good steed was standing, with a bucket +full of oats in front of him. My old friend shoved his nose against my +face as I came aboard, and neighed his pleasure at finding his master +once more. We were still exchanging caresses when the grizzled head of +Silas Bolitho the mate popped out of the cabin hatchway. + +'We are fairly on our way now, Captain Clarke,' said he. 'The breeze +has fallen away to nothing, as you can see, and we may be some time in +running down to our port. Are you not aweary?' + +'I am a little tired,' I confessed. 'My head is throbbing from the crack +I got when that hawser of yours dashed me from my saddle.' + +'An hour or two of sleep will make you as fresh as a Mother Carey's +chicken,' said the smuggler. 'Your horse is well cared for, and you can +leave him without fear. I will set a man to tend him, though, truth to +say, the rogues know more about studding-sails and halliards than they +do of steeds and their requirements. Yet no harm can come to him, so you +had best come down and turn in.' + +I descended the steep stairs which led down into the low-roofed cabin of +the lugger. On either side a recess in the wall had been fitted up as a +couch. + +'This is your bed,' said he, pointing to one of them. 'We shall call +you if there be aught to report.' I needed no second invitation, but +flinging myself down without undressing, I sank in a few minutes into +a dreamless sleep, which neither the gentle motion of the boat nor the +clank of feet above my head could break off. + + + +Chapter XXIV. Of the Welcome that met me at Badminton + +When I opened my eyes I had some ado to recall where I was, but on +sitting up it was brought home to me by my head striking the low ceiling +with a sharp rap. On the other side of the cabin Silas Bolitho was +stretched at full length with a red woollen nightcap upon his head, fast +asleep and snoring. In the centre of the cabin hung a swing-table, +much worn, and stained all over with the marks of countless glasses +and pannikins. A wooden bench, screwed to the floor, completed the +furniture, with the exception of a stand of muskets along one side. +Above and below the berths in which we lay were rows of lockers, in +which, doubtless, some of the more choice laces and silks were stowed. +The vessel was rising and falling with a gentle motion, but from the +flapping of canvas I judged that there was little wind. Slipping quietly +from my couch, so as not to wake the mate, I stole upon deck. + +We were, I found, not only becalmed, but hemmed in by a dense fog-bank +which rolled in thick, choking wreaths all round us, and hid the very +water beneath us. We might have been a ship of the air riding upon +a white cloud-bank. Now and anon a little puff of breeze caught the +foresail and bellied it out for a moment, only to let it flap back +against the mast, limp and slack, once more. A sunbeam would at times +break through the dense cloud, and would spangle the dead grey wall with +a streak of rainbow colour, but the haze would gather in again and shut +off the bright invader. Covenant was staring right and left with great +questioning eyes. The crew were gathered along the bulwarks and smoking +their pipes while they peered out into the dense fog. + +'God den, Captain,' said Dicon, touching his fur cap. 'We have had a +rare run while the breeze lasted, and the mate reckoned before he turned +in that we were not many miles from Bristol town.' + +'In that case, my good fellow,' I answered, 'ye can set me ashore, for I +have not far to go.' + +'We must e'en wait till the fog lifts,' said Long John. 'There's only +one place along here, d'ye see, where we can land cargoes unquestioned. +When it clears we shall turn her head for it, but until we can take our +bearings it is anxious work wi' the sands under our lee.' + +'Keep a look-out there, Tom Baldock!' cried Dicon to a man in the bows. +'We are in the track of every Bristol ship, and though there's so little +wind, a high-sparred craft might catch a breeze which we miss.' + +'Sh!' said Long John suddenly, holding up his hand in warning. 'Sh!' + +We listened with all our ears, but there was no sound, save the gentle +wash of the unseen waves against our sides. + +'Call the mate!' whispered the seaman. 'There's a craft close by us. I +heard the rattle of a rope upon her deck.' + +Silas Bolitho was up in an instant, and we all stood straining our ears, +and peering through the dense fog-bank. We had well-nigh made up our +minds that it was a false alarm, and the mate was turning back in no +very good humour, when a clear loud bell sounded seven times quite +close to us, followed by a shrill whistle and a confused shouting and +stamping. + +'It's a King's ship,' growled the mate. 'That's seven bells, and the +bo'sun is turning out the watch below.' + +'It was on our quarter,' whispered one. + +'Nay, I think it was on our larboard bow,' said another. + +The mate held up his hand, and we all listened for some fresh sign +of the whereabouts of our scurvy neighbour. The wind had freshened a +little, and we were slipping through the water at four or five knots +an hour. Of a sudden a hoarse voice was heard roaring at our very side. +''Bout ship!' it shouted. 'Bear a hand on the lee-braces, there! Stand +by the halliards! Bear a hand, ye lazy rogues, or I'll be among ye with +my cane, with a wannion to ye!' + +'It is a King's ship, sure enough, and she lies just there,' said Long +John, pointing out over the quarter. 'Merchant adventurers have +civil tongues. It's your blue-coated, gold-braided, swivel-eyed, +quarter-deckers that talk of canes. Ha! did I not tell ye!' + +As he spoke, the white screen of vapour rolled up like the curtain in +a playhouse, and uncovered a stately war-ship, lying so close that we +could have thrown a biscuit aboard. Her long, lean, black hull rose +and fell with a slow, graceful rhythm, while her beautiful spars and +snow-white sails shot aloft until they were lost in the wreaths of fog +which still hung around her. Nine bright brass cannons peeped out at us +from her portholes. Above the line of hammocks, which hung like carded +wool along her bulwarks, we could see the heads of the seamen staring +down at us, and pointing us out to each other. On the high poop stood an +elderly officer with cocked hat and trim white wig, who at once whipped +up his glass and gazed at us through it. + +'Ahoy, there!' he shouted, leaning over the taffrail. 'What lugger is +that?' + +'The _Lucy_,' answered the mate, 'bound from Porlock Quay to Bristol +with hides and tallow. Stand ready to tack!' he added in a lower voice, +'the fog is coming down again.' + +'Ye have one of the hides with the horse still in it,' cried the +officer. 'Run down under our counter. We must have a closer look at ye.' + +'Aye, aye, sir!' said the mate, and putting his helm hard down the boom +swung across, and the _Maria_ darted off like a scared seabird into the +fog. Looking back there was nothing but a dim loom to show where we had +left the great vessel. We could hear, however, the hoarse shouting of +orders and the bustle of men. + +'Look out for squalls, lads!' cried the mate. 'He'll let us have it +now.' + +He had scarcely spoken before there were half-a-dozen throbs of flame in +the mist behind, and as many balls sung among our rigging. One cut away +the end of the yard, and left it dangling; another grazed the bowsprit, +and sent a puff of white splinters into the air. + +'Warm work, Captain, eh?' said old Silas, rubbing his hands. 'Zounds, +they shoot better in the dark than ever they did in the light. There +have been more shots fired at this lugger than she could carry wore she +loaded with them. And yet they never so much as knocked the paint off +her before. There they go again!' + +A fresh discharge burst from the man-of-war, but this time they had lost +all trace of us, and were firing by guess. + +'That is their last bark, sir,' said Dicon. + +'No fear. They'll blaze away for the rest of the day,' growled another +of the smugglers. 'Why, Lor' bless ye, it's good exercise for the crew, +and the 'munition is the King's, so it don't cost nobody a groat.' + +'It's well the breeze freshened,' said Long John. 'I heard the creak o' +davits just after the first discharge. She was lowering her boats, or +I'm a Dutchman.' + +'The petter for you if you vas, you seven-foot stock-fish,' cried my +enemy the cooper, whose aspect was not improved by a great strip of +plaster over his eye. 'You might have learned something petter than to +pull on a rope, or to swab decks like a vrouw all your life.' + +'I'll set you adrift in one of your own barrels, you skin of lard,' said +the seaman. 'How often are we to trounce you before we knock the sauce +out of you?' + +'The fog lifts a little towards the land,' Silas remarked. 'Methinks I +see the loom of St. Austin's Point. It rises there upon the starboard +bow.' + +'There it is, sure enough, sir!' cried one of the seamen, pointing to a +dark cape which cut into the mist. + +'Steer for the three-fathom creek then,' said the mate. 'When we are on +the other side of the point, Captain Clarke, we shall be able to land +your horse and yourself. You will then be within a few hours' ride of +your destination.' + +I led the old seaman aside, and having thanked him for the kindness +which he had shown me, I spoke to him of the gauger, and implored him to +use his influence to save the man. + +'It rests with Captain Venables,' said he gloomily. 'If we let him go +what becomes of our cave?' + +'Is there no way of insuring his silence?' I asked. 'Well, we might ship +him to the Plantations,' said the mate. 'We could take him to the Texel +with us, and get Captain Donders or some other to give him a lift across +the western ocean.' + +'Do so,' said I, 'and I shall take care that King Monmouth shall hear of +the help which ye have given his messenger.' + +'Well, we shall be there in a brace of shakes,' he remarked. 'Let us go +below and load your ground tier, for there is nothing like starting well +trimmed with plenty of ballast in the hold.' + +Following the sailor's advice I went down with him and enjoyed a rude +but plentiful meal. By the time that we had finished, the lugger had +been run into a narrow creek, with shelving sandy banks on either side. +The district was wild and marshy, with few signs of any inhabitants. +With much coaxing and pushing Covenant was induced to take to the water, +and swam easily ashore, while I followed in the smuggler's dinghy. A +few words of rough, kindly leave-taking were shouted after me; I saw the +dinghy return, and the beautiful craft glided out to sea and faded away +once more into the mists which still hung over the face of the waters. + +Truly Providence works in strange ways, my children, and until a +man comes to the autumn of his days he can scarce say what hath been +ill-luck and what hath been good. For of all the seeming misfortunes +which have befallen me during my wandering life, there is not one which +I have not come to look upon as a blessing. And if you once take this +into your hearts, it is a mighty help in enabling you to meet all +troubles with a stiff lip; for why should a man grieve when he hath not +yet determined whether what hath chanced may not prove to be a cause of +rejoicing. Now here ye will perceive that I began by being dashed upon +a stony road, beaten, kicked, and finally well-nigh put to death in +mistake for another. Yet it ended in my being safely carried to my +journey's end, whereas, had I gone by land, it is more than likely that +I should have been cut off at Weston; for, as I heard afterwards, a +troop of horse were making themselves very active in those parts by +blocking the roads and seizing all who came that way. + +Being now alone, my first care was to bathe my face and hands in a +stream which ran down to the sea, and to wipe away any trace of my +adventures of the night before. My cut was but a small one, and was +concealed by my hair. Having reduced myself to some sort of order I next +rubbed down my horse as best I could, and rearranged his girth and his +saddle. I then led him by the bridle to the top of a sandhill hard by, +whence I might gain some idea as to my position. + +The fog lay thick upon the Channel, but all inland was very clear and +bright. Along the coast the country was dreary and marshy, but at the +other side a goodly extent of fertile plain lay before me, well tilled +and cared for. A range of lofty hills, which I guessed to be the +Mendips, bordered the whole skyline, and further north there lay a +second chain in the blue distance. The glittering Avon wound its way +over the country-side like a silver snake in a flower-bed. Close to its +mouth, and not more than two leagues from where I stood, rose the spires +and towers of stately Bristol, the Queen of the West, which was and +still may be the second city in the kingdom. The forests of masts which +shot up like a pinegrove above the roofs of the houses bore witness to +the great trade both with Ireland and with the Plantations which had +built up so flourishing a city. + +As I knew that the Duke's seat was miles on the Gloucestershire side of +the city, and as I feared lest I might be arrested and examined should I +attempt to pass the gates, I struck inland with intent to ride round the +walls and so avoid the peril. The path which I followed led me into a +country lane, which in turn opened into a broad highway crowded with +travellers, both on horseback and on foot. As the troublous times +required that a man should journey with his arms, there was naught in +my outfit to excite remark, and I was able to jog on among the other +horsemen without question or suspicion. From their appearance they were, +I judged, country farmers or squires for the most part, who were riding +into Bristol to hear the news, and to store away their things of price +in a place of safety. + +'By your leave, zur!' said a burly, heavy-faced man in a velveteen +jacket, riding up upon my bridle-arm. 'Can you tell me whether his Grace +of Beaufort is in Bristol or at his house o' Badminton?' + +I answered that I could not tell, but that I was myself bound for his +presence. + +'He was in Bristol yestreen a-drilling o' the train-bands,' said the +stranger; 'but, indeed, his Grace be that loyal, and works that hard for +his Majesty's cause, that he's a' ower the county, and it is but chance +work for to try and to catch him. But if you are about to zeek him, +whither shall you go?' + +'I will to Badminton,' I answered, 'and await him there. Can you tell me +the way?' + +'What! Not know the way to Badminton!' he cried, with a blank stare of +wonder. 'Whoy, I thought all the warld knew that. You're not fra Wales +or the border counties, zur, that be very clear.' + +'I am a Hampshire man,' said I. 'I have come some distance to see the +Duke.' + +'Aye, so I should think!' he cried, laughing loudly. 'If you doan't know +the way to Badminton you doan't know much! But I'll go with you, danged +if I doan't, and I'll show you your road, and run my chance o' finding +the Duke there. What be your name?' + +'Micah Clarke is my name.' + +'And Vairmer Brown is mine--John Brown by the register, but better +knowed as the Vairmer. Tak' this turn to the right off the high-road. +Now we can trot our beasts and not be smothered in other folk's dust. +And what be you going to Beaufort for?' + +'On private matters which will not brook discussion,' I answered. + +'Lor', now! Affairs o' State belike,' said he, with a whistle. 'Well, a +still tongue saves many a neck. I'm a cautious man myself, and these be +times when I wouldna whisper some o' my thoughts--no, not into the ears +o' my old brown mare here--for fear I'd see her some day standing over +against me in the witness-box.' + +'They seem very busy over there,' I remarked, for we were now in full +sight of the walls of Bristol, where gangs of men were working hard with +pick and shovel improving the defences. + +'Aye, they be busy sure enough, makin' ready in case the rebels come +this road. Cromwell and his tawnies found it a rasper in my vather's +time, and Monmouth is like to do the same.' + +'It hath a strong garrison, too,' said I, bethinking me of Saxon's +advice at Salisbury. 'I see two or three regiments out yonder on the +bare open space.' + +'They have four thousand foot and a thousand horse,' the farmer +answered. 'But the foot are only train-bands, and there's no trusting +them after Axminster. They say up here that the rebels run to nigh +twenty thousand, and that they give no quarter. Well, if we must have +civil war, I hope it may be hot and sudden, not spun out for a dozen +years like the last one. If our throats are to be cut, let it be with a +shairp knife, and not with a blunt hedge shears.' + +'What say you to a stoup of cider?' I asked, for we were passing an +ivy-clad inn, with 'The Beaufort Arms' printed upon the sign. + +'With all my heart, lad,' my companion answered. 'Ho, there! two pints +of the old hard-brewed! That will serve to wash the dust down. The real +Beaufort Arms is up yonder at Badminton, for at the buttery hatch one +may call for what one will in reason and never put hand to pocket.' + +'You speak of the house as though you knew it well,' said I. + +'And who should know it better?' asked the sturdy farmer, wiping his +lips, as we resumed our journey. 'Why, it seems but yesterday that I +played hide-and-seek wi' my brothers in the old Boteler Castle, that +stood where the new house o' Badminton, or Acton Turville, as some calls +it, now stands. The Duke hath built it but a few years, and, indeed, his +Dukedom itself is scarce older. There are some who think that he would +have done better to stick by the old name that his forebears bore.' + +'What manner of man is the Duke?' I asked. + +'Hot and hasty, like all of his blood. Yet when he hath time to think, +and hath cooled down, he is just in the main. Your horse hath been in +the water this morning, vriend.' + +'Yes,' said I shortly, 'he hath had a bath.' + +'I am going to his Grace on the business of a horse,' quoth my +companion. 'His officers have pressed my piebald four-year-old, and +taken it without a "With your leave," or "By your leave," for the use of +the King. I would have them know that there is something higher than +the Duke, or even than the King. There is the English law, which will +preserve a man's goods and his chattels. I would do aught in reason for +King James's service, but my piebald four-year-old is too much.' + +'I fear that the needs of the public service will override your +objection,' said I. + +'Why it is enough to make a man a Whig,' he cried. 'Even the Roundheads +always paid their vair penny for every pennyworth they had, though they +wanted a vair pennyworth for each penny. I have heard my father say that +trade was never so brisk as in 'forty-six, when they were down this way. +Old Noll had a noose of hemp ready for horse-stealers, were they for +King or for Parliament. But here comes his Grace's carriage, if I +mistake not.' + +As he spoke a great heavy yellow coach, drawn by six cream-coloured +Flemish mares, dashed down the road, and came swiftly towards us. Two +mounted lackeys galloped in front, and two others all in light blue and +silver liveries rode on either side. + +'His Grace is not within, else there had been an escort behind,' said +the farmer, as we reined our horses aside to let the carriage pass. As +they swept by he shouted out a question as to whether the Duke was at +Badminton, and received a nod from the stately bewigged coachman in +reply. + +'We are in luck to catch him,' said Farmer Brown. 'He's as hard to find +these days as a crake in a wheatfield. We should be there in an hour +or less. I must thank you that I did not take a fruitless journey into +Bristol. What did you say your errand was?' + +I was again compelled to assure him that the matter was not one of which +I could speak with a stranger, on which he appeared to be huffed, and +rode for some miles without opening his mouth. Groves of trees lined the +road on either side, and the sweet smell of pines was in our nostrils. +Far away the musical pealing of a bell rose and fell on the hot, close +summer air. The shelter of the branches was pleasant, for the sun was +very strong, blazing down out of a cloudless heaven, and raising a haze +from the fields and valleys. + +''Tis the bell from Chipping Sodbury,' said my companion at last, wiping +his ruddy face. 'That's Sodbury Church yonder over the brow of the hill, +and here on the right is the entrance of Badminton Park.' + +High iron gates, with the leopard and griffin, which are the supporters +of the Beaufort arms, fixed on the pillars which flanked them, opened +into a beautiful domain of lawn and grass land with clumps of trees +scattered over it, and broad sheets of water, thick with wild fowl. At +every turn as we rode up the winding avenue some new beauty caught our +eyes, all of which were pointed out and expounded by Farmer Brown, who +seemed to take as much pride in the place as though it belonged to him. +Here it was a rockery where a thousand bright-coloured stones shone out +through the ferns and creepers which had been trained over them. There +it was a pretty prattling brook, the channel of which had been turned so +as to make it come foaming down over a steep ledge of rocks. Or perhaps +it was some statue of nymph or sylvan god, or some artfully built +arbour overgrown with roses or honeysuckle. I have never seen grounds +so tastefully laid out, and it was done, as all good work in art must +be done, by following Nature so closely that it only differed from her +handiwork in its profusion in so narrow a compass. A few years later our +healthy English taste was spoiled by the pedant gardening of the Dutch +with their straight flat ponds, and their trees all clipped and in a +line like vegetable grenadiers. In truth, I think that the Prince of +Orange and Sir William Temple had much to answer for in working this +change, but things have now come round again, I understand, and we have +ceased to be wiser than Nature in our pleasure-grounds. + +As we drew near the house we came on a large extent of level sward on +which a troop of horse were exercising, who were raised, as my companion +informed me, entirely from the Duke's own personal attendants. Passing +them we rode through a grove of rare trees and came out on a broad space +of gravel which lay in front of the house. The building itself was of +great extent, built after the new Italian fashion, rather for comfort +than for defence; but on one wing there remained, as my companion +pointed out, a portion of the old keep and battlements of the feudal +castle of the Botelers, looking as out of place as a farthingale of +Queen Elizabeth joined to a court dress fresh from Paris. The main +doorway was led up to by lines of columns and a broad flight of marble +steps, on which stood a group of footmen and grooms, who took our horses +when we dismounted. A grey-haired steward or major-domo inquired our +business, and on learning that we wished to see the Duke in person, he +told us that his Grace would give audience to strangers in the afternoon +at half after three by the clock. In the meantime he said that the +guests' dinner had just been laid in the hall, and it was his master's +wish that none who came to Badminton should depart hungry. My companion +and I were but too glad to accept the steward's invitation, so having +visited the bath-room and attended to the needs of the toilet, we +followed a footman, who ushered us into a great room where the company +had already assembled. + +The guests may have numbered fifty or sixty, old and young, gentle and +simple, of the most varied types and appearance. I observed that many +of them cast haughty and inquiring glances round them, in the pauses +between the dishes, as though each marvelled how he came to be a member +of so motley a crew. Their only common feature appeared to be the +devotion which they showed to the platter and the wine flagon. There was +little talking, for there were few who knew their neighbours. Some were +soldiers who had come to offer their swords and their services to +the King's lieutenant; others were merchants from Bristol, with some +proposal or suggestion anent the safety of their property. There +were two or three officials of the city, who had come out to receive +instructions as to its defence, while here and there I marked the child +of Israel, who had found his way there in the hope that in times of +trouble he might find high interest and noble borrowers. Horse-dealers, +saddlers, armourers, surgeons, and clergymen completed the company, +who were waited upon by a staff of powdered and liveried servants, who +brought and removed the dishes with the silence and deftness of long +training. + +The room was a contrast to the bare plainness of Sir Stephen Timewell's +dining-hall at Taunton, for it was richly panelled and highly decorated +all round. The floor was formed of black and white marble, set in +squares, and the walls were of polished oak, and bore a long line of +paintings of the Somerset family, from John of Gaunt downwards. The +ceiling, too, was tastefully painted with flowers and nymphs, so that a +man's neck was stiff ere he had done admiring it. At the further end of +the hall yawned a great fireplace of white marble, with the lions and +lilies of the Somerset arms carved in oak above it, and a long gilt +scroll bearing the family motto, "Mutare vel timere sperno." The massive +tables at which we sat were loaded with silver chargers and candelabra, +and bright with the rich plate for which Badminton was famous. I could +not but think that, if Saxon could clap eyes upon it, he would not be +long in urging that the war be carried on in this direction. + +After dinner we were all shown into a small ante-chamber, set round with +velvet settees, where we were to wait till the Duke was ready to see us. +In the centre of this room there stood several cases, glass-topped and +lined with silk, wherein were little steel and iron rods, with brass +tubes and divers other things, very bright and ingenious, though I +could not devise for what end they had been put together. A +gentleman-in-waiting came round with paper and ink-horn, making notes +of our names and of our business. Him I asked whether it might not be +possible for me to have an entirely private audience. + +'His Grace never sees in private,' he replied. 'He has ever his chosen +councillors and officers in attendance.' + +'But the business is one which is only fit for his own ear,' I urged. + +'His Grace holds that there is no business fit only for his own ear,' +said the gentleman. 'You must arrange matters as best you can when +you are shown in to him. I will promise, however, that your request be +carried to him, though I warn you that it cannot be granted.' + +I thanked him for his good offices, and turned away with the farmer to +look at the strange little engines within the cases. + +'What is it?' I asked. 'I have never seen aught that was like it.' + +'It is the work of the mad Marquis of Worcester,' quoth he. 'He was the +Duke's grandfather. He was ever making and devising such toys, but they +were never of any service to himself or to others. Now, look ye here! +This wi' the wheels were called the water-engine, and it was his crazy +thought that, by heating the water in that ere kettle, ye might make the +wheels go round, and thereby travel along iron bars quicker nor a +horse could run. 'Oons! I'd match my old brown mare against all such +contrivances to the end o' time. But to our places, for the Duke is +coming.' + +We had scarce taken our seats with the other suitors, when the +folding-doors were flung open, and a stout, thick, short man of fifty, +or thereabouts, came bustling into the room, and strode down it between +two lines of bowing clients. He had large projecting blue eyes, with +great pouches of skin beneath them, and a yellow, sallow visage. At his +heels walked a dozen officers and men of rank, with flowing wigs and +clanking swords. They had hardly passed through the opposite door into +the Duke's own room, when the gentleman with the list called out a name, +and the guests began one after the other to file into the great man's +presence. + +'Methinks his Grace is in no very gentle temper,' quoth Farmer Brown. +'Did you not mark how he gnawed his nether lip as he passed?' + +'He seemed a quiet gentleman enough,' I answered. 'It would try Job +himself to see all these folk of an afternoon.' + +'Hark at that!' he whispered, raising his finger. As he spoke the +sound of the Duke's voice in a storm of wrath was heard from the inner +chamber, and a little sharp-faced man came out and flew through the +ante-chamber as though fright had turned his head. + +'He is an armourer of Bristol,' whispered one of my neighbours. 'It is +likely that the Duke cannot come to terms with him over a contract.' + +'Nay,' said another. 'He supplied Sir Marmaduke Hyson's troop with +sabres, and it is said that the blades will bend as though they were +lead. Once used they can never be fitted back into the scabbard again.' + +'The tall man who goes in now is an inventor,' quoth the first. 'He hath +the secret of some very grievous fire, such as hath been used by the +Greeks against the Turks in the Levant, which he desires to sell for the +better fortifying of Bristol.' + +The Greek fire seemed to be in no great request with the Duke, for the +inventor came out presently with his face as red as though it had been +touched by his own compound. The next upon the list was my honest friend +the farmer. The angry tones which greeted him promised badly for the +fate of the four-year-old, but a lull ensued, and the farmer came out +and resumed his seat, rubbing his great red hands with satisfaction. + +'Ecod!' he whispered. 'He was plaguy hot at first, but he soon came +round, and he hath promised that if I pay for the hire of a dragooner as +long as the war shall last I shall have back the piebald.' + +I had been sitting all this time wondering how in the world I was +to conduct my business amid the swarm of suppliants and the crowd of +officers who were attending the Duke. Had there been any likelihood +of my gaining audience with him in any other way I should gladly have +adopted it, but all my endeavours to that end had been useless. Unless I +took this occasion I might never come face to face with him at all. +But how could he give due thought or discussion to such a matter +before others? What chance was there of his weighing it as it should be +weighed? Even if his feelings inclined him that way, he dared not show +any sign of wavering when so many eyes were upon him. I was tempted to +feign some other reason for my coming, and trust to fortune to give me +some more favourable chance for handing him my papers. But then that +chance might never arrive, and time was pressing. It was said that he +would return to Bristol next morning. On the whole, it seemed best that +I should make the fittest use I could of my present position in the hope +that the Duke's own discretion and self-command might, when he saw the +address upon my despatches, lead to a more private interview. + +I had just come to this resolution when my name was read out, on which I +rose and advanced into the inner chamber. It was a small but lofty room, +hung in blue silk with a broad gold cornice. In the centre was a square +table littered over with piles of papers, and behind this sat his Grace +with full-bottomed wig rolling down to his shoulders, very stately and +imposing. He had the same subtle air of the court which I had observed +both in Monmouth and in Sir Gervas, which, with his high bold features +and large piercing eyes, marked him as a leader of men. His private +scrivener sat beside him, taking notes of his directions, while the +others stood behind in a half circle, or took snuff together in the deep +recess of the window. + +'Make a note of Smithson's order,' he said, as I entered. 'A hundred +pots and as many fronts and backs to be ready by Tuesday; also six score +snaphances for the musqueteers, and two hundred extra spades for the +workers. Mark that the order be declared null and void unless fulfilled +within the time appointed.' + +'It is so marked, your Grace.' + +'Captain Micah Clarke,' said the Duke, reading from the list in front of +him. 'What is your wish, Captain?' + +'One which it would be better if I could deliver privately to your +Grace,' I answered. + +'Ah, you are he who desired private audience? Well, Captain, these are +my council and they are as myself. So we may look upon ourselves as +alone. What I may hear they may hear. Zounds, man, never stammer and +boggle, but out with it!' + +My request had roused the interest of the company, and those who were in +the window came over to the table. Nothing could have been worse for the +success of my mission, and yet there was no help for it but to deliver +my despatches. I can say with a clear conscience, without any vainglory, +that I had no fears for myself. The doing of my duty was the one thought +in my mind. And here I may say once for all, my dear children, that I am +speaking of myself all through this statement with the same freedom +as though it were another man. In very truth the strong active lad of +one-and-twenty _was_ another man from the grey-headed old fellow who +sits in the chimney corner and can do naught better than tell old tales +to the youngsters. Shallow water gives a great splash, and so a braggart +has ever been contemptible in my eyes. I trust, therefore, that ye will +never think that your grandad is singing his own praises, or setting +himself up as better than his neighbours. I do but lay the facts, as far +as I can recall them, before ye with all freedom and with all truth. + +My short delay and hesitation had sent a hot flush of anger into the +Duke's face, so I drew the packet of papers from my inner pocket and +handed them to him with a respectful bow. As his eyes fell upon the +superscription, he gave a sudden start of surprise and agitation, making +a motion as though to hide them in his bosom. If this were his impulse +he overcame it, and sat lost in thought for a minute or more with the +papers in his hand. Then with a quick toss of the head, like a man who +hath formed his resolution, he broke the seals and cast his eyes over +the contents, which he then threw down upon the table with a bitter +laugh. + +'What think ye, gentlemen!' he cried, looking round with scornful eyes; +'what think ye this private message hath proved to be? It is a letter +from the traitor Monmouth, calling upon me to resign the allegiance of +my natural sovereign and to draw my sword in his behalf! If I do this +I am to have his gracious favour and protection. If not, I incur +sequestration, banishment, and ruin. He thinks Beaufort's loyalty is +to be bought like a packman's ware, or bullied out of him by ruffling +words. The descendant of John of Gaunt is to render fealty to the brat +of a wandering playwoman!' + +Several of the company sprang to their feet, and a general buzz of +surprise and anger greeted the Duke's words. He sat with bent brows, +beating his foot against the ground, and turning over the papers upon +the table. + +'What hath raised his hopes to such mad heights?' he cried. 'How doth +he presume to send such a missive to one of my quality? Is it because he +hath seen the backs of a parcel of rascally militiamen, and because +he hath drawn a few hundred chawbacons from the plough's tail to his +standard, that he ventures to hold such language to the President of +Wales? But ye will be my witnesses as to the spirit in which I received +it?' + +'We can preserve your Grace from all danger of slander on that point,' +said an elderly officer, while a murmur of assent from the others +greeted the remark. + +'And you!' cried Beaufort, raising his voice and turning his flashing +eyes upon me; 'who are you that dare to bring such a message to +Badminton? You had surely taken leave of your senses ere you did set out +upon such an errand!' + +'I am in the hands of God here as elsewhere,' I answered, with some +flash of my father's fatalism. 'I have done what I promised to do, and +the rest is no concern of mine.' + +'You shall find it a very close concern of thine,' he shouted, springing +from his chair and pacing up and down the room; 'so close as to put an +end to all thy other concerns in this life. Call in the halberdiers from +the outer hall! Now, fellow, what have you to say for yourself?' + +'There is naught to be said,' I answered. + +'But something to be done,' he retorted in a fury. 'Seize this man and +secure his hands!' + +Four halberdiers who had answered the summons closed in upon me and laid +hands on me. Resistance would have been folly, for I had no wish to harm +the men in the doing of their duty. I had come to take my chance, and +if that chance should prove to be death, as seemed likely enough at +present, it must be met as a thing foreseen. I thought of those old-time +lines which Master Chillingfoot, of Petersfield, had ever held up to our +admiration-- + + Non civium ardor prava jubentium + Non vultus instantis tyranni + Mente quatit solida. + +Here was the 'vultus instantis tyranni,' in this stout, be-wigged, +lace-covered, yellow-faced man in front of me. I had obeyed the poet in +so far that my courage had not been shaken. I confess that this spinning +dust-heap of a world has never had such attractions for me that it would +be a pang to leave it. Never, at least, until my marriage--and that, you +will find, alters your thoughts about the value of your life, and many +other of your thoughts as well. This being so, I stood erect, with my +eyes fixed upon the angry nobleman, while his soldiers were putting the +gyves about my wrists. + + + +Chapter XXV. Of Strange Doings in the Boteler Dungeon + +'Take down this fellow's statement,' said the Duke to his scrivener. +'Now, sirrah, it may not be known to you that his gracious Majesty the +King hath conferred plenary powers upon me during these troubled times, +and that I have his warrant to deal with all traitors without either +jury or judge. You do bear a commission, I understand, in the rebellious +body which is here described as Saxon's regiment of Wiltshire Foot? +Speak the truth for your neck's sake.' + +'I will speak the truth for the sake of something higher than that, your +Grace,' I answered. 'I command a company in that regiment.' + +'And who is this Saxon?' + +'I will answer all that I may concerning myself,' said I, 'but not a +word which may reflect upon others.' + +'Ha!' he roared, hot with anger. 'Our pretty gentleman must needs stand +upon the niceties of honour after taking up arms against his King. I +tell you, sir, that your honour is in such a parlous state already that +you may well throw it over and look to your safety. The sun is sinking +in the west. Ere it set your life, too, may have set for ever.' + +'I am the keeper of my own honour, your Grace,' I answered. 'As to my +life, I should not be standing here this moment if I had any great dread +of losing it. It is right that I should tell you that my Colonel hath +sworn to exact a return for any evil that may befall me, on you or any +of your household who may come into his power. This I say, not as a +threat, but as a warning, for I know him to be a man who is like to be +as good as his word.' + +'Your Colonel, as you call him, may find it hard enough to save himself +soon,' the Duke answered with a sneer. 'How many men hath Monmouth with +him?' + +I smiled and shook my head. + +'How shall we make this traitor find his tongue?' he asked furiously, +turning to his council. + +'I should clap on the thumbikins,' said one fierce-faced old soldier. + +'I have known a lighted match between the fingers work wonders,' another +suggested. 'Sir Thomas Dalzell hath in the Scottish war been able to +win over several of that most stubborn and hardened race, the Western +Covenanters, by such persuasion.' + +'Sir Thomas Dalzell,' said a grey-haired gentleman, clad in black +velvet, 'hath studied the art of war among the Muscovites, in their +barbarous and bloody encounters with the Turks. God forbid that we +Christians of England should seek our examples among the skin-clad +idolaters of a savage country.' + +'Sir William would like to see war carried out on truly courteous +principles,' said the first speaker. 'A battle should be like a stately +minuet, with no loss of dignity or of etiquette.' + +'Sir,' the other answered hotly, 'I have been in battles when you were +in your baby-linen, and I handled a battoon when you could scarce shake +a rattle. In leaguer or onfall a soldier's work is sharp and stern, but +I say that the use of torture, which the law of England hath abolished, +should also be laid aside by the law of nations.' + +'Enough, gentlemen, enough!' cried the Duke, seeing that the dispute was +like to wax warm. 'Your opinion, Sir William, hath much weight with us, +and yours also, Colonel Hearn. We shall discuss this at greater length +in privacy. Halberdiers, remove the prisoner, and let a clergyman be +sent to look to his spiritual needs!' + +'Shall we take him to the strong room, your Grace?' asked the Captain of +the guard. + +'No, to the old Boteler dungeon,' he replied; and I heard the next name +upon the list called out, while I was led through a side door with a +guard in front and behind me. We passed through endless passages and +corridors, with heavy stop and clank of arms, until we reached the +ancient wing. Here, in the corner turret, was a small, bare room, mouldy +and damp, with a high, arched roof, and a single long slit in the outer +wall to admit light. A small wooden couch and a rude chair formed +the whole of the furniture. Into this I was shown by the Captain, who +stationed a guard at the door, and then came in after me and loosened +my wrists. He was a sad-faced man, with solemn sunken eyes and a +dreary expression, which matched ill with his bright trappings and gay +sword-knot. + +'Keep your heart up, friend,' said he, in a hollow voice. 'It is but a +choke and a struggle. A day or two since we had the same job to do, and +the man scarcely groaned. Old Spender, the Duke's marshal, hath as sure +a trick of tying and as good judgment in arranging a drop as hath Dun +of Tyburn. Be of good heart, therefore, for you shall not fall into the +hands of a bungler.' + +'I would that I could let Monmouth know that his letters were +delivered,' I exclaimed, seating myself on the side of the bed. + +'I' faith, they were delivered. Had you been the penny postman of Mr. +Robert Murray, of whom we heard so much in London last spring, you could +not have handed it in more directly. Why did you not talk the Duke fair? +He is a gracious nobleman, and kind of heart, save when he is thwarted +or angered. Some little talk as to the rebels' numbers and dispositions +might have saved you.' + +'I wonder that you, as a soldier, should speak or think of such a +thing,' said I coldly. + +'Well, well! Your neck is your own. If it please you to take a leap into +nothing it were pity to thwart you. But his Grace commanded that you +should have the chaplain. I must away to him.' + +'I prythee do not bring him,' said I. 'I am one of a dissenting stock, +and I see that there is a Bible in yonder recess. No man can aid me in +making my peace with God.' + +'It is well,' he answered, 'for Dean Hewby hath come over from +Chippenham, and he is discoursing with our good chaplain on the need of +self-denial, moistening his throat the while with a flask of the prime +Tokay. At dinner I heard him put up thanks for what he was to receive, +and in the same breath ask the butler how he dared to serve a deacon +of the Church with a pullet without truffle dressing. But, perhaps, you +would desire Dean Hewby's spiritual help? No? Well, what I can do for +you in reason shall be done, since you will not be long upon our hands. +Above all, keep a cheery heart.' + +He left the cell, but presently unlocked the door and pushed his dismal +face round the corner. 'I am Captain Sinclair, of the Duke's household,' +he said, 'should you have occasion to ask for me. You had best have +spiritual help, for I do assure you that there hath been something worse +than either warder or prisoner in this cell.' + +'What then?' I asked. + +'Why, marry, nothing less than the Devil,' he answered, coming in and +closing the door. 'It was in this way,' he went on, sinking his voice: +'Two years agone Hector Marot, the highwayman, was shut up in this very +Boteler dungeon. I was myself on guard in the corridor that night, and +saw the prisoner at ten o'clock sitting on that bed even as you are now. +At twelve I had occasion to look in, as my custom is, with the hope +of cheering his lonely hours, when lo, he was gone! Yes, you may well +stare. Mine eyes had never been off the door, and you can judge what +chance there was of his getting through the windows. Walls and floor are +both solid stone, which might be solid rock for the thickness. When +I entered there was a plaguy smell of brimstone, and the flame of my +lanthorn burned blue. Nay, it is no smiling matter. If the Devil did not +run away with Hector Marot, pray who did? for sure I am that no angel of +grace could come to him as to Peter of old. Perchance the Evil One may +desire a second bird out of the same cage, and so I tell you this that +you may be on your guard against his assaults.' + +'Nay, I fear him not,' I answered. + +'It is well,' croaked the Captain. 'Be not cast down!' His head +vanished, and the key turned in the creaking lock. So thick were the +walls that I could hear no sound after the door was closed. Save for +the sighing of the wind in the branches of the trees outside the narrow +window, all was as silent as the grave within the dungeon. + +Thus left to myself I tried to follow Captain Sinclair's advice as to +the keeping up of my heart, though his talk was far from being of a +cheering nature. In my young days, more particularly among the sectaries +with whom I had been brought most in contact, a belief in the occasional +appearance of the Prince of Darkness, and his interference in bodily +form with the affairs of men, was widespread and unquestioning. +Philosophers in their own quiet chambers may argue learnedly on the +absurdity of such things, but in a dim-lit dungeon, cut off from the +world, with the grey gloaming creeping down, and one's own fate hanging +in the balance, it becomes a very different matter. The escape, if the +Captain's story were true, appeared to border upon the miraculous. I +examined the walls of the cell very carefully. They were formed of great +square stones cunningly fitted together. The thin slit or window was +cut through the centre of a single large block. All over, as high as +the hand could reach, the face of the walls was covered with letters and +legends cut by many generations of captives. The floor was composed of +old foot-worn slabs, firmly cemented together. The closest search failed +to show any hole or cranny where a rat could have escaped, far less a +man. + +It is a very strange thing, my dears, to sit down in cold blood, and +think that the chances are that within a few hours your pulses will +have given their last throb, and your soul have sped away upon its final +errand. Strange and very awesome! The man who rideth down into the +press of the battle with his jaw set and his grip tight upon reign and +sword-hilt cannot feel this, for the human mind is such that one emotion +will ever push out another. Neither can the man who draws slow and +catching breaths upon the bed of deadly sickness be said to have +experience of it, for the mind weakened with disease can but submit +without examining too closely that which it submits to. When, however, +a young and hale man sits alone in quiet, and sees present death hanging +over him, he hath such food for thought that, should he survive and live +to be grey-headed, his whole life will be marked and altered by those +solemn hours, as a stream is changed in its course by some rough bank +against which it hath struck. Every little fault and blemish stands +out clear in the presence of death, as the dust specks appear when the +sunbeam shines into the darkened room. I noted them then, and I have, I +trust, noted them ever since. + +I was seated with my head bowed upon my breast, deeply buried in this +solemn train of thoughts, when I was startled by hearing a sharp click, +such as a man might give who wished to attract attention. I sprang to my +feet and gazed round in the gathering gloom without being able to tell +whence it came. I had well-nigh persuaded myself that my senses had +deceived me, when the sound was repeated louder than before, and casting +my eyes upwards I saw a face peering in at me through the slit, or part +of a face rather, for I could but see the eye and corner of the cheek. +Standing on my chair I made out that it was none other than the farmer +who had been my companion upon the road. + +'Hush, lad!' he whispered, with a warning forefinger pushed through the +narrow crack. 'Speak low, or the guard may chance to hear. What can I do +for you?' + +'How did you come to know where I was?' I asked in astonishment. + +'Whoy, mun,' he answered, 'I know as much of this 'ere house as Beaufort +does himsel'. Afore Badminton was built, me and my brothers has spent +many a day in climbing over the old Boteler tower. It's not the first +time that I have spoke through this window. But, quick; what can I do +for you?' + +'I am much beholden to you, sir,' I answered, 'but I fear that there is +no help which you can give me, unless, indeed, you could convey news to +my friends in the army of what hath befallen me.' + +'I might do that,' whispered Farmer Brown. 'Hark ye in your ear, lad, +what I never breathed to man yet. Mine own conscience pricks me at times +over this bolstering up of a Papist to rule over a Protestant nation. +Let like rule like, say I. At the 'lections I rode to Sudbury, and I +put in my vote for Maister Evans, of Turnford, who was in favour o' the +Exclusionists. Sure enough, if that same Bill had been carried, the Duke +would be sitting on his father's throne. The law would have said yes. +Now, it says nay. A wonderful thing is the law with its yea, yea, and +nay, nay, like Barclay, the Quaker man, that came down here in a leather +suit, and ca'd the parson a steepleman. There's the law. It's no use +shootin' at it, or passin' pikes through it, no, nor chargin' at it wi' +a troop of horse. If it begins by saying "nay" it will say "nay" to the +end of the chapter. Ye might as well fight wi' the book o' Genesis. Let +Monmouth get the law changed, and it will do more for him than all the +dukes in England. For all that he's a Protestant, and I would do what I +might to serve him.' + +'There is a Captain Lockarby, who is serving in Colonel Saxon's +regiment, in Monmouth's army,' said I. 'Should things go wrong with me, +I would take it as a great kindness if you would bear him my love, and +ask him to break it gently, by word or by letter, to those at Havant. +If I were sure that this would be done, it would be a great ease to my +mind.' + +'It shall be done, lad,' said the good farmer. 'I shall send my best man +and fleetest horse this very night, that they may know the straits in +which you are. I have a file here if it would help you.' + +'Nay,' I answered, 'human aid can do little to help me here.' + +'There used to be a hole in the roof. Look up and see if you can see +aught of it.' + +'It arches high above my head,' I answered, looking upwards; 'but there +is no sign of any opening.' + +'There was one,' he repeated. 'My brother Roger hath swung himself down +wi' a rope. In the old time the prisoners were put in so, like Joseph +into the pit. The door is but a new thing.' + +'Hole or no hole, it cannot help me,' I answered. 'I have no means +of climbing to it. Do not wait longer, kind friend, or you may find +yourself in trouble.' + +'Good-bye then, my brave heart,' he whispered, and the honest grey eye +and corner of ruddy cheek disappeared from the casement. Many a time +during the course of the long evening I glanced up with some wild hope +that he might return, and every creak of the branches outside brought me +on to the chair, but it was the last that I saw of Farmer Brown. + +This kindly visit, short as it was, relieved my mind greatly, for I had +a trusty man's word that, come what might, my friends should, at least, +have some news of my fate. It was now quite dark, and I was pacing up +and down the little chamber, when the key turned in the door, and the +Captain entered with a rushlight and a great bowl of bread and milk. + +'Here is your supper, friend,' said he. 'Take it down, appetite or no, +for it will give you strength to play the man at the time ye wot of. +They say it was beautiful to see my Lord Russell die upon Tower Hill. Be +of good cheer! Folk may say as much of you. His Grace is in a terrible +way. He walketh up and down, and biteth his lip, and clencheth his hands +like one who can scarce contain his wrath. It may not be against you, +but I know not what else can have angered him.' + +I made no answer to this Job's comforter, so he presently left me, +placing the bowl upon the chair, with the rushlight beside it. I +finished the food, and feeling the better for it, stretched myself upon +the couch, and fell into a heavy and dreamless sleep. This may have +lasted three or four hours, when I was suddenly awoken by a sound like +the creaking of hinges. Sitting up on the pallet I gazed around me. The +rushlight had burned out and the cell was impenetrably dark. A greyish +glimmer at one end showed dimly the position of the aperture, but all +else was thick and black. I strained my ears, but no further sound fell +upon them. Yet I was certain that I had not been deceived, and that the +noise which had aroused me was within my very chamber. I rose and felt +my way slowly round the room, passing my hand over the walls and door. +Then I paced backwards and forwards to test the flooring. Neither around +me nor beneath me was there any change. Whence did the sound come from, +then? I sat down upon the side of the bed and waited patiently in the +hope of hearing it once again. + +Presently it was repeated, a low groaning and creaking as though a door +or shutter long disused was being slowly and stealthily opened. At the +same time a dull yellow light streamed down from above, issuing from a +thin slit in the centre of the arched roof above me. Slowly as I watched +it this slit widened and extended as if a sliding panel were being +pulled out, until a good-sized hole was left, through which I saw a +head, looking down at me, outlined against the misty light behind it. +The knotted end of a rope was passed through this aperture, and came +dangling down to the dungeon floor. It was a good stout piece of hemp, +strong enough to bear the weight of a heavy man, and I found, upon +pulling at it, that it was firmly secured above. Clearly it was the +desire of my unknown benefactor that I should ascend by it, so I went +up hand over hand, and after some difficulty in squeezing my shoulders +through the hole I succeeded in reaching the room above. While I was +still rubbing my eyes after the sudden change from darkness into light, +the rope was swiftly whisked up and the sliding shutter closed once +more. To those who were not in the secret there was nothing to throw +light upon my disappearance. + +I found myself in the presence of a stout short man clad in a rude +jerkin and leather breeches, which gave him somewhat the appearance of a +groom. He wore a broad felt hat drawn down very low over his eyes, while +the lower part of his face was swathed round with a broad cravat. In his +hand he bore a horn lanthorn, by the light of which I saw that the +room in which we were was of the same size as the dungeon beneath, and +differed from it only in having a broad casement which looked out upon +the park. There was no furniture in the chamber, but a great beam ran +across it, to which the rope had been fastened by which I ascended. + +'Speak low, friend,' said the stranger. 'The walls are thick and the +doors are close, yet I would not have your guardians know by what means +you have been spirited away.' + +'Truly, sir,' I answered, 'I can scarce credit that it is other than a +dream. It is wondrous that my dungeon should be so easily broken into, +and more wondrous still that I should find a friend who would be willing +to risk so much for my sake.' + +'Look there!' quoth he, holding down his lanthorn so as to cast its +light on the part of the floor where the panel was fitted. Can you not +see how old and crumbled is the stone-work which surrounds it? This +opening in the roof is as old as the dungeon itself, and older far +than the door by which you were led into it. For this was one of those +bottle-shaped cells or oubliettes which hard men of old devised for the +safe keeping of their captives. Once lowered through this hole into the +stone-girt pit a man might eat his heart out, for his fate was sealed. +Yet you see that the very device which once hindered escape has now +brought freedom within your reach.' + +'Thanks to your clemency, your Grace,' I answered, looking keenly at my +companion. + +'Now out on these disguises!' he cried, peevishly pushing back the +broad-edged hat and disclosing, as I expected, the features of the Duke. +'Even a blunt soldier lad can see through my attempts at concealment. +I fear, Captain, that I should make a bad plotter, for my nature is as +open--well, as thine is. I cannot better the simile.' + +'Your Grace's voice once heard is not easily forgot,' said I. + +'Especially when it talks of hemp and dungeons,' he answered, with a +smile. 'But if I clapped you into prison, you must confess that I have +made you amends by pulling you out again at the end of my line, like a +minnow out of a bottle. But how came you to deliver such papers in the +presence of my council?' + +'I did what I could to deliver them in private,' said I. 'I sent you a +message to that effect.' + +'It is true,' he answered; 'but such messages come in to me from every +soldier who wishes to sell his sword, and every inventor who hath a long +tongue and a short purse. How could I tell that the matter was of real +import?' + +'I feared to let the chance slip lest it might never return,' said I. 'I +hear that your Grace hath little leisure during these times.' + +'I cannot blame you,' he answered, pacing up and down the room. 'But it +was untoward. I might have hid the despatches, yet it would have roused +suspicions. Your errand would have leaked out. There are many who envy +my lofty fortunes, and who would seize upon a chance of injuring me with +King James. Sunderland or Somers would either of them blow the least +rumour into a flame which might prove unquenchable. There was naught for +it, therefore, but to show the papers and to turn a harsh face on the +messenger. The most venomous tongue could not find fault in my conduct. +What course would you have advised under such circumstances?' 'The most +direct,' I answered. 'Aye, aye, Sir. Honesty. Public men have, however, +to pick their steps as best they may, for the straight path would lead +too often to the cliff-edge. The Tower would be too scanty for its +guests were we all to wear our hearts upon our sleeves. But to you in +this privacy I can tell my real thoughts without fear of betrayal or +misconstruction. On paper I will not write one word. Your memory must +be the sheet which bears my answer to Monmouth. And first of all, erase +from it all that you have heard me say in the council-room. Let it be as +though it never were spoken. Is that done?' + +'I understand that it did not really represent your Grace's thoughts.' + +'Very far from it, Captain. But prythee tell me what expectation of +success is there among the rebels themselves? You must have heard your +Colonel and others discuss the question, or noted by their bearing which +way their thoughts lay. Have they good hopes of holding out against the +King's troops?' + +'They have met with naught but success hitherto,' I answered. + +'Against the militia. But they will find it another thing when they have +trained troops to deal with. And yet--and yet!--One thing I know, that +any defeat of Feversham's army would cause a general rising throughout +the country. On the other hand, the King's party are active. Every +post brings news of some fresh levy. Albemarle still holds the militia +together in the west. The Earl of Pembroke is in arms in Wiltshire. +Lord Lumley is moving from the east with the Sussex forces. The Earl of +Abingdon is up in Oxfordshire. At the university the caps and gowns are +all turning into head-pieces and steel fronts. James's Dutch regiments +have sailed from Amsterdam. Yet Monmouth hath gained two fights, and why +not a third? They are troubled waters--troubled waters!' The Duke paced +backwards and forwards with brows drawn down, muttering all this to +himself rather than to me, and shaking his head like one in the sorest +perplexity. + +'I would have you tell Monmouth,' he said at last, 'that I thank him for +the papers which he hath sent me, and that I will duly read and weigh +them. Tell him also that I wish him well in his enterprise, and would +help him were it not that I am hemmed in by those who watch me closely, +and who would denounce me were I to show my true thoughts. Tell him +that, should he move his army into these parts, I may then openly +declare myself; but to do so now would be to ruin the fortunes of my +house, without in any way helping him. Can you bear him that message?' + +'I shall do so, your Grace. + +'Tell me,' he asked, 'how doth Monmouth bear himself in this +enterprise?' + +'Like a wise and gallant leader,' I answered. + +'Strange,' he murmured; 'it was ever the jest at court that he had +scarce energy or constancy enough to finish a game at ball, but would +ever throw his racquet down ere the winning point was scored. His plans +were like a weather-vane, altered by every breeze. He was constant +only in his inconstancy. It is true that he led the King's troops in +Scotland, but all men knew that Claverhouse and Dalzell were the real +conquerors at Bothwell Bridge. Methinks he resembles that Brutus in +Roman history who feigned weakness of mind as a cover to his ambitions.' + +The Duke was once again conversing with himself rather than with me, so +that I made no remark, save to observe that Monmouth had won the hearts +of the lower people. + +'There lies his strength,' said Beaufort. 'The blood of his mother runs +in his veins. He doth not think it beneath him to shake the dirty paw +of Jerry the tinker, or to run a race against a bumpkin on the village +green. Well, events have shown that he hath been right. These same +bumpkins have stood by him when nobler friends have held aloof. I would +I could see into the future. But you have my message, Captain, and +I trust that, if you change it in the delivery, it will be in the +direction of greater warmth and kindliness. It is time now that you +depart, for within three hours the guard is changed, and your escape +will be discovered.' + +'But how depart?' I asked. + +'Through here,' he answered, pushing open the casement, and sliding the +rope along the beam in that direction. 'The rope may be a foot or two +short, but you have extra inches to make matters even. When you have +reached the ground, take the gravel path which turns to the right, and +follow it until it leads you to the high trees which skirt the park. The +seventh of these hath a bough which shoots over the boundary wall. Climb +along the bough, drop over upon the other side, and you will find my +own valet waiting with your horse. Up with you, and ride, haste, haste, +post-haste, for the south. By morn you should be well out of danger's +way.' + +'My sword?' I asked. + +'All your property is there. Tell Monmouth what I have said, and let him +know that I have used you as kindly as was possible.' + +'But what will your Grace's council say when they find that I am gone?' +I asked. + +'Pshaw, man! Never fret about that! I will off to Bristol at daybreak, +and give my council enough to think of without their having time to +devote to your fate. The soldiers will but have another instance of +the working of the Father of Evil, who hath long been thought to have a +weakness for that cell beneath us. Faith, if all we hear be true, there +have been horrors enough acted there to call up every devil out of the +pit. But time presses. Gently through the casement! So! Remember the +message.' + +'Adieu, your Grace!' I answered, and seizing the rope slipped rapidly +and noiselessly to the ground, upon which he drew it up and closed the +casement. As I looked round, my eye fell upon the dark narrow slit which +opened into my cell, and through which honest Farmer Brown had held +converse with me. Half-an-hour ago I had been stretched upon the prison +pallet without a hope or a thought of escape. Now I was out in the open +with no hand to stay me, breathing the air of freedom with the prison +and the gallows cast off from me, as the waking man casts off his evil +dreams. Such changes shake a man's soul, my children. The heart that can +steel itself against death is softened by the assurance of safety. So +I have known a worthy trader bear up manfully when convinced that his +fortunes had been engulfed in the ocean, but lose all philosophy on +finding that the alarm was false, and that they had come safely through +the danger. For my own part, believing as I do that there is nothing of +chance in the affairs of this world, I felt that I had been exposed to +this trial in order to dispose me to serious thought, and that I had +been saved that I might put those thoughts into effect. As an earnest of +my endeavour to do so I knelt down on the green sward, in the shadow of +the Boteler turret, and I prayed that I might come to be of use on +the earth, and that I might be helped to rise above my own wants and +interests, to aid forward whatever of good or noble might be stirring in +my days. It is well-nigh fifty years, my dears, since I bowed my spirit +before the Great Unknown in the moon-tinted park of Badminton, but I +can truly say that from that day to this the aims which I laid down +for myself have served me as a compass over the dark waters of life--a +compass which I may perchance not always follow--for flesh is weak and +frail, but which hath, at least, been ever present, that I might turn to +it in seasons of doubt and of danger. + +The path to the right led through groves and past carp ponds for a mile +or more, until I reached the line of trees which skirted the boundary +wall. Not a living thing did I see upon my way, save a herd of +fallow-deer, which scudded away like swift shadows through the +shimmering moonshine. Looking back, the high turrets and gables of the +Boteler wing stood out dark and threatening against the starlit sky. +Having reached the seventh tree, I clambered along the projecting bough +which shot over the park wall, and dropped down upon the other side, +where I found my good old dapple-grey awaiting me in the charge of a +groom. Springing to my saddle, I strapped my sword once more to my side, +and galloped off as fast as the four willing feet could carry me on my +return journey. + +All that night I rode hard without drawing bridle, through sleeping +hamlets, by moon-bathed farmhouses, past shining stealthy rivers, and +over birch-clad hills. When the eastern sky deepened from pink into +scarlet, and the great sun pushed his rim over the blue north Somerset +hills, I was already far upon my journey. It was a Sabbath morning, and +from every village rose the sweet tinkling and calling of the bells. +I bore no dangerous papers with me now, and might therefore be more +careless as to my route. At one point I was questioned by a keen-eyed +toll-keeper as to whence I came, but my reply that I was riding direct +from his Grace of Beaufort put an end to his suspicions. Further down, +near Axbridge, I overtook a grazier who was jogging into Wells upon his +sleek cob. With him I rode for some time, and learned that the whole +of North Somerset, as well as south, was now in open revolt, and that +Wells, Shepton Mallet, and Glastonbury were held by armed volunteers +for King Monmouth. The royal forces had all retired west, or east, until +help should come. As I rode through the villages I marked the blue flag +upon the church towers, and the rustics drilling upon the green, without +any sign of trooper or dragoon to uphold the authority of the Stuarts. + +My road lay through Shepton Mallet, Piper's Inn, Bridgewater, and North +Petherton, until in the cool of the evening I pulled up my weary horse +at the Cross Hands, and saw the towers of Taunton in the valley beneath +me. A flagon of beer for the rider, and a sieveful of oats for the +steed, put fresh mettle into both of us, and we were jogging on our way +once more, when there came galloping down the side of the hill about +forty cavaliers, as hard as their horses could carry them. So wild was +their riding that I pulled up, uncertain whether they were friend or +foe, until, as they came whirling towards me, I recognised that the two +officers who rode in front of them were none other than Reuben Lockarby +and Sir Gervas Jerome. At the sight of me they flung up their hands, and +Reuben shot on to his horse's neck, where he sat for a moment astride of +the mane, until the brute tossed him back into the saddle. + +'It's Micah! It's Micah!' he gasped, with his mouth open, and the tears +hopping down his honest face. + +'Od's pitlikins, man, how did you come here?' asked Sir Gervas, poking +me with his forefinger as though to see if I were really of flesh and +blood. 'We were leading a forlorn of horse into Beaufort's country to +beat him up, and to burn his fine house about his ears if you had come +to harm. There has just come a groom from some farmer in those parts who +hath brought us news that you were under sentence of death, on which I +came away with my wig half frizzled, and found that friend Lockarby had +leave from Lord Grey to go north with these troopers. But how have you +fared?' + +'Well and ill,' I answered, wringing their kindly hands. 'I had not +thought last night to see another sun rise, and yet ye see that I am +here, sound in life and limb. But all these things will take some time +in the telling.' + +'Aye, and King Monmouth will be on thorns to see you. Right about, my +lads, and back for the camp. Never was errand so rapidly and happily +finished as this of ours. It would have fared ill with Badminton had you +been hurt.' + +The troopers turned their horses and trotted slowly back to Taunton, +while I rode behind them between my two faithful friends, hearing from +them all that had occurred in my absence, and telling my own adventures +in return. The night had fallen ere we rode through the gates, where I +handed Covenant over to the Mayor's groom, and went direct to the castle +to deliver an account of my mission. + + + +Chapter XXVI. Of the Strife in the Council + +King Monmouth's council was assembled at the time of my coming, and my +entrance caused the utmost surprise and joy, as they had just heard news +of my sore danger. Even the royal presence could not prevent several +members, among whom were the old Mayor and the two soldiers of fortune, +from springing to their feet and shaking me warmly by the hand. Monmouth +himself said a few gracious words, and requested that I should be seated +at the board with the others. + +'You have earned the right to be of our council,' said he; 'and lest +there should be a jealousy amongst other captains that you should come +among us, I do hereby confer upon you the special title of Scout-master, +which, though it entail few if any duties in the present state of our +force, will yet give you precedence over your fellows. We had heard that +your greeting from Beaufort was of the roughest, and that you were in +sore straits in his dungeons. But you have happily come yourself on the +very heels of him who bore the tidings. Tell us then from the beginning +how things have fared with you.' + +I should have wished to have limited my story to Beaufort and his +message, but as the council seemed to be intent upon hearing a full +account of my journey, I told in as short and simple speech as I +could the various passages which had befallen me--the ambuscado of +the smugglers, the cave, the capture of the gauger, the journey in the +lugger, the acquaintance with Farmer Brown, my being cast into prison, +with the manner of my release and the message wherewith I had been +commissioned. To all of this the council hearkened with the uttermost +attention, while a muttered oath ever and anon from a courtier or a +groan and prayer from a Puritan showed how keenly they followed the +various phases of my fortunes. Above all, they gave the greatest heed +to Beaufort's words, and stopped me more than once when I appeared to be +passing over any saying or event before they had due time to weigh +it. When I at last finished they all sat speechless, looking into each +other's faces and waiting for an expression of opinion. + +'On my word,' said Monmouth at last, 'this is a young Ulysses, though +his Odyssey doth but take three days in the acting. Scudery might not be +so dull were she to take a hint from these smugglers' caves and sliding +panels. How say you, Grey?' + +'He hath indeed had his share of adventure,' the nobleman answered, 'and +hath also performed his mission like a fearless and zealous messenger. +You say that Beaufort gave you nought in writing?' + +'Not a word, my lord,' I replied. + +'And his private message was that he wished us well, and would join us +if we were in his country?' + +'That was the effect, my lord.' + +'Yet in his council, as I understand, he did utter bitter things against +us, putting affronts upon the King, and making light of his just claims +upon the fealty of his nobility?' + +'He did,' I answered. + +'He would fain stand upon both sides of the hedge at once,' said King +Monmouth. 'Such a man is very like to find himself on neither side, but +in the very heart of the briars. It may be as well, however, that we +should move his way, so as to give him the chance of declaring himself.' + +'In any case, as your Majesty remembers,' said Saxon, 'we had determined +to march Bristolwards and attempt the town.' + +'The works are being strengthened,' said I, 'and there are five thousand +of the Gloucestershire train-bands assembled within. I saw the labourers +at work upon the ramparts as I passed.' + +'If we gain Beaufort we shall gain the town,' quoth Sir Stephen +Timewell. 'There are already a strong body of godly and honest folk +therein, who would rejoice to see a Protestant army within their gates. +Should we have to beleaguer it we may count upon some help from within.' + +'Hegel und blitzen!' exclaimed the German soldier, with an impatience +which even the presence of the King could not keep in bounds; 'how can +we talk of sieges and leaguers when we have not a breaching-piece in the +army?' + +'The Lard will find us the breaching-pieces,' cried Ferguson, in his +strange, nasal voice. 'Did the Lard no breach the too'ers o' Jericho +withoot the aid o' gunpooder? Did the Lard no raise up the man Robert +Ferguson and presairve him through five-and-thairty indictments and +twa-and-twenty proclamations o' the godless? What is there He canna do? +Hosannah! Hosannah!' + +'The Doctor is right,' said a square-faced, leather-skinned English +Independent. 'We talk too much o' carnal means and worldly chances, +without leaning upon that heavenly goodwill which should be to us as a +staff on stony and broken paths. Yes, gentlemen,' he continued, raising +his voice and glancing across the table at some of the courtiers, 'ye +may sneer at words of piety, but I say that it is you and those like you +who will bring down God's anger upon this army.' + +'And I say so too,' cried another sectary fiercely. + +'And I,' 'And I,' shouted several, with Saxon, I think, among them. + +'Is it your wish, your Majesty, that we should be insulted at your very +council board?' cried one of the courtiers, springing to his feet with +a flushed face. 'How long are we to be subject to this insolence because +we have the religion of a gentleman, and prefer to practise it in the +privacy of our hearts rather than at the street corners with these +pharisees?' + +'Speak not against God's saints,' cried a Puritan, in a loud stern +voice. 'There is a voice within me which tells me that it were better to +strike thee dead--yea, even in the presence of the King--than to allow +thee to revile those who have been born again.' + +Several had sprung to their feet on either side. Hands were laid upon +sword-hilts, and glances as stern and as deadly as rapier thrusts were +flashing backwards and forwards; but the more neutral and reasonable +members of the council succeeded in restoring peace, and in persuading +the angry disputants to resume their seats. + +'How now, gentlemen?' cried the King, his face dark with anger, when +silence was at last restored. 'Is this the extent of my authority that +ye should babble and brawl as though my council-chamber were a Fleet +Street pot-house? Is this your respect for my person? I tell ye that I +would forfeit my just claims for ever, and return to Holland, or devote +my sword to the cause of Christianity against the Turk, rather than +submit to such indignity. If any man he proved to have stirred up strife +amongst the soldiers or commonalty on the score of religion I shall +know how to deal with him. Let each preach to his own, but let him not +interfere with the flock of his neighbour. As to you, Mr. Bramwell, +and you, Mr. Joyce, and you also, Sir Henry Nuttall, we shall hold ye +excused from attending these meetings until ye have further notice from +us. Ye may now separate, each to your quarters, and to-morrow morning +we shall, with the blessing of God, start for the north to see what luck +may await our enterprise in those parts.' + +The King bowed as a sign that the formal meeting was over, and taking +Lord Grey aside, he conversed with him anxiously in a recess. The +courtiers, who numbered in their party several English and foreign +gentlemen, who had come over together with some Devonshire and Somerset +country squires, swaggered out of the room in a body, with much clinking +of spurs and clanking of swords. The Puritans drew gravely together and +followed after them, walking not with demure and downcast looks, as was +their common use, but with grim faces and knitted brows, as the Jews of +old may have appeared when, 'To your tents, O Israel!' was still ringing +in their ears. + +Indeed, religious dissension and sectarian heat were in the very air. +Outside, on the Castle Green, the voices of preachers rose up like the +drone of insects. Every waggon or barrel or chance provision case had +been converted into a pulpit, each with its own orator and little knot +of eager hearkeners. Here was a russet-coated Taunton volunteer in +jackboots and bandolier, holding forth on the justification by works. +Further on a grenadier of the militia, with blazing red coat and white +cross-belt, was deep in the mystery of the Trinity. In one or two +places, where the rude pulpits were too near to each other, the sermons +had changed into a hot discussion between the two preachers, in which +the audience took part by hums or groans, each applauding the champion +whose creed was most in accordance with his own. Through this wild +scene, made more striking by the ruddy flickering glare of the +camp-fires, I picked my way with a weight at my heart, for I felt how +vain it must be to hope for success where such division reigned, Saxon +looked on, however, with glistening eyes, and rubbed his hands with +satisfaction. + +'The leaven is working,' quoth he. 'Something will come of all this +ferment.' + +'I see not what can come of it save disorder and weakness,' I answered. + +'Good soldiers will come of it, lad,' said he. 'They are all sharpening +themselves, each after his own fashion, on the whetstone of religion. +This arguing breedeth fanatics, and fanatics are the stuff out of which +conquerors are fashioned. Have you not heard how Old Noll's army divided +into Presbyterians, Independents, Ranters, Anabaptists, Fifth Monarchy +men, Brownists, and a score of other sects, out of whose strife rose the +finest regiments that ever formed line upon a field of battle? + + "Such as do build their faith upon + The holy text of sword and gun." + +You know old Samuel's couplet. I tell you, I would rather see them thus +employed than at their drill, for all their wrangling and jangling.' + +'But how of this split in the council?' I asked. + +'Ah, that is indeed a graver matter. All creeds may be welded together, +but the Puritan and the scoffer are like oil and water. Yet the Puritan +is the oil, for he will be ever atop. These courtiers do but stand for +themselves, while the others are backed up by the pith and marrow of the +army. It is well that we are afoot to-morrow. The King's troops are, I +hear, pouring across Salisbury Plain, but their ordnance and stores are +delaying them, for they know well that they must bring all they need, +since they can expect little from the goodwill of the country folk. Ah, +friend Buyse, wie geht es?' + +'Ganz gut,' said the big German, looming up before us through the +darkness. 'But, sapperment, what a cawing and croaking, like a rookery +at sunset! You English are a strange people--yes, donnerwetter, a very +strange people! There are no two of you who think alike upon any subject +under Himmel! The Cavalier will have his gay coat and his loose word. +The Puritan will cut your throat rather than give up his sad-coloured +dress and his Bible. "King James!" cry some, "King Monmouth!" say the +peasants. "King Jesus!" says the Fifth Monarchy man. "No King at all!" +cry Master Wade and a few others who are for a Commonwealth. Since I +set foot on the Helderenbergh at Amsterdam, my head hath been in a whirl +with trying to understand what it is that ye desire, for before I have +got to the end of one man's tale, and begin to see a little through the +finsterniss, another will come with another story, and I am in as evil a +case as ever. But, my young Hercules, I am right glad to see you back +in safety. I am half in fear to give you my hand now, after your recent +treatment of it. I trust that you are none the worse for the danger that +you have gone through.' + +'Mine eyelids are in truth a little heavy,' I answered. 'Save for an +hour or two aboard the lugger, and about as long on a prison couch, I +have not closed eye since I left the camp.' + +'We shall fall in at the second bugle call, about eight of the clock,' +said Saxon. 'We shall leave you, therefore, that you may restore +yourself after your fatigues. 'With a parting nod the two old soldiers +strode off together down the crowded Fore Street, while I made the best +of my way back to the Mayor's hospitable dwelling, where I had to repeat +my story all over again to the assembled household before I was at last +suffered to seek my room. + + + +Chapter XXVII. Of the Affair near Keynsham Bridge + +Monday, June 21, 1685, broke very dark and windy, with dull clouds +moving heavily across the sky and a constant sputter of rain. Yet a +little after daybreak Monmouth's bugles were blowing in every quarter +of the town, from Tone Bridge to Shuttern, and by the hour appointed the +regiments had mustered, the roll had been called, and the vanguard was +marching briskly out through the eastern gate. It went forth in the same +order as it entered, our own regiment and the Taunton burghers bringing +up the rear. Mayor Timewell and Saxon had the ordering of this part of +the army between them, and being men who had seen much service, they +drew the ordnance into a less hazardous position, and placed a strong +guard of horse, a cannon's shot in the rear, to meet any attempt of the +Royal dragoons. + +It was remarked on all sides that the army had improved in order and +discipline during the three days' halt, owing perchance to the example +of our own unceasing drill and soldierly bearing. In numbers it had +increased to nigh eight thousand, and the men were well fed and light +of heart. With sturdy close-locked ranks they splashed their way through +mud and puddle, with many a rough country joke and many a lusty stave +from song or hymn. Sir Gervas rode at the head of his musqueteers, whose +befloured tails hung limp and lank with the water dripping from +them. Lockarby's pikemen and my own company of scythesmen were mostly +labourers from the country, who were hardened against all weathers, and +plodded patiently along with the rain-drops glistening upon their ruddy +faces. In front were the Taunton foot; behind, the lumbering train of +baggage waggons, with the horse in the rear of them. So the long line +wound its way over the hills. + +At the summit, where the road begins to dip down upon the other side, a +halt was called to enable the regiments to close up, and we looked back +at the fair town which many of us were never to see again. From the dark +walls and house roofs we could still mark the flapping and flutter of +white kerchiefs from those whom we left behind. Reuben sat his horse +beside me, with his spare shirt streaming in the wind and his great +pikemen all agrin behind him, though his thoughts and his eyes were +too far away to note them. As we gazed, a long thin quiver of sunshine +slipped out between two cloud banks and gilded the summit of the +Magdalene tower, with the Royal standard which still waved from it. The +incident was hailed as a happy augury, and a great shout spread from +rank to rank at the sight of it, with a waving of hats and a clattering +of weapons. Then the bugles blew a fanfare, the drums struck up a point +of war, Reuben thrust his shirt into his haversack, and on we marched +through mud and slush, with the dreary clouds bending low over us, and +buttressed by the no less dreary hills on either side. A seeker for +omens might have said that the heavens were weeping over our ill-fated +venture. + +All day we trudged along roads which were quagmires, over our ankles +in mud, until in the evening we made our way to Bridgewater, where we +gained some recruits, and also some hundred pounds for our military +chest, for it was a well-to-do place, with a thriving coast trade +carried on down the River Parret. After a night in snug quarters we set +off again in even worse weather than before. The country in these parts +is a quagmire in the driest season, but the heavy rains had caused the +fens to overflow, and turned them into broad lakes on either side of the +road. This may have been to some degree in our favour, as shielding us +from the raids of the King's cavalry, but it made our march very +slow. All day it was splashing and swashing through mud and mire, the +rain-drops shining on the gun-barrels and dripping from the heavy-footed +horses. Past the swollen Parret, through Eastover, by the peaceful +village of Bawdrip, and over Polden Hill we made our way, until the +bugles sounded a halt under the groves of Ashcot, and a rude meal was +served out to the men. Then on again, through the pitiless rain, past +the wooded park of Piper's Inn, through Walton, where the floods were +threatening the cottages, past the orchards of Street, and so in the +dusk of the evening into the grey old town of Glastonbury, where the +good folk did their best by the warmth of their welcome to atone for the +bitterness of the weather. + +The next morning was wet still and inclement, so the army made a short +march to Wells, which is a good-sized town, well laid out, with a fine +cathedral, which hath a great number of figures carved in stone and +placed in niches on the outer side, like that which we saw at Salisbury. +The townsfolk were strong for the Protestant cause, and the army was so +well received that their victual cost little from the military chest. On +this march we first began to come into touch with the Royal horse. More +than once when the rain mist cleared we saw the gleam of arms upon the +low hills which overlook the road, and our scouts came in with reports +of strong bodies of dragoons on either flank. At one time they massed +heavily upon our rear, as though planning a descent upon the baggage. +Saxon, however, planted a regiment of pikes on either side, so that they +broke up again and glinted off over the hills. + +From Wells we marched upon the twenty-fourth to Shepton Mallet, with the +ominous sabres and helmets still twinkling behind and on either side of +us. + +That evening we were at Keynsham Bridge, less than two leagues from +Bristol as the crow flies, and some of our horse forded the river and +pushed on almost to the walls. + +By morning the rain clouds had at last cleared, so Reuben and I rode +slowly up one of the sloping green hills which rose behind the camp, in +the hope of gaining some sight of the enemy. Our men we left littered +about upon the grass, trying to light fires with the damp sticks, or +laying out their clothes to dry in the sunshine. A strange-looking band +they were, coated and splashed with mud from head to heel, their hats +all limp and draggled, their arms rusted, and their boots so worn that +many walked barefoot, and others had swathed their kerchiefs round +their feet. Yet their short spell of soldiering had changed them +from honest-faced yokels into fierce-eyed, half-shaven, gaunt-cheeked +fellows, who could carry arms or port pikes as though they had done +nought else since childhood. + +The plight of the officers was no better than that of the men, nor +should an officer, my dears, when he is upon service, ever demean +himself by partaking of any comfort which all cannot share with him. Let +him lie by a soldier's fire and eat a soldier's fare, or let him hence, +for he is a hindrance and a stumbling-block. Our clothes were pulp, our +steel fronts red with rust, and our chargers as stained and splashed as +though they had rolled in the mire. Our very swords and pistols were in +such a plight that we could scarce draw the one or snap the other. Sir +Gervas alone succeeded in keeping his attire and his person as neat and +as dainty as ever. What he did in the watches of the night, and how he +gained his sleep, hath ever been a mystery to me, for day after day +he turned out at the bugle call, washed, scented, brushed, with wig +in order, and clothes from which every speck of mud had been carefully +removed. At his saddle-bow he bore with him the great flour dredger +which we saw him use at Taunton, and his honest musqueteers had their +heads duly dusted every morning, though in an hour their tails would +be as brown as nature made them, while the flour would be trickling in +little milky streams down their broad backs, or forming in cakes upon +the skirts of their coats. It was a long contest between the weather and +the Baronet, but our comrade proved the victor. + +'There was a time when I was called plump Reuben,' quoth my friend, as +we rode together up the winding track. 'What with too little that is +solid and too much that is liquid I am like to be skeleton Reuben ere I +see Havant again. I am as full of rain-water as my father's casks are of +October. I would, Micah, that you would wring me out and hang me to dry +upon one of these bushes.' + +'If we are wet, King James's men must be wetter,' said I, 'for at least +we have had such shelter as there was.' + +'It is poor comfort when you are starved to know that another is in +the same plight. I give you my word, Micah, I took in one hole of my +sword-belt on Monday, two on Tuesday, one yesterday, and one to-day. I +tell you, I am thawing like an icicle in the sun.' + +'If you should chance to dwindle to nought,' said I, laughing, 'what +account are we to give of you in Taunton? Since you have donned armour +and taken to winning the hearts of fair maidens, you have outstripped us +all in importance, and become a man of weight and substance.' + +'I had more substance and weight ere I began trailing over the +countryside like a Hambledon packman,' quoth he. 'But in very truth and +with all gravity, Micah, it is a strange thing to feel that the whole +world for you, your hopes, your ambitions, your all, are gathered into +so small a compass that a hood might cover it, and two little pattens +support it. I feel as if she were my own higher self, my loftier +part, and that I, should I be torn from her, would remain for ever an +incomplete and half-formed being. With her, I ask nothing else. Without +her, all else is nothing.' + +'But have you spoken to the old man?' I asked. 'Are you indeed +betrothed?' + +'I have spoken to him,' my friend answered, 'but he was so busy in +filling ammunition cases that I could not gain his attention. When I +tried once more he was counting the spare pikes in the Castle armoury +with a tally and an ink-horn. I told him that I had come to crave his +granddaughter's hand, on which he turned to me and asked, "which hand?" +with so blank a stare that it was clear that his mind was elsewhere. On +the third trial, though, the day that you did come back from Badminton, +I did at last prefer my request, but he flashed out at me that this was +no time for such fooleries, and he bade me wait until King Monmouth was +on the throne, when I might ask him again. I warrant that he did not +call such things fooleries fifty years ago, when he went a-courting +himself.' + +'At least he did not refuse you,' said I. 'It is as good as a promise +that; should the cause be successful, you shall be so too.' + +'By my faith,' cried Reuben, 'if a man could by his own single blade +bring that about, there is none who hath so strong an interest in it as +I. No, not Monmouth himself! The apprentice Derrick hath for a long time +raised his eyes to his master's daughter, and the old man was ready to +have him as a son, so much was he taken by his godliness and zeal. Yet I +have learned from a side-wind that he is but a debauched and low-living +man, though he covers his pleasures with a mask of piety. I thought as +you did think that he was at the head of the roisterers who tried to +bear Mistress Ruth away, though, i' faith, I can scarce think harshly +of them, since they did me the greatest service that ever men did yet. +Meanwhile I have taken occasion, ere we left Wells two nights ago, to +speak to Master Derrick on the matter, and to warn him as he loved his +life to plan no treachery against her. + +'And how took he this mild intimation?' I asked. + +'As a rat takes a rat trap. Snarled out some few words of godly hatred, +and so slunk away.' + +'On my life, lad,' said I, 'you have been having as many adventures in +your own way as I in mine. But here we are upon the hill-top, with as +fair an outlook as man could wish to have.' + +Just beneath us ran the Avon, curving in long bends through the +woodlands, with the gleam of the sun striking back from it here and +there, as though a row of baby suns had been set upon a silver string. +On the further side the peaceful, many-hued country, rising and falling +in a swell of cornfields and orchards, swept away to break in a fringe +of forest upon the distant Malverns. On our right were the green hills +near Bath and on our left the rugged Mendips, with queenly Bristol +crouching behind her forts, and the grey channel behind flecked with +snow-white sails. At our very feet lay Keynsham Bridge, and our army +spotted in dark patches over the green fields, the smoke of their fires +and the babble of their voices floating up in the still summer air. + +A road ran along the Somersetshire bank of the Avon, and down this two +troops of our horse were advancing, with intent to establish outposts +upon our eastern flank. As they jangled past in somewhat loose order, +their course lay through a pine-wood, into which the road takes a sharp +bend. We were gazing down at the scene when, like lightning from a +cloud, a troop of the Horse Guards wheeled out into the open, and +breaking from trot to canter, and from canter to gallop, dashed down in +a whirlwind of blue and steel upon our unprepared squadrons. A crackle +of hastily unslung carbines broke from the leading ranks, but in an +instant the Guards burst through them and plunged on into the second +troop. For a space the gallant rustics held their own, and the dense +mass of men and horses swayed backwards and forwards, with the swirling +sword-blades playing above them in flashes of angry light. Then blue +coats began to break from among the russet, the fight rolled wildly back +for a hundred paces, the dense throng was split asunder, and the Royal +Guards came pouring through the rent, and swerved off to right and left +through hedges and over ditches, stabbing and hacking at the fleeing +horsemen. The whole scene, with the stamping horses, tossing manes, +shouts of triumph or despair, gasping of hard-drawn breath and musical +clink and clatter of steel, was to us upon the hill like some wild +vision, so swiftly did it come and so swiftly go. A sharp, stern +bugle-call summoned the Blues back into the road, where they formed up +and trotted slowly away before fresh squadrons could come up from the +camp. The sun gleamed and the river rippled as ever, and there was +nothing save the long litter of men and horses to mark the course of the +hell blast which had broken so suddenly upon us. + +As the Blues retired we observed that a single officer brought up the +rear, riding very slowly, as though it went much against his mood to +turn his back even to an army. The space betwixt the troop and him was +steadily growing greater, yet he made no effort to quicken his pace, +but jogged quietly on, looking back from time to time to see if he were +followed. The same thought sprang into my comrade's mind and my own at +the same instant, and we read it in each other's faces. + +'This path,' cried he eagerly. 'It brings us out beyond the grove, and +is in the hollow all the way.' + +'Lead the horses until we get on better ground,' I answered. 'We may +just cut him off if we are lucky.' + +There was no time for another word, for we hurried off down the uneven +track, sliding and slipping on the rain-soaked turf. Springing into our +saddles we dashed down the gorge, through the grove, and so out on to +the road in time to see the troop disappear in the distance, and to meet +the solitary officer face to face. + +He was a sun-burned, high-featured man, with black mustachios, mounted +on a great raw-boned chestnut charger. As we broke out on to the road he +pulled up to have a good look at us. Then, having fully made up his mind +as to our hostile intent, he drew his sword, plucked a pistol out of his +holster with his left hand, and gripping the bridle between his teeth, +dug his spurs into his horse's flanks and charged down upon us at the +top of his speed. As we dashed at him, Reuben on his bridle arm and I +on the other, he cut fiercely at me, and at the same moment fired at my +companion. The ball grazed Reuben's cheek, leaving a red weal behind it +like a lash from a whip, and blackening his face with the powder. His +cut, however, fell short, and throwing my arm round his waist as the two +horses dashed past each other, I plucked him from the saddle and drew +him face upwards across my saddlebow. Brave Covenant lumbered on with +his double burden, and before the Guards had learned that they had lost +their officer, we had brought him safe, in spite of his struggles and +writhings, to within sight of Monmouth's camp. + +'A narrow shave, friend,' quoth Reuben, with his hand to his cheek. 'He +hath tattooed my face with powder until I shall be taken for Solomon +Sprent's younger brother.' + +'Thank God that you are unhurt,' said I. 'See, our horse are advancing +along the upper road. Lord Grey himself rides at their head. We had best +take our prisoner into camp, since we can do nought here.' + +'For Christ's sake, either slay me or set me down!' he cried. 'I cannot +bear to be carried in this plight, like a half-weaned infant, through +your campful of grinning yokels.' + +'I would not make sport of a brave man,' I answered. 'If you will give +your word to stay with us, you shall walk between us.' + +'Willingly,' said he, scrambling down and arranging his ruffled attire. +'By my faith, sirs, ye have taught me a lesson not to think too meanly +of mine enemies. I should have ridden with my troop had I thought that +there was a chance of falling in with outposts or videttes.' + +'We were upon the hill before we cut you off,' quoth Reuben. 'Had that +pistol ball been a thought straighter, it is I that should have been +truly the cut-off one. Zounds, Micah! I was grumbling even now that I +had fallen away, but had my cheek been as round as of old the slug had +been through it.' + +'Where have I seen you before?' asked our captive, bending his dark +eyes upon me. 'Aye, I have it! It was in the inn at Salisbury, where +my light-headed comrade Horsford did draw upon an old soldier who was +riding with you. Mine own name is Ogilvy--Major Ogilvy of the Horse +Guards Blue. I was right glad that ye did come off safely from the +hounds. Some word had come of your errand after your departure, so this +same Horsford with the Mayor and one or two other Tantivies, whose zeal +methinks outran their humanity, slipped the dogs upon your trail.' + +'I remember you well,' I answered. 'You will find Colonel Decimus Saxon, +my former companion, in the camp. No doubt you will be shortly exchanged +for some prisoner of ours.' + +'Much more likely to have my throat cut,' said he, with a smile. 'I +fear that Feversham in his present temper will scarce pause to make +prisoners, and Monmouth may be tempted to pay him back in his own +coin. Yet it is the fortune of war, and I should pay for my want of all +soldierly caution. Truth to tell, my mind was far from battles and ruses +at the moment, for it had wandered away to aqua-regia and its action +upon the metals, until your appearance brought me back to soldiership.' + +'The horse are out of sight,' said Reuben, looking backwards, 'ours as +well as theirs. Yet I see a clump of men over yonder at the other side +of the Avon, and there on the hillside can you not see the gleam of +steel?' + +'There are foot there,' I answered, puckering my eyes. 'It seems to me +that I can discern four or five regiments and as many colours of horse. +King Monmouth should know of this with all speed.' + +'He does know of it,' said Reuben. 'Yonder he stands under the trees +with his council about him. See, one of them rides this way!' + +A trooper had indeed detached himself from the group and galloped +towards us. 'If you are Captain Clarke, sir,' he said, with a salute, +'the King orders you to join his council.' + +'Then I leave the Major in your keeping, Reuben,' I cried. 'See that +he hath what our means allow.' So saying I spurred my horse, and soon +joined the group who were gathered round the King. There were Grey, +Wade, Buyse, Ferguson, Saxon, Hollis, and a score more, all looking very +grave, and peering down the valley with their glasses. Monmouth himself +had dismounted, and was leaning against the trunk of a tree, with his +arms folded upon his breast, and a look of white despair upon his face. +Behind the tree a lackey paced up and down leading his glossy black +charger, who pranced and tossed his lordly mane, a very king among +horses. + +'You see, friends,' said Monmouth, turning lack-lustre eyes from one +leader to another, 'Providence would seem to be against us. Some new +mishap is ever at our heels.' + +'Not Providence, your Majesty, but our own negligence,' cried Saxon +boldly. 'Had we advanced on Bristol last night, we might have been on +the right side of the ramparts by now.' + +'But we had no thought that the enemy's foot was so near!' exclaimed +Wade. + +'I told ye what would come of it, and so did Oberst Buyse and the worthy +Mayor of Taunton,' Saxon answered. 'However, there is nought to be +gained by mourning over a broken pipkin. We must e'en piece it together +as best we may.' + +'Let us advance on Bristol, and put oor trust in the Highest,' quoth +Ferguson. 'If it be His mighty will that we should tak' it, then +shall we enter into it, yea, though drakes and sakers lay as thick as +cobblestanes in the streets.' + +'Aye! aye! On to Bristol! God with us!' cried several of the Puritans +excitedly. + +'But it is madness--dummheit--utter foolishness,' Buyse broke in hotly. +'You have the chance and you will not take it. Now the chance is gone +and you are all eager to go. Here is an army of, as near as I can judge, +five thousand men on the right side of the river. We are on the wrong +side, and yet you talk of crossing and making a beleaguering of Bristol +without breaching-pieces or spades, and with this force in our rear. +Will the town make terms when they can see from their ramparts the van +of the army which comes to help them? Or does it assist us in fighting +the army to have a strong town beside us, from which horse and foot can +make an outfall upon our flank? I say again that it is madness.' + +What the German soldier said was so clearly the truth that even the +fanatics were silenced. Away in the east the long shimmering lines +of steel, and the patches of scarlet upon the green hillside, were +arguments which the most thoughtless could not overlook. + +'What would you advise, then?' asked Monmouth moodily, tapping his +jewelled riding-whip against his high boots. + +'To cross the river and come to hand-grips with them ere they can +get help from the town,' the burly German answered bluntly. 'I cannot +understand what we are here for if it be not to fight. If we win, the +town must fall. If we lose, We have had a bold stroke for it, and can do +no more.' + +'Is that your opinion, too, Colonel Saxon?' the King asked. + +'Assuredly, your Majesty, if we can fight to advantage. We can scarce +do that, however, by crossing the river on a single narrow bridge in +the face of such a force. I should advise that we destroy this Keynsham +Bridge, and march down this southern bank in the hope of forcing a fight +in a position which we may choose.' + +'We have not yet summoned Bath,' said Wade. 'Let us do as Colonel Saxon +proposes, and let us in the meantime march in that direction and send a +trumpet to the governor.' + +'There is yet another plan,' quoth Sir Stephen Timewell, 'which is to +hasten to Gloucester, to cross the Severn there, and so march through +Worcestershire into Shropshire and Cheshire. Your Majesty has many +friends in those parts.' + +Monmouth paced up and down with his hand to his forehead like one +distrait. 'What am I to do,' he cried at last, 'in the midst of all this +conflicting advice, when I know that not only my own success, but the +lives of these poor faithful peasants and craftsmen depend upon my +resolution?' + +'With all humbleness, your Majesty,' said Lord Grey, who had just +returned with the horse, 'I should suggest, since there are only a few +troops of their cavalry on this side of the Avon, that we blow up the +bridge and move onwards to Bath, whence we can pass into Wiltshire, +which we know to be friendly.' + +'So be it!' cried the King, with the reckless air of one who accepts +a plan, not because it is the best, but because he feels that all are +equally hopeless. 'What think you, gentlemen?' he added, with a bitter +smile. 'I have heard news from London this morning, that my uncle has +clapped two hundred merchants and others who are suspected of being true +to their creed into the Tower and the Fleet. He will have one half of +the nation mounting guard over the other half ere long.' + +'Or the whole, your Majesty, mounting guard over him,' suggested Wade. +'He may himself see the Traitor's Gate some of these mornings.' + +'Ha, ha! Think ye so? think ye so!' cried Monmouth, rubbing his hands +and brightening into a smile. 'Well, mayhap you have nicked the truth. +Who knows? Henry's cause seemed a losing one until Bosworth Field +settled the contention. To your charges, gentlemen. We shall march in +half-an-hour. Colonel Saxon and you, Sir Stephen, shall cover the rear +and guard the baggage--a service of honour with this fringe of horse +upon our skirts.' + +The council broke up forthwith, every man riding off to his own +regiment. The whole camp was in a stir, bugles blowing and drums +rattling, until in a very short time the army was drawn up in order, and +the forlorn of cavalry had already started along the road which leads to +Bath. Five hundred horse with the Devonshire militiamen were in the van. +After them in order came the sailor regiment, the North Somerset men, +the first Taunton regiment of burghers, the Mendip and Bagworthy miners, +the lace and wool-workers of Honiton, Wellington, and Ottery St. Mary; +the woodmen, the graziers, the marsh-men, and the men from the Quantock +district. Behind were the guns and the baggage, with our own brigade and +four colours of horse as a rearguard. On our march we could see the red +coats of Feversham keeping pace with us upon the other side of the Avon. +A large body of his horse and dragoons had forded the stream and hovered +upon our skirts, but Saxon and Sir Stephen covered the baggage so +skilfully, and faced round so fiercely with such a snarl of musketry +whenever they came too nigh, that they never ventured to charge home. + + + +Chapter XXVIII. Of the Fight in Wells Cathedral + +I am fairly tied to the chariot-wheels of history now, my dear children, +and must follow on with name and place and date, whether my tale suffer +by it or no. With such a drama as this afoot it were impertinent to +speak of myself, save in so far as I saw or heard what may make these +old scenes more vivid to you. It is no pleasant matter for me to dwell +upon, yet, convinced as I am that there is no such thing as chance +either in the great or the little things of this world, I am very sure +that the sacrifices of these brave men were not thrown away, and that +their strivings were not as profitless as might at first sight appear. +If the perfidious race of Stuart is not now seated upon the throne, and +if religion in England is still a thing of free growth, we may, to my +thinking, thank these Somerset yokels for it, who first showed how small +a thing would shake the throne of an unpopular monarch. Monmouth's +army was but the vanguard of that which marched throe years later into +London, when James and his cruel ministers were flying as outcasts over +the face of the earth. + +On the night of June 27, or rather early in the morning of June 28, we +reached the town of Frome, very wet and miserable, for the rain had come +on again, and all the roads were quagmires. From this next day we pushed +on once more to Wells, where we spent the night and the whole of the +next day, to give the men time to get their clothes dry, and to recover +themselves after their privations. + +In the forenoon a parade of our Wiltshire regiment was held in the +Cathedral Close, when Monmouth praised it, as it well deserved, for the +soldierly progress made in so short a time. + +As we returned to our quarters after dismissing our men we came upon a +great throng of the rough Bagworthy and Oare miners, who were assembled +in the open space in front of the Cathedral, listening to one of their +own number, who was addressing them from a cart. The wild and frenzied +gestures of the man showed us that he was one of those extreme sectaries +whose religion runs perilously near to madness. The hums and groans +which rose from the crowd proved, however, that his fiery words were +well suited to his hearers, so we halted on the verge of the multitude +and hearkened to his address. A red-bearded, fierce-faced man he was, +with tangled shaggy hair tumbling over his gleaming eyes, and a hoarse +voice which resounded over the whole square. + +'What shall we not do for the Lord?' he cried; 'what shall we not do for +the Holy of Holies? Why is it that His hand is heavy upon us? Why is it +that we have not freed this land, even as Judith freed Bethulia? Behold, +we have looked for peace but no good came, and for a time of health, and +behold trouble! Why is this, I say? Truly, brothers, it is because we +have slighted the Lord, because we have not been wholehearted towards +Him. Lo! we have praised Him with our breath, but in our deeds we have +been cold towards Him. Ye know well that Prelacy is an accursed thing--a +hissing and an abomination in the eyes of the Almighty! Yet what have +we, His servants, wrought for Him in this matter? Have we not seen +Prelatist churches, churches of form and of show, where the creature is +confounded with the Creator--have we not seen them, I say, and have we +not forborne to sweep them away, and so lent our sanction to them? There +is the sin of a lukewarm and back-sliding generation! There is the cause +why the Lord should look coldly upon His people! Lo! at Shepton and at +Frome we have left such churches behind us. At Glastonbury, too, we have +spared those wicked walls which were reared by idolatrous hands of old. +Woe unto ye, if, after having put your hands to God's plough, ye turn +back from the work! See there!' he howled, facing round to the beautiful +Cathedral, 'what means this great heap of stones? Is it not an altar of +Baal? Is it not built for man-worship rather than God-worship? Is it not +there that the man Ken, tricked out in his foolish rochet and baubles, +may preach his soulless and lying doctrines, which are but the old dish +of Popery served up under a new cover? And shall we suffer this thing? +Shall we, the chosen children of the Great One, allow this plague-spot +to remain? Can we expect the Almighty to help us when we will not +stretch out a hand to help Him? We have left the other temples of +Prelacy behind us. Shall we leave this one, too, my brothers?' + +'No, no!' yelled the crowd, tossing and swaying. + +'Shall we pluck it down, then, until no one stone is left upon another?' + +'Yes, yes!' they shouted. + +'Now, at once?' + +'Yes, yes!' + +'Then to work!' he cried, and springing from the cart he rushed towards +the Cathedral, with the whole mob of wild fanatics at his heels. Some +crowded in, shouting and yelling, through the open doors, while others +swarmed up the pillars and pedestals of the front, hacking at the +sculptured ornaments, and tugging at the grey old images which filled +every niche. + +'This must be stopped,' said Saxon curtly. 'We cannot afford to insult +and estray the whole Church of England to please a few hot-headed +ranters. The pillage of this Cathedral would do our cause more harm than +a pitched battle lost. Do you bring up your company, Sir Gervas, and we +shall do what we can to hold them in check until they come.' + +'Hi, Masterton!' cried the Baronet, spying one of his under-officers +among the crowd who were looking on, neither assisting nor opposing the +rioters. 'Do you hasten to the quarters, and tell Barker to bring up the +company with their matches burning. I may be of use here.' + +'Ha, here is Buyse!' cried Saxon joyously, as the huge German ploughed +his way through the crowd. 'And Lord Grey, too! We must save the +Cathedral, my lord! They would sack and burn it.' + +'This way, gentlemen,' cried an old grey-haired man, running out towards +us with hands outspread, and a bunch of keys clanking at his girdle. 'Oh +hasten, gentlemen, if ye can indeed prevail over these lawless men! They +have pulled down Saint Peter, and they will have Paul down too unless +help comes. There will not be an apostle left. The east window is +broken. They have brought a hogshead of beer, and are broaching it +upon the high altar. Oh, alas, alas! That such things should be in a +Christian land!' He sobbed aloud and stamped about in a very frenzy of +grief. + +'It is the verger, sirs,' said one of the townsfolk. 'He hath grown grey +in the Cathedral.' + +'This way to the vestry door, my lords and gentlemen,' cried the old +man, pushing a way strenuously through the crowd. 'Now, lack-a-day, the +sainted Paul hath gone too!' + +As he spoke a splintering crash from inside the Cathedral announced some +fresh outrage on the part of the zealots. Our guide hastened on with +renewed speed, until he came to a low oaken door heavily arched, which +he unlocked with much rasping of wards and creaking of hinges. Through +this we sidled as best we might, and hurried after the old man down a +stone-flagged corridor, which led through a wicket into the Cathedral +close by the high altar. + +The great building was full of the rioters, who were rushing hither and +thither, destroying and breaking everything which they could lay their +hands on. A good number of these were genuine zealots, the followers of +the preacher whom we had listened to outside. Others, however, were on +the face of them mere rogues and thieves, such as gather round every +army upon the march. While the former were tearing down images from the +walls, or hurling the books of common prayer through the stained-glass +windows, the others were rooting up the massive brass candlesticks, +and carrying away everything which promised to be of value. One ragged +fellow was in the pulpit, tearing off the crimson velvet and hurling it +down among the crowd. Another had upset the reading-desk, and was busily +engaged in wrenching off the brazen fastenings. In the centre of +the side aisle a small group had a rope round the neck of Mark the +Evangelist, and were dragging lustily upon it, until, even as we +entered, the statue, after tottering for a few moments, came crashing +down upon the marble floor. The shouts which greeted every fresh +outrage, with the splintering of woodwork, the smashing of windows, and +the clatter of falling masonry, made up a most deafening uproar, which +was increased by the droning of the organ, until some of the rioters +silenced it by slitting up the bellows. + +What more immediately concerned ourselves was the scene which was being +enacted just in front of us at the high altar. A barrel of beer had been +placed upon it, and a dozen ruffians gathered round it, one of whom with +many ribald jests had climbed up, and was engaged in knocking in the +top of the cask with a hatchet. As we entered he had just succeeded in +broaching it, and the brown mead was foaming over, while the mob with +roars of laughter were passing up their dippers and pannikins. The +German soldier rapped out a rough jagged oath at this spectacle, and +shouldering his way through the roisterers he sprang upon the altar. +The ringleader was bending over his cask, black-jack in hand, when the +soldier's iron grip fell upon his collar, and in a moment his heels were +flapping in the air, and his head three feet deep in the cask, while the +beer splashed and foamed in every direction. With a mighty heave Buyse +picked up the barrel with the half-drowned miner inside, and hurled it +clattering down the broad marble steps which led from the body of the +church. At the same time, with the aid of a dozen of our men who had +followed us into the Cathedral, we drove back the fellow's comrades, and +thrust them out beyond the rails which divided the choir from the nave. + +Our inroad had the effect of checking the riot, but it simply did so by +turning the fury of the zealots from the walls and windows to ourselves. +Images, stone-work, and wood-carvings were all abandoned, and the whole +swarm came rushing up with a hoarse buzz of rage, all discipline and +order completely lost in their religious frenzy. 'Smite the Prelatists!' +they howled. 'Down with the friends of Antichrist! Cut them off even at +the horns of the altar! Down with them!' On either side they massed, a +wild, half-demented crowd, some with arms and some without, but filled +to a man with the very spirit of murder. + +'This is a civil war within a civil war,' said Lord Grey, with a quiet +smile. 'We had best draw, gentlemen, and defend the gap in the rails, if +we may hold it good until help arrives.' He flashed out his rapier as +he spoke, and took his stand on the top of the steps, with Saxon and Sir +Gervas upon one side of him, Buyse, Reuben, and myself upon the other. +There was only room for six to wield their weapons with effect, so our +scanty band of followers scattered themselves along the line of the +rails, which were luckily so high and strong as to make an escalado +difficult in the face of any opposition. + +The riot had now changed into open mutiny among these marshmen and +miners. Pikes, scythes, and knives glimmered through the dim light, +while their wild cries re-echoed from the high arched roof like the +howling of a pack of wolves. 'Go forward, my brothers,' cried the +fanatic preacher, who had been the cause of the outbreak--'go forward +against them! What though they be in high places! There is One who +is higher than they. Shall we shrink from His work because of a naked +sword? Shall we suffer the Prelatist altar to be preserved by these sons +of Amalek? On, on! In the name of the Lord!' + +'In the name of the Lord!' cried the crowd, with a sort of hissing gasp, +like one who is about to plunge into an icy bath. 'In the name of the +Lord!' From either side they came on, gathering speed and volume, until +at last with a wild cry they surged right down upon our sword-points. + +I can say nothing of what took place to right or left of me during the +ruffle, for indeed there were so many pressing upon us, and the fight +was so hot, that it was all that each of us could do to hold our own. +The very number of our assailants was in our favour, by hampering their +sword-arms. One burly miner cut fiercely at me with his scythe, but +missing me he swung half round with the force of the blow, and I passed +my sword through his body before he could recover himself. It was the +first time that I had ever slain a man in anger, my dear children, and +I shall never forget his white startled face as he looked over his +shoulder at me ere he fell. Another closed in with me before I could get +my weapon disengaged, but I struck him out with my left hand, and then +brought the flat of my sword upon his head, laying him senseless +upon the pavement. God knows, I did not wish to take the lives of the +misguided and ignorant zealots, but our own were at stake. A marshman, +looking more like a shaggy wild beast than a human being, darted under +my weapon and caught me round the knees, while another brought a flail +down upon my head-piece, from which it glanced on to my shoulder. A +third thrust at me with a pike, and pricked me on the thigh, but I shore +his weapon in two with one blow, and split his head with the next. The +man with the flail gave back at sight of this, and a kick freed me from +the unarmed ape-like creature at my feet, so that I found myself clear +of my assailants, and none the worse for my encounter, save for a touch +on the leg and some stiffness of the neck and shoulder. + +Looking round I found that my comrades had also beaten off those who +were opposed to them. Saxon was holding his bloody rapier in his left +hand, while the blood was trickling from a slight wound upon his right. +Two miners lay across each other in front of him, but at the feet of +Sir Gervas Jerome no fewer than four bodies were piled together. He had +plucked out his snuff-box as I glanced at him, and was offering it with +a bow and a flourish to Lord Grey, as unconcernedly as though he were +back once more in his London coffee-house. Buyse leaned upon his long +broadsword, and looked gloomily at a headless trunk in front of him, +which I recognised from the dress as being that of the preacher. As to +Reuben, he was unhurt himself, but in sore distress over my own trifling +scar, though I assured the faithful lad that it was a less thing than +many a tear from branch or thorn which we had had when blackberrying +together. + +The fanatics, though driven back, were not men to be content with a +single repulse. They had lost ten of their number, including their +leader, without being able to break our line, but the failure only +served to increase their fury. For a minute or so they gathered panting +in the aisle. Then with a mad yell they dashed in once more, and made a +desperate effort to cut a way through to the altar. It was a fiercer and +more prolonged struggle than before. One of our followers was stabbed to +the heart over the rails, and fell without a groan. Another was stunned +by a mass of masonry hurled at him by a giant cragsman. Reuben was +felled by a club, and would have been dragged out and hacked to pieces +had I not stood over him and beaten off his assailants. Sir Gervas was +borne off his legs by the rush, but lay like a wounded wildcat, striking +out furiously at everything which came within his reach. Buyse and +Saxon, back to back, stood firm amidst the seething, rushing crowd, +cutting down every man within sweep of their swords. Yet in such a +struggle numbers must in the end prevail, and I confess that I for one +had begun to have fears for the upshot of our contest, when the heavy +tramp of disciplined feet rang through the Cathedral, and the Baronet's +musqueteers came at a quick run up the central aisle. The fanatics did +not await their charge, but darted off over benches and pews, followed +by our allies, who were furious on seeing their beloved Captain upon the +ground. There was a wild minute or two, with confused shuffling of feet, +stabs, groans, and the clatter of musket butts on the marble floor. Of +the rioters some were slain, but the greater part threw down their arms +and were arrested at the command of Lord Grey, while a strong guard was +placed at the gates to prevent any fresh outburst of sectarian fury. + +When at last the Cathedral was cleared and order restored, we had time +to look around us and to reckon our own injuries. In all my wanderings, +and the many wars in which I afterwards fought--wars compared to which +this affair of Monmouth's was but the merest skirmish--I have never seen +a stranger or more impressive scene. In the dim, solemn light the pile +of bodies in front of the rails, with their twisted limbs and white-set +faces, had a most sad and ghost-like aspect. The evening light, shining +through one of the few unbroken stained-glass windows, cast great +splotches of vivid crimson and of sickly green upon the heap of +motionless figures. A few wounded men sat about in the front pews or lay +upon the steps moaning for water. Of our own small company not one had +escaped unscathed. Three of our followers had been slain outright, while +a fourth was lying stunned from a blow. Buyse and Sir Gervas were much +bruised. Saxon was cut on the right arm. Reuben had been felled by a +bludgeon stroke, and would certainly have been slain but for the fine +temper of Sir Jacob Clancing's breastplate, which had turned a fierce +pike-thrust. As to myself it is scarce worth the mention, but my head +sang for some hours like a good wife's kettle, and my boot was full of +blood, which may have been a blessing in disguise, for Sneckson, our +Havant barber, was ever dinning into my ears how much the better I +should be for a phlebotomy. + +In the meantime all the troops had assembled and the mutiny been swiftly +stamped out. There were doubtless many among the Puritans who had no +love for the Prelatists, but none save the most crack-brained fanatics +could fail to see that the sacking of the Cathedral would set the +whole Church of England in arms, and ruin the cause for which they were +fighting. As it was, much damage had been done; for whilst the gang +within had been smashing all which they could lay their hands upon, +others outside had chipped off cornices and gargoyles, and had even +dragged the lead covering from the roof and hurled it down in great +sheets to their companions beneath. This last led to some profit, for +the army had no great store of ammunition, so the lead was gathered up +by Monmouth's orders and recast into bullets. The prisoners were held +in custody for a time, but it was deemed unwise to punish them, so that +they were finally pardoned and dismissed from the army. + +A parade of our whole force was held in the fields outside the town upon +the second day of our stay at Wells, the weather having at last become +warm and sunny. The foot was then found to muster six regiments of nine +hundred men, or five thousand four hundred in all. Of these fifteen +hundred were musqueteers, two thousand were pikemen, and the rest were +scythesmen or peasants with flails and hammers. A few bodies, such as +our own or those from Taunton, might fairly lay claim to be soldiers, +but the most of them were still labourers and craftsmen with weapons +in their hands. Yet, ill-armed and ill-drilled as they were, they were +still strong robust Englishmen, full of native courage and of religious +zeal. The light and fickle Monmouth began to take heart once more at the +sight of their sturdy bearing, and at the sound of their hearty cheers. +I heard him as I sat my horse beside his staff speak exultantly to those +around him, and ask whether these fine fellows could possibly be beaten +by mercenary half-hearted hirelings. + +'What say you, Wade!' he cried. 'Are we never to see a smile on that sad +face of yours? Do you not see a woolsack in store for you as you look +upon these brave fellows?' + +'God forbid that I should say a word to damp your Majesty's ardour,' the +lawyer answered; 'yet I cannot but remember that there was a time when +your Majesty, at the head of these same hirelings, did drive men as +brave as these in headlong rout from Bothwell Bridge.' + +'True, true!' said the King, passing his hand over his forehead--a +favourite motion when he was worried and annoyed. 'They were bold men, +the western Covenanters, yet they could not stand against the rush of +our battalions. But they had had no training, whereas these can fight in +line and fire a platoon as well as one would wish to see.' + +'If we hadna a gun nor a patronal among us,' said Ferguson, 'if we hadna +sae muckle as a sword, but just oor ain honds, yet would the Lard gie us +the victory, if it seemed good in His a' seeing een.' + +'All battles are but chance work, your Majesty,' remarked Saxon, whose +sword-arm was bound round with his kerchief. 'Some lucky turn, some slip +or chance which none can foresee, is ever likely to turn the scale. I +have lost when I have looked to win, and I have won when I have looked +to lose. It is an uncertain game, and one never knows the finish till +the last card is played.' + +'Not till the stakes are drawn,' said Buyse, in his deep guttural voice. +'There is many a leader that wins what you call the trick, and yet loses +the game.' + +'The trick being the battle and the game the campaign,' quoth the King, +with a smile. 'Our German friend is a master of camp-fire metaphors. But +methinks our poor horses are in a sorry state. What would cousin William +over at The Hague, with his spruce guards, think of such a show as +this?' + +During this talk the long column of foot had tramped past, still bearing +the banners which they had brought with them to the wars, though much +the worse for wind and weather. Monmouth's remarks had been drawn forth +by the aspect of the ten troops of horse which followed. The chargers +had been sadly worn by the continued work and constant rain, while the +riders, having allowed their caps and fronts to get coated with rust, +appeared to be in as bad a plight as their steeds. It was clear to the +least experienced of us that if we were to hold our own it was upon +our foot that we must rely. On the tops of the low hills all round the +frequent shimmer of arms, glancing here and there when the sun's rays +struck upon them, showed how strong our enemies were in the very point +in which we were so weak. Yet in the main this Wells review was cheering +to us, as showing that the men kept in good heart, and that there was no +ill-feeling at the rough handling of the zealots upon the day before. + +The enemy's horse hovered about us during these days, but the foot had +been delayed through the heavy weather and the swollen streams. On the +last day of June we marched out of Wells, and made our way across flat +sedgy plains and over the low Polden Hills to Bridgewater, where we +found some few recruits awaiting us. Here Monmouth had some thoughts +of making a stand, and even set to work raising earthworks, but it was +pointed out to him that, even could he hold the town, there was not more +than a few days' provisions within it, while the country round had been +already swept so bare that little more could be expected from it. The +works were therefore abandoned, and, fairly driven to bay, without a +loophole of escape left, we awaited the approach of the enemy. + + + +Chapter XXIX. Of the Great Cry from the Lonely House + +And so our weary marching and counter-marching came at last to an end, +and we found ourselves with our backs fairly against the wall, and the +whole strength of the Government turned against us. Not a word came +to us of a rising or movement in our favour in any part of England. +Everywhere the Dissenters were cast into prison and the Church dominant. +From north and east and west the militia of the counties was on its +march against us. In London six regiments of Dutch troops had arrived as +a loan from the Prince of Orange. Others were said to be on their way. +The City had enrolled ten thousand men. Everywhere there was mustering +and marching to succour the flower of the English army, which was +already in Somersetshire. And all for the purpose of crushing some five +or six thousand clodhoppers and fishermen, half-armed and penniless, who +were ready to throw their lives away for a man and for an idea. + +But this idea, my dear children, was a noble one, and one which a man +might very well sacrifice all for, and yet feel that all was well spent. +For though these poor peasants, in their dumb, blundering fashion, would +have found it hard to give all their reasons in words, yet in the inmost +heart of them they knew and felt that it was England's cause which they +were fighting for, and that they were upholding their country's true +self against those who would alter the old systems under which she had +led the nations. Three more years made all this very plain, and showed +that our simple unlettered followers had seen and judged the signs of +the times more correctly than those who called themselves their betters. +There are, to my thinking, stages of human progress for which the Church +of Rome is admirably suited. Where the mind of a nation is young, it may +be best that it should not concern itself with spiritual affairs, but +should lean upon the old staff of custom and authority. But England had +cast off her swaddling-clothes, and was a nursery of strong, thinking +men, who would bow to no authority save that which their reason and +conscience approved. It was hopeless, useless, foolish, to try to drive +such men back into a creed which they had outgrown. Such an attempt was, +however, being made, backed by all the weight of a bigoted king with a +powerful and wealthy Church as his ally. In three years the nation would +understand it, and the King would be flying from his angry people; but +at present, sunk in a torpor after the long civil wars and the corrupt +reign of Charles, they failed to see what was at stake, and turned +against those who would warn them, as a hasty man turns on the messenger +who is the bearer of evil tidings. Is it not strange, my dears, how +quickly a mere shadowy thought comes to take living form, and grow into +a very tragic reality? At one end of the chain is a king brooding over a +point of doctrine; at the other are six thousand desperate men, chivied +and chased from shire to shire, standing to bay at last amid the bleak +Bridgewater marshes, with their hearts as bitter and as hopeless as +those of hunted beasts of prey. A king's theology is a dangerous thing +for his subjects. + +But if the idea for which these poor men fought was a worthy one, what +shall we say of the man who had been chosen as the champion of their +cause? Alas, that such men should have had such a leader! Swinging from +the heights of confidence to the depths of despair, choosing his future +council of state one day and proposing to fly from the army on the +next, he appeared from the start to be possessed by the very spirit +of fickleness. Yet he had borne a fair name before this enterprise. In +Scotland he had won golden opinions, not only for his success, but for +the moderation and mercy with which he treated the vanquished. On the +Continent he had commanded an English brigade in a way that earned +praise from old soldiers of Louis and the Empire. Yet now, when his own +head and his own fortunes were at stake, he was feeble, irresolute, and +cowardly. In my father's phrase, 'all the virtue had gone out of him.' +I declare when I have seen him riding among his troops, with his head +bowed upon his breast and a face like a mute at a burying, casting an +air of gloom and of despair all round him, I have felt that, even in +case of success, such a man could never wear the crown of the Tudors and +the Plantagenets, but that some stronger hand, were it that of one of +his own generals, would wrest it from him. + +I will do Monmouth the justice to say that from the time when it was at +last decided to fight--for the very good reason that no other course was +open--he showed up in a more soldierly and manlier spirit. For the first +few days in July no means were neglected to hearten our troops and to +nerve them for the coming battle. From morning to night we were at work, +teaching our foot how to form up in dense groups to meet the charge of +horse, and how to depend upon each other, and look to their officers for +orders. At night the streets of the little town from the Castle Field +to the Parret Bridge resounded with the praying and the preaching. There +was no need for the officers to quell irregularities, for the troops +punished them amongst themselves. One man who came out on the streets +hot with wine was well-nigh hanged by his companions, who finally cast +him out of the town as being unworthy to fight in what they looked +upon as a sacred quarrel. As to their courage, there was no occasion to +quicken that, for they were as fearless as lions, and the only danger +was lest their fiery daring should lead them into foolhardiness. Their +desire was to hurl themselves upon the enemy like a horde of Moslem +fanatics, and it was no easy matter to drill such hot-headed fellows +into the steadiness and caution which war demands. + +Provisions ran low upon the third day of our stay in Bridgewater, which +was due to our having exhausted that part of the country before, and +also to the vigilance of the Royal Horse, who scoured the district round +and cut off our supplies. Lord Grey determined, therefore, to send +out two troops of horse under cover of night, to do what they could to +refill the larder. The command of the small expedition was given over +to Major Martin Hooker, an old Lifeguardsman of rough speech and curt +manners, who had done good service in drilling the headstrong farmers +and yeomen into some sort of order. Sir Gervas Jerome and I asked leave +from Lord Grey to join the foray--a favour which was readily granted, +since there was little stirring in the town. + +It was about eleven o'clock on a moonless night that we sallied out +of Bridgewater, intending to explore the country in the direction of +Boroughbridge and Athelney. We had word that there was no large body +of the enemy in that quarter, and it was a fertile district where +good store of supplies might be hoped for. We took with us four empty +waggons, to carry whatever we might have the luck to find. Our commander +arranged that one troop should ride before these and one behind, while a +small advance party, under the charge of Sir Gervas, kept some hundreds +of paces in front. In this order we clattered out of the town just as +the late bugles were blowing, and swept away down the quiet shadowy +roads, bringing anxious peering faces to the casements of the wayside +cottages as we whirled past in the darkness. + +That ride comes very clearly before me as I think of it. The dark loom +of the club-headed willows flitting by us, the moaning of the breeze +among the withies, the vague, blurred figures of the troopers, the dull +thud of the hoofs, and the jingling of scabbard against stirrup--eye and +ear can both conjure up those old-time memories. The Baronet and I rode +in front, knee against knee, and his light-hearted chatter of life in +town, with his little snatches of verse or song from Cowley or Waller, +were a very balm of Gilead to my sombre and somewhat heavy spirit. + +'Life is indeed life on such a night as this,' quoth he, as we breathed +in the fresh country air with the reeks of crops and of kine. 'Rabbit +me! but you are to be envied, Clarke, for having been born and bred in +the country! What pleasures has the town to offer compared to the free +gifts of nature, provided always that there be a perruquier's and +a snuff merchant's, and a scent vendor's, and one or two tolerable +outfitters within reach? With these and a good coffee-house and a +playhouse, I think I could make shift to lead a simple pastoral life for +some months.' + +'In the country,' said I, laughing, 'we have ever the feeling that the +true life of mankind, with the growth of knowledge and wisdom, are being +wrought out in the towns.' + +'Ventre Saint-Gris! It was little knowledge or wisdom that I acquired +there,' he answered. 'Truth to tell, I have lived more and learned more +during these few weeks that we have been sliding about in the rain with +our ragged lads, than ever I did when I was page of the court, with the +ball of fortune at my feet. It is a sorry thing for a man's mind to have +nothing higher to dwell upon than the turning of a compliment or the +dancing of a corranto. Zounds, lad! I have your friend the carpenter to +thank for much. As he says in his letter, unless a man can get the good +that is in him out, he is of loss value in the world than one of those +fowls that we hear cackling, for they at least fulfill their mission, if +it be only to lay eggs. Ged, it is a new creed for me to be preaching!' + +'But,' said I, 'when you were a wealthy man you must have been of +service to some one, for how could one spend so much money and yet none +be the better?' + +'You dear bucolic Micah!' he cried, with a gay laugh. 'You will ever +speak of my poor fortune with bated breath and in an awestruck voice, as +though it were the wealth of the Indies. You cannot think, lad, how easy +it is for a money-bag to take unto itself wings and fly. It is true that +the man who spends it doth not consume the money, but passes it on to +some one who profits thereby. Yet the fault lies in the fact that it was +to the wrong folk that we passed our money, thereby breeding a useless +and debauched class at the expense of honest callings. Od's fish, lad! +when I think of the swarms of needy beggars, the lecherous pimps, the +nose-slitting bullies, the toadies and the flatterers who were reared by +us, I feel that in hatching such a poisonous brood our money hath done +what no money can undo. Have I not seen them thirty deep of a morning +when I have held my levee, cringing up to my bedside--' + +'Your bedside!' I exclaimed. + +'Aye! it was the mode to receive in bed, attired in laced cambric +shirt and periwig, though afterwards it was permitted to sit up in your +chamber, but dressed _a la negligence_, in gown and slippers. The mode +is a terrible tyrant, Clarke, though its arm may not extend as far as +Havant. The idle man of the town must have some rule of life, so he +becomes a slave to the law of the fashions. No man in London was more +subject to it than myself. I was regular in my irregularities, and +orderly in my disorders. At eleven o'clock to the stroke, up came my +valet with the morning cup of hippocras, an excellent thing for the +qualms, and some slight refection, as the breast of an ortolan or wing +of a widgeon. Then came the levee, twenty, thirty, or forty of the class +I have spoken of, though now and then perhaps there might be some honest +case of want among them, some needy man-of-letters in quest of a guinea, +or pupil-less pedant with much ancient learning in his head and very +little modern coinage in his pocket. It was not only that I had some +power of mine own, but I was known to have the ear of my Lord Halifax, +Sidney Godolphin, Lawrence Hyde, and others whose will might make or mar +a man. Mark you those lights upon the left! Would it not be well to see +if there is not something to be had there?' + +'Hooker hath orders to proceed to a certain farm,' I answered. 'This we +could take upon our return should we still have space. We shall be back +here before morning.' + +'We must get supplies, if I have to ride back to Surrey for them,' said +he. 'Rat me, if I dare look my musqueteers in the face again unless I +bring them something to toast upon the end of their ramrods! They had +little more savoury than their own bullets to put in their mouths when +I left them. But I was speaking of old days in London. Our time was +well filled. Should a man of quality incline to sport there was ever +something to attract him. He might see sword-playing at Hockley, or +cocking at Shoe Lane, or baiting at Southwark, or shooting at Tothill +Fields. Again, he might walk in the physic gardens of St. James's, or go +down the river with the ebb tide to the cherry orchards at Rotherhithe, +or drive to Islington to drink the cream, or, above all, walk in the +Park, which is most modish for a gentleman who dresses in the fashion. +You see, Clarke, that we were active in our idleness, and that there was +no lack of employment. Then as evening came on there were the playhouses +to draw us, Dorset Gardens, Lincoln's Inn, Drury Lane, and the +Queen's--among the four there was ever some amusement to be found.' + +'There, at least, your time was well employed,' said I; 'you could +not hearken to the grand thoughts or lofty words of Shakespeare or of +Massinger without feeling some image of them in your own soul.' + +Sir Gervas chuckled quietly. 'You are as fresh to me, Micah, as this +sweet country air,' said he. 'Know, thou dear babe, that it was not to +see the play that we frequented the playhouse.' + +'Then why, in Heaven's name?' I asked. + +'To see each other,' he answered. 'It was the mode, I assure you, for a +man of fashion to stand with his back turned to the stage from the +rise of the curtain to the fall of it. There were the orange wenches to +quiz--plaguey sharp of tongue the hussies are, too--and there were the +vizards of the pit, whose little black masks did invite inquiry, and +there were the beauties of the town and the toasts of the Court, +all fair mark for our quizzing-glasses. Play, indeed! S'bud, we had +something better to do than to listen to alexandrines or weigh the +merits of hexameters! 'Tis true that if La Jeune were dancing, or if +Mrs. Bracegirdle or Mrs. Oldfield came upon the boards, we would hum +and clap, but it was the fine woman that we applauded rather than the +actress.' + +'And when the play was over you went doubtless to supper and so to bed?' + +'To supper, certainly. Sometimes to the Rhenish House, sometimes to +Pontack's in Abchurch Lane. Every one had his own taste in that matter. +Then there were dice and cards at the Groom Porter's or under the arches +at Covent Garden, piquet, passage, hazard, primero--what you choose. +After that you could find all the world at the coffee-houses, where an +arriere supper was often served with devilled bones and prunes, to drive +the fumes of wine from the head. Zounds, Micah! If the Jews should relax +their pressure, or if this war brings us any luck, you shall come to +town with me and shall see all these things for yourself.' + +'Truth to tell, it doth not tempt me much,' I answered. 'Slow and solemn +I am by nature, and in such scenes as you have described I should feel a +very death's head at a banquet.' + +Sir Gervas was about to reply, when of a sudden out of the silence +of the night there rose a long-drawn piercing scream, which thrilled +through every nerve of our bodies. I have never heard such a wail of +despair. We pulled up our horses, as did the troopers behind us, and +strained our ears for some sign as to whence the sound proceeded, for +some were of opinion that it came from our right and some from our left. +The main body with the waggons had come up, and we all listened intently +for any return of the terrible cry. Presently it broke upon us again, +wild, shrill, and agonised: the scream of a woman in mortal distress. + +'Tis over there, Major Hooker,' cried Sir Gervas, standing up in his +stirrups and peering through the darkness. 'There is a house about two +fields off. I can see some glimmer, as from a window with the blind +drawn.' + +'Shall we not make for it at once?' I asked impatiently, for our +commander sat stolidly upon his horse as though by no means sure what +course he should pursue. + +'I am here, Captain Clarke,' said he, 'to convey supplies to the army, +and I am by no means justified in turning from my course to pursue other +adventures.' + +'Death, man! there is a woman in distress,' cried Sir Gervas. 'Why, +Major, you would not ride past and let her call in vain for help? Hark, +there she is again!' As he spoke the wild scream rang out once more from +the lonely house. + +'Nay, I can abide this no longer,' I cried, my blood boiling in my +veins; 'do you go on your errand, Major Hooker, and my friend and I +shall leave you here. We shall know how to justify our action to the +King. Come, Sir Gervas!' + +'Mark ye, this is flat mutiny, Captain Clarke,' said Hooker; 'you are +under my orders, and should you desert me you do so at your peril.' + +'In such a case I care not a groat for thy orders,' I answered hotly. +Turning Covenant I spurred down a narrow, deeply-rutted lane which +led towards the house, followed by Sir Gervas and two or three of the +troopers. At the same moment I heard a sharp word of command from Hooker +and the creaking of wheels, showing that he had indeed abandoned us and +proceeded on his mission. + +'He is right,' quoth the Baronet, as we rode down the lane; 'Saxon or +any other old soldier would commend his discipline.' + +'There are things which are higher than discipline,' I muttered. +'I could not pass on and leave this poor soul in her distress. But +see--what have we here?' + +A dark mass loomed in front of us, which proved as we approached to be +four horses fastened by their bridles to the hedge. + +'Cavalry horses, Captain Clarke!' cried one of the troopers who had +sprung down to examine them. 'They have the Government saddle and +holsters. Here is a wooden gate which opens on a pathway leading to the +house.' + +'We had best dismount, then,' said Sir Gervas, jumping down and tying +his horse beside the others. 'Do you, lads, stay by the horses, and if +we call for ye come to our aid. Sergeant Holloway, you can come with us. +Bring your pistols with you!' + + + +Chapter XXX. Of the Swordsman with the Brown Jacket + +The sergeant, who was a great raw-boned west-countryman, pushed the gate +open, and we were advancing up the winding pathway, when a stream of +yellow light flooded out from a suddenly opened door, and we saw a dark +squat figure dart through it into the inside of the house. At the same +moment there rose up a babel of sounds, followed by two pistol shots, +and a roaring, gasping hubbub, with clash of swords and storm of oaths. +At this sudden uproar we all three ran at our topmost speed up the +pathway and peered in through the open door, where we saw a scene such +as I shall never forget while this old memory of mine can conjure up any +picture of the past. + +The room was large and lofty, with long rows of hams and salted meats +dangling from the smoke-browned rafters, as is usual in Somersetshire +farmhouses. A high black clock ticked in a corner, and a rude table, +with plates and dishes laid out as for a meal, stood in the centre. +Right in front of the door a great fire of wood faggots was blazing, and +before this, to our unutterable horror, there hung a man head downwards, +suspended by a rope which was knotted round his ankles, and which, +passing over a hook in a beam, had been made fast to a ring in the +floor. The struggles of this unhappy man had caused the rope to whirl +round, so that he was spinning in front of the blaze like a joint +of meat. Across the threshold lay a woman, the one whose cries had +attracted us, but her rigid face and twisted body showed that our +aid had come too late to save her from the fate which she had seen +impending. Close by her two swarthy dragoons in the glaring red coats of +the Royal army lay stretched across each other upon the floor, dark and +scowling even in death. In the centre of the room two other dragoons +were cutting and stabbing with their broad-swords at a thick, short, +heavy-shouldered man, clad in coarse brown kersey stuff, who sprang +about among the chairs and round the table with a long basket-hilted +rapier in his hand, parrying or dodging their blows with wonderful +adroitness, and every now and then putting in a thrust in return. +Hard pressed as he was, his set resolute face, firm mouth, and bright +well-opened eyes spoke of a bold spirit within, while the blood which +dripped from the sleeve of one of his opponents proved that the contest +was not so unequal as it might appear. Even as we gazed he sprang back +to avoid a fierce rush of the furious soldiers, and by a quick sharp +side stroke he severed the rope by which the victim was hung. The body +fell with a heavy thud upon the brick floor, while the little swordsman +danced off in a moment into another quarter of the room, still stopping +or avoiding with the utmost ease and skill the shower of blows which +rained upon him. + +This strange scene held us spell-bound for a few seconds, but there was +no time for delay, for a slip or trip would prove fatal to the gallant +stranger. Rushing into the chamber, sword in hand, we fell upon the +dragoons, who, outnumbered as they were, backed into a corner and struck +out fiercely, knowing that they need expect no mercy after the devil's +work in which they had been engaged. Holloway, our sergeant of horse, +springing furiously in, laid himself open to a thrust which stretched +him dead upon the ground. Before the dragoon could disengage his weapon, +Sir Gervas cut him down, while at the same moment the stranger got past +the guard of his antagonist, and wounded him mortally in the throat. +Of the four red-coats not one escaped alive, while the bodies of our +sergeant and of the old couple who had been the first victims increased +the horror of the scene. + +'Poor Holloway is gone,' said I, placing my hand over his heart. 'Who +ever saw such a shambles? I feel sick and ill.' + +'Here is eau-de-vie, if I mistake not,' cried the stranger, clambering +up on a chair and reaching a bottle from the shelf. 'Good, too, by the +smell. Take a sup, for you are as white as a new-bleached sheet.' + +'Honest warfare I can abide, but scenes like this make my blood run +cold,' I answered, taking a gulp from the flask. I was a very young +soldier then, my dears, but I confess that to the end of my campaigns +any form of cruelty had the same effect upon me. I give you my word that +when I went to London last fall the sight of an overworked, raw-backed +cart-horse straining with its load, and flogged for not doing that which +it could not do, gave me greater qualms than did the field of Sedgemoor, +or that greater day when ten thousand of the flower of France lay +stretched before the earthworks of Landen. + +'The woman is dead,' said Sir Gervas, 'and the man is also, I fear, past +recovery. He is not burned, but suffers, I should judge, poor devil! +from the rush of blood to the head.' + +'If that be all it may well be cured, 'remarked the stranger; and taking +a small knife from his pocket, he rolled up the old man's sleeve and +opened one of his veins. At first only a few sluggish black drops oozed +from the wound, but presently the blood began to flow more freely, and +the injured man showed signs of returning sense. + +'He will live,' said the little swordsman, putting his lancet back in +his pocket. 'And now, who may you be to whom I owe this interference +which shortened the affair, though mayhap the result would have been the +same had you left us to settle it amongst ourselves?' + +'We are from Monmouth's army,' I answered. 'He lies at Bridgewater, and +we are scouting and seeking supplies.' + +'And who are you?' asked Sir Gervas. 'And how came you into this +ruffle? S'bud, you are a game little rooster to fight four such great +cockerels!' + +'My name is Hector Marot,' the man answered, cleaning out his empty +pistols and very carefully reloading them. 'As to who I am, it is a +matter of small moment. Suffice it that I have helped to lessen Kirk's +horse by four of his rogues. Mark their faces, so dusky and sun-dried +even in death. These men have learned warfare fighting against the +heathen in Africa, and now they practise on poor harmless English folk +the devil's tricks which they have picked up amongst the savages. The +Lord help Monmouth's men should they be beaten! These vermin are more to +be feared than hangman's cord or headsman's axe.' + +'But how did you chance upon the spot at the very nick of time?' I +asked. + +'Why, marry, I was jogging down the road on my mare when I heard the +clatter of hoofs behind me, and concealing myself in a field, as a +prudent man would while the country is in its present state, I saw these +four rogues gallop past. They made their way up to the farmhouse +here, and presently from cries and other tokens I knew what manner of +hell-fire business they had on hand. On that I left my mare in the field +and ran up, when I saw them through the casement, tricing the good man +up in front of his fire to make him confess where his wealth lay hidden, +though indeed it is my own belief that neither he nor any other farmer +in these parts hath any wealth left to hide, after two armies have been +quartered in turn upon them. Finding that his mouth remained closed, +they ran him up, as you saw, and would assuredly have toasted him like a +snipe, had I not stepped in and winged two of them with my barkers. The +others set upon me, but I pinked one through the forearm, and should +doubtless have given a good account of both of them but for your +incoming.' + +'Right gallantly done!' I exclaimed. 'But where have I heard your name +before, Mr. Hector Marot?' + +'Nay,' he answered, with a sharp, sidelong look, 'I cannot tell that.' + +'It is familiar to mine ear,' said I. + +He shrugged his broad shoulders, and continued to look to the priming +of his pistols, with a half-defiant and half-uneasy expression. He was +a very sturdy, deep-chested man, with a stern, square-jawed face, and a +white seam across his bronzed forehead as from a slash with a knife. He +wore a gold-edged riding-cap, a jacket of brown sad-coloured stuff much +stained by the weather, a pair of high rusty jack-boots, and a small +bob-wig. + +Sir Gervas, who had been staring very hard at the man, suddenly gave a +start, and slapped his hand against his leg. + +'Of course!' he cried. 'Sink me, if I could remember where I had seen +your face, but now it comes back to me very clearly.' + +The man glanced doggedly from under his bent brows at each of us +in turn. 'It seems that I have fallen among acquaintances,' he said +gruffly; 'yet I have no memory of ye. Methinks, young sirs, that your +fancy doth play ye false.' + +'Not a whit,' the Baronet answered quietly, and, bending forward, he +whispered a few words into the man's ear, which caused him to spring +from his seat and take a couple of quick strides forward, as though to +escape from the house. + +'Nay, nay!' cried Sir Gervas, springing between him and the door, 'you +shall not run away from us. Pshaw, man! never lay your hand upon your +sword. We have had bloody work enough for one night. Besides, we would +not harm you.' + +'What mean ye, then? What would ye have?' he asked, glancing about like +some fierce wild beast in a trap. + +'I have a most kindly feeling to you, man, after this night's work,' +cried Sir Gervas. 'What is it to me how ye pick up a living, as long as +you are a true man at heart? Let me perish if I ever forget a face which +I have once seen, and your bonne mine, with the trade-mark upon your +forehead, is especially hard to overlook.' + +'Suppose I be the same? What then?' the man asked sullenly. + +'There is no suppose in the matter. I could swear to you. But I would +not, lad--not if I caught you red-handed. You must know, Clarke, since +there is none to overhear us, that in the old days I was a Justice of +the Peace in Surrey, and that our friend here was brought up before me +on a charge of riding somewhat late o' night, and of being plaguey short +with travellers. You will understand me. He was referred to assizes, but +got away in the meanwhile, and so saved his neck. Right glad I am of +it, for you will agree with me that he is too proper a man to give a +tight-rope dance at Tyburn.' + +'And I remember well now where I have heard your name,' said I. 'Were +you not a captive in the Duke of Beaufort's prison at Badminton, and did +you not succeed in escaping from the old Boteler dungeon?' + +'Nay, gentlemen,' he replied, seating himself on the edge of the table, +and carelessly swinging his legs, 'since ye know so much it would be +folly for me to attempt to deceive ye. I am indeed the same Hector Marot +who hath made his name a terror on the great Western road, and who hath +seen the inside of more prisons than any man in the south. With truth, +however, I can say that though I have been ten years upon the roads, I +have never yet taken a groat from the poor, or injured any man who did +not wish to injure me. On the contrary, I have often risked life and +limb to save those who were in trouble.' + +'We can bear you out in that,' I answered, 'for if these four red-coat +devils have paid the price of their crimes, it is your doing rather than +ours.' + +'Nay, I can take little credit for that,' our new acquaintance answered. +'Indeed, I had other scores to settle with Colonel Kirke's horse, and +was but too glad to have this breather with them.' + +Whilst we were talking the men whom we had left with the horses had come +up, together with some of the neighbouring farmers and cottagers, who +were aghast at the scene of slaughter, and much troubled in their minds +over the vengeance which might be exacted by the Royal troops next day. + +'For Christ's zake, zur,' cried one of them, an old ruddy-faced +countryman, 'move the bodies o' these soldier rogues into the road, and +let it zeem as how they have perished in a chance fight wi' your own +troopers loike. Should it be known as they have met their end within +a varmhouse, there will not be a thatch left unlighted over t' whole +country side; as it is, us can scarce keep these murthering Tangiers +devils from oor throats.' + +'His request is in reason,' said the highwayman bluntly. 'We have no +right to have our fun, and then go our way leaving others to pay the +score.' + +'Well, hark ye,' said Sir Gervas, turning to the group of frightened +rustics. 'I'll strike a bargain with ye over the matter. We have come +out for supplies, and can scarce go back empty-handed. If ye will among +ye provide us with a cart, filling it with such breadstuffs and greens +as ye may, with a dozen bullocks as well, we shall not only screen ye in +this matter, but I shall promise payment at fair market rates if ye will +come to the Protestant camp for the money.' + +'I'll spare the bullocks,' quoth the old man whom we had rescued, who +was now sufficiently recovered to sit up. 'Zince my poor dame is foully +murthered it matters little to me what becomes o' the stock. I shall +zee her laid in Durston graveyard, and shall then vollow you to t' camp, +where I shall die happy if I can but rid the earth o' one more o' these +incarnate devils.' + +'You say well, gaffer!' cried Hector Marot; 'you show the true spirit. +Methinks I see an old birding-piece on yonder hooks, which, with a brace +of slugs in it and a bold man behind it, might bring down one of these +fine birds for all their gay feathers.' + +'Her's been a true mate to me for more'n thirty year,' said the old man, +the tears coursing down his wrinkled cheeks. 'Thirty zeed-toimes and +thirty harvests we've worked together. But this is a zeed-toime which +shall have a harvest o' blood if my right hand can compass it.' + +'If you go to t' wars, Gaffer Swain, we'll look to your homestead,' +said the farmer who had spoken before. 'As to t' greenstuffs as this +gentleman asks for he shall have not one wainload but three, if he will +but gi' us half-an-hour to fill them up. If he does not tak them t' +others will, so we had raither that they go to the good cause. Here, +Miles, do you wak the labourers, and zee that they throw the potato +store wi' the spinach and the dried meats into the waggons wi' all +speed.' + +'Then we had best set about our part of the contract,' said Hector +Marot. With the aid of our troopers he carried out the four dragoons and +our dead sergeant, and laid them on the ground some way down the lane, +leading the horses all round and between their bodies, so as to trample +the earth, and bear out the idea of a cavalry skirmish. While this was +doing, some of the labourers had washed down the brick floor of the +kitchen and removed all traces of the tragedy. The murdered woman had +been carried up to her own chamber, so that nothing was left to recall +what had occurred, save the unhappy farmer, who sat moodily in the same +place, with his chin resting upon his stringy work-worn hands, staring +out in front of him with a stony, empty gaze, unconscious apparently of +all that was going on around him. + +The loading of the waggons had been quickly accomplished, and the little +drove of oxen gathered from a neighbouring field. We were just starting +upon our return journey when a young countryman rode up, with the news +that a troop of the Royal Horse were between the camp and ourselves. +This was grave tidings, for we were but seven all told, and our pace was +necessarily slow whilst we were hampered with the supplies. + +'How about Hooker?' I suggested. 'Should we not send after him and give +him warning?' + +'I'll goo at once,' said the countryman. 'I'm bound to zee him if he be +on the Athelney road.' So saying he set spurs to his horse and galloped +off through the darkness. + +'While we have such volunteer scouts as this,' I remarked, 'it is easy +to see which side the country folk have in their hearts. Hooker hath +still the better part of two troops with him, so surely he can hold his +own. But how are we to make our way back?' + +'Zounds, Clarke! let us extemporise a fortress,' suggested Sir Gervas. +'We could hold this farmhouse against all comers until Hooker returns, +and then join our forces to his. Now would our redoubtable Colonel be in +his glory, to have a chance of devising cross-fires, and flanking-fires, +with all the other refinements of a well-conducted leaguer.' + +'Nay,' I answered, 'after leaving Major Hooker in a somewhat cavalier +fashion, it would be a bitter thing to have to ask his help now that +there is danger.' + +'Ho, ho!' cried the Baronet. 'It does not take a very deep lead-line +to come to the bottom of your stoical philosophy, friend Micah. For all +your cold-blooded stolidity you are keen enough where pride or honour is +concerned. Shall we then ride onwards, and chance it? I'll lay an even +crown that we never as much as see a red coat.' + +'If you will take my advice, gentlemen,' said the highwayman, trotting +up upon a beautiful bay mare, 'I should say that your best course is to +allow me to act as guide to you as far as the camp. It will be strange +if I cannot find roads which shall baffle these blundering soldiers.' + +'A very wise and seasonable proposition,' cried Sir Gervas. 'Master +Marot, a pinch from my snuff-box, which is ever a covenant of friendship +with its owner. Adslidikins, man! though our acquaintance at present +is limited to my having nearly hanged you on one occasion, yet I have +a kindly feeling towards you, though I wish you had some more savoury +trade.' + +'So do many who ride o' night,' Marot answered, with a chuckle. 'But we +had best start, for the east is whitening, and it will be daylight ere +we come to Bridgewater.' + +Leaving the ill-omened farmhouse behind us we set off with all military +precautions, Marot riding with me some distance in front, while two of +the troopers covered the rear. It was still very dark, though a thin +grey line on the horizon showed that the dawn was not far off. In spite +of the gloom, however, our new acquaintance guided us without a moment's +halt or hesitation through a network of lanes and bypaths, across fields +and over bogs, where the waggons were sometimes up to their axles in +bog, and sometimes were groaning and straining over rocks and stones. So +frequent were our turnings, and so often did we change the direction of +our advance, that I feared more than once that our guide was at fault; +yet, when at last the first rays of the sun brightened the landscape we +saw the steeple of Bridgewater parish church shooting up right in front +of us. + +'Zounds, man! you must have something of the cat in you to pick your way +so in the dark,' cried Sir Gervas, riding up to us. 'I am right glad to +see the town, for my poor waggons have been creaking and straining until +my ears are weary with listening for the snap of the axle-bar. Master +Marot, we owe you something for this.' + +'Is this your own particular district?' I asked, 'or have you a like +knowledge of every part of the south?' + +'My range,' said he, lighting his short, black pipe, 'is from Kent to +Cornwall, though never north of the Thames or Bristol Channel. Through +that district there is no road which is not familiar to me, nor as much +as a break in the hedge which I could not find in blackest midnight. It +is my calling. But the trade is not what it was. If I had a son I should +not bring him up to it. It hath been spoiled by the armed guards to +the mail-coaches, and by the accursed goldsmiths, who have opened their +banks and so taken the hard money into their strong boxes, giving out +instead slips of paper, which are as useless to us as an old newsletter. +I give ye my word that only a week gone last Friday I stopped a grazier +coming from Blandford fair, and I took seven hundred guineas off him in +these paper cheques, as they call them--enough, had it been in gold, to +have lasted me for a three month rouse. Truly the country is coming to a +pretty pass when such trash as that is allowed to take the place of the +King's coinage.' + +'Why should you persevere in such a trade?' said I. 'Your own knowledge +must tell you that it can only lead to ruin and the gallows. Have you +ever known one who has thriven at it?' + +'That have I,' he answered readily. 'There was Kingston Jones, who +worked Hounslow for many a year. He took ten thousand yellow boys on +one job, and, like a wise man, he vowed never to risk his neck again. +He went into Cheshire, with some tale of having newly arrived from the +Indies, bought an estate, and is now a flourishing country gentleman of +good repute, and a Justice of the Peace into the bargain. Zounds, man! +to see him on the bench, condemning some poor devil for stealing a dozen +eggs, is as good as a comedy in the playhouse.' + +'Nay! but,' I persisted, 'you are a man, judging from what we have seen +of your courage and skill in the use of your weapons, who would gain +speedy preferment in any army. Surely it were better to use your gifts +to the gaining of honour and credit, than to make them a stepping-stone +to disgrace and the gallows?' + +'For the gallows I care not a clipped shilling,' the highwayman +answered, sending up thick blue curls of smoke into the morning air. 'We +have all to pay nature's debt, and whether I do it in my boots or on a +feather bed, in one year or in ten, matters as little to me as to any +soldier among you. As to disgrace, it is a matter of opinion. I see +no shame myself in taking a toll upon the wealth of the rich, since I +freely expose my own skin in the doing of it.' + +'There is a right and there is a wrong,' I answered, 'which no words +can do away with, and it is a dangerous and unprofitable trick to juggle +with them.' + +'Besides, even if what you have said were true as to property,' Sir +Gervas remarked, 'it would not hold you excused for that recklessness of +human life which your trade begets.' + +'Nay! it is but hunting, save that your quarry may at any time turn +round upon you, and become in turn the hunter. It is, as you say, a +dangerous game, but two can play at it, and each has an equal chance. +There is no loading of the dice, or throwing of fulhams. Now it was but +a few days back that, riding down the high-road, I perceived three jolly +farmers at full gallop across the fields with a leash of dogs yelping in +front of them, and all in pursuit of one little harmless bunny. It was +a bare and unpeopled countryside on the border of Exmoor, so I bethought +me that I could not employ my leisure better than by chasing the +chasers. Odd's wouns! it was a proper hunt. Away went my gentlemen, +whooping like madmen, with their coat skirts flapping in the breeze, +chivying on the dogs, and having a rare morning's sport. They never +marked the quiet horseman who rode behind them, and who without a +"yoick!" or "hark-a-way!" was relishing his chase with the loudest of +them. It needed but a posse of peace officers at my heels to make up a +brave string of us, catch-who-catch-can, like the game the lads play on +the village green.' + +'And what came of it?' I asked, for our new acquaintance was laughing +silently to himself. + +'Well, my three friends ran down their hare, and pulled out their +flasks, as men who had done a good stroke of work. They were still +hobnobbing and laughing over the slaughtered bunny, and one had +dismounted to cut off its ears as the prize of their chase, when I came +up at a hand-gallop. "Good-morrow, gentlemen," said I, "we have had rare +sport." They looked at me blankly enough, I promise you, and one of +them asked me what the devil I did there, and how I dared to join in a +private sport. "Nay, I was not chasing your hare, gentlemen," said I. +"What then, fellow?" asked one of them. "Why, marry, I was chasing you," +I answered, "and a better run I have not had for years." With that I +lugged out my persuaders, and made the thing clear in a few words, and +I'll warrant you would have laughed could you have seen their faces as +they slowly dragged the fat leather purses from their fobs. Seventy-one +pounds was my prize that morning, which was better worth riding for than +a hare's ears.' + +'Did they not raise the country on your track?' I asked. + +'Nay! When Brown Alice is given her head she flies faster than the news. +Rumour spreads quick, but the good mare's stride is quicker still.' + +'And here we are within our own outposts,' quoth Sir Gervas. 'Now, mine +honest friend--for honest you have been to us, whatever others may +say of you--will you not come with us, and strike in for a good cause? +Zounds, man! you have many an ill deed to atone for, I'll warrant. +Why not add one good one to your account, by risking your life for the +reformed faith?' + +'Not I,' the highwayman answered, reining up his horse. 'My own skin is +nothing, but why should I risk my mare in such a fool's quarrel? Should +she come to harm in the ruffle, where could I get such another? Besides, +it matters nothing to her whether Papist or Protestant sits on the +throne of England--does it, my beauty?' + +'But you might chance to gain preferment,' I said. 'Our Colonel, Decimus +Saxon, is one who loves a good swordsman, and his word hath power with +King Monmouth and the council.' + +'Nay, nay!' cried Hector Marot gruffly. 'Let every man stick to his own +trade. Kirke's Horse I am ever ready to have a brush with, for a party +of them hung old blind Jim Houston of Milverton, who was a friend of +mine. I have sent seven of the red-handed rogues to their last account +for it, and might work through the whole regiment had I time. But I will +not fight against King James, nor will I risk the mare, so let me hear +no more of it. And now I must leave ye, for I have much to do. Farewell +to you!' + +'Farewell, farewell!' we cried, pressing his brown horny hands; 'our +thanks to you for your guidance.' Raising his hat, he shook his bridle +and galloped off down the road in a rolling cloud of dust. + +'Rat me, if I ever say a word against the thieves again!' said Sir +Gervas. 'I never saw a man wield sword more deftly in my life, and he +must be a rare hand with a pistol to bring those two tall fellows down +with two shots. But look over there, Clarke! Can you not see bodies of +red-coats?' + +'Surely I can,' I answered, gazing out over the broad, reedy, +dead-coloured plain, which extended from the other side of the winding +Parret to the distant Polden Hills. 'I can see them over yonder in the +direction of Westonzoyland, as bright as the poppies among corn.' + +'There are more upon the left, near Chedzoy,' quoth Sir Gervas. 'One, +two, three, and one yonder, and two others behind--six regiments of foot +in all. Methinks I see the breastplates of horse over there, and some +sign of ordnance too. Faith! Monmouth must fight now, if he ever hopes +to feel the gold rim upon his temples. The whole of King James's army +hath closed upon him.' + +'We must get back to our command, then,' I answered. 'If I mistake not, +I see the flutter of our standards in the market-place.' We spurred our +weary steeds forward, and made our way with our little party and the +supplies which we had collected, until we found ourselves back in +our quarters, where we were hailed by the lusty cheers of our hungry +comrades. Before noon the drove of bullocks had been changed into joints +and steaks, while our green stuff and other victuals had helped to +furnish the last dinner which many of our men were ever destined to eat. +Major Hooker came in shortly after with a good store of provisions, but +in no very good case, for he had had a skirmish with the dragoons, and +had lost eight or ten of his men. He bore a complaint straightway to the +council concerning the manner in which we had deserted him; but great +events were coming fast upon us now, and there was small time to inquire +into petty matters of discipline. For myself, I freely confess, looking +back on it, that as a soldier he was entirely in the right, and that +from a strict military point of view our conduct was not to be excused. +Yet I trust, my dears, even now, when years have weighed me down, that +the scream of a woman in distress would be a signal which would draw me +to her aid while these old limbs could bear me. For the duty which +we owe to the weak overrides all other duties and is superior to all +circumstances, and I for one cannot see why the coat of the soldier +should harden the heart of the man. + + + +Chapter XXXI. Of the Maid of the Marsh and the Bubble which rose from +the Bog + +All Bridgewater was in a ferment as we rode in, for King James's forces +were within four miles, on the Sedgemoor Plain, and it was likely that +they would push on at once and storm the town. Some rude works had been +thrown up on the Eastover side, behind which two brigades were drawn +up in arms, while the rest of the army was held in reserve in the +market-place and Castle Field. Towards afternoon, however, parties of +our horse and peasants from the fen country came in with the news that +there was no fear of an assault being attempted. The Royal troops had +quartered themselves snugly in the little villages of the neighbourhood, +and having levied contributions of cider and of beer from the farmers, +they showed no sign of any wish to advance. + +The town was full of women, the wives, mothers, and sisters of our +peasants, who had come in from far and near to see their loved ones once +more. Fleet Street or Cheapside upon a busy day are not more crowded +than were the narrow streets and lanes of the Somersetshire town. +Jack-booted, buff-coated troopers; scarlet militiamen; brown, +stern-faced Tauntonians; serge-clad pikemen; wild, ragged miners; +smockfrocked yokels; reckless, weather-tanned seamen; gaunt cragsmen +from the northern coast--all pushed and jostled each other in a thick, +many-coloured crowd. Everywhere among them were the country women, +straw-bonneted and loud-tongued, weeping, embracing, and exhorting. +Here and there amid the motley dresses and gleam of arms moved the dark, +sombre figure of a Puritan minister, with sweeping sad-coloured mantle +and penthouse hat, scattering abroad short fiery ejaculations and stern +pithy texts of the old fighting order, which warmed the men's blood like +liquor. Ever and anon a sharp, fierce shout would rise from the people, +like the yelp of a high-spirited hound which is straining at its leash +and hot to be at the throat of its enemy. + +Our regiment had been taken off duty whenever it was clear that +Feversham did not mean to advance, and they were now busy upon the +victuals which our night-foray had furnished. It was a Sunday, fresh and +warm, with a clear, unclouded sky, and a gentle breeze, sweet with the +smack of the country. All day the bells of the neighbouring villages +rang out their alarm, pealing their music over the sunlit countryside. +The upper windows and red-tiled roofs of the houses were crowded with +pale-faced women and children, who peered out to eastward, where the +splotches of crimson upon the dun-coloured moor marked the position of +our enemies. + +At four o'clock Monmouth held a last council of war upon the square +tower out of which springs the steeple of Bridgewater parish church, +whence a good view can be obtained of all the country round. Since my +ride to Beaufort I had always been honoured with a summons to attend, in +spite of my humble rank in the army. There were some thirty councillors +in all, as many as the space would hold, soldiers and courtiers, +Cavaliers and Puritans, all drawn together now by the bond of a common +danger. Indeed, the near approach of a crisis in their fortunes had +broken down much of the distinction of manner which had served to +separate them. The sectary had lost something of his austerity and +become flushed and eager at the prospect of battle, while the giddy man +of fashion was hushed into unwonted gravity as he considered the danger +of his position. Their old feuds were forgotten as they gathered on the +parapet and gazed with set faces at the thick columns of smoke which +rose along the sky-line. + +King Monmouth stood among his chiefs, pale and haggard, with the +dishevelled, unkempt look of a man whose distress of mind has made him +forgetful of the care of his person. He held a pair of ivory glasses, +and as he raised them to his eyes his thin white hands shook and +twitched until it was grievous to watch him. Lord Grey handed his own +glasses to Saxon, who leaned his elbows upon the rough stone breastwork +and stared long and earnestly at the enemy. + +'They are the very men I have myself led,' said Monmouth at last, in a +low voice, as though uttering his thoughts aloud. 'Over yonder at the +right I see Dumbarton's foot. I know these men well. They will fight. +Had we them with us all would be well.' + +'Nay, your Majesty,' Lord Grey answered with spirit, 'you do your brave +followers an injustice. They, too, will fight to the last drop of their +blood in your quarrel.' + +'Look down at them!' said Monmouth sadly, pointing at the swarming +streets beneath us. 'Braver hearts never beat in English breasts, yet do +but mark how they brabble and clamour like clowns on a Saturday night. +Compare them with the stern, orderly array of the trained battalions. +Alas! that I should have dragged these honest souls from their little +homes to fight so hopeless a battle!' + +'Hark at that!' cried Wade. 'They do not think it hopeless, nor do we.' +As he spoke a wild shout rose from the dense crowd beneath, who were +listening to a preacher who was holding forth from a window. + +'It is worthy Doctor Ferguson,' said Sir Stephen Timewell, who had +just come up. 'He is as one inspired, powerfully borne onwards in his +discourse. Verily he is even as one of the prophets of old. He has +chosen for his text, "The Lord God of gods he knoweth and Israel he +shall know. If it be in rebellion or if in transgression against the +Lord, save us not this day."' + +'Amen, amen!' cried several of the Puritan soldiers devoutly, while +another hoarse burst of shouting from below, with the clashing of +scythe-blades and the clatter of arms, showed how deeply the people were +moved by the burning words of the fanatic. + +'They do indeed seem to be hot for battle,' said Monmouth, with a more +sprightly look. 'It may be that one who has commanded regular troops, as +I have done, is prone to lay too much weight upon the difference which +discipline and training make. These brave lads seem high of heart. What +think you of the enemy's dispositions, Colonel Saxon?' + +'By my faith, I think very little of them, your Majesty,' Saxon answered +bluntly. 'I have seen armies drawn up in array in many different parts +of the world and under many commanders. I have likewise read the section +which treats of the matter in the "De re militari" of Petrinus Bellus, +and in the works of a Fleming of repute, yet I have neither seen nor +heard anything which can commend the arrangements which we see before +us.' + +'How call you the hamlet on the left--that with the square ivy-clad +church tower?' asked Monmouth, turning to the Mayor of Bridgewater, +a small, anxious-faced man, who was evidently far from easy at the +prominence which his office had brought upon him. + +'Westonzoyland, your Honour--that is, your Grace--I mean, your Majesty,' +he stammered. 'The other, two miles farther off, is Middlezoy, and away +to the left, just on the far side of the rhine, is Chedzoy.' + +'The rhine, sir! What do you mean?' asked the King, starting violently, +and turning so fiercely upon the timid burgher, that he lost the little +balance of wits which was left to him. + +'Why, the rhine, your Grace, your Majesty,' he quavered. 'The rhine, +which, as your Majesty's Grace cannot but perceive, is what the country +folk call the rhine.' + +'It is a name, your Majesty, for the deep and broad ditches which drain +off the water from the great morass of Sedgemoor,' said Sir Stephen +Timewell. + +Monmouth turned white to his very lips, and several of the council +exchanged significant glances, recalling the strange prophetic jingle +which I had been the means of bringing to the camp. The silence was +broken, however, by an old Cromwellian Major named Hollis, who had been +drawing upon paper the position of the villages in which the enemy was +quartered. + +'If it please your Majesty, there is something in their order which +recalls to my mind that of the army of the Scots upon the occasion +of the battle of Dunbar. Cromwell lay in Dunbar even as we lie in +Bridgewater. The ground around, which was boggy and treacherous, was +held by the enemy. There was not a man in the army who would not own +that, had old Leslie held his position, we should, as far as human +wisdom could see, have had to betake us to our ships, leave our stores +and ordnance, and so make the best of our way to Newcastle. He moved, +however, through the blessing of Providence, in such a manner that a +quagmire intervened between his right wing and the rest of his army, on +which Cromwell fell upon that wing in the early dawn, and dashed it +to pieces, with such effect that the whole army fled, and we had the +execution of them to the very gates of Leith. Seven thousand Scots lost +their lives, but not more than a hundred or so of the honest folk. +Now, your Majesty will see through your glass that a mile of bogland +intervenes between these villages, and that the nearest one, Chedzoy, as +I think they call it, might be approached without ourselves entering the +morass. Very sure I am that were the Lord-General with us now he would +counsel us to venture some such attack.' + +'It is a bold thing with raw peasants to attack old soldiers,' quoth Sir +Stephen Timewell. 'Yet if it is to be done, I know well that there is +not a man born within sound of the bells of St. Mary Magdalene who will +flinch from it.' + +'You say well, Sir Stephen,' said Monmouth. 'At Dunbar Cromwell had +veterans at his back, and was opposed to troops who had small experience +of war.' + +'Yet there is much good sense in what Major Hollis has said,' remarked +Lord Grey. 'We must either fall on, or be gradually girt round and +starved out. That being so, why not take advantage at once of the chance +which Feversham's ignorance or carelessness hath given us? To-morrow, if +Churchill can prevail over his chief, I have little doubt that we +shall find their camp rearranged, and so have cause to regret our lost +opportunity.' + +'Their horse lie at Westonzoyland,' said Wade. 'The sun is so fierce now +that we can scarce see for its glare and the haze which rises up from +the marshes. Yet a little while ago I could make out through my glasses +the long lines of horses picketed on the moor beyond the village. +Behind, in Middlezoy, are two thousand militia, while in Chedzoy, where +our attack would fall, there are five regiments of regular foot.' + +'If we could break those all would be well,' cried Monmouth. 'What is +your advice, Colonel Buyse?' + +'My advice is ever the same,' the German answered. 'We are here to +fight, and the sooner we get to work at it the better.' + +'And yours, Colonel Saxon? Do you agree with the opinion of your +friend?' + +'I think with Major Hollis, your Majesty, that Feversham by his +dispositions hath laid himself open to attack, and that we should take +advantage of it forthwith. Yet, considering that trained men and a +numerous horse have great advantage by daylight, I should be in favour +of a camisado or night onfall.' + +'The same thought was in my mind,' said Grey. 'Our friends here know +every inch of the ground, and could guide us to Chedzoy as surely in the +darkness as in the day.' + +'I have heard,' said Saxon, 'that much beer and cider, with wine and +strong waters, have found their way into their camp. If this be so +we may give them a rouse while their heads are still buzzing with the +liquor, when they shall scarce know whether it is ourselves or the blue +devils which have come upon them.' + +A general chorus of approval from the whole council showed that the +prospect of at last coming to an engagement was welcome, after the weary +marchings and delays of the last few weeks. + +'Has any cavalier anything to say against this plan?' asked the King. + +We all looked from one to the other, but though many faces were doubtful +or desponding, none had a word to say against the night attack, for it +was clear that our action in any case must be hazardous, and this had at +least the merit of promising a better chance of success than any other. +Yet, my dears, I dare say the boldest of us felt a sinking at the heart +as we looked at our downcast, sad-faced leader, and asked ourselves +whether this was a likely man to bring so desperate an enterprise to a +success. + +'If all are agreed,' said he, 'let our word be "Soho," and let us come +upon them as soon after midnight as may be. What remains to be settled +as to the order of battle may be left for the meantime. You will now, +gentlemen, return to your regiments, and you will remember that be the +upshot of this what it may, whether Monmouth be the crowned King of +England or a hunted fugitive, his heart, while it can still beat, will +ever bear in memory the brave friends who stood at his side in the hour +of his trouble.' + +At this simple and kindly speech a flush of devotion, mingled in my +own case at least with a heart-whole pity for the poor, weak gentleman, +swept over us. We pressed round him with our hands upon the hilts of our +swords, swearing that we would stand by him, though all the world stood +between him and his rights. Even the rigid and impassive Puritans were +moved to a show of loyalty; while the courtiers, carried away by zeal, +drew their rapiers and shouted until the crowd beneath caught the +enthusiasm, and the air was full of the cheering. The light returned +to Monmouth's eye and the colour to his cheek as he listened to the +clamour. For a moment at least he looked like the King which he aspired +to be. + +'My thanks to ye, dear friends and subjects,' he cried. 'The issue rests +with the Almighty, but what men can do will, I know well, be done by you +this night. If Monmouth cannot have all England, six feet of her shall +at least be his. Meanwhile, to your regiments, and may God defend the +right!' + +'May God defend the right! cried the council solemnly, and separated, +leaving the King with Grey to make the final dispositions for the +attack. + +'These popinjays of the Court are ready enough to wave their rapiers +and shout when there are four good miles between them and the foe,' +said Saxon, as we made our way through the crowd. 'I fear that they will +scarce be as forward when there is a line of musqueteers to be faced, +and a brigade of horse perhaps charging down upon their flank. But here +comes friend Lockarby, with news written upon his face.' + +'I have a report to make, Colonel,' said Reuben, hurrying breathlessly +up to us. 'You may remember that I and my company were placed on guard +this day at the eastern gates?' + +Saxon nodded. + +'Being desirous of seeing all that I could of the enemy, I clambered up +a lofty tree which stands just without the town. From this post, by the +aid of a glass, I was able to make out their lines and camp. Whilst I +was gazing I chanced to observe a man slinking along under cover of the +birch-trees half-way between their lines and the town. Watching him, I +found that he was indeed moving in our direction. Presently he came so +near that I was able to distinguish who it was--for it was one whom I +know--but instead of entering the town by my gate he walked round under +cover of the peat cuttings, and so made his way doubtless to some other +entrance. He is a man, however, who I have reason to believe has no true +love for the cause, and it is my belief that he hath been to the +Royal camp with news of our doings, and hath now come back for further +information.' + +'Aye!' said Saxon, raising his eyebrows. 'And what is the man's name?' + +'His name is Derrick, one time chief apprentice to Master Timewell at +Taunton, and now an officer in the Taunton foot.' + +'What, the young springald who had his eye upon pretty Mistress Ruth! +Now, out on love, if it is to turn a true man into a traitor! But +methought he was one of the elect? I have heard him hold forth to the +pikemen. How comes it that one of his kidney should lend help to the +Prelatist cause?' + +'Love again,' quoth I. 'This same love is a pretty flower when it grows +unchecked, but a sorry weed if thwarted.' + +'He hath an ill-feeling towards many in the camp,' said Reuben, 'and he +would ruin the army to avenge himself on them, as a rogue might sink +a ship in the hope of drowning one enemy. Sir Stephen himself hath +incurred his hatred for refusing to force his daughter into accepting +his suit. He has now returned into the camp, and I have reported the +matter to you, that you may judge whether it would not be well to send +a file of pikemen and lay him by the heels lest he play the spy once +more.' + +'Perhaps it would be best so,' Saxon answered, full of thought, 'and yet +no doubt the fellow would have some tale prepared which would outweigh +our mere suspicions. Could we not take him in the very act?' + +A thought slipped into my head. I had observed from the tower that there +was a single lonely cottage about a third of the way to the enemy's +camp, standing by the road at a place where there were marshes on either +side. Any one journeying that way must pass it. If Derrick tried to +carry our plans to Feversham he might be cut off at this point by a +party placed to lie in wait for him. + +'Most excellent!' Saxon exclaimed, when I had explained the project. 'My +learned Fleming himself could not have devised a better rusus belli. Do +ye convey as many files as ye may think fit to this point, and I shall +see that Master Derrick is primed up with some fresh news for my Lord +Feversham.' + +'Nay, a body of troops marching out would set tongues wagging,' said +Reuben. 'Why should not Micah and I go ourselves?' + +'That would indeed be better.' Saxon answered. 'But ye must pledge your +words, come what may, to be back at sundown, for your companies must +stand to arms an hour before the advance.' + +We both gladly gave the desired promise; and having learned for certain +that Derrick had indeed returned to the camp, Saxon undertook to let +drop in his presence some words as to the plans for the night, while we +set off at once for our post. Our horses we left behind, and slipping +out through the eastern gate we made our way over bog and moor, +concealing ourselves as best we could, until we came out upon the lonely +roadway, and found ourselves in front of the house. + +It was a plain, whitewashed, thatch-roofed cottage, with a small board +above the door, whereon was written a notice that the occupier sold milk +and butter. No smoke reeked up from the chimney, and the shutters of the +window were closed, from which we gathered that the folk who owned it +had fled away from their perilous position. On either side the marsh +extended, reedy and shallow at the edge, but deeper at a distance, with +a bright green scum which covered its treacherous surface. We knocked +at the weather-blotched door, but receiving, as we expected, no reply, +I presently put my shoulder against it and forced the staple from its +fastenings. + +There was but a single chamber within, with a straight ladder in the +corner, leading through a square hole in the ceiling to the sleeping +chamber under the roof. Three or four chairs and stools were scattered +over the earthen floor, and at the side a deal table with the broad +brown milk basins upon it. Green blotches upon the wall and a sinking +in of one side of the cottage showed the effect of its damp, marsh-girt +position. + +To our surprise it had still one inmate within its walls. In the centre +of the room, facing the door as we entered, stood a little bright, +golden-haired maid, five or six years of age. She was clad in a clean +white smock, with trim leather belt and shining buckle about her waist. +Two plump little legs with socks and leathern boots peeped out from +under the dress, stoutly planted with right foot in advance as one who +was bent upon holding her ground. Her tiny head was thrown back, and her +large blue eyes were full of mingled wonder and defiance. As we entered +the little witch flapped her kerchief at us, and shooed as though we +were two of the intrusive fowl whom she was wont to chevy out of the +house. Reuben and I stood on the threshold, uncertain, and awkward, like +a pair of overgrown school lads, looking down at this fairy queen whose +realms we had invaded, in two minds whether to beat a retreat or to +appease her wrath by soft and coaxing words. + +'Go 'way!' she cried, still waving her hands and shaking her kerchief. +'Go 'way! Granny told me to tell any one that came to go 'way!' + +'But if they would not go away, little mistress,' asked Reuben, 'what +were you to do then?' + +'I was to drive them 'way,' she answered, advancing boldly against us +with many flaps. 'You bad man!' she continued, flashing out at me, 'you +have broken granny's bolt.' + +'Nay, I'll mend it again,' I answered penitently, and catching up +a stone I soon fastened the injured staple. 'There, mistress, your +granddam will never tell the difference.' + +'Ye must go 'way all the same,' she persisted; 'this is granny's house, +not yours.' + +What were we to do with this resolute little dame of the marshes? That +we should stay in the house was a crying need, for there was no other +cover or shelter among the dreary bogs where we could hide ourselves. +Yet she was bent upon driving us out with a decision and fearlessness +which might have put Monmouth to shame. + +'You sell milk,' said Reuben. 'We are tired and thirsty, so we have come +to have a horn of it.' + +'Nay,' she cried, breaking into smiles, 'will ye pay me just as the folk +pay granny? Oh, heart alive! but that will be fine!' She skipped up +on to a stool and filled a pair of deep mugs from the basins upon the +table. 'A penny, please!' said she. + +It was strange to see the little wife hide the coin away in her smock, +with pride and joy in her innocent face at this rare stroke of business +which she had done for her absent granny. We bore our milk away to the +window, and having loosed the shutters we seated ourselves so as to have +an outlook down the road. + +'For the Lord's sake, drink slow!' whispered Reuben, under his breath. +'We must keep on swilling milk or she will want to turn us out.' + +'We have paid toll now,' I answered; 'surely she will let us bide.' + +'If you have done you must go 'way,' she said firmly. + +'Were ever two men-at-arms so tyrannised over by a little dolly such as +this!' said I, laughing. 'Nay, little one, we shall compound with you by +paying you this shilling, which will buy all your milk. We can stay here +and drink it at our ease.' + +'Jinny, the cow, is just across the marsh,' quoth she. 'It is nigh +milking time, and I shall fetch her round if ye wish more.' + +'Now, God forbid!' cried Reuben. 'It will end in our having to buy the +cow. Where is your granny, little maid?' + +'She hath gone into the town,' the child answered. 'There are bad men +with red coats and guns coming to steal and to fight, but granny will +soon make them go 'way. Granny has gone to set it all right.' + +'We are fighting against the men with the red coats, my chuck,' said +I; 'we shall take care of your house with you, and let no one steal +anything.' + +'Nay, then ye may stay,' quoth she, climbing up upon my knee as grave as +a sparrow upon a bough. 'What a great boy you are!' + +'And why not a man?' I asked. + +'Because you have no beard upon your face. Why, granny hath more hair +upon her chin than you. Besides, only boys drink milk. Men drink cider.' + +'Then if I am a boy I shall be your sweetheart,' said I. + +'Nay, indeed!' she cried, with a toss of her golden locks. 'I have no +mind to wed for a while, but Giles Martin of Gommatch is my sweetheart. +What a pretty shining tin smock you have, and what a great sword! Why +should people have these things to harm each other with when they are in +truth all brothers?' + +'Why are they all brothers, little mistress?' asked Reuben. + +'Because granny says that they are all the children of the great +Father,' she answered. 'If they have all one father they must be +brothers, mustn't they?' + +'Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, Micah,' quoth Reuben, staring +out of the window. + +'You are a rare little marsh flower,' I said, as she clambered up to +grasp at my steel cap. 'Is it not strange to think, Reuben, that there +should be thousands of Christian men upon either side of us, athirst +for each other's lives, and here between them is a blue-eyed cherub who +lisps out the blessed philosophy which would send us all to our homes +with softened hearts and hale bodies?' + +'A day of this child would sicken me for over of soldiering,' Reuben +answered. 'The cavalier and the butcher become too near of kin, as I +listen to her.' + +'Perhaps both are equally needful,' said I, shrugging my shoulders. 'We +have put our hands to the plough. But methinks I see the man for whom we +wait coming down under the shadow of yonder line of pollard willows.' + +'It is he, sure enough,' cried Reuben, peeping through the diamond-paned +window. + +'Then, little one, you must sit here,' said I, raising her up from my +knee and placing her on a chair in a corner. 'You must be a brave lass +and sit still, whatever may chance. Will you do so?' + +She pursed up her rosy lips and nodded her head. + +'He comes on apace, Micah,' quoth my comrade, who was still standing +by the casement. 'Is he not like some treacherous fox or other beast of +prey?' + +There was indeed something in his lean, black-clothed figure and swift +furtive movements which was like some cruel and cunning animal. He stole +along under shadow of the stunted trees and withies, with bent body and +gliding gait, so that from Bridgewater it would be no easy matter for +the most keen-sighted to see him. Indeed, he was so far from the town +that he might safely have come out from his concealment and struck +across the moor, but the deep morass on either side prevented him from +leaving the road until he had passed the cottage. + +As he came abreast of our ambush we both sprang out from the open door +and barred his way. I have heard the Independent minister at Emsworth +give an account of Satan's appearance, but if the worthy man had been +with us that day, he need not have drawn upon his fancy. The man's dark +face whitened into a sickly and mottled pallor, while he drew back with +a long sharp intaking of the breath and a venomous flash from his black +eyes, glancing swiftly from right to left for some means of escape. For +an instant his hand shot towards his sword-hilt, but his reason told him +that he could scarce expect to fight his way past us. Then he glanced +round, but any retreat would lead him back to the men whom he had +betrayed. So he stood sullen and stolid, with heavy, downcast face and +shifting, restless eye, the very type and symbol of treachery. + +'We have waited some time for you, Master John Derrick,' said I. 'You +must now return with us to the town.' + +'On what grounds do you arrest me?' he asked, in hoarse, broken tones. +'Where is your warranty? Who hath given you a commission to molest +travellers upon the King's highway?' + +'I have my Colonel's commission,' I answered shortly. 'You have been +once already to Feversham's camp this morning.' + +'It is a lie,' he snarled fiercely. 'I do but take a stroll to enjoy the +air.' + +'It is the truth,' said Reuben. 'I saw you myself on your return. Let us +see that paper which peeps from your doublet.' + +'We all know why you should set this trap for me,' Derrick cried +bitterly. 'You have set evil reports afloat against me, lest I stand in +your light with the Mayor's daughter. What are you that you should dare +to raise your eyes to her! A mere vagrant and masterless man, coming +none know whence. Why should you aspire to pluck the flower which has +grown up amongst us? What had you to do with her or with us? Answer me!' + +'It is not a matter which I shall discuss, save at a more fitting time +and place,' Reuben answered quietly. 'Do you give over your sword and +come back with us. For my part, I promise to do what I can to save your +life. Should we win this night, your poor efforts can do little to harm +us. Should we lose, there may be few of us left to harm.' + +'I thank you for your kindly protection,' he replied, in the same white, +cold, bitter manner, unbuckling his sword as he spoke, and walking +slowly up to my companion. 'You can take this as a gift to Mistress +Ruth,' he said, presenting the weapon in his left hand, 'and this!' he +added, plucking a knife from his belt and burying it in my poor friend's +side. + +It was done in an instant--so suddenly that I had neither time to spring +between, nor to grasp his intention before the wounded man sank gasping +on the ground, and the knife tinkled upon the pathway at my feet. The +villain set up a shrill cry of triumph, and bounding back in time to +avoid the savage sword thrust which I made at him, he turned and fled +down the road at the top of his speed. He was a far lighter man than I, +and more scantily clad, yet I had, from my long wind and length of limb, +been the best runner of my district, and he soon learned by the sound of +my feet that he had no chance of shaking me off. Twice he doubled as a +hare does when the hound is upon him, and twice my sword passed within a +foot of him, for in very truth I had no more thought of mercy than if +he had been a poisonous snake who had fastened his fangs into my friend +before my eyes. I never dreamed of giving nor did he of claiming it. +At last, hearing my steps close upon him and my breathing at his +very shoulder, he sprang wildly through the reeds and dashed into the +treacherous morass. Ankle-deep, knee-deep, thigh-deep, waist-deep, we +struggled and staggered, I still gaining upon him, until I was within +arm's-reach of him, and had whirled up my sword to strike. It had been +ordained, however, my dear children, that he should die not the death of +a man, but that of the reptile which he was, for even as I closed upon +him he sank of a sudden with a gurgling sound, and the green marsh scum +met above his head. No ripple was there and no splash to mark the spot. +It was sudden and silent, as though some strange monster of the marshes +had seized him and dragged him down into the depths. As I stood with +upraised sword still gazing upon the spot, one single great bubble rose +and burst upon the surface, and then all was still once more, and the +dreary fens lay stretched before me, the very home of death and of +desolation. I know not whether he had indeed come upon some sudden pit +which had engulfed him, or whether in his despair he had cast himself +down of set purpose. I do but know that there in the great Sedgemoor +morass are buried the bones of the traitor and the spy. + +I made my way as best I could through the oozy clinging mud to the +margin, and hastened back to where Reuben was lying. Bending over him +I found that the knife had pierced through the side leather which +connected his back and front plates, and that the blood was not only +pouring out of the wound, but was trickling from the corner of his +mouth. With trembling fingers I undid the straps and buckles, loosened +the armour, and pressed my kerchief to his side to staunch the flow. + +'I trust that you have not slain him, Micah,' he said of a sudden, +opening his eyes. + +'A higher power than ours has judged him, Reuben,' I answered. + +'Poor devil! He has had much to embitter him,' he murmured, and +straightway fainted again. As I knelt over him, marking the lad's white +face and laboured breathing, and bethought me of his simple, kindly +nature and of the affection which I had done so little to deserve, I am +not ashamed to say, my dears, albeit I am a man somewhat backward in my +emotions, that my tears were mingled with his blood. + +As it chanced, Decimus Saxon had found time to ascend the church tower +for the purpose of watching us through his glass and seeing how we +fared. Noting that there was something amiss, he had hurried down for +a skilled chirurgeon, whom he brought out to us under an escort of +scythesmen. I was still kneeling by my senseless friend, doing what an +ignorant man might to assist him, when the party arrived and helped me +to bear him into the cottage, out of the glare of the sun. The minutes +were as hours while the man of physic with a grave face examined and +probed the wound. + +'It will scarce prove fatal,' he said at last, and I could have embraced +him for the words. 'The blade has glanced on a rib, though the lung is +slightly torn. We shall hear him back with us to the town.' + +'You hear what he says,' said Saxon kindly. 'He is a man whose opinion +is of weight-- + + "A skilful leach is better far, + Than half a hundred men of war." + +Cheer up, man! You are as white as though it were your blood and not his +which was drained away. Where is Derrick?' + +'Drowned in the marshes,' I answered. + +''Tis well! It will save us six feet of good hemp. But our position here +is somewhat exposed, since the Royal Horse might make a dash at us. Who +is this little maid who sits so white and still in the corner.' + +''Tis the guardian of the house. Her granny has left her here.' + +'You had better come with us. There may be rough work here ere all is +over.' + +'Nay, I must wait for granny,' she answered, with the tears running down +her cheeks. + +'But how if I take you to granny, little one,' said I. 'We cannot +leave you here. 'I held out my arms, and the child sprang into them and +nestled up against my bosom, sobbing as though her heart would break. +'Take me away,' she cried; 'I'se frightened.' + +I soothed the little trembling thing as best I might, and bore her off +with me upon my shoulder. The scythesmen had passed the handles of their +long weapons through the sleeves of their jerkins in such a way as to +form a couch or litter, upon which poor Reuben was laid. A slight dash +of colour had come back to his cheeks in answer to some cordial given +him by the chirurgeon, and he nodded and smiled at Saxon. Thus, pacing +slowly, we returned to Bridgewater, where Reuben was carried to our +quarters, and I bore the little maid of the marshes to kind townsfolk, +who promised to restore her to her home when the troubles were over. + + + +Chapter XXXII. Of the Onfall at Sedgemoor + +However pressing our own private griefs and needs, we had little time +now to dwell upon them, for the moment was at hand which was to decide +for the time not only our own fates, but that of the Protestant cause +in England. None of us made light of the danger. Nothing less than a +miracle could preserve us from defeat, and most of us were of opinion +that the days of the miracles were past. Others, however, thought +otherwise. I believe that many of our Puritans, had they seen the +heavens open that night, and the armies of the Seraphim and the Cherubim +descending to our aid, would have looked upon it as by no means a +wonderful or unexpected occurrence. + +The whole town was loud with the preaching. Every troop or company had +its own chosen orator, and sometimes more than one, who held forth +and expounded. From barrels, from waggons, from windows, and even from +housetops, they addressed the crowds beneath; nor was their eloquence +in vain. Hoarse, fierce shouts rose up from the streets, with broken +prayers and ejaculations. Men were drunk with religion as with wine. +Their faces were flushed, their speech thick, their gestures wild. Sir +Stephen and Saxon smiled at each other as they watched them, for they +knew, as old soldiers, that of all causes which make a man valiant in +deed and careless of life, this religious fit is the strongest and the +most enduring. + +In the evening I found time to look in upon my wounded friend, and found +him propped up with cushions upon his couch, breathing with some pain, +but as bright and merry as ever. Our prisoner, Major Ogilvy, who had +conceived a warm affection for us, sat by his side and read aloud to him +out of an old book of plays. + +'This wound hath come at an evil moment,' said Reuben impatiently. +'Is it not too much that a little prick like this should send my men +captainless into battle, after all our marching and drilling? I have +been present at the grace, and am cut off from the dinner.' + +'Your company hath been joined to mine,' I answered, 'though, indeed, +the honest fellows are cast down at not having their own captain. Has +the physician been to see you?' + +'He has left even now,' said Major Ogilvy. 'He pronounces our friend to +be doing right well, but hath warned me against allowing him to talk.' + +'Hark to that, lad!' said I, shaking my finger at him. 'If I hear a word +from you I go. You will escape a rough waking this night, Major. What +think you of our chance?' + +'I have thought little of your chance from the first,' he replied +frankly. 'Monmouth is like a ruined gamester, who is now putting his +last piece upon the board. He cannot win much, and he may lose all.' + +'Nay, that is a hard saying,' said I. 'A success might set the whole of +the Midlands in arms.' + +'England is not ripe for it,' the Major answered, with a shake of his +head. 'It is true that it has no fancy either for Papistry or for a +Papist King, but we know that it is but a passing evil, since the next +in succession, the Prince of Orange, is a Protestant. Why, then, should +we risk so many evils to bring that about which time and patience must, +perforce, accomplish between them? Besides, the man whom ye support has +shown that he is unworthy of confidence. Did he not in his declaration +promise to leave the choice of a monarch to the Commons? And yet, in +less than a week, he proclaimed himself at Taunton Market Cross! Who +could believe one who has so little regard for truth?' + +'Treason, Major, rank treason,' I answered, laughing. 'Yet if we could +order a leader as one does a coat we might, perchance, have chosen +one of a stronger texture. We are in arms not for him, but for the old +liberties and rights of Englishmen. Have you seen Sir Gervas?' + +Major Ogilvy, and even Reuben, burst out laughing. 'You will find him +in the room above,' said our prisoner. 'Never did a famous toast prepare +herself for a court ball as he is preparing for his battle. If the +King's troops take him they will assuredly think that they have the +Duke. He hath been in here to consult us as to his patches, hosen, and I +know not what beside. You had best go up to him.' + +'Adieu, then, Reuben!' I said, grasping his hand in mine. + +'Adieu, Micah! God shield you from harm,' said he. + +'Can I speak to you aside, Major?' I whispered. 'I think,' I went on, +as he followed me into the passage, 'that you will not say that your +captivity hath been made very harsh for you. May I ask, therefore, that +you will keep an eye upon my friend should we be indeed defeated this +night? No doubt if Feversham gains the upper hand there will be bloody +work. The hale can look after themselves, but he is helpless, and will +need a friend.' + +The Major pressed my hand. 'I swear to God,' he said, 'that no harm +shall befall him.' + +'You have taken a load from my heart,' I answered; 'I know that I leave +him in safety. 'I can now ride to battle with an easy mind.' With a +friendly smile the soldier returned to the sick-room, whilst I ascended +the stair and entered the quarters of Sir Gervas Jerome. + +He was standing before a table which was littered all over with pots, +brushes, boxes, and a score of the like trifles, which he had either +bought or borrowed for the occasion. A large hand-mirror was balanced +against the wall, with rush-lights on either side of it. In front of +this, with a most solemn and serious expression upon his pale, handsome +face, the Baronet was arranging and re-arranging a white berdash cravat. +His riding-boots were brightly polished, and the broken seam repaired. +His sword-sheath, breastplate, and trappings were clear and bright. +He wore his gayest and newest suit, and above all he had donned a most +noble and impressive full-bottomed periwig, which drooped down to his +shoulders, as white as powder could make it. From his dainty riding-hat +to his shining spur there was no speck or stain upon him--a sad set-off +to my own state, plastered as I was with a thick crust of the Sedgemoor +mud, and disordered from having ridden and worked for two days without +rest or repose. + +'Split me, but you have come in good time!' he exclaimed, as I entered. +'I have even now sent down for a flask of canary. Ah, and here it +comes!' as a maid from the inn tripped upstairs with the bottle and +glasses. 'Here is a gold piece, my pretty dear, the very last that I +have in the whole world. It is the only survivor of a goodly family. Pay +mine host for the wine, little one, and keep the change for thyself, to +buy ribbons for the next holiday. Now, curse me if I can get this cravat +to fit unwrinkled!' + +'There is nought amiss with it,' I answered. 'How can such trifles +occupy you at such a time?' + +'Trifles!' he cried angrily. 'Trifles! Well, there, it boots not to +argue with you. Your bucolic mind would never rise to the subtle import +which may lie in such matters--the rest of mind which it is to have +them right, and the plaguey uneasiness when aught is wrong. It comes, +doubtless, from training, and it may be that I have it more than others +of my class. I feel as a cat who would lick all day to take the least +speck from her fur. Is not the patch over the eyebrow happily chosen? +Nay, you cannot even offer an opinion; I would as soon ask friend Marot, +the knight of the pistol. Fill up your glass!' + +'Your company awaits you by the church,' I remarked; 'I saw them as I +passed.' + +'How looked they?' he asked. 'Were they powdered and clean?' + +'Nay, I had little leisure to observe. I saw that they were cutting +their matches and arranging their priming.' + +'I would that they had all snaphances,' he answered, sprinkling himself +with scented water; 'the matchlocks are slow and cumbersome. Have you +had wine enough?' + +'I will take no more,' I answered. + +'Then mayhap the Major may care to finish it. It is not often I ask help +with a bottle, but I would keep my head cool this night. Let us go down +and see to our men.' + +It was ten o'clock when we descended into the street. The hubbub of +the preachers and the shouting of the people had died away, for the +regiments had fallen into their places, and stood silent and stern, +with the faint light from the lamps and windows playing over their dark +serried ranks. A cool, clear moon shone down upon us from amidst fleecy +clouds, which drifted ever and anon across her face. Away in the north +tremulous rays of light flickered up into the heavens, coming and going +like long, quivering fingers. They were the northern lights, a sight +rarely seen in the southland counties. It is little wonder that, coming +at such a time, the fanatics should have pointed to them as signals +from another world, and should have compared them to that pillar of fire +which guided Israel through the dangers of the desert. The footpaths and +the windows were crowded with women and children, who broke into shrill +cries of fear or of wonder as the strange light waxed and waned. + +'It is half after ten by St. Mary's clock,' said Saxon, as we rode up to +the regiment. 'Have we nothing to give the men?' + +'There is a hogshead of Zoyland cider in the yard of yonder inn,' said +Sir Gervas. 'Here, Dawson, do you take those gold sleeve links and give +them to mine host in exchange. Broach the barrel, and let each man have +his horn full. Sink me, if they shall fight with nought but cold water +in them.' + +'They will feel the need of it ere morning,' said Saxon, as a score +of pikemen hastened off to the inn. 'The marsh air is chilling to the +blood.' + +'I feel cold already, and Covenant is stamping with it,' said I. 'Might +we not, if we have time upon our hands, canter our horses down the +line?' + +'Of a surety,' Saxon answered gladly, 'we could not do better;' so +shaking our bridles we rode off, our horses' hoofs striking fire from +the flint-paved streets as we passed. + +Behind the horse, in a long line which stretched from the Eastover gate, +across the bridge, along the High Street, up the Cornhill, and so past +the church to the Pig Cross, stood our foot, silent and grim, save when +some woman's voice from the windows called forth a deep, short answer +from the ranks. The fitful light gleamed on scythes-blade or gun-barrel, +and showed up the lines of rugged, hard set faces, some of mere children +with never a hair upon their cheeks, others of old men whose grey beards +swept down to their cross-belts, but all bearing the same stamp of a +dogged courage and a fierce self-contained resolution. Here were still +the fisher folk of the south. Here, too, were the fierce men from the +Mendips, the wild hunters from Porlock Quay and Minehead, the poachers +of Exmoor, the shaggy marshmen of Axbridge, the mountain men from the +Quantocks, the serge and wool-workers of Devonshire, the graziers of +Bampton, the red-coats from the Militia, the stout burghers of Taunton, +and then, as the very bone and sinew of all, the brave smockfrocked +peasants of the plains, who had turned up their jackets to the elbow, +and exposed their brown and corded arms, as was their wont when good +work had to be done. As I speak to you, dear children, fifty years +rolls by like a mist in the morning, and I am riding once more down +the winding street, and see again the serried ranks of my gallant +companions. Brave hearts! They showed to all time how little training it +takes to turn an Englishman into a soldier, and what manner of men are +bred in those quiet, peaceful hamlets which dot the sunny slopes of the +Somerset and Devon downs. If ever it should be that England should +be struck upon her knees, if those who fight her battles should have +deserted her, and she should find herself unarmed in the presence of her +enemy, let her take heart and remember that every village in the realm +is a barrack, and that her real standing army is the hardy courage and +simple virtue which stand ever in the breast of the humblest of her +peasants. + +As we rode down the long line a buzz of greeting and welcome rose now +and again from the ranks as they recognised through the gloom Saxon's +tall, gaunt figure. The clock was on the stroke of eleven as we returned +to our own men, and at that very moment King Monmouth rode out from the +inn where he was quartered, and trotted with his staff down the High +Street. All cheering had been forbidden, but waving caps and brandished +arms spoke the ardour of his devoted followers. No bugle was to sound +the march, but as each received the word the one in its rear followed +its movements. The clatter and shuffle of hundreds of moving feet came +nearer and nearer, until the Frome men in front of us began to march, +and we found ourselves fairly started upon the last journey which many +of us were ever to take in this world. + +Our road lay across the Parret, through Eastover, and so along the +winding track past the spot where Derrick met his fate, and the lonely +cottage of the little maid. At the other side of this the road becomes +a mere pathway over the plain. A dense haze lay over the moor, gathering +thickly in the hollows, and veiling both the town which we had left and +the villages which we were approaching. Now and again it would lift +for a few moments, and then I could see in the moonlight the long black +writhing line of the army, with the shimmer of steel playing over it, +and the rude white standards flapping in the night breeze. Far on the +right a great fire was blazing--some farmhouse, doubtless, which the +Tangiers devils had made spoil of. Very slow our march was, and very +careful, for the plain was, as Sir Stephen Timewell had told us, cut +across by great ditches or rhines, which could not be passed save at +some few places. These ditches were cut for the purpose of draining the +marshes, and were many feet deep of water and of mud, so that even +the horse could not cross them. The bridges were narrow, and some time +passed before the army could get over. At last, however, the two main +ones, the Black Ditch and the Langmoor Rhine, were safely traversed and +a halt was called while the foot was formed in line, for we had reason +to believe that no other force lay between the Royal camp and ourselves. +So far our enterprise had succeeded admirably. We were within half a +mile of the camp without mistake or accident, and none of the enemy's +scouts had shown sign of their presence. Clearly they held us in such +contempt that it had never occurred to them that we might open the +attack. If ever a general deserved a beating it was Feversham that +night. As he drew up upon the moor the clock of Chedzoy struck one. + +'Is it not glorious?' whispered Sir Gervas, as we reined up upon the +further side of the Langmoor Rhine. 'What is there on earth to compare +with the excitement of this?' + +'You speak as though it wore a cocking-match or a bull-baiting, 'I +answered, with some little coldness. 'It is a solemn and a sad occasion. +Win who will, English blood must soak the soil of England this night.' + +'The more room for those who are left,' said he lightly. 'Mark over +yonder the glow of their camp-fires amidst the fog. What was it that +your seaman friend did recommend? Get the weather-gauge of them and +board--eh? Have you told that to the Colonel?' + +'Nay, this is no time for quips and cranks,' I answered gravely; 'the +chances are that few of us will ever see to-morrow's sun rise.' + +'I have no great curiosity to see it,' he remarked, with a laugh. 'It +will be much as yesterday's. Zounds! though I have never risen to see +one in my life, I have looked on many a hundred ere I went to bed.' + +'I have told friend Reuben such few things as I should desire to be done +in case I should fall,' said I. 'It has eased my mind much to know that +I leave behind some word of farewell, and little remembrance to all whom +I have known. Is there no service of the sort which I can do for you?' + +'Hum!' said he, musing. 'If I go under, you can tell Araminta--nay, let +the poor wench alone! Why should I send her messages which may plague +her! Should you be in town, little Tommy Chichester would be glad to +hear of the fun which we have had in Somerset. You will find him at the +Coca Tree every day of the week between two and four of the clock. There +is Mother Butterworth, too, whom I might commend to your notice. She +was the queen of wet-nurses, but alas! cruel time hath dried up her +business, and she hath need of some little nursing herself.' + +'If I live and you should fall, I shall do what may be done for her,' +said I. 'Have you aught else to say?' + +'Only that Hacker of Paul's Yard is the best for vests,' he answered. +'It is a small piece of knowledge, yet like most other knowledge it hath +been bought and paid for. One other thing! I have a trinket or two left +which might serve as a gift for the pretty Puritan maid, should our +friend lead her to the altar. Od's my life, but she will make him read +some queer books! How now, Colonel, why are we stuck out on the moor +like a row of herons among the sedges?' + +'They are ordering the line for the attack,' said Saxon, who had ridden +up during our conversation. 'Donnerblitz! Who ever saw a camp so +exposed to an onfall? Oh for twelve hundred good horse--for an hour of +Wessenburg's Pandours! Would I not trample them down until their camp +was like a field of young corn after a hail-storm!' + +'May not our horse advance?' I asked. + +The old soldier gave a deep snort of disdain. 'If this fight is to be +won it must be by our foot,' said he; 'what can we hope for from such +cavalry? Keep your men well in hand, for we may have to bear the brunt +of the King's dragoons. A flank attack would fall upon us, for we are in +the post of honour.' + +'There are troops to the right of us,' I answered, peering through the +darkness. + +'Aye! the Taunton burghers and the Frome peasants. Our brigade covers +the right flank. Next us are the Mendip miners, nor could I wish for +better comrades, if their zeal do not outrun their discretion. They are +on their knees in the mud at this moment.' + +'They will fight none the worse for that,' I remarked; 'but surely the +troops are advancing!' + +'Aye, aye!' cried Saxon joyously, plucking out his sword, and tying +his handkerchief round the handle to strengthen his grip. 'The hour has +come! Forwards!' + +Very slowly and silently we crept on through the dense fog, our feet +splashing and slipping in the sodden soil. With all the care which +we could take, the advance of so great a number of men could not be +conducted without a deep sonorous sound from the thousands of marching +feet. Ahead of us were splotches of ruddy light twinkling through the +fog which marked the Royal watch-fires. Immediately in front in a dense +column our own horse moved forwards. Of a sudden out of the darkness +there came a sharp challenge and a shout, with the discharge of a +carbine and the sound of galloping hoofs. Away down the line we heard +a ripple of shots. The first line of outposts had been reached. At the +alarm our horse charged forward with a huzza, and we followed them as +fast as our men could run. We had crossed two or three hundred yards of +moor, and could hear the blowing of the Royal bugles quite close to us, +when our horse came to a sudden halt, and our whole advance was at a +standstill. + +'Sancta Maria!' cried Saxon, dashing forward with the rest of us to find +out the cause of the delay. 'We must on at any cost! A halt now will +ruin our camisado.' + +'Forwards, forwards!' cried Sir Gervas and I, waving our swords. + +'It is no use, gentlemen,' cried a cornet of horse, wringing his hands; +'we are undone and betrayed. There is a broad ditch without a ford in +front of us, full twenty feet across!' + +'Give me room for my horse, and I shall show ye the way across!' cried +the Baronet, backing his steed. 'Now, lads, who's for a jump?' + +'Nay, sir, for God's sake!' said a trooper, laying his hand upon his +bridle. 'Sergeant Sexton hath sprung in even now, and horse and man have +gone to the bottom!' + +'Let us see it, then!' cried Saxon, pushing his way through the crowd +of horsemen. We followed close at his heels, until we found ourselves on +the borders of the vast trench which impeded our advance. + +To this day I have never been able to make up my mind whether it was +by chance or by treachery on the part of our guides that this fosse was +overlooked until we stumbled upon it in the dark. There are some who say +that the Bussex Rhine, as it is called, is not either deep or broad, +and was, therefore, unmentioned by the moorsmen, but that the recent +constant rains had swollen it to an extent never before known. Others +say that the guides had been deceived by the fog, and taken a wrong +course, whereas, had we followed another track, we might have been able +to come upon the camp without crossing the ditch. However that may be, +it is certain that we found it stretching in front of us, broad, black, +and forbidding, full twenty feet from bank to bank, with the cap of the +ill-fated sergeant just visible in the centre as a mute warning to all +who might attempt to ford it. + +'There must be a passage somewhere,' cried Saxon furiously. 'Every +moment is worth a troop of horse to them. Where is my Lord Grey? Hath +the guide met with his deserts?' + +'Major Hollis hath hurled the guide into the ditch,' the young cornet +answered. 'My Lord Grey hath ridden along the bank seeking for a ford.' + +I caught a pike out of a footman's hand, and probed into the black +oozy mud, standing myself up to the waist in it, and holding Covenant's +bridle in my left hand. Nowhere could I touch bottom or find any hope of +solid foothold. + +'Here, fellow!' cried Saxon, seizing a trooper by the arm. 'Make for +the rear! Gallop as though the devil were behind you! Bring up a pair +of ammunition waggons, and we shall see whether we cannot bridge this +infernal puddle.' + +'If a few of us could make a lodgment upon the other side we might make +it good until help came,' said Sir Gervas, as the horseman galloped off +upon his mission. + +All down the rebel line a fierce low roar of disappointment and rage +showed that the whole army had met the same obstacle which hindered +our attack. On the other side of the ditch the drums beat, the bugles +screamed, and the shouts and oaths of the officers could be heard as +they marshalled their men. Glancing lights in Chedzoy, Westonzoyland, +and the other hamlets to left and right, showed how fast the alarm +was extending. Decimus Saxon rode up and down the edge of the fosse, +pattering forth foreign oaths, grinding his teeth in his fury, and +rising now and again in his stirrups to shake his gauntleted hands at +the enemy. + +'For whom are ye?' shouted a hoarse voice out of the haze. + +'For the King!' roared the peasants in answer. + +'For which King?' cried the voice. + +'For King Monmouth!' + +'Let them have it, lads!' and instantly a storm of musket bullets +whistled and sung about our ears. As the sheet of flame sprang out of +the darkness the maddened, half-broken horses dashed wildly away across +the plain, resisting the efforts of the riders to pull them up. There +are some, indeed, who say that those efforts were not very strong, and +that our troopers, disheartened at the check at the ditch, were not +sorry to show their heels to the enemy. As to my Lord Grey, I can say +truly that I saw him in the dim light among the flying squadrons, doing +all that a brave cavalier could do to bring them to a stand. Away they +went, however, thundering through the ranks of the foot and out over the +moor, leaving their companions to bear the whole brunt of the battle. + +'On to your faces, men!' shouted Saxon, in a voice which rose high above +the crash of the musketry and the cries of the wounded. The pikemen and +scythesmen threw themselves down at his command, while the musqueteers +knelt in front of them, loading and firing, with nothing to aim at save +the burning matches of the enemy's pieces, which could be seen twinkling +through the darkness. All along, both to the right and the left, a +rolling fire had broken out, coming in short, quick volleys from the +soldiers, and in a continuous confused rattle from the peasants. On the +further wing our four guns had been brought into play, and we could hear +their dull growling in the distance. + +'Sing, brothers, sing!' cried our stout-hearted chaplain, Master Joshua +Pettigrue, bustling backwards and forwards among the prostrate ranks. +'Let us call upon the Lord in our day of trial!' The men raised a loud +hymn of praise, which swelled into a great chorus as it was taken up by +the Taunton burghers upon our right and the miners upon our left. At +the sound the soldiers on the other side raised a fierce huzza, and the +whole air was full of clamour. + +Our musqueteers had been brought to the very edge of the Bussex Rhine, +and the Royal troops had also advanced as far as they were able, so that +there were not five pikes'-lengths between the lines. Yet that short +distance was so impassable that, save for the more deadly fire, a +quarter of a mile might have divided us. So near were we that the +burning wads from the enemy's muskets flew in flakes of fire over +our heads, and we felt upon our faces the hot, quick flush of their +discharges. Yet though the air was alive with bullets, the aim of the +soldiers was too high for our kneeling ranks, and very few of the men +were struck. For our part, we did what we could to keep the barrels of +our muskets from inclining upwards. Saxon, Sir Gervas, and I walked +our horses up and down without ceasing, pushing them level with our +sword-blades, and calling on the men to aim steadily and slowly. The +groans and cries from the other side of the ditch showed that some, at +least, of our bullets had not been fired in vain. + +'We hold our own in this quarter,' said I to Saxon. 'It seems to me that +their fire slackens.' + +'It is their horse that I fear,' he answered. 'They can avoid the ditch, +since they come from the hamlets on the flank. They may be upon us at +any time.' + +'Hullo, sir!' shouted Sir Gervas, reining up his steed upon the very +brink of the ditch, and raising his cap in salute to a mounted officer +upon the other side. 'Can you tell me if we have the honour to be +opposed to the foot guards?' + +'We are Dumbarton's regiment, sir,' cried the other. 'We shall give ye +good cause to remember having met us.' + +'We shall be across presently to make your further acquaintance,' Sir +Gervas answered, and at the same moment rolled, horse and all, into the +ditch, amid a roar of exultation from the soldiers. Half-a-dozen of his +musqueteers sprang instantly, waist deep, into the mud, and dragged our +friend out of danger, but the charger, which had been shot through the +heart, sank without a struggle. + +'There is no harm!' cried the Baronet, springing to his feet, 'I would +rather fight on foot like my brave musqueteers.' The men broke out +a-cheering at his words, and the fire on both sides became hotter +than ever. It was a marvel to me, and to many more, to see these brave +peasants with their mouths full of bullets, loading, priming, and firing +as steadily as though they had been at it all their lives, and holding +their own against a veteran regiment which has proved itself in other +fields to be second to none in the army of England. + +The grey light of morning was stealing over the moor, and still the +fight was undecided. The fog hung about us in feathery streaks, and +the smoke from our guns drifted across in a dun-coloured cloud, through +which the long lines of red coats upon the other side of the rhine +loomed up like a battalion of giants. My eyes ached and my lips prinkled +with the smack of the powder. On every side of me men were falling fast, +for the increased light had improved the aim of the soldiers. Our good +chaplain, in the very midst of a psalm, had uttered a great shout +of praise and thanksgiving, and so passed on to join those of his +parishioners who were scattered round him upon the moor. Hope-above +Williams and Keeper Milson, under-officers, and among the stoutest +men in the company, were both down, the one dead and the other sorely +wounded, but still ramming down charges, and spitting bullets into his +gun-barrel. The two Stukeleys of Somerton, twins, and lads of great +promise, lay silently with grey faces turned to the grey sky, united in +death as they had been in birth. Everywhere the dead lay thick amid the +living. Yet no man flinched from his place, and Saxon still walked +his horse among them with words of hope and praise, while his stern, +deep-lined face and tall sinewy figure were a very beacon of hope to +the simple rustics. Such of my scythesmen as could handle a musket were +thrown forward into the fighting line, and furnished with the arms and +pouches of those who had fallen. + +Ever and anon as the light waxed I could note through the rifts in the +smoke and the fog how the fight was progressing in other parts of the +field. On the right the heath was brown with the Taunton and Frome +men, who, like ourselves, were lying down to avoid the fire. Along the +borders of the Bussex Rhine a deep fringe of their musqueteers were +exchanging murderous volleys, almost muzzle to muzzle, with the +left wing of the same regiment with which we were engaged, which was +supported by a second regiment in broad white facings, which I believe +to have belonged to the Wiltshire Militia. On either bank of the black +trench a thick line of dead, brown on the one side, and scarlet on the +other, served as a screen to their companions, who sheltered themselves +behind them and rested their musket-barrels upon their prostrate bodies. +To the left amongst the withies lay five hundred Mendip and Bagworthy +miners, singing lustily, but so ill-armed that they had scarce one gun +among ten wherewith to reply to the fire which was poured into them. +They could not advance, and they would not retreat, so they sheltered +themselves as best they might, and waited patiently until their leaders +might decide what was to be done. Further down for half a mile or more +the long rolling cloud of smoke, with petulant flashes of flame spurting +out through it, showed that every one of our raw regiments was bearing +its part manfully. The cannon on the left had ceased firing. The Dutch +gunners had left the Islanders to settle their own quarrels, and were +scampering back to Bridgewater, leaving their silent pieces to the Royal +Horse. + +The battle was in this state when there rose a cry of 'The King, the +King!' and Monmouth rode through our ranks, bare-headed and wild-eyed, +with Buyse, Wade, and a dozen more beside him. They pulled up within a +spear's-length of me, and Saxon, spurring forward to meet them, raised +his sword to the salute. I could not but mark the contrast between +the calm, grave face of the veteran, composed yet alert, and the half +frantic bearing of the man whom we were compelled to look upon as our +leader. + +'How think ye, Colonel Saxon?' he cried wildly. 'How goes the fight? Is +all well with ye? What an error, alas! what an error! Shall we draw off, +eh? How say you?' + +'We hold our own here, your Majesty,' Saxon answered. 'Methinks had we +something after the nature of palisados or stockados, after the Swedish +fashion, we might even make it good against the horse.' + +'Ah, the horse!' cried the unhappy Monmouth. 'If we get over this, my +Lord Grey shall answer for it. They ran like a flock of sheep. What +leader could do anything with such troops? Oh, lack-a-day, lack-a-day! +Shall we not advance?' + +'There is no reason to advance, your Majesty, now that the surprise has +failed,' said Saxon. 'I had sent for carts to bridge over the trench, +according to the plan which is commended in the treatise, "De vallis et +fossis," but they are useless now. We can but fight it out as we are.' + +'To throw troops across would be to sacrifice them,' said Wade. 'We have +lost heavily, Colonel Saxon, but I think from the look of yonder bank +that ye have given a good account of the red-coats.' + +'Stand firm! For God's sake, stand firm!' cried Monmouth distractedly. +'The horse have fled, and the cannoniers also. Oh! what can I do with +such men? What shall I do? Alas, alas!' He set spurs to his horse and +galloped off down the line, still ringing his hands and uttering his +dismal wailings. Oh, my children, how small, how very small a thing is +death when weighed in the balance with dishonour! Had this man but borne +his fate silently, as did the meanest footman who followed his banners, +how proud and glad would we have been to have discoursed of him, our +princely leader. But let him rest. The fears and agitations and petty +fond emotions, which showed upon him as the breeze shows upon the water, +are all stilled now for many a long year. Let us think of the kind heart +and forget the feeble spirit. + +As his escort trooped after him, the great German man-at-arms separated +from them and turned back to us. 'I am weary of trotting up and down +like a lust-ritter at a fair,' said he. 'If I bide with ye I am like to +have my share of any fighting which is going. So, steady, mein Liebchen. +That ball grazed her tail, but she is too old a soldier to wince at +trifles. Hullo, friend, where is your horse?' + +'At the bottom of the ditch,' said Sir Gervas, scraping the mud off his +dress with his sword-blade. ''Tis now half-past two,' he continued, +'and we have been at this child's-play for an hour and more. With a line +regiment, too! It is not what I had looked forward to!' + +'You shall have something to console you anon,' cried the German, with +his eyes shining. 'Mein Gott! Is it not splendid? Look to it, friend +Saxon, look to it!' + +It was no light matter which had so roused the soldier's admiration. Out +of the haze which still lay thick upon our right there twinkled here and +there a bright gleam of silvery light, while a dull, thundering noise +broke upon our ears like that of the surf upon a rocky shore. More and +more frequent came the fitful flashes of steel, louder and yet louder +grew the hoarse gathering tumult, until of a sudden the fog was rent, +and the long lines of the Royal cavalry broke out from it, wave after +wave, rich in scarlet and blue and gold, as grand a sight as ever the +eye rested upon. There was something in the smooth, steady sweep of so +great a body of horsemen which gave the feeling of irresistible power. +Rank after rank, and line after line, with waving standards, tossing +manes, and gleaming steel, they poured onwards, an army in themselves, +with either flank still shrouded in the mist. As they thundered along, +knee to knee and bridle to bridle, there came from them such a gust of +deep-chested oaths with the jangle of harness, the clash of steel, and +the measured beat of multitudinous hoofs, that no man who hath not stood +up against such a whirlwind, with nothing but a seven-foot pike in his +hand, can know how hard it is to face it with a steady lip and a firm +grip. + +But wonderful as was the sight, there was, as ye may guess, my +dears, little time for us to gaze upon it. Saxon and the German flung +themselves among the pikemen and did all that men could do to thicken +their array. Sir Gervas and I did the same with the scythesmen, who had +been trained to form a triple front after the German fashion, one rank +kneeling, one stooping, and one standing erect, with weapons advanced. +Close to us the Taunton men had hardened into a dark sullen ring, +bristling with steel, in the centre of which might be seen and heard +their venerable Mayor, his long beard fluttering in the breeze, and his +strident voice clanging over the field. Louder and louder grew the roar +of the horse. 'Steady, my brave lads,' cried Saxon, in trumpet tones. +'Dig the pike-butt into the earth! Best it on the right foot! Give not +an inch! Steady!' A great shout went up from either side, and then the +living wave broke over us. + +What hope is there to describe such a scene as that--the crashing of +wood, the sharp gasping cries, the snorting of horses, the jar when the +push of pike met with the sweep of sword! Who can hope to make +another see that of which he himself carries away so vague and dim an +impression? One who has acted in such a scene gathers no general sense +of the whole combat, such as might be gained by a mere onlooker, but +he has stamped for ever upon his mind just the few incidents which may +chance to occur before his own eyes. Thus my memories are confined to a +swirl of smoke with steel caps and fierce, eager faces breaking through +it, with the red gaping nostrils of horses and their pawing fore-feet +as they recoiled from the hedge of steel. I see, too, a young beardless +lad, an officer of dragoons, crawling on hands and knees under the +scythes, and I hear his groan as one of the peasants pinned him to the +ground. I see a bearded, broad-faced trooper riding a grey horse just +outside the fringe of the scythes, seeking for some entrance, and +screaming the while with rage. Small things imprint themselves upon a +man's notice at such a time. I even marked the man's strong white teeth +and pink gums. At the same time I see a white-faced, thin-lipped man +leaning far forward over his horse's neck and driving at me with his +sword point, cursing the while as only a dragoon can curse. All these +images start up as I think of that fierce rally, during which I hacked +and cut and thrust at man and horse without a thought of parry or +of guard. All round rose a fierce babel of shouts and cries, godly +ejaculations from the peasants and oaths from the horsemen, with Saxon's +voice above all imploring his pikemen to stand firm. Then the cloud +of horse-men recoiled, circling off over the plain, and the shout of +triumph from my comrades, and an open snuff-box thrust out in front of +me, proclaimed that we had seen the back of as stout a squadron as ever +followed a kettledrum. + +But if we could claim it as a victory, the army in general could scarce +say as much. None but the very pick of the troops could stand against +the flood of heavy horses and steel-clad men. The Frome peasants were +gone, swept utterly from the field. Many had been driven by pure weight +and pressure into the fatal mud which had checked our advance. Many +others, sorely cut and slashed, lay in ghastly heaps all over the ground +which they had held. A few by joining our ranks had saved themselves +from the fate of their companions. Further off the men of Taunton still +stood fast, though in sadly diminished numbers. A long ridge of horses +and cavaliers in front of them showed how stern had been the attack and +how fierce the resistance. On our left the wild miners had been broken +at the first rush, but had fought so savagely, throwing themselves upon +the ground and stabbing upwards at the stomachs of the horses, that they +had at last beaten off the dragoons. The Devonshire militiamen, however, +had been scattered, and shared the fate of the men of Frome. During the +whole of the struggle the foot upon the further bank of the Bussex Rhine +were pouring in a hail of bullets, which our musqueteers, having to +defend themselves against the horse, were unable to reply to. + +It needed no great amount of soldierly experience to see that the battle +was lost, and that Monmouth's cause was doomed. It was broad daylight +now, though the sun had not yet risen. Our cavalry was gone, our +ordnance was silent, our line was pierced in many places, and more than +one of our regiments had been destroyed. On the right flank the Horse +Guards Blue, the Tangiers Horse, and two dragoon regiments were forming +up for a fresh attack. On the left the foot-guards had bridged the ditch +and were fighting hand to hand with the men from North Somerset. In +front a steady fire was being poured into us, to which our reply was +feeble and uncertain, for the powder carts had gone astray in the dark, +and many were calling hoarsely for ammunition, while others were loading +with pebbles instead of ball. Add to this that the regiments which still +held their ground had all been badly shaken by the charge, and had lost +a third of their number. Yet the brave clowns sent up cheer after cheer, +and shouted words of encouragement and homely jests to each other, +as though a battle were but some rough game which must as a matter of +course be played out while there was a player left to join in it. + +'Is Captain Clarke there?' cried Decimus Saxon, riding up with his +sword-arm flecked with blood. 'Ride over to Sir Stephen Timewell and +tell him to join his men to ours. Apart we shall be broken--together we +may stand another charge.' + +Setting spurs to Covenant I rode over to our companions and delivered +the message. Sir Stephen, who had been struck by a petronel bullet, +and wore a crimsoned kerchief bound round his snow-white head, saw +the wisdom of the advice, and moved his townsmen as directed. His +musqueteers being better provided with powder than ours did good service +by keeping down for a time the deadly fire from across the fosse. + +'Who would have thought it of him?' cried Sir Stephen, with flashing +eyes, as Buyse and Saxon rode out to meet him. 'What think ye now of our +noble monarch, our champion of the Protestant cause?' + +'He is no very great Krieger,' said Buyse. 'Yet perhaps it may be from +want of habit as much as from want of courage.' + +'Courage!' cried the old Mayor, in a voice of scorn. 'Look over yonder +and behold your King.' He pointed out over the moor with a finger +which shook as much from anger as from age. There, far away, showing +up against the dark peat-coloured soil, rode a gaily-dressed cavalier, +followed by a knot of attendants, galloping as fast as his horse would +carry him from the field of battle. There was no mistaking the fugitive. +It was the recreant Monmouth. + +'Hush!' cried Saxon, as we all gave a cry of horror and execration; +'do not dishearten our brave lads! Cowardice is catching and will run +through an army like the putrid fever.' + +'Der Feigherzige!' cried Buyse, grinding his teeth. 'And the brave +country folk! It is too much.' + +'Stand to your pikes, men!' roared Saxon, in a voice of thunder, and +we had scarce time to form our square and throw ourselves inside of it, +before the whirlwind of horse was upon us once more. When the Taunton +men had joined us a weak spot had been left in our ranks, and through +this in an instant the Blue Guards smashed their way, pouring through +the opening, and cutting fiercely to right and left. The burghers on the +one side and our own men on the other replied by savage stabs from their +pikes and scythes, which emptied many a saddle, but while the struggle +was at its hottest the King's cannon opened for the first time with a +deafening roar upon the other side of the rhine, and a storm of balls +ploughed their way through our dense ranks, leaving furrows of dead +and wounded behind them. At the same moment a great cry of 'Powder! For +Christ's sake, powder!' arose from the musqueteers whose last charge had +been fired. Again the cannon roared, and again our men were mowed down +as though Death himself with his scythe were amongst us. At last our +ranks were breaking. In the very centre of the pikemen steel caps were +gleaming, and broadswords rising and falling. The whole body was swept +back two hundred paces or more, struggling furiously the while, and +was there mixed with other like bodies which had been dashed out of all +semblance of military order, and yet refused to fly. Men of Devon, of +Dorset, of Wiltshire, and of Somerset, trodden down by horse, slashed by +dragoons, dropping by scores under the rain of bullets, still fought on +with a dogged, desperate courage for a ruined cause and a man who +had deserted them. Everywhere as I glanced around me were set faces, +clenched teeth, yells of rage and defiance, but never a sound of fear +or of submission. Some clambered up upon the cruppers of the riders and +dragged them backwards from their saddles. Others lay upon their faces +and hamstrung the chargers with their scythe-blades, stabbing the +horsemen before they could disengage themselves. Again and again the +guards crashed through them from side to side, and yet the shattered +ranks closed up behind them and continued the long-drawn struggle. So +hopeless was it and so pitiable that I could have found it in my heart +to wish that they would break and fly, were it not that on the broad +moor there was no refuge which they could make for. And all this time, +while they struggled and fought, blackened with powder and parched with +thirst, spilling their blood as though it were water, the man who called +himself their King was spurring over the countryside with a loose rein +and a quaking heart, his thoughts centred upon saving his own neck, come +what might to his gallant followers. + +Large numbers of the foot fought to the death, neither giving nor +receiving quarter; but at last, scattered, broken, and without +ammunition, the main body of the peasants dispersed and fled across the +moor, closely followed by the horse. Saxon, Buyse, and I had done all +that we could to rally them once more, and had cut down some of the +foremost of the pursuers, when my eye fell suddenly upon Sir Gervas, +standing hatless with a few of his musqueteers in the midst of a swarm +of dragoons. Spurring our horses we cut a way to his rescue, and laid +our swords about us until we had cleared off his assailants for the +moment. + +'Jump up behind me!' I cried. 'We can make good our escape.' + +He looked up smiling and shook his head. 'I stay with my company,' said +he. + +'Your company!' Saxon cried. 'Why, man, you are mad! Your company is cut +off to the last man.' + +'That's what I mean,' he answered, flicking some dirt from his cravat. +'Don't ye mind! Look out for yourselves. Goodbye, Clarke! Present my +compliments to--' The dragoons charged down upon us again. We were all +borne backwards, fighting desperately, and when we could look round the +Baronet was gone for ever. We heard afterwards that the King's troops +found upon the field a body which they mistook for that of Monmouth, on +account of the effeminate grace of the features and the richness of the +attire. No doubt it was that of our undaunted friend, Sir Gervas Jerome, +a name which shall ever be dear to my heart. When, ten years afterwards, +we heard much of the gallantry of the young courtiers of the household +of the French King, and of the sprightly courage with which they fought +against us in the Lowlands at Steinkirk and elsewhere, I have always +thought, from my recollection of Sir Gervas, that I knew what manner of +men they were. + +And now it was every man for himself. In no part of the field did +the insurgents continue to resist. The first rays of the sun shining +slantwise across the great dreary plain lit up the long line of the +scarlet battalions, and glittered upon the cruel swords which rose and +fell among the struggling drove of resistless fugitives. The German had +become separated from us in the tumult, and we knew not whether he lived +or was slain, though long afterwards we learned that he made good his +escape, only to be captured with the ill-fated Duke of Monmouth. Grey, +Wade, Ferguson, and others had contrived also to save themselves, while +Stephen Timewell lay in the midst of a stern ring of his hard-faced +burghers, dying as he had lived, a gallant Puritan Englishman. All this +we learned afterwards. At present we rode for our lives across the moor, +followed by a few scattered bodies of horse, who soon abandoned their +pursuit in order to fasten upon some more easy prey. + +We were passing a small clump of alder bushes when a loud manly voice +raised in prayer attracted our attention. Pushing aside the branches, we +came upon a man, seated with his back up against a great stone, cutting +at his own arm with a broad-bladed knife, and giving forth the Lord's +prayer the while, without a pause or a quiver in his tone. As he glanced +up from his terrible task we both recognised him as one Hollis, whom I +have mentioned as having been with Cromwell at Dunbar. His arm had +been half severed by a cannon-ball, and he was quietly completing the +separation in order to free himself from the dangling and useless limb. +Even Saxon, used as he was to all the forms and incidents of war, stared +open-eyed and aghast at this strange surgery; but the man, with a short +nod of recognition, went grimly forward with his task, until, even as +we gazed, he separated the last shred which held it, and lay over with +blanched lips which still murmured the prayer. (1) We could do little +to help him, and, indeed, might by our halt attract his pursuers to his +hiding-place; so, throwing him down my flask half filled with water, we +hastened on upon our way. Oh, war, my children, what a terrible thing it +is! How are men cozened and cheated by the rare trappings and prancing +steeds, by the empty terms of honour and of glory, until they forget +in the outward tinsel and show the real ghastly horror of the accursed +thing! Think not of the dazzling squadrons, nor of the spirit-stirring +blare of the trumpets, but think of that lonely man under the shadow of +the alders, and of what he was doing in a Christian age and a Christian +land. Surely I, who have grown grey in harness, and who have seen as +many fields as I have years of my life, should be the last to preach +upon this subject, and yet I can clearly see that, in honesty, men must +either give up war, or else they must confess that the words of the +Redeemer are too lofty for them, and that there is no longer any use in +pretending that His teaching can be reduced to practice. I have seen a +Christian minister blessing a cannon which had just been founded, and +another blessing a war-ship as it glided from the slips. They, +the so-called representatives of Christ, blessed these engines of +destruction which cruel man has devised to destroy and tear his +fellow-worms. What would we say if we read in Holy Writ of our Lord +having blessed the battering-rams and the catapults of the legions? +Would we think that it was in agreement with His teaching? But there! +As long as the heads of the Church wander away so far from the spirit of +its teaching as to live in palaces and drive in carriages, what wonder +if, with such examples before them, the lower clergy overstep at times +the lines laid down by their great Master? + +Looking back from the summit of the low hills which lie to the westward +of the moor, we could see the cloud of horse-men streaming over the +bridge of the Parret and into the town of Bridgewater, with the helpless +drove of fugitives still flying in front of them. We had pulled up our +horses, and were looking sadly and silently back at the fatal plain, +when the thud of hoofs fell upon our ears, and, turning round, we found +two horsemen in the dress of the guards riding towards us. They had made +a circuit to cut us off, for they were riding straight for us with drawn +swords and eager gestures. + +'More slaughter,' I said wearily. 'Why will they force us to it?' + +Saxon glanced keenly from beneath his drooping lids at the approaching +horsemen, and a grim smile wreathed his face in a thousand lines and +wrinkles. + +'It is our friend who set the hounds upon our track at Salisbury,' he +said. 'This is a happy meeting. I have a score to settle with him.' + +It was, indeed, the hot-headed young comet whom we had met at the outset +of our adventures. Some evil chance had led him to recognise the tall +figure of my companion as we rode from the field, and to follow him, in +the hope of obtaining revenge for the humiliation which he had met with +at his hands. The other was a lance-corporal, a man of square soldierly +build, riding a heavy black horse with a white blaze upon its forehead. + +Saxon rode slowly towards the officer, while the trooper and I fixed our +eyes upon each other. + +'Well, boy,' I heard my companion say, 'I trust that you have learned to +fence since we met last.' + +The young guardsman gave a snarl of rage at the taunt, and an instant +afterwards the clink of their sword-blades showed that they had met. +For my own part I dared not spare a glance upon them, for my opponent +attacked me with such fury that it was all that I could do to keep him +off. No pistol was drawn upon either side. It was an honest contest of +steel against steel. So constant were the corporal's thrusts, now at my +face, now at my body, that I had never an opening for one of the heavy +cuts which might have ended the matter. Our horses spun round each +other, biting and pawing, while we thrust and parried, until at last, +coming together knee to knee, we found ourselves within sword-point, and +grasped each other by the throat. He plucked a dagger from his belt and +struck it into my left arm, but I dealt him a blow with my gauntleted +hand, which smote him off his horse and stretched him speechless upon +the plain. Almost at the same moment the cornet dropped from his horse, +wounded in several places. Saxon sprang from his saddle, and picking the +soldier's dagger from the ground, would have finished them both had I +not jumped down also and restrained him. He flashed round upon me with +so savage a face that I could see that the wild-beast nature within him +was fairly roused. + +'What hast thou to do?' he snarled. 'Let go!' + +'Nay, nay! Blood enough hath been shed,' said I. 'Let them lie.' + +'What mercy would they have had upon us?' he cried passionately, +struggling to get his wrist free. 'They have lost, and must pay +forfeit.' + +'Not in cold blood,' I said firmly. 'I shall not abide it.' + +'Indeed, your lordship,' he sneered, with the devil peeping out through +his eyes. With a violent wrench he freed himself from my grasp, and +springing back, picked up the sword which he had dropped. + +'What then?' I asked, standing on my guard astride of the wounded man. + +He stood for a minute or more looking at me from under his heavy-hung +brows, with his whole face writhing with passion. Every instant I +expected that he would fly at me, but at last, with a gulp in his +throat, he sheathed his rapier with a sharp clang, and sprang back into +the saddle. + +'We part here,' he said coldly. 'I have twice been on the verge of +slaying you, and the third time might be too much for my patience. You +are no fit companion for a cavalier of fortune. Join the clergy, lad; it +is your vocation.' + +'Is this Decimus Saxon who speaks, or is it Will Spotterbridge?' I +asked, remembering his jest concerning his ancestry, but no answering +smile came upon his rugged face. Gathering up his bridle in his left +hand, he shot one last malignant glance at the bleeding officer, and +galloped off along one of the tracks which lead to the southward. I +stood gazing after him, but he never sent so much as a hand-wave back, +riding on with a rigid neck until he vanished in a dip in the moor. + +'There goes one friend,' thought I sadly, 'and all forsooth because I +will not stand by and see a helpless man's throat cut. Another friend is +dead on the field. A third, the oldest and dearest of all, lies wounded +at Bridgewater, at the mercy of a brutal soldiery. If I return to my +home I do but bring trouble and danger to those whom I love. Whither +shall I turn?' For some minutes I stood irresolute beside the prostrate +guardsmen, while Covenant strolled slowly along cropping the scanty +herbage, and turning his dark full eyes towards me from time to time, as +though to assure me that one friend at least was steadfast. Northward I +looked at the Polden Hills, southwards, at the Blackdowns, westward +at the long blue range of the Quantocks, and eastward at the broad fen +country; but nowhere could I see any hope of safety. Truth to say, I +felt sick at heart and cared little for the time whether I escaped or +no. + +A muttered oath followed by a groan roused me from my meditations. +The corporal was sitting up rubbing his head with a look of stupid +astonishment upon his face, as though he were not very sure either of +where he was or how he came there. The officer, too, had opened his +eyes and shown other signs of returning consciousness. His wounds were +clearly of no very serious nature. There was no danger of their pursuing +me even should they wish to do so, for their horses had trotted off to +join the numerous other riderless steeds who were wandering all over the +moorlands. I mounted, therefore, and rode slowly away, saving my good +charger as much as possible, for the morning's work had already told +somewhat heavily upon him. + +There were many scattered bodies of horse riding hither and thither over +the marshes, but I was able to avoid them, and trotted onwards, keeping +to the waste country until I found myself eight or ten miles from the +battlefield. The few cottages and houses which I passed wore deserted, +and many of them bore signs of having been plundered. Not a peasant was +to be seen. The evil fame of Kirke's lambs had chased away all those who +had not actually taken arms. At last, after riding for three hours, I +bethought me that I was far enough from the main line of pursuit to +be free from danger, so I chose out a sheltered spot where a clump of +bushes overhung a little brook. There, seated upon a bank of velvet +moss, I rested my weary limbs, and tried to wash the stains of battle +from my person. + +It was only now when I could look quietly at my own attire that it was +brought home to me how terrible the encounter must have been in which +I had been engaged, and how wonderful it was that I had come off so +scatheless. Of the blows which I had struck in the fight I had faint +remembrance, yet they must have been many and terrible, for my sword +edge was as jagged and turned as though I had hacked for an hour at an +iron bar. From head to foot I was splashed and crimsoned with blood, +partly my own, but mostly that of others. My headpiece was dinted with +blows. A petronel bullet had glanced off my front plate, striking it +at an angle, and had left a broad groove across it. Two or three other +cracks and stars showed where the good sheet of proof steel had saved +me. My left arm was stiff and well-nigh powerless from the corporal's +stab, but on stripping off my doublet and examining the place, I found +that though there had been much bleeding the wound was on the outer side +of the bone, and was therefore of no great import. A kerchief dipped in +water and bound tightly round it eased the smart and stanched the blood. +Beyond this scratch I had no injuries, though from my own efforts I felt +as stiff and sore all over as though I had been well cudgelled, and the +slight wound got in Wells Cathedral had reopened and was bleeding. With +a little patience and cold water, however, I was able to dress it and to +tie myself up as well as any chirurgeon in the kingdom. + +Having seen to my injuries I had now to attend to my appearance, for +in truth I might have stood for one of those gory giants with whom the +worthy Don Bellianis of Greece and other stout champions were wont to +contend. No woman or child but would have fled at the sight of me, for +I was as red as the parish butcher when Martinmas is nigh. A good wash, +however, in the brook soon removed those traces of war, and I was +able to get the marks off my breastplate and boots. In the case of my +clothes, however, it was so hopeless to clean them that I gave it up in +despair. My good old horse had been never so much as grazed by steel or +bullet, so that with a little watering and tending he was soon as fresh +as ever, and we turned our backs on the streamlet a better-favoured pair +than we had approached it. + +It was now going on to mid-day, and I began to feel very hungry, for I +had tasted nothing since the evening before. Two or three houses stood +in a cluster upon the moor, but the blackened walls and scorched thatch +showed that it was hopeless to expect anything from them. Once or twice +I spied folk in the fields or on the roadway; but at sight of an armed +horseman they ran for their lives, diving into the brushwood like wild +animals. At one place, where a high oak tree marked the meeting of three +roads, two bodies dangling from one of the branches showed that the +fears of the villagers were based upon experience. These poor men had in +all likelihood been hanged because the amount of their little hoardings +had not come up to the expectations of their plunderers; or because, +having given all to one band of robbers, they had nothing with which +to appease the next. At last, when I was fairly weary of my fruitless +search for food, I espied a windmill standing upon a green hill at +the other side of some fields. Judging from its appearance that it had +escaped the general pillage, I took the pathway which branched away to +it from the high-road. (Note J, Appendix) + +1. The incident is historically true, and may serve to show what sort of +men they were who had learned their soldiering under Cromwell. + + + +Chapter XXXIII. Of my Perilous Adventure at the Mill + +At the base of the mill there stood a shed which was evidently used to +stall the horses which brought the farmers' grain. Some grass was heaped +up inside it, so I loosened Covenant's girths and left him to have a +hearty meal. The mill itself appeared to be silent and empty. I climbed +the steep wood ladder, and pushing the door open, walked into a round +stone-flagged room, from which a second ladder led to the loft above. On +one side of this chamber was a long wooden box, and all round the walls +were ranged rows of sacks full of flour. In the fireplace stood a pile +of faggots ready for lighting, so with the aid of my tinder-box I soon +had a cheerful blaze. Taking a large handful of flour from the nearest +bag I moistened it with water from a pitcher, and having rolled it out +into a flat cake, proceeded to bake it, smiling the while to think of +what my mother would say to such rough cookery. Very sure I am that +Patrick Lamb himself, whose book, the 'Complete Court Cook,' was ever in +the dear soul's left hand while she stirred and basted with her right, +could not have turned out a dish which was more to my taste at the +moment, for I had not even patience to wait for the browning of it, but +snapped it up and devoured it half hot. I then rolled a second one, and +having placed it before the fire, and drawn my pipe from my pocket, +I set myself to smoke, waiting with all the philosophy which I could +muster until it should be ready. + +I was lost in thought, brooding sadly over the blow which the news would +be to my father, when I was startled by a loud sneeze, which sounded as +though it were delivered in my very ear. I started to my feet and gazed +all round me, but there was nothing save the solid wall behind and the +empty chamber before. I had almost come to persuade myself that I had +been the creature of some delusion, when again a crashing sneeze, louder +and more prolonged than the last, broke upon the silence. Could some one +be hid in one of the bags? Drawing my sword I walked round pricking the +great flour sacks, but without being able to find cause for the sound. I +was still marvelling over the matter when a most extraordinary chorus of +gasps, snorts, and whistles broke out, with cries of 'Oh, holy mother!' +'Blessed Redeemer!' and other such exclamations. This time there could +be no doubt as to whence the uproar came. Rushing up to the great chest +upon which I had been seated, I threw back the heavy lid and gazed in. + +It was more than half full of flour, in the midst of which was +floundering some creature, which was so coated and caked with the white +powder, that it would have been hard to say that it was human were +it not for the pitiable cries which it was uttering. Stooping down I +dragged the man from his hiding-place, when he dropped upon his knees +upon the floor and yelled for mercy, raising such a cloud of dust from +every wriggle of his body that I began to cough and to sneeze. As the +skin of powder began to scale off from him, I saw to my surprise that he +was no miller or peasant, but was a man-at-arms, with a huge sword girt +to his side, looking at present not unlike a frosted icicle, and a +great steel-faced breastplate. His steel cap had remained behind in the +flour-bin, and his bright red hair, the only touch of colour about him, +stood straight up in the air with terror, as he implored me to spare his +life. Thinking that there was something familiar about his voice, I drew +my hand across his face, which set him yelling as though I had slain +him. There was no mistaking the heavy cheeks and the little greedy +eyes. It was none other than Master Tetheridge, the noisy town-clerk of +Taunton. + +But how much changed from the town-clerk whom we had seen strutting, in +all the pomp and bravery of his office, before the good Mayor on the day +of our coming to Somersetshire! Where now was the ruddy colour like a +pippin in September? Where was the assured manner and the manly port? As +he knelt his great jack-boots clicked together with apprehension, and he +poured forth in a piping voice, like that of a Lincoln's Inn mumper, a +string of pleadings, excuses, and entreaties, as though I were Feversham +in person, and was about to order him to instant execution. + +'I am but a poor scrivener man, your serene Highness,' he bawled. +'Indeed, I am a most unhappy clerk, your Honour, who has been driven +into these courses by the tyranny of those above him. A more loyal man, +your Grace, never wore neat's leather, but when the mayor says "Yes," +can the clerk say "No"? Spare me, your lordship; spare a most penitent +wretch, whose only prayer is that he may be allowed to serve King James +to the last drop of his blood!' + +'Do you renounce the Duke of Monmouth?' I asked, in a stern voice. + +'I do--from my heart!' said he fervently. + +'Then prepare to die!' I roared, whipping out my sword, 'for I am one of +his officers.' + +At the sight of the steel the wretched clerk gave a perfect bellow of +terror, and falling upon his face he wriggled and twisted, until looking +up he perceived that I was laughing. On that he crawled up on to his +knees once more, and from that to his feet, glancing at me askance, as +though by no means assured of my intentions. + +'You must remember me, Master Tetheridge,' I said. 'I am Captain Clarke, +of Saxon's regiment of Wiltshire foot. I am surprised, indeed, that you +should have fallen away from that allegiance to which you did not only +swear yourself, but did administer the oath to so many others.' + +'Not a whit, Captain, not a whit!' he answered, resuming his old +bantam-cock manner as soon as he saw that there was no danger. 'I am +upon oath as true and as leal a man as ever I was.' + +'That I can fully believe,' I answered. + +'I did but dissimulate,' he continued, brushing the flour from his +person. 'I did but practise that cunning of the serpent which should +in every warrior accompany the courage of the lion. You have read your +Homer, doubtless. Eh? I too have had a touch of the humanities. I am no +mere rough soldier, however stoutly I can hold mine own at sword-play. +Master Ulysses is my type, even as thine, I take it, is Master Ajax.' + +'Methinks that Master Jack-in-the-box would fit you better,' said I. +'Wilt have a half of this cake? How came you in the flour-bin?' + +'Why, marry, in this wise,' he answered, with his mouth full of dough. +'It was a wile or ruse, after the fashion of the greatest commanders, +who have always been famous for concealing their movements, and lurking +where they were least expected. For when the fight was lost, and I had +cut and hacked until my arm was weary and my edge blunted, I found that +I was left alone alive of all the Taunton men. Were we on the field you +could see where I had stood by the ring of slain which would be found +within the sweep of my sword-arm. Finding that all was lost and that our +rogues were fled, I mounted our worthy Mayor's charger, seeing that the +gallant gentleman had no further need for it, and rode slowly from the +field. I promise you that there was that in my eye and bearing which +prevented their horse from making too close a pursuit of me. One trooper +did indeed throw himself across my path, but mine old back-handed cut +was too much for him. Alas, I have much upon my conscience? I have made +both widows and orphans. Why will they brave me when--God of mercy, what +is that?' + +''Tis but my horse in the stall below,' I answered. + +'I thought it was the dragoons,' quoth the clerk, wiping away the drops +which had started out upon his brow. 'You and I would have gone forth +and smitten them.' + +'Or climbed into the flour-bin,' said I. + +'I have not yet made clear to you how I came there,' he continued. +'Having ridden, then, some leagues from the field, and noting this +windmill, it did occur to me that a stout man might single-handed make +it good against a troop of horse. We have no great love of flight, we +Tetheridges. It may be mere empty pride, and yet the feeling runs strong +in the family. We have a fighting strain in us ever since my kinsman +followed Ireton's army as a sutler. I pulled up, therefore, and had +dismounted to take my observations, when my brute of a charger gave +the bridle a twitch, jerked itself free, and was off in an instant over +hedges and ditches. I had, therefore, only my good sword left to trust +to. I climbed up the ladder, and was engaged in planning how the defence +could best be conducted, when I heard the clank of hoofs, and on the +top of it you did ascend from below. I retired at once into ambush, from +which I should assuredly have made a sudden outfall or sally, had the +flour not so choked my breathing that I felt as though I had a two-pound +loaf stuck in my gizzard. For myself, I am glad that it has so come +about, for in my blind wrath I might unwittingly have done you an +injury. Hearing the clank of your sword as you did come up the ladder, +I did opine that you were one of King James's minions, the captain, +perchance, of some troop in the fields below.' + +'All very clear and explicit, Master Tetheridge,' said I, re-lighting +my pipe. 'No doubt your demeanour when I did draw you from your +hiding-place was also a mere cloak for your valour. But enough of that. +It is to the future that we have to look. What are your intentions?' + +'To remain with you, Captain,' said he. + +'Nay, that you shall not,' I answered; 'I have no great fancy for your +companionship. Your overflowing valour may bring me into ruffles which I +had otherwise avoided.' + +'Nay, nay! I shall moderate my spirit,' he cried. 'In such troublous +times you will find yourself none the worse for the company of a tried +fighting man.' + +'Tried and found wanting,' said I, weary of the man's braggart talk. 'I +tell you I will go alone.' + +'Nay, you need not be so hot about it,' he exclaimed, shrinking away +from me. 'In any case, we had best stay here until nightfall, when we +may make our way to the coast.' + +'That is the first mark of sense that you have shown,' said I. 'The +King's horse will find enough to do with the Zoyland cider and the +Bridgewater ale. If we can pass through, I have friends on the north +coast who would give us a lift in their lugger as far as Holland. +This help I will not refuse to give you, since you are my fellow in +misfortune. I would that Saxon had stayed with me! I fear he will be +taken!' + +'If you mean Colonel Saxon,' said the clerk, 'I think that he also is +one who hath much guile as well as valour. A stern, fierce soldier +he was, as I know well, having fought back to back with him for forty +minutes by the clock, against a troop of Sarsfield's horse. Plain of +speech he was, and perhaps a trifle inconsiderate of the honour of a +cavalier, but in the field it would have been well for the army had they +had more such commanders.' + +'You say truly,' I answered; 'but now that we have refreshed ourselves +it is time that we bethought us of taking some rest, since we may have +far to travel this night. I would that I could lay my hand upon a flagon +of ale.' + +'I would gladly drink to our further acquaintanceship in the same,' +said my companion, 'but as to the matter of slumber that may be readily +arranged. If you ascend that ladder you will find in the loft a litter +of empty sacks, upon which you can repose. For myself, I will stay down +here for a while and cook myself another cake.' + +'Do you remain on watch for two hours and then arouse me,' I replied. +'I shall then keep guard whilst you sleep.' He touched the hilt of his +sword as a sign that he would be true to his post, so not without some +misgivings I climbed up into the loft, and throwing myself upon the +rude couch was soon in a deep and dreamless slumber, lulled by the low, +mournful groaning and creaking of the sails. + +I was awoken by steps beside me, and found that the little clerk had +come up the ladder and was bending over me. I asked him if the time had +come for me to rouse, on which he answered in a strange quavering voice +that I had yet an hour, and that he had come up to see if there was any +service which he could render me. I was too weary to take much note +of his slinking manner and pallid cheeks, so thanking him for his +attention, I turned over and was soon asleep once more. + +My next waking was a rougher and a sterner one. There came a sudden +rush of heavy feet up the ladder, and a dozen red-coats swarmed into the +room. Springing on to my feet I put out my hand for the sword which I +had laid all ready by my side, but the trusty weapon had gone. It had +been stolen whilst I slumbered. Unarmed and taken at a vantage, I was +struck down and pinioned in a moment. One held a pistol to my head, and +swore that he would blow my brains out if I stirred, while the others +wound a coil of rope round my body and arms, until Samson himself could +scarce have got free. Feeling that my struggles were of no possible +avail, I lay silent and waited for whatever was to come. Neither now nor +at any time, dear children, have I laid great store upon my life, but +far less then than now, for each of you are tiny tendrils which bind me +to this world. Yet, when I think of the other dear ones who are waiting +for me on the further shore, I do not think that even now death would +seem an evil thing in my eyes. What a hopeless and empty thing would +life be without it! + +Having lashed my arms, the soldiers dragged me down the ladder, as +though I had been a truss of hay, into the room beneath, which was +also crowded with troopers. In one corner was the wretched scrivener, +a picture of abject terror, with chattering teeth and trembling knees, +only prevented from falling upon the floor by the grasp of a stalwart +corporal. In front of him stood two officers, one a little hard brown +man with dark twinkling eyes and an alert manner, the other tall and +slender, with a long golden moustache, which drooped down half-way to +his shoulders. The former had my sword in his hand, and they were both +examining the blade curiously. + +'It is a good bit of steel, Dick,' said one, putting the point against +the stone floor, and pressing down until he touched it with the handle. +'See, with what a snap it rebounds! No maker's name, but the date 1638 +is stamped upon the pommel. Where did you get it, fellow?' he asked, +fixing his keen gaze upon my face. + +'It was my father's before me,' I answered. + +'Then I trust that he drew it in a better quarrel than his son hath +done,' said the taller officer, with a sneer. + +'In as good, though not in a better,' I returned. 'That sword hath +always been drawn for the rights and liberties of Englishmen, and +against the tyranny of kings and the bigotry of priests.' + +'What a tag for a playhouse, Dick,' cried the officer. 'How doth it +run? "The bigotry of kings and the tyranny of priests." Why, if well +delivered by Betterton close up to the footlights, with one hand upon +his heart and the other pointing to the sky, I warrant the pit would +rise at it.' + +'Very like,' said the other, twirling his moustache. 'But we have no +time for fine speeches now. What are we to do with the little one?' + +'Hang him,' the other answered carelessly. + +'No, no, your most gracious honours,' howled Master Tetheridge, suddenly +writhing out of the corporal's grip and flinging himself upon the +floor at their feet. 'Did I not tell ye where ye could find one of the +stoutest soldiers of the rebel army? Did not I guide ye to him? Did not +I even creep up and remove his sword lest any of the King's subjects +be slain in the taking of him? Surely, surely, ye would not use me so +scurvily when I have done ye these services? Have I not made good my +words? Is he not as I described him, a giant in stature and of wondrous +strength? The whole army will bear me out in it, that he was worth any +two in single fight. I have given him over to ye. Surely ye will let me +go!' + +'Very well delivered--plaguily so!' quoth the little officer, clapping +the palm of one hand softly against the back of the other. 'The emphasis +was just, and the enunciation clear. A little further back towards the +wings, corporal, if you please. Thank you! Now, Dick, it is your cue.' + +'Nay, John, you are too absurd!' cried the other impatiently. 'The mask +and the buskins are well enough in their place, but you look upon the +play as a reality and upon the reality as but a play. What this reptile +hath said is true. We must keep faith with him if we wish that others of +the country folk should give up the fugitives. There is no help for it!' + +'For myself I believe in Jeddart law,' his companion answered. 'I +would hang the man first and then discuss the question of our promise. +However, pink me if I will obtrude my opinion on any man!' + +'Nay, it cannot be,' the taller said. 'Corporal, do you take him down. +Henderson will go with you. Take from him that plate and sword, which +his mother would wear with as good a grace. And hark ye, corporal, a few +touches of thy stirrup leathers across his fat shoulders might not be +amiss, as helping him to remember the King's dragoons.' + +My treacherous companion was dragged off, struggling and yelping, and +presently a series of piercing howls, growing fainter and fainter as he +fled before his tormentors, announced that the hint had been taken. The +two officers rushed to the little window of the mill and roared with +laughter, while the troopers, peeping furtively over their shoulders, +could not restrain themselves from joining in their mirth, from which I +gathered that Master Tetheridge, as, spurred on by fear, he hurled his +fat body through hedges and into ditches, was a somewhat comical sight. + +'And now for the other,' said the little officer, turning away from the +window and wiping the tears of laughter from his face. 'That beam over +yonder would serve our purpose. Where is Hangman Broderick, the Jack +Ketch of the Royals?' + +'Here I am, sir,' responded a sullen, heavy-faced trooper, shuffling +forward; 'I have a rope here with a noose.' + +'Throw it over the beam, then. What is amiss with your hand, you clumsy +rogue, that you should wear linen round it?' + +'May it please you, sir,' the man answered, 'it was all through an +ungrateful, prick-eared Presbyterian knave whom I hung at Gommatch. I +had done all that could be done for him. Had he been at Tyburn he could +scarce have met with more attention. Yet when I did put my hand to his +neck to see that all was as it should be, he did fix me with his teeth, +and hath gnawed a great piece from my thumb.' + +'I am sorry for you,' said the officer. 'You know, no doubt, that the +human bite under such circumstances is as deadly as that of the mad dog, +so that you may find yourself snapping and barking one of these fine +mornings. Nay, turn not pale! I have heard you preach patience and +courage to your victims. You are not afraid of death?' + +'Not of any Christian death, your Honour. Yet, ten shillings a week is +scarce enough to pay a man for an end like that!' + +'Nay, it is all a lottery,' remarked the Captain cheerily. 'I have heard +that in these cases a man is so drawn up that his heels do beat a tattoo +against the back of his head. But, mayhap, it is not as painful as it +would appear. Meanwhile, do you proceed to do your office.' + +Three or four troopers caught me by the arms, but I shook them off as +best I might, and walked with, as I trust, a steady step and a cheerful +face under the beam, which was a great smoke-blackened rafter passing +from one side of the chamber to the other. The rope was thrown over +this, and the noose placed round my neck with trembling fingers by the +hangman, who took particular care to keep beyond the range of my teeth. +Half-a-dozen dragoons seized the further end of the coil, and stood +ready to swing me into eternity. Through all my adventurous life I have +never been so close upon the threshold of death as at that moment, and +yet I declare to you that, terrible as my position was, I could think +of nothing but the tattoo marks upon old Solomon Sprent's arm, and the +cunning fashion in which he had interwoven the red and the blue. Yet I +was keenly alive to all that was going on around me. The scene of the +bleak stone-floored room, the single narrow window, the two lounging +elegant officers, the pile of arms in the corner, and even the texture +of the coarse red serge and the patterns of the great brass buttons upon +the sleeve of the man who held me, are all stamped clearly upon my mind. + +'We must do our work with order,' remarked the taller Captain, taking a +note-book from his pocket. 'Colonel Sarsfield may desire some details. +Let me see! This is the seventeenth, is it not?' + +'Four at the farm and five at the cross-roads,' the other answered, +counting upon his fingers. 'Then there was the one whom we shot in the +hedge, and the wounded one who nearly saved himself by dying, and the +two in the grove under the hill. I can remember no more, save those who +were strung up in 'Bridgewater immediately after the action.' + +'It is well to do it in an orderly fashion,' quoth the other, scribbling +in his book. 'It is very well for Kirke and his men, who are half Moors +themselves, to hang and to slaughter without discrimination or ceremony, +but we should set them a better example. What is your name, sirrah?' + +'My name is Captain Micah Clarke,' I answered. + +The two officers looked at each other, and the smaller one gave a long +whistle. 'It is the very man!' said he. 'This comes of asking questions! +Rat me, if I had not misgivings that it might prove to be so. They said +that he was large of limb.' + +'Tell me, sirrah, have you ever known one Major Ogilvy of the Horse +Guards Blue?' asked the Captain. + +'Seeing that I had the honour of taking him prisoner,' I replied, 'and +seeing also that he hath shared soldier's fare and quarters with me ever +since, I think I may fairly say that I do know him.' + +'Cast loose the cord!' said the officer, and the hangman reluctantly +slipped the cord over my head once more. 'Young man, you are surely +reserved for something great, for you will never be nearer your grave +until you do actually step into it. This Major Ogilvy hath made great +interest both for you and for a wounded comrade of yours who lies at +Bridgewater. Your name hath been given to the commanders of horse, with +orders to bring you in unscathed should you be taken. Yet it is but fair +to tell you that though the Major's good word may save you from martial +law, it will stand you in small stead before a civil judge, before whom +ye must in the end take your trial.' + +'I desire to share the same lot and fortune as has befallen my +companions-in-arms,' I answered. + +'Nay, that is but a sullen way to take your deliverance,' cried the +smaller officer. 'The situation is as flat as sutler's beer. Otway would +have made a bettor thing of it. Can you not rise to the occasion? Where +is she?' + +'She! Who?' I asked. + +'She. The she. The woman. Your wife, sweetheart, betrothed, what you +will.' + +'There is none such,' I answered. + +'There now! What can be done in a case like that?' cried he +despairingly. 'She should have rushed in from the wings and thrown +herself upon your bosom. I have seen such a situation earn three rounds +from the pit. There is good material spoiling here for want of some one +to work it up.' + +'We have something else to work up, Jack,' exclaimed his companion +impatiently. 'Sergeant Gredder, do you with two troopers conduct the +prisoner to Gommatch Church. It is time that we were once more upon our +way, for in a few hours the darkness will hinder the pursuit.' + +At the word of command the troopers descended into the field where their +horses were picketed, and were speedily on the march once more, the tall +Captain leading them, and the stage-struck cornet bringing up the +rear. The sergeant to whose care I had been committed--a great +square-shouldered, dark-browed man--ordered my own horse to be brought +out, and helped me to mount it. He removed the pistols from the +holsters, however, and hung them with my sword at his own saddle-bow. + +'Shall I tie his feet under the horse's belly?' asked one of the +dragoons. + +'Nay, the lad hath an honest face,' the sergeant answered. 'If he +promises to be quiet we shall cast free his arms.' + +'I have no desire to escape,' said I. + +'Then untie the rope. A brave man in misfortune hath ever my goodwill, +strike me dumb else! Sergeant Gredder is my name, formerly of Mackay's +and now of the Royals--as hard-worked and badly-paid a man as any in +his Majesty's service. Right wheel, and down the pathway! Do ye ride +on either side, and I behind! Our carbines are primed, friend, so stand +true to your promise!' + +'Nay, you can rely upon it,' I answered. + +'Your little comrade did play you a scurvy trick,' said the sergeant, +'for seeing us ride down the road he did make across to us, and +bargained with the Captain that his life should be spared, on condition +that he should deliver into our hands what he described as one of the +stoutest soldiers in the rebel army. Truly you have thews and sinews +enough, though you are surely too young to have seen much service.' + +'This hath been my first campaign,' I answered. + +'And is like to be your last,' he remarked, with soldierly frankness. 'I +hear that the Privy Council intend to make such an example as will take +the heart out of the Whigs for twenty years to come. They have a lawyer +coming from London whose wig is more to be feared than our helmets. He +will slay more men in a day than a troop of horse in a ten-mile chase. +Faith! I would sooner they took this butcher-work into their own hands. +See those bodies on yonder tree. It is an evil season when such acorns +grow upon English oaks.' + +'It is an evil season,' said I, 'when men who call themselves Christians +inflict such vengeance upon poor simple peasants, who have done no more +than their conscience urged them. That the leaders and officers should +suffer is but fair. They stood to win in case of success, and should pay +forfeit now that they have lost. But it goes to my heart to see those +poor godly country folk so treated.' + +'Aye, there is truth in that,' said the sergeant. 'Now if it were some +of these snuffle-nosed preachers, the old lank-haired bell-wethers who +have led their flocks to the devil, it would be another thing. Why +can they not conform to the Church, and be plagued to them? It is good +enough for the King, so surely it is good enough for them; or are their +souls so delicate that they cannot satisfy themselves with that on which +every honest Englishman thrives? The main road to Heaven is too common +for them. They must needs have each a by-path of their own, and cry out +against all who will not follow it.' + +'Why,' said I, 'there are pious men of all creeds. If a man lead a life +of virtue, what matter what he believes? + +'Let a man keep his virtue in his heart,' quoth Sergeant Gredder. 'Let +him pack it deep in the knapsack of his soul. I suspect godliness +which shows upon the surface, the snuffling talk, the rolling eyes, the +groaning and the hawking. It is like the forged money, which can be told +by its being more bright and more showy than the real.' + +'An apt comparison!' said I. 'But how comes it, sergeant, that you have +given attention to these matters? Unless they are much belied, the Royal +Dragoons find other things to think of.' + +'I was one of Mackay's foot,' he answered shortly. 'I have heard of +him,' said I. 'A man, I believe, both of parts and of piety.' + +'That, indeed, he is,' cried Sergeant Gredder warmly. 'He is a man stern +and soldierly to the outer eye, but with the heart of a saint within +him. I promise you there was little need of the strapado in his +regiment, for there was not a man who did not fear the look of sorrow in +his Colonel's eyes far more than he did the provost-marshal.' + +During the whole of our long ride I found the worthy sergeant a true +follower of the excellent Colonel Mackay, for he proved to be a man of +more than ordinary intelligence, and of serious and thoughtful habit. +As to the two troopers, they rode on either side of me as silent as +statues; for the common dragoons of those days could but talk of wine +and women, and were helpless and speechless when aught else was to the +fore. When we at last rode into the little village of Gommatch, which +overlooks the plain of Sedgemoor, it was with regret on each side that I +bade my guardian adieu. As a parting favour I begged him to take charge +of Covenant for me, promising to pay a certain sum by the month for his +keep, and commissioning him to retain the horse for his own use should I +fail to claim him within the year. It was a load off my mind when I saw +my trusty companion led away, staring back at me with questioning eyes, +as though unable to understand the separation. Come what might, I knew +now that, he was in the keeping of a good man who would see that no harm +befell him. + + + +Chapter XXXIV. Of the Coming of Solomon Sprent + +The church of Gommatch was a small ivy-clad building with a square +Norman tower, standing in the centre of the hamlet of that name. Its +great oaken doors, studded with iron, and high narrow windows, fitted +it well for the use to which it was now turned. Two companies of +Dumbarton's Foot had been quartered in the village, with a portly Major +at their head, to whom I was handed over by Sergeant Gredder, with some +account of my capture, and of the reasons which had prevented my summary +execution. + +Night was now drawing in, but a few dim lamps, hung here and there upon +the walls, cast an uncertain, flickering light over the scene. A hundred +or more prisoners were scattered about upon the stone floor, many of +them wounded, and some evidently dying. The hale had gathered in silent, +subdued groups round their stricken friends, and were doing what they +could to lessen their sufferings. Some had even removed the greater part +of their clothing in order to furnish head-rests and pallets for the +wounded. Here and there in the shadows dark kneeling figures might be +seen, and the measured sound of their prayers rang through the aisles, +with a groan now and again, or a choking gasp as some poor sufferer +battled for breath. The dim, yellow light streaming over the earnest +pain-drawn faces, and the tattered mud-coloured figures, would have made +it a fitting study for any of those Low Country painters whose pictures +I saw long afterwards at The Hague. + +On Thursday morning, the third day after the battle, we were all +conveyed into Bridgewater, where we were confined for the remainder +of the week in St. Mary's Church, the very one from the tower of which +Monmouth and his commanders had inspected Feversham's position. The more +we heard of the fight from the soldiers and others, the more clear it +became that, but for the most unfortunate accidents, there was every +chance that our night attack might have succeeded. There was scarcely a +fault which a General could commit which Feversham had not been guilty +of. He had thought too lightly of his enemy, and left his camp entirely +open to a surprise. When the firing broke out he sprang from his couch, +but failing to find his wig, he had groped about his tent while the +battle was being decided, and only came out when it was well-nigh over. +All were agreed that had it not been for the chance of the Bussex Rhine +having been overlooked by our guides and scouts, we should have been +among the tents before the men could have been called to arms. Only +this and the fiery energy of John Churchill, the second in command, +afterwards better known under a higher name, both to French and to +English history, prevented the Royal army from meeting with a reverse +which might have altered the result of the campaign.(Note K, Appendix.) +Should ye hear or read, then, my dear children, that Monmouth's rising +was easily put down, or that it was hopeless from the first, remember +that I, who was concerned in it, say confidently that it really trembled +in the balance, and that this handful of resolute peasants with their +pikes and their scythes were within an ace of altering the whole +course of English history. The ferocity of the Privy Council, after the +rebellion was quelled, arose from their knowledge of how very close it +had been to success. + +I do not wish to say too much of the cruelty and barbarity of the +victors, for it is not good for your childish ears to hear of such +doings. The sluggard Feversham and the brutal Kirke have earned +themselves a name in the West, which is second only to that of the arch +villain who came after them. As for their victims, when they had hanged +and quartered and done their wicked worst upon them, at least they left +their names in their own little villages, to be treasured up and handed +from generation to generation, as brave men and true who had died for a +noble cause. Go now to Milverton, or to Wiveliscombe, or to Minehead, or +to Colyford, or to any village through the whole breadth and length of +Somersetshire, and you will find that they have not forgotten what +they proudly call their martyrs. But where now is Kirke and where is +Feversham? Their names are preserved, it is true, but preserved in a +county's hatred. Who can fail to see now that these men in punishing +others brought a far heavier punishment upon themselves? Their sin hath +indeed found them out. + +They did all that wicked and callous-hearted men could do, knowing well +that such deeds were acceptable to the cold-blooded, bigoted hypocrite +who sat upon the throne. They worked to win his favour, and they won it. +Men were hanged and cut down and hanged again. Every cross-road in the +country was ghastly with gibbets. There was not an insult or a contumely +which might make the pangs of death more unendurable, which was not +heaped upon these long-suffering men; yet it is proudly recounted in +their native shire that of all the host of victims there was not one who +did not meet his end with a firm lip, protesting that if the thing were +to do again he was ready to do it. + +At the end of a week or two news came of the fugitives. Monmouth, it +seems, had been captured by Portman's yellow coats when trying to make +his way to the New Forest, whence he hoped to escape to the Continent. +He was dragged, gaunt, unshaven, and trembling, out of a bean-field in +which he had taken refuge, and was carried to Ringwood, in Hampshire. +Strange rumours reached us concerning his behaviour--rumours which came +to our ears through the coarse jests of our guards. Some said that he +had gone on his knees to the yokels who had seized him. Others that he +had written to the King offering to do anything, even to throw over the +Protestant cause, to save his head from the scaffold.(Note L, Appendix.) +We laughed at these stories at the time, and set them down as inventions +of our enemies. It seemed too impossible that at a time when his +supporters were so sternly and so loyally standing true to him, he, +their leader, with the eyes of all men upon him, should be showing less +courage than every little drummer-boy displays, who trips along at the +head of his regiment upon the field of battle. Alas! time showed that +the stories were indeed true, and that there was no depth of infamy to +which this unhappy man would not descend, in the hope of prolonging +for a few years that existence which had proved a curse to so many who +trusted him. + +Of Saxon no news had come, good or bad, which encouraged me to hope that +he had found a hiding-place for himself. Reuben was still confined to +his couch by his wound, and was under the care and protection of +Major Ogilvy. The good gentleman came to see me more than once, and +endeavoured to add to my comfort, until I made him understand that it +pained me to find myself upon a different footing to the brave fellows +with whom I had shared the perils of the campaign. One great favour he +did me in writing to my father, and informing him that I was well and +in no pressing danger. In reply to this letter I had a stout Christian +answer from the old man, bidding me to be of good courage, and quoting +largely from a sermon on patience by the Reverend Josiah Seaton of +Petersfield. My mother, he said, was in deep distress at my position, +but was held up by her confidence in the decrees of Providence. He +enclosed a draft for Major Ogilvy, commissioning him to use it in +whatever way I should suggest. This money, together with the small hoard +which my mother had sewed into my collar, proved to be invaluable, for +when the gaol fever broke out amongst us I was able to get fitting food +for the sick, and also to pay for the services of physicians, so that +the disease was stamped out ere it had time to spread. + +Early in August we were brought from Bridgewater to Taunton, where we +were thrown with hundreds of others into the same wool storehouse where +our regiment had been quartered in the early days of the campaign. We +gained little by the change, save that we found that our new guards +were somewhat more satiated with cruelty than our old ones, and were +therefore less exacting upon their prisoners. Not only were friends +allowed in occasionally to see us, but books and papers could be +obtained by the aid of a small present to the sergeant on duty. We were +able, therefore, to spend our time with some degree of comfort during +the month or more which passed before our trial. + +One evening I was standing listlessly with my back against the wall, +looking up at a thin slit of blue sky which showed itself through the +narrow window, and fancying myself back in the meadows of Havant once +more, when a voice fell upon my ear which did, indeed, recall me to my +Hampshire home. Those deep, husky tones, rising at times into an angry +roar, could belong to none other than my old friend the seaman. I +approached the door from which the uproar came, and all doubt vanished +as I listened to the conversation. + +'Won't let me pass, won't ye?' he was shouting. 'Let me tell you +I've held on my course when better men than you have asked me to veil +topsails. I tell you I have the admiral's permit, and I won't clew up +for a bit of a red-painted cock-boat; so move from athwart my hawse, or +I may chance to run you down.' + +'We don't know nothing about admirals here,' said the sergeant of the +guard. 'The time for seeing prisoners is over for the day, and if you do +not take your ill-favoured body out of this I may try the weight o' my +halberd on your back.' + +'I have taken blows and given them ere you were ever thought of, you +land-swab,' roared old Solomon. 'I was yardarm and yardarm with De +Ruyter when you were learning to suck milk; but, old as I am, I would +have you know that I am not condemned yet, and that I am fit to exchange +broadsides with any lobster-tailed piccaroon that ever was triced up to +a triangle and had the King's diamonds cut in his back. If I tack back +to Major Ogilvy and signal him the way that I have been welcomed, he'll +make your hide redder than ever your coat was.' + +'Major Ogilvy!' exclaimed the sergeant, in a more respectful voice. 'If +you had said that your permit was from Major Ogilvy it would have been +another thing, but you did rave of admirals and commodores, and God +knows what other outlandish talk!' + +'Shame on your parents that they should have reared you with so slight +a knowledge o' the King's English!' grumbled Solomon. 'In truth, friend, +it is a marvel to me why sailor men should be able to show a lead to +those on shore in the matter of lingo. For out of seven hundred men in +the ship _Worcester_--the same that sank in the Bay of Funchal--there +was not so much as a powder-boy but could understand every word that I +said, whereas on shore there is many a great jolterhead, like thyself, +who might be a Portugee for all the English that he knows, and who +stares at me like a pig in a hurricane if I do lint ask him what he +makes the reckoning, or how many bells have gone.' + +'Whom is it that you would see?' asked the sergeant gruffly. 'You have a +most infernally long tongue.' + +'Aye, and a rough one, too, when I have fools to deal with,' returned +the seaman. 'If I had you in my watch, lad, for a three years' cruise, I +would make a man of you yet.' + +'Pass the old man through!' cried the sergeant furiously, and the sailor +came stumping in, with his bronzed face all screwed up and twisted, +partly with amusement at his victory over the sergeant, and partly from +a great chunk of tobacco which he was wont to stow within his cheek. +Having glanced round without perceiving me, he put his hands to his +mouth and bellowed out my name, with a string of 'Ahoys!' which rang +through the building. + +'Here I am, Solomon,' said I, touching him on the shoulder. + +'God bless you, lad! God bless you!' he cried, wringing my hand. 'I +could not see you, for my port eye is as foggy as the Newfoundland +banks, and has been ever since Long Sue Williams of the Point hove a +quart pot at it in the Tiger inn nigh thirty year agone. How are you? +All sound, alow and aloft?' + +'As well as might be,' I answered. 'I have little to complain of.' + +'None of your standing rigging shot away!' said he. 'No spars crippled? +No shots between wind and water, eh? You have not been hulled, nor +raked, nor laid aboard of?' + +'None of these things,' said I, laughing. + +'Faith! you are leaner than of old, and have aged ten years in two +months. You did go forth as smart and trim a fighting ship as over +answered helm, and now you are like the same ship when the battle and +the storm have taken the gloss from her sides and torn the love-pennants +from her peak. Yet am I right glad to see you sound in wind and limb.' + +'I have looked upon sights,' said I, 'which might well add ten years to +a man's age.' + +'Aye, aye!' he answered, with a hollow groan, shaking his head from side +to side. 'It is a most accursed affair. Yet, bad as the tempest is, the +calm will ever come afterwards if you will but ride it out with your +anchor placed deep in Providence. Ah, lad, that is good holding ground! +But if I know you aright, your grief is more for these poor wretches +around you than for yourself.' + +'It is, indeed, a sore sight to see them suffer so patiently and +uncomplainingly,' I answered, 'and for such a man, too!' + +'Aye, the chicken-livered swab!' growled the seaman, grinding his teeth. + +'How are my mother and my father,' I asked, 'and how came you so far +from home?' + +'Nay, I should have grounded on my beef bones had I waited longer at my +moorings. I cut my cable, therefore, and, making a northerly tack as far +as Salisbury, I run down with a fair wind. Thy father hath set his face +hard, and goes about his work as usual, though much troubled by the +Justices, who have twice had him up to Winchester for examination, but +have found his papers all right and no charge to be brought against him. +Your mother, poor soul, hath little time to mope or to pipe her eye, for +she hath such a sense of duty that, were the ship to founder under her, +it is a plate galleon to a china orange that she would stand fast in the +caboose curing marigolds or rolling pastry. They have taken to prayer +as some would to rum, and warm their hearts with it when the wind of +misfortune blows chill. They were right glad that I should come down to +you, and I gave them the word of a sailor that I would get you out of +the bilboes if it might anyhow be done.' + +'Get me out, Solomon!' said I; 'nay, that may be put outside the +question. How could you get me out?' + +'There are many ways,' he answered, sinking his voice to a whisper, and +nodding his grizzled head as one who talks upon what has cost him much +time and thought. 'There is scuttling.' + +'Scuttling?' + +'Aye, lad! When I was quartermaster of the galley _Providence_ in the +second Dutch war, we were caught betwixt a lee shore and Van Tromp's +squadron, so that after fighting until our sticks were shot away and our +scuppers were arun with blood, we were carried by boarding and sent as +prisoners to the Texel. We were stowed away in irons in the afterhold, +amongst the bilge water and the rats, with hatches battened down and +guards atop, but even then they could not keep us, for the irons got +adrift, and Will Adams, the carpenter's mate, picked a hole in the seams +so that the vessel nearly foundered, and in the confusion we fell upon +the prize crew, and, using our fetters as cudgels, regained possession +of the vessel. But you smile, as though there were little hopes from any +such plan!' + +'If this wool-house were the galley _Providence_ and Taunton Deane were +the Bay of Biscay, it might be attempted,' I said. + +'I have indeed got out o' the channel,' he answered, with a wrinkled +brow. 'There is, however, another most excellent plan which I have +conceived, which is to blow up the building.' + +'To blow it up!' I cried. + +'Aye! A brace of kegs and a slow match would do it any dark night. Then +where would be these walls which now shut ye in?' + +'Where would be the folk that are now inside them!' I asked. 'Would you +not blow them up as well?' + +'Plague take it, I had forgot that,' cried Solomon. 'Nay, then, I leave +it with you. What have you to propose? Do but give your sailing orders, +and, with or without a consort, you will find that I will steer by them +as long as this old hulk can answer to her helm.' + +'Then my advice is, my dear old friend,' said I, 'that you leave matters +to take their course, and hie back to Havant with a message from me to +those who know me, telling them to be of good cheer, and to hope for the +best. Neither you nor any other man can help me now, for I have thrown +in my lot with these poor folk, and I would not leave them if I could. +Do what you can to cheer my mother's heart, and commend me to Zachary +Palmer. Your visit hath been a joy to me, and your return will be the +same to them. You can serve me better so than by biding here.' + +'Sink me if I like going back without a blow struck,' he growled. 'Yet +if it is your will there is an end of the matter. Tell me, lad. Has +that lank-sparred, slab-sided, herring-gutted friend of yours played +you false? for if he has, by the eternal, old as I am, my hanger shall +scrape acquaintance with the longshore tuck which hangs at his girdle. I +know where he hath laid himself up, moored stem and stern, all snug and +shipshape, waiting for the turn of the tide.' + +'What, Saxon!' I cried. 'Do you indeed know where he is? For God's sake +speak low, for it would mean a commission and five hundred good pounds +to any one of these soldiers could he lay hands upon him.' + +'They are scarce like to do that,' said Solomon. 'On my journey hither I +chanced to put into port at a place called Bruton, where there is an +inn that will compare with most, and the skipper is a wench with a glib +tongue and a merry eye. I was drinking a glass of spiced ale, as is my +custom about six bells of the middle watch, when I chanced to notice a +great lanky carter, who was loading up a waggon in the yard with a cargo +o' beer casks. Looking closer it seemed to me that the man's nose, +like the beak of a goshawk, and his glinting eyes with the lids only +half-reefed, were known to me, but when I overheard him swearing to +himself in good High Dutch, then his figurehead came back to me in +a moment. I put out into the yard, and touched him on the shoulder. +Zounds, lad! you should have seen him spring back and spit at me like +a wildcat with every hair of his head in a bristle. He whipped a knife +from under his smock, for he thought, doubtless, that I was about to +earn the reward by handing him over to the red-coats. I told him that +his secret was safe with me, and I asked him if he had heard that you +were laid by the heels. He answered that he knew it, and that he would +be answerable that no harm befell you, though in truth it seemed to me +that he had his hands full in trimming his own sails, without acting as +pilot to another. However, there I left him, and there I shall find him +again if so be as he has done you an injury.' + +'Nay,' I answered, 'I am right glad that he has found this refuge. +We did separate upon a difference of opinion, but I have no cause +to complain of him. In many ways he hath shown me both kindness and +goodwill.' + +'He is as crafty as a purser's clerk,' quoth Solomon. 'I have seen +Reuben Lockarby, who sends his love to you. He is still kept in his bunk +from his wound, but he meets with good treatment. Major Ogilvy tells me +that he has made such interest for him that there is every chance that +he will gain his discharge, the more particularly since he was not +present at the battle. Your own chance of pardon would, he thinks, be +greater if you had fought less stoutly, but you have marked yourself +as a dangerous man, more especially as you have the love of many of the +common folk among the rebels.' + +The good old seaman stayed with me until late in the night, listening to +my adventures, and narrating in return the simple gossip of the village, +which is of more interest to the absent wanderer than the rise and fall +of empires. Before he left he drew a great handful of silver pieces +from his pouch, and went round amongst the prisoners, listening to their +wants, and doing what he could with rough sailor talk and dropping coins +to lighten their troubles. There is a language in the kindly eye and +the honest brow which all men may understand; and though the seaman's +speeches might have been in Greek, for all that they conveyed to the +Somersetshire peasants, yet they crowded round him as he departed and +called blessings upon his head. I felt as though he had brought a whiff +of his own pure ocean breezes into our close and noisome prison, and +left us the sweeter and the healthier. + +Late in August the judges started from London upon that wicked journey +which blighted the lives and the homes of so many, and hath left a +memory in the counties through which they passed which shall never fade +while a father can speak to a son. We heard reports of them from day to +day, for the guards took pleasure in detailing them with many coarse and +foul jests, that we might know what was in store for us, and lose none +of what they called the pleasures of anticipation. At Winchester the +sainted and honoured Lady Alice Lisle was sentenced by Chief Justice +Jeffreys to be burned alive, and the exertions and prayers of her +friends could scarce prevail upon him to allow her the small boon of +the axe instead of the faggot. Her graceful head was hewn from her +body amidst the groans and the cries of a weeping multitude in the +market-place of the town. At Dorchester the slaughter was wholesale. +Three hundred were condemned to death, and seventy-four were actually +executed, until the most loyal and Tory of the country squires had to +complain of the universal presence of the dangling bodies. Thence the +judges proceeded to Exeter and thence to Taunton, which they reached in +the first week of September, more like furious and ravenous beasts which +have tasted blood and cannot quench their cravings for slaughter, than +just-minded men, trained to distinguish the various degrees of guilt, or +to pick out the innocent and screen him from injustice. A rare field +was open for their cruelty, for in Taunton alone there lay a thousand +hapless prisoners, many of whom were so little trained to express their +thoughts, and so hampered by the strange dialect in which they spoke, +that they might have been born dumb for all the chance they had of +making either judge or counsel understand the pleadings which they +wished to lay before them. + +It was on a Monday evening that the Lord Chief Justice made his entry. +From one of the windows of the room in which we were confined I saw him +pass. First rode the dragoons with their standards and kettledrums, then +the javelin-men with their halberds, and behind them the line of coaches +full of the high dignitaries of the law. Last of all, drawn by six +long-tailed Flemish mares, came a great open coach, thickly crusted +with gold, in which, reclining amidst velvet cushions, sat the infamous +Judge, wrapped in a cloak of crimson plush with a heavy white periwig +upon his head, which was so long that it dropped down over his +shoulders. They say that he wore scarlet in order to strike terror into +the hearts of the people, and that his courts were for the same reason +draped in the colour of blood. As for himself, it hath ever been the +custom, since his wickedness hath come to be known to all men, to +picture him as a man whose expression and features were as monstrous and +as hideous as was the mind behind them. This is by no means the case. +On the contrary, he was a man who, in his younger days, must have been +remarkable for his extreme beauty.(1) He was not, it is true, very old, +as years go, when I saw him, but debauchery and low living had left +their traces upon his countenance, without, however entirely destroying +the regularity and the beauty of his features. He was dark, more like a +Spaniard than an Englishman, with black eyes and olive complexion. His +expression was lofty and noble, but his temper was so easily aflame that +the slightest cross or annoyance would set him raving like a madman, +with blazing eyes and foaming mouth. I have seen him myself with the +froth upon his lips and his whole face twitching with passion, like +one who hath the falling sickness. Yet his other emotions were under as +little control, for I have heard say that a very little would cause him +to sob and to weep, more especially when he had himself been slighted by +those who were above him. He was, I believe, a man who had great powers +either for good or for evil, but by pandering to the darker side of +his nature and neglecting the other, he brought himself to be as near +a fiend as it is possible for a man to be. It must indeed have been an +evil government where so vile and foul-mouthed a wretch was chosen out +to hold the scales of justice. As he drove past, a Tory gentleman +riding by the side of his coach drew his attention to the faces of +the prisoners looking out at him. He glanced up at them with a quick, +malicious gleam of his white teeth, then settled down again amongst the +cushions. I observed that as he passed not a hat was raised among the +crowd, and that even the rude soldiers appeared to look upon him half +in terror, half in disgust, as a lion might look upon some foul, +blood-sucking bat which battened upon the prey which he had himself +struck down. + +(1) The painting of Jeffreys in the National Portrait Gallery more +than bears out Micah Clarke's remarks. He is the handsomest man in the +collection. + + + +Chapter XXXV. Of the Devil in Wig and Gown + +There was no delay in the work of slaughter. That very night the great +gallows was erected outside the White Hart inn. Hour after hour we could +hear the blows of mallets and the sawing of beams, mingled with the +shoutings and the ribald choruses of the Chief Justice's suite, who were +carousing with the officers of the Tangiers regiment in the front room, +which overlooked the gibbet. Amongst the prisoners the night was passed +in prayer and meditation, the stout-hearted holding forth to their +weaker brethren, and exhorting them to play the man, and to go to +their death in a fashion which should be an example to true Protestants +throughout the world. The Puritan divines had been mostly strung up +off-hand immediately after the battle, but a few were left to sustain +the courage of their flocks, and to show them the way upon the scaffold. +Never have I seen anything so admirable as the cool and cheerful bravery +wherewith these poor clowns faced their fate. Their courage on the +battlefield paled before that which they showed in the shambles of the +law. So amid the low murmur of prayer and appeals for mercy to God from +tongues which never yet asked mercy from man, the morning broke, the +last morning which many of us were to spend upon earth. + +The court should have opened at nine, but my Lord Chief Justice was +indisposed, having sat up somewhat late with Colonel Kirke. It was +nearly eleven before the trumpeters and criers announced that he had +taken his seat. One by one my fellow-prisoners were called out by name, +the more prominent being chosen first. They went out from amongst us +amid hand-shakings and blessings, but we saw and heard no more of them, +save that a sudden fierce rattle of kettledrums would rise up now and +again, which was, as our guards told us, to drown any dying words which +might fall from the sufferers and bear fruit in the breasts of those who +heard them. With firm steps and smiling faces the roll of martyrs went +forth to their fate during the whole of that long autumn day, until the +rough soldiers of the guard stood silent and awed in the presence of +a courage which they could not but recognise as higher and nobler than +their own. Folk may call it a trial that they received, and a trial it +really was, but not in the sense that we Englishmen use it. It was but +being haled before a Judge, and insulted before being dragged to the +gibbet. The court-house was the thorny path which led to the scaffold. +What use to put a witness up, when he was shouted down, cursed at, +and threatened by the Chief Justice, who bellowed and swore until the +frightened burghers in Fore Street could hear him? I have heard from +those who were there that day that he raved like a demoniac, and that +his black eyes shone with a vivid vindictive brightness which was scarce +human. The jury shrank from him as from a venomous thing when he +turned his baleful glance upon them. At times, as I have been told, his +sternness gave place to a still more terrible merriment, and he would +lean back in his seat of justice and laugh until the tears hopped down +upon his ermine. Nearly a hundred were either executed or condemned to +death upon that opening day. + +I had expected to be amongst the first of those called, and no doubt I +should have been so but for the exertions of Major Ogilvy. As it was, +the second day passed, but I still found myself overlooked. On the +third and fourth days the slaughter was slackened, not on account of +any awakening grace on the part of the Judge, but because the great Tory +landowners, and the chief supporters of the Government, had still some +bowels of compassion, which revolted at this butchery of defenceless +men. Had it not been for the influence which these gentlemen brought +to bear upon the Judge, I have no doubt at all that Jeffreys would have +hung the whole eleven hundred prisoners then confined in Taunton. As +it was, two hundred and fifty fell victims to this accursed monster's +thirst for human blood. + +On the eighth day of the assizes there were but fifty of us left in +the wool warehouse. For the last few days prisoners had been tried +in batches of ten and twenty, but now the whole of us were taken in +a drove, under escort, to the court-house, where as many as could be +squeezed in were ranged in the dock, while the rest were penned, like +calves in the market, in the body of the hall. The Judge reclined in a +high chair, with a scarlet dais above him, while two other Judges, in +less elevated seats, were stationed on either side of him. On the right +hand was the jury-box, containing twelve carefully picked men--Tories +of the old school--firm upholders of the doctrines of non-resistance and +the divine right of kings. Much care had been taken by the Crown in +the choice of these men, and there was not one of them but would have +sentenced his own father had there been so much as a suspicion that he +leaned to Presbyterianism or to Whiggery. Just under the Judge was a +broad table, covered with green cloth and strewn with papers. On +the right hand of this were a long array of Crown lawyers, grim, +ferret-faced men, each with a sheaf of papers in his hands, which they +sniffed through again and again, as though they were so many bloodhounds +picking up the trail along which they were to hunt us down. On the other +side of the table sat a single fresh-faced young man, in silk gown and +wig, with a nervous, shuffling manner. This was the barrister, Master +Helstrop, whom the Crown in its clemency had allowed us for our defence, +lest any should be bold enough to say that we had not had every fairness +in our trial. The remainder of the court was filled with the servants +of the Justices' retinue and the soldiers of the garrison, who used the +place as their common lounge, looking on the whole thing as a mighty +cheap form of sport, and roaring with laughter at the rude banter and +coarse pleasantries of his Lordship. + +The clerk having gabbled through the usual form that we, the prisoners +at the bar, having shaken off the fear of God, had unlawfully and +traitorously assembled, and so onwards, the Lord Justice proceeded to +take matters into his own hands, as was his wont. + +'I trust that we shall come well out of this!' he broke out. 'I +trust that no judgment will fall upon this building! Was ever so much +wickedness fitted into one court-house before? Who ever saw such an +array of villainous faces? Ah, rogues, I see a rope ready for every +one of ye! Art not afraid of judgment? Art not afraid of hell-fire? You +grey-bearded rascal in the corner, how comes it that you have not had +more of the grace of God in you than to take up arms against your most +gracious and loving sovereign?' + +'I have followed the guidance of my conscience, my Lord,' said the +venerable cloth-worker of Wellington, to whom he spoke. + +'Ha, your conscience!' howled Jeffreys. 'A ranter with a conscience! +Where has your conscience been these two months back, you villain and +rogue? Your conscience will stand you in little stead, sirrah, when +you are dancing on nothing with a rope round your neck. Was ever such +wickedness? Who ever heard such effrontery? And you, you great hulking +rebel, have you not grace enough to cast your eyes down, but must needs +look justice in the face as though you were an honest man? Are you not +afeared, sirrah? Do you not see death close upon you?' + +'I have seen that before now, my Lord, and I was not afeared,' I +answered. + +'Generation of vipers!' he cried, throwing up his hands. 'The best of +fathers! The kindest of kings! See that my words are placed upon the +record, clerk! The most indulgent of parents! But wayward children +must, with all kindness, be flogged into obedience. Here he broke into +a savage grin. 'The King will save your own natural parents all further +care on your account. If they had wished to keep ye, they should have +brought ye up in better principles. Rogues, we shall be merciful to +ye--oh, merciful, merciful! How many are here, recorder?' + +'Fifty and one, my Lord.' + +'Oh, sink of villainy! Fifty and one as arrant knaves as ever lay on +a hurdle! Oh, what a mass of corruption have we here! Who defends the +villains?' + +'I defend the prisoners, your Lordship,' replied the young lawyer. + +'Master Helstrop, Master Helstrop!' cried Jeffreys, shaking his great +wig until the powder flew out of it; 'you are in all these dirty cases, +Master Helstrop. You might find yourself in a parlous condition, Master +Helstrop. I think sometimes that I see you yourself in the dock, Master +Helstrop. You may yourself soon need the help of a gentleman of the long +robe, Master Helstrop. Oh, have a care! Have a care!' + +'The brief is from the Crown, your Lordship,' the lawyer answered, in a +quavering voice. + +'Must I be answered back, then!' roared Jeffreys, his black eyes blazing +with the rage of a demon. 'Am I to be insulted in my own court? Is every +five-groat piece of a pleader, because he chance to have a wig and a +gown, to browbeat the Lord Justice, and to fly in the face of the ruling +of the Court? Oh, Master Helstrop, I fear that I shall live to see some +evil come upon you!' + +'I crave your Lordship's pardon!' cried the faint-hearted barrister, +with his face the colour of his brief. + +'Keep a guard upon your words and upon your actions?' Jeffreys answered, +in a menacing voice. 'See that you are not too zealous in the cause +of the scum of the earth. How now, then? What do these one and fifty +villains desire to say for themselves? What is their lie? Gentlemen of +the jury, I beg that ye will take particular notice of the cut-throat +faces of these men. 'Tis well that Colonel Kirke hath afforded the Court +a sufficient guard, for neither justice nor the Church is safe at their +hands.' + +'Forty of them desire to plead guilty to the charge of taking up arms +against the King,' replied our barrister. + +'Ah!' roared the Judge. 'Was ever such unparalleled impudence? Was there +ever such brazen effrontery? Guilty, quotha! Have they expressed their +repentance for this sin against a most kind and long-suffering monarch! +Put down those words on the record, clerk!' + +'They have refused to express repentance, your Lordship!' replied the +counsel for the defence. + +'Oh, the parricides! Oh, the shameless rogues!' cried the Judge. 'Put +the forty together on this side of the enclosure. Oh, gentlemen, have ye +ever seen such a concentration of vice? See how baseness and wickedness +can stand with head erect! Oh, hardened monsters! But the other eleven. +How can they expect us to believe this transparent falsehood--this +palpable device? How can they foist it upon the Court?' + +'My Lord, their defence hath not yet been advanced!' stammered Master +Helstrop. + +'I can sniff a lie before it is uttered,' roared the Judge, by no means +abashed. 'I can read it as quick as ye can think it. Come, come, the +Court's time is precious. Put forward a defence, or seat yourself, and +let judgment be passed.' + +'These men, my Lord,' said the counsel, who was trembling until the +parchment rattled in his hand. 'These eleven men, my Lord--' + +'Eleven devils, my Lord,' interrupted Jeffreys. + +'They are innocent peasants, my Lord, who love God and the King, and +have in no wise mingled themselves in this recent business. They have +been dragged from their homes, my Lord, not because there was suspicion +against them, but because they could not satisfy the greed of certain +common soldiers who were balked of plunder in--' + +'Oh, shame, shame!' cried Jeffreys, in a voice of thunder. 'Oh, +threefold shame, Master Helstrop! Are you not content with bolstering +up rebels, but you must go out of your way to slander the King's troops? +What is this world coming to? What, in a word, is the defence of these +rogues?' + +'An alibi, your Lordship.' + +'Ha! The common plea of every scoundrel. Have they witnesses?' + +'We have here a list of forty witnesses, your Lordship. They are waiting +below, many of them having come great distances, and with much toil and +trouble.' + +'Who are they? What are they?' cried Jeffreys. + +'They are country folk, your Lordship. Cottagers and farmers, the +neighbours of these poor men, who knew them well, and can speak as to +their doings.' + +'Cottagers and farmers!' the Judge shouted. 'Why, then, they are drawn +from the very class from which these men come. Would you have us believe +the oath of those who are themselves Whigs, Presbyterians, Somersetshire +ranters, the pothouse companions of the men whom we are trying? I +warrant they have arranged it all snugly over their beer--snugly, +snugly, the rogues!' + +'Will you not hear the witnesses, your Lordship?' cried our counsel, +shamed into some little sense of manhood by this outrage. + +'Not a word from them, sirrah,' said Jeffreys. 'It is a question whether +my duty towards my kind master the King--write down "kind master," +clerk--doth not warrant me in placing all your witnesses in the dock as +the aiders and abettors of treason.' + +'If it please your Lordship,' cried one of the prisoners, 'I have for +witnesses Mr. Johnson, of Nether Stowey, who is a good Tory, and also +Mr. Shepperton, the clergyman.' + +'The more shame to them to appear in such a cause,' replied Jeffreys. +'What are we to say, gentlemen of the jury, when we see county gentry +and the clergy of the Established Church supporting treason and +rebellion in this fashion? Surely the last days are at hand! You are a +most malignant and dangerous Whig to have so far drawn them from their +duty.' + +'But hear me, my Lord!' cried one of the prisoners. + +'Hear you, you bellowing calf!' shouted the Judge. 'We can hear naught +else. Do you think that you are back in your conventicle, that you +should dare to raise your voice in such a fashion? Hear you, quotha! We +shall hear you at the end of a rope, ere many days.' + +'We scarce think, your Lordship,' said one of the Crown lawyers, +springing to his feet amid a great rustling of papers, 'we scarce think +that it is necessary for the Crown to state any case. We have already +heard the whole tale of this most damnable and execrable attempt many +times over. The men in the dock before your Lordship have for the most +part confessed to their guilt, and of those who hold out there is not +one who has given us any reason to believe that he is innocent of +the foul crime laid to his charge. The gentlemen of the long robe are +therefore unanimously of opinion that the jury may at once be required +to pronounce a single verdict upon the whole of the prisoners.' + +'Which is--?' asked Jeffreys, glancing round at the foreman-- + +'Guilty, your Lordship,' said he, with a grin, while his brother jurymen +nodded their heads and laughed to one another. + +'Of course, of course! guilty as Judas Iscariot!' cried the Judge, +looking down with exultant eyes at the throng of peasants and burghers +before him. 'Move them a little forwards, ushers, that I may see them +to more advantage. Oh, ye cunning ones! Are ye not taken? Are ye not +compassed around? Where now can ye fly? Do ye not see hell opening +at your feet? Eh? Are ye not afraid? Oh, short, short shall be your +shrift!' The very devil seemed to be in the man, for as he spoke he +writhed with unholy laughter, and drummed his hand upon the red cushion +in front of him. I glanced round at my companions, but their faces were +all as though they had been chiselled out of marble. If he had hoped to +see a moist eye or a quivering lip, the satisfaction was denied him. + +'Had I my way,' said he, 'there is not one of ye but should swing for +it. Aye, and if I had my way, some of those whose stomachs are too nice +for this work, and who profess to serve the King with their lips while +they intercede for his worst enemies, should themselves have cause to +remember Taunton assizes. Oh, most ungrateful rebels! Have ye not +heard how your most soft-hearted and compassionate monarch, the best of +men--put it down in the record, clerk--on the intercession of that great +and charitable statesman, Lord Sunderland--mark it down, clerk--hath +had pity on ye? Hath it not melted ye? Hath it not made ye loathe +yourselves? I declare, when I think of it'--here, with a sudden catching +of the breath, he burst out a-sobbing, the tears running down his +cheeks--'when I think of it, the Christian forbearance, the ineffable +mercy, it doth bring forcibly to my mind that great Judge before whom +all of us--even I--shall one day have to render an account. Shall I +repeat it, clerk, or have you it down?' + +'I have it down, your Lordship.' + +'Then write "sobs" in the margin. 'Tis well that the King should +know our opinion on such matters. Know, then, you most traitorous and +unnatural rebels, that this good father whom ye have spurned has stepped +in between yourselves and the laws which ye have offended. At his +command we withhold from ye the chastisement which ye have merited. +If ye can indeed pray, and if your soul-cursing conventicles have not +driven all grace out of ye, drop on your knees and offer up thanks when +I tell ye that he hath ordained that ye shall all have a free pardon.' +Here the Judge rose from his seat as though about to descend from the +tribunal, and we gazed upon each other in the utmost astonishment at +this most unlooked-for end to the trial. The soldiers and lawyers were +equally amazed, while a hum of joy and applause rose up from the few +country folk who had dared to venture within the accursed precincts. + +'This pardon, however,' continued Jeffreys, turning round with a +malicious smile upon his face, 'is coupled with certain conditions and +limitations. Ye shall all be removed from here to Poole, in chains, +where ye shall find a vessel awaiting ye. With others ye shall be stowed +away in the hold of the said vessel, and conveyed at the King's expense +to the Plantations, there to be sold as slaves. God send ye masters who +will know by the free use of wood and leather to soften your stubborn +thoughts and incline your mind to better things.' He was again about to +withdraw, when one of the Crown lawyers whispered something across to +him. + +'Well thought of, coz,' cried the Judge. 'I had forgot. Bring back the +prisoners, ushers! Perhaps ye think that by the Plantations I mean his +Majesty's American dominions. Unhappily, there are too many of your +breed in that part already. Ye would fall among friends who might +strengthen ye in your evil courses, and so risk your salvation. To send +ye there would be to add one brand to another and yet hope to put +out the fire. By the Plantations, therefore, I mean Barbadoes and the +Indies, where ye shall live with the other slaves, whose skins may be +blacker than yours, but I dare warrant that their souls are more white.' +With this concluding speech the trial ended, and we were led back +through the crowded streets to the prison from which we had been +brought. On either side of the street, as we passed, we could see +the limbs of former companions dangling in the wind, and their heads +grinning at us from the tops of poles and pikes. No savage country in +the heart of heathen Africa could have presented a more dreadful sight +than did the old English town of Taunton when Jeffreys and Kirke had +the ordering of it. There was death in the air, and the townsfolk crept +silently about, scarcely daring to wear black for those whom they had +loved and lost, lest it should be twisted into an act of treason. + +We were scarce back in the wool-house once more when a file of +guards with a sergeant entered, escorting a long, pale-faced man with +protruding teeth, whose bright blue coat and white silk breeches, +gold-headed sword, and glancing shoe-buckles, proclaimed him to be one +of those London exquisites whom interest or curiosity had brought down +to the scene of the rebellion. He tripped along upon his tiptoes like a +French dancing-master, waving his scented kerchief in front of his +thin high nose, and inhaling aromatic salts from a blue phial which he +carried in his left hand. + +'By the Lard!' he cried, 'but the stench of these filthy wretches is +enough to stap one's breath. It is, by the Lard! Smite my vitals if +I would venture among them if I were not a very rake hell. Is there a +danger of prison fever, sergeant? Heh?' + +'They are all sound as roaches, your honour,' said the under-officer, +touching his cap. + +'Heh, heh!' cried the exquisite, with a shrill treble laugh. 'It is +not often ye have a visit from a person of quality, I'll warrant. It +is business, sergeant, business! "Auri sacra fames"--you remember what +Virgilius Maro says, sergeant?' + +'Never heard the gentleman speak, sir--at least not to my knowledge, +sir,' said the sergeant. + +'Heh, heh! Never heard him speak, heh? That will do for Slaughter's, +sergeant. That will set them all in a titter at Slaughter's. Pink my +soul! but when I venture on a story the folk complain that they can't +get served, for the drawers laugh until there is no work to be got out +of them. Oh, lay me bleeding, but these are a filthy and most ungodly +crew! Let the musqueteers stand close, sergeant, lest they fly at me.' + +'We shall see to that, your honour.' + +'I have a grant of a dozen of them, and Captain Pogram hath offered me +twelve pounds a head. But they must be brawny rogues--strong and brawny, +for the voyage kills many, sergeant, and the climate doth also tell upon +them. Now here is one whom I must have. Yes, in very truth he is a +young man, and hath much life in him and much strength. Tick him off, +sergeant, tick him off!' + +'His name is Clarke,' said the soldier. 'I have marked him down.' + +'If this is the clerk I would I had a parson to match him,' cried the +fop, sniffing at his bottle. 'Do you see the pleasantry, sergeant. Heh, +heh! Does your sluggish mind rise to the occasion? Strike me purple, but +I am in excellent fettle! There is yonder man with the brown face, you +can mark him down. And the young man beside him, also. Tick him off. Ha, +he waves his hand towards me! Stand firm, sergeant! Where are my salts? +What is it, man, what is it?' + +'If it plaize your han'r,' said the young peasant, 'if so be as you +have chose me to be of a pairty, I trust that you will allow my vaither +yander to go with us also.' + +'Pshaw, pshaw!' cried the fop, 'you are beyond reason, you are indeed! +Who ever heard of such a thing? Honour forbids it! How could I foist +an old man upon mine honest friend, Captain Pogram. Fie, fie! Split +me asunder if he would not say that I had choused him! There is yonder +lusty fellow with the red head, sergeant! The blacks will think he is +a-fire. Those, and these six stout yokels, will make up my dozen.' + +'You have indeed the pick of them,' said the sergeant. + +'Aye, sink me, but I have a quick eye for horse, man, or woman! I'll +pick the best of a batch with most. Twelve twelves, close on a hundred +and fifty pieces, sergeant, and all for a few words, my friend, all for +a few words. I did but send my wife, a demmed handsome woman, mark you, +and dresses in the mode, to my good friend the secretary to ask for some +rebels. "How many?" says he. "A dozen will do," says she. It was all +done in a penstroke. What a cursed fool she was not to have asked for a +hundred! But what is this, sergeant, what is this?' + +A small, brisk, pippin-faced fellow in a riding-coat and high boots had +come clanking into the wool-house with much assurance and authority, +with a great old-fashioned sword trailing behind him, and a riding-whip +switching in his hand. + +'Morning, sergeant!' said he, in a loud, overbearing voice. 'You may +have heard my name? I am Master John Wooton, of Langmere House, near +Dulverton, who bestirred himself so for the King, and hath been termed +by Mr. Godolphin, in the House of Commons, one of the local pillars of +the State. Those were his words. Fine, were they not? Pillars, mark ye, +the conceit being that the State was, as it were, a palace or a temple, +and the loyal men so many pillars, amongst whom I also was one. I am a +local pillar. I have received a Royal permit, sergeant, to choose from +amongst your prisoners ten sturdy rogues whom I may sell as a reward +to me for my exertions. Draw them up, therefore, that I may make my +choice!' + +'Then, sir, we are upon the same errand,' quoth the Londoner, bowing +with his hand over his heart, until his sword seemed to point straight +up to the ceiling. 'The Honourable George Dawnish, at your service! Your +very humble and devoted servant, sir! Yours to command in any or +all ways. It is a real joy and privilege to me, sir, to make your +distinguished acquaintance. Hem!' + +The country squire appeared to be somewhat taken aback at this shower +of London compliments. 'Ahem, sir! Yes, sir!' said he, bobbing his head. +'Glad to see you, sir! Most damnably so! But these men, sergeant? Time +presses, for to-morrow is Shepton market, and I would fain see my old +twenty-score boar once more before he is sold. There is a beefy one. +I'll have him.' + +'Ged, I've forestalled you,' cried the courtier. 'Sink me, but it gives +me real pain. He is mine.' + +'Then this,' said the other, pointing with his whip. + +'He is mine, too. Heh, heh, heh! Strike me stiff, but this is too +funny!' + +'Od's wounds! How many are yours!' cried the Dulverton squire. + +'A dozen. Heh, heh! A round dozen. All those who stand upon this side. +Pink me, but I have got the best of you there! The early bird--you know +the old saw!' + +'It is a disgrace,' the squire cried hotly. 'A shame and a disgrace. We +must needs fight for the King and risk our skins, and then when all is +done, down come a drove of lacqueys in waiting, and snap up the pickings +before their betters are served.' + +'Lacqueys in waiting, sir!' shrieked the exquisite. 'S'death, sir! This +toucheth mine honour very nearly! I have seen blood flow, yes, sir, and +wounds gape on less provocation. Retract, sir, retract!' + +'Away, you clothes-pole!' cried the other contemptuously. 'You are come +like the other birds of carrion when the fight is o'er. Have you been +named in full Parliament? Are you a local pillar? Away, away, you +tailor's dummy!' + +'You insolent clodhopper!' cried the fop. 'You most foul-mouthed +bumpkin! The only local pillar that you have ever deserved to make +acquaintance with is the whipping-post. Ha, sergeant, he lays his +hand upon his sword! Stop him, sergeant, stop him, or I may do him an +injury.' + +'Nay, gentlemen,' cried the under officer. 'This quarrel must not +continue here. We must have no brawling within the prison. Yet there is +a level turf without, and as fine elbow-room as a gentleman could wish +for a breather.' + +This proposal did not appear to commend itself to either of the angry +gentlemen, who proceeded to exchange the length of their swords, and to +promise that each should hear from the other before sunset. Our owner, +as I may call him, the fop, took his departure at last, and the country +squire having chosen the next ton swaggered off, cursing the courtiers, +the Londoners, the sergeant, the prisoners, and above all, the +ingratitude of the Government which had made him so small a return +for his exertions. This was but the first of many such scenes, for the +Government, in endeavouring to satisfy the claims of its supporters, had +promised many more than there were prisoners. I am grieved to say that +I have seen not only men, but even my own countrywomen, and ladies of +title to boot, wringing their hands and bewailing themselves because +they were unable to get any of the poor Somersetshire folk to sell as +slaves. Indeed, it was only with difficulty that they could be made +to see that their claim upon Government did not give them the right of +seizing any burgher or peasant who might come in their way, and shipping +him right off for the Plantations. + +Well, my dear grandchildren, from night to night through this long and +weary winter I have taken you back with me into the past, and made you +see scenes the players in which are all beneath the turf, save +that perhaps here and there some greybeard like myself may have a +recollection of them. I understand that you, Joseph, have every morning +set down upon paper that which I have narrated the night before. It is +as well that you should do so, for your own children and your children's +children may find it of interest, and even perhaps take a pride in +hearing that their ancestors played a part in such scenes. But now +the spring is coming, and the green is bare of snow, so that there are +better things for you to do than to sit listening to the stories of +a garrulous old man. Nay, nay, you shake your heads, but indeed those +young limbs want exercising and strengthening and knitting together, +which can never come from sitting toasting round the blaze. Besides, my +story draws quickly to an end now, for I had never intended to tell you +more than the events connected with the Western rising. If the closing +part hath been of the dreariest, and if all doth not wind up with +the ringing of bells and the joining of hands, like the tales in the +chap-books, you must blame history and not me. For Truth is a stern +mistress, and when one hath once started off with her one must follow +on after the jade, though she lead in flat defiance of all the rules and +conditions which would fain turn that tangled wilderness the world into +the trim Dutch garden of the story-tellers. + +Three days after our trial we were drawn up in North Street in front +of the Castle with others from the other prisons who were to share our +fate. We were placed four abreast, with a rope connecting each rank, +and of these ranks I counted fifty, which would bring our total to two +hundred. On each side of us rode dragoons, and in front and behind were +companies of musqueteers to prevent any attempt at rescue or escape. +In this order we set off upon the tenth day of September, amidst the +weeping and wailing of the townsfolk, many of whom saw their sons or +brothers marching off into exile without their being able to exchange a +last word or embrace with them. Some of these poor folk, doddering old +men and wrinkled, decrepit women, toiled for miles after us down the +high-road, until the rearguard of foot faced round upon them, and drove +them away with curses and blows from their ramrods. + +That day we made our way through Yeovil and Sherborne, and on the morrow +proceeded over the North Downs as far as Blandford, where we were penned +together like cattle and left for the night. On the third day we +resumed our march through Wimbourne and a line of pretty Dorsetshire +villages--the last English villages which most of us were destined to +see for many a long year to come. Late in the afternoon the spars and +rigging of the shipping in Poole Harbour rose up before us, and in +another hour we had descended the steep and craggy path which leads to +the town. Here we were drawn up upon the quay opposite the broad-decked, +heavy-sparred brig which was destined to carry us into slavery. Through +all this march we met with the greatest kindness from the common people, +who flocked out from their cottages with fruit and with milk, which +they divided amongst us. At other places, at, the risk of their lives, +Dissenting ministers came forth and stood by the wayside, blessing us as +we passed, in spite of the rough jeers and oaths of the soldiers. + +We were marched aboard and led below by the mate of the vessel, a tall +red-faced seaman with ear-rings in his ears, while the captain stood on +the poop with his legs apart and a pipe in his mouth, checking us off +one by one by means of a list which he held in his hand. As he looked +at the sturdy build and rustic health of the peasants, which even their +long confinement had been unable to break down, his eyes glistened, and +he rubbed his big red hands together with delight. + +'Show them down, Jem!' he kept shouting to the mate. 'Stow them safe, +Jem! There's lodgings for a duchess down there, s'help me, there's +lodgings for a duchess! Pack 'em away!' + +One by one we passed before the delighted captain, and down the steep +ladder which led into the hold. Here we were led along a narrow passage, +on either side of which opened the stalls which were prepared for us. As +each man came opposite to the one set aside for him he was thrown into +it by the brawny mate, and fastened down with anklets of iron by the +seaman armourer in attendance. It was dark before we were all secured, +but the captain came round with a lanthorn to satisfy himself that all +his property was really safe. I could hear the mate and him reckoning +the value of each prisoner, and counting what he would fetch in the +Barbadoes market. + +'Have you served out their fodder, Jem?' he asked, flashing his light +into each stall in turn. 'Have you seen that they had their rations?' + +'A rye bread loaf and a pint o' water,' answered the mate. + +'Fit for a duchess, s'help me!' cried the captain. 'Look to this one, +Jem. He is a lusty rogue. Look to his great hands. He might work for +years in the rice-swamps ere the land crabs have the picking of him.' + +'Aye, we'll have smart bidding amid the settlers for this lot. 'Cod, +captain, but you have made a bargain of it! Od's bud! you have done +these London fools to some purpose.' + +'What is this?' roared the captain. 'Here is one who hath not touched +his allowance. How now, sirrah, art too dainty in the stomach to eat +what your betters have eaten before you?' + +'I have no hairt for food, zur,' the prisoner answered. + +'What, you must have your whims and fancies! You must pick and you must +choose! I tell you, sirrah, that you are mine, body and soul! Twelve +good pieces I paid for you, and now, forsooth, I am to be told that you +will not eat! Turn to it at this instant, you saucy rogue, or I shall +have you triced to the triangles!' + +'Here is another,' said the mate, 'who sits ever with his head sunk upon +his breast without spirit or life.' + +'Mutinous, obstinate dog!' cried the captain. 'What ails you then? Why +have you a face like an underwriter in a tempest?' + +'If it plaize you, zur,' the prisoner answered, 'Oi do but think o' m' +ould mother at Wellington, and woonder who will kape her now that Oi'm +gone!' + +'And what is that to me?' shouted the brutal seaman. 'How can you arrive +at your journey's end sound and hearty if you sit like a sick fowl upon +a perch? Laugh, man, and be merry, or I will give you something to weep +for. Out on you, you chicken-hearted swab, to sulk and fret like a babe +new weaned! Have you not all that heart could desire? Give him a touch +with the rope's-end, Jem, if ever you do observe him fretting. It is but +to spite us that he doth it.' + +'If it please your honour,' said a seaman, coming hurriedly down from +the deck, 'there is a stranger upon the poop who will have speech with +your honour.' + +'What manner of man, sirrah?' + +'Surely he is a person of quality, your honour. He is as free wi' his +words as though he were the captain o' the ship. The boatswain did but +jog against him, and he swore so woundily at him and stared at him so, +wi' een like a tiger-cat, that Job Harrison says we have shipped the +devil himsel.' The men don't like the look of him, your honour!' + +'Who the plague can this spark be?' said the skipper. 'Go on deck, Jem, +and tell him that I am counting my live stock, and that I shall be with +him anon.' + +'Nay, your honour! There will trouble come of it unless you come up. He +swears that he will not bear to be put off, and that he must see you on +the instant.' + +'Curse his blood, whoever he be!' growled the seaman. 'Every cock on +his own dunghill. What doth the rogue mean? Were he the Lord High Privy +Seal, I would have him to know that I am lord of my own quarter-deck!' +So saying, with many snorts of indignation, the mate and the captain +withdrew together up the ladder, banging the heavy hatchways down as +they passed through. + +A single oil-lamp swinging from a beam in the centre of the gangway +which led between the rows of cells was the only light which was +vouchsafed us. By its yellow, murky glimmer we could dimly see the great +wooden ribs of the vessel, arching up on either side of us, and crossed +by the huge beams which held the deck. A grievous stench from foul bilge +water poisoned the close, heavy air. Every now and then, with a squeak +and a clutter, a rat would dart across the little zone of light and +vanish in the gloom upon the further side. Heavy breathing all round +me showed that my companions, wearied out by their journey and their +sufferings, had dropped into a slumber. From time to time one could hear +the dismal clank of fetters, and the start and incatching of the breath, +as some poor peasant, fresh from dreams of his humble homestead amid the +groves of the Mendips, awoke of a sudden to see the great wooden coffin +around him, and to breathe the venomous air of the prison ship. + +I lay long awake full of thought both for myself and for the poor souls +around me. At last, however, the measured swash of the water against +the side of the vessel and the slight rise and fall had lulled me into +a sleep, from which I was suddenly aroused by the flashing of a light +in my eyes. Sitting up, I found several sailors gathered about me, and +a tall man with a black cloak swathed round him swinging a lanthorn over +me. + +'That is the man,' he said. + +'Come, mate, you are to come on deck!' said the seaman armourer. With a +few blows from his hammer he knocked the irons from my feet. + +'Follow me!' said the tall stranger, and led the way up the hatchway +ladder. It was heavenly to come out into the pure air once more. The +stars were shining brightly overhead. A fresh breeze blew from the +shore, and hummed a pleasant tune among the cordage. Close beside us +the lights of the town gleamed yellow and cheery. Beyond, the moon was +peeping over the Bournemouth hills. + +'This way, sir,' said the sailor, 'right aft into the cabin, sir.' + +Still following my guide, I found myself in the low cabin of the brig. +A square shining table stood in the centre, with a bright swinging +lamp above it. At the further end in the glare of the light sat the +captain--his face shining with greed and expectation. On the table stood +a small pile of gold pieces, a rum-flask, glasses, a tobacco-box, and +two long pipes. + +'My compliments to you, Captain Clarke,' said the skipper, bobbing his +round bristling head. 'An honest seaman's compliments to you. It seems +that we are not to be shipmates this voyage, after all.' + +'Captain Micah Clarke must do a voyage of his own,' said the stranger. + +At the sound of his voice I sprang round in amazement. 'Good Heavens!' I +cried, 'Saxon!' + +'You have nicked it,' said he, throwing down his mantle and showing the +well-known face and figure of the soldier of fortune. 'Zounds, man! if +you can pick me out of the Solent, I suppose that I may pick you out of +this accursed rat-trap in which I find you. Tie and tie, as we say at +the green table. In truth, I was huffed with you when last we parted, +but I have had you in my mind for all that.' + +'A seat and a glass, Captain Clarke,' cried the skipper. 'Od's bud! I +should think that you would be glad to raise your little finger and wet +your whistle after what you have gone through.' + +I seated myself by the table with my brain in a whirl. 'This is more +than I can fathom,' said I. 'What is the meaning of it, and how comes it +about?' + +'For my own part, the meaning is as clear as the glass of my binnacle,' +quoth the seaman. 'Your good friend Colonel Saxon, as I understand his +name to be, has offered me as much as I could hope to gain by selling +you in the Indies. Sink it, I may be rough and ready, but my heart is in +the right place! Aye, aye! I would not maroon a man if I could set him +free. But we have all to look for ourselves, and trade is dull.' + +'Then I am free!' said I. + +'You are free,' he answered. 'There is your purchase-money upon the +table. You can go where you will, save only upon the land of England, +where you are still an outlaw under sentence.' + +'How have you done this, Saxon?' I asked. 'Are you not afraid for +yourself?' + +'Ho, ho!' laughed the old soldier. 'I am a free man, my lad! I hold my +pardon, and care not a maravedi for spy or informer. Who should I meet +but Colonel Kirke a day or so back. Yes, lad! I met him in the street, +and I cocked my hat in his face. The villain laid his hand upon his +hilt, and I should have out bilbo and sent his soul to hell had they not +come between us. I care not the ashes of this pipe for Jeffreys or any +other of them. I can snap this finger and thumb at them, so! They would +rather see Decimus Saxon's back than his face, I promise ye!' + +'But how comes this about?' I asked. + +'Why, marry, it is no mystery. Cunning old birds are not to be caught +with chaff. When I left you I made for a certain inn where I could count +upon finding a friend. There I lay by for a while, en cachette, as the +Messieurs call it, while I could work out the plan that was in my head. +Donner wetter! but I got a fright from that old seaman friend of yours, +who should be sold as a picture, for he is of little use as a man. Well, +I bethought me early in the affair of your visit to Badminton, and of +the Duke of B. We shall mention no names, but you can follow my meaning. +To him I sent a messenger, to the effect that I purposed to purchase my +own pardon by letting out all that I knew concerning his double dealing +with the rebels. The message was carried to him secretly, and his +answer was that I should meet him at a certain spot by night. I sent my +messenger instead of myself, and he was found in the morning stiff and +stark, with more holes in his doublet than ever the tailor made. On +this I sent again, raising my demands, and insisting upon a speedy +settlement. He asked my conditions. I replied, a free pardon and a +command for myself. For you, money enough to land you safely in some +foreign country where you can pursue the noble profession of arms. I got +them both, though it was like drawing teeth from his head. His name hath +much power at Court just now, and the King can refuse him nothing. I +have my pardon and a command of troops in New England. For you I have +two hundred pieces, of which thirty have been paid in ransom to the +captain, while twenty are due to me for my disbursements over the +matter. In this bag you will find the odd hundred and fifty, of which +you will pay fifteen to the fishermen who have promised to see you safe +to Flushing.' + +I was, as you may readily believe, my dear children, bewildered by this +sudden and most unlooked-for turn which events had taken. When Saxon had +ceased to speak I sat as one stunned, trying to realise what he had said +to me. There came a thought into my head, however, which chilled the +glow of hope and of happiness which had sprung up in me at the thought +of recovering my freedom. My presence had been a support and a comfort +to my unhappy companions. Would it not be a cruel thing to leave them in +their distress? There was not one of them who did not look to me in his +trouble, and to the best of my poor power I had befriended and consoled +them. How could I desert them now? + +'I am much beholden to you, Saxon,' I said at last, speaking slowly and +with some difficulty, for the words were hard to utter. 'But I fear that +your pains have been thrown away. These poor country folk have none to +look after or assist them. They are as simple as babes, and as little +fitted to be landed in a strange country. I cannot find it in my heart +to leave them!' + +Saxon burst out laughing, and leaned back in his seat with his long legs +stretched straight out and his hands in his breeches pockets. + +'This is too much!' he said at last. 'I saw many difficulties in my way, +yet I did not foresee this one. You are in very truth the most contrary +man that ever stood in neat's leather. You have ever some outlandish +reason for jibbing and shying like a hot-blooded, half-broken colt. Yet +I think that I can overcome these strange scruples of yours by a little +persuasion.' + +'As to the prisoners, Captain Clarke,' said the seaman, 'I'll be as good +as a father to them. S'help me, I will, on the word of an honest sailor! +If you should choose to lay out a trifle of twenty pieces upon their +comfort, I shall see that their food is such as mayhap many of them +never got at their own tables. They shall come on deck, too, in watches, +and have an hour or two o' fresh air in the day. I can't say fairer!' + +'A word or two with you on deck!' said Saxon. He walked out of the cabin +and I followed him to the far end of the poop, where we stood leaning +against the bulwarks. One by one the lights had gone out in the town, +until the black ocean beat against a blacker shore. + +'You need not have any fear of the future of the prisoners,' he said, +in a low whisper. 'They are not bound for the Barbadoes, nor will this +skinflint of a captain have the selling of them, for all that he is so +cocksure. If he can bring his own skin out of the business, it will be +more than I expect. He hath a man aboard his ship who would think no +more of giving him a tilt over the side than I should.' + +'What mean you, Saxon?' I cried. + +'Hast ever heard of a man named Marot?' + +'Hector Marot! Yes, surely I knew him well. A highwayman he was, but a +mighty stout man with a kind heart beneath a thief's jacket.' + +'The same. He is as you say a stout man and a resolute swordsman, though +from what I have seen of his play he is weak in stoccado, and perhaps +somewhat too much attached to the edge, and doth not give prominence +enough to the point, in which respect he neglects the advice and +teaching of the most noteworthy fencers in Europe. Well, well, folk +differ on this as on every other subject! Yet it seems to me that I +would sooner be carried off the field after using my weapon secundum +artem, than walk off unscathed after breaking the laws d'escrime. +Quarte, tierce, and saccoon, say I, and the devil take your estramacons +and passados!' + +'But what of Marot?' I asked impatiently. + +'He is aboard,' said Saxon. 'It appears that he was much disturbed in +his mind over the cruelties which were inflicted on the country folk +after the battle at Bridgewater. Being a man of a somewhat stern and +fierce turn of mind, his disapproval did vent itself in actions rather +than words. Soldiers were found here and there over the countryside +pistolled or stabbed, and no trace left of their assailant. A dozen or +more were cut off in this way, and soon it came to be whispered about +that Marot the highwayman was the man that did it, and the chase became +hot at his heels.' + +'Well, and what then?' I asked, for Saxon had stopped to light his pipe +at the same old metal tinder-box which he had used when first I met +him. When I picture Saxon to myself it is usually of that moment that I +think, when the red glow beat upon his hard, eager, hawk-like face, and +showed up the thousand little seams and wrinkles which time and care had +imprinted upon his brown, weather-beaten skin. Sometimes in my dreams +that face in the darkness comes back to me, and his half-closed eyelids +and shifting, blinky eyes are turned towards me in his sidelong fashion, +until I find myself sitting up and holding out my hand into empty space, +half expecting to feel another thin sinewy hand close round it. A bad +man he was in many ways, my dears, cunning and wily, with little scruple +or conscience; and yet so strange a thing is human nature, and so +difficult is it for us to control our feelings, that my heart warms when +I think of him, and that fifty years have increased rather than weakened +the kindliness which I hear to him. + +'I had heard,' quoth he, puffing slowly at his pipe, 'that Marot was a +man of this kidney, and also that he was so compassed round that he was +in peril of capture. I sought him out, therefore, and held council with +him. His mare, it seems, had been slain by some chance shot, and as he +was much attached to the brute, the accident made him more savage and +more dangerous than ever. He had no heart, he said, to continue in his +old trade. Indeed, he was ripe for anything--the very stuff out of which +useful tools are made. I found that in his youth he had had a training +for the sea. When I heard that, I saw my way in the snap of a petronel.' + +'What then?' I asked. 'I am still in the dark.' + +'Nay, it is surely plain enough to you now. Marot's end was to baffle +his pursuers and to benefit the exiles. How could he do this better than +by engaging as a seaman aboard this brig, the _Dorothy Fox_, and sailing +away from England in her? There are but thirty of a crew. Below hatches +are close on two hundred men, who, simple as they may be, are, as you +and I know, second to none in the cut-and-thrust work, without order or +discipline, which will be needed in such an affair. Marot has but to go +down amongst them some dark night, knock off their anklets, and fit them +up with a few stanchions or cudgels. Ho, ho, Micah! what think you? The +planters may dig their plantations themselves for all the help they are +like to get from West countrymen this bout.' + +'It is, indeed, a well-conceived plan,' said I. 'It is a pity, Saxon, +that your ready wit and quick invention hath not had a fair field. You +are, us I know well, as fit to command armies and to order campaigns as +any man that ever bore a truncheon.' + +'Mark ye there!' whispered Saxon, grasping me by the arm. 'See where +the moonlight falls beside the hatchway! Do you not see that short squat +seaman who stands alone, lost in thought, with his head sunk upon his +breast? It is Marot! I tell you that if I were Captain Pogram I would +rather have the devil himself, horns, hoofs, and tail, for my first +mate and bunk companion, than have that man aboard my ship. You need not +concern yourself about the prisoners, Micah. Their future is decided.' + +'Then, Saxon,' I answered, 'it only remains for me to thank you, and to +accept the means of safety which you have placed within my reach.' + +'Spoken like a man,' said he; 'is there aught which I may do for thee in +England? though, by the Mass, I may not be here very long myself, for, +as I understand, I am to be entrusted with the command of an expedition +that is fitting out against the Indians, who have ravaged the +plantations of our settlers. It will be good to get to some profitable +employment, for such a war, without either fighting or plunder, I have +never seen. I give you my word that I have scarce fingered silver since +the beginning of it. I would not for the sacking of London go through +with it again.' + +'There is a friend whom Sir Gervas Jerome did commend to my care,' I +remarked; 'I have, however, already taken measures to have his wishes +carried out. There is naught else save to assure all in Havant that a +King who hath battened upon his subjects, as this one of ours hath done, +is not one who is like to keep his seat very long upon the throne of +England. When he falls I shall return, and perhaps it may be sooner than +folk think.' + +'These doings in the West have indeed stirred up much ill-feeling all +over the country,' said my companion. 'On all hands I hear that there is +more hatred of the King and of his ministers than before the outbreak. +What ho, Captain Pogram, this way! We have settled the matter, and my +friend is willing to go.' + +'I thought he would tack round,' the captain said, staggering towards us +with a gait which showed that he had made the rum bottle his companion +since we had left him. 'S'help me, I was sure of it! Though, by the +Mass, I don't wonder that he thought twice before leaving the _Dorothy +Fox_, for she is fitted up fit for a duchess, s'help me! Where is your +boat?' + +'Alongside,' replied Saxon; 'my friend joins with me in hoping that you, +Captain Pogram, will have a pleasant and profitable voyage.' + +'I am cursedly beholden to him,' said the captain, with a flourish of +his three-cornered hat. + +'Also that you will reach Barbadoes in safety.' + +'Little doubt of that!' quoth the captain. + +'And that you will dispose of your wares in a manner which will repay +you for your charity and humanity.' + +'Nay, these are handsome words,' cried the captain. 'Sir, I am your +debtor.' + +A fishing-boat was lying alongside the brig. By the murky light of the +poop lanterns I could see the figures upon her deck, and the great brown +sail all ready for hoisting. I climbed the bulwark and set my foot upon +the rope-ladder which led down to her. + +'Good-bye, Decimus!' said I. + +'Good-bye, my lad! You have your pieces all safe?' + +'I have them.' + +'Then I have one other present to make you. It was brought to me by a +sergeant of the Royal Horse. It is that, Micah, on which you must now +depend for food, lodging, raiment, and all which you would have. It +is that to which a brave man can always look for his living. It is the +knife wherewith you can open the world's oyster. See, lad, it is your +sword!' + +'The old sword! My father's sword!' I cried in delight, as Saxon drew +from under his mantle and handed to me the discoloured, old-fashioned +leathern sheath with the heavy brass hilt which I knew so well. + +'You are now,' said he, 'one of the old and honourable guild of soldiers +of fortune. While the Turk is still snarling at the gates of Vienna +there will ever be work for strong arms and brave hearts. You will find +that among these wandering, fighting men, drawn from all climes and +nations, the name of Englishman stands high. Well I know that it will +stand none the lower for your having joined the brotherhood. I would +that I could come with you, but I am promised pay and position which it +would be ill to set aside. Farewell, lad, and may fortune go with you!' + +I pressed the rough soldier's horny hand, and descended into the +fishing-boat. The rope that held us was cast off, the sail mounted up, +and the boat shot out across the bay. Onward she went and on, through +the gathering gloom--a gloom as dark and impenetrable as the future +towards which my life's bark was driving. Soon the long rise and fall +told us that we were over the harbour bar and out in the open channel. +On the land, scattered twinkling lights at long stretches marked the +line of the coast. As I gazed backwards a cloud trailed off from the +moon, and I saw the hard lines of the brig's rigging stand out against +the white cold disk. By the shrouds stood the veteran, holding to a +rope with one hand, and waving the other in farewell and encouragement. +Another groat cloud blurred out the light, and that lean sinewy figure +with its long extended arm was the last which I saw for a weary time of +the dear country where I was born and bred. + + + +Chapter XXXVI. Of the End of it All + +And so, my dear children, I come to the end of the history of a +failure--a brave failure and a noble one, but a failure none the less. +In three more years England was to come to herself, to tear the fetters +from her free limbs, and to send James and his poisonous brood flying +from her shores even as I was flying then. We had made the error of +being before our time. Yet there came days when folk thought kindly of +the lads who had fought so stoutly in the West, and when their limbs, +gathered from many a hangman's pit and waste place, were borne amid the +silent sorrow of a nation to the pretty country burial-grounds where +they would have chosen to lie. There, within the sound of the bell which +from infancy had called them to prayer, beneath the turf over which they +had wandered, under the shadow of those Mendip and Quantock Hills which +they loved so well, these brave hearts lie still and peaceful, like +tired children in the bosom of their mother. Requiescant-requiescant in +pace! + +Not another word about myself, dear children. This narrative doth +already bristle with I's, as though it were an Argus which is a flash +of wit, though I doubt if ye will understand it. I set myself to tell ye +the tale of the war in the West, and that tale ye have heard, nor will +I be coaxed or cajoled into one word further. Ah! ye know well how +garrulous the old man is, and that if you could but get to Flushing with +him he would take ye to the wars of the Empire, to William's Court, and +to the second invasion of the West, which had a better outcome than the +first. But not an inch further will I budge. On to the green, ye young +rogues! Have ye not other limbs to exercise besides your ears, that ye +should be so fond of squatting round grandad's chair? If I am spared to +next winter, and if the rheumatiz keeps away, it is like that I may take +up once more the broken thread of my story. + +Of the others I can only tell ye what I know. Some slipped out of my +ken entirely. Of others I have heard vague and incomplete accounts. +The leaders of the insurrection got off much more lightly than their +followers, for they found that the passion of greed was even stronger +than the passion of cruelty. Grey, Buyse, Wade, and others bought +themselves free at the price of all their possessions. Ferguson escaped. +Monmouth was executed on Tower Hill, and showed in his last moments +some faint traces of that spirit which spurted up now and again from his +feeble nature, like the momentary flash of an expiring fire. + +My father and my mother lived to see the Protestant religion regain its +place once more, and to see England become the champion of the reformed +faith upon the Continent. Three years later I found them in Havant much +as I had left them, save that there were more silver hairs amongst the +brown braided tresses of my mother, and that my father's great shoulders +were a trifle bowed and his brow furrowed with the lines of care. Hand +in hand they passed onwards down life's journey, the Puritan and the +Church woman, and I have never despaired of the healing of religious +feud in England since I have seen how easy it is for two folks to retain +the strongest belief in their own creeds, and yet to bear the heartiest +love and respect for the professor of another. The days may come when +the Church and the Chapel may be as a younger and an elder brother, +each working to one end, and each joying in the other's success. Let +the contest between them be not with pike and pistol, not with court and +prison; but let the strife be which shall lead the higher life, which +shall take the broader view, which shall boast the happiest and best +cared-for poor. Then their rivalry shall be not a curse, but a blessing +to this land of England. + +Reuben Lockarby was ill for many months, but when he at last recovered +he found a pardon awaiting him through the interest of Major Ogilvy. +After a time, when the troubles were all blown over, he married the +daughter of Mayor Timewell, and he still lives in Taunton, a well-to-do +and prosperous citizen. Thirty years ago there was a little Micah +Lockarby, and now I am told that there is another, the son of the first, +who promises to be as arrant a little Roundhead as ever marched to the +tuck of drum. + +Of Saxon I have heard more than once. So skilfully did he use his hold +over the Duke of Beaufort, that he was appointed through his interest to +the command of an expedition which had been sent to chastise the savages +of Virginia, who had wrought great cruelties upon the settlers. There +he did so out-ambush their ambushes, and out-trick their most cunning +warriors, that he hath left a great name among them, and is still +remembered there by an Indian word which signifieth 'The long-legged +wily one with the eye of a rat.' Having at last driven the tribes far +into the wilderness he was presented with a tract of country for his +services, where he settled down. There he married, and spent the rest of +his days in rearing tobacco and in teaching the principles of war to a +long line of gaunt and slab-sided children. They tell me that a great +nation of exceeding strength and of wondrous size promises some day to +rise up on the other side of the water. If this should indeed come to +pass, it may perhaps happen that these young Saxons or their children +may have a hand in the building of it. God grant that they may never +let their hearts harden to the little isle of the sea, which is and must +ever be the cradle of their race. + +Solomon Sprent married and lived for many years as happily as his +friends could wish. I had a letter from him when I was abroad, in which +he said that though his consort and he had started alone on the voyage +of wedlock, they were now accompanied by a jolly-boat and a gig. One +winter's night when the snow was on the ground he sent down for my +father, who hurried up to his house. He found the old man sitting up in +bed, with his flask of rumbo within reach, his tobacco-box beside him, +and a great brown Bible balanced against his updrawn knees. He was +breathing heavily, and was in sore distress. + +'I've strained a plank, and have nine feet in the well,' said he. 'It +comes in quicker than I can put it out. In truth, friend, I have not +been seaworthy this many a day, and it is time that I was condemned and +broken up.' + +My father shook his head sadly as he marked his dusky face and laboured +breathing. 'How of your soul?' he asked. + +'Aye!' said Solomon, 'that's a cargo that we carry under our hatches, +though we can't see it, and had no hand in the stowing of it. I've been +overhauling the sailing orders here, and the ten articles of war, but I +can't find that I've gone so far out of my course that I may not hope to +come into the channel again.' + +'Trust not in yourself, but in Christ,' said my father. + +'He is the pilot, in course,' replied the old seaman. 'When I had a +pilot aboard o' my ship, however, it was my way always to keep my own +weather eye open, d'ye see, and so I'll do now. The pilot don't think +none the worse of ye for it. So I'll throw my own lead line, though I +hear as how there are no soundings in the ocean of God's mercy. Say, +friend, d'ye think this very body, this same hull o' mine, will rise +again?' + +'So we are taught,' my father answered. + +'I'd know it anywhere from the tattoo marks,' said Solomon. 'They was +done when I was with Sir Christopher in the West Indies, and I'd be +sorry to part with them. For myself, d'ye see, I've never borne ill-will +to any one, not even to the Dutch lubbers, though I fought three wars +wi' them, and they carried off one of my spars, and be hanged to them! +If I've let daylight into a few of them, d'ye see, it's all in good +part and by way of duty. I've drunk my share--enough to sweeten my +bilge-water--but there are few that have seen me cranky in the +upper rigging or refusing to answer to my helm. I never drew pay or +prize-money that my mate in distress was not welcome to the half of it. +As to the Polls, the less said the better. I've been a true consort +to my Phoebe since she agreed to look to me for signals. Those are my +papers, all clear and aboveboard. If I'm summoned aft this very night by +the great Lord High Admiral of all, I ain't afeared that He'll clap me +into the bilboes, for though I'm only a poor sailor man, I've got His +promise in this here book, and I'm not afraid of His going back from +it.' + +My father sat with the old man for some hours and did all that he could +to comfort and assist him, for it was clear that he was sinking rapidly. +When he at last left him, with his faithful wife beside him, he grasped +the brown but wasted hand which lay above the clothes. + +'I'll see you again soon,' he said. + +'Yes. In the latitude of heaven,' replied the dying seaman. His +foreboding was right, for in the early hours of the morning his wife, +bending over him, saw a bright smile upon his tanned, weather-beaten +face. Raising himself upon his pillow he touched his forelock, as is +the habit of sailor-men, and so sank slowly and peacefully back into the +long sleep which wakes when the night has ceased to be. + +You will ask me doubtless what became of Hector Marot and of the strange +shipload which had set sail from Poole Harbour. There was never a word +heard of them again, unless indeed a story which was spread some months +afterwards by Captain Elias Hopkins, of the Bristol ship _Caroline_, may +be taken as bearing upon their fate. For Captain Hopkins relates that, +being on his homeward voyage from our settlements, he chanced to meet +with thick fogs and a head wind in the neighbourhood of the great cod +banks. One night as he was beating about, with the weather so thick that +he could scarce see the truck of his own mast, a most strange passage +befell him. For as he and others stood upon the deck, they heard to +their astonishment the sound of many voices joined in a great chorus, +which was at first faint and distant, but which presently waxed and +increased until it appeared to pass within a stone-throw of his vessel, +when it slowly died away once more and was lost in the distance. There +were some among the crew who set the matter down as the doing of the +evil one, but, as Captain Elias Hopkins was wont to remark, it was a +strange thing that the foul fiend should choose West-country hymns for +his nightly exercise, and stranger still that the dwellers in the pit +should sing with a strong Somersetshire burr. For myself, I have little +doubt that it was indeed the _Dorothy Fox_ which had swept past in the +fog, and that the prisoners, having won their freedom, were celebrating +their delivery in true Puritan style. Whether they were driven on to the +rocky coast of Labrador, or whether they found a home in some desolate +land whence no kingly cruelty could harry them, is what must remain for +ever unknown. + +Zachariah Palmer lived for many years, a venerable and honoured old man, +before he, too, was called to his fathers. A sweet and simple village +philosopher he was, with a child's heart in his aged breast. The very +thought of him is to me as the smell of violets; for if in my views of +life and in my hopes of the future I differ somewhat from the hard and +gloomy teaching of my father, I know that I owe it to the wise words +and kindly training of the carpenter. If, as he was himself wont to +say, deeds are everything in this world and dogma is nothing, then his +sinless, blameless life might be a pattern to you and to all. May the +dust lie light upon him! + +One word of another friend--the last mentioned, but not the least +valued. When Dutch William had been ten years upon the English throne +there was still to be seen in the field by my father's house a tall, +strong-boned horse, whose grey skin was flecked with dashes of white. +And it was ever observed that, should the soldiers be passing from +Portsmouth, or should the clank of trumpet or the rattle of drum break +upon his ear, he would arch his old neck, throw out his grey-streaked +tail, and raise his stiff knees in a pompous and pedantic canter. The +country folk would stop to watch these antics of the old horse, and then +the chances are that one of them would tell the rest how that charger +had borne one of their own village lads to the wars, and how, when the +rider had to fly the country, a kindly sergeant in the King's troops +had brought the steed as a remembrance of him to his father at home. So +Covenant passed the last years of his life, a veteran among steeds, well +fed and cared for, and much given, mayhap, to telling in equine language +to all the poor, silly country steeds the wonderful passages which had +befallen him in the West. + + + +APPENDIX + + +Note A.--Hatred of Learning among the Puritans. + +In spite of the presence in their ranks of such ripe scholars as John +Milton, Colonel Hutchinson, and others, there was among the Independents +and Anabaptists a profound distrust of learning, which is commented upon +by writers of all shades of politics. Dr. South in his sermons remarks +that 'All learning was cried down, so that with them the best preachers +were such as could not read, and the best divines such as could not +write. In all their preachments they so highly pretended to the Spirit, +that some of them could hardly spell a letter. To be blind with them was +a proper qualification of a spiritual guide, and to be book-learned, as +they called it, and to be irreligious, were almost convertible terms. +None save tradesmen and mechanics were allowed to have the Spirit, and +those only were accounted like St. Paul who could work with their hands, +and were able to make a pulpit before preaching in it.' + +In the collection of loyal ballads reprinted in 1731, the Royalist bard +harps upon the same characteristic: + + 'We'll down with universities + Where learning is professed, + Because they practise and maintain + The language of the beast. + We'll drive the doctors out of doors, + And parts, whate'er they be, + We'll cry all parts and learning down, + And heigh, then up go we!' + + +Note B.--On the Speed of Couriers. + +It is difficult for us in these days of steam and electricity to realise +how long it took to despatch a message in the seventeenth century, even +when the occasion was most pressing. Thus, Monmouth landed at Lyme on +the morning of Thursday, the 11th of June. Gregory Alford, the Tory +mayor of Lyme, instantly fled to Honiton, whence he despatched a +messenger to the Privy Council. Yet it was five o'clock in the morning +of Saturday, the 13th, before the news reached London, though the +distance is but 156 miles. + + +Note C.--On the Claims of the Lender of a Horse. + +The difficulty touched upon by Decimus Saxon, as to the claim of the +lender of a horse upon the booty gained by the rider, is one frequently +discussed by writers of that date upon the usages of war. One +distinguished authority says: Praefectus turmae equitum Hispanorum, cum +proelio tuba caneret, unum ex equitibus suae turmae obvium habuit; qui +questus est quod paucis ante diebus equum suum in certamine amiserat, +propter quod non poterat imminenti proelio interesse; unde jussit +Praefectus ut unum ex suis equis conscenderet et ipsum comitaretur. +Miles, equo conscenso, inter fugandum hostes, incidit in ipsum ducem +hostilis exercitus, quem cepit et consignavit Duci exercitus Hispani, +qui a captivo vicena aureorum millia est consequutus. Dicebat Praefectus +partem pretii hujus redemptionis sibi debere, quod miles equo suo +dimicaverat, qui alias proelio interesse non potuit. Petrinus Bellus +affirmat se, cum esset Bruxellis in curia Hispaniarum Regis de hac +quaestione consultum, et censuisse, pro Praefecto facere aequitatem quae +praecipue respicitur inter milites, quorum controversiae ex aequo et +bono dirimendae sunt; unde ultra conventa quis obligatur ad id quod +alterum alteri prasstare oportet.' The case, it appears, ultimately went +against the horse-lending praefect. + + +Note D.--On the Pronunciation of Exquisites. + +The substitution of the a for the o was a common affectation in +the speech of the fops of the period, as may be found in Vanbrugh's +_Relapse_. The notorious Titus Oates, in his efforts to be in the mode, +pushed this trick to excess, and his cries of 'Oh Lard! Oh Lard!' were +familiar sounds in Westminster Hall at the time when the Salamanca +doctor was at the flood of his fortune. + + +Note E.--Hour-glasses in Pulpits. + +In those days it was customary to have an hour-glass stationed in +a frame of iron at the side of the pulpit, and visible to the whole +congregation. It was turned up as soon as the text was announced, and a +minister earned a name as a lazy preacher if he did not hold out until +the sand had ceased to run. If, on the other hand, he exceeded that +limit, his audience would signify by gapes and yawns that they had +had as much spiritual food as they could digest. Sir Roger L'Estrange +(_Fables_, Part II. Fab. 262) tells of a notorious spin-text who, having +exhausted his glass and being half-way through a second one, was at +last arrested in his career by a valiant sexton, who rose and departed, +remarking as he did so, 'Pray, sir, be pleased when you have done to +leave the key under the door.' + + +Note F.--Disturbances at the old Gast House of Little Burton. + +The circumstances referred to by the Mayor of Taunton in his allusion +to the Drummer of Tedsworth are probably too well known to require +elucidation. The haunting of the old Gast House at Burton would, +however, be fresh at that time in the minds of Somersetshire folk, +occurring as it did in 1677. Some short account from documents of that +date may be of interest. + +'The first night that I was there, with Hugh Mellmore and Edward Smith, +they heard as it were the washing of water over their heads. Then, +taking the candle and going up the stairs, there was a wet cloth thrown +at them, but it fell on the stairs. They, going up further, there was +another thrown as before. And when they were come up into the chamber +there stood a bowl of water, looking white, as though soap had been used +in it. The bowl just before was in the kitchen, and could not be carried +up but through the room where they were. The next thing was a terrible +noise, like a clap of thunder, and shortly afterwards they heard a great +scratching about the bedstead, and after that great knocking with a +hammer against the bed's-head, so that the two maids that were in bed +cried out for help. Then they ran up the stairs, and there lay the +hammer on the bed, and on the bed's-head there were near a thousand +prints of the hammer. The maids said that they were scratched and +pinched with a hand which had exceeding long nails. + +'The second night that James Sherring and Thomas Hillary were there, +James Sherring sat down in the chimney to fill a pipe of tobacco. He +used the tongs to lift a coal to light his pipe, and by-and-by the tongs +were drawn up the stairs and were cast upon the bed. The same night one +of the maids left her shoes by the fire, and they were carried up into +the chamber, and the old man's brought down and set in their places. +As they were going upstairs there were many things thrown at them which +were just before in the low room, and when they went down the stairs the +old man's breeches were thrown down after them. + +'On another night a saddle did come into the house from a pin in the +entry, and did hop about the place from table to table. It was very +troublesome to them, until they broke it into small pieces and threw +it out into the roadway. So for some weeks the haunting continued, +with rappings, scratching, movements of heavy articles, and many other +strange things, as are attested by all who were in the village, until at +last they ceased as suddenly as they had begun.' + + +Note G.--Monmouth's Progress in the West. + +During his triumphal progress through the western shires, some years +before the rebellion, Monmouth first ventured to exhibit upon his +escutcheon the lions of England and the lilies of France, without the +baton sinister. A still more ominous sign was that he ventured to touch +for the king's evil. The appended letter, extracted from the collection +of tracts in the British Museum, may be of interest as first-hand +evidence of the occasional efficacy of that curious ceremony. + +'His Grace the Duke of Monmouth honoured in his progress in the West of +England, in an account of an extraordinary cure of the king's evil. + +'Given in a letter from Crewkhorn, in Somerset, from the minister of the +parish and many others. + +'We, whose names are underwritten, do certify the miraculous cure of +a girl of this town, about twenty, by name Elizabeth Parcet, a poor +widow's daughter, who hath languished under sad affliction from that +distemper of the king's evil termed the joint evil, being said to be +the worst evil. For about ten or twelve years' time she had in her right +hand four running wounds, one on the inside, three on the back of her +hand, as well as two more in the same arm, one above her hand-wrist, +the other above the bending of her arm. She had betwixt her arm-pits a +swollen bunch, which the doctors said fed those six running wounds. She +had the same distemper also on her left eye, so she was almost blind. +Her mother, despairing of preserving her sight, and being not of ability +to send her to London to be touched by the king, being miserably poor, +having many poor children, and this girl not being able to work, her +mother, desirous to have her daughter cured, sent to the chirurgeons for +help, who tampered with it for some time, but could do no good. She +went likewise ten or eleven miles to a seventh son, but all in vain. No +visible hopes remained, and she expected nothing but the grave. + +'But now, in this the girl's great extremity, God, the great physician, +dictates to her, then languishing in her miserable, hopeless condition, +what course to take and what to do for a cure, which was to go and touch +the Duke of Monmouth. The girl told her mother that, if she could +but touch the Duke she would be well. The mother reproved her for her +foolish conceit, but the girl did often persuade her mother to go to +Lackington to the Duke, who then lay with Mr. Speaks. "Certainly," said +she, "I should be well if I could touch him." The mother slighted these +pressing requests, but the more she slighted and reproved, the more +earnest the girl was for it. A few days after, the girl having noticed +that Sir John Sydenham intended to treat the Duke at White Lodge in +Henton Park, this girl with many of her neighbours went to the said +park. She being there timely waited the Duke's coming. When first she +observed the Duke she pressed in among a crowd of people and caught +him by the hand, his glove being on, and she likewise having a glove to +cover her wounds. She not being herewith satisfied at the first attempt +of touching his glove only, but her mind was she must touch some part +of his bare skin, she, weighing his coming forth, intended a second +attempt. The poor girl, thus between hope and fear, waited his motion. +On a sudden there was news of the Duke's coming on, which she to be +prepared rent off her glove, that was clung to the sores, in such haste +that she broke her glove, and brought away not only the sores but the +skin. The Duke's glove, as Providence would have it, the upper part hung +down, so that his hand-wrist was bare. She pressed on, and caught him +by the bare hand-wrist with her running hand, crying, "God bless your +highness!" and the Duke said "God bless you!" The girl, not a little +transported at her good success, came and assured her friends that she +would now be well. She came home to her mother in great joy, and told +her that she had touched the Duke's hand. The mother, hearing what she +had done, reproved her sharply for her boldness, asked how she durst +do such a thing, and threatened to beat her for it. She cried out, "Oh, +mother, I shall be well again, and healed of my wounds!" And as God +Almighty would have it, to the wonder and admiration of all, the six +wounds were speedily dried up, the eye became perfectly well, and the +girl was in good health. All which has been discovered to us by the +mother and daughter, and by neighbours that know her. + +'Henry Clark, minister; Captain James Bale, &c &c. Whoever doubts the +truth of this relation may see the original under the hands of the +persons mentioned at the Amsterdam Coffee House, Bartholomew Lane, Royal +Exchange.' + +In spite of the uncouth verbiage of the old narrative, there is a touch +of human pathos about it which makes it worthy of reproduction. + + +Note H.--Monmouth's Contention of Legitimacy. + +Sir Patrick Hume, relating a talk with Monmouth before his expedition, +says: 'I urged if he considered himself as lawful son of King Charles, +late deceased. He said he did. I asked him if he were able to make out +and prove the marriage of his mother to King Charles, and whether he +intended to lay claim to the crown. He answered that he had been able +lately to prove the marriage, and if some persons are not lately dead, +of which he would inform himself, he would yet be able to prove it. +As for his claiming the crown, he intended not to do it unless it were +advised to be done by those who should concern themselves and join for +the delivery of the nations.' + +It may be remarked that in Monmouth's commission to be general, dated +April 1668, he is styled 'our most entirely beloved and natural son.' +Again, in a commission for the government of Hull, April 1673, he is +'our well-beloved natural son.' + + +Note I.--Dragooners and Chargers. + +The dragoons, being really mounted infantry, were provided with very +inferior animals to the real cavalry. From a letter of Cromwell's +('Squire Correspondence,' April 3, 1643), it will be seen that a +dragooner was worth twenty pieces, while a charger could not be obtained +under sixty. + +Note J.--Battle of Sedgemoor. + +A curious little sidelight upon the battle is afforded by the two +following letters exhibited to the Royal Archaeological Institute by the +Rev. C. W. Bingham. + +'To Mrs. Chaffin at Chettle House.' + +'Monday, about ye forenoon, July 6, 1685.' + +'My dearest creature,--This morning about one o'clock the rebbells fell +upon us whilest we were in our tents in King's Sedgemoor, with their +whole army.... We have killed and taken at least 1000 of them. They are +fled into Bridgewater. It is said that we have taken all their cannon, +but sure it is that most are, if all be not. A coat with stars on 't is +taken. ''Tis run through the back. By some 'tis thought that the Duke +rebbell had it on and is killed, but most doe think that a servant wore +it. I wish he were called, that the wars may be ended. It's thought +he'll never be able to make his men fight again. I thank God I am very +well without the least hurt, soe are our Dorsetshire friends. Prythee +let Biddy know this by the first opportunity. I am thyne onely deare, +TOSSEY.' + +BRIDGEWATER: July 7, 1685. + +'We have totally routed the enemies of God and the King, and can't hear +of fifty men together of the whole rebel army. We pick them up every +houre in cornfields and ditches. Williams, the late Duke's valet de +chambre, is taken, who gives a very ingenious account of the whole +affair, which is too long to write. The last word that he said to him +was at the time when his army fled, that he was undone and must shift +for himself. We think to march with the General this day to Wells, on +his way homeward. At present he is 3 miles off at the camp, soe I can't +certainly tell whether he intends for Wells. I shall be home certainly +on Saturday at farthest. I believe my deare Nan would for 500 pounds +that her Tossey had served the King to the end of the war. + +I am thyne, my deare childe, for ever.' + + +Note K.--Lord Grey and the Horse at Sedgemoor. + +It is only fair to state that Ferguson is held by many to have been +as doughty a soldier as he was zealous in religion. His own account of +Sedgemoor is interesting, as showing what was thought by those who were +actually engaged on the causes of their failure. + +'Now besides these two troops, whose officers though they had no great +skill yet had courage enough to have done something honourably, had they +not for want of a guide met with the aforesaid obstruction, there was +no one of all the rest of our troops that ever advanced to charge or +approached as near to the enemy as to give or receive a wound. Mr. +Hacker, one of our captains, came no sooner within view of their camp +than he villainously fired a pistol to give them notice of our approach, +and then forsook his charge and rode oft with all the speed he could, to +take the benefit of a proclamation emitted by the King, offering pardon +to all such as should return home within such a time. And this he +pleaded at his tryal, but was answered by Jeffreys "that he above all +other men deserved to be hanged, and that for his treachery to Monmouth +as well as his treason to the King." And though no other of our officers +acted so villainously, yet they were useless and unserviceable, as never +once attempting to charge, nor so much as keeping their men in a body. +And I dare affirm that if our horse had never fired a pistol, but only +stood in a posture to have given jealousy and apprehension to the enemy, +our foot alone would have carried the day and been triumphant. But our +horse standing scattered and disunited, and flying upon every approach +of a squadron of theirs, commanded by Oglethorpe, gave that body of +their cavalry an advantage, after they had hovered up and down in the +field without thinking it necessary to attack those whom their own fears +had dispersed, to fall in at last in the rear of our battalions, and to +wrest that victory out of their hands which they were grasping at, and +stood almost possessed of. Nor was that party of their horse above +three hundred at most, whereas we had more than enough had they had any +courage, and been commanded by a gallant man, to have attacked them +with ease both in front and flank. These things I can declare with +more certainty, because I was a doleful spectator of them; for having +contrary to my custom left attending upon the Duke, who advanced with +the foot, I betook myself to the horse, because the first of that +morning's action was expected from them, which was to break in and +disorder the enemy's camp. Against the time that our battalions should +come up, I endeavoured whatsoever I was capable of performing, for I +not only struck at several troopers who had forsaken their station, but +upbraided divers of the captains for being wanting in their duty. But I +spoke with great warmth to my Lord Grey, and conjured him to charge, and +not suffer the victory, which our foot had in a manner taken hold of, +to be ravished from us. But instead of hearkening, he not only as an +unworthy man and cowardly poltroon deserted that part of the field and +forsook his command, but rode with the utmost speed to the Duke, telling +him that all was lost and it was more than time to shift for himself. +Wherebye, as an addition to all the mischief he had been the occasion +of before, he drew the easy and unfortunate gentleman to leave the +battalions while they were courageously disputing on which side the +victory should fall. And this fell most unhappily out, while a certain +person was endeavouring to find out the Duke to have begged of him to +come and charge at the head of his own troops. However, this I dare +affirm, that if the Duke had been but master of two hundred horse, +well mounted, completely armed, personally valiant, and commanded +by experienced officers, they would have been victorious. This is +acknowledged by our enemies, who have often confessed they were ready +to fly through the impressions made upon them by our foot, and must have +been beaten had our horse done their part, and not tamely looked on +till their cavalry retrieved the day by falling into the rear of our +battalions. Nor was the fault in the private men, who had courage +to have followed their leaders, but it was in those who led them, +particularly my Lord Grey, in whom, if cowardice may be called +treachery, we may safely charge him with betraying our cause.' + +Extract from MS. of Dr. Ferguson, quoted in 'Ferguson the Plotter,' an +interesting work by his immediate descendant, an advocate of Edinburgh. + + +Note L.--Monmouth's Attitude after Capture. + +The following letter, written by Monmouth to the Queen from the Tower, +is indicative of his abject state of mind. + +'Madam,--I would not take the boldness of writing to your Majesty till +I had shown the King how I do abhor the thing that I have done, and how +much I desire to live to serve him. I hope, madam, by what I have said +to the King to-day will satisfy how sincere I am, and how much I detest +all those people who have brought me to this. Having done this, madam, +I thought I was in a fitt condition to beg your intercession, which I am +sure you never refuse to the distressed, and I am sure, madam, that I +am an object of your pity, having been cousened and cheated into this +horrid business. Did I wish, madam, to live for living sake I would +never give you this trouble, but it is to have life to serve the +King, which I am able to doe, and will doe beyond what I can express. +Therefore, madam, upon such an account as I may take the boldness to +press you and beg of you to intersaid for me, for I am sure, madam, the +King will hearken to you. Your prairs can never be refused, especially +when it is begging for a life only to serve the King. I hope, madam, by +the King's generosity and goodness, and your intercession, I may hope +for my life which if I have shall be ever employed in showing to your +Majesty all the sense immaginable of gratitude, and in serving of the +King like a true subject. And ever be your Majesty's most dutiful and +obedient servant, MONMOUTH.' + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Micah Clarke, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MICAH CLARKE *** + +***** This file should be named 9504.txt or 9504.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/5/0/9504/ + +Produced by Lionel G. Sear + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Micah Clarke + His Statement as made to his three grandchildren Joseph, + Gervas and Reuben During the Hard Winter of 1734 + +Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle + +Release Date: December, 2005 [EBook #9504] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 6, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MICAH CLARKE *** + + + + +Produced by Lionel G. Sear of Truro, Cornwall, England + + + + +MICAH CLARKE + +HIS STATEMENT AS MADE TO HIS THREE GRANDCHILDREN JOSEPH, GERVAS, AND +REUBEN DURING THE HARD WINTER OF 1734 + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER. +I. OF CORNET JOSEPH CLARKE OF THE IRONSIDES. + +II. OF MY GOING TO SCHOOL AND OF MY COMING THENCE. + +III. OF TWO FRIENDS OF MY YOUTH. + +IV. OF THE STRANGE FISH THAT WE CAUGHT AT SPITHEAD. + +V. OF THE MAN WITH THE DROOPING LIDS. + +VI. OF THE LETTER THAT CAME FROM THE LOWLANDS. + +VII. OF THE HORSEMAN WHO RODE FROM THE WEST. + +VIII. OF OUR START FOR THE WARS. + +IX. OF A PASSAGE OF ARMS AT THE BLUE BOAR. + +X. OF OUR PERILOUS ADVENTURE ON THE PLAIN. + +XI. OF THE LONELY MAN AND THE GOLD CHEST. + +XII. OF CERTAIN PASSAGES UPON THE MOOR. + +XIII. OF SIR GERVAS JEROME, KNIGHT BANNERET OF THE COUNTY OF SURREY. + +XIV. OF THE STIFF-LEGGED PARSON AND HIS FLOCK. + +XV. OF OUR BRUSH WITH THE KING'S DRAGOONS. + +XVI. OF OUR COMING TO TAUNTON. + +XVII. OF THE GATHERING IN THE MARKET-SQUARE. + +XVIII. OF MASTER STEPHEN TIMEWELL, MAYOR OF TAUNTON. + +XIX. OF A BRAWL IN THE NIGHT. + +XX. OF THE MUSTER OF THE MEN OF THE WEST. + +XXI. OF MY HAND-GRIPS WITH THE BRANDENBURGER. + +XXII. OF THE NEWS FROM HAVANT. + +XXIII. OF THE SNARE ON THE WESTON ROAD. + +XXIV. OF THE WELCOME THAT MET ME AT BADMINTON. + +XXV. OF STRANGE DOINGS IN THE BOTELER DUNGEON. + +XXVI. OF THE STRIFE IN THE COUNCIL. + +XXVII OF THE AFFAIR NEAR KEYNSHAM BRIDGE. + +XXVIII OF THE FIGHT IN WELLS CATHEDRAL. + +XXIX. OF THE GREAT CRY FROM THE LONELY HOUSE. + +XXX OF THE SWORDSMAN WITH THE BROWN JACKET. + +XXXI. OF THE MAID OF THE MARSH AND THE BUBBLE WHICH ROSE FROM THE + BOG. + +XXXII. OF THE ONFALL AT SEDGEMOOR. + +XXXIII. OF MY PERILOUS ADVENTURE AT THE MILL. + +XXXIV. OF THE COMING OF SOLOMON SPRENT. + +XXXV. OF THE DEVIL IN WIG AND GOWN. + +XXXVI. OF THE END OF IT ALL. + + APPENDIX + + + +Chapter I. + + +Of Cornet Joseph Clarke of the Ironsides + +It may be, my dear grandchildren, that at one time or another I have +told you nearly all the incidents which have occurred during my +adventurous life. To your father and to your mother, at least, I know +that none of them are unfamiliar. Yet when I consider that time wears +on, and that a grey head is apt to contain a failing memory, I am +prompted to use these long winter evenings in putting it all before you +from the beginning, that you may have it as one clear story in your +minds, and pass it on as such to those who come after you. For now that +the house of Brunswick is firmly established upon the throne and that +peace prevails in the land, it will become less easy for you every year +to understand how men felt when Englishmen were in arms against +Englishmen, and when he who should have been the shield and the +protector of his subjects had no thought but to force upon them what +they most abhorred and detested. + +My story is one which you may well treasure up in your memories, and +tell again to others, for it is not likely that in this whole county of +Hampshire, or even perhaps in all England, there is another left alive +who is so well able to speak from his own knowledge of these events, or +who has played a more forward part in them. All that I know I shall +endeavour soberly and in due order to put before you. I shall try to +make these dead men quicken into life for your behoof, and to call back +out of the mists of the past those scenes which were brisk enough in the +acting, though they read so dully and so heavily in the pages of the +worthy men who have set themselves to record them. Perchance my words, +too, might, in the ears of strangers, seem to be but an old man's +gossip. To you, however, who know that these eyes which are looking at +you looked also at the things which I describe, and that this hand has +struck in for a good cause, it will, I know, be different. Bear in mind +as you listen that it was your quarrel as well as our own in which we +fought, and that if now you grow up to be free men in a free land, +privileged to think or to pray as your consciences shall direct, you may +thank God that you are reaping the harvest which your fathers sowed in +blood and suffering when the Stuarts were on the throne. + +I was born then in the year 1664, at Havant, which is a flourishing +village a few miles from Portsmouth off the main London road, and there +it was that I spent the greater part of my youth. It is now as it was +then, a pleasant, healthy spot, with a hundred or more brick cottages +scattered along in a single irregular street, each with its little +garden in front, and maybe a fruit tree or two at the back. In the +middle of the village stood the old church with the square tower, and +the great sun-dial like a wrinkle upon its grey weather-blotched +face. On the outskirts the Presbyterians had their chapel; but +when the Act of Uniformity was passed, their good minister, Master +Breckinridge, whose discourses had often crowded his rude benches while +the comfortable pews of the church were empty, was cast into gaol, and +his flock dispersed. As to the Independents, of whom my father was one, +they also were under the ban of the law, but they attended conventicle +at Emsworth, whither we would trudge, rain or shine, on every Sabbath +morning. These meetings were broken up more than once, but the +congregation was composed of such harmless folk, so well beloved and +respected by their neighbours, that the peace officers came after a +time to ignore them, and to let them worship in their own fashion. +There were Papists, too, amongst us, who were compelled to go as far as +Portsmouth for their Mass. Thus, you see, small as was our village, we +were a fair miniature of the whole country, for we had our sects and our +factions, which were all the more bitter for being confined in so narrow +a compass. + +My father, Joseph Clarke, was better known over the countryside by the +name of Ironside Joe, for he had served in his youth in the Yaxley troop +of Oliver Cromwell's famous regiment of horse, and had preached so +lustily and fought so stoutly that old Noll himself called him out of +the ranks after the fight at Dunbar, and raised him to a cornetcy. +It chanced, however, that having some little time later fallen into an +argument with one of his troopers concerning the mystery of the Trinity, +the man, who was a half-crazy zealot, smote my father across the face, +a favour which he returned by a thrust from his broadsword, which sent +his adversary to test in person the truth of his beliefs. In most +armies it would have been conceded that my father was within his rights +in punishing promptly so rank an act of mutiny, but the soldiers of +Cromwell had so high a notion of their own importance and privileges, +that they resented this summary justice upon their companion. +A court-martial sat upon my father, and it is likely that he would have +been offered up as a sacrifice to appease the angry soldiery, had not +the Lord Protector interfered, and limited the punishment to dismissal +from the army. Cornet Clarke was accordingly stripped of his buff coat +and steel cap, and wandered down to Havant, where he settled into +business as a leather merchant and tanner, thereby depriving Parliament +of as trusty a soldier as ever drew blade in its service. Finding that +he prospered in trade, he took as wife Mary Shepstone, a young +Churchwoman, and I, Micah Clarke, was the first pledge of their union. + +My father, as I remember him first, was tall and straight, with a great +spread of shoulder and a mighty chest. His face was craggy and stern, +with large harsh features, shaggy over-hanging brows, high-bridged +fleshy nose, and a full-lipped mouth which tightened and set when he was +angry. His grey eyes were piercing and soldier-like, yet I have seen +them lighten up into a kindly and merry twinkle. His voice was the most +tremendous and awe-inspiring that I have ever listened to. I can well +believe what I have heard, that when he chanted the Hundredth Psalm as +he rode down among the blue bonnets at Dunbar, the sound of him rose +above the blare of trumpets and the crash of guns, like the deep roll of +a breaking wave. Yet though he possessed every quality which was needed +to raise him to distinction as an officer, he had thrown off his +military habits when he returned to civil life. As he prospered and +grew rich he might well have worn a sword, but instead he would ever +bear a small copy of the Scriptures bound to his girdle, where other men +hung their weapons. He was sober and measured in his speech, and it was +seldom, even in the bosom of his own family, that he would speak of the +scenes which he had taken part in, or of the great men, Fleetwood and +Harrison, Blake and Ireton, Desborough and Lambert, some of whom had +been simple troopers like himself when the troubles broke out. He was +frugal in his eating, backward in drinking, and allowed himself no +pleasures save three pipes a day of Oronooko tobacco, which he kept ever +in a brown jar by the great wooden chair on the left-hand side of +the mantelshelf. + +Yet for all his self-restraint the old leaven would at times begin to +work in him, and bring on fits of what his enemies would call fanaticism +and his friends piety, though it must be confessed that this piety was +prone to take a fierce and fiery shape. As I look back, one or two +instances of that stand out so hard and clear in my recollection that +they might be scenes which I had seen of late in the playhouse, instead +of memories of my childhood more than threescore years ago, when the +second Charles was on the throne. + +The first of these occurred when I was so young that I can remember +neither what went before nor what immediately after it. It stuck in my +infant mind when other things slipped through it. We were all in the +house one sultry summer evening, when there came a rattle of kettledrums +and a clatter of hoofs, which brought my mother and my father to the +door, she with me in her arms that I might have the better view. It was +a regiment of horse on their way from Chichester to Portsmouth, with +colours flying and band playing, making the bravest show that ever my +youthful eyes had rested upon. With what wonder and admiration did I +gaze at the sleek prancing steeds, the steel morions, the plumed hats of +the officers, the scarfs and bandoliers. Never, I thought, had such +a gallant company assembled, and I clapped my hands and cried out in my +delight. My father smiled gravely, and took me from my mother's arms. +'Nay, lad,' he said, 'thou art a soldier's son, and should have more +judgment than to commend such a rabble as this. Canst thou not, child +as thou art, see that their arms are ill-found, their stirrup-irons +rusted, and their ranks without order or cohesion? Neither have they +thrown out a troop in advance, as should even in times of peace be done, +and their rear is straggling from here to Bedhampton. Yea,' he +continued, suddenly shaking his long arm at the troopers, and calling +out to them, 'ye are corn ripe for the sickle and waiting only for the +reapers!' Several of them reined up at this sudden out-flame. 'Hit the +crop-eared rascal over the pate, Jack!' cried one to another, wheeling +his horse round; but there was that in my father's face which caused him +to fall back into the ranks again with his purpose unfulfilled. +The regiment jingled on down the road, and my mother laid her thin hands +upon my father's arm, and lulled with her pretty coaxing ways the +sleeping devil which had stirred within him. + +On another occasion which I can remember, about my seventh or eighth +year, his wrath burst out with more dangerous effect. I was playing +about him as he worked in the tanning-yard one spring afternoon, when in +through the open doorway strutted two stately gentlemen, with gold +facings to their coats and smart cockades at the side of their +three-cornered hats. They were, as I afterwards understood, officers of +the fleet who were passing through Havant, and seeing us at work in the +yard, designed to ask us some question as to their route. The younger +of the pair accosted my father and began his speech by a great clatter +of words which were all High Dutch to me, though I now see that they +were a string of such oaths as are common in the mouth of a sailor; +though why the very men who are in most danger of appearing before the +Almighty should go out of their way to insult Him, hath ever been a +mystery to me. My father in a rough stern voice bade him speak with +more reverence of sacred things, on which the pair of them gave tongue +together, swearing tenfold worse than before, and calling my father a +canting rogue and a smug-faced Presbytery Jack. What more they might +have said I know not, for my father picked up the great roller wherewith +he smoothed the leather, and dashing at them he brought it down on the +side of one of their heads with such a swashing blow, that had it not +been for his stiff hat the man would never have uttered oath again. +As it was, he dropped like a log upon the stones of the yard, while his +companion whipped out his rapier and made a vicious thrust; but my +father, who was as active as he was strong, sprung aside, and bringing +his cudgel down upon the outstretched arm of the officer, cracked it +like the stem of a tobacco-pipe. This affair made no little stir, for +it occurred at the time when those arch-liars, Oates, Bedloe, and +Carstairs, were disturbing the public mind by their rumours of plots, +and a rising of some sort was expected throughout the country. +Within a few days all Hampshire was ringing with an account of the +malcontent tanner of Havant, who had broken the head and the arm of two +of his Majesty's servants. An inquiry showed, however, that there was +no treasonable meaning in the matter, and the officers having confessed +that the first words came from them, the Justices contented themselves +with imposing a fine upon my father, and binding him over to keep the +peace for a period of six months. + +I tell you these incidents that you may have an idea of the fierce and +earnest religion which filled not only your own ancestor, but most of +those men who were trained in the parliamentary armies. In many ways +they were more like those fanatic Saracens, who believe in conversion by +the sword, than the followers of a Christian creed. Yet they have this +great merit, that their own lives were for the most part clean and +commendable, for they rigidly adhered themselves to those laws which +they would gladly have forced at the sword's point upon others. It is +true that among so many there were some whose piety was a shell for +their ambition, and others who practised in secret what they denounced +in public, but no cause however good is free from such hypocritical +parasites. That the greater part of the saints, as they termed +themselves, were men of sober and God-fearing lives, may be shown by the +fact that, after the disbanding of the army of the Commonwealth, the +old soldiers flocked into trade throughout the country, and made their +mark wherever they went by their industry and worth. There is many a +wealthy business house now in England which can trace its rise to the +thrift and honesty of some simple pikeman of Ireton or Cromwell. + +But that I may help you to understand the character of your +great-grandfather, I shall give an incident which shows how fervent +and real were the emotions which prompted the violent moods which I have +described. I was about twelve at the time, my brothers Hosea and +Ephraim were respectively nine and seven, while little Ruth could scarce +have been more than four. It chanced that a few days before a wandering +preacher of the Independents had put up at our house, and his religious +ministrations had left my father moody and excitable. One night I had +gone to bed as usual, and was sound asleep with my two brothers beside +me, when we were roused and ordered to come downstairs. Huddling on our +clothes we followed him into the kitchen, where my mother was sitting +pale and scared with Ruth upon her knee. + +'Gather round me, my children,' he said, in a deep reverent voice, 'that +we may all appear before the throne together. The kingdom of the Lord +is at hand-oh, be ye ready to receive Him! This very night, my loved +ones, ye shall see Him in His splendour, with the angels and the +archangels in their might and their glory. At the third hour shall He +come-that very third hour which is now drawing upon us.' + +'Dear Joe,' said my mother, in soothing tones, 'thou art scaring thyself +and the children to no avail. If the Son of Man be indeed coming, what +matters it whether we be abed or afoot?' + +'Peace, woman,' he answered sternly; 'has He not said that He will come +like a thief in the night, and that it is for us to await Him? +Join with me, then, in prayerful outpourings that we may he found as +those in bridal array. Let us offer up thanks that He has graciously +vouchsafed to warn us through the words of His servant. Oh, great Lord, +look down upon this small flock and lead it to the sheep fold! +Mix not the little wheat with the great world of chaff. Oh, merciful +Father! look graciously upon my wife, and forgive her the sin of +Erastianism, she being but a woman and little fitted to cast off the +bonds of antichrist wherein she was born. And these too, my little +ones, Micah and Hosea, Ephraim and Ruth, all named after Thy faithful +servants of old, oh let them stand upon Thy right hand this night!' +Thus he prayed on in a wild rush of burning, pleading words, writhing +prostrate upon the floor in the vehemence of his supplication, while we, +poor trembling mites, huddled round our mother's skirts and gazed with +terror at the contorted figure seen by the dim light of the simple oil +lamp. On a sudden the clang of the new church clock told that the hour +had come. My father sprang from the floor, and rushing to the casement, +stared up with wild expectant eyes at the starry heavens. Whether he +conjured up some vision in his excited brain, or whether the rush of +feeling on finding that his expectations were in vain, was too much for +him, it is certain that he threw his long arms upwards, uttered a hoarse +scream, and tumbled backwards with foaming lips and twitching limbs upon +the ground. For an hour or more my poor mother and I did what we could +to soothe him, while the children whimpered in a corner, until at last +he staggered slowly to his feet, and in brief broken words ordered us to +our rooms. From that time I have never heard him allude to the matter, +nor did he ever give us any reason why he should so confidently have +expected the second coming upon that particular night. I have learned +since, however, that the preacher who visited us was what was called in +those days a fifth-monarchy man, and that this particular sect was very +liable to these premonitions. I have no doubt that something which he +had said had put the thought into my father's head, and that the fiery +nature of the man had done the rest. + +So much for your great-grandfather, Ironside Joe. I have preferred to +put these passages before you, for on the principle that actions speak +louder than words, I find that in describing a man's character it is +better to give examples of his ways than to speak in broad and general +terms. Had I said that he was fierce in ins religion and subject to +strange fits of piety, the words might have made little impression upon +you; but when I tell you of his attack upon the officers in the +tanning-yard, and his summoning us down in the dead of the night to +await the second coming, you can judge for yourselves the lengths to +which his belief would carry him. For the rest, he was an excellent man +of business, fair and even generous in his dealings, respected by all +and loved by few, for his nature was too self-contained to admit of much +affection. To us he was a stern and rigid father, punishing us heavily +for whatever he regarded as amiss in our conduct. He bad a store of +such proverbs as 'Give a child its will and a whelp its fill, and +neither will strive,' or 'Children are certain cares and uncertain +comforts,' wherewith he would temper my mother's more kindly impulses. +He could not bear that we should play trick-track upon the green, or +dance with the other children upon the Saturday night. + +As to my mother, dear soul, it was her calm, peaceful influence which +kept my father within bounds, and softened his austere rule. Seldom +indeed, even in his darkest moods, did the touch of her gentle hand and +the sound of her voice fail to soothe his fiery spirit. She came of a +Church stock, and held to her religion with a quiet grip which was proof +against every attempt to turn her from it. I imagine that at one time +her husband had argued much with her upon Arminianism and the sin of +simony, but finding his exhortations useless, he bad abandoned the +subject save on very rare occasions. In spite of her Episcopacy, +however, she remained a staunch Whig, and never allowed her loyalty to +the throne to cloud her judgment as to the doings of the monarch who +sat upon it. + +Women were good housekeepers fitly years ago, but she was conspicuous +among the best. To see her spotless cuffs and snowy kirtle one would +scarce credit how hard she laboured. It was only the well ordered house +and the dustless rooms which proclaimed her constant industry. She made +salves and eyewaters, powders and confects, cordials and persico, +orangeflower water and cherry brandy, each in its due season, and all of +the best. She was wise, too, in herbs and simples. The villagers and +the farm labourers would rather any day have her advice upon their +ailments than that of Dr. Jackson of Purbrook, who never mixed a draught +under a silver crown. Over the whole countryside there was no woman +more deservedly respected and more esteemed both by those above her +and by those beneath. + +Such were my parents as I remember them in my childhood. As to myself, +I shall let my story explain the growth of my own nature. My brothers +and my sister were all brownfaced, sturdy little country children, with +no very marked traits save a love of mischief controlled by the fear of +their father. These, with Martha the serving-maid, formed our whole +household during those boyish years when the pliant soul of the child is +hardening into the settled character of the man. How these influences +affected me I shall leave for a future sitting, and if I weary you by +recording them, you must remember that I am telling these things rather +for your profit than for your amusement; that it may assist you in your +journey through life to know how another has picked out the path before +you. + + + +Chapter II + + +Of my going to school and of my coming thence. + + +With the home influences which I have described, it may be readily +imagined that my young mind turned very much upon the subject of +religion, the more so as my father and mother took different views upon +it. The old Puritan soldier held that the bible alone contained all +things essential to salvation, and that though it might be advisable +that those who were gifted with wisdom or eloquence should expound the +Scriptures to their brethren, it was by no means necessary, but rather +hurtful and degrading, that any organised body of ministers or of +bishops should claim special prerogatives, or take the place of +mediators between the creature and the Creator. For the wealthy +dignitaries of the Church, rolling in their carriages to their +cathedrals, in order to preach the doctrines of their Master, who wore +His sandals out in tramping over the countryside, he professed the most +bitter contempt; nor was he more lenient to those poorer members of the +clergy who winked at the vices of their patrons that they might secure a +seat at their table, and who would sit through a long evening of +profanity rather than bid good-bye to the cheesecakes and the wine +flask. That such men represented religious truth was abhorrent to his +mind, nor would he even give his adhesion to that form of church +government dear to the Presbyterians, where a general council of the +ministers directed the affairs of their church. Every man was, in his +opinion, equal in the eyes of the Almighty, and none had a right to +claim any precedence over his neighbour in matters of religion. +The book was written for all, and all were equally able to read it, +provided that their minds were enlightened by the Holy Spirit. + +My mother, on the other hand, held that the very essence of a church was +that it should have a hierarchy and a graduated government within +itself, with the king at the apex, the archbishops beneath him, the +bishops under their control, and so down through the ministry to the +common folk. Such was, in her opinion, the Church as established in the +beginning, and no religion without these characteristics could lay any +claim to being the true one. Ritual was to her of as great importance +as morality, and if every tradesman and farmer were allowed to invent +prayers, and change the service as the fancy seized him, it would be +impossible to preserve the purity of the Christian creed. She agreed +that religion was based upon the Bible, but the Bible was a book which +contained much that was obscure, and unless that obscurity were cleared +away by a duly elected and consecrated servant of God, a lineal +descendant of the Disciples, all human wisdom might not serve to +interpret it aright. That was my mother's position, and neither +argument nor entreaty could move her from it. The only question of +belief on which my two parents were equally ardent was their mutual +dislike and distrust of the Roman Catholic forms of worship, and in this +the Churchwoman was every whit as decided as the fanatical Independent. + +It may seem strange to you in these days of tolerance, that the +adherents of this venerable creed should have met with such universal +ill-will from successive generations of Englishmen. We recognise now +that there are no more useful or loyal citizens in the state than our +Catholic brethren, and Mr. Alexander Pope or any other leading Papist is +no more looked down upon for his religion than was Mr. William Penn for +his Quakerism in the reign of King James. We can scarce credit how +noblemen like Lord Stafford, ecclesiastics like Archbishop Plunkett, and +commoners like Langhorne and Pickering, were dragged to death on the +testimony of the vilest of the vile, without a voice being raised in +their behalf; or how it could be considered a patriotic act on the part +of an English Protestant to carry a flail loaded with lead beneath his +cloak as a menace against his harmless neighbours who differed from him +on points of doctrine. It was a long madness which has now happily +passed off, or at least shows itself in a milder and rarer form. + +Foolish as it appears to us, there were some solid reasons to +account for it. You have read doubtless how, a century before I was +born, the great kingdom of Spain waxed and prospered. Her ships covered +every sea. Her troops were victorious wherever they appeared. +In letters, in learning, in all the arts of war and peace they were the +foremost nation in Europe. You have heard also of the ill-blood which +existed between this great nation and ourselves; how our adventurers +harried their possessions across the Atlantic, while they retorted by +burning such of our seamen as they could catch by their devilish +Inquisition, and by threatening our coasts both from Cadiz and +from their provinces in the Netherlands. At last so hot became the +quarrel that the other nations stood off, as I have seen the folk clear +a space for the sword-players at Hockley-in-the-Hole, so that the +Spanish giant and tough little England were left face to face to fight +the matter out. Throughout all that business it was as the emissary of +the Pope, and as the avenger of the dishonoured Roman Church, that King +Philip professed to come. It is true that Lord Howard and many another +gentleman of the old religion fought stoutly against the Dons, but the +people could never forget that the reformed faith had been the flag +under which they had conquered, and that the blessing of the Pontiff had +rested with their opponents. Then came the cruel and foolish attempt of +Mary to force upon them a creed for which they had no sympathy, and at +the heels of it another great Roman Catholic power menaced our liberty +from the Continent. The growing strength of France promoted a +corresponding distrust of Papistry in England, which reached a head +when, at about the time of which I write, Louis XIV. threatened us with +invasion at the very moment when, by the revocation of the Edict of +Nantes, he showed his intolerant spirit towards the faith which we held +dear. The narrow Protestantism of England was less a religious +sentiment than a patriotic reply to the aggressive bigotry of her +enemies. Our Catholic countrymen were unpopular, not so much because +they believed in Transubstantiation, as because they were unjustly +suspected of sympathising with the Emperor or with the King of France. +Now that our military successes have secured us against all fear of +attack, we have happily lost that bitter religious hatred but for which +Oates and Dangerfield would have lied in vain. + +In the days when I was young, special causes had inflamed this dislike +and made it all the more bitter because there was a spice of fear +mingled with it. As long as the Catholics were only an obscure faction +they might be ignored, but when, towards the close of the reign of the +second Charles, it appeared to be absolutely certain that a Catholic +dynasty was about to fill the throne, and that Catholicism was to be the +court religion and the stepping-stone to preferment, it was felt that a +day of vengeance might be at hand for those who had trampled upon it +when it was defenceless. There was alarm and uneasiness amongst all +classes. The Church of England, which depends upon the monarch as an +arch depends upon the keystone; the nobility, whose estates and coffers +had been enriched by the plunder of the abbeys; the mob, whose ideas of +Papistry were mixed up with thumbscrews and Fox's Martyrology, were all +equally disturbed. Nor was the prospect a hopeful one for their cause. +Charles was a very lukewarm Protestant, and indeed showed upon his +deathbed that he was no Protestant at all. There was no longer any +chance of his having legitimate offspring. The Duke of York, his +younger brother, was therefore heir to the throne, and he was known to +be an austere and narrow Papist, while his spouse, Mary of Modena, was +as bigoted as himself. Should they have children, there could be no +question but that they would be brought up in the faith of their +parents, and that a line of Catholic monarchs would occupy the throne of +England. To the Church, as represented by my mother, and to +Nonconformity, in the person of my father, this was an equally +intolerable prospect. + +I have been telling you all this old history because you will find, as +I go on, that this state of things caused in the end such a seething and +fermenting throughout the nation that even I, a simple village lad, was +dragged into the whirl and had my whole life influenced by it. If I did +not make the course of events clear to you, you would hardly understand +the influences which had such an effect upon my whole history. In the +meantime, I wish you to remember that when King James II. ascended the +throne he did so amid a sullen silence on the part of a large class of +his subjects, and that both my father and my mother were among those who +were zealous for a Protestant succession. + +My childhood was, as I have already said, a gloomy one. Now and again +when there chanced to be a fair at Portsdown Hill, or when a passing +raree showman set up his booth in the village, my dear mother would slip +a penny or two from her housekeeping money into my hand, and with a +warning finger upon her lip would send me off to see the sights. +These treats were, however, rare events, and made such a mark upon my +mind, that when I was sixteen years of age I could have checked off upon +my fingers all that I had ever seen. There was William Harker the +strong man, who lifted Farmer Alcott's roan mare; and there was Tubby +Lawson the dwarf, who could fit himself into a pickle jar--these two I +well remember from the wonder wherewith they struck my youthful soul. +Then there was the show of the playing dolls, and that of the enchanted +island and Mynheer Munster from the Lowlands, who could turn himself +round upon a tight-rope while playing most sweetly upon a virginal. +Last, but far the best in my estimation, was the grand play at the +Portsdown Fair, entitled 'The true and ancient story of Maudlin, the +merchant's daughter of Bristol, and of her lover Antonio. How they were +cast away on the shores of Barbary, where the mermaids are seen floating +upon the sea and singing in the rocks, foretelling their danger.' +This little piece gave me keener pleasure than ever in after years I +received from the grandest comedies of Mr. Congreve and of Mr. Dryden, +though acted by Kynaston, Betterton, and the whole strength of the +King's own company. At Chichester once I remember that I paid a penny +to see the left shoe of the youngest sister of Potiphar's wife, but as +it looked much like any other old shoe, and was just about the size to +have fitted the show-woman, I have often feared that my penny fell into +the hands of rogues. + +There were other shows, however, which I might see for nothing, and yet +were more real and every whit as interesting as any for which I paid. +Now and again upon a holiday I was permitted to walk down to +Portsmouth--once I was even taken in front of my father upon his pad +nag, and there I wandered with him through the streets with wondering +eyes, marvelling over the strange sights around me. The walls and the +moats, the gates and the sentinels, the long High Street with the great +government buildings, and the constant rattle of drums and blare of +trumpets; they made my little heart beat quicker beneath my sagathy +stuff jacket. Here was the house in which some thirty years before the +proud Duke of Buckingham had been struck down by the assassin's dagger. +There, too, was the Governor's dwelling, and I remember that even as I +looked he came riding up to it, red-faced and choleric, with a nose such +as a Governor should have, and his breast all slashed with gold. 'Is he +not a fine man?' I said, looking up at my father. He laughed and drew +his hat down over his brows. 'It is the first time that I have seen Sir +Ralph Lingard's face,' said he, 'but I saw his back at Preston fight. +Ah, lad, proud as he looks, if he did but see old Noll coming in through +the door he would not think it beneath him to climb out through the +window!' The clank of steel or the sight of a buff-coat would always +serve to stir up the old Roundhead bitterness in my father's breast. + +But there were other sights in Portsmouth besides the red-coats and +their Governor. The yard was the second in the kingdom, after Chatham, +and there was ever some new war-ship ready upon the slips. Then there +was a squadron of King's ships, and sometimes the whole fleet at +Spithead, when the streets would be full of sailors, with their faces as +brown as mahogany and pigtails as stiff and hard as their cutlasses. +To watch their rolling gait, and to hear their strange, quaint talk, and +their tales of the Dutch wars, was a rare treat to me; and I have +sometimes when I was alone fastened myself on to a group of them, and +passed the day in wandering from tavern to tavern. It chanced one day, +however, that one of them insisted upon my sharing his glass of Canary +wine, and afterwards out of roguishness persuaded me to take a second, +with the result that I was sent home speechless in the carrier's cart, +and was never again allowed to go into Portsmouth alone. My father was +less shocked at the incident than I should have expected, and reminded +my mother that Noah had been overtaken in a similar manner. He also +narrated how a certain field-chaplain Grant, of Desborough's regiment, +having after a hot and dusty day drunk sundry flagons of mum, had +thereafter sung certain ungodly songs, and danced in a manner +unbecoming to his sacred profession. Also, how he had afterwards +explained that such backslidings were not to be regarded us faults of +the individual, but rather as actual obsessions of the evil one, who +contrived in this manner to give scandal to the faithful, and selected +the most godly for his evil purpose. This ingenious defence of the +field-chaplain was the saving of my back, for my father, who was a +believer in Solomon's axiom, had a stout ash stick and a strong arm for +whatever seemed to him to be a falling away from the true path. + +From the day that I first learned my letters from the horn-book at my +mother's knee I was always hungry to increase my knowledge, and never a +piece of print came in my way that I did not eagerly master. My father +pushed the sectarian hatred of learning to such a length that he was +averse to having any worldly books within his doors.[Note A, Appendix] +I was dependent therefore for my supply upon one or two of my friends in +the village, who lent me a volume at a time from their small libraries. +These I would carry inside my shirt, and would only dare to produce when +I could slip away into the fields, and lie hid among the long grass, or +at night when the rushlight was still burning, and my father's snoring +assured me that there was no danger of his detecting me. In this way I +worked up from Don Bellianis of Greece and the 'Seven Champions,' +through Tarleton's 'Jests' and other such books, until I could take +pleasure in the poetry of Waller and of Herrick, or in the plays of +Massinger and Shakespeare. How sweet were the hours when I could lay +aside all thought of freewill and of predestination, to lie with my +heels in the air among the scented clover, and listen to old Chaucer +telling the sweet story of Grisel the patient, or to weep for the chaste +Desdemona, and mourn over the untimely end of her gallant spouse. +There were times as I rose up with my mind full of the noble poetry, and +glanced over the fair slope of the countryside, with the gleaming sea +beyond it, and the purple outline of the Isle of Wight upon the horizon; +when it would be borne in upon me that the Being who created all this, +and who gave man the power of pouring out these beautiful thoughts, was +not the possession of one sect or another, or of this nation or that, +but was the kindly Father of every one of the little children whom He +had let loose on this fair playground. It grieved me then, and it +grieves me now, that a man of such sincerity and lofty purpose as your +great grandfather should have been so tied down by iron doctrines, and +should imagine his Creator to be so niggard of His mercy as to withhold +it from nine-and-ninety in the hundred. Well, a man is as he is +trained, and if my father bore a narrow mind upon his broad shoulders, +he has at least the credit that he was ready to do and to suffer all +things for what he conceived to be the truth. If you, my dears, have +more enlightened views, take heed that they bring you to lead a more +enlightened life. + +When I was fourteen years of age, a yellow-haired, brown-faced lad, I +was packed off to a small private school at Petersfield, and there I +remained for a year, returning home for the last Saturday in each month. +I took with me only a scanty outfit of schoolbooks, with Lilly's 'Latin +Grammar,' and Rosse's 'View of all the Religions in the World from the +Creation down to our own Times,' which was shoved into my hands by +my good mother as a parting present. With this small stock of letters I +might have fared badly, had it not happened that my master, Mr. Thomas +Chillingfoot, had himself a good library, and took a pleasure in lending +his books to any of his scholars who showed a desire to improve +themselves. Under this good old man's care I not only picked up some +smattering of Latin and Greek, but I found means to read good English +translations of many of the classics, and to acquire a knowledge of the +history of my own and other countries. I was rapidly growing in mind as +well as in body, when my school career was cut short by no less an event +than my summary and ignominious expulsion. How this unlooked-for ending +to my studies came about I must now set before you. + +Petersfield had always been a great stronghold of the Church, having +hardly a Nonconformist within its bounds. The reason of this was that +most of the house property was owned by zealous Churchmen, who refused +to allow any one who differed from the Established Church to settle +there. The Vicar, whose name was Pinfold, possessed in this manner +great power in the town, and as he was a man with a high inflamed +countenance and a pompous manner, he inspired no little awe among the +quiet inhabitants. I can see him now with his beaked nose, his rounded +waistcoat, and his bandy legs, which looked as if they had given way +beneath the load of learning which they were compelled to carry. +Walking slowly with right hand stiffly extended, tapping the pavement at +every step with his metal-headed stick, he would pause as each person +passed him, and wait to see that he was given the salute which he +thought due to his dignity. This courtesy he never dreamed of +returning, save in the case of some of his richer parishioners; but if +by chance it were omitted, he would hurry after the culprit, and, +shaking his stick in his face, insist upon his doffing his cap to him. +We youngsters, if we met him on our walks, would scuttle by him like a +brood of chickens passing an old turkey cock, and even our worthy master +showed a disposition to turn down a side-street when the portly figure +of the Vicar was seen rolling in our direction. This proud priest made +a point of knowing the history of every one within his parish, and +having learnt that I was the son of an Independent, he spoke severely to +Mr. Chillingfoot upon the indiscretion which he had shown in admitting +me to his school. Indeed, nothing but my mother's good name for +orthodoxy prevented him from insisting upon my dismissal. + +At the other end of the village there was a large day-school. +A constant feud prevailed between the scholars who attended it and the +lads who studied under our master. No one could tell how the war broke +out, but for many years there had been a standing quarrel between the +two, which resulted in skirmishes, sallies, and ambuscades, with now and +then a pitched battle. No great harm was done in these encounters, for +the weapons were usually snowballs in winter and pine-cones or clods of +earth in the summer. Even when the contest got closer and we came to +fisticuffs, a few bruises and a little blood was the worst that could +come of it. Our opponents were more numerous than we, but we had the +advantage of being always together and of having a secure asylum upon +which to retreat, while they, living in scattered houses all over the +parish, had no common rallying-point. A stream, crossed by two bridges, +ran through the centre of the town, and this was the boundary which +separated our territories from those of our enemies. The boy who +crossed the bridge found himself in hostile country. + +It chanced that in the first conflict which occurred after my arrival at +the school I distinguished myself by singling out the most redoubtable +of our foemen, and smiting him such a blow that he was knocked helpless +and was carried off by our party as a prisoner. This feat of arms +established my good name as a warrior, so I came at last to be regarded +as the leader of our forces, and to be looked up to by bigger boys than +myself. This promotion tickled my fancy so much, that I set to work to +prove that I deserved it by devising fresh and ingenious schemes +for the defeat of our enemies. + +One winter's evening news reached us that our rivals were about to make +a raid upon us under cover of night, and that they proposed coming by +the little used plank bridge, so as to escape our notice. This bridge +lay almost out of the town, and consisted of a single broad piece of +wood without a rail, erected for the good of the town clerk, who lived, +just opposite to it. We proposed to hide ourselves amongst the bushes +on our side of the stream, and make an unexpected attack upon the +invaders as they crossed. As we started, however, I bethought me of an +ingenious stratagem which I had read of as being practised in the German +wars, and having expounded it to the great delight of my companions, +we took Mr. Chillingfoot's saw, and set off for the seat of action. + +On reaching the bridge all was quiet and still. It was quite dark and +very cold, for Christmas was approaching. There were no signs of our +opponents. We exchanged a few whispers as to who should do the daring +deed, but as the others shrank from it, and as I was too proud to +propose what I dare not execute, I gripped the saw, and sitting +astraddle upon the plank set to work upon the very centre of it. + +My purpose was to weaken it in such a way that, though it would bear the +weight of one, it would collapse when the main body of our foemen were +upon it, and so precipitate them into the ice-cold stream. The water +was but a couple of feet deep at the place, so that there was nothing +for them but a fright and a ducking. So cool a reception ought to deter +them from ever invading us again, and confirm my reputation as a daring +leader. Reuben Lockarby, my lieutenant, son of old John Lockarby of the +Wheatsheaf, marshalled our forces behind the hedgerow, whilst I sawed +vigorously at the plank until I had nearly severed it across. I had no +compunction about the destruction of the bridge, for I knew enough of +carpentry to see that a skilful joiner could in an hour's work make it +stronger than ever by putting a prop beneath the point where I had +divided it. When at last I felt by the yielding of the plank that I had +done enough, and that the least strain would snap it, I crawled quietly +off, and taking up my position with my schoolfellows, awaited the coming +of the enemy. + +I had scarce concealed myself when we heard the steps of some one +approaching down the footpath which led to the bridge. We crouched +behind the cover, convinced that the sound must come from some scout +whom our foemen had sent on in front--a big boy evidently, for his step +was heavy and slow, with a clinking noise mingling with it, of which we +could make nothing. Nearer came the sound and nearer, until a shadowy +figure loomed out of the darkness upon the other side, and after pausing +and peering for a moment, came straight for the bridge. It was only as +he was setting foot upon the plank and beginning gingerly to pick his +way across it, that we discerned the outlines of the familiar form, and +realised the dreadful truth that the stranger whom we had taken for the +advance guard of our enemy was in truth none other than Vicar Pinfold, +and that it was the rhythmic pat of his stick which we heard mingling +with his footfalls. Fascinated by the sight, we lay bereft of all power +to warn him--a line of staring eyeballs. One step, two steps, three +steps did the haughty Churchman take, when there was a rending crack, +and he vanished with a mighty splash into the swift-flowing stream. +He must have fallen upon his back, for we could see the curved outline +of his portly figure standing out above the surface as he struggled +desperately to regain his feet. At last he managed to get erect, and +came spluttering for the bank with such a mixture of godly ejaculations +and of profane oaths that, even in our terror, we could not keep from +laughter. Rising from under his feet like a covey of wild-fowl, we +scurried off across the fields and so back to the school, where, as you +may imagine, we said nothing to our good master of what had occurred. + +The matter was too serious, however, to be hushed up. The sudden chill +set up some manner of disturbance in the bottle of sack which the +Vicar had just been drinking with the town clerk, and an attack of gout +set in which laid him on his back for a fortnight. Meanwhile an +examination of the bridge had shown that it had been sawn across, and an +inquiry traced the matter to Mr. Chillingfoot's boarders. To save a +wholesale expulsion of the school from the town, I was forced to +acknowledge myself as both the inventor and perpetrator of the deed. +Chillingfoot was entirely in the power of the Vicar, so he was forced to +read me a long homily in public--which he balanced by an affectionate +leave-taking in private--and to expel me solemnly from the school. +I never saw my old master again, for he died not many years afterwards; +but I hear that his second son William is still carrying on the +business, which is larger and more prosperous than of old. His eldest +son turned Quaker and went out to Penn's settlement, where he is +reported to have been slain by the savages. + +This adventure shocked my dear mother, but it found great favour in the +eyes of my father, who laughed until the whole village resounded with +his stentorian merriment. It reminded him, he said, of a similar +stratagem executed at Market Drayton by that God-fearing soldier Colonel +Pride, whereby a captain and three troopers of Lunsford's own regiment +of horse had been drowned, and many others precipitated into a river, to +the great glory of the true Church and to the satisfaction of the chosen +people. Even of the Church folk many were secretly glad at the +misfortune which had overtaken the Vicar, for his pretensions and his +pride had made him hated throughout the district. + +By this time I had grown into a sturdy, broad-shouldered lad, and every +month added to my strength and my stature. When I was sixteen I could +carry a bag of wheat or a cask of beer against any man in the village, +and I could throw the fifteen-pound putting-stone to a distance of +thirty-six feet, which was four feet further than could Ted Dawson, the +blacksmith. Once when my father was unable to carry a bale of skins out +of the yard, I whipped it up and bare it away upon my shoulders. The +old man would often look gravely at me from under his heavy thatched +eyebrows, and shake his grizzled head as he sat in his arm-chair puffing +his pipe. 'You grow too big for the nest, lad,' he would say. 'I doubt +some of these days you'll find your wings and away!' In my heart I +longed that the time would come, for I was weary of the quiet life of +the village, and was anxious to see the great world of which I had +heard and read so much. I could not look southward without my spirit +stirring within me as my eyes fell upon those dark waves, the white +crests of which are like a fluttering signal ever waving to an English +youth and beckoning him to some unknown but glorious goal. + + + +Chapter III + + +Of Two Friends of my Youth + + +I fear, my children, that you will think that the prologue is over long +for the play; but the foundations must be laid before the building is +erected, and a statement of this sort is a sorry and a barren thing +unless you have a knowledge of the folk concerned. Be patient, then, +while I speak to you of the old friends of my youth, some of whom you +may hear more of hereafter, while others remained behind in the country +hamlet, and yet left traces of our early intercourse upon my character +which might still be discerned there. + +Foremost for good amongst all whom I knew was Zachary Palmer, the +village carpenter, a man whose aged and labour-warped body contained the +simplest and purest of spirits. Yet his simplicity was by no means the +result of ignorance, for from the teachings of Plato to those of Hobbes +there were few systems ever thought out by man which he had not studied +and weighed. Books were far dearer in my boyhood than they are now, and +carpenters were less well paid, but old Palmer had neither wife nor +child, and spent little on food or raiment. Thus it came about that on +the shelf over his bed he had a more choice collection of books--few as +they were in number--than the squire or the parson, and these books he +had read until he not only understood them himself, but could impart +them to others. + +This white-bearded and venerable village philosopher would sit by his +cabin door upon a summer evening, and was never so pleased as when some +of the young fellows would slip away from their bowls and their +quoit-playing in order to lie in the grass at his feet, and ask him +questions about the great men of old, their words and their deeds. +But of all the youths I and Reuben Lockarby, the innkeeper's son, were +his two favourites, for we would come the earliest and stop the latest +to hear the old man talk. No father could have loved his children +better than he did us, and he would spare no pains to get at our callow +thoughts, and to throw light upon whatever perplexed or troubled us. +Like all growing things, we had run our heads against the problem of the +universe. We had peeped and pryed with our boyish eyes into those +profound depths in which the keenest-sighted of the human race had seen +no bottom. Yet when we looked around us in our own village world, and +saw the bitterness and rancour which pervaded every sect, we could not +but think that a tree which bore such fruit must have something amiss +with it. This was one of the thoughts unspoken to our parents which we +carried to good old Zachary, and on which he had much to say which +cheered and comforted us. + +'These janglings and wranglings,' said he, 'are but on the surface, and +spring from the infinite variety of the human mind, which will ever +adapt a creed to suit its own turn of thought. It is the solid core +that underlies every Christian creed which is of importance. Could you +but live among the Romans or the Greeks, in the days before this new +doctrine was preached, you would then know the change that it has +wrought in the world. How this or that text should be construed is a +matter of no moment, however warm men may get over it. What is of the +very greatest moment is, that every man should have a good and solid +reason for living a simple, cleanly life. This the Christian creed has +given us.' + +'I would not have you be virtuous out of fear,' he said upon another +occasion. 'The experience of a long life has taught me, however, that +sin is always punished in this world, whatever may come in the next. +There is always some penalty in health, in comfort, or in peace of mind +to be paid for every wrong. It is with nations as it is with +individuals. A book of history is a book of sermons. See how the +luxurious Babylonians were destroyed by the frugal Persians, and how +these same Persians when they learned the vices of prosperity were put +to the sword by the Greeks. Read on and mark how the sensual Greeks +were trodden down by the more robust and hardier Romans, and finally +how the Romans, having lost their manly virtues, were subdued by the +nations of the north. Vice and destruction came ever hand in hand. +Thus did Providence use each in turn as a scourge wherewith to chastise +the follies of the other. These things do not come by chance. They are +part of a great system which is at work in your own lives. The longer +you live the more you will see that sin and sadness are never far apart, +and that no true prosperity can exist away from virtue.' + +A very different teacher was the sea-dog Solomon Sprent, who lived in +the second last cottage on the left-hand side of the main street of the +village. He was one of the old tarpaulin breed, who had fought under +the red cross ensign against Frenchman, Don, Dutchman, and Moor, until a +round shot carried off his foot and put an end to his battles for ever. +In person he was thin, and hard, and brown, as lithe and active as a +cat, with a short body and very long arms, each ending in a great hand +which was ever half closed as though shutting on a rope. From head to +foot he was covered with the most marvellous tattooings, done in blue, +red, and green, beginning with the Creation upon his neck and winding up +with the Ascension upon his left ankle. Never have I seen such a +walking work of art. He was wont to say that had he been owned and his +body cast up upon some savage land, the natives might have learned the +whole of the blessed gospel from a contemplation of his carcass. Yet +with sorrow I must say that the seaman's religion appeared to have all +worked into his skin, so that very little was left for inner use. It +had broken out upon the surface, like the spotted fever, but his system +was clear of it elsewhere. He could swear in eleven languages and +three-and-twenty dialects, nor did he ever let his great powers rust for +want of practice. He would swear when he was happy or when he was sad, +when he was angry or when he was loving, but this swearing was so mere a +trick of speech, without malice or bitterness, that even my father could +hardly deal harshly with the sinner. As time passed, however, the old +man grew more sober and more thoughtful, until in his latter days he +went back to the simple beliefs of his childhood, and learned to fight +the devil with the same steady courage with which he had faced the +enemies of his country. + +Old Solomon was a never-failing source of amusement and of interest to +my friend Lockarby and myself. On gala days he would have us in to dine +with him, when he would regale us with lobscouse and salmagundi, or +perhaps with an outland dish, a pillaw or olla podrida, or fish broiled +after the fashion of the Azores, for he had a famous trick of cooking, +and could produce the delicacies of all nations. And all the time that +we were with him he would tell us the most marvellous stories of Rupert, +under whom he served; how he would shout from the poop to his squadron +to wheel to the right, or to charge, or to halt, as the case might be, +as if he were still with his regiment of horse. Of Blake, too, he had +many stories to tell. But even the name of Blake was not so dear to our +old sailor as was that of Sir Christopher Mings. Solomon had at one +time been his coxswain, and could talk by the hour of those gallant +deeds which had distinguished him from the day that he entered the navy +as a cabin boy until he fell upon his own quarter-deck, a full admiral +of the red, and was borne by his weeping ship's company to his grave in +Chatham churchyard. 'If so be as there's a jasper sea up aloft,' said +the old seaman, 'I'll wager that Sir Christopher will see that the +English flag has proper respect paid to it upon it, and that we are not +fooled by foreigners. I've served under him in this world, and I ask +nothing better than to be his coxswain in the next--if so be as he +should chance to have a vacancy for such.' These remembrances would +always end in the brewing of an extra bowl of punch, and the drinking of +a solemn bumper to the memory of the departed hero. + +Stirring as were Solomon Sprent's accounts of his old commanders, their +effect upon us was not so great as when, about his second or third +glass, the floodgates of his memory would be opened, and he would pour +out long tales of the lands which he had visited, and the peoples which +he had seen. Leaning forward in our seats with our chins resting upon +our hands, we two youngsters would sit for hours, with our eyes fixed +upon the old adventurer, drinking in his words, while he, pleased at the +interest which he excited, would puff slowly at his pipe and reel off +story after story of what he had seen or done. In those days, my dears, +there was no Defoe to tell us the wonders of the world, no _Spectator_ +to lie upon our breakfast table, no Gulliver to satisfy our love of +adventure by telling us of such adventures as never were. Not once in a +month did a common newsletter fall into our hands. Personal hazards, +therefore, were of more value then than they are now, and the talk of a +man like old Solomon was a library in itself. To us it was all real. +His husky tones and ill-chosen words were as the voice of an angel, and +our eager minds filled in the details and supplied all that was wanting +in his narratives. In one evening we have engaged a Sallee rover off +the Pillars of Hercules; we have coasted down the shores of the African +continent, and seen the great breakers of the Spanish Main foaming upon +the yellow sand; we have passed the black ivory merchants with their +human cargoes; we have faced the terrible storms which blow ever around +the Cape de Boa Esperanza; and finally, we have sailed away out over the +great ocean beyond, amid the palm-clad coral islands, with the knowledge +that the realms of Prester John lie somewhere behind the golden haze +which shimmers upon the horizon. After such a flight as that we would +feel, as we came back to the Hampshire village and the dull realities of +country life, like wild birds who had been snared by the fowler and +clapped into narrow cages. Then it was that the words of my father, +'You will find your wings some day and fly away,' would come back to me, +and set up such a restlessness as all the wise words of Zachary Palmer +could not allay. + + +Chapter IV. + +Of the Strange Fish that we Caught at Spithead + +One evening in the month of May 1685, about the end of the first week of +the month, my friend Reuben Lockarby and I borrowed Ned Marley's +pleasure boat, and went a-fishing out of Langston Bay. At that time I +was close on one-and-twenty years of age, while my companion was one +year younger. A great intimacy had sprung up between us, founded on +mutual esteem, for he being a little undergrown man was proud of my +strength and stature, while my melancholy and somewhat heavy spirit took +a pleasure in the energy and joviality which never deserted him, and in +the wit which gleamed as bright and as innocent as summer lightning +through all that he said. In person he was short and broad, +round-faced, ruddy-cheeked, and in truth a little inclined to be fat, +though he would never confess to more than a pleasing plumpness, which +was held, he said, to be the acme of manly beauty amongst the ancients. +The stern test of common danger and mutual hardship entitle me to say +that no man could have desired a stauncher or more trusty comrade. +As he was destined to be with me in the sequel, it was but fitting that +he should have been at my side on that May evening which was the +starting-point of our adventures. + +We pulled out beyond the Warner Sands to a place half-way between them +and the Nab, where we usually found bass in plenty. There we cast the +heavy stone which served us as an anchor overboard, and proceeded to set +our lines. The sun sinking slowly behind a fog-bank had slashed the +whole western sky with scarlet streaks, against which the wooded slopes +of the Isle of Wight stood out vaporous and purple. A fresh breeze was +blowing from the south-east, flecking the long green waves with crests +of foam, and filling our eyes and lips with the smack of the salt spray. +Over near St. Helen's Point a King's ship was making her way down the +channel, while a single large brig was tacking about a quarter of a mile +or less from where we lay. So near were we that we could catch a +glimpse of the figures upon her deck as she heeled over to the breeze, +and could bear the creaking of her yards and the flapping of her +weather-stained canvas as she prepared to go about. + +'Look ye, Micah,' said my companion, looking up from his fishing-line. +'That is a most weak-minded ship--a ship which will make no way in the +world. See how she hangs in the wind, neither keeping on her course nor +tacking. She is a trimmer of the seas--the Lord Halifax of the ocean.' + +'Why, there is something amiss with her,' I replied, staring across with +hand-shaded eyes. 'She yaws about as though there were no one at the +helm. Her main-yard goes aback! Now it is forward again! The folk on +her deck seem to me to be either fighting or dancing. Up with the +anchor, Reuben, and let us pull to her.' + +'Up with the anchor and let us get out of her way,' he answered, still +gazing at the stranger. 'Why will you ever run that meddlesome head of +yours into danger's way? She flies Dutch colours, but who can say +whence she really comes? A pretty thing if we were snapped up by a +buccaneer and sold in the Plantations!' + +'A buccaneer in the Solent!' cried I derisively. 'We shall be seeing +the black flag in Emsworth Creek next. But hark! What is that?' + +The crack of a musket sounded from aboard the brig. Then came a +moment's silence and another musket shot rang out, followed by a chorus +of shouts and cries. Simultaneously the yards swung round into +position, the sails caught the breeze once more, and the vessel darted +away on a course which would take her past Bembridge Point out to the +English Channel. As she flew along her helm was put hard down, a puff +of smoke shot out from her quarter, and a cannon ball came hopping and +splashing over the waves, passing within a hundred yards of where we +lay. With this farewell greeting she came up into the wind again and +continued her course to the southward. + +'Heart o' grace!' ejaculated Reuben in loose lipped astonishment. +'The murdering villains!' + +'I would to the Lord that King's ship would snap them up!' cried I +savagely, for the attack was so unprovoked that it stirred my bile. +'What could the rogues have meant? They are surely drunk or mad!' + +'Pull at the anchor, man, pull at the anchor!' my companion shouted, +springing up from the seat. 'I understand it! Pull at the anchor!' + +'What then?' I asked, helping him to haul the great stone up, hand over +hand, until it came dripping over the side. + +'They were not firing at us, lad. They were aiming at some one in the +water between us and them. Pull, Micah! Put your back into it! +Some poor fellow may he drowning.' + +'Why, I declare!' said I, looking over my shoulder as I rowed, 'there is +his head upon the crest of a wave. Easy, or we shall he over him! +Two more strokes and be ready to seize him! Keep up, friend! There's +help at hand!' + +'Take help to those who need help' said a voice out of the sea. +'Zounds, man, keep a guard on your oar! I fear a pat from it very much +more than I do the water.' + +These words were delivered in so calm and self-possessed a tone that +all concern for the swimmer was set at rest. Drawing in our oars we +faced round to have a look at him. The drift of the boat had brought us +so close that he could have grasped the gunwale had he been so minded. + +'Sapperment!' he cried in a peevish voice; 'to think of my brother Nonus +serving me such a trick! What would our blessed mother have said could +she have seen it? My whole kit gone, to say nothing of my venture in +the voyage! And now I have kicked off a pair of new jack boots that cost +sixteen rix-dollars at Vanseddar's at Amsterdam. I can't swim in +jack-boots, nor can I walk without them.' + +'Won't you come in out of the wet, sir?' asked Reuben, who could scarce +keep serious at the stranger's appearance and address. A pair of long +arms shot out of the water, and in a moment, with a lithe, snake-like +motion, the man wound himself into the boat and coiled his great length +upon the stern-sheets. Very lanky he was and very thin, with a craggy +hard face, clean-shaven and sunburned, with a thousand little wrinkles +intersecting it in every direction. He had lost his hat, and his short +wiry hair, slightly flecked with grey, stood up in a bristle all over +his head. It was hard to guess at his age, but he could scarce have +been under his fiftieth year, though the ease with which he had boarded +our boat proved that his strength and energy were unimpaired. Of all +his characteristics, however, nothing attracted my attention so much as +his eyes, which were almost covered by their drooping lids, and yet +looked out through the thin slits which remained with marvellous +brightness and keenness. A passing glance might give the idea that +he was languid and half asleep, but a closer one would reveal those +glittering, shifting lines of light, and warn the prudent man not to +trust too much to his first impressions. + +'I could swim to Portsmouth,' he remarked, rummaging in the pockets of +his sodden jacket; 'I could swim well-nigh anywhere. I once swam from +Gran on the Danube to Buda, while a hundred thousand Janissaries danced +with rage on the nether bank. I did, by the keys of St. Peter! +Wessenburg's Pandours would tell you whether Decimus Saxon could swim. +Take my advice, young men, and always carry your tobacco in a +water-tight metal box.' + +As he spoke he drew a flat box from his pocket, and several wooden +tubes, which he screwed together to form a long pipe. This he stuffed +with tobacco, and having lit it by means of a flint and steel with a +piece of touch-paper from the inside of his box, he curled his legs +under him in Eastern fashion, and settled down to enjoy a smoke. +There was something so peculiar about the whole incident, and so +preposterous about the man's appearance and actions, that we both broke +into a roar of laughter, which lasted until for very exhaustion we +were compelled to stop. He neither joined in our merriment nor +expressed offence at it, but continued to suck away at his long wooden +tube with a perfectly stolid and impassive face, save that the +half-covered eyes glinted rapidly backwards and forwards from one to the +other of us. + +'You will excuse our laughter, sir,' I said at last; 'my friend and I +are unused to such adventures, and are merry at the happy ending of it. +May we ask whom it is that we have picked up?' + +'Decimus Saxon is my name,' the stranger answered; 'I am the tenth child +of a worthy father, as the Latin implies. There are but nine betwixt me +and an inheritance. Who knows? Small-pox might do it, or the plague!' + +'We heard a shot aboard of the brig,' said Reuben. + +'That was my brother Nonus shooting at me,' the stranger observed, +shaking his head sadly. + +'But there was a second shot.' + +'Ah, that was me shooting at my brother Nonus.' + +'Good lack!' I cried. 'I trust that thou hast done him no hurt.' + +'But a flesh wound, at the most,' he answered. 'I thought it best to +come away, however, lest the affair grow into a quarrel. I am sure that +it was he who trained the nine-pounder on me when I was in the water. +It came near enough to part my hair. He was always a good shot with a +falconet or a mortar-piece. He could not have been hurt, however, to +get down from the poop to the main-deck in the time.' + +There was a pause after this, while the stranger drew a long knife from +his belt, and cleaned out his pipe with it. Reuben and I took up our +oars, and having pulled up our tangled fishing-lines, which had been +streaming behind the boat, we proceeded to pull in towards the land. + +'The question now is,' said the stranger, 'where we are to go to?' + +'We are going down Langston Bay,' I answered. + +'Oh, we are, are we?' he cried, in a mocking voice; 'you are sure of it +eh? You are certain we are not going to France? We have a mast and +sail there, I see, and water in the beaker. All we want are a few fish, +which I hear are plentiful in these waters, and we might make a push for +Barfleur.' + +'We are going down Langston Bay,' I repeated coldly. + +'You see might is right upon the waters,' he explained, with a smile +which broke his whole face up into crinkles. 'I am an old soldier, a +tough fighting man, and you are two raw lads. I have a knife, and you +are unarmed. D'ye see the line of argument? The question now is, +Where are we to go?' + +I faced round upon him with the oar in my hand. 'You boasted that you +could swim to Portsmouth,' said I, 'and so you shall. Into the water +with you, you sea-viper, or I'll push you in as sure as my name is Micah +Clarke.' + +'Throw your knife down, or I'll drive the boat hook through you,' cried +Reuben, pushing it forward to within a few inches of the man's throat. + +'Sink me, but this is most commendable!' he said, sheathing his weapon, +and laughing softly to himself. 'I love to draw spirit out of the young +fellows. I am the steel, d'ye see, which knocks the valour out of your +flint. A notable simile, and one in every way worthy of that most witty +of mankind, Samuel Butler. This,' he continued, tapping a protuberance +which I had remarked over his chest, 'is not a natural deformity, but is +a copy of that inestimable "Hudibras," which combines the light touch of +Horace with the broader mirth of Catullus. Heh! what think you of the +criticism?' + +'Give up that knife,' said I sternly. + +'Certainly,' he replied, handing it over to me with a polite bow. +'Is there any other reasonable matter in which I can oblige ye? I will +give up anything to do ye pleasure-save only my good name and soldierly +repute, or this same copy of "Hudibras," which, together with a Latin +treatise upon the usages of war, written by a Fleming and printed in +Liege in the Lowlands, I do ever bear in my bosom.' + +I sat down beside him with the knife in my hand. 'You pull both oars,' +I said to Reuben; 'I'll keep guard over the fellow and see that he plays +us no trick. I believe that you are right, and that he is nothing +better than a pirate. He shall be given over to the justices when we +get to Havant.' + +I thought that our passenger's coolness deserted him for a moment, and +that a look of annoyance passed over his face. + +'Wait a bit!' he said; 'your name, I gather is Clarke, and your home is +Havant. Are you a kinsman of Joseph Clarke, the old Roundhead of that +town?' + +'He is my father,' I answered. + +'Hark to that, now!' he cried, with a throb of laughter; 'I have a trick +of falling on my feet. Look at this, lad! Look at this!' He drew a +packet of letters from his inside pocket, wrapped in a bit of tarred +cloth, and opening it he picked one out and placed it upon my knee. +'Read!' said he, pointing at it with his long thin finger. + +It was inscribed in large plain characters, 'To Joseph Clarke, +leather merchant of Havant, by the hand of Master Decimus Saxon, +part-owner of the ship _Providence_, from Amsterdam to Portsmouth.' +At each side it was sealed with a massive red seal, and was +additionally secured with a broad band of silk. + +'I have three-and-twenty of them to deliver in the neighbourhood,' he +remarked. 'That shows what folk think of Decimus Saxon. +Three-and-twenty lives and liberties are in my hands. Ah, lad, invoices +and bills of lading are not done up in that fashion. It is not a cargo +of Flemish skins that is coming for the old man. The skins have good +English hearts in them; ay, and English swords in their fists to strike +out for freedom and for conscience. I risk my life in carrying this +letter to your father; and you, his son, threaten to hand me over to the +justices! For shame! For shame! I blush for you!' + +'I don't know what you are hinting at,' I answered. 'You must speak +plainer if I am to understand you.' + +'Can we trust him?' he asked, jerking his head in the direction of +Reuben. + +'As myself.' + +'How very charming!' said he, with something between a smile and a +sneer. 'David and Jonathan--or, to be more classical and less +scriptural, Damon and Pythias--eh?' These papers, then, are from the +faithful abroad, the exiles in Holland, ye understand, who are thinking +of making a move and of coming over to see King James in his own country +with their swords strapped on their thighs. The letters are to those +from whom they expect sympathy, and notify when and where they will make +a landing. Now, my dear lad, you will perceive that instead of my being +in your power, you are so completely in mine that it needs but a word +from me to destroy your whole family. Decimus Saxon is staunch, though, +and that word shall never be spoken.' + +'If all this he true,' said I, 'and if your mission is indeed as you +have said, why did you even now propose to make for France?' + +'Aptly asked, and yet the answer is clear enough,' he replied; 'sweet +and ingenuous as are your faces, I could not read upon them that ye +would prove to be Whigs and friends of the good old cause. Ye might +have taken me to where excisemen or others would have wanted to pry and +peep, and so endangered my commission. Better a voyage to France in an +open boat than that.' + +'I will take you to my father,' said I, after a few moments' thought. +'You can deliver your letter and make good your story to him. If you +are indeed a true man, you will meet with a warm welcome; but should you +prove, as I shrewdly suspect, to be a rogue, you need expect no mercy.' + +'Bless the youngster! he speaks like the Lord High Chancellor of +England! What is it the old man says? + + "He could not ope + His mouth, but out there fell a trope." + +But it should be a threat, which is the ware in which you are fond of +dealing. + + "He could not let + A minute pass without a threat." + +How's that, eh? Waller himself could not have capped the couplet +neater.' + +All this time Reuben had been swinging away at his oars, and we had made +our way into Langston Bay, down the sheltered waters of which we were +rapidly shooting. Sitting in the sheets, I turned over in my mind all +that this waif had said. I had glanced over his shoulder at the +addresses of some of the letters--Steadman of Basingstoke, Wintle of +Alresford, Fortescue of Bognor, all well-known leaders of the +Dissenters. If they were what he represented them to be, it was no +exaggeration to say that he held the fortunes and fates of these +men entirely in his hands. Government would be only too glad to have a +valid reason for striking hard at the men whom they feared. On the +whole it was well to tread carefully in the matter, so I restored our +prisoner's knife to him, and treated him with increased consideration. +It was well-nigh dark when we beached the boat, and entirely so before +we reached Havant, which was fortunate, as the bootless and hatless +state of our dripping companion could not have failed to set tongues +wagging, and perhaps to excite the inquiries of the authorities. +As it was, we scarce met a soul before reaching my father's door. + + + +Chapter V. + + +Of the Man with the Drooping Lids + +My mother and my father were sitting in their high-backed chairs on +either side of the empty fireplace when we arrived, he smoking his +evening pipe of Oronooko, and she working at her embroidery. The moment +that I opened the door the man whom I had brought stepped briskly in, +and bowing to the old people began to make glib excuses for the lateness +of his visit, and to explain the manner in which we had picked him up. +I could not help smiling at the utter amazement expressed upon my +mother's face as she gazed at him, for the loss of his jack-boots +exposed a pair of interminable spindle-shanks which were in ludicrous +contrast to the baggy low country knee-breeches which surmounted them. +His tunic was made of coarse sad-coloured kersey stuff with flat new +gilded brass buttons, beneath which was a whitish callamanca vest edged +with silver. Round the neck of his coat was a broad white collar after +the Dutch fashion, out of which his long scraggy throat shot upwards +with his round head and bristle of hair balanced upon the top of it, +like the turnip on a stick at which we used to throw at the fairs. In +this guise he stood blinking and winking in the glare of light, and +pattering out his excuses with as many bows and scrapes as Sir Peter +Witling in the play. I was in the act of following him into the room, +when Reuben plucked at my sleeve to detain me. + +'Nay, I won't come in with you, Micah,' said he; 'there's mischief +likely to come of all this. My father may grumble over his beer jugs, +but he's a Churchman and a Tantivy for all that. I'd best keep out of +it.' + +'You are right,' I answered. 'There is no need for you to meddle in the +business. Be mum as to all that you have heard.' + +'Mum as a mouse,' said he, and pressing my hand turned away into the +darkness. When I returned to the sitting-room I found that my mother +had hurried into the kitchen, where the crackling of sticks showed that +she was busy in building a fire. Decimus Saxon was seated at the edge +of the iron-bound oak chest at the side of my father, and was watching +him keenly with his little twinkling eyes, while the old man was fixing +his horn glasses and breaking the seals of the packet which his strange +visitor had just handed to him. + +I saw that when my father looked at the signature at the end of the +long, closely written letter he gave a whiff of surprise and sat +motionless for a moment or so staring at it. Then he turned to the +commencement and read it very carefully through, after which he turned +it over and read it again. Clearly it brought no unwelcome news, for +his eyes sparkled with joy when he looked up from his reading, and more +than once he laughed aloud. Finally he asked the man Saxon how it had +come into his possession, and whether he was aware of the contents. + +'Why, as to that,' said the messenger, 'it was handed to me by no less +a person than Dicky Rumbold himself, and in the presence of others whom +it's not for me to name. As to the contents, your own sense will tell +you that I would scarce risk my neck by bearing a message without I knew +what the message was. I am no chicken at the trade, sir. Cartels, +_pronunciamientos_, challenges, flags of truce, and proposals for +waffenstillstands, as the Deutschers call it--they've all gone through +my hands, and never one, gone awry.' + +'Indeed!' quoth my father. 'You are yourself one of the faithful?' + +'I trust that I am one of those who are on the narrow and thorny track,' +said he, speaking through his nose, as was the habit of the extreme +sectaries. + +'A track upon which no prelate can guide us,' said my father. + +'Where man is nought and the Lord is all,' rejoined Saxon. + +'Good! good!' cried my father. 'Micah, you shall take this worthy man +to my room, and see that he hath dry linen, and my second-best suit of +Utrecht velvet. It may serve until his own are dried. My boots, too, +may perchance be useful--my riding ones of untanned leather. A hat with +silver braiding hangs above them in the cupboard. See that he lacks for +nothing which the house can furnish. Supper will be ready when he hath +changed his attire. I beg that you will go at once, good Master Saxon, +lest you take a chill.' + +'There is but one thing that we have omitted,' said our visitor, +solemnly rising up from his chair and clasping his long nervous hands +together. 'Let us delay no longer to send up a word of praise to the +Almighty for His manifold blessings, and for the mercy wherewith He +plucked me and my letters out of the deep, even as Jonah was saved from +the violence of the wicked ones who hurled him overboard, and it may be +fired falconets at him, though we are not so informed in Holy Writ. +Let us pray, my friends!' Then in a high-toned chanting voice he +offered up a long prayer of thanksgiving, winding up with a petition for +grace and enlightenment for the house and all its inmates. Having +concluded by a sonorous amen, he at last suffered himself to be led +upstairs; while my mother, who had slipped in and listened with much +edification to his words, hurried away to prepare him a bumper of green +usquebaugh with ten drops of Daffy's Elixir therein, which was her +sovereign recipe against the effects of a soaking. There was no event +in life, from a christening to a marriage, but had some appropriate food +or drink in my mother's vocabulary, and no ailment for which she had not +some pleasant cure in her well-stocked cupboards. + +Master Decimus Saxon in my father's black Utrecht velvet and untanned +riding boots looked a very different man to the bedraggled castaway who +had crawled like a conger eel into our fishing-boat. It seemed as if he +had cast off his manner with his raiment, for he behaved to my mother +during supper with an air of demure gallantry which sat upon him better +than the pert and flippant carriage which he had shown towards us in the +boat. Truth to say, if he was now more reserved, there was a very good +reason for it, for he played such havoc amongst the eatables that there +was little time for talk. At last, after passing from the round of cold +beef to a capon pasty, and topping up with a two-pound perch, washed +down by a great jug of ale, he smiled upon us all and told us that his +fleshly necessities were satisfied for the nonce. 'It is my rule,' he +remarked, 'to obey the wise precept which advises a man to rise from +table feeling that he could yet eat as much as he has partaken of.' + +'I gather from your words, sir, that you have yourself seen hard +service,' my father remarked when the board had been cleared and my +mother had retired for the night. + +'I am an old fighting man,' our visitor answered, screwing his pipe +together, 'a lean old dog of the hold-fast breed. This body of mine +bears the mark of many a cut and slash received for the most part in the +service of the Protestant faith, though some few were caught for the +sake of Christendom in general when warring against the Turk. +There is blood of mine, sir, Spotted all over the map of Europe. Some +of it, I confess, was spilled in no public cause, but for the protection +of mine own honour in the private duello or holmgang, as it was called +among the nations of the north. It is necessary that a cavaliero of +fortune, being for the greater part a stranger in a strange land, should +be somewhat nice in matters of the sort, since he stands, as it were, +as the representative of his country, whose good name should be more +dear to him than his own.' + +'Your weapon on such occasions was, I suppose, the sword?' my father +asked, shifting uneasily in his seat, as he would do when his old +instincts were waking up. + +'Broadsword, rapier, Toledo, spontoon, battle-axe, pike or half-pike, +morgenstiern, and halbert. I speak with all due modesty, but with +backsword, sword and dagger, sword and buckler, single falchion, case of +falchions, or any other such exercise, I will hold mine own against any +man that ever wore neat's leather, save only my elder brother Quartus.' + +'By my faith,' said my father with his eyes shining, 'were I twenty +years younger I should have at you! My backsword play hath been thought +well of by stout men of war. God forgive me that my heart should still +turn to such vanities.' + +'I have heard godly men speak well of it,' remarked Saxon. 'Master +Richard Rumbold himself spake of your deeds of arms to the Duke of +Argyle. Was there not a Scotsman, one Storr or Stour?' + +'Ay, ay! Storr of Drumlithie. I cut him nigh to the saddle-bow in a +skirmish on the eve of Dunbar. So Dicky Rumbold had not forgotten it, +eh? He was a hard one both at praying and at fighting. We have ridden +knee to knee in the field, and we have sought truth together in the +chamber. So, Dick will be in harness once again! He could not be still +if a blow were to be struck for the trampled faith. If the tide of war +set in this direction, I too--who knows? who knows?' + +'And here is a stout man-at-arms,' said Saxon, passing his hand down my +arm.' He hath thew and sinew, and can use proud words too upon +occasion, as I have good cause to know, even in our short acquaintance. +Might it not be that he too should strike in this quarrel?' + +'We shall discuss it,' my father answered, looking thoughtfully at me +from under his heavy brows. 'But I pray you, friend Saxon, to give us +some further account upon these matters. My son Micah, as I understand, +hath picked you out of the waves. How came you there?' + +Decimus Saxon puffed at his pipe for a minute or more in silence, as one +who is marshalling facts each in its due order. + +'It came about in this wise,' he said at last. 'When John of Poland +chased the Turk from the gates of Vienna, peace broke out in the +Principalities, and many a wandering cavaliero like myself found his +occupation gone. There was no war waging save only some petty Italian +skirmish, in which a soldier could scarce expect to reap either dollars +or repute, so I wandered across the Continent, much cast down at the +strange peace which prevailed in every quarter. At last, however, on +reaching the Lowlands, I chanced to hear that the _Providence_, owned +and commanded by my two brothers, Nonus and Quartus, was about to start +from Amsterdam for an adventure to the Guinea coast. I proposed to them +that I should join them, and was accordingly taken into partnership on +condition that I paid one-third of the cost of the cargo. While waiting +at the port I chanced to come across some of the exiles, who, having +heard of my devotion to the Protestant cause, brought me to the Duke and +to Master Rumbold, who committed these letters to my charge. This makes +it clear how they came into my possession.' + +'But not how you and they came into the water,' my father suggested. + +'Why, that was but the veriest chance,' the adventurer answered with +some little confusion of manner. 'It was the _fortuna belli_, or more +properly _pacis_. I had asked my brothers to put into Portsmouth that I +might get rid of these letters, on which they replied in a boorish and +unmannerly fashion that they were still waiting for the thousand guineas +which represented my share of the venture. To this I answered with +brotherly familiarity that it was a small thing, and should be paid for +out of the profits of our enterprise. Their reply was I that I had +promised to pay the money down, and that money down they must have. +I then proceeded to prove, both by the Aristotelian and by the Platonic +or deductive method, that having no guineas in my possession it was +impossible for me to produce a thousand of them, at the same time +pointing out that the association of an honest man in the business was +in itself an ample return for the money, since their own reputations had +been somewhat blown on. I further offered in the same frank and +friendly spirit to meet either of them with sword or with pistol, a +proposal which should have satisfied any honour-loving Cavaliero. +Their base mercantile souls prompted them, however, to catch up two +muskets, one of which Nonus discharged at me, and it is likely that +Quartus would have followed suit had I not plucked the gun from his hand +and unloaded it to prevent further mischief. In unloading it I fear +that one of the slugs blew a hole in brother Nonus. Seeing that there +was a chance of further disagreements aboard the vessel, I at once +decided to leave her, in doing which I was forced to kick off my +beautiful jack-boots, which were said by Vanseddars himself to be +he finest pair that ever went out of his shop, square-toed, +double-soled--alas! alas!' + +'Strange that you should have been picked up by the son of the very man +to whom you had a letter.' + +'The working of Providence,' Saxon answered. 'I have two-and-twenty +other letters which must all be delivered by hand. If you will permit +me to use your house for a while, I shall make it my headquarters.' + +'Use it as though it were your own,' said my father. + +'Your most grateful servant, sir,' he cried, jumping up and bowing with +his hand over his heart. 'This is indeed a haven of rest after the +ungodly and profane company of my brothers. Shall we then put up a +hymn, and retire from the business of the day?' + +My father willingly agreed, and we sang 'Oh, happy land!' after which +our visitor followed me to his room, bearing with him the unfinished +bottle of usquebaugh which my mother had left on the table. He took it +with him, he explained, as a precaution against Persian ague, contracted +while battling against the Ottoman, and liable to recur at strange +moments. I left him in our best spare bedroom, and returned to my +father, who was still seated, heavy with thought, in his old corner. + +'What think you of my find, Dad?' I asked. + +'A man of parts and of piety,' he answered; 'but in truth he has brought +me news so much after my heart, that he could not be unwelcome were he +the Pope of Rome.' + +'What news, then?' + +'This, this!' he cried joyously, plucking the letter out of his bosom. +'I will read it to you, lad. Nay, perhaps I had best sleep the night +upon it, and read it to-morrow when our heads are clearer. May the Lord +guide my path, and confound the tyrant! Pray for light, boy, for my +life and yours may be equally at stake.' + + + + +Chapter VI. + + +Of the Letter that came from the Lowlands + +In the morning I was up betimes, and went forthwith, after the country +fashion, to our quest's room to see if there was aught in which I could +serve him. On pushing at his door, I found that it was fastened, which +surprised me the more as I knew that there was neither key nor bolt upon +the inside. On my pressing against it, however, it began to yield, and +I could then see that a heavy chest which was used to stand near the +window had been pulled round in order to shut out any intrusion. +This precaution, taken under my father's roof, as though he were in a +den of thieves, angered me, and I gave a butt with my shoulder which +cleared the box out of the way, and enabled me to enter the room. + +The man Saxon was sitting up in bed, staring about him as though he were +not very certain for the moment where he was. He had tied a white +kerchief round his head by way of night bonnet, and his hard-visaged, +clean-shaven face, looking out through this, together with his bony +figure, gave him some resemblance to a gigantic old woman. The bottle +of usquebaugh stood empty by his bedside. Clearly his fears had been +realised, and he had had an attack of the Persian ague. + +'Ah, my young friend!' he said at last. 'Is it, then, the custom of +this part of the country to carry your visitor's rooms by storm or +escalado in the early hours of the morning?' + +'Is it the custom,' I answered sternly, 'to barricade up your door when +you are sleeping under the roof-tree of an honest man? What did you +fear, that you should take such a precaution?' + +'Nay, you are indeed a spitfire,' he replied, sinking back upon the +pillow, and drawing the clothes round him, 'a feuerkopf as the Germans +call it, or sometimes tollkopf, which in its literal significance +meaneth a fool's head. Your father was, as I have heard, a strong and a +fierce man when the blood of youth ran in his veins; but you, I should +judge, are in no way behind him. Know, then, that the bearer of papers +of import, _documenta preciosa sed periculosa_, is bound to leave nought +to chance, but to guard in every way the charge which hath been +committed to him. True it is that I am in the house of an honest man, +but I know not who may come or who may go during the hours of the night. +Indeed, for the matter of that--but enough is said. I shall be with you +anon.' + +'Your clothes are dry and are ready for you,' I remarked. + +'Enough! enough!' he answered. 'I have no quarrel with the suit which +your father has lent me. It may be that I have been used to better, but +they will serve my turn. The camp is not the court.' + +It was evident to me that my father's suit was infinitely better, both +in texture and material, than that which our visitor had brought with +him. As he had withdrawn his head, however, entirely beneath the +bedclothes, there was nothing more to be said, so I descended to the +lower room, where I found toy father busily engaged fastening a new +buckle to his sword-belt while my mother and the maid were preparing the +morning meal. + +'Come into the yard with me, Micah,' quoth my father; 'I would have a +word with you.' The workmen had not yet come to their work, so we +strolled out into the sweet morning air, and seated ourselves on the low +stone bankment on which the skins are dressed. + +'I have been out here this morning trying my hand at the broadsword +exercise, 'said he; 'I find that I am as quick as ever on a thrust, but +my cuts are sadly stiff. I might be of use at a pinch, but, alas! I am +not the same swordsman who led the left troop of the finest horse +regiment that ever followed a kettledrum. The Lord hath given, and the +Lord hath taken away! Yet, if I am old and worn, there is the fruit of +my loins to stand in my place and to wield the same sword in the same +cause. You shall go in my place, Micah.' + +'Go! Go whither?' + +'Hush, lad, and listen! Let not your mother know too much, for the +hearts of women are soft. When Abraham offered up his eldest born, I +trow that he said little to Sarah on the matter. Here is the letter. +Know you who this Dicky Rumbold is?' + +'Surely I have heard you speak of him as an old companion of yours.' + +'The same--a staunch man and true. So faithful was he--faithful even to +slaying--that when the army of the righteous dispersed, he did not lay +aside his zeal with his buff-coat. He took to business as a maltster at +Hoddesdon, and in his house was planned the famous Rye House Plot, in +which so many good men were involved.' + +'Was it not a foul assassination plot?' I asked. + +'Nay, nay, be not led away by terms! It is a vile invention of the +malignants that these men planned assassination. What they would do +they purposed doing in broad daylight, thirty of them against fifty of +the Royal Guard, when Charles and James passed on their way to +Newmarket. If the royal brothers got pistol-bullet or sword-stab, it +would be in open fight, and at the risk of their attackers. It was give +and take, and no murder.' + +He paused and looked inquiringly at me; but I could not truthfully say +that I was satisfied, for an attack upon the lives of unarmed and +unsuspecting men, even though surrounded by a bodyguard, could not, to +my mind, be justified. + +'When the plot failed,' my father continued, 'Rumbold had to fly for his +life, but he succeeded in giving his pursuers the slip and in making his +way to the Lowlands. There he found that many enemies of the Government +had gathered together. Repeated messages from England, especially from +the western counties and from London, assured them that if they would +but attempt an invasion they might rely upon help both in men and in +money. They were, however, at fault for some time for want of a leader +of sufficient weight to carry through so large a project; but now at +last they have one, who is the best that could have been singled out-- +none other than the well-beloved Protestant chieftain James, Duke of +Monnmouth, son of Charles II.' + +'Illegitimate son,' I remarked. + +'That may or may not be. There are those who say that Lucy Walters was +a lawful wife. Bastard or no, he holds the sound principles of the true +Church, and he is beloved by the people. Let him appear in the West, +and soldiers will rise up like the flowers in the spring time.' + +He paused, and led me away to the farther end of the yard, for the +workmen had begun to arrive and to cluster round the dipping trough. + +'Monmouth is coming over,' he continued, 'and he expects every brave +Protestant man to rally to his standard. The Duke of Argyle is to +command a separate expedition, which will set the Highlands of Scotland +in a blaze. Between them they hope to bring the persecutor of the +faithful on his knees. But I hear the voice of the man Saxon, and I +must not let him say that I have treated him in a churlish fashion. +Here is the letter, lad. Read it with care, and remember that when +brave men are striving for their rights it is fitting that one of the +old rebel house of Clarke should be among them.' + +I took the letter, and wandering off into the fields, I settled +myself under a convenient tree, and set myself to read it. +This yellow sheet which I now hold in my hand is the very one +which was brought by Decimus Saxon, and read by me that bright May +morning under the hawthorn shade. I give it to you as it stands; + + +'To my friend and companion in the cause of the Lord, Joseph Clarke.-- +Know, friend, that aid and delivery is coming upon Israel, and that the +wicked king and those who uphold him shall be smitten and entirely cast +down, until their place in the land shall know them no more. Hasten, +then, to testify to thy own faith, that in the day of trouble ye be not +found wanting. + +'It has chanced from time to time that many of the suffering Church, +both from our own land and from among the Scots, have assembled in this +good Lutheran town of Amsterdam, until enough are gathered together to +take a good work in hand. For amongst our own folk there arc my Lord +Grey of Wark, Wade, Dare of Taunton, Ayloffe, Holmes, Hollis, +Goodenough, and others whom thou shalt know. Of the Scots there are the +Duke of Argyle, who has suffered sorely for the Covenant, Sir Patrick +Hume, Fletcher of Saltoun, Sir John Cochrane, Dr. Ferguson, Major +Elphinstone, and others. To these we would fain have added Locke and +old Hal Ludlow, but they are, as those of the Laodicean Church, neither +cold nor warm. + +'It has now come to pass, however, that Monmouth, who has long lived in +dalliance with the Midianitish woman known by the name of Wentworth, has +at last turned him to higher things, and has consented to make a bid for +the crown. It was found that the Scots preferred to follow a chieftain +of their own, and it has therefore been determined that Argyle--M'Callum +More, as the breechless savages of Inverary call him--shall command a +separate expedition landing upon the western coast of Scotland. +There he hopes to raise five thousand Campbells, and to be joined by all +the Covenanters and Western Whigs, men who would make troops of the old +breed had they but God-fearing officers with an experience of the chance +of fields and the usages of war. With such a following he should be +able to hold Glasgow, and to draw away the King's force to the north. +Ayloffe and I go with Argyle. It is likely that our feet may he upon +Scottish ground before thy eyes read these words. + +'The stronger expedition starts with Monmouth, and lands at a fitting +place in the West, where we are assured that we have many friends. +I cannot name the spot lest this letter miscarry, but thou shalt hear +anon. I have written to all good men along the coast, bidding them to +be prepared to support the rising. The King is weak, and hated by the +greater part of his subjects. It doth but need one good stroke to bring +his crown in the dust. Monmouth will start in a few weeks, when his +equipment is finished and the weather favourable. If thou canst come, +mine old comrade, I know well that thou wilt need no bidding of mine to +bring thee to our banner. Should perchance a peaceful life and waning +strength forbid thy attendance, I trust that thou wilt wrestle for us in +prayer, even as the holy prophet of old; and perchance, since I hear +that thou hast prospered according to the things of this world, thou +mayst be able to fit out a pikeman or two, or to send a gift towards the +military chest, which will be none too plentifully lined. We trust not +to gold, but to steel and to our own good cause, yet gold will be +welcome none the less. Should we fall, we fall like men and Christians. +Should we succeed, we shall see how the perjured James, the persecutor +of the saints with the heart like a nether millstone, the man who smiled +when the thumbs of the faithful were wrenched out of their sockets at +Edinburgh--we shall see how manfully he can bear adversity when it falls +to his lot. May the hand of the Almighty be over us! + +'I know little of the bearer of this, save that he professes to be of +the elect. Shouldst thou go to Monmouth's camp, see that thou take him +with thee, for I hear that he hath had good experience in the German, +Swedish, and Otttoman wars.--Yours in the faith of Christ, +Richard Rumbold. + +'Present my services to thy spouse. Let her read Timothy chapter two, +ninth to fifteenth verses.' + + +This long letter I read very carefully, and then putting it in my pocket +returned indoors to my breakfast. My father looked at me, as I entered, +with questioning eyes, but I had no answer to return him, for my own +mind was clouded and uncertain. + +That day Decimus Saxon left us, intending to make a round of the country +and to deliver his letters, but promising to be back again ere long. +We had a small mishap ere he went, for as we were talking of his journey +my brother Hosea must needs start playing with my father's powder-flask, +which in some way went off with a sudden fluff, spattering the walls +with fragments of metal. So unexpected and loud was the explosion, that +both my father and I sprang to our feet; but Saxon, whose back was +turned to my brother, sat four-square in his chair without a glance +behind him or a shade of change in his rugged face. As luck would have +it, no one was injured, not even Hosea, but the incident made me think +more highly of our new acquaintance. As he started off down the village +street, his long stringy figure and strange gnarled visage, with my +father's silver-braided hat cocked over his eye, attracted rather more +attention than I cared to see, considering the importance of the +missives which he bore, and the certainty of their discovery should he +be arrested as a masterless man. Fortunately, however, the curiosity of +the country folk did but lead them to cluster round their doors and +windows, staring open-eyed, while he, pleased at the attention which he +excited, strode along with his head in the air and a cudgel of mine +twirling in his hand. He had left golden opinions behind him. My +father's good wishes had been won by his piety and by the sacrifices +which he claimed to have made for the faith. My mother he had taught +how wimples are worn amongst the Serbs, and had also demonstrated to her +a new method of curing marigolds in use in some parts of Lithuania. +For myself, I confess that I retained a vague distrust of the man, and +was determined to avoid putting faith in him more than was needful. +At present, however, we had no choice hut to treat him as an ambassador +from friends. + +And I? What was I to do? Should I follow my father's wishes, and draw +my maiden sword on behalf of the insurgents, or should I stand aside and +see how events shaped themselves? It was more fitting that I should go +than he. But, on the other hand, I was no keen religious zealot. +Papistry, Church, Dissent, I believed that there was good in all of +them, but that not one was worth the spilling of human blood. +James might be a perjurer and a villain, but he was, as far as I could +see, the rightful king of England, and no tales of secret marriages +or black boxes could alter the fact that his rival was apparently an +illegitimate son, and as such ineligible to the throne. Who could say +what evil act upon the part of a monarch justified his people in setting +him aside? Who was the judge in such a case? Yet, on the other hand, +the man had notoriously broken his own pledges, and that surely should +absolve his subjects from their allegiance. It was a weighty question +for a country-bred lad to have to settle, and yet settled it must be, +and that speedily. I took up my hat and wandered away down the village +street, turning the matter over in my head. + +But it was no easy thing for me to think seriously of anything in the +hamlet; for I was in some way, my dear children, though I say it myself, +a favourite with the young and with the old, so that I could not walk +ten paces without some greeting or address. There were my own brothers +trailing behind me, Baker Mitford's children tugging at my skirts, and +the millwright's two little maidens one on either hand. Then, when I +had persuaded these young rompers to leave me, out came Dame Fullarton +the widow, with a sad tale about how her grindstone had fallen out of +its frame, and neither she nor her household could lift it in again. +That matter I set straight and proceeded on my way; but I could not pass +the sign of the Wheatsheaf without John Lockarby, Reuben's father, +plunging out at me and insisting upon my coming in with him for a +morning cup. + +'The best glass of mead in the countryside, and brewed under my own +roof,' said he proudly, as he poured it into the flagon. 'Why, bless +you, master Micah, a man with a frame like yours wants store o' good +malt to keep it up wi'.' + +'And malt like this is worthy of a good frame to contain it,' quoth +Reuben, who was at work among the flasks. + +'What think ye, Micah?' said the landlord. 'There was the Squire o' +Milton over here yester morning wi' Johnny Ferneley o' the Bank side, +and they will have it that there's a man in Fareham who could wrestle +you, the best of three, and find your own grip, for a good round stake.' + +'Tut! tut!' I answered; 'you would have me like a prize mastiff, +showing my teeth to the whole countryside. What matter if the man can +throw me, or I him?' + +'What matter? Why, the honour of Havant,' quoth he. 'Is that no +matter? But you are right,' he continued, draining off his horn. +'What is all this village life with its small successes to such as you? +You are as much out of your place as a vintage wine at a harvest supper. +The whole of broad England, and not the streets of Havant, is the fit +stage for a man of your kidney. What have you to do with the beating +of skins and the tanning of leather?' + +'My father would have you go forth as a knight-errant, Micah,' said +Reuben, laughing. 'You might chance to get your own skin beaten and +your own leather tanned.' + +'Who ever knew so long a tongue in so short a body?' cried the +innkeeper. 'But in good sooth, Master Micah, I am in sober earnest when +I say that you are indeed wasting the years of your youth, when life is +sparkling and clear, and that you will regret it when you have come to +the flat and flavourless dregs of old age.' + +'There spoke the brewer,' said Reuben; 'but indeed, Micah, my father is +right, for all that he hath such a hops-and-water manner of putting it.' + +'I will think over it,' I answered, and with a nod to the kindly couple +proceeded on my way. + +Zachariah Palmer was planing a plank as I passed. Looking up he bade me +good-morrow. + +'I have a book for you, lad,' he said. + +'I have but now finished the "Comus,"' I answered, for he had lent me +John Milton's poem. 'But what is this new book, daddy?' + +'It is by the learned Locke, and treateth of states and statecraft. +It is but a small thing, but if wisdom could show in the scales it would +weigh down many a library. You shall have it when I have finished it, +to-morrow mayhap or the day after. A good man is Master Locke. Is he +not at this moment a wanderer in the Lowlands, rather than bow his knee +to what his conscience approved not of?' + +'There are many good men among the exiles, are there not?' said I. + +'The pick of the country,' he answered. 'Ill fares the land that +drives the highest and bravest of its citizens away from it. The day +is coming, I fear, when every man will have to choose betwixt his +beliefs and his freedom. I am an old man, Micah boy, but I may live +long enough to see strange things in this once Protestant kingdom.' + +'But if these exiles had their way,' I objected, 'they would place +Monmouth upon the throne, and so unjustly alter the succession.' + +'Nay, nay,' old Zachary answered, laying down his plane. 'If they use +Monmouth's name, it is but to strengthen their cause, and to show that +they have a leader of repute. Were James driven from the throne, the +Commons of England in Parliament assembled would be called upon to name +his successor. There are men at Monmouth's back who would not stir +unless this were so.' + +'Then, daddy,' said I, 'since I can trust you, and since you will tell +me what you do really think, would it be well, if Monmouth's standard be +raised, that I should join it?' + +The carpenter stroked his white beard and pondered for a while. 'It is +a pregnant question,' he said at last, 'and yet methinks that there is +but one answer to it, especially for your father's son. Should an end +be put to James's rule, it is not too late to preserve the nation in its +old faith; but if the disease is allowed to spread, it may be that even +the tyrant's removal would not prevent his evil seed from sprouting. +I hold, therefore, that should the exiles make such an attempt, it is +the duty of every man who values liberty of conscience to rally round +them. And you, my son, the pride of the village, what better use could +you make of your strength than to devote it to helping to relieve your +country of this insupportable yoke? It is treasonable and dangerous +counsel--counsel which might lead to a short shrift and a, bloody +death--but, as the Lord liveth, if you were child of mine I should say +the same.' + +So spoke the old carpenter with a voice which trembled with earnestness, +and went to work upon his plank once more, while I, with a few words of +gratitude, went on my way pondering over what he had said to me. I had +not gone far, however, before the hoarse voice of Solomon Sprent broke +in upon my meditations. + +'Hoy there! Ahoy!' he bellowed, though his mouth was but a few yards +from my ear. 'Would ye come across my hawse without slacking weigh? +Clew up, d'ye see, clew up!' + +'Why, Captain,' I said, 'I did not see you. I was lost in thought.' + +'All adrift and without look-outs,' quoth he, pushing his way through +the break in the garden hedge. 'Odd's niggars, man! friends are not so +plentiful, d'ye see, that ye need pass 'em by without a dip o' the +ensign. So help me, if I had had a barker I'd have fired a shot across +your bows.' + +'No offence, Captain,' said I, for the veteran appeared to be nettled; +'I have much to think of this morning.' + +'And so have I, mate,' he answered, in a softer voice. 'What think ye +of my rig, eh?' He turned himself slowly round in the sunlight as he +spoke, and I perceived that he was dressed with unusual care. He had a +blue suit of broadcloth trimmed with eight rows of buttons, and breeches +of the same material with great bunches of ribbon at the knee. His +vest was of lighter blue picked out with anchors in silver, and edged +with a finger's-breadth of lace. His boot was so wide that he might +have had his foot in a bucket, and he wore a cutlass at his side +suspended from a buff belt, which passed over his right shoulder. + +'I've had a new coat o' paint all over,' said he, with a wink. +'Carramba! the old ship is water-tight yet. What would ye say, now, +were I about to sling my hawser over a little scow, and take her in +tow?' + +'A cow!' I cried. + +'A cow! what d'ye take me for? A wench, man, and as tight a little +craft as ever sailed into the port of wedlock.' + +'I have heard no better news for many a long day,' said I; 'I did not +even know that you were betrothed. When thou is the wedding to be?' + +'Go slow, friend--go slow, and heave your lead-line! You have got out +of your channel, and are in shoal water. I never said as how I was +betrothed.' + +'What then?' I asked. + +'I am getting up anchor now, to run down to her and summon her. Look +ye, lad,' he continued, plucking off his cap and scratching his ragged +locks; 'I've had to do wi' wenches enow from the Levant to the +Antilles--wenches such as a sailorman meets, who are all paint and +pocket. It's but the heaving of a hand grenade, and they strike their +colours. This is a craft of another guess build, and unless I steer wi' +care she may put one in between wind and water before I so much as know +that I am engaged. What think ye, heh? Should I lay myself boldly +alongside, d'ye see, and ply her with small arms, or should I work +myself clear and try a long range action? I am none of your slippery, +grease-tongued, long-shore lawyers, but if so be as she's willing for a +mate, I'll stand by her in wind and weather while my planks hold out.' + +'I can scarce give advice in such a case,' said I, 'for my experience +is less than yours. I should say though that you had best speak to her +from your heart, in plain sailor language.' + +'Aye, aye, she can take it or leave it. Phoebe Dawson it is, the +sister of the blacksmith. Let us work back and have a drop of the right +Nants before we go. I have an anker newly come, which never paid the +King a groat.' + +'Nay, you had best leave it alone,' I answered. + +'Say you so? Well, mayhap you are right. Throw off your moorings, +then, and clap on sail, for we must go.' + +'But I am not concerned,' said I. + +'Not concerned! Not--' he was too much overcome to go on, and could but +look at me with a face full of reproach. 'I thought better of you, +Micah. Would you let this crazy old hulk go into action, and not stand +by to fire a broadside?' + +'What would you have me do then?' + +'Why, I would have you help me as the occasion may arise. If I start to +board her, I would have you work across the bows so as to rake her. +Should I range, up on the larboard quarter, do you lie, on the +starboard. If I get crippled, do you draw her fire until I refit. +What, man, you would not desert me!' + +The old seaman's tropes and maritime conceits were not always +intelligible to me, but it was clear that he had set his heart upon my +accompanying him, which I was equally determined not to do. At last by +much reasoning I made him understand that my presence would be more +hindrance than help, and would probably be fatal to his chances of +success. + +'Well, well,' he grumbled at last, 'I've been concerned in no such +expedition before. An' it be the custom for single ships to engage, +I'll stand to it alone. You shall come with me as consort, though, and +stand to and fro in the offing, or sink me if I stir a step.' + +My mind was full of my father's plans and of the courses which lay +before me. There seemed to be no choice, however, as old Solomon was in +dead earnest, but to lay the matter aside for the moment and see the +upshot of this adventure. + +'Mind, Solomon,' said I, 'I don't cross the threshold.' + +'Aye, aye, mate. You can please yourself. We have to beat up against +the wind all the way. She's on the look-out, for I hailed her +yesternight, and let her know as how I should bear down on her about +seven bells of the morning watch.' + +I was thinking as we trudged down the road that Phoebe would need to be +learned in sea terms to make out the old man's meaning, when he pulled +up short and clapped his hands to his pockets. + +'Zounds!' he cried, 'I have forgot to bring a pistol.' + +'In Heaven's name!' I said in amazement, 'what could you want with a +pistol?' + +'Why, to make signals with,' said he. 'Odds me that I should have +forgot it! How is one's consort to know what is going forward when the +flagship carries no artillery? Had the lass been kind I should have +fired one gun, that you might know it.' + +'Why,' I answered, 'if you come not out I shall judge that all is well. +If things go amiss I shall see you soon.' + +'Aye--or stay! I'll hoist a white jack at the port-hole. A white jack +means that she hath hauled down her colours. Nombre de Dios, when I was +a powder-boy in the old ship _Lion_, the day that we engaged the +_Spiritus Sanctus_ of two tier o' guns--the first time that ever I heard +the screech of ball--my heart never thumped as it does now. What say +ye if we run back with a fair wind and broach that anker of Nants?' + +'Nay, stand to it, man,' said I; for by this time, we had come to the +ivy-clad cottage behind which was the village smithy. 'What, Solomon! +an English seaman never feared a foe, either with petticoats or without +them.' + +'No, curse me if he did!' quoth Solomon, squaring his shoulders, 'never +a one, Don, Devil, or Dutchman; so here goes for her!' So saying he made +his way into the cottage, leaving me standing by the garden wicket, half +amused and half annoyed at this interruption to my musings. + +As it proved, the sailor had no very great difficulty with his suit, and +soon managed to capture his prize, to use his own language. I heard +from the garden the growling of his gruff voice, and a good deal of +shrill laughter ending in a small squeak, which meant, I suppose, that +he was coming to close quarters. Then there was silence for a little +while, and at last I saw a white kerchief waving from the window, and +perceived, moreover, that it was Phoebe herself who was fluttering it. +Well, she was a smart, kindly-hearted lass, and I was glad in my heart +that the old seaman should have such a one to look after him. + +Here, then, was one good friend settled down finally for life. Another +warned me that I was wasting my best years in the hamlet. A third, the +most respected of all, advised me openly to throw in my lot with the +insurgents, should the occasion arise. If I refused, I should have the +shame of seeing my aged father setting off for the wars, whilst I +lingered at home. And why should I refuse? Had it not long been the +secret wish of my heart to see something of the great world, and what +fairer chance could present itself? My wishes, my friend's advice, and +my father's hopes all pointed in the one direction. + +'Father,' said I, when I returned home, 'I am ready to go where you +will.' + +'May the Lord be glorified!' he cried solemnly. 'May He watch over your +young life, and keep your heart steadfast to the cause which is +assuredly His!' + +And so, my dear grandsons, the great resolution was taken, and I found +myself committed to one side in the national quarrel. + + + +Chapter VII. + +Of the Horseman who rode from the West + +My father set to work forthwith preparing for our equipment, furnishing +Saxon out as well as myself on the most liberal scale, for he was +determined that the wealth of his age should be as devoted to the cause +as was the strength of his youth. These arrangements had to be carried +out with the most extreme caution, for there were many Prelatists in the +village, and in the present disturbed state of the public mind any +activity on the part of so well known a man would have at once attracted +attention. So carefully did the wary old soldier manage matters, +however, that we soon found ourselves in a position to start at an +hour's notice, without any of our neighbours being a whit the wiser. + +His first move was to purchase through an agent two suitable horses at +Chichester fair, which were conveyed to the stables of a trusty Whig +farmer living near Portchester, who was ordered to keep them until they +were called for. Of these animals one was a mottled grey, of great +mettle and power, standing seventeen and a half hands high, and well up +to my weight, for in those days, my dears, I had not laid on flesh, and +weighed a little under sixteen stone for all my height and strength. +A critic might have said that Covenant, for so I named my steed, was a +trifle heavy about the head and neck, but I found him a trusty, willing +brute, with great power and endurance. Saxon, who when fully accoutred +could scarce have weighed more than twelve stone, had a light bay +Spanish jennet, of great speed and spirit. This mare he named Chloe, +'after a godly maiden of his acquaintance,' though, as my father +remarked, there was a somewhat ungodly and heathenish smack about the +appellation. These horses and their harness were bought and held ready +without my father appearing in the matter in any way. + +This important point having been settled, there was the further question +of arms to be discussed, which gave rise to much weighty controversy +between Decimus Saxon and my father, each citing many instances from +their own experiences where the presence or absence of some taslet or +arm-guard had been of the deepest import to the wearer. Your +great-grandfather had set his heart upon my wearing the breastplate +which still bore the dints of the Scottish spears at Dunbar, but on +trying it on we found it was too small for me. I confess that this was +a surprise, for when I looked back at the awe with which I had regarded +my father's huge proportions, it was marvellous to me to have this +convincing proof that I had outgrown him. By ripping down the +side-leather and piercing holes through which a lace could be passed, my +mother managed to arrange it so that I could wear it without discomfort. +A pair of taslets or thigh-pieces, with guards for the upper arm and +gauntlets, were all borrowed from the old Parliamentary equipment, +together with the heavy straight sword and pair of horse pistols which +formed the usual weapons of a cavalier. My father had chosen me a +head-piece in Portsmouth, fluted, with good barrets, padded inside +with soft leather, very light and yet very strong. When fully equipped, +both Saxon and my father agreed that I had all that was requisite for a +well-appointed soldier. Saxon had purchased a buff-coat, a steel cap, +and a pair of jack-boots, so that with the rapier and pistols which my +father had presented him with, he was ready to take the field at any +time. + +There would, we hoped, be no great difficulty in our reaching Monmouth's +forces when the hour came. In those troublous times the main roads were +so infested by highwaymen and footpads, that it was usual for travellers +to carry weapons and even armour for their protection. There was no +reason therefore why our appearance should excite suspicion. +Should questions be asked, Saxon had a long story prepared, to the +effect that we were travelling to join Henry Somerset, Duke of Beaufort, +to whose household we belonged. This invention he explained to me, with +many points of corroboration which I was to furnish, but when I said +positively that I should rather be hanged as a rebel than speak a +falsehood, he looked at me open-eyed, and shook his head as one much +shocked. A few weeks of campaigning, he said, would soon cure me of my +squeamishness. For himself, no more truthful child had ever carried a +horn-book, but he had learned to lie upon the Danube, and looked upon it +as a necessary part of the soldier's upbringing. 'For what are all +stratagems, ambuscades, and outfalls but lying upon a large scale?' he +argued. 'What is an adroit commander but one who hath a facility for +disguising the truth? When, at the battle of Senlac, William the Norman +ordered his men to feign flight in order that they might break his +enemy's array, a wile much practised both by the Scythians of old and by +the Croats of our own day, pray what is it but the acting of a lie? +Or when Hannibal, having tied torches to the horns of great droves of +oxen, caused the Roman Consuls to imagine that his army was in retreat, +was it not a deception or infraction of the truth?--a point well brought +out by a soldier of repute in the treatise "An in bello dolo uti liceat; +an apud hostes falsiloquio uti liceat." And so if, after these great +models, I in order to gain mine ends do announce that we are bound to +Beaufort when we are in truth making for Monmouth, is it not in accord +with the usages of war and the customs of great commanders?' All which +specious argument I made no attempt to answer, beyond repeating that he +might avail himself of the usage, but that he must not look to me for +corroboration. On the other hand, I promised to hold my speech and to +say nothing which might hamper him, with which pledge he was forced to +be contented. + +And now at last, my patient listeners, I shall be able to carry you out +of the humble life of the village, and to cease my gossip of the men who +were old when I was young, and who are now lying this many a year in the +Bedhampton churchyard. You shall come with me now, and you shall see +England as it was in those days, and you shall hear of how we set forth +to the wars, and of all the adventures which overtook us. And if what I +tell you should ever chance to differ from what you have read in the +book of Mr. Coke or of Mr. Oldmixon, or of any one else who has set +these matters down in print, do ye bear in mind that I am telling of +what I saw with these very eyes, and that I have helped to make history, +which is a higher thing than to write it. + +It was, then, towards nightfall upon the twelfth day of June 1685 that +the news reached our part of the country that Monmouth had landed the +day before at Lyme, a small seaport on the boundary between Dorsetshire +and Devonshire. A great beacon blaze upon Portsdown Hill was the first +news that we had of it, and then came a rattling and a drumming from +Portsmouth, where the troops were assembled under arms. Mounted +messengers clattered through the village street with their heads low on +their horses' necks, for the great tidings must be carried to London, +that the Governor of Portsmouth might know how to act. [Note B, +Appendix.] We were standing at our doorway in the gloaming, watching +the coming and the going, and the line of beacon fires which were +lengthening away to the eastward, when a little man galloped up to the +door and pulled his panting horse up. + +'Is Joseph Clarke here?' he asked. + +'I am he,' said my father. + +'Are these men true?' he whispered, pointing with his whip at Saxon and +myself. 'Then the trysting-place is Taunton. Pass it on to all whom ye +know. Give my horse a bait and a drink, I beg of ye, for I must get on +my way.' + +My young brother Hosea looked to the tired creature, while we brought +the rider inside and drew him a stoup of beer. A wiry, sharp-faced man +he was, with a birth-mark upon his temple. His face and clothes were +caked with dust, and his limbs were so stiff from the saddle that he +could scarce put one foot before another. + +'One horse hath died under me,' he said, 'and this can scarce last +another twenty miles. I must be in London by morning, for we hope that +Danvers and Wildman may be able to raise the city. Yester-evening I +left Monmouth's camp. His blue flag floats over Lyme.' + +'What force hath he?' my father asked anxiously. + +'He hath but brought over leaders. The force must come from you folk at +home. He has with him Lord Grey of Wark, with Wade, the German Buyse, +and eighty or a hundred more. Alas! that two who came are already lost +to us. It is an evil, evil omen.' + +'What is amiss, then?' + +'Dare, the goldsmith of Taunton, hath been slain by Fletcher of Saltoun +in some child's quarrel about a horse. The peasants cried out for the +blood of the Scot, and he was forced to fly aboard the ships. A sad +mishap it is, for he was a skilful leader and a veteran soldier.' + +'Aye, aye,' cried Saxon impatiently, 'there will be some more skilful +leaders and veteran soldiers in the West presently to take his place. +But if he knew the usages of war, how came it that he should fight upon +a private quarrel at such a time?' He drew a flat brown book from his +bosom, and ran his long thin finger down the table of contents. +'Subisectio nona'--'here is the very case set forth, "An in hello +publico provocatus ad duellum privatae amicitiae causa declinare +possit," in which the learned Fleming layeth it down that a man's +private honour must give way to the good of the cause. Did it not +happen in my own case that, on the eve of the raising of the +Anlagerung of Vienna, we stranger officers having been invited to the +tent of the General, it chanced that a red-headed Irisher, one O'Daffy, +an ancient in the regiment of Pappenheimer, did claim precedence of me +on the ground of superiority of blood? On this I drew my glove across +his face, not, mark ye, in anger, but as showing that I differed in some +degree from his opinion. At which dissent he did at once offer to +sustain his contention, but I, having read this subsection to him, did +make it clear to him that we could not in honour settle the point until +the Turk was chased from the city. So after the onfall--' + +'Nay, sir, I may hear the narrative some future day,' said the +messenger, staggering to his feet. 'I hope to find a relay at +Chichester, and time presses. Work for the cause now, or be slaves +for ever. Farewell!' He clambered into his saddle, and we heard the +clatter of his hoofs dying away down the London road. + +'The time hath come for you to go, Micah,' said my father solemnly.' +Nay, wife, do not weep, but rather hearten the lad on his way by a +blithe word and a merry face. I need not tell you to fight manfully and +fearlessly in this quarrel. Should the tide of war set in this +direction, you may find your old father riding by your side. Let us now +bow down and implore the favour of the Almighty upon this expedition.' + +We all knelt down in the low-roofed, heavy-raftered room while the old +man offered up an earnest, strenuous prayer for our success. Even now, +as I speak to ye, that group rises up before mine eyes. I see once +again your ancestor's stern, rugged face, with his brows knitted and his +corded hands writhed together in the fervour of his supplication. +My mother kneels beside him with the tears trickling down her sweet, +placid face, stifling her sobs lest the sound of them make my +leave-taking more bitter. The children are in the sleeping-room +upstairs, and we hear the patter of their bare feet upon the floor. +The man Saxon sprawls across one of the oaken chairs, half kneeling, +half reclining, with his long legs trailing out behind, and his face +buried in his hands. All round in the flickering light of the hanging +lamp I see the objects which have been so familiar to me from +childhood--the settle by the fireplace, the high-back stiff-elbowed +chairs, the stuffed fox above the door, the picture of Christian viewing +the Promised Land from the summit of the Delectable Mountains--all small +trifles in themselves, but making up among them the marvellous thing we +call home, the all-powerful lodestone which draws the wanderer's heart +from the farther end of the earth. Should I ever see it again save in +my dreams--I, who was leaving this sheltered cove to plunge into the +heart of the storm? + +The prayer finished, we all rose with the exception of Saxon, who +remained with his face buried in his hands for a minute or so before +starting to his feet. I shrewdly suspect that he had been fast asleep, +though he explained that he had paused to offer up an additional +supplication. My father placed his hands upon my head and invoked the +blessing of Heaven upon me. He then drew my companion aside, and I +heard the jingling of coin, from which I judge that he was giving him +something wherewith to start upon his travels. My mother clasped me to +her heart, and slipped a small square of paper into my hand, saying that +I was to look at it at my leisure, and that I should make her happy if I +would but conform to the instructions contained in it. This I promised +to do, and tearing myself away I set off down the darkened village +street, with my long-limbed companion striding by my side. + +It was close upon one in the morning, and all the country folk had been +long abed. Passing the Wheatsheaf and the house of old Solomon, I could +not but wonder what they would think of my martial garb were they afoot. +I had scarce time to form the same thought before Zachary Palmer's +cottage when his door flew open, and the carpenter came running out with +his white hair streaming in the fresh night breeze. + +'I have been awaiting you, Micah,' he cried. 'I had heard that Monmouth +was up, and I knew that you would not lose a night ere starting. +God bless you, lad, God bless you! Strong of arm and soft of heart, +tender to the weak and stern to the oppressor, you have the prayers and +the love of all who know you.' I pressed his extended hands, and the +last I saw of my native hamlet was the shadowy figure of the carpenter +as he waved his good wishes to me through the darkness. + +We made our way across the fields to the house of Whittier, the Whig +farmer, where Saxon got into his war harness. We found our horses ready +saddled and bridled, for my father had at the first alarm sent a message +across that we should need them. By two in the morning we were +breasting Portsdown Hill, armed, mounted, and fairly started on our +journey to the rebel camp. + + +Chapter VIII. + + +Of our Start for the Wars + +All along the ridge of Portsdown Hill we had the lights of Portsmouth +and of the harbour ships twinkling beneath us on the left, while on the +right the Forest of Bere was ablaze with the signal fires which +proclaimed the landing of the invader. One great beacon throbbed upon +the summit of Butser, while beyond that, as far as eye could reach, +twinkling sparks of light showed how the tidings were being carried +north into Berkshire and eastward into Sussex. Of these fires, some +were composed of faggots piled into heaps, and others of tar barrels set +upon poles. We passed one of these last just opposite to Portchester, +and the watchers around it, hearing the tramp of our horses and the +clank of our arms, set up a loud huzza, thinking doubtless that we were +King's officers bound for the West. + +Master Decimus Saxon had flung to the winds the precise demeanour which +he had assumed in the presence of my father, and rattled away with many +a jest and scrap of rhyme or song as we galloped through the darkness. + +'Gadzooks!' said he frankly, 'it is good to be able to speak freely +without being expected to tag every sentence with a hallelujah or an +amen.' + +'You were ever the leader in those pious exercises,' I remarked drily. + +'Aye, indeed. You have nicked it there! If a thing must be done, then +take a lead in it, whatever it may be. A plaguy good precept, which has +stood me in excellent stead before now. I cannot bear in mind whether I +told you how I was at one time taken prisoner by the Turks and conveyed +to Stamboul. There were a hundred of us or more, but the others either +perished under the bastinado, or are to this day chained to an oar in +the Imperial Ottoman galleys, where they are like to remain until they +die under the lash, or until some Venetian or Genoese bullet finds its +way into their wretched carcasses. I alone came off with my freedom.' + +'And pray, how did you make your escape?' I asked. + +'By the use of the wit wherewith Providence hath endowed me,' he +answered complacently; 'for, seeing that their accursed religion is the +blind side of these infidels, I did set myself to work upon it. To this +end I observed the fashion in which our guard performed their morning +and evening exercises, and having transformed my doublet into a +praying cloth, I did imitate them, save only that I prayed at greater +length and with more fervour.' + +'What!' I cried in horror. 'You did pretend to be a Mussulman?' + +'Nay, there was no pretence. I became a Mussulman. That, however, +betwixt ourselves, as it might not stand me in very good stead with some +Reverend Aminadab Fount-of-Grace in the rebel camp, who is no admirer of +Mahmoud.' + +I was so astounded at the impudence of this confession, coming from the +mouth of one who had been leading the exercises of a pious Christian +family, that I was fairly bereft of speech. Decimus Saxon whistled a +few bars of a sprightly tune, and then continued-- + +'My perseverance in these exercises soon led to my being singled out +from among the other prisoners, until I so prevailed upon my gaolers +that the doors were opened for me, and I was allowed out on condition of +presenting myself at the prison gates once a day. What use, think ye, +did I make of my freedom?' + +'Nay, you are capable of anything,' said I. + +'I set off forthwith to their chief mosque--that of St. Sophia. +When the doors opened and the muezzin called, I was ever the first to +hurry into devotions and the last to leave them. Did I see a Mussulman +strike his head upon the pavement, I would strike mine twice. Did I see +him bend and bow, I was ready to prostrate myself. In this way ere long +the piety of the converted Giaour became the talk of the city, and I was +provided with a hut in which to make my sacred meditations. Here I +might have done well, and indeed I had well-nigh made up my mind to set +up as a prophet and write an extra chapter to the Koran, when some +foolish trifle made the faithful suspicious of my honesty. It was but +some nonsense of a wench being found in my hut by some who came to +consult me upon a point of faith, but it was enough to set their +heathen tongues wagging; so I thought it wisest to give them the slip in +a Levantine coaster and leave the Koran uncompleted. It is perhaps as +well, for it would be a sore trial to have to give up Christian women +and pork, for their garlic-breathing houris and accursed kybobs of +sheep's flesh.' + +We had passed through Fareham and Botley during this conversation, and +were now making our way down the Bishopstoke road. The soil changes +about here from chalk to sand, so that our horses' hoofs did but make a +dull subdued rattle, which was no bar to our talk--or rather to my +companion's, for I did little more than listen. In truth, my mind was +so full of anticipations of what was before us, and of thoughts of the +home behind, that I was in no humour for sprightly chatter. The sky was +somewhat clouded, but the moon glinted out between the rifts, showing us +the long road which wound away in front of us. On either side were +scattered houses with gardens sloping down toward the road. The heavy, +sickly scent of strawberries was in the air. + +'Hast ever slain a man in anger?' asked Saxon, as we galloped along. + +'Never,' I answered. + +'Ha! You will find that when you hear the clink of steel against steel, +and see your foeman's eyes, you will straightway forget all rules, +maxims, and precepts of the fence which your father or others may have +taught you.' + +'I have learned little of the sort,' said I. My father did but teach me +to strike an honest downright blow. This sword can shear through a +square inch of iron bar.' + +'Scanderbeg's sword must have Scanderbeg's arm,' he remarked. 'I have +observed that it is a fine piece of steel. One of the real old +text-compellers and psalm-expounders which the faithful drew in the days +of yore, when they would: + + "Prove their religion orthodox, + By Apostolic blows and knocks." + +You have not fenced much, then?' + +'Scarce at all,' said I. + +'It is as well. With an old and tried swordsman like myself, knowledge +of the use of his weapon is everything; but with a young Hotspur of your +temper, strength and energy go for much. I have oft remarked that those +who are most skilled at the shooting of the popinjay, the cleaving of +the Turk's head, and other such sports, are ever laggards in the field. +Had the popinjay a crossbow as well, and an arrow on the string, or had +the Turk a fist as well as a head, our young gallant's nerves would +scarce be as steady over the business. I make no doubt, Master Clarke, +that we shall make trusty comrades. What saith old Butler? + + "Never did trusty squire with knight, + Or knight with squire ere jump more right." + +I have scarce dared to quote "Hudibras" for these weeks past, lest I +should set the Covenant fermenting in the old man's veins.' + +'If we are indeed to be comrades,' said I sternly, 'you must learn to +speak with more reverence and less flippancy of my father, who would +assuredly never have harboured you had he heard the tale which you have +told me even now.' + +'Belike not,' the adventurer answered, chuckling to himself. 'It is a +long stride from a mosque to a conventicle. But be not so hot-headed, +my friend. You lack that repose of character which will come to you, no +doubt, in your more mature years. What, man! within five minutes of +seeing me you would have smitten me on the head with an oar, and ever +since you have been like a bandog at my heels, ready to hark if I do but +set my foot over what you regard as the straight line. Remember that +you go now among men who fight on small occasion of quarrel. A word +awry may mean a rapier thrust.' + +'Do you bear the same in mind,' I answered hotly; 'my temper is +peaceful, but covert threats and veiled menace I shall not abide.' + +'Odd's mercy!' he cried. 'I see that you will start carving me anon, +and take me to Monmouth's camp in sections. Nay, nay, we shall have +fighting enow without falling out among ourselves. What houses are +those on the left?' + +'The village of Swathling,' I replied. 'The lights of Bishopstoke lie +to the right, in the hollow.' + +'Then we are fifteen miles on our way, and methinks there is already +some faint flush of dawn in the east. Hullo, what have we here? +Beds must be scarce if folks sleep on the highways.' + +A dark blur which I had remarked upon the roadway in front of us had +resolved itself as we approached into the figure of a man, stretched at +full length, with his face downwards, and his head resting upon his +crossed arms. + +'Some reveler, mayhap, from the village inn,' I remarked. + +'There's blood in the air,' said Saxon, raising up his beak-like nose +like a vulture which scents carrion. 'Methinks he sleeps the sleep +which knows no waking.' + +He sprang down from his saddle, and turned the figure over upon his +back. The cold pale light of the early dawn shimmering upon his staring +eyes and colourless face showed that the old soldier's instinct was +correct, and that he had indeed drawn his last breath. + +'Here's a pretty piece of work,' said Saxon, kneeling by the dead man's +side and passing his hands over his pockets. 'Footpads, doubtless. +Not a stiver in his pockets, nor as much as a sleeve-link to help pay +for the burial.' + +'How was he slain!' I asked in horror, looking down at the poor vacant +face, the empty house from which the tenant had departed. + +'A stab from behind and a tap on the head from the butt of a pistol. +He cannot have been dead long, and yet every groat is gone. A man of +position, too, I should judge from his dress--broadcloth coat by the +feel, satin breeches, and silver buckles on his shoes. The rogues must +have had some plunder with him. Could we but run across them, Clarke, +it would be a great and grand thing.' + +'It would indeed,' said I heartily. 'What greater privilege than to +execute justice upon such cowardly murderers!' + +'Pooh! pooh!' he cried. 'Justice is a slippery dame, and hath a +two-edged sword in her hand. We may have enough of justice in our +character as rebels to give us a surfeit of it. I would fain overtake +these robbers that we may relieve them of their _spolia opima_, together +with any other wealth which they may have unlawfully amassed. +My learned friend the Fleming layeth it down that it is no robbery to +rob a robber. But where shall we conceal this body?' + +'Wherefore should we conceal it?' I asked. + +'Why, man, unused to war or the precautions of a warrior, you must yet +see that should this body be found here, there will be a hue and cry +through the country, and that strangers like ourselves will be arrested +on suspicion. Should we clear ourselves, which is no very easy matter, +the justice will at least want to know whence we come and whither we go, +which may lead to inquiries that may bode us little good. I shall +therefore take the liberty, mine unknown and silent friend, of dragging +you into yon bushes, where for a day or two at least you are like to lie +unobserved, and so bring no harm upon honest men.' + +'For God's sake do not treat it so unkindly,' I cried, springing down +from my horse and laying my hand upon my companion's arm. 'There is no +need to trail it in so unseemly a fashion. If it must be moved hence, I +shall carry it with all due reverence. 'So saying, I picked the body up +in my arms, and bearing it to a wayside clump of yellow gorse bushes, I +laid it solemnly down and drew the branches over it to conceal it. + +'You have the thews of an ox and the heart of a woman, 'muttered my +companion. 'By the Mass, that old white-headed psalm-singer was right; +for if my memory serves me, he said words to that effect. A few +handfuls of dust will hide the stains. Now we may jog upon our way +without any fear of being called upon to answer for another man's sins. +Let me but get my girth tightened and we may soon be out of danger's +way.' + +'I have had to do,' said Saxon, as we rode onwards, 'with many gentry of +this sort, with Albanian brigands, the banditti of Piedmont, the +Lanzknechte and Freiritter of the Rhine, Algerine picaroons, and other +such folk. Yet I cannot call to mind one who hath ever been able to +retire in his old age on a sufficient competence. It is but a +precarious trade, and must end sooner or later in a dance on nothing in +a tight cravat, with some kind friend tugging at your legs to ease you +of any breath that you might have left.' + +'Nor does that end all,' I remarked. + +'No. There is Tophet behind and the flames of hell. So our good +friends the parsons tell us. Well, if a man is to make no money in this +world, be hanged at the end of it, and finally burn for ever, he hath +assuredly wandered on to a thorny track. If, on the other hand, one +could always lay one's hands on a well-lined purse, as those rogues have +done to-night, one might be content to risk something in the world to +come.' + +'But what can the well-filled purse do for them?' said I. 'What will +the few score pieces which these bloodthirsty wretches have filched from +this poor creature avail them when their own hour of death comes round?' + +'True,' said Saxon dryly; 'they may, however, prove useful in the +meantime. This you say is Bishopstoke. What are the lights over +yonder?' + +'They come, I think, from Bishop's Waltham,' I answered. + +'We must press on, for I would fain be in Salisbury before it is broad +day. There we shall put our horses up until evening and have some rest, +for there is nothing gained by man or beast coming jaded to the wars. +All this day the western roads will be crowded with couriers, and mayhap +patrolled by cavalry as well, so that we cannot show our faces upon it +without a risk of being stopped and examined. Now if we lie by all day, +and push on at dusk, keeping off the main road and making our way across +Salisbury Plain and the Somersetshire downs, we shall be less likely to +come to harm.' + +'But what if Monmouth be engaged before we come up to him?' I asked. + +'Then we shall have missed a chance of getting our throats cut. +Why, man, supposing that he has been routed and entirely dispersed, +would it not be a merry conceit for us to appear upon the scene as two +loyal yeomen, who had ridden all the way from Hampshire to strike in +against the King's enemies? We might chance to get some reward in money +or in land for our zeal. Nay, frown not, for I was but jesting. +Breathe our horses by walking them up this hill. My jennet is as fresh +as when we started, but those great limbs of thine are telling upon the +grey.' + +The patch of light in the east had increased and broadened, and the sky +was mottled with little pink feathers of cloud. As we passed over the +low hills by Chandler's Ford and Romsey we could see the smoke of +Southampton to the south-east, and the broad dark expanse of the New +Forest with the haze of morning hanging over it. A few horsemen passed +us, pricking along, too much engrossed in their own errand to inquire +ours. A couple of carts and a long string of pack-horses, laden +principally with bales of wool, came straggling along a byroad, and +the drivers waved their broad hats to us and wished us God-speed. +At Dunbridge the folk were just stirring, and paused in taking down the +cottage shutters to come to the garden railings and watch us pass. +As we entered Dean, the great red sun pushed its rosy rim over the edge +of the horizon, and the air was filled with the buzz of insects and the +sweet scent of the morning. We dismounted at this latter village, and +had a cup of ale while resting and watering the horses. The landlord +could tell us nothing about the insurgents, and indeed seemed to care +very little about the matter one way or the other. 'As long as brandy +pays a duty of six shillings and eightpence a gallon, and freight and +leakage comes to half a crown, while I am expected to sell it at twelve +shillings, it matters little to me who is King of England. Give me a +king that will prevent the hop-blight and I am his man.' Those were the +landlord's politics, and I dare say a good many more were of his way of +thinking. + +From Dean to Salisbury is all straight road with moor, morass, and +fenland on either side, broken only by the single hamlet of Aldersbury, +just over the Wiltshire border. Our horses, refreshed by the short +rest, stepped out gallantly, and the brisk motion, with the sunlight and +the beauty of the morning, combined to raise our spirits and cheer us +after the depression of the long ride through the darkness, and the +incident of the murdered traveller. Wild duck, widgeon, and snipe +flapped up from either side of the road at the sound of the horses' +hoofs, and once a herd of red deer sprang to their feet from among the +ferns and scampered away in the direction of the forest. Once, too, +when passing a dense clump of trees, we saw a shadowy white creature +half hidden by the trunks, which must, I fancy, have been one of those +wild cattle of which I have heard the peasants speak, who dwell in the +recesses of the southern woods, and are so fierce and intractable that +none dare approach them. The breadth of the view, the keenness of the +air, and the novelty of the sense of having great work to do, all +combined to send a flush of life through my veins such as the quiet +village existence had never been able to give. My more experienced +companion felt the influence too, for he lifted up a cracked voice and +broke into a droning chant, which he assured me was an Eastern ode +which had been taught him by the second sister of the Hospodar of +Wallachia. + +'Anent Monmouth,' he remarked, coming back suddenly to the realities of +our position. 'It is unlikely that he can take the field for some days, +though much depends upon his striking a blow soon, and so raising the +courage of his followers before the King's troops can come down upon +him. He has, mark ye, not only his troops to find, but their weapons, +which is like to prove a more difficult matter. Suppose he can raise +five thousand men--and he cannot stir with less--he will not have one +musket in five, so the rest must do as they can with pikes and bills, or +such other rude arms as they can find. All this takes time, and though +there may be skirmishes, there can scarce be any engagement of import +before we arrive.' + +'He will have been landed three or four days ere we reach him,' said I. + +'Hardly time for him with his small staff of officers to enrol his men +and divide them into regiments. I scarce expect to find him at Taunton, +though we were so directed. Hast ever heard whether there are any rich +Papists in those parts?' + +'I know not,' I replied. + +'If so there might be plate chests and silver chargers, to say nothing +of my lady's jewels and other such trifles to reward a faithful soldier. +What would war be without plunder! A bottle without the wine--a shell +without the oyster. See the house yonder that peeps through the trees. +I warrant there is a store of all good things under that roof, which you +and I might have for the asking, did we but ask with our swords in our +grip. You are my witness that your father did give and not lend me this +horse.' + +'Why say you that, then?' + +'Lest he claim a half of whatever booty I may chance to gain. +What saith my learned Fleming under the heading "an qui militi equum +praebuit, praedae ab eo captae particeps esse debeat?" which signifieth +"whether he who lendeth a horse hath a claim on the plunder of him who +borroweth it." In this discourse he cites a case wherein a Spanish +commander having lent a steed to one of his captains, and the said +captain having captured the general of the enemy, the commander did +sue him for a half share of the twenty thousand crowns which formed the +ransom of the prisoner. A like case is noted by the famous Petrinus +Bellus in his book "De Re Militari," much read by leaders of repute.' +[Note C. Appendix.] + +'I can promise you,' I answered, 'that no such claim shall ever be made +by my father upon you. See yonder, over the brow of the hill, how the +sun shines upon the high cathedral tower, which points upwards with its +great stone finger to the road that every man must travel.' + +'There is good store of silver and plate in these same churches,' quoth +my companion. 'I remember that at Leipsic, when I was serving my first +campaign, I got a candlestick, which I was forced to sell to a Jew +broker for a fourth of its value; yet even at his price it sufficed to +fill my haversack with broad pieces.' + +It chanced that Saxon's mare had gained a stride or two upon mine whilst +he spoke, so that I was able to get a good view of him without turning +my head. I had scarce had light during our ride to see how his harness +sat upon him, but now I was amazed on looking at him to mark the change +which it had wrought in the man. In his civil dress his lankiness and +length of limb gave him an awkward appearance, but on horse-back, with +his lean, gaunt face looking out from his steel cap, his breastplate and +buff jacket filling out his figure, and his high boots of untanned +leather reaching to the centre of his thighs, he looked the veteran +man-at-arms which he purported to be. The ease with which he sat his +horse, the high, bold expression upon his face, and the great length of +his arms, all marked him as one who could give a good account of himself +in a fray. In his words alone I could have placed little trust, but +there was that in his bearing which assured even a novice like myself +that he was indeed a trained man of war. + +'That is the Avon which glitters amongst the trees,' I remarked. +'We are about three miles from Salisbury town.' + +'It is a noble spire,' said he, glancing at the great stone spire in +front of us. 'The men of old would seem to have spent all their days in +piling stones upon stones. And yet we read of tough battles and shrewd +blows struck, showing that they had some time for soldierly relaxation, +and were not always at this mason work.' + +'The Church was rich in those days,' I answered, shaking my bridle, for +Covenant was beginning to show signs of laziness. 'But here comes one +who might perhaps tell us something of the war.' + +A horseman who bore traces of having ridden long and hard was rapidly +approaching us. Both rider and steed were grey with dust and splashed +with mire, yet he galloped with loosened rein and bent body, as one to +whom every extra stride is of value. + +'What ho, friend!' cried Saxon, reining his mare across the road so as +to bar the man's passage. 'What news from the West?' + +'I must not tarry,' the messenger gasped, slackening his speed for an +instant. 'I bear papers of import from Gregory Alford, Mayor of Lyme, +to Ins Majesty's Council. The rebels make great head, and gather +together like bees in the swarming time. There are some thousands in +arms already, and all Devonshire is on the move. The rebel horse under +Lord Grey hath been beaten back from Bridport by the red militia of +Dorset, but every prickeared Whig from the Channel to the Severn is +making his way to Monmouth.' With this brief summary of the news he +pushed his way past us and clattered on in a cloud of dust upon his +mission. + +'The broth is fairly on the fire, then,' quoth Decimus Saxon, as we rode +onwards. 'Now that skins have been slit the rebels may draw their +swords and fling away their scabbards, for it's either victory for them +or their quarters will be dangling in every market town of the county. +Heh, lad? we throw a main for a brave stake.' + +'Marked ye that Lord Grey had met with a check,' said I. + +'Pshaw! it is of no import. A cavalry skirmish at the most, for it is +impossible that Monmouth could have brought his main forces to Bridport; +nor would he if he could, for it is out of his track. It was one of +those three-shots-and-a-gallop affrays, where each side runs away and +each claims the victory. But here we are in the streets of Salisbury. +Now leave the talking to me, or your wrong-headed truthfulness may lay +us by the heels before our time.' + +Passing down the broad High Street we dismounted in front of the Blue +Boar inn, and handed our tired horses over to the ostler, to whom Saxon, +in a loud voice, and with many rough military oaths, gave strict +injunctions as to their treatment. He then clanked into the inn +parlour, and throwing himself into one chair with his feet upon another, +he summoned the landlord up before him, and explained our needs in a +tone and manner which should give him a due sense of our quality. + +'Of your best, and at once,' quoth he. 'Have your largest +double-couched chamber ready with your softest lavender-scented sheets, +for we have had a weary ride and must rest. And hark ye, landlord, no +palming off your stale, musty goods as fresh, or of your washy French +wines for the true Hainault vintage. I would have you to understand +that my friend here and I are men who meet with some consideration in +the world, though we care not to speak our names to every underling. +Deserve well of us, therefore, or it may be the worse for you.' + +This speech, combined with my companion's haughty manner and fierce +face, had such an effect upon the landlord that he straightway sent us +in the breakfast which had been prepared for three officers of the +Blues, who were waiting for it in the next apartment. This kept them +fasting for another half-hour, and we could hear their oaths and +complaints through the partition while we were devouring their capon +and venison pie. Having eaten a hearty meal and washed it down with a +bottle of Burgundy we sought our room, and throwing our tired limbs upon +the bed, were soon in a deep slumber. + + + +Chapter IX. + + +Of a Passage of Arms at the Blue Boar + +I had slept several hours when I was suddenly aroused by a prodigious +crash, followed by the clash of arms and shrill cries from the lower +floor. Springing to my feet I found that the bed upon which my comrade +had lain was vacant, and that the door of the apartment was opened. +As the uproar still continued, and as I seemed to discern his voice in +the midst of it, I caught up my sword, and without waiting to put on +either head-piece, steel-breast, or arm-plates, I hurried to the scene +of the commotion. + +The hall and passage were filled with silly maids and staring drawers, +attracted, like myself, by the uproar. Through these I pushed my way +into the apartment where we had breakfasted in the morning, which was a +scene of the wildest disorder. The round table in the centre had been +tilted over upon its side, and three broken bottles of wine, with +apples, pears, nuts, and the fragments of the dishes containing them, +were littered over the floor. A couple of packs of cards and a dice-box +lay amongst the scattered feast. Close by the door stood Decimus Saxon, +with his drawn rapier in his hand and a second one beneath his feet, +while facing him there was a young officer in a blue uniform, whose face +was reddened with shame and anger, and who looked wildly about the room +as though in search of some weapon to replace that of which he had been +deprived. He might have served Cibber or Gibbons as a model for a +statue of impotent rage. Two other officers dressed in the same blue +uniform stood by their comrade, and as I observed that they had laid +their hands upon the hilts of their swords, I took my place by Saxon's +side, and stood ready to strike in should the occasion arise. + +'What would the maitre d'armes say--the maitre d'escrime?' cried my +companion. 'Methinks he should lose his place for not teaching you to +make a better show. Out on him! Is this the way that he teaches the +officers of his Majesty's guard to use their weapons?' + +'This raillery, sir,' said the elder of the three, a squat, brown, +heavy-faced man, 'is not undeserved, and yet might perchance be +dispensed with. I am free to say that our friend attacked you somewhat +hastily, and that a little more deference should have been shown by so +young a soldier to a cavalier of your experience.' + +The other officer, who was a fine-looking, noble-featured man, expressed +himself in much the same manner. 'If this apology will serve,' said he, +'I am prepared to join in it. If, however, more is required, I shall be +happy to take the quarrel upon myself.' + +'Nay, nay, take your bradawl!' Saxon answered good-humouredly, kicking +the sword towards his youthful opponent. 'But, mark you! when you would +lunge, direct your point upwards rather than down, for otherwise you +must throw your wrist open to your antagonist, who can scarce fail to +disarm you. In quarte, tierce, or saccoon the same holds good.' + +The youth sheathed his sword, but was so overcome by his own easy defeat +and the contemptuous way in which his opponent had dismissed him, that +he turned and hurried out of the room. Meanwhile Decimus Saxon and the +two officers set to work getting the table upon its legs and restoring +the room to some sort of order, in which I did what I could to assist +them. + +'I held three queens for the first time to-day,' grumbled the soldier of +fortune. 'I was about to declare them when this young bantam flew at my +throat. He hath likewise been the cause of our losing three flasks of +most excellent muscadine. When he hath drunk as much bad wine as I have +been forced to do, he will not be so hasty in wasting the good.' + +'He is a hot-headed youngster,' the older officer replied, 'and a little +solitary reflection added to the lesson which you have taught him may +bring him profit. As for the muscadine, that loss will soon be +repaired, the more gladly as your friend here will help us to drink it.' + +'I was roused by the crash of weapons,' said I, 'and I scarce know now +what has occurred.' + +'Why, a mere tavern brawl, which your friend's skill and judgment +prevented from becoming serious. I prythee take the rush-bottomed +chair, and do you, Jack, order the wine. If our comrade hath spilled +the last it is for us to furnish this, and the best the cellars contain. +We have been having a hand at basset, which Mr. Saxon here playeth as +skilfully as he wields the small-sword. It chanced that the luck ran +against young Horsford, which doubtless made him prone to be quick in +taking offence. Your friend in conversation, when discoursing of his +experiences in foreign countries, remarked that the French household +troops were to his mind brought to a higher state of discipline than any +of our own regiments, on which Horsford fired up, and after a hot word +or two they found themselves, as you have seen, at drawn bilbo. The boy +hath seen no service, and is therefore over-eager to give proof of his +valour.' + +'Wherein,' said the tall officer, 'he showed a want of thought towards +me, for had the words been offensive it was for me, who am a senior +captain and brevet-major, to take it up, and not for a slip of a cornet, +who scarce knows enough to put his troop through the exercise.' + +'You say right, Ogilvy,' said the other, resuming his seat by the table +and wiping the cards which had been splashed by the wine.' Had the +comparison been made by an officer of Louis's guard for the purpose of +contumely and braggadocio, it would then indeed have become us to +venture a passado. But when spoken by an Englishman of ripe experience +it becomes a matter of instructive criticism, which should profit rather +than annoy.' + +'True, Ambrose,' the other answered. 'Without such criticism a force +would become stagnant, and could never hope to keep level with those +continental armies, which are ever striving amongst themselves for +increased efficacy.' + +So pleased was I at these sensible remarks on the part of the strangers, +that I was right glad to have the opportunity of making their closer +acquaintance over a flask of excellent wine. My father's prejudices had +led me to believe that a King's officer was ever a compound of the +coxcomb and the bully, but I found on testing it that this idea, like +most others which a man takes upon trust, had very little foundation +upon truth. As a matter of fact, had they been dressed in less warlike +garb and deprived of their swords and jack-boots, they would have passed +as particularly mild-mannered men, for their conversation ran in the +learned channels, and they discussed Boyle's researches in chemistry and +the ponderation of air with much gravity and show of knowledge. At the +same time, their brisk bearing and manly carriage showed that in +cultivating the scholar they hail not sacrificed the soldier. + +'May I ask, sir,' said one of them, addressing Saxon, 'whether in your +wide experiences you have ever met with any of those sages and +philosophers who have conferred such honour and fame upon France and +Germany?' + +My companion looked ill at ease, as one who feels that he has been taken +off his ground. 'There was indeed one such at Nurnberg,' he answered, +'one Gervinus or Gervanus, who, the folk said, could turn an ingot of +iron into an ingot of gold as easily as I turn this tobacco into ashes. +Old Pappenheimer shut him up with a ton of metal, and threatened to put +the thumbikins upon him unless he changed it into gold pieces. I can +vouch for it that there was not a yellow boy there, for I was captain of +the guard and searched the whole dungeon through. To my sorrow I say +it, for I had myself added a small iron brazier to the heap, thinking +that if there should be any such change it would be as well that I +should have some small share in the experiment.' + +'Alchemy, transmutation of metals, and the like have been set aside by +true science,' remarked the taller officer. 'Even old Sir Thomas Browne +of Norwich, who is ever ready to plead the cause of the ancients, can +find nothing to say in favour of it. From Trismegistus downwards +through Albertus Magnus, Aquinas, Raymond Lullius, Basil Valentine, +Paracelsus, and the rest, there is not one who has left more than a +cloud of words behind him.' + +'Nor did the rogue I mention,' said Saxon. 'There was another, Van +Helstatt, who was a man of learning, and cast horoscopes in +consideration of some small fee or honorarium. I have never met so wise +a man, for he would talk of the planets and constellations as though he +kept them all in his own backyard. He made no more of a comet than if +it were a mouldy china orange, and he explained their nature to us, +saying that they were but common stars which had had a hole knocked in +them, so that their insides or viscera protruded. He was indeed a +philosopher!' + +'And did you ever put his skill to the test?' asked one of the officers, +with a smile. + +'Not I, forsooth, for I have ever kept myself clear of black magic or +diablerie of the sort. My comrade Pierce Scotton, who was an Oberst in +the Imperial cavalry brigade, did pay him a rose noble to have his +future expounded. If I remember aright, the stars said that he was +over-fond of wine and women--he had a wicked eye and a nose like a +carbuncle. 'They foretold also that he would attain a marshal's baton +and die at a ripe age, which might well have come true had he not been +unhorsed a month later at Ober-Graustock, and slain by the hoofs of his +own troop. Neither the planets nor even the experienced farrier of the +regiment could have told that the brute would have foundered so +completely.' + +The officers laughed heartily at my companion's views, and rose from +their chairs, for the bottle was empty and the evening beginning to draw +in. 'We have work to do here,' said the one addressed as Ogilvy. +'Besides, we must find this foolish boy of ours, and tell him that it is +no disgrace to be disarmed by so expert a swordsman. We have to +prepare the quarters for the regiment, who will be up to join +Churchill's forces not later than to-night. Ye are yourselves bound for +the West, I understand?' + +'We belong to the Duke of Beaufort's household,' said Saxon. + +'Indeed! I thought ye might belong to Portman's yellow regiment of +militia. I trust that the Duke will muster every man he can, and make +play until the royal forces come up.' + +'How many will Churchill bring?' asked my companion carelessly. + +'Eight hundred horse at the most, but my Lord Feversham will follow +after with close on four thousand foot.' + +'We may meet on the field of battle, if not before,' said I, and we bade +our friendly enemies a very cordial adieu. + +'A skilful equivoque that last of yours, Master Micah,' quoth Decimus +Saxon, 'though smacking of double dealing in a truth-lover like +yourself. If we meet them in battle I trust that it may be with +chevaux-de-frise of pikes and morgenstierns before us, and a litter of +caltrops in front of them, for Monmouth has no cavalry that could stand +for a moment against the Royal Guards.' + +'How came you to make their acquaintance?' I asked. + +'I slept a few hours, but I have learned in camps to do with little +rest. Finding you in sound slumber, and hearing the rattle of the +dice-box below, I came softly down and found means to join their party-- +whereby I am a richer man by fifteen guineas, and might have had more +had that young fool not lugged out at me, or had the talk not turned +afterwards upon such unseemly subjects as the laws of chemistry and the +like. Prythee, what have the Horse Guards Blue to do with the laws of +chemistry? Wessenburg of the Pandours would, even at his own mess +table, suffer much free talk--more perhaps than fits in with the dignity +of a leader. Had his officers ventured upon such matter as this, +however, there would have been a drum-head court-martial, or a +cashiering at the least.' + +Without stopping to dispute either Master Saxon's judgment or that of +Wessenburg of the Pandours, I proposed that we should order an evening +meal, and should employ the remaining hour or two of daylight in looking +over the city. The principal sight is of course the noble cathedral, +which is built in such exact proportion that one would fail to +understand its great size did one not actually enter it and pace round +the long dim aisles. So solemn were its sweeping arches and the long +shafts of coloured light which shone through the stained-glass windows, +throwing strange shadows amongst the pillars, that even my companion, +albeit not readily impressed, was silent and subdued. It was a great +prayer in stone. + +On our way back to the inn we passed the town lock-up, with a railed +space in front of it, in which three great black-muzzled bloodhounds +were stalking about, with fierce crimsoned eyes and red tongues lolling +out of their mouths. They were used, a bystander told us, for the +hunting down of criminals upon Salisbury Plain, which had been a refuge +for rogues and thieves, until this means had been adopted for following +them to their hiding-places. It was well-nigh dark before we returned +to the hostel, and entirely so by the time that we had eaten our +suppers, paid our reckoning, and got ready for the road. + +Before we set off I bethought me of the paper which my mother had +slipped into my hand on parting, and drawing it from my pouch I read it +by the rushlight in our chamber. It still bore the splotches of the +tears which she had dropped on it, poor soul, and ran in this wise:-- + +'Instructions from Mistress Mary Clarke to her son Micah, on the +twelfth day of June in the year of our Lord sixteen hundred and +eighty-five. + +'On occasion of his going forth, like David of old, to do battle with +the Goliath of Papistry, which hath overshadowed and thrown into +disrepute that true and reverent regard for ritual which should exist in +the real Church of England, as ordained by law. + +'Let these points be observed by him, namely, to wit: + +'1. Change your hosen when the occasion serves. You have two pairs in +your saddle-bag, and can buy more, for the wool work is good in the +West. + +'2. A hare's foot suspended round the neck driveth away colic. + +'3. Say the Lord's Prayer night and morning. Also read the scriptures, +especially Job, the Psalms, and the Gospel according to St. Matthew. + +'4. Daffy's elixir possesses extraordinary powers in purifying the +blood and working off all phlegms, humours, vapours, or rheums. +The dose is five drops. A small phial of it will be found in the barrel +of your left pistol, with wadding around it lest it come to harm. + +'5. Ten golden pieces are sewn into the hem of your under doublet. +Touch them not, save as a last resource. + +'6. Fight stoutly for the Lord, and yet I pray you, Micah, be not too +forward in battle, but let others do their turn also. + +Press not into the heart of the fray, and yet flinch not from the +standard of the Protestant faith. + +'And oh, Micah, my own bright boy, come back safe to your mother, or my +very heart will break! + +'And the deponent will ever pray.' + + +The sudden gush of tenderness in the last few lines made the tears +spring to my eyes, and yet I could scarce forbear from smiling at the +whole composition, for my dear mother had little time to cultivate the +graces of style, and it was evidently her thought that in order to make +her instructions binding it was needful to express them in some sort of +legal form. I had little time to think over her advice, however, for I +had scarce finished reading it before the voice of Decimus Saxon, and +the clink of the horses' hoofs upon the cobble-stones of the yard, +informed me that all was ready for our departure. + + + + +Chapter X. + + +Of our Perilous Adventure on the Plain + +We were not half a mile from the town before the roll of kettledrums and +the blare of bugles swelling up musically through the darkness announced +the arrival of the regiment of horse which our friends at the inn had +been expecting. + +'It is as well, perhaps,' said Saxon, 'that we gave them the slip, for +that young springald might have smelled a rat and played us some +ill-turn. Have you chanced to see my silken kerchief?' + +'Not I,' I answered. + +'Nay, then, it must have fallen from my bosom during our ruffle. I can +ill afford to leave it, for I travel light in such matters. Eight +hundred men, quoth the major, and three thousand to follow. Should I +meet this same Oglethorpe or Ogilvy when the little business is over, I +shall read him a lesson on thinking less of chemistry and more of the +need of preserving military precautions. It is well always to be +courteous to strangers and to give them information, but it is well also +that the information should be false.' + +'As his may have been,' I suggested. + +'Nay, nay, the words came too glibly from his tongue. So ho, Chloe, so +ho! She is full of oats and would fain gallop, but it is so plaguy dark +that we can scarce see where we are going.' + +We had been trotting down the broad high-road shimmering vaguely white +in the gloom, with the shadowy trees dancing past us on either side, +scarce outlined against the dark background of cloud. We were now +coming upon the eastern edge of the great plain, which extends forty +miles one way and twenty the other, over the greater part of Wiltshire +and past the boundaries of Somersetshire. The main road to the West +skirts this wilderness, but we had agreed to follow a less important +track, which would lead us to our goal, though in a more tedious manner. +Its insignificance would, we hoped, prevent it from being guarded by the +King's horse. We had come to the point where this byroad branches off +from the main highway when we heard the clatter of horses' hoofs +behind us. + +'Here comes some one who is not afraid to gallop,' I remarked. + +'Halt here in the shadow!' cried Saxon, in a short, quick whisper. +'Have your blade loose in the scabbard. He must have a set errand who +rides so fast o' nights.' + +Looking down the road we could make out through the darkness a shadowy +blur which soon resolved itself into man and horse. The rider was +well-nigh abreast of us before he was aware of our presence, when he +pulled up his steed in a strange, awkward fashion, and faced round in +our direction. + +'Is Micah Clarke there?' he said, in a voice which was strangely +familiar to my ears. + +'I am Micah Clarke,' said I. + +'And I am Reuben Lockarby,' cried our pursuer, in a mock heroic voice. +'Ah, Micah lad, I'd embrace you were it not that I should assuredly fall +out of the saddle if I attempted it, and perchance drag you along. +That sudden pull up well-nigh landed me on the roadway. I have been +sliding off and clambering on ever since I bade goodbye to Havant. +Sure, such a horse for slipping from under one was never bestridden +by man.' + +'Good Heavens, Reuben!' I cried in amazement, 'what brings you all this +way from home?' + +'The very same cause which brings you, Micah, and also Don Decimo Saxon, +late of the Solent, whom methinks I see in the shadow behind you. +How fares it, oh illustrious one?' + +'It is you, then, young cock of the woods!' growled Saxon, in no very +overjoyed voice. + +'No less a person,' said Reuben. 'And now, my gay cavalieros, round +with your horses and trot on your way, for there is no time to be lost. +We ought all to be at Taunton to-morrow.' + +'But, my dear Reuben,' said I, 'it cannot be that you are coming with us +to join Monmouth. What would your father say? This is no holiday +jaunt, but one that may have a sad and stern ending. At the best, +victory can only come through much bloodshed and danger. At the worst, +we are as like to wind up upon a scaffold as not.' + +'Forwards, lads, forwards!' cried he, spurring on his horse, 'it is all +arranged and settled. I am about to offer my august person, together +with a sword which I borrowed and a horse which I stole, to his most +Protestant highness, James, Duke of Monmouth.' + +'But how comes it all?' I asked, as we rode on together. 'It warms my +very heart to see you, but you were never concerned either in religion +or in politics. Whence, then, this sudden resolution?' + +'Well, truth to tell,' he replied, 'I am neither a king's man nor a +duke's man, nor would I give a button which sat upon the throne. +I do not suppose that either one or the other would increase the custom +of the Wheatsheaf, or want Reuben Lockarby for a councillor. I am a +Micah Clarke man, though, from the crown of my head to the soles of my +feet; and if he rides to the wars, may the plague strike me if I don't +stick to his elbow!' He raised his hand excitedly as he spoke, and +instantly losing his balance, he shot into a dense clump of bushes by +the roadside whence his legs flapped helplessly in the darkness. + +'That makes the tenth,' said he, scrambling out and clambering into his +saddle once more. 'My father used to tell me not to sit a horse too +closely. "A gentle rise and fall," said the old man. Egad, there is +more fall than rise, and it is anything but gentle.' + +'Odd's truth!' exclaimed Saxon. 'How in the name of all the saints in +the calendar do you expect to keep your seat in the presence of an enemy +if you lose it on a peaceful high-road?' + +'I can but try, my illustrious,' he answered, rearranging his ruffled +clothing. 'Perchance the sudden and unexpected character of my +movements may disconcert the said enemy.' + +'Well, well, there may be more truth in that than you are aware of,' +quoth Saxon, riding upon Lockarby's bridle arm, so that there was scarce +room for him to fall between us. 'I had sooner fight a man like that +young fool at the inn, who knew a little of the use of his weapon, than +one like Micah here, or yourself, who know nothing. You can tell what +the one is after, but the other will invent a system of his own which +will serve his turn for the nonce. Ober-hauptmann Muller was reckoned +to be the finest player at the small-sword in the Kaiser's army, and +could for a wager snick any button from an opponent's vest without +cutting the cloth. Yet was he slain in an encounter with Fahnfuhrer +Zollner, who was a cornet in our own Pandour corps, and who knew as much +of the rapier as you do of horsemanship. For the rapier, be it +understood, is designed to thrust and not to cut, so that no man +wielding it ever thinks of guarding a side-stroke. But Zollner, being a +long-armed man, smote his antagonist across the face with his weapon as +though it had been a cane, and then, ere he had time to recover himself, +fairly pinked him. Doubtless if the matter were to do again, the +Oberhauptmann would have got his thrust in sooner, but as it was, no +explanation or excuse could get over the fact that the man was dead.' + +'If want of knowledge maketh a dangerous swordsman,' quoth Reuben, +'then am I even more deadly than the unpronounceable gentleman whom you +have mentioned. To continue my story, however, which I broke off in +order to step down from my horse, I found out early in the morning that +ye were gone, and Zachary Palmer was able to tell me whither. I made +up my mind, therefore, that I would out into the world also. To this +end I borrowed a sword from Solomon Sprent, and my father having gone to +Gosport, I helped myself to the best nag in his stables--for I have too +much respect for the old man to allow one of his flesh and blood to go +ill-provided to the wars. All day I have ridden, since early morning, +being twice stopped on suspicion of being ill-affected, but having the +good luck to get away each time. I knew that I was close at your heels, +for I found them searching for you at the Salisbury Inn.' + +Decimus whistled. 'Searching for us?' said he. + +'Yes. It seems that they had some notion that ye were not what ye +professed to be, so the inn was surrounded as I passed, but none knew +which road ye had taken.' + +'Said I not so?' cried Saxon. 'That young viper hath stirred up the +regiment against us. We must push on, for they may send a party on our +track.' + +'We are off the main road now, 'I remarked; 'even should they pursue us, +they would be unlikely to follow this side track.' + +'Yet it would be wise to show them a clean pair of heels,' said Saxon, +spurring his mare into a gallop. Lockarby and I followed his example, +and we all three rode swiftly along the rough moorland track. + +We passed through scattered belts of pinewood, where the wild cat howled +and the owl screeched, and across broad stretches of fenland and moor, +where the silence was only broken by the booming cry of the bittern or +the fluttering of wild duck far above our heads. The road was in parts +overgrown with brambles, and was so deeply rutted and so studded with +sharp and dangerous hollows, that our horses came more than once upon +their knees. In one place the wooden bridge which led over a stream had +broken down, and no attempt had been made to repair it, so that we were +compelled to ride our horses girth deep through the torrent. At first +some scattered lights had shown that we were in the neighbourhood of +human habitations, but these became fewer as we advanced, until the +last died away and we found ourselves upon the desolate moor which +stretched away in unbroken solitude to the shadowy horizon. The moon +had broken through the clouds and now shone hazily through wreaths of +mist, throwing a dim light over the wild scene, and enabling us to keep +to the track, which was not fenced in in any way and could scarce be +distinguished from the plain around it. + +We had slackened our pace under the impression that all fear of pursuit +was at an end, and Reuben was amazing us by an account of the excitement +which had been caused in Havant by our disappearance, when through the +stillness of the night a dull, muffled rat-tat-tat struck upon my ear. +At the same moment Saxon sprang from his horse and listened intently +with sidelong head. + +'Boot and saddle!' he cried, springing into his seat again. 'They are +after us as sure as fate. A dozen troopers by the sound. We must shake +them off, or goodbye to Monmouth.' + +'Give them their heads,' I answered, and striking spurs into our steeds, +we thundered on through the darkness. Covenant and Chloe were as fresh +as could he wished, and soon settled down into a long springy gallop. +Our friend's horse however, had been travelling all day, and its +long-drawn, laboured breathing showed that it could not hold out for +long. Through the clatter of our horses' hoofs I could still from time +to time hear the ominous murmur from behind us. + +'This will never do, Reuben,' said I anxiously, as the weary creature +stumbled, and the rider came perilously near to shooting over its head. + +'The old horse is nearly foundered,' he answered ruefully. 'We are off +the road now, and the rough ground is too much for her.' + +'Yes, we are off the track,' cried Saxon over his shoulder--for he led +us by a few paces. 'Bear in mind that the Bluecoats have been on the +march all day, so that their horses may also be blown. How in Himmel +came they to know which road we took?' + +As if in answer to his ejaculation, there rose out of the still night +behind us a single, clear, bell-like note, swelling and increasing in +volume until it seemed to fill the whole air with its harmony. + +'A bloodhound!' cried Saxon. + +A second sharper, keener note, ending in an unmistakable howl, answered +the first. + +'Another of them,' said he. 'They have loosed the brutes that we saw +near the Cathedral. Gad! we little thought when we peered over the +rails at them, a few hours ago, that they would so soon be on our own +track. Keep a firm knee and a steady seat, for a slip now would be your +last.' + +'Holy mother!' cried Reuben, 'I had steeled myself to die in battle--but +to be dogsmeat! It is something outside the contract.' + +'They hold them in leash,' said Saxon, between his teeth, 'else they +would outstrip the horses and be lost in the darkness. + +Could we but come on running water we might put them off our track.' + +'My horse cannot hold on at this pace for more than a very few minutes,' +Reuben cried. 'If I break down, do ye go on, for ye must remember that +they are upon your track and not mine. They have found cause for +suspicion of the two strangers of the inn, but none of me.' + +'Nay, Reuben, we shall stand or fall together,' said I sadly, for at +every step his horse grew more and more feeble. 'In this darkness they +will make little distinction between persons.' + +'Keep a good heart,' shouted the old soldier, who was now leading us by +twenty yards or more. 'We can hear them because the wind blows from +that way, but it's odds whether they have heard us. Methinks they +slacken in their pursuit.' + +'The sound of their horses has indeed grown fainter,' said I joyfully. + +'So faint that I can hear it no longer,' my companion cried. + +We reined up our panting steeds and strained our ears, but not a sound +could we hear save the gentle murmur of the breeze amongst the +whin-bushes, and the melancholy cry of the night-jar. Behind us the +broad rolling plain, half light and half shadow, stretched away to the +dim horizon without sign of life or movement. 'We have either +outstripped them completely, or else they have given up the chase,' +said I. 'What ails the horses that they should tremble and snort?' + +'My poor beast is nearly done for,' Reuben remarked, leaning forward and +passing his hand down the creature's reeking neck. + +'For all that we cannot rest,' said Saxon. 'We may not be out of danger +yet. Another mile or two may shake us clear. But I like it not.' + +'Like not what?' + +'These horses and their terrors. The beasts can at times both see and +hear more than we, as I could show by divers examples drawn from mine +own experience on the Danube and in the Palatinate, were the time and +place more fitting. Let us on, then, before we rest.' + +The weary horses responded bravely to the call, and struggled onwards +over the broken ground for a considerable time. At last we were +thinking of pulling up in good earnest, and of congratulating ourselves +upon having tired out our pursuers, when of a sudden the bell-like +baying broke upon our ears far louder than it had been before--so loud, +indeed, that it was evident that the dogs were close upon our heels. + +'The accursed hounds!' cried Saxon, putting spurs to his horse and +shooting ahead of us; 'I feared as much. They have freed them from the +leash. There is no escape from the devils, but we can choose the spot +where we shall make our stand.' + +'Come on, Reuben,' I shouted. 'We have only to reckon with the dogs +now. Their masters have let them loose, and turned back for Salisbury.' + +'Pray heaven they break their necks before they get there!' he cried. +'They set dogs on us as though we were rats in a cock-pit. Yet they +call England a Christian country! It's no use, Micah. Poor Dido can't +stir another step.' + +As he spoke, the sharp fierce bay of the hounds rose again, clear and +stern on the night air, swelling up from a low hoarse growl to a high +angry yelp. There seemed to be a ring of exultation in their wild cry, +as though they knew that their quarry was almost run to earth. + +'Not another step!' said Reuben Lockarby, pulling up and drawing his +sword. 'If I must fight, I shall fight here.' + +'There could be no better place,' I replied. Two great jagged rocks +rose before us, jutting abruptly out of the ground, and leaving a space +of twelve or fifteen feet between them. Through this gap we rode, and I +shouted loudly for Saxon to join us. His horse, however, had been +steadily gaining upon ours, and at the renewed alarm had darted off +again, so that he was already some hundred yards from us. It was +useless to summon him, even could he hear our voices, for the hounds +would be upon us before he could return. + +'Never heed him,' I said hurriedly. 'Do you rein your steed behind that +rock, and I behind this. They will serve to break the force of the +attack. Dismount not, but strike down, and strike hard.' + +On either side in the shadow of the rock we waited in silence for our +terrible pursuers. Looking back at it, my dear children, I cannot but +think that it was a great trial on such young soldiers as Reuben and +myself to be put, on the first occasion of drawing our swords, into such +a position. For I have found, and others have confirmed my opinion, +that of all dangers that a man is called upon to face, that arising from +savage and determined animals is the most unnerving. For with men there +is ever the chance that some trait of weakness or of want of courage may +give you an advantage over them, but with fierce beasts there is no such +hope. We knew that the creatures to whom we were opposed could never be +turned from our throats while there was breath in their bodies. +One feels in one's heart, too, that the combat is an unequal one, for +your life is precious at least to your friends, while their lives, what +are they? All this and a great deal more passed swiftly through our +minds as we sat with drawn swords, soothing our trembling horses as best +we might, and waiting for the coming of the hounds. + +Nor had we long to wait. Another long, deep, thunderous bay sounded in +our ears, followed by a profound silence, broken only by the quick +shivering breathing of the horses. Then suddenly, and noiselessly, a +great tawny brute, with its black muzzle to the earth, and its overhung +cheeks napping on either side, sprang into the band of moonlight between +the rocks, and on into the shadow beyond. It never paused or swerved +for an instant, but pursued its course straight onwards without a glance +to right or to left. Close behind it came a second, and behind that a +third, all of enormous size, and looking even larger and more terrible +than they were in the dim shifting light. Like the first, they took no +notice of our presence, but bounded on along the trail left by Decimus +Saxon. + +The first and second I let pass, for I hardly realised that they so +completely overlooked us. When the third, however, sprang out into the +moonlight, I drew my right-hand pistol from its holster, and resting its +long barrel across my left forearm, I fired at it as it passed. +The bullet struck the mark, for the brute gave a fierce howl of rage and +pain, but true to the scent it never turned or swerved. Lockarby fired +also as it disappeared among the brushwood, but with no apparent effect. +So swiftly and so noiselessly did the great hounds pass, that they might +have been grim silent spirits of the night, the phantom dogs of Herne +the hunter, but for that one fierce yelp which followed my shot. + +'What brutes!' my companion ejaculated; 'what shall we do, Micah?' + +'They have clearly been laid on Saxon's trail,' said I. 'We must follow +them up, or they will be too many for him. Can you hear anything of our +pursuers?' + +'Nothing.' + +'They have given up the chase, then, and let the dogs loose as a last +resource. Doubtless the creatures are trained to return to the town. +But we must push on, Reuben, if we are to help our companion.' + +'One more spurt, then, little Dido,' cried Reuben; 'can you muster +strength for one more? Nay, I have not the heart to put spurs to you. +If you can do it, I know you will.' + +The brave mare snorted, as though she understood her riders words, and +stretched her weary limbs into a gallop. So stoutly did she answer the +appeal that, though I pressed Covenant to his topmost speed, she was +never more than a few strides behind him. + +'He took this direction,' said I, peering anxiously out into the +darkness. 'He can scarce have gone far, for he spoke of making a stand. +Or, perhaps, finding that we are not with him, he may trust to the speed +of his horse.' + +'What chance hath a horse of outstripping these brutes?' Reuben +answered. 'They must run him to earth, and he knows it. Hullo! what +have we here?' + +A dark dim form lay stretched in the moonlight in front of us. It was +the dead body of a hound--the one evidently at which I had fired. + +'There is one of them disposed of, 'I cried joyously; 'we have but two +to settle with now.' + +'As I spoke we heard the crack of two pistol-shots some little distance +to the left. Heading our steeds in that direction, we pressed on at the +top of our speed. Presently out of the darkness in front of us there +arose such a roaring and a yelping as sent the hearts into our mouths. +It was not a single cry, such as the hounds had uttered when they were +on the scent, but a continuous deep-mouthed uproar, so fierce and so +prolonged, that we could not doubt that they had come to the end of +their run. + +'Pray God that they have not got him down!' cried Reuben, in a faltering +voice. + +The same thought had crossed my own mind, for I have heard a similar +though lesser din come from a pack of otter hounds when they had +overtaken their prey and were tearing it to pieces. Sick at heart, I +drew my sword with the determination that, if we were too late to save +our companion, we should at least revenge him upon the four-footed +fiends. Bursting through a thick belt of scrub and tangled gorse +bushes, we came upon a scene so unlike what we had expected that we +pulled up our horses in astonishment. + +A circular clearing lay in front of us, brightly illuminated by the +silvery moonshine. In the centre of this rose a giant stone, one of +those high dark columns which are found all over the plain, and +especially in the parts round Stonehenge. It could not have been less +than fifteen feet in height, and had doubtless been originally straight, +but wind and weather, or the crumbling of the soil, had gradually +suffered it to tilt over until it inclined at such an angle that an +active man might clamber up to the summit. On the top of this ancient +stone, cross-legged and motionless, like some strange carved idol of +former days, sat Decimus Saxon, puffing sedately at the long pipe which +was ever his comfort in moments of difficulty. Beneath him, at the base +of the monolith, as our learned men call them, the two great bloodhounds +were rearing and springing, clambering over each other's backs in their +frenzied and futile eagerness to reach the impassive figure perched +above them, while they gave vent to their rage and disappointment in the +hideous uproar which had suggested such terrible thoughts to our mind. + +We had little time, however, to gaze at this strange scene, for upon our +appearance the hounds abandoned their helpless attempts to reach Saxon, +and flew, with a fierce snarl of satisfaction, at Reuben and myself. +One great brute, with flaring eyes and yawning mouth, his white fangs +glistening in the moonlight, sprang at my horse's neck; but I met him +fair with a single sweeping cut, which shore away his muzzle, and +left him wallowing and writhing in a pool of blood. Reuben, meanwhile, +had spurred his horse forward to meet his assailant; but the poor tired +steed flinched at the sight of the fierce hound, and pulled up suddenly, +with the result that her rider rolled headlong into the very jaws of the +animal. It might have gone ill with Reuben had he been left to his own +resources. At the most he could only have kept the cruel teeth from his +throat for a very few moments; but seeing the mischance, I drew my +remaining pistol, and springing from my horse, discharged it full into +the creature's flank while it struggled with my friend. With a last +yell of rage and pain it brought its fierce jaws together in one wild +impotent snap, and then sank slowly over upon its side, while Reuben +crawled from beneath it, scared and bruised, but none the worse +otherwise for his perilous adventure. + +'I owe you one for that, Micah,' he said gratefully. 'I may live to do +as much for you.' + +'And I owe ye both one,' said Saxon, who had scrambled down from his +place of refuge. 'I pay my debts, too, whether for good or evil. +I might have stayed up there until I had eaten my jack-boots, for all +the chance I had of ever getting down again. Sancta Maria! but that was +a shrewd blow of yours, Clarke! The brute's head flew in halves like a +rotten pumpkin. No wonder that they stuck to my track, for I have left +both my spare girth and my kerchief behind me, which would serve to put +them on Chloe's scent as well as mine own.' + +'And where is Chloe?' I asked, wiping my sword. + +'Chloe had to look out for herself. I found the brutes gaining on me, +you see, and I let drive at them with my barkers; but with a horse +flying at twenty mile an hour, what chance is there for a single slug +finding its way home?' Things looked black then, for I had no time to +reload, and the rapier, though the king of weapons in the duello, is +scarce strong enough to rely upon on an occasion like this. As luck +would have it, just as I was fairly puzzled, what should I come +across but this handy stone, which the good priests of old did erect, as +far as I can see, for no other purpose than to provide worthy cavalieros +with an escape from such ignoble and scurvy enemies. I had no time to +spare in clambering up it, for I had to tear my heel out of the mouth of +the foremost of them, and might have been dragged down by it had he not +found my spur too tough a morsel for his chewing. But surely one of my +bullets must have readied its mark.' Lighting the touch-paper in his +tobacco-box, he passed it over the body of the hound which had attacked +me, and then of the other. + +'Why, this one is riddled like a sieve,' he cried. 'What do you load +your petronels with, good Master Clarke?' + +'With two leaden slugs.' + +'Yet two leaden slugs have made a score of holes at the least! And of +all things in this world, here is the neck of a bottle stuck in the +brute's hide!' + +'Good heavens!' I exclaimed. 'I remember. My dear mother packed a +bottle of Daffy's elixir in the barrel of my pistol.' + +'And you have shot it into the bloodhound!' roared Reuben. 'Ho! ho! +When they hear that tale at the tap of the Wheatsheaf, there will be +some throats dry with laughter. Saved my life by shooting a dog with a +bottle of Daffy's elixir!' + +'And a bullet as well, Reuben, though I dare warrant the gossips will +soon contrive to leave that detail out. It is a mercy the pistol did +not burst. But what do you propose to do now, Master Saxon?' + +'Why, to recover my mare if it can anywise be done,' said the +adventurer.' Though on this vast moor, in the dark, she will be as +difficult to find as a Scotsman's breeches or a flavourless line in +"Hudibras."' + +'And Reuben Lockarby's steed can go no further,' I remarked. 'But do +mine eyes deceive me, or is there a glimmer of light over yonder?' + +'A Will-o'-the-wisp,' said Saxon. + + "An _ignis fatuus_ that bewitches, + And leads men into pools and ditches." + +Yet I confess that it burns steady and clear, as though it came from +lamp, candle, rushlight, lanthorn, or other human agency.' + +'Where there is light there is life,' cried Reuben. 'Let us make for +it, and see what chance of shelter we may find there.' + +'It cannot come from our dragoon friends,' remarked Decimus. +'A murrain on them! how came they to guess our true character; or was it +on the score of some insult to the regiment that that young Fahnfuhrer +has set them on our track? If I have him at my sword's point again, he +shall not come off so free. Well, do ye lead your horses, and we shall +explore this light, since no better course is open to us.' + +Picking our way across the moor, we directed our course for the bright +point which twinkled in the distance; and as we advanced we hazarded a +thousand conjectures as to whence it could come. If it were a human +dwelling, what sort of being could it be who, not content with living in +the heart of this wilderness, had chosen a spot so far removed from the +ordinary tracks which crossed it? The roadway was miles behind us, and +it was probable that no one save those driven by such a necessity as +that which had overtaken us would ever find themselves in that desolate +region. No hermit could have desired an abode more completely isolated +from all communion with his kind. + +As we approached we saw that the light did indeed come from a small +cottage, which was built in a hollow, so as to be invisible from any +quarter save that from which we approached it. In front of this humble +dwelling a small patch of ground had been cleared of shrub, and in the +centre of this little piece of sward our missing steed stood grazing at +her leisure upon the scanty herbage. The same light which had attracted +us had doubtless caught her eye, and drawn her towards it by hopes of +oats and of water. With a grunt of satisfaction Saxon resumed +possession of his lost property, and leading her by the bridle, +approached the door of the solitary cottage. + + + +Chapter XI. + + +Of the Lonely Man and the Gold Chest + +The strong yellow glare which had attracted us across the moor found its +way out through a single narrow slit alongside the door which served the +purpose of a rude window. As we advanced towards it the light changed +suddenly to red, and that again to green, throwing a ghastly pallor over +our faces, and especially heightening the cadaverous effect of Saxon's +austere features. At the same time we became aware of a most subtle and +noxious odour which poisoned the air all round the cottage. +This combination of portents in so lonely a spot worked upon the old +man-at-arms' superstitious feelings to such an extent that he paused and +looked back at us inquiringly. Both Reuben and I were determined, +however, to carry the adventure through, so he contented himself with +falling a little behind us, and pattering to himself some exorcism +appropriate to the occasion. Walking up to the door, I rapped upon it +with the hilt of my sword and announced that we were weary travellers +who were seeking a night's shelter. + +The first result of my appeal was a sound as of some one bustling +rapidly about, with the clinking of metal and noise of the turning of +locks. This died away into a hush, and I was about to knock once more +when a crackling voice greeted us from the other side of the door. + +'There is little shelter here, gentlemen, and less provisions,' it said. +'It is but six miles to Amesbury, where at the Cecil Arms ye shall find, +I doubt not, all that is needful for man and for beast.' + +'Nay, nay, mine invisible friend,' quoth Saxon, who was much reassured +by the sound of a human voice, 'this is surely but a scurvy reception. +One of our horses is completely foundered, and none of them are in very +good plight, so that we could no more make for the Cecil Arms at +Amesbury than for the Gruner Mann at Lubeck. I prythee, therefore, that +you will allow us to pass the remainder of the night under your roof.' + +At this appeal there was much creaking of locks and rasping of bolts, +which ended in the door swinging slowly open, and disclosing the person +who had addressed us. + +By the strong light which shone out from behind him we could see that he +was a man of venerable aspect, with snow-white hair and a countenance +which bespoke a thoughtful and yet fiery nature. The high pensive brow +and flowing beard smacked of the philosopher, but the keen sparkling +eye, the curved aquiline nose, and the lithe upright figure which the +weight of years had been unable to bend, were all suggestive of the +soldier. His lofty bearing, and his rich though severe costume of black +velvet, were at strange variance with the humble nature of the abode +which he had chosen for his dwelling-place. + +'Ho!' said he, looking keenly at us. 'Two of ye unused to war, and the +other an old soldier. Ye have been pursued, I see!' + +'How did you know that, then?' asked Decimus Saxon. + +'Ah, my friend, I too have served in my time. My eyes are not so old +but that they can tell when horses have been spurred to the utmost, nor +is it difficult to see that this young giant's sword hath been employed +in something less innocent than toasting bacon. Your story, however, +can keep. Every true soldier thinks first of his horse, so I pray that +you will tether yours without, since I have neither ostler nor serving +man to whom I may entrust them.' + +The strange dwelling into which we presently entered had been prolonged +into the side of the little hill against which it had been built, so as +to form a very long narrow hall. The ends of this great room, as we +entered, were wrapped in shadow, but in the centre was a bright glare +from a brazier full of coals, over which a brass pipkin was suspended. +Beside the fire a long wooden table was plentifully covered with curved +glass flasks, basins, tubings, and other instruments of which I knew +neither the name nor the purpose. A long row of bottles containing +various coloured liquids and powders were arranged along a shelf, whilst +above it another shelf bore a goodly array of brown volumes. For the +rest there was a second rough-hewn table, a pair of cupboards, three or +four wooden settles, and several large screens pinned to the walls and +covered all over with figures and symbols, of which I could make +nothing. The vile smell which had greeted us outside was very much +worse within the chamber, and arose apparently from the fumes of the +boiling, bubbling contents of the brazen pot. + +'Ye behold in me,' said our host, bowing courteously to us, 'the last of +an ancient family. I am Sir Jacob Clancing of Snellaby Hall.' + +'Smellaby it should be, methinks,' whispered Reuben, in a voice which +fortunately did not reach the ears of the old knight. + +'I pray that ye be seated,' he continued, 'and that ye lay aside your +plates and headpieces, and remove your boots. Consider this to be your +inn, and behave as freely. Ye will hold me excused if for a moment I +turn my attention from you to this operation on which I am engaged, +which will not brook delay.' + +Saxon began forthwith to undo his buckles and to pull off his harness, +while Reuben, throwing himself into a chair, appeared to be too weary to +do more than unfasten his sword-belt. For my own part, I was glad to +throw off my gear, but I kept my attention all the while upon the +movements of our host, whose graceful manners and learned appearance had +aroused my curiosity and admiration. + +He approached the evil-smelling pot, and stirred it up with a face which +indicated so much anxiety that it was clear that he had pushed his +courtesy to us so far as to risk the ruin of some important experiment. +Dipping his ladle into the compound, he scooped some up, and then poured +it slowly back into the vessel, showing a yellow turbid fluid. +The appearance of it evidently reassured him, for the look of anxiety +cleared away from his features, and he uttered an exclamation of relief. +Taking a handful of a whitish powder from a trencher at his side he +threw it into the pipkin, the contents of which began immediately to +seethe and froth over into the fire, causing the flames to assume the +strange greenish hue which we had observed before entering. +This treatment had the effect of clearing the fluid, for the chemist was +enabled to pour off into a bottle a quantity of perfectly watery +transparent liquid, while a brownish sediment remained in the vessel, +and was emptied out upon a sheet of paper. This done, Sir Jacob +Clancing pushed aside all his bottles, and turned towards us with a +smiling face and a lighter air. + +'We shall see what my poor larder can furnish forth,' said he. +'Meanwhile, this odour may be offensive to your untrained nostrils, so +we shall away with it. He threw a few grains of some balsamic resin +into the brazier, which at once filled the chamber with a most agreeable +perfume. He then laid a white cloth upon the table, and taking from a +cupboard a dish of cold trout and a large meat pasty, he placed them +upon it, and invited us to draw up our settles and set to work. + +'I would that I had more toothsome fare to offer ye,' said he. 'Were we +at Snellaby Hall, ye should not be put off in this scurvy fashion, I +promise ye. This may serve, however, for hungry men, and I can still +lay my hands upon a brace of bottles of the old Alicant.' So saying, he +brought a pair of flasks out from a recess, and having seen us served +and our glasses filled, he seated himself in a high-backed oaken chair +and presided with old-fashioned courtesy over our feast. As we supped, +I explained to him what our errand was, and narrated the adventures of +the night, without making mention of our destination. + +'You are bound for Monmouth's camp,' he said quietly, when I had +finished, looking me full in the face with his keen dark eyes. 'I know +it, but ye need not fear lest I betray you, even were it in my power. +What chance, think ye, hath the Duke against the King's forces?' + +'As much chance as a farmyard fowl against a spurred gamecock, did he +rely only on those whom he hath with him,' Saxon answered. 'He hath +reason to think, however, that all England is like a powder magazine, +and he hopes to be the spark to set it alight.' + +The old man shook his head sadly. 'The King hath great resources,' he +remarked. 'Where is Monmouth to get his trained soldiers?' + +'There is the militia,' I suggested. + +'And there are many of the old parliamentary breed, who are not too far +gone to strike a blow for their belief,' said Saxon. 'Do you but get +half-a-dozen broad-brimmed, snuffle-nosed preachers into a camp, and the +whole Presbytery tribe will swarm round them like flies on a honey-pot. +No recruiting sergeants will ever raise such an army as did Noll's +preachers in the eastern counties, where the promise of a seat by the +throne was thought of more value than a ten-pound bounty. I would I +could pay mine own debts with these same promises.' + +'I should judge from your speech, sir,' our host observed, 'that you are +not one of the sectaries. How comes it, then, that you are throwing the +weight of your sword and your experience into the weaker scale?' + +'For the very reason that it is the weaker scale,' said the soldier of +fortune. 'I should gladly have gone with my brother to the Guinea coast +and had no say in the matter one way or the other, beyond delivering +letters and such trifles. Since I must be doing something, I choose to +fight for Protestantism and Monmouth. It is nothing to me whether James +Stuart or James Walters sits upon the throne, but the court and army +of the King are already made up. Now, since Monmouth hath both +courtiers and soldiers to find, it may well happen that he may be glad +of my services and reward them with honourable preferment.' + +'Your logic is sound,' said our host, 'save only that you have omitted +the very great chance which you will incur of losing your head if the +Duke's party are borne down by the odds against them.' + +'A man cannot throw a main without putting a stake on the board,' said +Saxon. + +'And you, young sir,' the old man asked, 'what has caused you to take +a hand in so dangerous a game?' + +'I come of a Roundhead stock,' I answered, 'and my folk have always +fought for the liberty of the people and the humbling of tyranny. +I come in the place of my father.' + +'And you, sir?' our questioner continued, looking at Reuben. + +'I have come to see something of the world, and to be with my friend and +companion here,' he replied. + +'And I have stronger reasons than any of ye,' Sir Jacob cried, 'for +appearing in arms against any man who bears the name of Stuart. Had I +not a mission here which cannot be neglected, I might myself be tempted +to hie westward with ye, and put these grey hairs of mine once more into +the rough clasp of a steel headpiece. For where now is the noble castle +of Snellaby, and where those glades and woods amidst which the Clancings +have grown up, and lived and died, ere ever Norman William set his foot +on English soil? A man of trade--a man who, by the sweat of his +half-starved workers, had laid by ill-gotten wealth, is now the owner of +all that fair property. Should I, the last of the Clancings, show my +face upon it, I might be handed over to the village beadle as a +trespasser, or scourged off it perhaps by the bowstrings of insolent +huntsmen.' + +'And how comes so sudden a reverse of fortune?' I asked. + +'Fill up your glasses!' cried the old man, suiting the action to the +word. 'Here's a toast for you! Perdition to all faithless princes! How +came it about, ye ask? Why, when the troubles came upon the first +Charles, I stood by him as though he had been mine own brother. +At Edgehill, at Naseby, in twenty skirmishes and battles, I fought +stoutly in his cause, maintaining a troop of horse at my own expense, +formed from among my own gardeners, grooms, and attendants. Then the +military chest ran low, and money must be had to carry on the contest. +My silver chargers and candlesticks were thrown into the melting-pot, as +were those of many another cavalier. They went in metal and they came +out as troopers and pikemen. So we tided over a few months until again +the purse was empty, and again we filled it amongst us. This time it +was the home farm and the oak trees that went. Then came Marston Moor, +and every penny and man was needed to repair that great disaster. +I flinched not, but gave everything. This boiler of soap, a prudent, +fat-cheeked man, had kept himself free from civil broils, and had long +had a covetous eye upon the castle. It was his ambition, poor worm, to +be a gentleman, as though a gabled roof and a crumbling house could ever +make him that. I let him have his way, however, and threw the sum +received, every guinea of it, into the King's coffers. And so I held +out until the final ruin of Worcester, when I covered the retreat of the +young prince, and may indeed say that save in the Isle of Man I was the +last Royalist who upheld the authority of the crown. The Commonwealth +had set a price upon my head as a dangerous malignant, so I was forced +to take my passage in a Harwich ketch, and arrived in the Lowlands with +nothing save my sword and a few broad pieces in my pocket.' + +'A cavalier might do well even then,' remarked Saxon. 'There are ever +wars in Germany where a man is worth his hire. When the North Germans +are not in arms against the Swedes or French, the South Germans are sure +to be having a turn with the janissaries.' + +'I did indeed take arms for a time in the employ of the United +Provinces, by which means I came face to face once more with mine old +foes, the Roundheads. Oliver had lent Reynolds's brigade to the French, +and right glad was Louis to have the service of such seasoned troops. +'Fore God, I stood on the counterscarp at Dunkirk, and I found myself, +when I should have been helping the defence, actually cheering on the +attack. My very heart rose when I saw the bull-dog fellows clambering +up the breach with their pikes at the trail, and never quavering in +their psalm-tune, though the bullets sung around them as thick as bees +in the hiving time. And when they did come to close hugs with the +Flemings, I tell you they set up such a rough cry of soldierly joy that +my pride in them as Englishmen overtopped my hatred of them as foes. +However, my soldiering was of no great duration, for peace was soon +declared, and I then pursued the study of chemistry, for which I had a +strong turn, first with Vorhaager of Leyden, and later with De Huy of +Strasburg, though I fear that these weighty names are but sounds to your +ears.' + +'Truly,' said Saxon, 'there seemeth to be some fatal attraction in this +same chemistry, for we met two officers of the Blue Guards in Salisbury, +who, though they were stout soldierly men in other respects, had also a +weakness in that direction.' + +'Ha!' cried Sir Jacob, with interest. 'To what school did they belong?' + +'Nay, I know nothing of the matter,' Saxon answered, 'save that they +denied that Gervinus of Nurnberg, whom I guarded in prison, or any other +man, could transmute metals.' + +'For Gervinus I cannot answer,' said our host, 'but for the possibility +of it I can pledge my knightly word. However, of that anon. The time +came at last when the second Charles was invited back to his throne, and +all of us, from Jeffrey Hudson, the court dwarf, up to my Lord +Clarendon, were in high feather at the hope of regaining our own once +more. For my own claim, I let it stand for some time, thinking that it +would be a more graceful act for the King to help a poor cavalier who +had ruined himself for the sake of his family without solicitation on +his part. I waited and waited, but no word came, so at last I betook +myself to the levee and was duly presented to him. "Ah," said he, +greeting me with the cordiality which he could assume so well, "you are, +if I mistake not, Sir Jasper Killigrew?" "Nay, your Majesty," I +answered, "I am Sir Jacob Clancing, formerly of Snellaby Hall, in +Staffordshire;" and with that I reminded him of Worcester fight and of +many passages which had occurred to us in common. "Od's fish!" he +cried, "how could I be so forgetful! And how are all at Snellaby?" +I then explained to him that the Hall had passed out of my hands, and +told him in a few words the state to which I had been reduced. His face +clouded over and his manner chilled to me at once. "They are all on to +me for money and for places," he said, "and truly the Commons are so +niggardly to me that I can scarce be generous to others. However, Sir +Jacob, we shall see what can be done for thee," and with that he +dismissed me. That same night the secretary of my Lord Clarendon came +to me, and announced with much form and show that, in consideration of +my long devotion and the losses which I had sustained, the King was +graciously pleased to make me a lottery cavalier.' + +'And pray, sir, what is a lottery cavalier?' I asked. + +'It is nothing else than a licensed keeper of a gambling-house. +This was his reward to me. I was to be allowed to have a den in the +piazza of Covent Garden, and there to decoy the young sparks of the town +and fleece them at ombre. To restore my own fortunes I was to ruin +others. My honour, my family, my reputation, they were all to weigh for +nothing so long as I had the means of bubbling a few fools out of their +guineas.' + +'I have heard that some of the lottery cavaliers did well,' remarked +Saxon reflectively. + +'Well or ill, it way no employment for me. I waited upon the King and +implored that his bounty would take another form. His only reply was +that for one so poor I was strangely fastidious. For weeks I hung about +the court--I and other poor cavaliers like myself, watching the royal +brothers squandering upon their gaming and their harlots sums which +would have restored us to our patrimonies. I have seen Charles put +upon one turn of a card as much as would have satisfied the most +exacting of us. In the parks of St. James, or in the Gallery at +Whitehall, I still endeavoured to keep myself before his eyes, in the +hope that some provision would be made for me. At last I received a +second message from him. It was that unless I could dress more in the +mode he could dispense with my attendance. That was his message to the +old broken soldier who had sacrificed health, wealth, position, +everything in the service of his father and himself.' + +'Shameful!' we cried, all three. + +'Can you wonder, then, that I cursed the whole Stuart race, +false-hearted, lecherous, and cruel? For the Hall, I could buy it back +to-morrow if I chose, but why should I do so when I have no heir?' + +'Ho, you have prospered then!' said Decimus Saxon, with one of his +shrewd sidelong looks. 'Perhaps you have yourself found out how to +convert pots and pans into gold in the way you have spoken of. But that +cannot be, for I see iron and brass in this room which would hardly +remain there could you convert it to gold.' + +'Gold has its uses, and iron has its uses,' said Sir Jacob oracularly. +'The one can never supplant the other.' + +'Yet these officers,' I remarked, 'did declare to us that it was but a +superstition of the vulgar.' + +'Then these officers did show that their knowledge was less than their +prejudice. Alexander Setonius, a Scot, was first of the moderns to +achieve it. In the month of March 1602 he did change a bar of lead into +gold in the house of a certain Hansen, at Rotterdam, who hath testified +to it. He then not only repeated the same process before three learned +men sent by the Kaiser Rudolph, but he taught Johann Wolfgang Dienheim +of Freibourg, and Gustenhofer of Strasburg, which latter taught it to my +own illustrious master--' + +'Who in turn taught it to you,' cried Saxon triumphantly. 'I have no +great store of metal with me, good sir, but there are my head-piece, +back and breast-plate, taslets and thigh-pieces, together with my +sword, spurs, and the buckles of my harness. I pray you to use your +most excellent and praiseworthy art upon these, and I will promise +within a few days to bring round a mass of metal which shall be more +worthy of your skill.' + +'Nay, nay,' said the alchemist, smiling and shaking his head. 'It can +indeed be done, but only slowly and in order, small pieces at a time, +and with much expenditure of work and patience. For a man to enrich +himself at it he must labour hard and long; yet in the end I will not +deny that he may compass it. And now, since the flasks are empty and +your young comrade is nodding in his chair, it will perhaps be as well +for you to spend as much of the night as is left in repose.' He drew +several blankets and rugs from a corner and scattered them over the +floor. 'It is a soldier's couch,' he remarked; 'but ye may sleep on +worse before ye put Monmouth on the English throne. For myself, it is +my custom to sleep in an inside chamber, which is hollowed out of the +hill.' With a few last words and precautions for our comfort he +withdrew with the lamp, passing through a door which had escaped our +notice at the further end of the apartment. + +Reuben, having had no rest since he left Havant, had already dropped +upon the rugs, and was fast asleep, with a saddle for a pillow. +Saxon and I sat for a few minutes longer by the light of the burning +brazier. + +'One might do worse than take to this same chemical business,' my +companion remarked, knocking the ashes out of his pipe. 'See you yon +iron-bound chest in the corner?' + +'What of it?' + +'It is two thirds full of gold, which this worthy gentleman hath +manufactured.' + +'How know you that ?' I asked incredulously. + +'When you did strike the door panel with the hilt of your sword, as +though you would drive it in, you may have heard some scuttling about, +and the turning of a lock. Well, thanks to my inches, I was able to +look through yon slit in the wall, and I saw our friend throw something +into the chest with a chink, and then lock it. It was but a glance at +the contents, yet I could swear that that dull yellow light could come +from no metal but gold. Let us see if it be indeed locked.' Rising +from his seat he walked over to the box and pulled vigorously at the +lid. + +'Forbear, Saxon, forbear!' I cried angrily. 'What would our host say, +should he come upon you?' + +'Nay, then, he should not keep such things beneath his roof. With a +chisel or a dagger now, this might be prized open.' + +'By Heaven!' I whispered, 'if you should attempt it I shall lay you on +your back.' + +'Well, well, young Anak! it was but a passing fancy to see the treasure +again. Now, if he were but well favoured to the King, this would be +fair prize of war. Marked ye not that he claimed to have been the last +Royalist who drew sword in England? and he confessed that he had been +proscribed as a malignant. Your father, godly as he is, would have +little compunction in despoiling such an Amalekite. Besides, bethink +you, he can make more as easily as your good mother maketh cranberry +dumplings.' + +'Enough said!' I answered sternly. 'It will not bear discussion. Get +ye to your couch, lest I summon our host and tell him what manner of +man he hath entertained.' + +With many grumbles Saxon consented at last to curl his long limbs up +upon a mat, whilst I lay by his side and remained awake until the mellow +light of morning streamed through the chinks between the ill-covered +rafters. Truth to tell, I feared to sleep, lest the freebooting habits +of the soldier of fortune should be too strong for him, and he should +disgrace us in the eyes of our kindly and generous entertainer. +At last, however, his long-drawn breathing assured me that he was +asleep, and I was able to settle down to a few hours of welcome rest. + + + +Chapter XII. + + +Of certain Passages upon the Moor + +In the morning, after a breakfast furnished by the remains of our +supper, we looked to our horses and prepared for our departure. Ere we +could mount, however, our kindly host came running out to us with a load +of armour in his arms. + +'Come hither,' said he, beckoning to Reuben. 'It is not meet, lad, that +you should go bare-breasted against the enemy when your comrades are +girt with steel. I have here mine own old breastplate and head-piece, +which should, methinks, fit you, for if you have more flesh than I, I am +a larger framework of a man. Ah, said I not so! Were't measured for +you by Silas Thomson, the court armourer, it could not grip better. +Now on with the head-piece. A close fit again. You are now a cavalier +whom Monmouth or any other leader might be proud to see ride beneath his +banner.' + +Both helmet and body-plates were of the finest Milan steel, richly +inlaid with silver and with gold, and carved all over in rare and +curious devices. So stern and soldierly was the effect, that the ruddy, +kindly visage of our friend staring out of such a panoply had an +ill-matched and somewhat ludicrous appearance. + +'Nay, nay,' cried the old cavalier, seeing a smile upon our features, +'it is but right that so precious a jewel as a faithful heart should +have a fitting casket to protect it.' + +'I am truly beholden to you, sir,' said Reuben; 'I can scarce find words +to express my thanks. Holy mother! I have a mind to ride straight back +to Havant, to show them how stout a man-at-arms hath been reared amongst +them.' + +'It is steel of proof,' Sir Jacob remarked; 'a pistol-bullet might +glance from it. And you,' he continued, turning to me, 'here is a small +gift by which you shall remember this meeting. I did observe that you +did cast a wistful eye upon my bookshelf. It is Plutarch's lives of the +ancient worthies, done into English by the ingenious Mr. Latimer. Carry +this volume with you, and shape your life after the example of the giant +men whose deeds are here set forth. In your saddle-bag I place a small +but weighty packet, which I desire you to hand over to Monmouth upon the +day of your arrival in his camp. As to you, sir,' addressing Decimus +Saxon, 'here is a slug of virgin gold for you, which may fashion into a +pin or such like ornament. You may wear it with a quiet conscience, for +it is fairly given to you and not filched from your entertainer whilst +he slept.' + +Saxon and I shot a sharp glance of surprise at each other at this +speech, which showed that our words of the night before were not unknown +to him. Sir Jacob, however, showed no signs of anger, but proceeded to +point out our road and to advise us as to our journey. + +'You must follow this sheep-track until you come on another and broader +pathway which makes for the West,' said he. 'It is little used, and +there is small chance of your falling in with any of your enemies upon +it. This path will lead you between the villages of Fovant and Hindon, +and soon to Mere, which is no great distance from Bruton, upon the +Somersetshire border.' + +Thanking our venerable host for his great kindness towards us we gave +rein to our horses, and left him once more to the strange solitary +existence in which we had found him. So artfully had the site of his +cottage been chosen, that when we looked back to give him a last +greeting both he and his dwelling had disappeared already from our view, +nor could we, among the many mounds and hollows, determine where the +cottage lay which had given us such welcome shelter. In front of us +and on either side the great uneven dun-coloured plain stretched away to +the horizon, without a break in its barren gorse-covered surface. +Over the whole expanse there was no sign of life, save for an occasional +rabbit which whisked into its burrow on hearing our approach, or a few +thin and hungry sheep, who could scarce sustain life by feeding on the +coarse and wiry grass which sprang from the unfruitful soil. + +The pathway was so narrow that only one of us could ride upon it at a +time, but we presently abandoned it altogether, using it simply as a +guide, and galloping along side by side over the rolling plain. We were +all silent, Reuben meditating upon his new corslet, as I could see from +his frequent glances at it; while Saxon, with his eyes half closed, was +brooding over some matter of his own. For my own part, my thoughts ran +upon the ignominy of the old soldier's designs upon the gold chest, and +the additional shame which rose from the knowledge that our host had in +some way divined his intention. No good could come of an alliance with +a man so devoid of all feelings of honour or of gratitude. So strongly +did I feel upon it that I at last broke the silence by pointing to a +cross path, which turned away from the one which we were pursuing, and +recommending him to follow it, since he had proved that he was no fit +company for honest men. + +'By the living rood!' he cried, laying his hand upon the hilt of his +rapier,' have you taken leave of your senses? These are words such as +no honourable cavaliero can abide.' + +'They are none the less words of truth,' I answered. + +His blade flashed out in an instant, while his mare bounded twice her +length under the sharp dig of his spurs. + +'We have here,' he cried, reining her round, with his fierce lean face +all of a quiver with passion, 'an excellent level stretch on which to +discuss the matter. Out with your bilbo and maintain your words.' + +'I shall not stir a hair's-breadth to attack you,' I answered. +'Why should I, when I bear you no ill-will? If you come against me, +however, I will assuredly beat you out of your saddle, for all your +tricky sword play.' I drew my broadsword as I spoke, and stood upon my +guard, for I guessed that with so old a soldier the onset would be sharp +and sudden. + +'By all the saints in heaven!' cried Reuben, 'which ever of ye strikes +first at the other I'll snap this pistol at his head. None of your +jokes, Don Decimo, for by the Lord I'll let drive at you if you were my +own mother's son. Put up your sword, for the trigger falls easy, and my +finger is a twitching.' + +'Curse you for a spoil-sport!' growled Saxon, sulkily sheathing his +weapon. 'Nay, Clarke,' he added, after a few moments of reflection, +'this is but child's play, that two camarados with a purpose in view +should fall out over such a trifle. I, who am old enough to be your +father, should have known better than to have drawn upon you, for a +boy's tongue wags on impulse and without due thought. Do but say that +you have said more than you meant.' + +'My way of saying it may have been over plain and rough,' I answered, +for I saw that he did but want a little salve where my short words had +galled him. 'At the same time, our ways differ from your ways, and that +difference must be mended, or you can be no true comrade of ours.' + +'All right, Master Morality,' quoth he, 'I must e'en unlearn some of the +tricks of my trade. Od's feet, man, if ye object to me, what the henker +would ye think of some whom I have known? However, let that pass. +It is time that we were at the wars, for our good swords will not bide +in their scabbards. + + "The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty, + For want of fighting was grown rusty, + And ate into itself for lack + Of somebody to hew and hack." + +You cannot think a thought but old Samuel hath been before you.' + +'Surely we shall be at the end of this dreary plain presently,' Reuben +cried. 'Its insipid flatness is enough to set the best of friends by +the ears. We might be in the deserts of Libya instead of his most +graceless Majesty's county of Wiltshire.' + +'There is smoke over yonder, upon the side of that hill,' said Saxon, +pointing to the southward. + +'Methinks I see one straight line of houses there,' I observed, shading +my eyes with my hand. 'But it is distant, and the shimmer of the sun +disturbs the sight.' + +'It must be the hamlet of Hindon,' said Reuben. 'Oh, the heat of this +steel coat! I wonder if it were very un-soldierly to slip it off and +tie it about Dido's neck. I shall be baked alive else, like a crab in +its shell. How say you, illustrious, is it contravened by any of those +thirty-nine articles of war which you bear about in your bosom?' + +'The bearing of the weight of your harness, young man,' Saxon answered +gravely, 'is one of the exercises of war, and as such only attainable by +such practice as you are now undergoing. You have many things to learn, +and one of them is not to present petronels too readily at folk's heads +when you are on horseback. The jerk of your charger's movement even now +might have drawn your trigger, and so deprived Monmouth of an old and +tried soldier.' + +'There would be much weight in your contention,' my friend answered, +'were it not that I now bethink me that I had forgot to recharge my +pistol since discharging it at that great yellow beast yesternight.' + +Decimus Saxon shook his head sadly. 'I doubt we shall never make a +soldier of you,' he remarked. 'You fall from your horse if the brute +does bit change his step, you show a levity which will not jump with the +gravity of the true soldado, you present empty petronels as a menace, +and finally, you crave permission to tie your armour--armour which the +Cid himself might be proud to wear--around the neck of your horse. +Yet you have heart and mettle, I believe, else you would not be here.' + +'Gracias, Signor!' cried Reuben, with a bow which nearly unhorsed him; +'the last remark makes up for all the rest, else had I been forced to +cross blades with you, to maintain my soldierly repute.' + +'Touching that same incident last night,' said Saxon, 'of the chest +filled, as I surmise, with gold, which I was inclined to take as lawful +plunder, I am now ready to admit that I may have shown an undue haste +and precipitance, considering that the old man treated us fairly.' + +'Say no more of it,' I answered, 'if you will but guard against such +impulses for the future.' + +'They do not properly come from me,' he replied, 'but from Will +Spotterbridge, who was a man of no character at all.' + +'And how comes he to be mixed up in the matter?' I asked curiously. + +'Why, marry, in this wise. My father married the daughter of this same +Will Spotterbridge, and so weakened a good old stock by an unhealthy +strain. Will was a rake-hell of Fleet Street in the days of James, a +chosen light of Alsatia, the home of bullies and of brawlers. His blood +hath through his daughter been transmitted to the ten of us, though I +rejoice to say that I, being the tenth, it had by that time lost much of +its virulence, and indeed amounts to little more than a proper pride, +and a laudable desire to prosper.' + +'How, then, has it affected the race?' I asked. + +'Why,' he answered, 'the Saxons of old were a round-faced, contented +generation, with their ledgers in their hands for six days and their +bibles on the seventh. If my father did but drink a cup of small beer +more than his wont, or did break out upon provocation into any fond +oath, as "Od's niggers!" or "Heart alive!" he would mourn over it as +though it were the seven deadly sins. Was this a man, think ye, in +the ordinary course of nature to beget ten long lanky children, nine of +whom might have been first cousins of Lucifer, and foster-brothers of +Beelzebub?' + +'It was hard upon him,' remarked Reuben. + +'On him! Nay, the hardship was all with us. If he with his eyes open +chose to marry the daughter of an incarnate devil like Will +Spotterbridge, because she chanced to be powdered and patched to his +liking, what reason hath he for complaint? It is we, who have the blood +of this Hector of the taverns grafted upon our own good honest stream, +who have most reason to lift up our voices.' + +'Faith, by the same chain of reasoning,' said Reuben, 'one of my +ancestors must have married a woman with a plaguy dry throat, for both +my father and I are much troubled with the complaint.' + +'You have assuredly inherited a plaguy pert tongue,' growled Saxon. +'From what I have told you, you will see that our whole life is a +conflict between our natural Saxon virtue and the ungodly impulses of +the Spotterbridge taint. That of which you have had cause to complain +yesternight is but an example of the evil to which I am subjected.' + +'And your brothers and sisters?' I asked; 'how hath this circumstance +affected them?' The road was bleak and long, so that the old soldier's +gossip was a welcome break to the tedium of the journey. + +'They have all succumbed,' said Saxon, with a groan. 'Alas, alas! they +were a goodly company could they have turned their talents to better +uses. Prima was our eldest born. She did well until she attained +womanhood. Secundus was a stout seaman, and owned his own vessel when +he was yet a young man. It was remarked, however, that he started on a +voyage in a schooner and came back in a brig, which gave rise to some +inquiry. It may be, as he said, that he found it drifting about in the +North Sea, and abandoned his own vessel in favour of it, but they hung +him before he could prove it. Tertia ran away with a north-country +drover, and hath been on the run ever since. Quartus and Nonus have +been long engaged in busying themselves over the rescue of the black +folk from their own benighted and heathen country, conveying them over +by the shipload to the plantations, where they may learn the beauties of +the Christian religion. They are, however, men of violent temper and +profane speech, who cherish no affection for their younger brother. +Quintus was a lad of promise, but he found a hogshead of rumbo which was +thrown up from a wreck, and he died soon afterwards. Sextus might have +done well, for he became clerk to Johnny Tranter the attorney; but he +was of an enterprising turn, and he shifted the whole business, papers, +cash, and all to the Lowlands, to the no small inconvenience of his +employer, who hath never been able to lay hands either on one or the +other from that day to this. Septimus died young. As to Octavius, +Will Spotterbridge broke out early in him, and he was slain in a quarrel +over some dice, which were said by his enemies to be so weighted that +the six must ever come upwards. Let this moving recital be a warning to +ye, if ye are fools enough to saddle yourselves with a wife, to see that +she hath no vice in her, for a fair face is a sorry make-weight against +a foul mind.' + +Reuben and I could not but laugh over this frank family confession, +which our companion delivered without a sign of shame or embarrassment. +'Ye have paid a heavy price for your father's want of discretion,' I +remarked. 'But what in the name of fate is this upon our left?' + +'A gibbet, by the look of it,' said Saxon, peering across at the gaunt +framework of wood, which rose up from a little knoll. 'Let us ride past +it, for it is little out of our way. They are rare things in England, +though by my faith there were more gallows than milestones when Turenne +was in the Palatinate. What between the spies and traitors who were +bred by the war, the rascally Schwartzritter and Lanzknechte, the +Bohemian vagabonds, and an occasional countryman who was put out of the +way lest he do something amiss, there was never such a brave time for +the crows.' + +As we approached this lonely gibbet we saw that a dried-up wisp of a +thing which could hardly be recognised as having once been a human +being was dangling from the centre of it. This wretched relic of +mortality was secured to the cross-bar by an iron chain, and flapped +drearily backwards and forwards in the summer breeze. We had pulled up +our horses, and were gazing in silence at this sign-post of death, when +what had seemed to us to be a bundle of rags thrown down at the foot +of the gallows began suddenly to move, and turned towards us the wizened +face of an aged woman, so marked with evil passions and so malignant in +its expression that it inspired us with even more horror than the +unclean thing which dangled above her head. + +'Gott in Himmel!' cried Saxon, 'it is ever thus! A gibbet draws witches +as a magnet draws needles. All the hexerei of the country side will sit +round one, like cats round a milk-pail. Beware of her! she hath the +evil eye!' + +'Poor soul! It is the evil stomach that she hath,' said Reuben, walking +his horse up to her. 'Whoever saw such a bag of bones! I warrant that +she is pining away for want of a crust of bread.' + +The creature whined, and thrust out two skinny claws to grab the piece +of silver which our friend had thrown down to her. Her fierce dark eyes +and beak-like nose, with the gaunt bones over which the yellow +parchment-like skin was stretched tightly, gave her a fear-inspiring +aspect, like some foul bird of prey, or one of those vampires of whom +the story-tellers write. + +'What use is money in the wilderness?' I remarked; 'she cannot feed +herself upon a silver piece.' + +She tied the coin hurriedly into the corner of her rags, as though she +feared that I might try to wrest it from her. 'It will buy bread,' she +croaked. + +'But who is there to sell it, good mistress?' I asked. + +'They sell it at Fovant, and they sell it at Hindon,' she answered. +'I bide here o' days, but I travel at night.' + +'I warrant she does, and on a broomstick,' quoth Saxon; 'but tell us, +mother, who is it who hangs above your head?' + +'It is he who slew my youngest born,' cried the old woman, casting a +malignant look at the mummy above her, and shaking a clenched hand at it +which was hardly more fleshy than its own. 'It is he who slew my bonny +boy. Out here upon the wide moor he met him, and he took his young life +from him when no kind hand was near to stop the blow. On that ground +there my lad's blood was shed, and from that watering hath grown this +goodly gallows-tree with its fine ripe fruit upon it. And here, come +rain, come shine, shall I, his mother, sit while two bones hang together +of the man who slow my heart's darling.' She nestled down in her rags +as she spoke, and leaning her chin upon her hands stared up with an +intensity of hatred at the hideous remnant. + +'Come away, Reuben,' I cried, for the sight was enough to make one +loathe one's kind. 'She is a ghoul, not a woman.' + +'Pah! it gives one a foul taste in the mouth,' quoth Saxon. 'Who is for +a fresh gallop over the Downs? Away with care and carrion! + + "Sir John got on his bonny brown steed, + To Monmouth for to ride--a. + A brave buff coat upon his back, + A broadsword by his side--a. + Ha, ha, young man, we rebels can + Pull down King James's pride--a!" + +Hark away, lads, with a loose rein and a bloody heel!' + +We spurred our steeds and galloped from the unholy spot as fast as our +brave beasts could carry us. To all of us the air had a purer flavour +and the heath a sweeter scent by contrast with the grim couple whom we +had left behind us. What a sweet world would this be, my children, were +it not for man and his cruel ways! + +When we at last pulled up we had set some three or four miles between +the gibbet and ourselves. Right over against us, on the side of a +gentle slope, stood a bright little village, with a red-roofed church +rising up from amidst a clump of trees. To our eyes, after the dull +sward of the plain, it was a glad sight to see the green spread of the +branches and the pleasant gardens which girt the hamlet round. +All morning we had seen no sight of a human being, save the old hag +upon the moor and a few peat-cutters in the distance. Our belts, too, +were beginning to be loose upon us, and the remembrance of our breakfast +more faint. + +'This,' said I, 'must be the village of Mere, which we were to pass +before coming to Bruton. We shall soon be over the Somersetshire +border.' + +'I trust that we shall soon be over a dish of beefsteaks,' groaned +Reuben. 'I am well-nigh famished. So fair a village must needs have a +passable inn, though I have not seen one yet upon my travels which would +compare with the old Wheatsheaf.' + +'Neither inn nor dinner for us just yet,' said Saxon. 'Look yonder to +the north, and tell me what you see.' + +On the extreme horizon there was visible a long line of gleaming, +glittering points, which shone and sparkled like a string of diamonds. +These brilliant specks were all in rapid motion, and yet kept their +positions to each other. + +'What is it, then?' we both cried. + +'Horse upon the march,' quoth Saxon. 'It may be our friends of +Salisbury, who have made a long day's journey; or, as I am inclined to +think, it may be some other body of the King's horse. They are far +distant, and what we see is but the sun shining on their casques; yet +they are bound for this very village, if I mistake not. It would be +wisest to avoid entering it, lest the rustics set them upon our track. +Let us skirt it and push on for Bruton, where we may spare time for +bite and sup.' + +'Alas, alas! for our dinners!' cried Reuben ruefully. 'I have fallen +away until my body rattles about, inside this shell of armour, like a +pea in a pod. However, lads, it is all for the Protestant faith.' + +'One more good stretch to Bruton, and we may rest in peace,' said Saxon. +'It is ill dining when a dragoon may be served up as a grace after meat. +Our horses are still fresh, and we should he there in little over an +hour.' + +We pushed on our way accordingly, passing at a safe distance from Mere, +which is the village where the second Charles did conceal himself after +the battle of Worcester. The road beyond was much crowded by peasants, +who were making their way out of Somersetshire, and by farmers' waggons, +which were taking loads of food to the West, ready to turn a few guineas +either from the King's men or from the rebels. We questioned many as to +the news from the war, but though we were now on the outskirts of the +disturbed country, we could gain no clear account of how matters stood, +save that all agreed that the rising was on the increase. The country +through which we rode was a beautiful one, consisting of low swelling +hills, well tilled and watered by numerous streamlets. Crossing over +the river Brue by a good stone bridge, we at last reached the small +country town for which we had been making, which lies embowered in the +midst of a broad expanse of fertile meadows, orchards, and sheep-walks. +From the rising ground by the town we looked back over the plain without +seeing any traces of the troopers. We learned, too, from an old woman +of the place, that though a troop of the Wiltshire Yeomanry had passed +through the day before, there were no soldiers quartered at present in +the neighbourhood. Thus assured we rode boldly into the town, and soon +found our way to the principal inn. I have some dim remembrance of an +ancient church upon an eminence, and of a quaint stone cross within the +market-place, but assuredly, of all the recollections which I retain of +Bruton there is none so pleasing as that of the buxom landlady's face, +and of the steaming dishes which she lost no time in setting before us. + + + +Chapter XIII. + + +Of Sir Gervas Jerome, Knight Banneret of the County of Surrey + +The inn was very full of company, being occupied not only by many +Government agents and couriers on their way to and from the seat of the +rising, but also by all the local gossips, who gathered there to +exchange news and consume Dame Hobson the landlady's home-brewed. +In spite, however, of this stress of custom and the consequent uproar, +the hostess conducted us into her own private room, where we could +consume her excellent cheer in peace and quietness. This favour was +due, I think, to a little sly manoeuvring and a few whispered words from +Saxon, who amongst other accomplishments which he had picked up during +his chequered career had a pleasing knack of establishing friendly +relations with the fair sex, irrespective of age, size, or character. +Gentle and simple, Church and Dissent, Whig and Tory, if they did but +wear a petticoat our comrade never failed, in spite of his fifty years, +to make his way into their good graces by the help of his voluble tongue +mid assured manner. + +'We are your grateful servants, mistress,' said he, when the smoking +joint and the batter pudding had been placed upon the table. 'We have +robbed you of your room. Will you not honour us so far as to sit down +with us and share our repast?' + +'Nay, kind sir,' said the portly dame, much flattered by the proposal; +'it is not for me to sit with gentles like yourselves.' + +'Beauty has a claim which persons of quality, and above all cavalieros +of the sword, are the first to acknowledge,' cried Saxon, with his +little twinkling eyes fixed in admiration upon her buxom countenance. +'Nay, by my troth, you shall not leave us. I shall lock the door first. +If you will not eat, you shall at least drink a cup of Alicant with me.' + +'Nay, sir, it is too much honour,' cried Dame Hobson, with a simper. +'I shall go down into the cellars and bring a flask of the best.' + +'Nay, by my manhood, you shall not,' said Saxon, springing up from his +seat. 'What are all these infernal lazy drawers here for if you are to +descend to menial offices?' Handing the widow to a chair he clanked +away into the tap-room, where we heard him swearing at the men-servants, +and cursing them for a droning set of rascals who had taken advantage of +the angelic goodness of their mistress and her incomparable sweetness of +temper. + +'Here is the wine, fair mistress,' said he, returning presently with a +bottle in either hand. 'Let me fill your glass. Ha! it flows clear and +yellow like a prime vintage. These rogues can stir their limbs when +they find that there is a man to command them.' + +'Would that there were ever such,' said the widow meaningly, with a +languishing look at our companion. 'Here is to you, sir--and to ye, +too, young sirs,' she added, sipping at her wine. 'May there be a +speedy end to the insurrection, for I judge, from your gallant +equipment, that ye be serving the King.' + +'His business takes us to the West,' said Reuben, 'and we have every +reason to hope that there will be a speedy end to the insurrection.' + +'Aye, aye, though blood will be shed first,' she said, shaking +her head. 'They tell me that the rebels are as many as seven +thousand, and that they swear to give an' take no quarter, the +murderous villains! Alas! how any gentleman can fall to such bloody +work when he might have a clean honourable occupation, such as +innkeeping or the like, is more than my poor mind can understand. +There is a sad difference betwixt the man who lieth on the cold ground, +not knowing how long it may be before he is three feet deep in it, and +he who passeth his nights upon a warm feather bed, with mayhap a cellar +beneath it stocked with even such wines as we are now drinking.' +She again looked hard at Saxon as she spoke, while Reuben and I nudged +each other beneath the table. + +'This business hath doubtless increased your trade, fair mistress,' +quoth Saxon. + +'Aye, and in the way that payeth best,' said she. 'The few kilderkins +of beer which are drunk by the common folk make little difference one +way or the other. But now, when we have lieutenants of counties, +officers, mayors, and gentry spurring it for very life down the +highways, I have sold more of my rare old wines in three days than ever +I did before in a calendar month. It is not ale, or strong waters, I +promise you, that those gentles drink, but Priniac, Languedoc, Tent, +Muscadine, Chiante, and Tokay--never a flask under the half-guinea.' + +'So indeed !' quoth Saxon thoughtfully. 'A snug home and a steady +income.' + +'Would that my poor Peter had lived to share it with me,' said Dame +Hobson, laying down her glass, and rubbing her eyes with a corner of her +kerchief. 'He was a good man, poor soul, though in very truth and +between friends he did at last become as broad and as thick as one of +his own puncheons. All well, the heart is the thing! Marry come up! if +a woman were ever to wait until her own fancy came her way, there would +be more maids than mothers in the land.' + +'Prythee, good dame, how runs your own fancy?' asked Reuben +mischievously. + +'Not in the direction of fat, young man,' she answered smartly, with a +merry glance at our plump companion. + +'She has hit you there, Reuben,' said I. + +'I would have no pert young springald,' she continued, 'but one who hath +knowledge of the world, and ripe experience. Tall he should be, and of +sinewy build, free of speech that he might lighten the weary hours, and +help entertain the gentles when they crack a flagon of wine. +Of business habits he must be, too, forsooth, for is there not a busy +hostel and two hundred good pounds a year to pass through his fingers? +If Jane Hobson is to be led to the altar again it must be by such a man +as this.' + +Saxon had listened with much attention to the widow's words, and had +just opened his mouth to make some reply to her when a clattering and +bustle outside announced the arrival of some traveller. Our hostess +drank off her wine and pricked up her ears, but when a loud +authoritative voice was heard in the passage, demanding a private room +and a draught of sack, her call to duty overcame her private concerns, +and she bustled off with a few words of apology to take the measure of +the new-comer. + +'Body o' me, lads!' quoth Decimus Saxon the moment that she disappeared, +'ye can see how the land lies. I have half a mind to let Monmouth carve +his own road, and to pitch my tent in this quiet English township.' + +'Your tent, indeed !' cried Reuben; 'it is a brave tent that is +furnished with cellars of such wine as we are drinking. And as to the +quiet, my illustrious, if you take up your residence here I'll warrant +that the quiet soon comes to an end.' + +'You have seen the woman,' said Saxon, with his brow all in a wrinkle +with thought. 'She hath much to commend her. A man must look to +himself. Two hundred pounds a year are not to be picked off the +roadside every June morning. It is not princely, but it is something +for an old soldier of fortune who hath been in the wars for +five-and-thirty years, and foresees the time when his limbs will grow +stiff in his harness. What sayeth our learned Fleming--"an mulier--" +but what in the name of the devil have we here?' + +Our companion's ejaculation was called forth by a noise as of a slight +scuffle outside the door, with a smothered 'Oh, sir!' and 'What will the +maids think?' The contest was terminated by the door being opened, and +Dame Hobson re-entering the room with her face in a glow, and a slim +young man dressed in the height of fashion at her heels. + +'I am sure, good gentlemen,' said she, 'that ye will not object to this +young nobleman drinking his wine in the same room with ye, since all +the others are filled with the townsfolk and commonalty.' + +'Faith! I must needs be mine own usher,' said the stranger, sticking his +gold-laced cap under his left arm and laying his hand upon his heart, +while he bowed until his forehead nearly struck the edge of the table. +'Your very humble servant, gentlemen, Sir Gervas Jerome, knight banneret +of his Majesty's county of Surrey, and at one time custos rotulorum of +the district of Beacham Ford.' + +'Welcome, sir,' quoth Reuben, with a merry twinkle in his eye. +'You have before you Don Decimo Saxon of the Spanish nobility, together +with Sir Micah Clarke and Sir Reuben Lockarby, both of his Majesty's +county of Hampshire.' + +'Proud and glad to meet ye, gentlemen!' cried the newcomer, with a +flourish. 'But what is this upon the table? Alicant? Fie, fie, it is +a drink for boys. Let us have some good sack with plenty of body in it. +Claret for youth, say I, sack for maturity, and strong waters in old +age. Fly, my sweetest, move those dainty feet of thine, for egad! my +throat is like leather. Od's 'oons, I drank deep last night, and yet it +is clear that I could not have drunk enough, for I was as dry as a +concordance when I awoke.' + +Saxon sat silently at the table, looking so viciously at the stranger +out of his half-closed glittering eyes that I feared that we should have +another such brawl as occurred at Salisbury, with perhaps a more +unpleasant ending. Finally, however, his ill-humour at the gallant's +free and easy attention to our hostess spent itself in a few muttered +oaths, and he lit his long pipe, the never-failing remedy of a ruffled +spirit. As to Reuben and myself, we watched our new companion half in +wonder and half in amusement, for his appearance and manners were +novel enough to raise the interest of inexperienced youngsters like +ourselves. + +I have said that he was dressed in the height of fashion, and such +indeed was the impression which a glance would give. His face was thin +and aristocratic, with a well-marked nose, delicate features, and gay +careless expression. Some little paleness of the cheeks and darkness +under the eyes, the result of hard travel or dissipation, did but add a +chastening grace to his appearance. His white periwig, velvet and +silver riding coat, lavender vest and red satin knee-breeches were all +of the best style and cut, but when looked at closely, each and all of +these articles of attire bore evidence of having seen better days. +Beside the dust and stains of travel, there was a shininess or a fading +of colour here and there which scarce accorded with the costliness of +their material or the bearing of their wearer. His long riding-boots +had a gaping seam in the side of one of them, whilst his toe was pushing +its way through the end of the other. For the rest, he wore a handsome +silver-hilted rapier at his side, and had a frilled cambric shirt +somewhat the worse for wear and open at the front, as was the mode with +the gallants of those days. All the time he was speaking he mumbled a +toothpick, which together with his constant habit of pronouncing his o's +as a's made his conversation sound strange to our ears. [Note D +Appendix] Whilst we were noting these peculiarities he was reclining +upon Dame Hobson's best taffatta-covered settee, tranquilly combing his +wig with a delicate ivory comb which he had taken from a small satin bag +which hung upon the right of his sword-belt. + +'Lard preserve us from country inns!' he remarked. 'What with the boors +that swarm in every chamber, and the want of mirrors, and jasmine water, +and other necessaries, blister me if one has not to do one's toilet in +the common room. 'Oons! I'd as soon travel in the land of the Great +Mogul!' + +'When you shall come to be my age, young sir,' Saxon answered, 'you may +know better than to decry a comfortable country hostel.' + +'Very like, sir, very like!' the gallant answered, with a careless +laugh. 'For all that, being mine own age, I feel the wilds of Wiltshire +and the inns of Bruton to be a sorry change after the Mall, and the fare +of Pontack's or the Coca Tree. Ah, Lud! here comes the sack! Open it, +my pretty Hebe, and send a drawer with fresh glasses, for these +gentlemen must do me the honour of drinking with me. A pinch of snuff, +sirs? Aye, ye may well look hard at the box. A pretty little thing, +sirs, from a certain lady of title, who shall be nameless; though, if I +were to say that her title begins with a D and her name with a C, a +gentleman of the Court might hazard a guess.' + +Our hostess, having brought fresh glasses, withdrew, and Decimus Saxon +soon found an opportunity for following her. Sir Gervas Jerome +continued, however, to chatter freely to Reuben and myself over the +wine, rattling along as gaily and airily as though we were old +acquaintances. + +'Sink me, if I have not frighted your comrade away!' he remarked, +'Or is it possible that he hath gone on the slot of the plump widow? +Methought he looked in no very good temper when I kissed her at the +door. Yet it is a civility which I seldom refuse to anything which +wears a cap. Your friend's appearance smacked more of Mars than of +Venus, though, indeed, those who worship the god are wont to be on +good terms with the goddess. A hardy old soldier, I should judge, from +his feature and attire.' + +'One who hath seen much service abroad,' I answered. + +'Ha! ye are lucky to ride to the wars in the company of so accomplished +a cavalier. For I presume that it is to the wars that ye are riding, +since ye are all so armed and accoutred.' + +'We are indeed bound for the West,' I replied, with some reserve, for in +Saxon's absence I did not care to be too loose-tongued. + +'And in what capacity?' he persisted. 'Will ye risk your crowns in +defence of King James's one, or will ye strike in, hit or miss, with +these rogues of Devon and Somerset? Stop my vital breath, if I would +not as soon side with the clown as with the crown, with all due respect +to your own principles!' + +'You are a daring man,' said I, 'if you air your opinions thus in every +inn parlour. Dost not know that a word of what you have said, whispered +to the nearest justice of the peace, might mean your liberty, if not +your life?' + +'I don't care the rind of a rotten orange for life or liberty either,' +cried our acquaintance, snapping his finger and thumb. 'Burn me if it +wouldn't be a new sensation to bandy words with some heavy-chopped +country justice, with the Popish plot still stuck in his gizzard, and be +thereafter consigned to a dungeon, like the hero in John Dryden's +latest. I have been round-housed many a time by the watch in the old +Hawkubite days; but this would be a more dramatic matter, with high +treason, block, and axe all looming in the background.' + +'And rack and pincers for a prologue,' said Reuben. 'This ambition is +the strangest that I have ever heard tell of.' + +'Anything for a change,' cried Sir Gervas, filling up a bumper. +'Here's to the maid that's next our heart, and here's to the heart that +loves the maids! War, wine, and women, 'twould be a dull world without +them. But you have not answered my question.' + +'Why truly, sir,' said I, 'frank as you have been with us, I can scarce +be equally so with you, without the permission of the gentleman who has +just left the room. He is the leader of our party. Pleasant as our +short intercourse has been, these are parlous times, and hasty +confidences are apt to lead to repentance.' + +'A Daniel come to judgment!' cried our new acquaintance. 'What ancient, +ancient words from so young a head! You are, I'll warrant, five years +younger than a scatterbrain like myself, and yet you talk like the seven +wise men of Greece. Wilt take me as a valet?' + +'A valet!' I exclaimed. + +'Aye, a valet, a man-servant. I have been waited upon so long that it +is my turn to wait now, and I would not wish a more likely master. +By the Lard! I must, in applying for a place, give an account of my +character and a list of my accomplishments. So my rascals ever did with +me, though in good truth I seldom listened to their recital. Honesty-- +there I score a trick. Sober--Ananias himself could scarce say that I +am that. Trustworthy--indifferently so. Steady--hum! about as much so +as Garraway's weathercock. Hang it, man, I am choke full of good +resolutions, but a sparkling glass or a roguish eye will deflect me, as +the mariners say of the compass. So much for my weaknesses. Now let me +see what qualifications I can produce. A steady nerve, save only when +I have my morning qualms, and a cheerful heart; I score two on that. +I can dance saraband, minuet, or corranto; fence, ride, and sing French +chansons. Good Lard! who ever heard a valet urge such accomplishments? +I can play the best game of piquet in London. So said Sir George +Etherege when I won a cool thousand off him at the Groom Parter. +But that won't advance me much, either. What is there, then, to commend +me? Why, marry, I can brew a bowl of punch, and I can broil a devilled +fowl. It is not much, but I can do it well.' + +'Truly, good sir,' I said, with a smile, 'neither of these +accomplishments is like to prove of much use to us on our present +errand. You do, however, but jest, no doubt, when you talk of +descending to such a position.' + +'Not a whit! not a whit!' he replied earnestly. '"To such base uses do +we come," as Will Shakespeare has it. If you would be able to say that +you have in your service Sir Gervas Jerome, knight banneret, and sole +owner of Beacham Ford Park, with a rent-roll of four thousand good +pounds a year, he is now up for sale, and will be knocked down to the +bidder who pleases him best. Say but the word, and we'll have another +flagon of sack to clinch the bargain.' + +'But,' said I, 'if you are indeed owner of this fair property, why +should you descend to so menial an occupation ?' + +'The Jews, the Jews, oh most astute and yet most slow-witted master! +The ten tribes have been upon me, and I have been harried and wasted, +bound, ravished, and despoiled. Never was Agag, king of Amalek, more +completely in the hands of the chosen, and the sole difference is that +they have hewed into pieces mine estate instead of myself.' + +'Have you lost all, then?' Reuben asked, open-eyed. + +'Why no--not all--by no means all!' he answered, with a merry laugh; +'I have a gold Jacobus and a guinea or two in my purse. 'Twill serve +for a flask or so yet. There is my silver-hilted rapier, my rings, my +gold snuff-box, and my watch by Tompion at the sign of the Three Crowns. +It was never bought under a hundred, I'll warrant. Then there are such +relics of grandeur as you see upon my person, though they begin to look +as frail and worn as a waiting-woman's virtue. In this bag, too, I +retain the means for preserving that niceness and elegance of person +which made me, though I say it, as well groomed a man as ever set foot +in St. James's Park. Here are French scissors, eyebrow brush, toothpick +case, patch-box, powder-bag, comb, puff, and my pair of red-heeled +shoes. What could a man wish for more? These, with a dry throat, a +cheerful heart, and a ready hand, are my whole stock in trade.' + +Reuben and I could not forbear from laughing at the curious +inventory of articles which Sir Gervas had saved from the wreck +of his fortunes. He upon seeing our mirth was so tickled at his own +misfortunes, that he laughed in a high treble key until the whole house +resounded with his merriment. 'By the Mass,' he cried at last, 'I have +never had so much honest amusement out of my prosperity as hath been +caused in me by my downfall. Fill up your glasses!' + +'We have still some distance to travel this evening, and must not drink +more,' I observed, for prudence told me that it was dangerous work for +two sober country lads to keep pace with an experienced toper. + +'So!' said he in surprise. 'I should have thought that would be a +"raison de plus," as the French say. But I wish your long-legged friend +would come back, even if he were intent upon slitting my weazand for my +attention to the widow. He is not a man to flinch from his liquor, I'll +warrant. Curse this Wiltshire dust that clings to my periwig!' + +'Until my comrade returns, Sir Gervas,' said I, 'you might, since the +subject does not appear to be a painful one to you, let us know how +these evil times, which you bear with such philosophy, came upon you.' + +'The old story!' he answered, flicking away a few grains of snuff with +his deeply-laced cambric handkerchief. 'The old, old story! My father, +a good, easy country baronet, finding the family purse somewhat full, +must needs carry me up to town to make a man of me. There as a young +lad I was presented at Court, and being a slim active youngster with a +pert tongue and assured manner, I caught the notice of the Queen, who +made me one of her pages of honour. This post I held until I grew out +of it, when I withdrew from town, but egad! I found I must get back to +it again, for Beacham Ford Park was as dull as a monastery after the +life which I had been living. In town I stayed then with such boon +companions as Tommy Lawson, my Lord Halifax, Sir Jasper Lemarck, little +Geordie Chichester, aye, and old Sidney Godolphin of the Treasury; for +with all his staid ways and long-winded budgets he could drain a cup +with the best of us, and was as keen on a main of cocks as on a +committee of ways and means. Well, it was rare sport while it lasted, +and sink me if I wouldn't do the same again if I had my time once more. +It is like sliding down a greased plank though, for at first a man goes +slow enough, and thinks he can pull himself up, but presently he goes +faster and faster, until he comes with a crash on to the rocks of ruin +at the bottom.' + +'And did you run through four thousand pounds a year?' I exclaimed. + +'Od's bodikins, man, you speak as if this paltry sum were all the wealth +of the Indies. Why, from Ormonde or Buckingham, with their twenty +thousand, down to ranting Dicky Talbot, there was not one of my set who +could not have bought me out. Yet I must have my coach and four, my +town house, my liveried servants, and my stable full of horses. To be +in the mode I must have my poet, and throw him a handful of guineas for +his dedication. Well, poor devil, he is one who will miss me. I +warrant his heart was as heavy as his verses when he found me gone, +though perchance he has turned a few guineas by this time by writing a +satire upon me. It would have a ready sale among my friends. Gad's +life! I wonder how my levees get on, and whom all my suitors have +fastened on to now. There they were morning after morning, the French +pimp, the English bully, the needy man o' letters, the neglected +inventor--I never thought to have got rid of them, but indeed I have +shaken them off very effectually now. When the honey-pot is broken it +is farewell to the flies.' + +'And your noble friends?' I asked. 'Did none of them stand by you in +your adversity?' + +'Well, well, I have nought to complain of!' exclaimed Sir Gervas. +'They were brave-hearted boys for the most part. I might have had their +names on my bills as long as their fingers could hold a pen, but slit me +if I like bleeding my own companions. They might have found a place for +me, too, had I consented to play second-fiddle where I had been used to +lead the band. I' faith, I care not what I turn my hand to amongst +strangers, but I would fain leave my memory sweet in town.' + +'As to what you proposed, of serving us as a valet,' said I, 'it is not +to be thought of. We are, in spite of my friend's waggishness, but two +plain blunt countrymen, and have no more need of a valet than one of +those poets which you have spoken of. On the other hand, if you should +care to attach yourself to our party, we shall take you where you will +see service which shall be more to your taste than the curling of +periwigs or the brushing of eyebrows.' + +'Nay, nay, my friend. Speak not with unseemly levity of the mysteries +of the toilet,' he cried. 'Ye would yourselves be none the worse for a +touch of mine ivory comb, and a closer acquaintance with the famous +skin-purifying wash of Murphy which I am myself in the habit of using.' + +'I am beholden to you, sir,' said Reuben, 'but the famous spring water +wash by Providence is quite good enough for the purpose.' + +'And Dame Nature hath placed a wig of her own upon me,' I added, 'which +I should be very loth to change.' + +'Goths! Perfect Goths!' cried the exquisite, throwing up his white +hands. 'But here comes a heavy tread and the clink of armour in the +passage. 'Tis our friend the knight of the wrathful countenance, if I +mistake not.' + +It was indeed Saxon, who strode into the room to tell us that our horses +were at the door, and that all was ready for our departure. Taking him +aside I explained to him in a whisper what had passed between the +stranger and ourselves, with the circumstances which had led me to +suggest that he should join our party. The old soldier frowned at the +news. + +'What have we to do with such a coxcomb?' he said. 'We have hard fare +and harder blows before us. He is not fit for the work.' + +'You said yourself that Monmouth will he weak in horse,' I answered. +'Here is a well-appointed cavalier, who is to all appearance a desperate +man and ready for anything. Why should we not enrol him?' + +'I fear,' said Saxon, 'that his body may prove to be like the bran of a +fine cushion, of value only for what it has around it. However, it is +perhaps for the best. The handle to his name may make him welcome in +the camp, for from what I hear there is some dissatisfaction at the way +in which the gentry stand aloof from the enterprise.' + +'I had feared,' I remarked, still speaking in a whisper, 'that we were +about to lose one of our party instead of gaining one in this Bruton +inn.' + +'I have thought better of it,' he answered, with a smile. 'Nay, I'll +tell you of it anon. Well, Sir Gervas Jerome,' he added aloud, turning +to our new associate, 'I hear that you are coming with us. For a day +you must be content to follow without question or remark. Is that +agreed!' + +'With all my heart,' cried Sir Gervas. + +'Then here's a bumper to our better acquaintance,' cried Saxon, raising +his glass. + +'I pledge ye all,' quoth the gallant. 'Here's to a fair fight, and may +the best men win.' + +'Donnerblitz, man!' said Saxon. 'I believe there's mettle in you for +all your gay plumes. I do conceive a liking for you. Give me your +hand!' + +The soldier of fortune's great brown grip enclosed the delicate hand of +our new friend in a pledge of comradeship. Then, having paid our +reckoning and bade a cordial adieu to Dame Hobson, who glanced methought +somewhat reproachfully or expectantly at Saxon, we sprang on our steeds +and continued our journey amidst a crowd of staring villagers, who +huzzaed lustily as we rode out from amongst them. + + + +Chapter XIV. + + +Of the Stiff-legged Parson and his Flock + +Our road lay through Castle Carey and Somerton, which are small towns +lying in the midst of a most beautiful pastoral country, well wooded and +watered by many streams. The valleys along the centre of which the road +lies are rich and luxuriant, sheltered from the winds by long rolling +hills, which are themselves highly cultivated. Here and there we passed +the ivy-clad turret of an old castle or the peaked gables of a rambling +country house, protruding from amongst the trees and marking the country +seat of some family of repute. More than once, when these mansions were +not far from the road, we were able to perceive the unrepaired dints and +fractures on the walls received during the stormy period of the civil +troubles. Fairfax it seems had been down that way, and had left +abundant traces of his visit. I have no doubt that my father would have +had much to say of these signs of Puritan wrath had he been riding at +our side. + +The road was crowded with peasants who were travelling in two strong +currents, the one setting from east to west, and the other from west to +east. The latter consisted principally of aged people and of children, +who were being sent out of harm's way to reside in the less disturbed +counties until the troubles should be over. Many of these poor folk +were pushing barrows in front of them, in which a few bedclothes and +some cracked utensils represented the whole of their worldly goods. +Others more prosperous had small carts, drawn by the wild shaggy colts +which are bred on the Somerset moors. What with the spirit of the +half-tamed beasts and the feebleness of the drivers, accidents were not +uncommon, and we passed several unhappy groups who had been tumbled with +their property into a ditch, or who were standing in anxious debate +round a cracked shaft or a broken axle. + +The countrymen who were making for the West were upon the other hand men +in the prime of life, with little or no baggage. Their brown faces, +heavy boots, and smockfrocks proclaimed most of them to be mere hinds, +though here and there we overtook men who, by their top-boots and +corduroys, may have been small farmers or yeomen. These fellows walked +in gangs, and were armed for the most part with stout oak cudgels, which +were carried as an aid to their journey, but which in the hands of +powerful men might become formidable weapons. From time to time one of +these travellers would strike up a psalm tune, when all the others +within earshot would join in, until the melody rippled away down the +road. As we passed some scowled angrily at us, while others whispered +together and shook their heads, in evident doubt as to our character and +aims. Now and again among the people we marked the tall broad-brimmed +hat and Geneva mantle which were the badges of the Puritan clergy. + +'We are in Monmouth's country at last,' said Saxon to me, for Reuben +Lockarby and Sir Gervas Jerome had ridden on ahead. 'This is the raw +material which we shall have to lick into soldiership.' + +'And no bad material either,' I replied, taking note of the sturdy +figures and bold hearty faces of the men. 'Think ye that they are bound +for Monmouth's camp, then?' + +'Aye, are they. See you yon long-limbed parson on the left--him with +the pent-house hat. Markest thou not the stiffness wherewith he moves +his left leg!' + +'Why, yes; he is travel-worn doubtless.' + +'Ho! ho!' laughed my companion. 'I have seen such a stiffness before +now. The man hath a straight sword within he leg of his breeches. +A regular Parliamentary tuck, I'll warrant. When he is on safe ground +he will produce it, aye, and use it too, but until he is out of all +danger of falling in with the King's horse he is shy of strapping it to +his belt. He is one of the old breed by his cut, who: + + "Call fire and sword and desolation, + A godly thorough reformation." + +Old Samuel hath them to a penstroke! There is another ahead of him +there, with the head of a scythe inside his smock. Can you not see the +outline? I warrant there is not one of the rascals but hath a pike-head +or sickle-blade concealed somewhere about him. I begin to feel the +breath of war once more, and to grow younger with it. Hark ye, lad! I +am glad that I did not tarry at the inn.' + +'You seemed to be in two minds about it,' said I. + +'Aye, aye. She was a fine woman, and the quarters were comfortable. +I do not gainsay it. But marriage, d'ye see, is a citadel that it is +plaguy easy to find one's way into, but once in old Tilly himself could +not bring one out again with credit, I have known such a device on the +Danube, where at the first onfall the Mamelukes have abandoned the +breach for the very purpose of ensnaring the Imperial troops in the +narrow streets beyond, from which few ever returned. Old birds are not +caught with such wiles. I did succeed in gaining the ear of one of the +gossips, and asking him what he could tell me of the good dame and her +inn. It seemeth that she is somewhat of a shrew upon occasion, and that +her tongue had more to do with her husband's death than the dropsy which +the leech put it down to. Again, a new inn hath been started in the +village, which is well-managed, and is like to draw the custom from her. +It is, too, as you have said, a dull sleepy spot. All these reasons +weighed with me, and I decided that it would be best to raise my siege +of the widow, and to retreat whilst I could yet do so with the credit +and honours of war.' + +''Tis best so,' said I; 'you could not have settled down to a life of +toping and ease. But our new comrade, what think you of him?' + +'Faith!' Saxon answered, 'we shall extend into a troop of horse if we +add to our number every gallant who is in want of a job. As to this Sir +Gervas, however, I think, as I said at the inn, that he hath more mettle +in him than one would judge at first sight. These young sprigs of the +gentry will always fight, but I doubt if he is hardened enough or hath +constancy enough for such a campaign as this is like to be. +His appearance, too, will be against him in the eyes of the saints; and +though Monmouth is a man of easy virtue, the saints are like to have the +chief voice in his councils. Now do but look at him as he reins up that +showy grey stallion and gazes back at us. Mark his riding-hat tilted +over his eye, his open bosom, his whip dangling from his button-hole, +his hand on his hip, and as many oaths in his mouth as there are ribbons +to his doublet. Above all, mark the air with which he looks down upon +the peasants beside him. He will have to change his style if he is to +fight by the side of the fanatics. But hark! I am much mistaken if they +have not already got themselves into trouble.' + +Our friends had pulled up their horses to await our coming. They had +scarce halted, however, before the stream of peasants who had been +moving along abreast of them slackened their pace, and gathered round +them with a deep ominous murmur and threatening gestures. Other +rustics, seeing that there was something afoot, hurried up to help their +companions. Saxon and I put spurs to our horses, and pushing through +the throng, which was becoming every instant larger and more menacing, +made our way to the aid of our friends, who were hemmed in on every side +by the rabble. Reuben had laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword, +while Sir Gervas was placidly chewing his toothpick and looking down at +the angry mob with an air of amused contempt. + +'A flask or two of scent amongst them would not be amiss,' he remarked; +'I would I had a casting bottle.' + +'Stand on your guard, but do not draw,' cried Saxon. 'What the henker +hath come over the chaw-bacons? They mean mischief. How now, friends, +why this uproar?' + +This question instead of allaying the tumult appeared to make it tenfold +worse. All round us twenty deep were savage faces and angry eyes, with +the glint here and there of a weapon half drawn from its place of +concealment. The uproar, which had been a mere hoarse growl, began to +take shape and form. 'Down with the Papists!' was the cry. 'Down with +the Prelatists!' 'Smite the Erastian butchers!' 'Smite the Philistine +horsemen!' 'Down with them!' + +A stone or two had already whistled past our ears, and we had been +forced in self-defence to draw our swords, when the tall minister whom +we had already observed shoved his way through the crowd, and by dint of +his lofty stature and commanding voice prevailed upon them to be silent. + +'How say ye,' he asked, turning upon us, 'fight ye for Baal or for the +Lord? He who is not with us is against us.' + +'Which is the side of Baal, most reverend sir, and which of the Lord?' +asked Sir Gervas Jerome. 'Methinks if you were to speak plain English +instead of Hebrew we might come to an understanding sooner.' + +'This is no time for light words,' the minister cried, with a flush of +anger upon his face. 'If ye would keep your skins whole, tell me, are +ye for the bloody usurper James Stuart, or are ye for his most +Protestant Majesty King Monmouth?' + +'What! He hath come to the title already!' exclaimed Saxon. 'Know +then that we are four unworthy vessels upon our way to offer our +services to the Protestant cause.' + +'He lies, good Master Pettigrue, he lies most foully,' shouted a burly +fellow from the edge of the crowd. 'Who ever saw a good Protestant in +such a Punchinello dress as yonder? Is not Amalekite written upon his +raiment? Is he not attired as becometh the bridegroom of the harlot of +Rome? Why then should we not smite him?' + +'I thank you, my worthy friend,' said Sir Gervas, whose attire had moved +this champion's wrath. 'If I were nearer I should give you some return +for the notice which you have taken of me.' + +'What proof have we that ye are not in the pay of the usurper, and on +your way to oppress the faithful?' asked the Puritan divine. + +'I tell you, man,' said Saxon impatiently, 'that we have travelled all +the way from Hampshire to fight against James Stuart. We will ride with +ye to Monmouth's camp, and what better proof could ye desire than that?' + +'It may be that ye do but seek an opportunity of escaping from our +bondage,' the minister observed, after conferring with one or two of the +leading peasants. 'It is our opinion, therefore, that before coming +with us ye must deliver unto us your swords, pistols, and other carnal +weapons.' + +'Nay, good sir, that cannot be,' our leader answered. 'A cavalier may +not with honour surrender his blade or his liberty in the manner ye +demand. Keep close to my bridle-arm, Clarke, and strike home at any +rogue who lays hands on you.' + +A hum of anger rose from the crowd, and a score of sticks and +scythe-blades were raised against us, when the minister again interposed +and silenced his noisy following. + +'Did I hear aright?' he asked. 'Is your name Clarke?' + +'It is,' I answered. + +'Your Christian name?' + +'Micah.' + +'Living at?' + +'Havant.' + +The clergyman conferred for a few moments with a grizzly-bearded, +harsh-faced man dressed in black buckram who stood at his elbow. + +'If you are really Micah Clarke of Havant,' quoth he, 'you will be able +to tell us the name of an old soldier, skilled in the German wars, who +was to have come with ye to the camp of the faithful.' + +'Why, this is he,' I answered; 'Decimus Saxon is his name.' + +'Aye, aye, Master Pettigrue,' cried the old man. 'The very name given +by Dicky Rumbold. He said that either the old Roundhead Clarke or his +son would go with him. But who are these?' + +'This is Master Reuben Lockarby, also of Havant, and Sir Gervas Jerome +of Surrey,' I replied. 'They are both here as volunteers desiring to +serve under the Duke of Monmouth.' + +'Right glad I am to see ye, then,' said the stalwart minister heartily. +'Friends, I can answer for these gentlemen that they favour the honest +folk and the old cause.' + +At these words the rage of the mob turned in an instant into the most +extravagant adulation and delight. They crowded round us, patting our +riding-boots, pulling at the skirts of our dress, pressing our hands and +calling down blessings upon our heads, until their pastor succeeded at +last in rescuing us from their attentions and in persuading them to +resume their journey. We walked our horses in the midst of them whilst +the clergyman strode along betwixt Saxon and myself. He was, as Reuben +remarked, well fitted to be an intermediary between us, for he was +taller though not so broad as I was, and broader though not so tall as +the adventurer. His face was long, thin, and hollow-cheeked, with a +pair of great thatched eyebrows and deep sunken melancholy eyes, which +lit up upon occasion with a sudden quick flash of fiery enthusiasm. + +'Joshua Pettigrue is my name, gentlemen,' said he; 'I am an unworthy +worker in the Lord's vineyard, testifying with voice and with arm to His +holy covenant. These are my faithful flock, whom I am bringing westward +that they may be ready for the reaping when it pleases the Almighty to +gather them in.' + +'And why have you not brought them into some show of order or +formation?' asked Saxon. 'They are straggling along the road like a +line of geese upon a common when Michaelmas is nigh. Have you no fears? +Is it not written that your calamity cometh suddenly--suddenly shall you +be broken down without remedy?' + +'Aye, friend, but is it not also written, "Trust in the Lord with all +thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding!" Mark ye, if I +were to draw up my men in military fashion it would invite attention and +attack from any of James Stuart's horse who may come our way. It is my +desire to bring my flock to the camp and obtain pieces for them before +exposing them to so unequal a contest.' + +'Truly, sir, it is a wise resolution,' said Saxon grimly, 'for if a +troop of horse came down upon these good people the pastor would find +himself without his flock.' + +'Nay, that could never be!' cried Master Pettigrue with fervour. +'Say rather that pastor, flock, and all would find their way along the +thorny track of martyrdom to the new Jerusalem. Know, friend, that I +have come from Monmouth in order to conduct these men to his standard. +I received from him, or rather from Master Ferguson, instructions to be +on the lookout for ye and for several others of the faithful we expect +to join us from the East. By what route came ye?' + +'Over Salisbury Plain and so through Bruton.' + +'And saw ye or met ye any of our people upon the way?' + +'None,' Saxon answered. 'We left the Blue Guards at Salisbury, however, +and we saw either them or some other horse regiment near this side of +the Plain at the village of Mere.' + +'Ah, there is a gathering of the eagles,' cried Master Joshua Pettigrue, +shaking his head. 'They are men of fine raiment, with war-horses and +chariots and trappings, like the Assyrians of old, yet shall the angel +of the Lord breathe upon them in the night. Yea, He shall cut them off +utterly in His wrath, and they shall be destroyed.' + +'Amen! Amen!' cried as many of the peasants as were within earshot. + +'They have elevated their horn, Master Pettigrue,' said the +grizzly-haired Puritan. 'They have set up their candlestick on high-- +the candlestick of a perverse ritual and of an idolatrous service. +Shall it not be dashed down by the hands of the righteous?' + +'Lo, this same candle waxed big and burned sooty, even as an offence to +the nostrils, in the days of our fathers,' cried a burly red-faced man, +whose dress proclaimed him to be one of the yeoman class. 'So was it +when Old Noll did get his snuffing shears to work upon it. It is a wick +which can only be trimmed by the sword of the faithful.' A grim laugh +from the whole party proclaimed their appreciation of the pious waggery +of their companion. + +'Ah, Brother Sandcroft,' cried the pastor, 'there is much sweetness and +manna hidden in thy conversation. But the way is long and dreary. +Shall we not lighten it by a song of praise? Where is Brother +Thistlethwaite, whose voice is as the cymbal, the tabor, and the +dulcimer?' + +'Lo, most pious Master Pettigrue,' said Saxon, 'I have myself at times +ventured to lift up my voice before the Lord.' Without any further +apology he broke out in stentorian tones into the following hymn, the +refrain of which was caught up by pastor and congregation. + + The Lord He is a morion + That guards me from all wound; + The Lord He is a coat of mail + That circles me all round. + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord? + + The Lord He is the buckler true + That swings on my left arm; + The Lord He is the plate of proof + That shieldeth me from harm. + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord? + + Who then dreads the violent, + Or fears the man of pride? + Or shall I flee from two or three + If He be by my side? + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord! + + My faith is like a citadel + Girt round with moat and wall, + No mine, or sap, or breach, or gap + Can ere prevail at all. + Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord? + +Saxon ceased, but the Reverend Joshua Pettigrue waved his long arms and +repeated the refrain, which was taken up again and again by the long +column of marching peasants. + +'It is a godly hymn,' said our companion, who had, to my disgust and to +the evident astonishment of Reuben and Sir Gervas, resumed the +snuffling, whining voice which he had used in the presence of my father. +'It hath availed much on the field of battle.' + +'Truly,' returned the clergyman, 'if your comrades are of as sweet a +savour as yourself, ye will be worth a brigade of pikes to the +faithful,' a sentiment which raised a murmur of assent from the Puritans +around. 'Since, sir,' he continued, 'you have had much experience in +the wiles of war, I shall be glad to hand over to you the command of +this small body of the faithful, until such time as we reach the army.' + +'It is time, too, in good faith, that ye had a soldier at your head,' +Decimus Saxon answered quietly. 'My eyes deceive me strangely if I do +not see the gleam of sword and cuirass upon the brow of yonder +declivity. Methinks our pious exercises have brought the enemy upon +us.' + + + +Chapter XV. + + +Of our Brush with the King's Dragoons + +Some little distance from us a branch road ran into that along which we +and our motley assemblage of companions-in-arms were travelling. +This road curved down the side of a well-wooded hill, and then over the +level for a quarter of a mile or so before opening on the other. +Just at the brow of the rising ground there stood a thick bristle of +trees, amid the trunks of which there came and went a bright shimmer of +sparkling steel, which proclaimed the presence of armed men. Farther +back, where the road took a sudden turn and ran along the ridge of the +hill, several horsemen could be plainly seen outlined against the +evening sky. So peaceful, however, was the long sweep of countryside, +mellowed by the golden light of the setting sun, with a score of village +steeples and manor-houses peeping out from amongst the woods, that it +was hard to think that the thundercloud of war was really lowering over +that fair valley, and that at any instant the lightning might break from +it. + +The country folk, however, appeared to have no difficulty at all in +understanding the danger to which they were exposed. The fugitives from +the West gave a yell of consternation, and ran wildly down the road or +whipped up their beasts of burden in the endeavour to place as safe a +distance as possible between themselves and the threatened attack. +The chorus of shrill cries and shouts, with the cracking of whips, +creaking of wheels, and the occasional crash when some cart load of +goods came to grief, made up a most deafening uproar, above which our +leader's voice resounded in sharp, eager exhortation and command. +When, however, the loud brazen shriek from a bugle broke from the wood, +and the head of a troop of horse began to descend the slope, the panic +became greater still, and it was difficult for us to preserve any order +at all amidst the wild rush of the terrified fugitives. + +'Stop that cart, Clarke,' cried Saxon vehemently, pointing with his +sword to an old waggon, piled high with furniture and bedding, which was +lumbering along drawn by two raw-boned colts. At the same moment I saw +him drive his horse into the crowd and catch at the reins of another +similar one. + +Giving Covenant's bridle a shake I was soon abreast of the +cart which he had indicated, and managed to bring the furious +young horses to a stand-still. + +'Bring it up!' cried our leader, working with the coolness which only a +long apprenticeship to war can give. 'Now, friends, cut the traces!' +A dozen knives were at work in a moment, and the kicking, struggling +animals scampered off, leaving their burdens behind them. Saxon sprang +off his horse and set the example in dragging the waggon across the +roadway, while some of the peasants, under the direction of Reuben +Lockarby and of Master Joshua Pettigrue, arranged a couple of other +carts to block the way fifty yards further down. The latter precaution +was to guard against the chance of the royal horse riding through the +fields and attacking us from behind. So speedily was the scheme +conceived and carried out, that within a very few minutes of the first +alarm we found ourselves protected front and rear by a lofty barricade, +while within this improvised fortress was a garrison of a hundred and +fifty men. + +'What firearms have we amongst us?' asked Saxon hurriedly. + +'A dozen pistols at the most,' replied the elderly Puritan, who was +addressed by his companions as Hope-above Williams. 'John Rodway, the +coachman, hath his blunderbuss. There are also two godly men from +Hungerford, who are keepers of game, and who have brought their pieces +with them.' + +'They are here, sir,' cried another, pointing to two stout, bearded +fellows, who were ramming charges into their long-barrelled muskets. +'Their names are Wat and Nat Millman.' + +'Two who can hit their mark are worth a battalion who shoot wide,' our +leader remarked, 'Get under the waggon, my friends, and rest your +pieces upon the spokes. Never draw trigger until the sons of Belial are +within three pikes' length of ye.' + +'My brother and I,' quoth one of them, 'can hit a running doe at two +hundred paces. Our lives are in the hands of the Lord, but two, at +least, of these hired butchers we shall send before us.' + +'As gladly as ever we slew stoat or wild-cat,' cried the other, slipping +under the waggon. 'We are keeping the Lord's preserves now, brother +Wat, and truly these are some of the vermin that infest them.' + +'Let all who have pistols line the waggon,' said Saxon, tying his mare +to the hedge--an example which we all followed. 'Clarke, do you take +charge upon the right with Sir Gervas, while Lockarby assists Master +Pettigrue upon the left. Ye others shall stand behind with stones. +Should they break through our barricades, slash at the horses with your +scythes. Once down, the riders are no match for ye.' + +A low sullen murmur of determined resolution rose from the peasants, +mingled with pious ejaculations and little scraps of hymn or of prayer. +They had all produced from under their smocks rustic weapons of some +sort. Ten or twelve had petronels, which, from their antique look and +rusty condition, threatened to be more dangerous to their possessors +than to the enemy. Others had sickles, scythe-blades, flails, +half-pikes, or hammers, while the remainder carried long knives and +oaken clubs. Simple as were these weapons, history has proved that +in the hands of men who are deeply stirred by religious fanaticism they +are by no means to be despised. One had but to look at the stern, set +faces of our followers, and the gleam of exultation and expectancy which +shone from their eyes, to see that they were not the men to quail, +either from superior numbers or equipment. + +'By the Mass!' whispered Sir Gervas, 'it is magnificent! An hour of +this is worth a year in the Mall. The old Puritan bull is fairly at +bay. Let us see what sort of sport the bull-pups make in the baiting +of him! I'll lay five pieces to four on the chaw-bacons!' + +'Nay, it's no matter for idle betting,' said I shortly, for his +light-hearted chatter annoyed me at so solemn a moment. + +'Five to four on the soldiers, then!' he persisted. 'It is too good a +match not to have a stake on it one way or the other.' + +'Our lives are the stake,' said I. + +'Faith, I had forgot it!' he replied, still mumbling his toothpick. +'"To be or not to be?" as Will of Stratford says. Kynaston was great on +the passage. But here is the bell that rings the curtain up.' + +Whilst we had been making our dispositions the troop of horse--for there +appeared to be but one--had trotted down the cross-road, and had drawn +up across the main highway. They numbered, as far as I could judge, +about ninety troopers, and it was evident from their three-cornered +hats, steel plates, red sleeves, and bandoliers, that they were dragoons +of the regular army. The main body halted a quarter of a mile from +us, while three officers rode to the front and held a short +consultation, which ended in one of them setting spurs to his horse and +cantering down in our direction. A bugler followed a few paces behind +him, waving a white kerchief and blowing an occasional blast upon his +trumpet. + +'Here comes an envoy,' cried Saxon, who was standing up in the waggon. +'Now, my brethren, we have neither kettle-drum nor tinkling brass, but +we have the instrument wherewith Providence hath endowed us. Let us +show the redcoats that we know how to use it. + + "Who then dreads the violent, + Or fears the man of pride? + Or shall I flee from two or three + If He be by my side?"' + +Seven score voices broke in, in a hoarse roar, upon the chorus-- + + 'Who then fears to draw the sword, + And fight the battle of the Lord?' + +I could well believe at that moment that the Spartans had found the lame +singer Tyrtaeus the most successful of their generals, for the sound of +their own voices increased the confidence of the country folk, while the +martial words of the old hymn roused the dogged spirit in their breasts. +So high did their courage run that they broke off their song with a loud +warlike shout, waving their weapons above their heads, and ready I +verily believe to march out from their barricades and make straight for +the horsemen. In the midst of this clamour and turmoil the young +dragoon officer, a handsome, olive-faced lad, rode fearlessly up to the +barrier, and pulling up his beautiful roan steed, held up his hand with +an imperious gesture which demanded silence. + +'Who is the leader of this conventicle?' he asked. + +'Address your message to me, sir,' said our leader from the top of the +waggon, 'but understand that your white flag will only protect you +whilst you use such language as may come from one courteous adversary to +another. Say your say or retire.' + +'Courtesy and honour,' said the officer, with a sneer, 'are not extended +to rebels who are in arms against their lawful sovereign. If you are +the leader of this rabble, I warn you if they are not dispersed within +five minutes by this watch'--he pulled out an elegant gold time-piece-- +'we shall ride down upon them and cut them to pieces.' + +'The Lord can protect His own,' Saxon answered, amid a fierce hum of +approval from the crowd. 'Is this all thy message?' + +'It is all, and you will find it enough, you Presbyterian traitor,' +cried the dragoon cornet. 'Listen to me, misguided fools,' he +continued, standing up upon his stirrups and speaking to the peasants at +the other side of the waggon. 'What chance have ye with your whittles +and cheese-scrapers? Ye may yet save your skins if ye will but deliver +up your leaders, throw down what ye are pleased to call your arms, and +trust to the King's mercy.' + +'This exceedeth the limitations of your privileges,' said Saxon, drawing +a pistol from his belt and cocking it. 'If you say another word to +seduce these people from their allegiance, I fire.' + +'Hope not to benefit Monmouth,' cried the young officer, disregarding +the threat, and still addressing his words to the peasants. 'The whole +royal army is drawing round him and--' + +'Have a care!' shouted our leader, in a deep harsh voice. + +'His head within a month shall roll upon the scaffold.' + +'But you shall never live to see it,' said Saxon, and stooping over he +fired straight at the cornet's head. At the flash of the pistol the +trumpeter wheeled round and galloped for his life, while the roan horse +turned and followed with its master still seated firmly in the saddle. + +'Verily you have missed the Midianite!' cried Hope-above Williams. + +'He is dead,' said our leader, pouring a fresh charge into his pistol. +'It is the law of war, Clarke,' he added, looking round at me. 'He hath +chosen to break it, and must pay forfeit.' + +As he spoke I saw the young officer lean gradually over in his saddle, +until, when about half-way back to his friends, he lost his balance and +fell heavily in the roadway, turning over two or three times with the +force of his fall, and lying at last still and motionless, a +dust-coloured heap. A loud yell of rage broke from the troopers at the +sight, which was answered by a shout of defiance from the Puritan +peasantry. + +'Down on your faces !' cried Saxon; 'they are about to fire.' + +The crackle of musketry and a storm of bullets, pinging on the hard +ground, or cutting twigs from the hedges on either side of us, lent +emphasis to our leader's order. Many of the peasants crouched behind +the feather beds and tables which had been pulled out of the cart. +Some lay in the waggon itself, and some sheltered themselves behind or +underneath it. Others again lined the ditches on either side or lay +flat upon the roadway, while a few showed their belief in the workings +of Providence by standing upright without flinching from the bullets. +Amongst these latter were Saxon and Sir Gervas, the former to set an +example to his raw troops, and the latter out of pure laziness and +indifference. Reuben and I sat together in the ditch, and I can assure +you, my dear grandchildren, that we felt very much inclined to bob our +heads when we heard the bullets piping all around them. If any soldier +ever told you that he did not the first time that he was under fire, +then that soldier is not a man to trust. After sitting rigid and +silent, however, as if we had both stiff necks, for a very few minutes, +the feeling passed completely away, and from that day to this it has +never returned to me. You see familiarity breeds contempt with bullets +as with other things, and though it is no easy matter to come to like +them, like the King of Sweden or my Lord Cutts, it is not so very hard +to become indifferent to them. + +The cornet's death did not remain long unavenged. A little old man with +a sickle, who had been standing near Sir Gervas, gave a sudden sharp +cry, and springing up into the air with a loud 'Glory to God!' fell flat +upon his face dead. A bullet had struck him just over the right eye. +Almost at the same moment one of the peasants in the waggon was shot +through the chest, and sat up coughing blood all over the wheel. +I saw Master Joshua Pettigrue catch him in his long arms, and settle +some bedding under his head, so that he lay breathing heavily and +pattering forth prayers. The minister showed himself a man that day, +for amid the fierce carbine fire he walked boldly up and down, with a +drawn rapier in his left hand--for he was a left-handed man--and his +Bible in the other. 'This is what you are dying for, dear brothers,' he +cried continually, holding the brown volume up in the air; 'are ye not +ready to die for this?' And every time he asked the question a low +eager murmur of assent rose from the ditches, the waggon, and the road. + +'They aim like yokels at a Wappenschaw,' said Saxon, seating himself on +the side of the waggon. 'Like all young soldiers they fire too high. +When I was an adjutant it was my custom to press down the barrels of the +muskets until my eye told me that they were level. These rogues think +that they have done their part if they do but let the gun off, though +they are as like to hit the plovers above us as ourselves.' + +'Five of the faithful have fallen,' said Hope-above Williams. 'Shall we +not sally forth and do battle with the children of Antichrist? Are we +to lie here like so many popinjays at a fair for the troopers to +practise upon?' + +'There is a stone barn over yonder on the hill-side,' I remarked. +'If we who have horses, and a few others, were to keep the dragoons in +play, the people might be able to reach it, and so be sheltered from the +fire.' + +'At least let my brother and me have a shot or two back at them,' cried +one of the marksmen beside the wheel. + +To all our entreaties and suggestions, however, our leader only replied +by a shake of the head, and continued to swing his long legs over the +side of the waggon with his eyes fixed intently upon the horsemen, many +of whom had dismounted and were leaning their carbines over the cruppers +of their chargers. + +'This cannot go on, sir,' said the pastor, in a low earnest voice; +'two more men have just been hit.' + +'If fifty more men are hit we must wait until they charge,' Saxon +answered. 'What would you do, man? If you leave this shelter you will +be cut off and utterly destroyed. When you have seen as much of war as +I have done, you will learn to put up quietly with what is not to be +avoided. I remember on such another occasion when the rearguard or +nachhut of the Imperial troops was followed by Croats, who were in the +pay of the Grand Turk, I lost half my company before the mercenary +renegades came to close fighting. Ha, my brave boys, they are mounting! +We shall not have to wait long now.' + +The dragoons were indeed climbing into their saddles again, and forming +across the road, with the evident intention of charging down upon us. +At the same time about thirty men detached themselves from the main body +and trotted away into the fields upon our right. Saxon growled a hearty +oath under his breath as he observed them. + +'They have some knowledge of warfare after all,' said he. 'They mean to +charge us flank and front. Master Joshua, see that your scythesmen line +the quickset hedge upon the right. Stand well up, my brothers, and +flinch not from the horses. You men with the sickles, lie in the ditch +there, and cut at the legs of the brutes. A line of stone throwers +behind that. A heavy stone is as sure as a bullet at close quarters. +If ye would see your wives and children again, make that hedge good +against the horsemen. Now for the front attack. Let the men who carry +petronels come into the waggon. Two of yours, Clarke, and two of yours, +Lockarby. I can spare one also. That makes five. Now here are ten +others of a sort and three muskets. Twenty shots in all. Have you no +pistols, Sir Gervas? + +'No, but I can get a pair,' said our companion, and springing upon his +horse he forced his way through the ditch, past the barrier, and so down +the road in the direction of the dragoons. + +The movement was so sudden and so unexpected that there was a dead +silence for a few seconds, which was broken by a general howl of hatred +and execration from the peasants. 'Shoot upon him! Shoot down the false +Amalekite!' they shrieked. 'He hath gone to join his kind! He hath +delivered us up into the hands of the enemy! Judas! Judas!' As to +the horsemen, who were still forming up for a charge and waiting for the +flanking party to get into position, they sat still and silent, not +knowing what to make of the gaily-dressed cavalier who was speeding +towards them. + +We were not left long in doubt, however. He had no sooner reached the +spot where the cornet had fallen than he sprang from his horse and +helped himself to the dead man's pistols, and to the belt which +contained his powder and ball. Mounting at his leisure, amid a shower +of bullets which puffed up the white dust all around him, he rode +onwards towards the dragoons and discharged one of his pistols at them. +Wheeling round he politely raised his cap, and galloped back to us, none +the worse for his adventure, though a ball had grazed his horse's +fetlock and another had left a hole in the skirt of his riding-coat. +The peasants raised a shout of jubilation as he rode in, and from that +day forward our friend was permitted to wear his gay trappings and to +bear himself as he would, without being suspected of having mounted the +livery of Satan or of being wanting in zeal for the cause of the saints. + +'They are coming,' cried Saxon. 'Let no man draw trigger until he sees +me shoot. If any does, I shall send a bullet through him, though it was +my last shot and the troopers were amongst us.' + +As our leader uttered this threat and looked grimly round upon us with +an evident intention of executing it, a shrill blare of a bugle burst +from the horsemen in front of us, and was answered by those upon our +flank. At the signal both bodies set spurs to their horses and dashed +down upon us at the top of their speed. Those in the field were delayed +for a few moments, and thrown into some disorder, by finding that the +ground immediately in front of them was soft and boggy, but having made +their way through it they re-formed upon the other side and rode +gallantly at the hedge. Our own opponents, having a clear course before +them, never slackened for an instant, but came thundering down with a +jingling of harness and a tempest of oaths upon our rude barricades. + +Ah, my children! when a man in his age tries to describe such things as +these, and to make others see what he has seen, it is only then that he +understands what a small stock of language a plain man keeps by him for +his ordinary use in the world, and how unfit it is to meet any call upon +it. For though at this very moment I can myself see that white +Somersetshire road, with the wild whirling charge of the horsemen, the +red angry faces of the men, and the gaping nostrils of the horses all +wreathed and framed in clouds of dust, I cannot hope to make it clear to +your young eyes, which never have looked, and, I trust, never shall +look, upon such a scene. When, too, I think of the sound, a mere +rattle and jingle at first, but growing in strength and volume with +every step, until it came upon us with a thunderous rush and roar which +gave the impression of irresistible power, I feel that that too is +beyond the power of my feeble words to express. To inexperienced +soldiers like ourselves it seemed impossible that our frail defence and +our feeble weapons could check for an instant the impetus and weight of +the dragoons. To right and left I saw white set faces, open-eyed and +rigid, unflinching, with a stubbornness which rose less from hope than +from despair. All round rose exclamations and prayers. 'Lord, save Thy +people!' 'Mercy, Lord, mercy!' 'Be with us this day!' 'Receive our +souls, O merciful Father!' Saxon lay across the waggon with his eyes +glinting like diamonds and his petronel presented at the full length of +his rigid arm. Following his example we all took aim as steadily as +possible at the first rank of the enemy. Our only hope of safety lay in +making that one discharge so deadly that our opponents should be too +much shaken to continue their attack. + +Would the man never fire? They could not be more than ten paces from +us. I could see the buckles of the men's plates and the powder charges +in their bandoliers. One more stride yet, and at last our leader's +pistol flashed and we poured in a close volley, supported by a shower of +heavy stones from the sturdy peasants behind. I could hear them +splintering against casque and cuirass like hail upon a casement. The +cloud of smoke veiling for an instant the line of galloping steeds and +gallant riders drifted slowly aside to show a very different scene. +A dozen men and horses were rolling in one wild blood-spurting heap, the +unwounded falling over those whom our balls and stones had brought down. +Struggling, snorting chargers, iron-shod feet, staggering figures rising +and falling, wild, hatless, bewildered men half stunned by a fall, and +not knowing which way to turn--that was the foreground of the picture, +while behind them the remainder of the troop were riding furiously back, +wounded and hale, all driven by the one desire of getting to a place of +safety where they might rally their shattered formation. A great shout +of praise and thanksgiving rose from the delighted peasants, and surging +over the barricade they struck down or secured the few uninjured +troopers who had boon unable or unwilling to join their companions in +their flight. The carbines, swords, and bandoliers were eagerly pounced +upon by the victors, some of whom had served in the militia, and knew +well how to handle the weapons which they had won. + +The victory, however, was by no means completed. The flanking squadron +had ridden boldly at the hedge, and a dozen or more had forced their way +through, in spite of the showers of stones and the desperate thrusts of +the pikemen and scythemen. Once amongst the peasants, the long swords +and the armour of the dragoons gave them a great advantage, and though +the sickles brought several of the horses to the ground the soldiers +continued to lay about them freely, and to beat back the fierce but +ill-armed resistance of their opponents. A dragoon sergeant, a man of +great resolution and of prodigious strength, appeared to be the leader +of the party, and encouraged his followers both by word and example. +A stab from a half-pike brought his horse to the ground, but he sprang +from the saddle as it fell, and avenged its death by a sweeping +back-handed cut from his broadsword. Waving his hat in his left hand he +continued to rally his men, and to strike down every Puritan who came +against him, until a blow from a hatchet brought him on his knees and a +flail stroke broke his sword close by the hilt. At the fall of their +leader his comrades turned and fled through the hedge, but the gallant +fellow, wounded and bleeding, still showed fight, and would assuredly +have been knocked upon the head for his pains had I not picked him up +and thrown him into the waggon, where he had the good sense to lie quiet +until the skirmish was at an end. Of the dozen who broke through, not +more than four escaped, and several others lay dead or wounded upon the +other side of the hedge, impaled by scythe-blades or knocked off their +horses by stones. Altogether nine of the dragoons were slain and +fourteen wounded, while we retained seven unscathed prisoners, ten +horses fit for service, and a score or so of carbines, with good store +of match, powder, and ball. The remainder of the troop fired a single, +straggling, irregular volley, and then galloped away down the +cross-road, disappearing amongst the trees from which they had emerged. + +All this, however, had not been accomplished without severe loss upon +our side. Three men had been killed and six wounded, one of them very +seriously, by the musketry fire. Five had been cut down when the +flanking party broke their way in, and only one of these could be +expected to recover. In addition to this, one man had lost his life +through the bursting of an ancient petronel, and another had his arm +broken by the kick of a horse. Our total losses, therefore, were eight +killed and the same wounded, which could not but be regarded as a very +moderate number when we consider the fierceness of the skirmish, and the +superiority of our enemy both in discipline and in equipment. + +So elated were the peasants by their victory, that those who had secured +horses were clamorous to be allowed to follow the dragoons, the more so +as Sir Gervas Jerome and Reuben were both eager to lead them. Decimus +Saxon refused, however, to listen to any such scheme, nor did he show +more favour to the Reverend Joshua Pettigrue's proposal, that he should +in his capacity as pastor mount immediately upon the waggon, and improve +the occasion by a few words of healing and unction. + +'It is true, good Master Pettigrue, that we owe much praise and much +outpouring, and much sweet and holy contending, for this blessing which +hath come upon Israel,' said he, 'but the time hath not yet arrived. +There is an hour for prayer and an hour for labour. Hark ye, friend'-- +to one of the prisoners--'to what regiment do you belong?' + +'It is not for me to reply to your questions,' the man answered sulkily. + +Nay, then, we'll try if a string round your scalp and a few twists of a +drumstick will make you find your tongue,' said Saxon, pushing his face +up to that of the prisoner, and staring into his eyes with so savage an +expression that the man shrank away affrighted. + +'It is a troop of the second dragoon regiment,' he said. + +'Where is the regiment itself?' + +'We left it on the Ilchester and Langport road.' + +'You hear,' said our leader. 'We have not a moment to spare, or we may +have the whole crew about our ears. Put our dead and wounded in the +carts, and we can harness two of these chargers to them. We shall not +be in safety until we are in Taunton town.' + +Even Master Joshua saw that the matter was too pressing to permit of any +spiritual exercises. The wounded men were lifted into the waggon and +laid upon the bedding, while our dead were placed in the cart which had +defended our rear. The peasants who owned these, far from making any +objection to this disposal of their property, assisted us in every way, +tightening girths and buckling traces. Within an hour of the ending of +the skirmish we found ourselves pursuing our way once more, and looking +back through the twilight at the scattered black dots upon the white +road, where the bodies of the dragoons marked the scene of our victory. + + + + +Chapter XVI. + + +Of our Coming to Taunton + +The purple shadows of evening had fallen over the countryside, and the +sun had sunk behind the distant Quantock and Brendon Hills, as our rude +column of rustic infantry plodded through Curry Rivell, Wrantage, and +Henlade. At every wayside cottage and red-tiled farmhouse the people +swarmed out us we passed, with jugs full of milk or beer, shaking hands +with our yokels, and pressing food and drink upon them. In the little +villages old and young came buzzing to greet us, and cheered long and +loud for King Monmouth and the Protestant cause. The stay-at-homes were +mostly elderly folks and children, but here and there a young labourer, +whom hesitation or duties had kept back, was so carried away by our +martial appearance, and by the visible trophies of our victory, that he +snatched up a weapon and joined our ranks. + +The skirmish had reduced our numbers, but it had done much to turn our +rabble of peasants into a real military force. The leadership of Saxon, +and his stern, short words of praise or of censure had done even more. +The men kept some sort of formation, and stepped together briskly in a +compact body. The old soldier and I rode at the head of the column, +with Master Pettigrue still walking between us. Then came the +cartful of our dead, whom we were carrying with us to insure their +decent burial. Behind this walked two score of scythe and sickle men, +with their rude weapons over their shoulders, preceding the waggon in +which the wounded were carried. This was followed by the main body of +the peasants, and the rear was brought up by ten or twelve men under the +command of Lockarby and Sir Gervas, mounted upon captured chargers, and +wearing the breastplates, swords, and carbines of the dragoons. + +I observed that Saxon rode with his chin upon his shoulder, casting +continual uneasy glances behind him, and halting at every piece of +rising ground to make sure that there were no pursuers at our heels. +It was not until, after many weary miles of marching, the lights of +Taunton could be seen twinkling far off in the valley beneath us that he +at last heaved a deep sigh of relief, and expressed his belief that all +danger was over. + +'I am not prone to be fearful upon small occasion,' he remarked, 'but +hampered as we are with wounded men and prisoners, it might have puzzled +Petrinus himself to know what we should have done had the cavalry +overtaken us. I can now, Master Pettigrue, smoke my pipe in peace, +without pricking up my ears at every chance rumble of a wheel or +shout of a village roisterer.' + +'Even had they pursued us,' said the minister stoutly, 'as long as the +hand of the Lord shall shield us, why should we fear them?' + +'Aye, aye!' Saxon answered impatiently, 'but the devil prevaileth at +times. Were not the chosen people themselves overthrown and led into +captivity? How say you, Clarke?' + +'One such skirmish is enough for a day,' I remarked. 'Faith! if instead +of charging us they had continued that carbine fire, we must either have +come forth or been shot where we lay.' + +'For that reason I forbade our friends with the muskets to answer it,' +said Saxon. 'Our silence led them to think that we had but a pistol or +two among us, and so brought them to charge us. Thus our volley became +the more terrifying since it was unexpected. I'll wager there was not a +man amongst them who did not feel that he had been led into a trap. +Mark you how the rogues wheeled and fled with one accord, as though +it had been part of their daily drill!' + +'The peasants stood to it like men,' I remarked. + +'There is nothing like a tincture of Calvinism for stiffening a line of +battle,' said Saxon. 'Look at the Swede when he is at home. What more +honest, simple-hearted fellow could you find, with no single soldierly +virtue, save that he could put away more spruce beer than you would care +to pay for. Yet if you do but cram him with a few strong, homely texts, +place a pike in his hand, and give him a Gustavus to lead him, there is +no infantry in the world that can stand against him. On the other hand, +I have seen young Turks, untrained to arms, strike in on behalf of the +Koran as lustily as these brave fellows behind us did for the Bible +which Master Pettigrue held up in front of them.' + +'I trust, sir,' said the minister gravely, 'that you do not, by these +remarks, intend to institute any comparison between our sacred +scriptures and the writings of the impostor Mahomet, or to infer that +there is any similarity between the devil-inspired fury of the infidel +Saracens and the Christian fortitude of the struggling faithful!' + +'By no means,' Saxon answered, grinning at me over the minister's head. +'I was but showing how closely the Evil One can imitate the workings of +the Spirit.' + +'Too true, Master Saxon, too true!' the clergyman answered sadly. +'Amid the conflict and discord it is hard to pick out the true path. +But I marvel much that amidst the snares and temptations that beset a +soldier's life you have kept yourself unsullied, with your heart still +set upon the true faith.' + +'It was through no strength of mine own,' said Saxon piously. + +'In very truth, such men as you are much needed in Monmouth's army,' +Master Joshua exclaimed. 'They have there several, as I understand, +from Holland, Brandenburg, and Scotland, who have been trained in arms, +but who care so little for the cause which we uphold that they curse and +swear in a manner that affrights the peasants, and threatens to call +down a judgment upon the army. Others there are who cling close to the +true faith, and have been born again among the righteous; but alas! they +have had no experience of camps and fields. Our blessed Master can work +by means of weak instruments, yet the fact remains that a man may be +a chosen light in a pulpit, and yet be of little avail in an onslaught +such as we have seen this day. I can myself arrange my discourse to the +satisfaction of my flock, so that they grieve when the sand is run out; +[Note E. Appendix] but I am aware that this power would stand me in +little stead when it came to the raising of barricades and the use of +carnal weapons. In this way it comes about, in the army of the +faithful, that those who are fit to lead are hateful to the people, +while those to whose words the people will hearken know little of war. +Now we have this day seen that you are ready of head and of hand, of +much experience of battle, and yet of demure and sober life, full of +yearnings after the word, and strivings against Apollyon. I therefore +repeat that you shall be as a very Joshua amongst them, or as a Samson, +destined to tear down the twin pillars of Prelacy and Popery, so as to +bury this corrupt government in its fall.' + +Decimus Saxon's only reply to this eulogy was one of those groans which +were supposed, among the zealots, to be the symbol of intense inner +conflict and emotion. So austere and holy was his expression, so solemn +his demeanour, and so frequent the upturnings of his eyes, clasping of +his hands, and other signs which marked the extreme sectary, that I +could not but marvel at the depths and completeness of the hypocrisy +which had cast so complete a cloak over his rapacious self. For very +mischief's sake I could not refrain from reminding him that there was +one at least who valued his professions at their real value. + +'Have you told the worthy minister,' said I, 'of your captivity amongst +the Mussulmans, and of the noble way in which you did uphold the +Christian faith at Stamboul?' + +'Nay,' cried our companion, 'I would fain hear the tale. I marvel much +that one so faithful and unbending as thyself was ever let loose by the +unclean and bloodthirsty followers of Mahomet.' + +'It does not become me to tell the tale,' Saxon answered with great +presence of mind, casting at the same time a most venomous sidelong +glance at me. 'It is for my comrades in misfortune and not for me to +describe what I endured for the faith. I have little doubt, Master +Pettigrue, that you would have done as much had you been there. +The town of Taunton lies very quiet beneath us, and there are few lights +for so early an hour, seeing that it has not yet gone ten. It is clear +that Monmouth's forces have not reached it yet, else had there been +some show of camp-fires in the valley; for though it is warm enough to +lie out in the open, the men must have fires to cook their victual.' + +'The army could scarce have come so far,' said the pastor. 'They have, +I hear, been much delayed by the want of arms and by the need of +discipline. Bethink ye, it was on the eleventh day of the month that +Monmouth landed at Lyme, and it is now but the night of the fourteenth. +There was much to be done in the time.' + +'Four whole days!' growled the old soldier. 'Yet I expected no better, +seeing that they have, so far as I can hear, no tried soldiers amongst +them. By my sword, Tilly or Wallenstein would not have taken four days +to come from Lyme to Taunton, though all James Stuart's cavalry barred +the way. Great enterprises are not pushed through in this halting +fashion. The blow should be sharp and sudden. But tell me, worthy +sir, all that you know about the matter, for we have heard little upon +the road save rumour and surmise. Was there not some fashion of onfall +at Bridport?' + +'There was indeed some shedding of blood at that place. The first two +days were consumed, as I understand, in the enrolling of the faithful +and the search for arms wherewith to equip them. You may well shake +your head, for the hours were precious. At last five hundred men were +broken into some sort of order, and marched along the coast under +command of Lord Grey of Wark and Wade the lawyer. At Bridport they were +opposed by the red Dorset militia and part of Portman's yellow coats. +If all be true that is said, neither side had much to boast of. +Grey and his cavalry never tightened bridle until they were back in Lyme +once more, though it is said their flight had more to do with the +hard mouths of their horses than with the soft hearts of the riders. +Wade and his footmen did bravely, and had the best of it against the +King's troops. There was much outcry against Grey in the camp, but +Monmouth can scarce afford to be severe upon the only nobleman who hath +joined his standard.' + +'Pshaw!' cried Saxon peevishly. 'There was no great stock of noblemen +in Cromwell's army, I trow, and yet they held their own against the +King, who had as many lords by him as there are haws in a thicket. +If ye have the people on your side, why should ye crave for these +bewigged fine gentlemen, whose white hands and delicate rapiers are of +as much service as so many ladies' bodkins?' + +'Faith!' said I, 'if all the fops are as careless for their lives as our +friend Sir Gervas, I could wish no better comrades in the field.' + +'In good sooth, yes!' cried Master Pettigrue heartily. 'What though he +be clothed in a Joseph's coat of many colours, and hath strange turns of +speech! No man could have fought more stoutly or shown a bolder front +against the enemies of Israel. Surely the youth hath good in his heart, +and will become a seat of grace and a vessel of the Spirit, though at +present he be entangled in the net of worldly follies and carnal +vanities.' + +'It is to be hoped so,' quoth Saxon devoutly. 'And what else can you +tell us of the revolt, worthy sir?' + +'Very little, save that the peasants have flocked in in such numbers +that many have had to be turned away for want of arms. Every +tithing-man in Somersetshire is searching for axes and scythes. There +is not a blacksmith but is at his forge from morn to night at work upon +pike-heads. There are six thousand men of a sort in the camp, but not +one in five carries a musket. They have advanced, I hear, upon +Axminster, where they must meet the Duke of Albemarle, who hath set +out from Exeter with four thousand of the train bands.' + +'Then we shall be too late, after all,' I exclaimed. + +'You will have enough of battles before Monmouth exchanges his +riding-hat for a crown, and his laced roquelaure for the royal purple,' +quoth Saxon. 'Should our worthy friend here be correctly informed and +such an engagement take place, it will but be the prologue to the play. +When Feversham and Churchill come up with the King's own troops, it is +then that Monmouth takes the last spring, that lands him either on the +throne or the scaffold.' + +Whilst this conversation had been proceeding we had been walking our +horses down the winding track which leads along the eastern slope of +Taunton Deane. For some time past we had been able to see in the valley +beneath us the lights of Taunton town and the long silver strip of the +river Tone. The moon was shining brightly in a cloudless heaven, +throwing a still and peaceful radiance over the fairest and richest of +English valleys. Lordly manorial houses, pinnacled towers, clusters of +nestling thatch-roofed cottages, broad silent stretches of cornland, +dark groves with the glint of lamp-lit windows shining from their +recesses--it all lay around us like the shadowy, voiceless landscapes +which stretch before us in our dreams. So calm and so beautiful was the +scene that we reined up our horses at the bend of the pathway, the tired +and footsore peasants came to a halt, while even the wounded raised +themselves in the waggon in order to feast their eyes upon this land of +promise. Suddenly, in the stillness, a strong fervent voice was heard +calling upon the source of all life to guard and preserve that which He +had created. It was Joshua Pettigrue, who had flung himself upon his +knees, and who, while asking for future guidance, was returning thanks +for the safe deliverance which his flock had experienced from the many +perils which had beset them upon their journey. I would, my children, +that I had one of those magic crystals of which we have read, that I +might show you that scene. The dark figures of the horsemen, the grave, +earnest bearing of the rustics as they knelt in prayer or leaned upon +their rude weapons, the half-cowed, half-sneering expression of the +captive dragoons, the line of white pain-drawn faces that peeped over +the side of the waggon, and the chorus of groans, cries, and +ejaculations which broke in upon the steady earnest voice of the pastor. +Above us the brilliant heavens, beneath us the beautiful sloping valley, +stretching away in the white moonlight as far as the eye could reach. +Could I but paint such a scene with the brush of a Verrio or Laguerre, I +should have no need to describe it in these halting and feeble words. + +Master Pettigrue had concluded his thanksgiving, and was in the act of +rising to his feet, when the musical peal of a bell rose up from the +sleeping town before us. For a minute or more it rose and fell in its +sweet clear cadence. Then a second with a deeper, harsher note joined +in, and then a third, until he air was filled with the merry jangling. +At the same time a buzz of shouting or huzzaing could be heard, which +increased and spread until it swelled into a mighty uproar. Lights +flashed in the windows, drums beat, and the whole place was astir. +These sudden signs of rejoicing coming at the heels of the minister's +prayer were seized upon as a happy omen by the superstitious peasants, +who set up a glad cry, and pushing onwards were soon within the +outskirts of the town. + +The footpaths and causeway were black with throngs of the townsfolk, +men, women, and children, many of whom were bearing torches and +lanthorns, all flocking in the same direction. Following them we found +ourselves in the market-place, where crowds of apprentice lads were +piling up faggots for a bonfire, while others were broaching two or +three great puncheons of ale. The cause of this sudden outbreak of +rejoicing was, we learned, that news had just come in that Albemarle's +Devonshire militia had partly deserted and partly been defeated at +Axminster that very morning. On hearing of our own successful skirmish +the joy of the people became more tumultuous than ever. They rushed in +amongst us, pouring blessings on our heads, in their strange burring +west-country speech, and embracing our horses as well as ourselves. +Preparations were soon made for our weary companions. A long empty wool +warehouse, thickly littered with straw, was put at their disposal, +with a tub of ale and a plentiful supply of cold meats and wheaten +bread. For our own part we made our way down East Street through the +clamorous hand-shaking crowd to the White Hart Inn, where after a hasty +meal we were right glad to seek our couches. Late into the night, +however, our slumbers were disturbed by the rejoicings of the mob, who, +having burned the effigies of Lord Sunderland and of Gregory Alford, +Mayor of Lyme, continued to sing west-country songs and Puritan hymns +into the small hours of the morning. + + + +Chapter XVII. + + +Of the Gathering in the Market-square + +The fair town in which we now found ourselves was, although Monmouth had +not yet reached it, the real centre of the rebellion. It was a +prosperous place, with a great woollen and kersey trade, which gave +occupation to as many as seven thousand inhabitants. It stood high, +therefore, amongst English boroughs, being inferior only to Bristol, +Norwich, Bath, Exeter, York, Worcester, and Nottingham amongst the +country towns. Taunton had long been famous not only for its own +resources and for the spirit of its inhabitants, but also for the +beautiful and highly cultivated country which spread around it, and gave +rise to a gallant breed of yeomen. From time immemorial the town had +been a rallying-point for the party of liberty, and for many years it +had leaned to the side of Republicanism in politics and of Puritanism in +religion. No place in the kingdom had fought more stoutly for the +Parliament, and though it had been twice besieged by Goring, the +burghers, headed by the brave Robert Blake, had fought so desperately, +that the Royalists had been compelled each time to retire discomfited. +On the second occasion the garrison had been reduced to dog's-flesh and +horse-flesh, but no word of surrender had come either from them or +their heroic commander, who was the same Blake under whom the old seaman +Solomon Sprent had fought against the Dutch. After the Restoration the +Privy Council had shown their recollection of the part played by the +Somersetshire town, by issuing a special order that the battlements +which fenced round the maiden stronghold should be destroyed. Thus, at +the time of which I speak, nothing but a line of ruins and a few +unsightly mounds represented the massive line of wall which had been so +bravely defended by the last generation of townsmen. There were not +wanting, however, many other relics of those stormy times. The houses +on the outskirts were still scarred and splintered from the effects of +the bombs and grenades of the Cavaliers. Indeed, the whole town bore a +grimly martial appearance, as though she were a veteran among boroughs +who had served in the past, and was not averse to seeing the flash +of guns and hearing the screech of shot once more. + +Charles's Council might destroy the battlements which his soldiers had +been unable to take, but no royal edict could do away with the resolute +spirit and strong opinions of the burghers. Many of them, born and bred +amidst the clash of civil strife, had been fired from their infancy by +the tales of the old war, and by reminiscences of the great assault when +Lunsford's babe-eaters were hurled down the main breach by the strong +arms of their fathers. In this way there was bred in Taunton a fiercer +and more soldierly spirit than is usual in an English country town, and +this flame was fanned by the unwearied ministerings of a chosen band of +Nonconformist clergymen, amongst whom Joseph Alleine was the most +conspicuous. No better focus for a revolt could have been chosen, +for no city valued so highly those liberties and that creed which was in +jeopardy. + +A large body of the burghers had already set out to join the rebel army, +but a good number had remained behind to guard the city, and these were +reinforced by gangs of peasants, like the one to which we had attached +ourselves, who had trooped in from the surrounding country, and now +divided their time between listening to their favourite preachers and +learning to step in line and to handle their weapons. In yard, street, +and market-square there was marching and drilling, night, morning, and +noon. As we rode out after breakfast the whole town was ringing with +the shouting of orders and the clatter of arms. Our own friends of +yesterday marched into the market-place at the moment we entered it, and +no sooner did they catch sight of us than they plucked off their hats +and cheered lustily, nor would they desist until we cantered over to +them and took our places at their head. + +'They have vowed that none other should lead them,' said the minister, +standing by Saxon's stirrup. + +'I could not wish to lead stouter fellows,' said he. 'Let them deploy +into double line in front of the town-hall. So, so, smartly there, rear +rank!' he shouted, facing his horse towards them. 'Now swing round into +position. Keep your ground, left flank, and let the others pivot upon +you. So--as hard and as straight as an Andrea Ferrara. I prythee, +friend, do not carry your pike as though it were a hoe, though I trust +you will do some weeding in the Lord's vineyard with it. And you, sir, +your musquetoon should be sloped upon your shoulder, and not borne under +your arm like a dandy's cane. Did ever an unhappy soldier find himself +called upon to make order among so motley a crew! Even my good friend +the Fleming cannot so avail here, nor does Petrinus, in his "De re +militari," lay down any injunctions as to the method of drilling a man +who is armed with a sickle or a scythe.' + +'Shoulder scythe, port scythe, present scythe--mow!' whispered Reuben to +Sir Gervas, and the pair began to laugh, heedless of the angry frowns of +Saxon. + +'Let us divide them,' he said, 'into three companies of eighty men. +Or stay--how many musketeers have we in all? Five-and-fifty. Let them +stand forward, and form the first line or company. Sir Gervas Jerome, +you have officered the militia of your county, and have doubtless some +knowledge of the manual exercise. If I am commandant of this force I +hand over the captaincy of this company to you. It shall be the first +line in battle, a position which I know you will not be averse to.' + +'Gad, they'll have to powder their heads,' said Sir Gervas, with +decision. + +'You shall have the entire ordering of them,' Saxon answered. 'Let the +first company take six paces to the front--so! Now let the pikemen +stand out. Eighty-seven, a serviceable company! Lockarby, do you take +these men in hand, and never forget that the German wars have proved +that the best of horse has no more chance against steady pikemen than +the waves against a crag. Take the captaincy of the second company, and +ride at their head.' + +'Faith! If they don't fight better than their captain rides,' whispered +Reuben, 'it will be an evil business. I trust they will be firmer in +the field than I am in the saddle.' + +'The third company of scythesmen I commit to your charge, Captain Micah +Clarke,' continued Saxon. 'Good Master Joshua Pettigrue will be our +field-chaplain. Shall not his voice and his presence be to us as manna +in the wilderness, and as springs of water in dry places? The +under-officers I see that you have yourselves chosen, and your captains +shall have power to add to the number from those who smite boldly and +spare not. Now one thing I have to say to you, and I speak it that all +may hear, and that none may hereafter complain that the rules he serves +under were not made clear to him. For I tell you now that when the +evening bugle calls, and the helm and pike are laid aside, I am as you +and you as I, fellow-workers in the same field, and drinkers from the +same wells of life. Lo, I will pray with you, or preach with you, or +hearken with you, or expound to you, or do aught that may become a +brother pilgrim upon the weary road. But hark you, friends! when we are +in arms and the good work is to be done, on the march, in the field, or +on parade, then let your bearing be strict, soldierly, and scrupulous, +quick to hear and alert to obey, for I shall have no sluggards or +laggards, and if there be any such my hand shall be heavy upon them, +yea, even to the cutting of them off. I say there shall be no mercy for +such,' here he paused and surveyed his force with a set face and his +eyelids drawn low over his glinting, shifting eyes. 'If, then,' he +continued, 'there is any man among you who fears to serve under a hard +discipline, let him stand forth now, and let him betake him to some +easier leader, for I say to you that whilst I command this corps, +Saxon's regiment of Wiltshire foot shall be worthy to testify in this +great and soul-raising cause.' + +The Colonel stopped and sat silent upon his mare. The long lines of +rustic faces looked up, some stolidly, some admiringly, some with an +expression of fear at his stern, gaunt face and baneful eyes. None +moved, however, so he continued. + +'Worthy Master Timewell, the Mayor of this fair town of Taunton, who has +been a tower of strength to the faithful during these long and +spirit-trying times, is about to inspect us when the others shall have +assembled. Captains, to your companies then! Close up there on the +musqueteers, with three paces between each line. Scythesmen, take +ground to your left. Let the under-officers stand on the flanks and +rear. So! 'tis smartly done for a first venture, though a good +adjutant with a prugel after the Imperial fashion might find work to +do.' + +Whilst we were thus rapidly and effectively organising ourselves into a +regiment, other bodies of peasantry more or less disciplined had marched +into the market-square, and had taken up their position there. Those on +our right had come from Frome and Radstock, in the north of +Somersetshire, and were a mere rabble armed with flails, hammers, and +other such weapons, with no common sign of order or cohesion save the +green boughs which waved in their hat-bands. The body upon our left, +who bore a banner amongst them announcing that they were men of Dorset, +were fewer in number but better equipped, having a front rank, like our +own, entirely armed with muskets. + +The good townsmen of Taunton, with their wives and their daughters, had +meanwhile been assembling on the balconies and at the windows which +overlooked the square, whence they might have a view of the pageant. +The grave, square-bearded, broadclothed burghers, and their portly dames +in velvet and three-piled taffeta, looked down from every post of +vantage, while here and there a pretty, timid face peeping out from a +Puritan coif made good the old claim, that Taunton excelled in beautiful +women as well as in gallant men. The side-walks were crowded with the +commoner folk--old white-bearded wool-workers, stern-faced matrons, +country lasses with their shawls over their heads, and swarms of +children, who cried out with their treble voices for King Monmouth and +the Protestant succession. + +'By my faith!' said Sir Gervas, reining back his steed until he was +abreast of me, 'our square-toed friends need not be in such post-haste +to get to heaven when they have so many angels among them on earth. +Gad's wounds, are they not beautiful? Never a patch or a diamond +amongst them, and yet what would not our faded belles of the Mall or the +Piazza give for their innocence and freshness?' + +'Nay, for Heaven's sake do not smile and bow at them,' said I. +'These courtesies may pass in London, but they may be misunderstood +among simple Somerset maidens and their hot-headed, hard-handed +kinsfolk.' + +I had hardly spoken before the folding-doors of the town-hall were +thrown open, and a procession of the city fathers emerged into the +market-place. Two trumpeters in parti-coloured jerkins preceded them, +who blew a flourish upon their instruments as they advanced. Behind +came the aldermen and councilmen, grave and reverend elders, clad in +their sweeping gowns of black silk, trimmed and tippeted with costly +furs. In rear of these walked a pursy little red-faced man, the town +clerk, bearing a staff of office in his hand, while the line of +dignitaries was closed by the tall and stately figure of Stephen +Timewell, Mayor of Taunton. + +There was much in this magistrate's appearance to attract attention, for +all the characteristics of the Puritan party to which he belonged were +embodied and exaggerated in his person. Of great height he was and very +thin, with a long-drawn, heavy eyelidded expression, which spoke of +fasts and vigils. The bent shoulders and the head sunk upon the breast +proclaimed the advances of age, but his bright steel-grey eyes and the +animation of his eager face showed how the enthusiasm of religion could +rise superior to bodily weakness. A peaked, straggling grey beard +descended half-way to his waist, and his long snow-white hairs fluttered +out from under a velvet skull-cap. The latter was drawn tightly down +upon his head, so as to make his ears protrude in an unnatural manner on +either side, a custom which had earned for his party the title of +'prickeared,' so often applied to them by their opponents. His attire +was of studious plainness and sombre in colour, consisting of his black +mantle, dark velvet breeches, and silk hosen, with velvet bows upon his +shoes instead of the silver buckles then in vogue. A broad chain of +gold around his neck formed the badge of his office. In front of him +strutted the fat red-vested town clerk, one hand upon his hip, the other +extended and bearing his wand of office, looking pompously to right and +left, and occasionally bowing as though the plaudits were entirely on +his own behalf. This little man had tied a huge broadsword to his +girdle, which clanked along the cobble stones when he walked and +occasionally inserted itself between his legs, when he would gravely +cock his foot over it again and walk on without any abatement of his +dignity. At last, finding these interruptions become rather too +frequent, he depressed the hilt of his great sword in order to elevate +the point, and so strutted onwards like a bantam cock with a tingle +straight feather in its tail. + +Having passed round the front and rear of the various bodies, and +inspected them with a minuteness and attention which showed that his +years had not dulled his soldier's faculties, the Mayor faced round with +the evident intention of addressing us. His clerk instantly darted in +front of him, and waving his arms began to shout 'Silence, good people! +Silence for his most worshipful the Mayor of Taunton! Silence for the +worthy Master Stephen Timewell!' until in the midst of his +gesticulations and cries he got entangled once more with his overgrown +weapon, and went sprawling on his hands and knees in the kennel. + +'Silence yourself, Master Tetheridge,' said the chief magistrate +severely. 'If your sword and your tongue were both clipped, it would be +as well for yourself and us. Shall I not speak a few words in season to +these good people but you must interrupt with your discordant +bellowings?' + +The busybody gathered himself together and slunk behind the group of +councilmen, while the Mayor slowly ascended the steps of the market +cross. From this position he addressed us, speaking in a high piping +voice which gathered strength as he proceeded, until it was audible at +the remotest corners of the square. + +'Friends in the faith,' he said, 'I thank the Lord that I have been +spared in my old age to look down upon this goodly assembly. For we of +Taunton have ever kept the flame of the Covenant burning amongst us, +obscured it may be at times by time-servers and Laodiceans, but none the +less burning in the hearts of our people. All round us, however, there +was a worse than Egyptian darkness, where Popery and Prelacy, +Arminianism, Erastianism, and Simony might rage and riot unchecked and +unconfined. But what do I see now? Do I see the faithful cowering in +their hiding-places and straining their ears for the sound of the +horsehoof's of their oppressors? Do I see a time-serving generation, +with lies on their lips and truth buried in their hearts? No! I see +before me godly men, not from this fair city only, but from the broad +country round, and from Dorset, and from Wiltshire, and some even as I +hear from Hampshire, all ready and eager to do mighty work in the cause +of the Lord. And when I see these faithful men, and when I think that +every broad piece in the strong boxes of my townsmen is ready to support +them, and when I know that the persecuted remnant throughout the country +is wrestling hard in prayer for us, then a voice speaks within me and +tells me that we shall tear down the idols of Dagon, and build up in +this England of ours such a temple of the true faith that not Popery, +nor Prelacy, nor idolatry, nor any other device of the Evil One shall +ever prevail against it.' + +A deep irrepressible hum of approval burst from the close ranks of the +insurgent infantry, with a clang of arms as musquetoon or pike was +grounded upon the stone pavement. + +Saxon half-turned his fierce face, raising an impatient hand, and the +hoarse murmur died away among our men, though our less-disciplined +companions to right and left continued to wave their green boughs and to +clatter their arms. The Taunton men opposite stood grim and silent, but +their set faces and bent brows showed that their townsman's oratory +had stirred the deep fanatic spirit which distinguished them. + +'In my hands,' continued the Mayor, drawing a roll of paper from his +bosom, 'is the proclamation which our royal leader hath sent in advance +of him. In his great goodness and self-abnegation he had, in his early +declaration given forth at Lyme, declared that he should leave the +choice of a monarch to the Commons of England, but having found that his +enemies did most scandalously and basely make use of this his +self-denial, and did assert that he had so little confidence in his own +cause that he dared not take publicly the title which is due to him, he +hath determined that this should have an end. Know, therefore, that it +is hereby proclaimed that James, Duke of Monmouth, is now and henceforth +rightful King of England; that James Stuart, the Papist and fratricide, +is a wicked usurper, upon whose head, dead or alive, a price of five +thousand guineas is affixed; and that the assembly now sitting at +Westminster, and calling itself the Commons of England, is an illegal +assembly, and its acts are null and void in the sight of the law. +God bless King Monmouth and the Protestant religion!' + +The trumpeters struck up a flourish and the people huzzaed, but the +Mayor raised his thin white hands as a signal for silence. 'A messenger +hath reached me this morning from the King,' he continued. 'He sends a +greeting to all his faithful Protestant subjects, and having halted at +Axminster to rest after his victory, he will advance presently and be +with ye in two days at the latest. + +'Ye will grieve to hear that good Alderman Rider was struck down in the +thick of the fray. He hath died like a man and a Christian, leaving all +his worldly goods, together with his cloth-works and household property, +to the carrying on of the war. Of the other slain there are not more +than ten of Taunton birth. Two gallant young brothers have been cut +off, Oliver and Ephraim Hollis, whose poor mother--' + +'Grieve not for me, good Master Timewell,' cried a female voice from the +crowd. 'I have three others as stout, who shall all be offered in the +same quarrel.' + +'You are a worthy woman, Mistress Hollis,' the Mayor answered, 'and your +children shall not be lost to you. The next name upon my list is Jesse +Trefail, then come Joseph Millar, and Aminadab Holt--' + +An elderly musqueteer in the first line of the Taunton foot pulled his +hat down over his brows and cried out in a loud steady voice, 'The Lord +hath given and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the +Lord.' + +'It is your only son, Master Holt,' said the Mayor, 'but the Lord also +sacrificed His only Son that you and I might drink the waters of eternal +life. The others are Path of Light Regan, James Fletcher, Salvation +Smith, and Robert Johnstone.' + +The old Puritan gravely rolled up his papers, and having stood for a few +moments with his hands folded across his breast in silent prayer, he +descended from the market cross, and moved off, followed by the aldermen +and councilmen. The crowd began likewise to disperse in sedate and +sober fashion, with grave earnest faces and downcast eyes. A large +number of the countryfolk, however, more curious or less devout than +the citizens, gathered round our regiment to see the men who had beaten +off the dragoons. + +'See the mon wi' a face like a gerfalcon,' cried one, pointing to Saxon; +''tis he that slew the Philistine officer yestreen, an' brought the +faithful off victorious.' + +'Mark ye yon other one,' cried an old dame, 'him wi' the white face an' +the clothes like a prince. He's one o' the Quality, what's come a' the +way froe Lunnon to testify to the Protestant creed. He's a main pious +gentleman, he is, an' if he had bided in the wicked city they'd ha' had +his head off, like they did the good Lord Roossell, or put him in chains +wi' the worthy Maister Baxter.' + +'Marry come up, gossip,' cried a third. 'The girt mun on the grey horse +is the soldier for me. He has the smooth cheeks o' a wench, an' limbs +like Goliath o' Gath. I'll war'nt he could pick up my old gaffer Jones +an' awa' wi' him at his saddle-bow, as easy as Towser does a rotten! +But here's good Maister Tetheridge, the clerk, and on great business +too, for he's a mun that spares ne time ne trooble in the great cause.' + +'Room, good people, room! 'cried the little clerk, bustling up with an +air of authority. 'Hinder not the high officials of the Corporation in +the discharge of their functions. Neither should ye hamper the flanks +of fighting men, seeing that you thereby prevent that deploying and +extending of the line which is now advocated by many high commanders. +I prythee, who commands this cohort, or legion rather, seeing that +you have auxiliary horse attached to it?' + +''Tis a regiment, sirrah,' said Saxon sternly. 'Colonel Saxon's +regiment of Wiltshire foot, which I have the honour to command.' + +'I beg your Colonelship's pardon, 'cried the clerk nervously, edging +away from the swarthy-faced soldier. 'I have heard speak of your +Colonelship, and of your doings in the German wars. I have myself +trailed a pike in my youth and have broken a head or two, aye, and a +heart or two also, when I wore buff and bandolier.' + +'Discharge your message,' said our Colonel shortly. + +''Tis from his most worshipful the Mayor, and is addressed to yourself +and to your captains, who are doubtless these tall cavaliers whom I see +on either side of me. Pretty fellows, by my faith! but you and I know +well, Colonel, that a little trick of fence will set the smallest of us +on a level with the brawniest. Now I warrant that you and I, being old +soldiers, could, back to back, make it good against these three +gallants.' + +'Speak, fellow,' snarled Saxon, and reaching out a long sinewy arm he +seized the loquacious clerk by the lappet of his gown, and shook him +until his long sword clattered again. + +'How, Colonel, how?' cried Master Tetheridge, while his vest seemed to +acquire a deeper tint from the sudden pallor of his face. 'Would you +lay an angry hand upon the Mayor's representative? I wear a bilbo by +my side, as you can see. I am also somewhat quick and choleric, and +warn you therefore not to do aught which I might perchance construe into +a personal slight. As to my message, it was that his most worshipful +the Mayor did desire to have word with you and your captains in the +town-hall.' + +'We shall be there anon,' said Saxon, and turning to the regiment he set +himself to explain some of the simpler movements and exercises, teaching +his officers as well as his men, for though Sir Gervas knew something of +the manual, Lockarby and I brought little but our good-will to the task. +When the order to dismiss was at last given, our companies marched back +to their barracks in the wool warehouse, while we handed over our horses +to the grooms from the White Hart, and set off to pay our respects to +the Mayor. + + + +Chapter XVIII. + + +Of Master Stephen Timewell, Mayor of Taunton + +Within the town-hall all was bustle and turmoil. At one side +behind a low table covered with green baize sat two scriveners with +great rolls of paper in front of them. A long line of citizens passed +slowly before them, each in turn putting down a roll or bag of coins +which was duly noted by the receivers. A square iron-bound chest stood +by their side, into which the money was thrown, and we noted as we +passed that it was half full of gold pieces. We could not but mark that +many of the givers were men whose threadbare doublets and pinched faces +showed that the wealth which they were dashing down so readily must have +been hoarded up for such a purpose, at the cost of scanty fare and hard +living. Most of them accompanied their gift by a few words of prayer, +or by some pithy text anent the treasure which rusteth not, or the +lending to the Lord. The town clerk stood by the table giving forth the +vouchers for each sum, and the constant clack of his tongue filled the +hall, as he read aloud the names and amounts, with his own remarks +between. + +'Abraham Willis,' he shouted as we entered; 'put him down twenty-six +pounds and ten shillings. You shall receive ten per centum upon this +earth, Master Willis, and I warrant that it shall not be forgotten +hereafter. John Standish, two pounds. William Simons, two guineas. +Stand-fast Healing, forty-five pounds. That is a rare blow which you +have struck into the ribs of Prelacy, good Master Healing. Solomon +Warren, five guineas. James White, five shillings--the widow's mite, +James! Thomas Bakewell, ten pounds. Nay, Master Bakewell, surely out +of three farms on the banks of Tone, and grazing land in the fattest +part of Athelney, you can spare more than this for the good cause. +We shall doubtless see you again. Alderman Smithson, ninety pounds. +Aha! There is a slap for the scarlet woman! A few more such and her +throne shall be a ducking-stool. We shall break her down, worthy Master +Smithson, even as Jehu, the son of Nimshi, broke down the house of +Baal.' So he babbled on with praise, precept, and rebuke, though the +grave and solemn burghers took little notice of his empty clamour. + +At the other side of the hall were several long wooden drinking-troughs, +which were used for the storing of pikes and scythes. Special +messengers and tithing-men had been sent out to scour the country for +arms, who, as they returned, placed their prizes here under the care of +the armourer-general. Besides the common weapons of the peasants there +was a puncheon half full of pistols and petronels, together with a good +number of muskets, screw-guns, snaphances, birding-pieces, and carbines, +with a dozen bell-mouthed brass blunderbusses, and a few old-fashioned +wall-pieces, such as sakers and culverins taken from the manor-houses of +the county. From the walls and the lumber-rooms of these old dwellings +many other arms had been brought to light which were doubtless esteemed +as things of price by our forefathers, but which would seem strange to +your eyes in these days, when a musket may be fired once in every two +minutes, and will carry a ball to a distance of four hundred paces. +There were halberds, battle-axes, morning stars, brown bills, maces, and +ancient coats of chain mail, which might even now save a man from sword +stroke or pike thrust. + +In the midst of the coming and the going stood Master Timewell, the +Mayor, ordering all things like a skilful and provident commander. +I could understand the trust and love which his townsmen had for him, as +I watched him labouring with all the wisdom of an old man and the +blithesomeness of a young one. He was hard at work as we approached in +trying the lock of a falconet; but perceiving us, he came forward and +saluted us with much kindliness. + +'I have heard much of ye,' said he; 'how ye caused the faithful to +gather to a head, and so beat off the horsemen of the usurper. It will +not be the last time, I trust, that ye shall see their backs. I hear, +Colonel Saxon, that ye have seen much service abroad.' + +'I have been the humble tool of Providence in much good work,' said +Saxon, with a bow. 'I have fought with the Swedes against the +Brandenburgers, and again with the Brandenburgers against the Swedes, my +time and conditions with the latter having been duly carried out. +I have afterwards in the Bavarian service fought against Swedes and +Brandenburgers combined, besides having undergone the great wars on the +Danube against the Turk, and two campaigns with the Messieurs in the +Palatinate, which latter might be better termed holiday-making than +fighting.' + +'A soldierly record in very truth,' cried the Mayor, stroking his white +beard. 'I hear that you are also powerfully borne onwards in prayer and +song. You are, I perceive, one of the old breed of '44, Colonel--the +men who were in the saddle all day, and on their knees half the night. +When shall we see the like of them again? A few such broken wrecks as I +are left, with the fire of our youth all burned out and nought left but +the ashes of lethargy and lukewarmness.' + +'Nay, nay,' said Saxon, 'your position and present business will scarce +jump with the modesty of your words. But here are young men who will +find the fire if their elders bring the brains. This is Captain Micah +Clarke, and Captain Lockarby, and Captain the Honourable Sir Gervas +Jerome, who have all come far to draw their swords for the downtrodden +faith.' + +'Taunton welcomes ye, young sirs,' said the Mayor, looking a trifle +askance, as I thought, at the baronet, who had drawn out his +pocket-mirror, and was engaged in the brushing of his eyebrows. +'I trust that during your stay in this town ye will all four take up +your abode with me. 'Tis a homely roof and simple fare, but a soldier's +wants are few. And now, Colonel, I would fain have your advice as to +these three drakes, whether if rehooped they may be deemed fit for +service; and also as to these demi-cannons, which were used in the old +Parliamentary days, and may yet have a word to say in the people's +cause.' + +The old soldier and the Puritan instantly plunged into a deep and +learned disquisition upon the merits of wall-pieces, drakes, +demi-culverins, sakers, minions, mortar-pieces, falcons, and +pattereroes, concerning all which pieces of ordnance Saxon had strong +opinions to offer, fortified by many personal hazards and experiences. +He then dwelt upon the merits of fire-arrows and fire-pikes in the +attack or defence of places of strength, and had finally begun to +descant upon sconces, 'directis lateribus,' and upon works, semilunar, +rectilineal, horizontal, or orbicular, with so many references to his +Imperial Majesty's lines at Gran, that it seemed that his discourse +would never find an end. We slipped away at last, leaving him still +discussing the effects produced by the Austrian grenadoes upon a +Bavarian brigade of pikes at the battle of Ober-Graustock. + +'Curse me if I like accepting this old fellow's offer,' said Sir Gervas, +in an undertone. 'I have heard of these Puritan households. Much grace +to little sack, and texts flying about as hard and as jagged as flint +stones. To bed at sundown, and a sermon ready if ye do but look kindly +at the waiting-wench or hum the refrain of a ditty.' + +'His home may be larger, but it could scarce be stricter than that of my +own father,' I remarked. + +'I'll warrant that,' cried Reuben. 'When we have been a morris-dancing, +or having a Saturday night game of "kiss-in-the-ring," or +"parson-has-lost-his-coat," I have seen Ironside Joe stride past us, and +cast a glance at us which hath frozen the smile upon our lips. +I warrant that he would have aided Colonel Pride to shoot the bears and +hack down the maypoles.' + +''Twere fratricide for such a man to shoot a bear,' quoth Sir Gervas, +'with all respect, friend Clarke, for your honoured progenitor.' + +'No more than for you to shoot at a popinjay,' I answered, laughing; +'but as to the Mayor's offer, we can but go to meat with him now, and +should it prove irksome it will be easy for you to plead some excuse, +and so get honourably quit of it. But bear in mind, Sir Gervas, that +such households are in very truth different to any with which you are +acquainted, so curb your tongue or offence may come of it. Should I cry +"hem!" or cough, it will be a sign to you that you had best beware.' + +'Agreed, young Solomon!' cried he. 'It is, indeed, well to have a pilot +like yourself who knows these godly waters. For my own part, I should +never know how near I was to the shoals. But our friends have finished +the battle of Ober what's its name, and are coming towards us. I trust, +worthy Mr. Mayor, that your difficulties have been resolved?' + +'They are, sir,' replied the Puritan. 'I have been much edified by your +Colonel's discourse, and I have little doubt that by serving under him +ye will profit much by his ripe experience.' + +'Very like, sir, very like,' said Sir Gervas carelessly. + +'But it is nigh one o'clock,' the Mayor continued, 'our frail flesh +cries aloud for meat and drink. I beg that ye will do me the favour to +accompany me to my humble dwelling, where we shall find the household +board already dressed.' + +With these words he led the way out of the hall and paced slowly down +Fore Street, the people falling back to right and to left as he passed, +and raising their caps to do him reverence. Here and there, as he +pointed out to us, arrangements had been made for barring the road with +strong chains to prevent any sudden rush of cavalry. In places, too, at +the corner of a house, a hole had been knocked in the masonry through +which peeped the dark muzzle of a carronade or wall-piece. These +precautions were the more necessary as several bodies of the Royal +Horse, besides the one which we had repulsed, were known to be within +the Deane, and the town, deprived of its ramparts, was open to an +incursion from any daring commander. + +The chief magistrate's house was a squat square-faced stone building +within a court which opened on to East Street. The peaked oak door, +spangled with broad iron nails, had a gloomy and surly aspect, but the +hall within was lightful and airy, with a bright polished cedar +planking, and high panelling of some dark-grained wood which gave forth +a pleasant smell as of violets. A broad night of steps rose up from the +farther end of the hall, down which as we entered a young sweet-faced +maid came tripping, with an old dame behind her, who bore in her hands a +pile of fresh napery. At the sight of us the elder one retreated up the +stairs again, whilst the younger came flying down three steps at a time, +threw her arms round the old Mayor's neck, and kissed him fondly, +looking hard into his face the while, as a mother gazes into that of a +child with whom she fears that aught may have gone amiss. + +'Weary again, daddy, weary again,' she said, shaking her head anxiously, +with a small white hand upon each of his shoulders. 'Indeed, and +indeed, thy spirit is greater than thy strength.' + +'Nay, nay, lass,' said he, passing his hand fondly over her rich brown +hair. The workman must toil until the hour of rest is rung. This, +gentlemen, is my granddaughter Ruth, the sole relic of my family and the +light of mine old age. The whole grove hath been cut down, and only the +oldest oak and the youngest sapling left. These cavaliers, little one, +have come from afar to serve the cause, and they have done us the honour +to accept of our poor hospitality.' + +'Ye are come in good time, gentlemen,' she answered, looking us straight +in the eyes with a kindly smile as a sister might greet her brothers. +'The household is gathered round the table and the meal is ready.' + +'But not more ready than we,' cried the stout old burgher. 'Do thou +conduct our guests to their places, whilst I seek my room and doff these +robes of office, with my chain and tippet, ere I break my fast.' + +Following our fair guide we passed into a very large and lofty room, the +walls of which were wainscoted with carved oak, and hung at either end +with tapestry. The floor was tesselated after the French fashion, and +plentifully strewn with skins and rugs. At one end of the apartment +stood a great white marble fireplace, like a small room in itself, +fitted up, as was the ancient custom, with an iron stand in the centre, +and with broad stone benches in the recess on either side. Lines of +hooks above the chimneypiece had been used, as I surmise, to support +arms, for the wealthy merchants of England were wont to keep enough in +their houses to at least equip their apprentices and craftsmen. They +had now, however, been removed, nor was there any token of the troublous +times save a single heap of pikes and halberds piled together in a +corner. + +Down the centre of this room there ran a long and massive table, which +was surrounded by thirty or forty people, the greater part of whom were +men. They were on their feet as we entered, and a grave-faced man at +the farther end was drawling forth an interminable grace, which began as +a thanksgiving for food, but wandered away into questions of Church +and State, and finally ended in a supplication for Israel now in arms to +do battle for the Lord. While this was proceeding we stood in a group +by the door with our caps doffed, and spent our time in observing the +company more closely than we could have done with courtesy had their +eyes not been cast down and their thoughts elsewhere. + +They were of all ages, from greybeards down to lads scarce out of their +teens, all with the same solemn and austere expression of countenance, +and clad in the same homely and sombre garb. Save their wide white +collars and cuffs, not a string of any colour lessened the sad severity +of their attire. Their black coats and doublets were cut straight and +close, and their cordovan leather shoes, which in the days of our youth +were usually the seat of some little ornament, were uniformly square +toed and tied with sad-coloured ribbon. Most of them wore plain +sword-belts of untanned hide, but the weapons themselves, with their +broad felt hats and black cloaks, were laid under the benches or placed +upon the settles which lined the walls. They stood with their hands +clasped and their heads bent, listening to the untimely address, and +occasionally by some groan or exclamation testifying that the preacher's +words had moved them. + +The overgrown grace came at last to an end, when the company sat +silently down, and proceeded without pause or ceremony to attack the +great joints which smoked before them. Our young hostess led us to the +end of the table, where a high carded chair with a black cushion upon it +marked the position of the master of the house. Mistress Timewell +seated herself upon the right of the Mayor's place, with Sir Gervas +beside her, while the post of honour upon the left was assigned to +Saxon. On my left sat Lockarby, whose eyes I observed had been fixed in +undisguised and all-absorbing admiration upon the Puritan maiden from +the first moment that he had seen her. The table was of no great +breadth, so that we could talk across in spite of the clatter of plates +and dishes, the bustle of servants, and the deep murmur of voices. + +'This is my father's household,' said our hostess, addressing herself to +Saxon. 'There is not one of them who is not in his employ. He hath +many apprentices in the wool trade. We sit down forty to meat every day +in the year.' + +'And to right good fare, too,' quoth Saxon, glancing down the table. +'Salmon, ribs of beef, loin of mutton, veal, pasties--what could man +wish for more? Plenty of good home-brewed, too, to wash it down. +If worthy Master Timewell can arrange that the army be victualled after +the same fashion, I for one shell be beholden to him. A cup of dirty +water and a charred morsel cooked on a ramrod over the camp fire are +like to take the place of these toothsome dainties.' + +'Is it not best to have faith?' said the Puritan maiden. 'Shall not the +Almighty feed His soldiers even as Elisha was fed in the wilderness and +Hagar in the desert?' + +'Aye,' exclaimed a lanky-haired, swarthy young man who sat upon the +right of Sir Gervas, 'he will provide for us, even as the stream of +water gushed forth out of dry places, even as the quails and the manna +lay thick upon barren soil.' + +'So I trust, young sir,' quoth Saxon, 'but we must none the less arrange +a victual-train, with a staff of wains, duly numbered, and an intendant +over each, after the German fashion. Such things should not be left to +chance.' + +Pretty Mistress Timewell glanced up with a half startled look at this +remark, as though shocked at the want of faith implied in it. Her +thoughts might have taken the form of words had not her father entered +the room at the moment, the whole company rising and bowing to him as he +advanced to his seat. + +'Be seated, friends,' said he, with a wave of his hand; 'we are a homely +folk, Colonel Saxon, and the old-time virtue of respect for our elders +has not entirely forsaken us. I trust, Ruth,' he continued, 'that thou +hast seen to the wants of our guests.' + +We all protested that we had never received such attention and +hospitality. + +''Tis well, 'tis well,' said the good wool-worker. 'But your plates are +clear and your glasses empty. William, look to it! A good workman is +ever a good trencherman. If a 'prentice of mine cannot clean his +platter, I know that I shall get little from him with carder and teazel. +Thew and sinew need building up. A slice from that round of beef, +William! Touching that same battle of Ober-Graustock, Colonel, what +part was played in the fray by that regiment of Pandour horse, in which, +as I understand, thou didst hold a commission?' + +This was a question on which, as may be imagined, Saxon had much to say, +and the pair were soon involved in a heated discussion, in which the +experiences of Roundway Down and Marston Moor were balanced against the +results of a score of unpronounceable fights in the Styrian Alps and +along the Danube. Stephen Timewell in his lusty youth had led first a +troop and then a regiment through the wars of the Parliament, from +Chalgrove Field to the final battle at Worcester, so that his warlike +passages, though less varied and extensive than those of our companion, +were enough to enable him to form and hold strong opinions. These were +in the main the same as those of the soldier of fortune, but when their +ideas differed upon any point, there arose forthwith such a cross-fire +of military jargon, such speech of estacados and palisados, such +comparisons of light horse and heavy, of pikemen and musqueteers, of +Lanzknechte, Leaguers, and on-falls, that the unused ear became +bewildered with the babble. At last, on some question of fortification, +the Mayor drew his outworks with the spoons and knives, on which Saxon +opened his parallels with lines of bread, and pushing them rapidly up +with traverses and covered ways, he established himself upon the +re-entering angle of the Mayor's redoubt. This opened up a fresh +question as to counter-mines, with the result that the dispute raged +with renewed vigour. + +Whilst this friendly strife was proceeding between the elders, Sir +Gervas Jerome and Mistress Ruth had fallen into conversation at the +other side of the table. I have seldom seen, my dear children, so +beautiful a face as that of this Puritan damsel; and it was beautiful +with that sort of modest and maidenly comeliness where the features +derive their sweetness from the sweet soul which shines through them. +The perfectly-moulded body appeared to be but the outer expression +of the perfect spirit within. Her dark-brown hair swept back from a +broad and white forehead, which surmounted a pair of well-marked +eyebrows and large blue thoughtful eyes. The whole cast of her features +was gentle and dove-like, yet there was a firmness in the mouth and +delicate prominence of the chin which might indicate that in times of +trouble and danger the little maid would prove to be no unworthy +descendant of the Roundhead soldier and Puritan magistrate. I doubt not +that where more loud-tongued and assertive dames might be cowed, the +Mayor's soft-voiced daughter would begin to cast off her gentler +disposition, and to show the stronger nature which underlay it. +It amused me much to listen to the efforts which Sir Gervas made to +converse with her, for the damsel and he lived so entirely in two +different worlds, that it took all his gallantry and ready wit to keep +on ground which would be intelligible to her. + +'No doubt you spend much of your time in reading, Mistress Ruth,' he +remarked. 'It puzzles me to think what else you can do so far from +town?' + +'Town!' said she in surprise. 'What is Taunton but a town?' + +'Heaven forbid that I should deny it,' replied Sir Gervas, 'more +especially in the presence of so many worthy burghers, who have the name +of being somewhat jealous of the honour of their native city. Yet the +fact remains, fair mistress, that the town of London so far transcends +all other towns that it is called, even as I called it just now, _the_ +town.' + +'Is it so very large, then?' she cried, with pretty wonder. 'But new +louses are building in Taunton, outside the old walls, and beyond +Shuttern, and some even at the other side of the river. Perhaps in time +it may be as large.' + +'If all the folks in Taunton were to be added to London,' said Sir +Gervas, 'no one there would observe that there had been any increase.' + +'Nay, there you are laughing at me. That is against all reason,' cried +the country maiden. + +'Your grandfather will bear out my words,' said Sir Gervas. 'But to +return to your reading, I'll warrant that there is not a page of Scudery +and her "Grand Cyrus" which you have not read. You are familiar, +doubtless, with every sentiment in Cowley, or Waller, or Dryden?' + +'Who are these?' she asked. 'At what church do they preach?' + +'Faith!' cried the baronet, with a laugh, 'honest John preaches at the +church of Will Unwin, commonly known as Will's, where many a time it is +two in the morning before he comes to the end of his sermon. But why +this question? Do you think that no one may put pen to paper unless +they have also a right to wear a gown and climb up to a pulpit? I had +thought that all of your sex had read Dryden. Pray, what are your own +favourite books?' + +'There is Alleine's "Alarm to the Unconverted,"' said she. 'It is a +stirring work, and one which hath wrought much good. Hast thou not +found it to fructify within thee?' + +'I have not read the book you name,' Sir Gervas confessed. + +'Not read it?' she cried, with raised eyebrows. 'Truly I had thought +that every one had read the "Alarm." What dost thou think, then, of +"Faithful Contendings"?' + +'I have not read it.' + +'Or of Baxter's Sermons?' she asked. + +'I have not read them.' + +'Of Bull's "Spirit Cordial," then?' + +'I have not read it.' + +Mistress Ruth Timewell stared at him in undisguised wonder. 'You may +think me ill-bred to say it, sir,' she remarked, 'but I cannot but +marvel where you have been, or what you have done all your life. +Why, the very children in the street have read these books.' + +'In truth, such works come little in our way in London,' Sir Gervas +answered. 'A play of George Etherege's, or a jingle of Sir John +Suckling's is lighter, though mayhap less wholesome food for the mind. +A man in London may keep pace with the world of letters without much +reading, for what with the gossip of the coffee-houses and the +news-letters that fall in his way, and the babble of poets or wits at +the assemblies, with mayhap an evening or two in the week at the +playhouse, with Vanbrugh or Farquhar, one can never part company for +long with the muses. Then, after the play, if a man is in no humour for +a turn of luck at the green table at the Groom Porter's, he may stroll +down to the Coca Tree if he be a Tory, or to St. James's if he be a +Whig, and it is ten to one if the talk turn not upon the turning of +alcaics, or the contest between blank verse or rhyme. Then one may, +after an arriere supper, drop into Will's or Slaughter's and find Old +John, with Tickell and Congreve and the rest of them, hard at work on +the dramatic unities, or poetical justice, or some such matter. +I confess that my own tastes lay little in that line, for about that +hour I was likely to be worse employed with wine-flask, dice-box, or--' + +'Hem! hem!' cried I warningly, for several of the Puritans were +listening with faces which expressed anything but approval. + +'What you say of London is of much interest to me,' said the Puritan +maiden, 'though these names and places have little meaning to my +ignorant ears. You did speak, however, of the playhouse. Surely no +worthy man goes near those sinks of iniquity, the baited traps of the +Evil One? Has not the good and sanctified Master Bull declared from the +pulpit that they are the gathering-place of the froward, the chosen +haunts of the perverse Assyrians, as dangerous to the soul as any of +those Papal steeple-houses wherein the creature is sacrilegiously +confounded with the Creator?' + +'Well and truly spoken, Mistress Timewell,' cried the lean young Puritan +upon the right, who had been an attentive listener to the whole +conversation. 'There is more evil in such houses than even in the +cities of the plain. I doubt not that the wrath of the Lord will +descend upon them, and destroy them, and wreck them utterly, together +with the dissolute men and abandoned women who frequent them.' + +'Your strong opinions, friend,' said Sir Gervas quietly, 'are borne out +doubtless by your full knowledge of the subject. How often, prythee, +have you been in these playhouses which you are so ready to decry?' + +'I thank the Lord that I have never been so far tempted from the +straight path as to set foot within one,' the Puritan answered, 'nor +have I ever been in that great sewer which is called London. I trust, +however, that I with others of the faithful may find our way thither +with our tucks at our sides ere this business is finished, when we shall +not be content, I'll warrant, with shutting these homes of vice, as +Cromwell did, but we shall not leave one stone upon another, and shall +sow the spot with salt, that it may be a hissing and a byword amongst +the people.' + +'You are right, John Derrick,' said the Mayor, who had overheard the +latter part of his remarks. 'Yet methinks that a lower tone and a more +backward manner would become you better when you are speaking with your +master's guests. Touching these same playhouses, Colonel, when we have +carried the upper hand this time, we shall not allow the old tares to +check the new wheat. We know what fruit these places have borne in the +days of Charles, the Gwynnes, the Palmers, and the whole base crew of +foul lecherous parasites. Have you ever been in London, Captain +Clarke?' + +'Nay, sir; I am country born and bred.' + +'The better man you,' said our host. 'I have been there twice. +The first time was in the days of the Rump, when Lambert brought in his +division to overawe the Commons. I was then quartered at the sign of +the Four Crosses in Southwark, then kept by a worthy man, one John +Dolman, with whom I had much edifying speech concerning predestination. +All was quiet and sober then, I promise you, and you might have walked +from Westminster to the Tower in the dead of the night without hearing +aught save the murmur of prayer and the chanting of hymns. Not a +ruffler or a wench was in the streets after dark, nor any one save staid +citizens upon their business, or the halberdiers of the watch. +The second visit which I made was over this business of the levelling of +the ramparts, when I and neighbour Foster, the glover, were sent at the +head of a deputation from this town to the Privy Council of Charles. +Who could have credited that a few years would have made such a change? +Every evil thing that had been stamped underground had spawned and +festered until its vermin brood flooded the streets, and the godly wore +themselves driven to shun the light of day. Apollyon had indeed +triumphed for a while. A quiet man could not walk the highways without +being elbowed into the kennel by swaggering swashbucklers, or accosted +by painted hussies. Padders and michers, laced cloaks, jingling spurs, +slashed boots, tall plumes, bullies and pimps, oaths and blasphemies--I +promise you hell was waxing fat. Even in the solitude of one's coach +one was not free from the robber.' + +'How that, sir?' asked Reuben. + +'Why marry, in this wise. As I was the sufferer I have the best right +to tell the tale. Ye must know that after our reception--which was cold +enough, for we were about as welcome to the Privy Council as the +hearth-tax man is to the village housewife--we were asked, more as I +guess from derision than from courtesy, to the evening levee at +Buckingham Palace. We would both fain have been excused from going but +we feared that our refusal might give undue offence, and so hinder the +success of our mission. My homespun garments ware somewhat rough for +such an occasion, yet I determined to appear in them, with the addition +of a new black baize waistcoat faced with silk, and a good periwig, for +which I gave three pounds ten shillings in the Haymarket.' + +The young Puritan opposite turned up his eyes and murmured something +about 'sacrificing to Dagon,' which fortunately for him was inaudible to +the high-spirited old man. + +'It was but a worldly vanity,' quoth the Mayor; 'for, with all +deference, Sir Gervas Jerome, a man's own hair arranged with some taste, +and with perhaps a sprinkling of powder, is to my mind the fittest +ornament to his head. It is the contents and not the case which +availeth. Having donned this frippery, good Master Foster and I hired a +calash and drove to the Palace. We were deep in grave and, I trust, +profitable converse speeding through the endless streets, when of a +sudden I felt a sharp tug at my head, and my hat fluttered down on to my +knees. I raised my hands, and lo! they came upon my bare pate. The +wig had vanished. We were rolling down Fleet Street at the moment, and +there was no one in the calash save neighbour Foster, who sat as +astounded as I. We looked high and low, on the seats and beneath them, +but not a sign of the periwig was there. It was gone utterly and +without a trace.' + +'Whither then?' we asked with one voice. + +'That was the question which we set ourselves to solve. For a moment I +do assure ye that we bethought us that it might be a judgment upon us +for our attention to such carnal follies. Then it crossed my mind that +it might be the doing of some malicious sprite, as the Drummer of +Tedworth, or those who occasioned the disturbances no very long time +since at the old Gast House at Little Burton here in Somersetshire. +[Note F. Appendix.] With this thought we hallooed to the coachman, +and told him what had occurred to us. The fellow came down from his +perch, and having heard our story, he burst straightway into much foul +language, and walking round to the back of his calash, showed us that a +slit had been made in the leather wherewith it was fashioned. Through +this the thief had thrust his hand and had drawn my wig through the +hole, resting the while on the crossbar of the coach. It was no +uncommon thing, he said, and the wig-snatchers were a numerous body who +waited beside the peruke-maker's shops, and when they saw a customer +come forth with a purchase which was worth their pains they would follow +him, and, should he chance to drive, deprive him of it in this fashion. +Be that as it may, I never saw my wig again, and had to purchase another +before I could venture into the royal presence.' + +'A strange adventure truly,' exclaimed Saxon. 'How fared it with you +for the remainder of the evening?' + +'But scurvily, for Charles's face, which was black enough at all times, +was blackest of all to us; nor was his brother the Papist more +complaisant. They had but brought us there that they might dazzle us +with their glitter and gee-gaws, in order that we might bear a fine +report of them back to the West with us. There were supple-backed +courtiers, and strutting nobles, and hussies with their shoulders bare, +who should for all their high birth have been sent to Bridewell as +readily as any poor girl who ever walked at the cart's tail. Then there +were the gentlemen of the chamber, with cinnamon and plum-coloured +coats, and a brave show of gold lace and silk and ostrich feather. +Neighbour Foster and I felt as two crows might do who have wandered +among the peacocks. Yet we bare in mind in whose image we were +fashioned, and we carried ourselves, I trust, as independent English +burghers. His Grace of Buckingham had his flout at us, and Rochester +sneered, and the women simpered; but we stood four square, my friend and +I, discussing, as I well remember, the most precious doctrines of +election and reprobation, without giving much heed either to those who +mocked us, or to the gamesters upon our left, or to the dancers upon our +right. So we stood throughout the evening, until, finding that they +could get little sport from us, my Lord Clarendon, the Chancellor, gave +us the word to retire, which we did at our leisure after saluting the +King and the company.' + +'Nay, that I should never have done!' cried the young Puritan, who had +listened intently to his elder's narrative. 'Would it not have been +more fitting to have raised up your hands and called down vengeance upon +them, as the holy man of old did upon the wicked cities?' + +'More fitting, quotha!' said the Mayor impatiently. 'It is most fitting +that youth should be silent until his opinion is asked on such matters. +God's wrath comes with leaden feet, but it strikes with iron hands. +In His own good time He has judged when the cup of these men's +iniquities is overflowing. It is not for us to instruct Him. Curses +have, as the wise man said, a habit of coming home to roost. Bear +that in mind, Master John Derrick, and be not too liberal with them.' + +The young apprentice, for such he was, bowed his head sullenly to the +rebuke, whilst the Mayor, after a short pause, resumed his story. + +'Being a fine night,' said he, 'we chose to walk back to our lodgings; +but never shall I forget the wicked scenes wherewith we were encountered +on the way. Good Master Bunyan, of Elstow, might have added some pages +to his account of Vanity Fair had he been with us. The women, +be-patched, be-ruddled, and brazen; the men swaggering, roistering, +cursing--the brawling, the drabbing, and the drunkenness! It was +a fit kingdom to be ruled over by such a court. At last we had made our +way to more quiet streets, and were hoping that our adventures were at +an end, when of a sudden there came a rush of half-drunken cavaliers +from a side street, who set upon the passers-by with their swords, as +though we had fallen into an ambuscade of savages in some Paynim +country. They were, as I surmise, of the same breed as those of whom +the excellent John Milton wrote: "The sons of Belial, flown with +insolence and wine." Alas! my memory is not what it was, for at one +time I could say by rote whole books of that noble and godly poem.' + +'And, pray, how fared ye with these rufflers, sir?' I asked. + +'They beset us, and some few other honest citizens who were wending +their ways homewards, and waving their naked swords they called upon us +to lay down our arms and pay homage. "To whom?" I asked. They pointed +to one of their number who was more gaudily dressed and somewhat drunker +than the rest. "This is our most sovereign liege," they cried. +"Sovereign over whom?" I asked. "Over the Tityre Tus," they answered. +"Oh, most barbarous and cuckoldy citizen, do you not recognise that you +have fallen into the hands of that most noble order?" "This is not your +real monarch," said I, "for he is down beneath us chained in the pit, +where some day he will gather his dutiful subjects around him." "Lo, he +hath spoken treason!" they cried, on which, without much more ado, they +set upon us with sword and dagger. Neighbour Foster and I placed our +backs against a wall, and with our cloaks round our left arms we made +play with our tucks, and managed to put in one or two of the old Wigan +Lane raspers. In particular, friend Foster pinked the King in such wise +that his Majesty ran howling down the street like a gored bull-pup. We +were beset by numbers, however, and might have ended our mission then +and there had not the watch appeared upon the scene, struck up our +weapons with their halberds, and so arrested the whole party. Whilst +the fray lasted the burghers from the adjoining houses were pouring +water upon us, as though we were cats on the tiles, which, though it did +not cool our ardour in the fight, left us in a scurvy and unsavoury +condition. In this guise we were dragged to the round-house, where we +spent the night amidst bullies, thieves, and orange wenches, to whom I +am proud to say that both neighbour Foster and myself spoke some words +of joy and comfort. In the morning we were released, and forthwith +shook the dust of London from our feet; nor do I ever wish to return +thither, unless it be at the head of our Somersetshire regiments, to see +King Monmouth don the crown which he had wrested in fair fight from the +Popish perverter.' + +As Master Stephen Timewell ended his tale a general shuffling and rising +announced the conclusion of the meal. The company filed slowly out in +order of seniority, all wearing the same gloomy and earnest expression, +with grave gait and downcast eyes. These Puritan ways were, it is true, +familiar to me from childhood, yet I had never before seen a large +household conforming to them, or marked their effect upon so many young +men. + +'You shall bide behind for a while,' said the Mayor, as we were about to +follow the others. 'William, do you bring a flask of the old green +sealed sack. These creature comforts I do not produce before my lads, +for beef and honest malt is the fittest food for such. On occasion, +however, I am of Paul's opinion, that a flagon of wine among friends is +no bad thing for mind or for body. You can away now, sweetheart, if you +have aught to engage you.' + +'Do you go out again?' asked Mistress Ruth. + +'Presently, to the town-hall. The survey of arms is not yet complete.' + +'I shall have your robes ready, and also the rooms of our guests,' she +answered, and so, with a bright smile to us, tripped away upon her duty. + +'I would that I could order our town as that maiden orders this house,' +said the Mayor. 'There is not a want that is not supplied before it is +felt. She reads my thoughts and acts upon them ere my lips have time to +form them. If I have still strength to spend in the public service, it +is because my private life is full of restful peace. Do not fear the +sack, sirs. It cometh from Brooke and Hellier's of Abchurch Lane, and +may be relied upon.' + +'Which showeth that one good thing cometh out of London,' remarked Sir +Gervas. + +'Aye, truly,' said the old man, smiling. 'But what think ye of my young +men, sir? They must needs be of a very different class to any with whom +you are acquainted, if, as I understand, you have frequented court +circles.' + +'Why, marry, they are good enough young men, no doubt,' Sir Gervas +answered lightly. 'Methinks, however, that there is a want of sap about +them. It is not blood, but sour buttermilk that flows in their veins.' + +'Nay, nay,' the Mayor responded warmly. 'There you do them an +injustice. Their passions and feelings are under control, as the +skilful rider keeps his horse in hand; but they are as surely there as +is the speed and endurance of the animal. Did you observe the godly +youth who sat upon your right, whom I had occasion to reprove more than +once for over-zeal? He is a fit example of how a man may take the upper +hand of his feelings, and keep them in control.' + +'And how has he done so?' I asked. + +'Why, between friends,' quoth the Mayor, 'it was but last Lady-day that +he asked the hand of my granddaughter Ruth in marriage. His time is +nearly served, and his father, Sam Derrick, is an honourable craftsman, +so that the match would have been no unfitting one. The maiden turned +against him, however--young girls will have their fancies--and the +matter came to an end. Yet here he dwells under the same roof-tree, at +her elbow from morn to night, with never a sign of that passion which +can scarce have died out so soon. Twice my wool warehouse hath been +nigh burned to the ground since then, and twice he hath headed those who +fought the flames. There are not many whose suit hath been rejected who +would bear themselves in so resigned and patient a fashion.' + +'I am prepared to find that your judgment is the correct one,' said Sir +Gervas Jerome. 'I have learned to distrust too hasty dislikes, and bear +in mind that couplet of John Dryden-- + + "Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow. + He who would search for pearls must dive below."' + +'Or worthy Dr. Samuel Butler,' said Saxon, 'who, in his immortal poem of +"Hudibras," says-- + + "The fool can only see the skin: + The wise man tries to peep within."' + +'I wonder, Colonel Saxon,' said our host severely, 'that you should +speak favourably of that licentious poem, which is composed, as I have +heard, for the sole purpose of casting ridicule upon the godly. +I should as soon have expected to hear you praise the wicked and foolish +work of Hobbes, with his mischievous thesis, "A Deo rex, a rege lex."' + +'It is true that I contemn and despise the use which Butler hath made of +his satire,' said Saxon adroitly; 'yet I may admire the satire itself, +just as one may admire a damascened blade without approving of the +quarrel in which it is drawn.' + +'These distinctions are, I fear, too subtle for my old brain,' said the +stout old Puritan. 'This England of ours is divided into two camps, +that of God and that of Antichrist. He who is not with us is against +us, nor shall any who serve under the devil's banner have anything from +me save my scorn and the sharp edge of my sword.' + +'Well, well,' said Saxon, filling up his glass, 'I am no +Laodicean or time-server. The cause shall not find me wanting +with tongue or with sword.' + +'Of that I am well convinced, my worthy friend,' the Mayor answered, +'and if I have spoken over sharply you will hold me excused. But I +regret to have evil tidings to announce to you. I have not told the +commonalty lest it cast them down, but I know that adversity will be but +the whetstone to give your ardour a finer edge. Argyle's rising has +failed, and he and his companions are prisoners in the hands of the man +who never knew what pity was.' + +We all started in our chairs at this, and looked at one another aghast, +save only Sir Gervas Jerome, whose natural serenity was, I am well +convinced, proof against any disturbance. For you may remember, my +children, that I stated when I first took it in hand to narrate to you +these passages of my life, that the hopes of Monmouth's party rested +very much upon the raid which Argyle and the Scottish exiles had made +upon Ayrshire, where it was hoped that they would create such a +disturbance as would divert a good share of King James's forces, and so +make our march to London less difficult. This was the more confidently +expected since Argyle's own estates lay upon that side of Scotland, +where he could raise five thousand swordsmen among his own clansmen. +The western counties abounded, too, in fierce zealots who were ready to +assert the cause of the Covenant, and who had proved themselves in many +a skirmish to be valiant warriors. With the help of the Highlanders and +of the Covenanters it seemed certain that Argyle would be able to hold +his own, the more so since he took with him to Scotland the English +Puritan Rumbold, and many others skilled in warfare. This sudden news +of his total defeat and downfall was therefore a heavy blow, since it +turned the whole forces of the Government upon ourselves. + +'Have you the news from a trusty source?' asked Decimus Saxon, after a +long silence. + +'It is beyond all doubt or question,' Master Stephen Timewell answered. +'Yet I can well understand your surprise, for the Duke had trusty +councillors with him. There was Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth--' + +'All talk and no fight,' said Saxon. + +'And Richard Rumbold.' + +'All fight and no talk,' quoth our companion. 'He should, methinks, +have rendered a better account of himself.' + +'Then there was Major Elphinstone.' + +'A bragging fool!' cried Saxon.' + +'And Sir John Cochrane.' + +'A captious, long-tongued, short-witted sluggard,' said the soldier of +fortune. 'The expedition was doomed from the first with such men at its +head. Yet I had thought that could they have done nought else, they +might at least have flung themselves into the mountain country, where +these bare-legged caterans could have held their own amid their native +clouds and mists. All taken, you say! It is a lesson and a warning to +us. I tell you that unless Monmouth infuses more energy into his +councils, and thrusts straight for the heart instead of fencing and +foining at the extremities, we shall find ourselves as Argyle and +Rumbold. What mean these two days wasted at Axminster at a time when +every hour is of import? Is he, every time that he brushes a party of +militia aside, to stop forty-eight hours and chant "Te Deums" when +Churchill and Feversham are, as I know, pushing for the West with every +available man, and the Dutch grenadiers are swarming over like rats into +a granary?' + +'You are very right, Colonel Saxon,' the Mayor answered. 'And I trust +that when the King comes here we may stir him up to more prompt action. +He has much need of more soldierly advisers, for since Fletcher hath +gone there is hardly a man about him who hath been trained to arms.' + +'Well,' said Saxon moodily, 'now that Argyle hath gone under we are face +to face with James, with nothing but our own good swords to trust to.' + +'To them and to the justice of our cause. How like ye the news, young +sirs? Has the wine lost its smack on account of it? Are ye disposed to +flinch from the standard of the Lord?' + +'For my own part I shall see the matter through,' said I. + +'And I shall bide where Micah Clarke bides,' quoth Reuben Lockarby. + +'And to me,' said Sir Gervas, 'it is a matter of indifference, so long +as I am in good company and there is something stirring.' + +'In that case,' said the Mayor, 'we had best each turn to his own work, +and have all ready for the King's arrival. Until then I trust that ye +will honour my humble roof.' + +'I fear that I cannot accept your kindness,' Saxon answered. 'When I am +in harness I come and go early and late. I shall therefore take up my +quarters in the inn, which is not very well furnished with victual, and +yet can supply me with the simple fare, which with a black Jack of +October and a pipe of Trinidado is all I require.' + +As Saxon was firm in this resolution the Mayor forbore to press it upon +him, but my two friends gladly joined with me in accepting the worthy +wool-worker's offer, and took up our quarters for the time under his +hospitable roof. + + + +Chapter XIX. + + +Of a Brawl in the Night + +Decimus Saxon refused to avail himself of Master Timewell's house and +table for the reason, as I afterwards learned, that, the Mayor being a +firm Presbyterian, he thought it might stand him in ill stead with the +Independents and other zealots were he to allow too great an intimacy to +spring up between them. Indeed, my dears, from this time onward this +cunning man framed his whole life and actions in such a way as to make +friends of the sectaries, and to cause them to look upon him as their +leader. For he had a firm belief that in all such outbreaks as that in +which we were engaged, the most extreme party is sure in the end to gain +the upper hand. 'Fanatics,' he said to me one day, 'mean fervour, and +fervour means hard work, and hard work means power.' That was the +centre point of all his plotting and scheming. + +And first of all he set himself to show how excellent a soldier he was, +and he spared neither time nor work to make this apparent. From morn +till midday, and from afternoon till night, we drilled and drilled until +in very truth the shouting of the orders and the clatter of the arms +became wearisome to our ears. The good burghers may well have thought +that Colonel Saxon's Wiltshire foot were as much part of the +market-place as the town cross or the parish stocks. There was much to +be done in very little time, so much that many would have thought it +hopeless to attempt it. Not only was there the general muster of the +regiment, but we had each to practise our own companies in their several +drills, and to learn as best we could the names and the wants of the +men. Yet our work was made easier to us by the assurance that it was +not thrown away, for at every gathering our bumpkins stood more erect, +and handled their weapons more deftly. From cock-crow to sun-down the +streets resounded with 'Poise your muskets! Order your muskets! Rest +your muskets! Handle your primers!' and all the other orders of the old +manual exercise. + +As we became more soldierly we increased in numbers, for our smart +appearance drew the pick of the new-comers into our ranks. My own +company swelled until it had to be divided, and others enlarged in +proportion. The baronet's musqueteers mustered a full hundred, skilled +for the most part in the use of the gun. Altogether we sprang from +three hundred to four hundred and fifty, and our drill improved until we +received praise from all sides on the state of our men. + +Late in the evening I was riding slowly back to the house of Master +Timewell when Reuben clattered after me, and besought me to turn back +with him to see a noteworthy sight. Though feeling little in the mood +for such things, I turned Covenant and rode with him down the length of +High Street, and into the suburb which is known as Shuttern, where my +companion pulled up at a bare barn-like building, and bade me look in +through the window. + +The interior, which consisted of a single great hall, the empty +warehouse in which wool had used to be stored, was all alight with lamps +and candles. A great throng of men, whom I recognised as belonging to +my own company, or that of my companion, lay about on either side, some +smoking, some praying, and some burnishing their arms. Down the middle +a line of benches had been drawn up, on which there were seated +astraddle the whole hundred of the baronet's musqueteers, each engaged +in plaiting into a queue the hair of the man who sat in front of him. +A boy walked up and down with a pot of grease, by the aid of which with +some whipcord the work was going forward merrily. Sir Gervas himself +with a great flour dredger sat perched upon a bale of wool at the head +of the line, and as quickly as any queue was finished he examined it +through his quizzing glass, and if it found favour in his eyes, daintily +powdered it from his dredger, with as much care and reverence as though +it were some service of the Church. No cook seasoning a dish could have +added his spices with more nicety of judgment than our friend displayed +in whitening the pates of his company. Glancing up from his labours he +saw our two smiling faces looking in at him through the window, but his +work was too engrossing to allow him to leave it, and we rode off at +last without having speech with him. + +By this time the town was very quiet and still, for the folk in those +parts were early bed-goers, save when some special occasion kept them +afoot. We rode slowly together through the silent streets, our horses' +hoofs ringing out sharp against the cobble stones, talking about such +light matters as engage the mind of youth. The moon was shining very +brightly above us, silvering the broad streets, and casting a fretwork +of shadows from the peaks and pinnacles of the churches. At Master +Timewell's courtyard I sprang from my saddle, but Reuben, attracted by +the peace and beauty of the scene, rode onwards with the intention of +going as far as the town gate. + +I was still at work upon my girth buckles, undoing my harness, when of a +sudden there came from the street a shouting and a rushing, with the +clinking of blades, and my comrade's voice calling upon me for help. +Drawing my sword I ran out. Some little way down there was a clear +space, white with the moonshine, in the centre of which I caught a +glimpse of the sturdy figure of my friend springing about with an +activity for which I had never given him credit, and exchanging sword +thrusts with three or four men who were pressing him closely. On the +ground there lay a dark figure, and behind the struggling group Reuben's +mare reared and plunged in sympathy with her master's peril. As I +rushed down, shouting and waving my sword, the assailants took flight +down a side street, save one, a tall sinewy swordsman, who rushed in +upon Reuben, stabbing furiously at him, and cursing him the while for a +spoil-sport. To my horror I saw, as I ran, the fellow's blade slip +inside my friend's guard, who threw up his arms and fell prostrate, +while the other with a final thrust dashed off down one of the narrow +winding lanes which lead from East Street to the banks of the Tone. + +'For Heaven's sake where are you hurt?' I cried, throwing myself upon my +knees beside his prostrate body. 'Where is your injury, Reuben?' + +'In the wind, mostly,' quoth he, blowing like a smithy bellows; +'likewise on the back of my pate. Give me your hand, I pray.' + +'And are you indeed scathless?' I cried, with a great lightening of the +heart as I helped him to his feet. 'I thought that the villain had +stabbed you.' + +'As well stab a Warsash crab with a bodkin,' said he. 'Thanks to good +Sir Jacob Clancing, once of Snellaby Hall and now of Salisbury Plain, +their rapiers did no more than scratch my plate of proof. But how is it +with the maid?' + +'The maid?' said I. + +'Aye, it was to save her that I drew. She was beset by these night +walkers. See, she rises! They threw her down when I set upon them.' + +'How is it with you, Mistress?' I asked; for the prostrate figure had +arisen and taken the form of a woman, young and graceful to all +appearance, with her face muffled in a mantle. 'I trust that you have +met with no hurt.' + +'None, sir,' she answered, in a low, sweet voice, 'but that I have +escaped is due to the ready valour of your friend, and the guiding +wisdom of Him who confutes the plots of the wicked. Doubtless a true +man would have rendered this help to any damsel in distress, and yet it +may add to your satisfaction to know that she whom you have served is no +stranger to you.' With these words she dropped her mantle and turned +her face towards us in the moonlight. + +'Good lack! it is Mistress Timewell!' I cried, in amazement. + +'Let us homewards,' she said, in firm, quick tones. 'The neighbours are +alarmed, and there will be a rabble collected anon. Let us escape from +the babblement.' + +Windows had indeed begun to clatter up in every direction, and loud +voices to demand what was amiss. Far away down the street we could see +the glint of lanthorns swinging to and fro as the watch hurried +thitherwards. We slipped along in the shadow, however, and found +ourselves safe within the Mayor's courtyard without let or hindrance. + +'I trust, sir, that you have really met with no hurt,' said the maiden +to my companion. + +Reuben had said not a word since she had uncovered her face, and bore +the face of a man who finds himself in some pleasant dream and is vexed +only by the fear lest he wake up from it. 'Nay, I am not hurt,' he +answered, 'but I would that you could tell us who these roving blades +may be, and where they may be found.' + +'Nay, nay,' said she, with uplifted finger, 'you shall not follow the +matter further. As to the men, I cannot say with certainty who they may +have been. I had gone forth to visit Dame Clatworthy, who hath the +tertian ague, and they did beset me on my return. Perchance they are +some who are not of my grandfather's way of thinking in affairs of +State, and who struck at him through me. But ye have both been so kind +that ye will not refuse me one other favour which I shall ask ye?' + +We protested that we could not, with our hands upon our sword-hilts. + +'Nay, keep them for the Lord's quarrel,' said she, smiling at the +action. 'All that I ask is that ye will say nothing if this matter to +my grandsire. He is choleric, and a little matter doth set him in a +flame, so old as he is. I would not have his mind turned from the +public needs to a private trifle of this sort. Have I your promises?' + +'Mine,' said I, bowing. + +'And mine,' said Lockarby. + +'Thanks, good friends. Alack! I have dropped my gauntlet in the street. +But it is of no import. I thank God that no harm has come to any one. +My thanks once more, and may pleasant dreams await ye.' She sprang up +the steps and was gone in an instant. + +Reuben and I unharnessed our horses and saw them cared for in silence. +We then entered the house and ascended to our chambers, still without a +word. Outside his room door my friend paused. + +'I have heard that long man's voice before, Micah,' said he. + +'And so have I,' I answered. 'The old man must beware of his +'prentices. I have half a mind to go back for the little maiden's +gauntlet.' + +A merry twinkle shot through the cloud which hid gathered on Reuben's +brow. He opened his left hand and showed me the doe-skin glove crumpled +up in his palm. + +'I would not barter it for all the gold in her grandsire's coffers,' +said he, with a sudden outflame, and then half-laughing, half-blushing +at his own heat, he whisked in and left me to my thoughts. + +And so I learned for the first time, my dears, that my good comrade had +been struck by the little god's arrows. When a man's years number one +score, love springs up in him, as the gourd grew in the Scriptures, in a +single night. I have told my story ill if I have not made you +understand that my friend was a frank, warm-hearted lad of impulse, +whose reason seldom stood sentry over his inclinations. Such a man can +no more draw away from a winning maid than the needle can shun the +magnet. He loves as the mavis sings or the kitten plays. Now, a +slow-witted, heavy fellow like myself, in whose veins the blood has +always flowed somewhat coolly and temperately, may go into love as a +horse goes into a shelving stream, step by step, but a man like Reuben +is kicking his heels upon the bank one moment, and is over ears in the +deepest pool the nest. + +Heaven only knows what match it was that had set the tow alight. I can +but say that from that day on my comrade was sad and cloudy one hour, +gay and blithesome the next. His even flow of good spirits had deserted +him, and he became as dismal as a moulting chicken, which has ever +seemed to me to be one of the strangest outcomes of what poets have +called the joyous state of love. But, indeed, pain and pleasure are so +very nearly akin in this world, that it is as if they were tethered in +neighbouring stalls, and a kick would at any time bring down the +partition. Here is a man who is as full of sighs as a grenade is of +powder, his face is sad, his brow is downcast, his wits are wandering; +yet if you remark to him that it is an ill thing that he should be in +this state, he will answer you, as like as not, that he would not +exchange it for all the powers and principalities. Tears to him are +golden, and laughter is but base coin. Well, my dears, it is useless +for me to expound to you that which I cannot myself understand. If, as +I have heard, it is impossible to get the thumb-marks of any two men +to be alike, how can we expect their inmost thoughts and feelings to +tally? Yet this I can say with all truth, that when I asked your +grandmother's hand I did not demean myself as if I were chief mourner at +a funeral. She will bear me out that I walked up to her with a smile +upon my face, though mayhap there was a little flutter at my heart, and +I took her hand and I said--but, lack-a-day, whither have I wandered? +What has all this to do with Taunton town and the rising of 1685? + +On the night of Wednesday, June 17, we learned that the King, as +Monmouth was called throughout the West, was lying less than ten miles +off with his forces, and that he would make his entry into the loyal +town of Taunton the next morning. Every effort was made, as ye may well +guess, to give him a welcome which should be worthy of the most Whiggish +and Protestant town in England. An arch of evergreens had already been +built up at the western gate, bearing the motto, 'Welcome to King +Monmouth!' and another spanned the entrance to the market-place from the +upper window of the White Hart Inn, with 'Hail to the Protestant Chief!' +in great scarlet letters. A third, if I remember right, bridged the +entrance to the Castle yard, but the motto on it has escaped me. +The cloth and wool industry is, as I have told you, the staple trade +of the town, and the merchants had no mercy on their wares, but used +them freely to beautify the streets. Rich tapestries, glossy velvets, +and costly brocades fluttered from the windows or lined the balconies. +East Street, High Street, and Fore Street were draped from garret to +basement with rare and beautiful fabrics, while gay flags hung from the +roofs on either side, or fluttered in long festoons from house to house. +The royal banner of England floated from the lofty tower of St. Mary +Magdalene, while the blue ensign of Monmouth waved from the sister +turret of St. James. Late into the night there was planing and +hammering, working and devising, until when the sun rose upon Thursday, +June 18, it shone on as brave a show of bunting and evergreen as ever +graced a town. Taunton had changed as by magic from a city into a +flower garden. + +Master Stephen Timewell had busied himself in these preparations, but he +had borne in mind at the same time that the most welcome sight which he +could present to Monmouth's eyes was the large body of armed men who +were prepared to follow his fortunes. There were sixteen hundred in the +town, two hundred of which were horse, mostly well armed and equipped. +These were disposed in such a way that the King should pass them in his +progress. The townsmen lined the market-place three deep from the +Castle gate to the entrance to the High Street; from thence to Shuttern, +Dorsetshire, and Frome peasants were drawn up on either side of the +street; while our own regiment was stationed at the western gate. +With arms well burnished, serried ranks, and fresh sprigs of green in +every bonnet, no leader could desire a better addition to his army. +When all were in their places, and the burghers and their wives had +arrayed themselves in their holiday gear, with gladsome faces and +baskets of new-cut flowers, all was ready for the royal visitor's +reception. + +'My orders are,' said Saxon, riding up to us as we sat our horses +reside our companions, 'that I and my captains should fall in with the +King's escort as he passes, and so accompany him to the market-place. +Your men shall present arms, and shall then stand their ground until we +return.' + +We all three drew our swords and saluted. + +'If ye will come with me, gentlemen, and take position to the right of +the gate here,' said he, 'I may be able to tell ye something of these +folk as they pass. Thirty years of war in many climes should give me +the master craftsman's right to expound to his apprentices.' + +We all very gladly followed his advice, and passed out through the gate, +which was now nothing more than a broad gap amongst the mounds which +marked the lines of the old walls. 'There is no sign of them yet,' I +remarked, as we pulled up upon a convenient hillock. 'I suppose that +they must come by this road which winds through the valley before us.' + +'There are two sorts of bad general,' quoth Saxon, 'the man who is too +fast and the man who is too slow. His Majesty's advisers will never be +accused of the former failing, whatever other mistakes they may fall +into. There was old Marshal Grunberg, with whom I did twenty-six +months' soldiering in Bohemia. He would fly through the country +pell-mell, horse, foot, and artillery, as if the devil were at his +heels. He might make fifty blunders, but the enemy had never time to +take advantage. I call to mind a raid which we made into Silesia, when, +after two days or so of mountain roads, his Oberhauptmann of the staff +told him that it was impossible for the artillery to keep up. +"Lass es hinter!" says he. So the guns were left, and by the evening of +the next day the foot were dead-beat. "They cannot walk another mile!" +says the Oberhauptmann. "Lassen Sie hinter!" says he. So on we went +with the horse--I was in his Pandour regiment, worse luck! But after a +skirmish or two, what with the roads and what with the enemy, our horses +were foundered and useless. "The horses are used up!" says the +Oberhauptmann. "Lassen Sie hinter!" he cries; and I warrant that he +would have pushed on to Prague with his staff, had they allowed him." +General Hinterlassen" we called him after that.' + +'A dashing commander, too,' cried Sir Gervas. 'I would fain have served +under him.' + +'Aye, and he had a way of knocking his recruits into shape which would +scarce be relished by our good friends here in the west country,' said +Saxon. 'I remember that after the leaguer of Salzburg, when we had +taken the castle or fortalice of that name, we were joined by some +thousand untrained foot, which had been raised in Dalmatia in the +Emperor's employ. As they approached our lines with waving of hands and +blowing of bugles, old Marshal Hinterlassen discharged a volley of all +the cannon upon the walls at them, killing three score and striking +great panic into the others. "The rogues must get used to standing fire +sooner or later," said he, "so they may as well commence their education +at once."' + +'He was a rough schoolmaster,' I remarked. 'He might have left that +part of the drill to the enemy.' + +'Yet his soldiers loved him,' said Saxon. 'He was not a man, when a +city had been forced, to inquire into every squawk of a woman, or give +ear to every burgess who chanced to find his strong-box a trifle the +lighter. But as to the slow commanders, I have known none to equal +Brigadier Baumgarten, also of the Imperial service. He would break up +his winter-quarters and sit down before some place of strength, where he +would raise a sconce here, and sink a sap there, until his soldiers were +sick of the very sight of the place. So he would play with it, as a cat +with a mouse, until at last it was about to open its gates, when, as +like as not, he would raise the leaguer and march back into his +winter-quarters. I served two campaigns under him without honour, sack, +plunder, or emolument, save a beggarly stipend of three gulden a day, +paid in clipped money, six months in arrear. But mark ye the folk upon +yonder tower! They are waving their kerchiefs as though something were +visible to them.' + +'I can see nothing,' I answered, shading my eyes and gazing down the +tree-sprinkled valley which rose slowly in green uplands to the grassy +Blackdown hills. + +'Those on the housetops are waving and pointing,' said Reuben. +'Methinks I can myself see the flash of steel among yonder woods.' + +'There it is,' cried Saxon, extending his gauntleted hand, 'on the +western bank of the Tone, hard by the wooden bridge. Follow my finger, +Clarke, and see if you cannot distinguish it.' + +'Yes, truly,' I exclaimed, 'I see a bright shimmer coming and going. +And there to the left, where the road curves over the hill, mark you +that dense mass of men! Ha! the head of the column begins to emerge +from the trees.' + +There was not a cloud in the sky, but the great heat had caused a haze +to overlie the valley, gathering thickly along the winding course of the +river, and hanging in little sprays and feathers over the woodlands +which clothe its banks. Through this filmy vapour there broke from time +to time fierce sparkles of brilliant light as the sun's rays fell upon +breastplate or headpiece. Now and again the gentle summer breeze wafted +up sudden pulses of martial music to our ears, with the blare of +trumpets and the long deep snarl of the drums. As we gazed, the van of +the army began to roll out from the cover of the trees and to darken the +white dusty roads. The long line slowly extended itself, writhing out +of the forest land like a dark snake with sparkling scales, until the +whole rebel army--horse, foot, and ordnance--were visible beneath us. +The gleam of the weapons, the waving of numerous banners, the plumes of +the leaders, and the deep columns of marching men, made up a picture +which stirred the very hearts of the citizens, who, from the housetops +and from the ruinous summit of the dismantled walls, were enabled to +gaze down upon the champions of their faith. If the mere sight of a +passing regiment will cause a thrill in your bosoms, you can fancy how +it is when the soldiers upon whom you look are in actual arms for your +own dearest and most cherished interests, and have just come out +victorious from a bloody struggle. If every other man's hand was +against us, these at least were on our side, and our hearts went out to +them as to friends and brothers. Of all the ties that unite men in this +world, that of a common danger is the strongest. + +It all appeared to be most warlike and most imposing to my inexperienced +eyes, and I thought as I looked at the long array that our cause was as +good as won. To my surprise, however, Saxon pished and pshawed under +his breath, until at last, unable to contain his impatience, he broke +out in hot discontent. + +'Do but look at that vanguard as they breast the slope,' he cried. +'Where is the advance party, or Vorreiter, as the Germans call them? +Where, too, is the space which should be left between the fore-guard and +the main battle? By the sword of Scanderbeg, they remind me more of a +drove of pilgrims, as I have seen them approaching the shrine of St. +Sebaldus of Nurnberg with their banners and streamers. There in the +centre, amid that cavalcade of cavaliers, rides our new monarch +doubtless. Pity he hath not a man by him who can put this swarm of +peasants into something like campaign order. Now do but look at those +four pieces of ordnance trailing along like lame sheep behind the flock. +Caracco, I would that I were a young King's officer with a troop of +light horse on the ridge yonder! My faith, how I should sweep down yon +cross road like a kestrel on a brood of young plover! Then heh for cut +and thrust, down with the skulking cannoniers, a carbine fire to cover +us, round with the horses, and away go the rebel guns in a cloud of +dust! How's that, Sir Gervas?' + +'Good sport, Colonel,' said the baronet, with a touch of colour in his +white cheeks. 'I warrant that you did keep your Pandours on the trot.' + +'Aye, the rogues had to work or hang--one or t'other. But methinks our +friends here are scarce as numerous as reported. I reckon them to be a +thousand horse, and mayhap five thousand two hundred foot. I have been +thought a good tally-man on such occasions. With fifteen hundred in the +town that would bring us to close on eight thousand men, which is no +great force to invade a kingdom and dispute a crown.' + +'If the West can give eight thousand, how many can all the counties of +England afford?' I asked. 'Is not that the fairer way to look at it?' + +'Monmouth's popularity lies mostly in the West,' Saxon answered. +'It was the memory of that which prompted him to raise his standard in +these counties.' + +'His standards, rather,' quoth Reuben. 'Why, it looks as though they +had hung their linen up to dry all down the line.' + +'True! They have more ensigns than ever I saw with so small a force,' +Saxon answered, rising in his stirrups. 'One or two are blue, and the +rest, as far as I can see for the sun shining upon them, are white, with +some motto or device.' + +Whilst we had been conversing, the body of horse which formed the +vanguard of the Protestant army had approached within a quarter of a +mile or less of the town, when a loud, clear bugle-call brought them to +a halt. In each successive regiment or squadron the signal was +repeated, so that the sound passed swiftly down the long array until it +died away in the distance. As the coil of men formed up upon the white +road, with just a tremulous shifting motion along the curved and +undulating line, its likeness to a giant serpent occurred again to my +mind. + +'I could fancy it a great boa,' I remarked, 'which was drawing its coils +round the town.' + +'A rattlesnake, rather,' said Reuben, pointing to the guns in the rear. +'It keeps all its noise in its tail.' + +'Here comes its head, if I mistake not,' quoth Saxon. 'It were best +perhaps that we stand at the side of the gate.' + +As he spoke a group of gaily dressed cavaliers broke away from the main +body and rode straight for the town. Their leader was a tall, slim, +elegant young man, who sat his horse with the grace of a skilled rider, +and who was remarkable amongst those around him for the gallantry of his +bearing and the richness of his trappings. As he galloped towards the +gate a roar of welcome burst from the assembled multitude, which was +taken up and prolonged by the crowds behind, who, though unable to see +what was going forward, gathered from the shouting that the King was +approaching. + + + +Chapter XX. + + +Of the Muster of the Men of the West + +Monmouth was at that time in his thirty-sixth year, and was remarkable +for those superficial graces which please the multitude and fit a man to +lead in a popular cause. He was young, well-spoken, witty, and skilled +in all martial and manly exercises. On his progress in the West he had +not thought it beneath him to kiss the village maidens, to offer prizes +at the rural sports, and to run races in his boots against the fleetest +of the barefooted countrymen. [Note G., Appendix] His nature was vain +and prodigal, but he excelled in that showy magnificence and careless +generosity which wins the hearts of the people. Both on the Continent +and at Bothwell Bridge, in Scotland, he had led armies with success, and +his kindness and mercy to the Covenanters after his victory had caused +him to be as much esteemed amongst the Whigs as Dalzell and Claverhouse +were hated. As he reined up his beautiful black horse at the gate of +the city, and raised his plumed montero cap to the shouting crowd, the +grace and dignity of his bearing were such as might befit the +knight-errant in a Romance who is fighting at long odds for a crown +which a tyrant has filched from him. + +He was reckoned well-favoured, but I cannot say that I found him so. +His face was, I thought, too long and white for comeliness, yet his +features were high and noble, with well-marked nose and clear, searching +eyes. In his mouth might perchance be noticed some trace of that +weakness which marred his character, though the expression was sweet and +amiable. He wore a dark purple roquelaure riding-jacket, faced and +lapelled with gold lace, through the open front of which shone a silver +breastplate. A velvet suit of a lighter shade than the jacket, a pair +of high yellow Cordovan boots, with a gold-hilted rapier on one side, +and a poniard of Parma on the other, each hung from the morocco-leather +sword-belt, completed his attire. A broad collar of Mechlin lace flowed +over his shoulders, while wristbands of the same costly material dangled +from his sleeves. Again and again he raised his cap and bent to the +saddle-bow in response to the storm of cheering. 'A Monmouth! +A Monmouth!' cried the people; 'Hail to the Protestant chief!' +'Long live the noble King Monmouth!' while from every window, and roof, +and balcony fluttering kerchief or waving hat brightened the joyous +scene. The rebel van caught fire at the sight and raised a great +deep-chested shout, which was taken up again and again by the rest of +the army, until the whole countryside was sonorous. + +In the meanwhile the city elders, headed by our friend the Mayor, +advanced from the gate in all the dignity of silk and fur to pay homage +to the King. Sinking upon one knee by Monmouth's stirrup, he kissed the +hand which was graciously extended to him. + +'Nay, good Master Mayor,' said the King, in a clear, strong voice, +'it is for my enemies to sink before me, and not for my friends. +Prythee, what is this scroll which you do unroll?' + +'It is an address of welcome and of allegiance, your Majesty, from your +loyal town of Taunton.' + +'I need no such address,' said King Monmouth, looking round. 'It is +written all around me in fairer characters than ever found themselves +upon parchment. My good friends have made me feel that I was welcome +without the aid of clerk or scrivener. Your name, good Master Mayor, is +Stephen Timewell, as I understand?' + +'The same, your Majesty.' + +'Too curt a name for so trusty a man,' said the King, drawing his sword +and touching him upon the shoulder with it. 'I shall make it longer by +three letters. Rise up, Sir Stephen, and may I find that there are many +other knights in my dominions as loyal and as stout.' + +Amidst the huzzahs which broke out afresh at this honour done to the +town, the Mayor withdrew with the councilmen to the left side of the +gate, whilst Monmouth with his staff gathered upon the right. At a +signal a trumpeter blew a fanfare, the drums struck up a point of war, +and the insurgent army, with serried ranks and waving banners, resumed +its advance upon the town. As it approached, Saxon pointed out to us +the various leaders and men of note who surrounded the King, giving us +their names and some few words as to their characters. + +'That is Lord Grey of Wark,' said he; 'the little middle-aged lean man +at the King's bridle arm. He hath been in the Tower once for treason. +'Twas he who fled with the Lady Henrietta Berkeley, his wife's sister. +A fine leader truly for a godly cause! The man upon his left, with the +red swollen face and the white feather in his cap, is Colonel Holmes. +I trust that he will never show the white feather save on his head. +The other upon the high chestnut horse is a lawyer, though, by my soul, +he is a better man at ordering a battalion than at drawing a bill of +costs. He is the republican Wade who led the foot at the skirmish at +Bridport, and brought them off with safety. The tall heavy-faced +soldier in the steel bonnet is Anthony Buyse, the Brandenburger, a +soldado of fortune, and a man of high heart, as are most of his +countrymen. I have fought both with him and against him ere now.' + +'Mark ye the long thin man behind him?' cried Reuben. 'He hath drawn +his sword, and waves it over his head. 'Tis a strange time and place +for the broadsword exercise. He is surely mad.' + +'Perhaps you are not far amiss,' said Saxon. 'Yet, by my hilt, were it +not for that man there would be no Protestant army advancing upon us +down yonder road. 'Tis he who by dangling the crown before Monmouth's +eyes beguiled him away from his snug retreat in Brabant. There is not +one of these men whom he hath not tempted into this affair by some bait +or other. With Grey it was a dukedom, with Wade the woolsack, with +Buyse the plunder of Cheapside. Every one hath his own motive, but the +clues to them all are in the hands of yonder crazy fanatic, who makes +the puppets dance as he will. He hath plotted more, lied more, and +suffered less than any Whig in the party.' + +'It must be that Dr. Robert Ferguson of whom I have heard my father +speak,' said I. + +'You are right. 'Tis he. I have but seen him once in Amsterdam, and +yet I know him by his shock wig and crooked shoulders. It is whispered +that of late his overweening conceit hath unseated his reason. See, the +German places his hand upon his shoulder and persuades him to sheathe +his weapon. King Monmouth glances round too, and smiles as though he +were the Court buffoon with a Geneva cloak instead of the motley. +But the van is upon us. To your companies, and mind that ye raise your +swords to the salute while the colours of each troop go by.' + +Whilst our companion had been talking, the whole Protestant army had +been streaming towards the town, and the head of the fore-guard was +abreast with the gateway. Four troops of horse led the way, badly +equipped and mounted, with ropes instead of bridles, and in some cases +squares of sacking in place of saddles. The men were armed for the +most part with sword and pistol, while a few had the buff-coats, +plates, and headpieces taken at Axminster, still stained sometimes with +the blood of the last wearer. In the midst of them rode a +banner-bearer, who carried a great square ensign hung upon a pole, which +was supported upon a socket let into the side of the girth. Upon it was +printed in golden letters the legend, 'Pro libertate et religione +nostra.' These horse-soldiers were made up of yeomen's and farmers' +sons, unused to discipline, and having a high regard for themselves as +volunteers, which caused them to cavil and argue over every order. +For this cause, though not wanting in natural courage, they did little +service during the war, and were a hindrance rather than a help to the +army. + +Behind the horse came the foot, walking six abreast, divided into +companies of varying size, each company bearing a banner which gave the +name of the town or village from which it had been raised. This manner +of arranging the troops had been chosen because it had been found to be +impossible to separate men who were akin and neighbours to each other. +They would fight, they said, side by side, or they would not fight at +all. For my own part, I think that it is no bad plan, for when it comes +to push of pike, a man stands all the faster when he knows that he hath +old and tried friends on either side of him. Many of these country +places I came to know afterwards from the talk of the men, and many +others I have travelled through, so that the names upon the banners have +come to have a real meaning with me. Homer hath, I remember, a chapter +or book wherein he records the names of all the Grecian chiefs and +whence they came, and how many men they brought to the common muster. +It is pity that there is not some Western Homer who could record the +names of these brave peasants and artisans, and recount what each did or +suffered in upholding a noble though disastrous cause. Their places of +birth at least shall not be lost as far as mine own feeble memory can +carry me. + +The first foot regiment, if so rudely formed a band could be so called, +consisted of men of the sea, fishers and coastmen, clad in the heavy +blue jerkins and rude garb of their class. They were bronzed, +weather-beaten tarpaulins, with hard mahogany faces, variously armed +with birding pieces, cutlasses, or pistols. I have a notion that it +was not the first time that those weapons had been turned against King +James's servants, for the Somerset and Devon coasts were famous +breeding-places for smugglers, and many a saucy lugger was doubtless +lying up in creek or in bay whilst her crew had gone a-soldiering +to Taunton. As to discipline, they had no notion of it, but rolled +along in true blue-water style, with many a shout and halloo to each +other or to the crowd. From Star Point to Portland Roads there would be +few nets for many weeks to come, and fish would swim the narrow seas +which should have been heaped on Lyme Cobb or exposed for sale in +Plymouth market. Each group, or band, of these men of the sea bore +with it its own banner, that of Lyme in the front, followed by Topsham, +Colyford, Bridport, Sidmouth, Otterton, Abbotsbury, and Charmouth, all +southern towns, which are on or near the coast. So they trooped past +us, rough and careless, with caps cocked, and the reek of their tobacco +rising up from them like the steam from a tired horse. In number they +may have been four hundred or thereabouts. + +The peasants of Rockbere, with flail and scythe, led the next column, +followed by the banner of Honiton, which was supported by two hundred +stout lacemakers from the banks of the Otter. These men showed by the +colour of their faces that their work kept them within four walls, yet +they excelled their peasant companions in their alert and soldierly +bearing. Indeed, with all the troops, we observed that, though the +countrymen were the stouter and heartier, the craftsmen were the most +ready to catch the air and spirit of the camp. Behind the men of +Honiton came the Puritan clothworkers of Wellington, with their mayor +upon a white horse beside their standard-bearer, and a band of twenty +instruments before him. Grim-visaged, thoughtful, sober men, they were +for the most part clad in grey suits and wearing broad-brimmed hats. +'For God and faith' was the motto of a streamer which floated from +amongst them. The clothworkers formed three strong companies, and the +whole regiment may have numbered close on six hundred men. + +The third regiment was headed by five hundred foot from Taunton, men of +peaceful and industrious life, but deeply imbued with those great +principles of civil and religious liberty which were three years later +to carry all before them in England. As they passed the gates they were +greeted by a thunderous welcome from their townsmen upon the walls and +at the windows. Their steady, solid ranks, and broad, honest burgher +faces, seemed to me to smack of discipline and of work well done. +Behind them came the musters of Winterbourne, Ilminster, Chard, Yeovil, +and Collumpton, a hundred or more pikesmen to each, bringing the tally +of the regiment to a thousand men. + +A squadron of horse trotted by, closely followed by the fourth regiment, +bearing in its van the standards of Beaminster, Crewkerne, Langport, and +Chidiock, all quiet Somersetshire villages, which had sent out their +manhood to strike a blow for the old cause. Puritan ministers, with +their steeple hats and Geneva gowns, once black, but now white with +dust, marched sturdily along beside their flocks. Then came a strong +company of wild half-armed shepherds from the great plains which extend +from the Blackdowns on the south to the Mendips on the north--very +different fellows, I promise you, from the Corydons and Strephons of +Master Waller or Master Dryden, who have depicted the shepherd as ever +shedding tears of love, and tootling upon a plaintive pipe. I fear that +Chloe or Phyllis would have met with rough wooing at the hands of these +Western savages. Behind them were musqueteers from Dorchester, pikemen +from Newton Poppleford, and a body of stout infantry from among the +serge workers of Ottery St. Mary. This fourth regiment numbered rather +better than eight hundred, but was inferior in arms and in discipline to +that which preceded it. + +The fifth regiment was headed by a column of fen men from the dreary +marches which stretch round Athelney. These men, in their sad and +sordid dwellings, had retained the same free and bold spirit which had +made them in past days the last resource of the good King Alfred and the +protectors of the Western shires from the inroads of the Danes, who were +never able to force their way into their watery strongholds. Two +companies of them, towsy-headed and bare-legged, but loud in hymn and +prayer, had come out from their fastnesses to help the Protestant cause. +At their heels came the woodmen and lumberers of Bishop's Lidiard, big, +sturdy men in green jerkins, and the white-smocked villagers of Huish +Champflower. The rear of the regiment was formed by four hundred men in +scarlet coats, with white cross-belts and well-burnished muskets. +These were deserters from the Devonshire Militia, who had marched with +Albemarle from Exeter, and who had come over to Monmouth on the field at +Axminster. These kept together in a body, but there were many other +militiamen, both in red and in yellow coats, amongst the various bodies +which I have set forth. This regiment may have numbered seven hundred +men. + +The sixth and last column of foot was headed by a body of peasants +bearing 'Minehead' upon their banner, and the ensign of the three +wool-bales and the sailing ship, which is the sign of that ancient +borough. They had come for the most part from the wild country which +lies to the north of Dunster Castle and skirts the shores of the Bristol +Channel. Behind them were the poachers and huntsmen of Porlock Quay, +who had left the red deer of Exmoor to graze in peace whilst they +followed a nobler quarry. They were followed by men from Dulverton, men +from Milverton, men from Wiveliscombe and the sunny slopes of the +Quantocks, swart, fierce men from the bleak moors of Dunkerry Beacon, +and tall, stalwart pony rearers and graziers from Bampton. The banners +of Bridgewater, of Shepton Mallet, and of Nether Stowey swept past us, +with that of the fishers of Clovelly and the quarrymen of the +Blackdowns. In the rear were three companies of strange men, giants +in stature, though somewhat bowed with labour, with long tangled beards, +and unkempt hair hanging over their eyes. These were the miners from +the Mendip hills and from the Oare and Bagworthy valleys, rough, +half-savage men, whose eyes rolled up at the velvets and brocades of the +shouting citizens, or fixed themselves upon their smiling dames with a +fierce intensity which scared the peaceful burghers. So the long line +rolled in until three squadrons of horse and four small cannon, with the +blue-coated Dutch cannoniers as stiff as their own ramrods, brought up +the rear. A long train of carts and of waggons which had followed the +army were led into the fields outside the walls and there quartered. + +When the last soldier had passed through the Shuttern Gate, Monmouth and +his leaders rode slowly in, the Mayor walking by the King's charger. +As we saluted they all faced round to us, and I saw a quick flush of +surprise and pleasure come over Monmouth's pale face as he noted our +close lines and soldierly bearing. + +'By my faith, gentlemen,' he said, glancing round at his staff, 'our +worthy friend the Mayor must have inherited Cadmus's dragon teeth. +Where raised ye this pretty crop, Sir Stephen? How came ye to bring +them to such perfection too, even, I declare, to the hair powder of the +grenadiers?' + +'I have fifteen hundred in the town,' the old wool-worker answered +proudly; 'though some are scarce as disciplined. + +These men come from Wiltshire, and the officers from Hampshire. As to +their order, the credit is due not to me, but to the old soldier Colonel +Decimus Saxon, whom they have chosen as their commander, as well as to +the captains who serve under him.' + +'My thanks are due to you, Colonel,' said the King, turning to Saxon, +who bowed and sank the point of his sword to the earth, 'and to you +also, gentlemen. I shall not forget the warm loyalty which brought you +from Hampshire in so short a time. Would that I could find the same +virtue in higher places! But, Colonel Saxon, you have, I gather, seen +much service abroad. What think you of the army which hath just +passed before you?' + +'If it please your Majesty,' Saxon answered, 'it is like so much +uncarded wool, which is rough enough in itself, and yet may in time come +to be woven into a noble garment.' + +'Hem! There is not much leisure for the weaving,' said Monmouth. +'But they fight well. You should have seen them fall on at Axminster! +We hope to see you and to hear your views at the council table. But how +is this? Have I not seen this gentleman's face before?' + +'It is the Honourable Sir Gervas Jerome of the county of Surrey,' quoth +Saxon. + +'Your Majesty may have seen me at St. James's,' said the baronet, +raising his hat, 'or in the balcony at Whitehall. I was much at Court +during the latter years of the late king.' + +'Yes, yes. I remember the name as well as the face,' cried Monmouth. +'You see, gentlemen,' he continued, turning to his staff, 'the courtiers +begin to come in at last. Were you not the man who did fight Sir Thomas +Killigrew behind Dunkirk House? I thought as much. Will you not attach +yourself to my personal attendants?' + +'If it please your Majesty,' Sir Gervas answered, 'I am of opinion that +I could do your royal cause better service at the head of my +musqueteers.' + +'So be it! So be it!' said King Monmouth. Setting spurs to his horse, +he raised his hat in response to the cheers of the troops and cantered +down the High Street under a rain of flowers, which showered from roof +and window upon him, his staff, and his escort. We had joined in his +train, as commanded, so that we came in for our share of this merry +crossfire. One rose as it fluttered down was caught by Reuben, who, I +observed, pressed it to his lips, and then pushed it inside his +breastplate. Glancing up, I caught sight, of the smiling face of our +host's daughter peeping down at us from a casement. + +'Well caught, Reuben!' I whispered. 'At trick-track or trap and ball +you were ever our best player.' + +'Ah, Micah,' said he, 'I bless the day that ever I followed you to the +wars. I would not change places with Monmouth this day.' + +'Has it gone so far then!' I exclaimed. 'Why, lad, I thought that you +were but opening your trenches, and you speak as though you had carried +the city.' + +'Perhaps I am over-hopeful,' he cried, turning from hot to cold, as a +man doth when he is in love, or hath the tertian ague, or other bodily +trouble. 'God knows that I am little worthy of her, and yet--' + +'Set not your heart too firmly upon that which may prove to be beyond +your reach,' said I. 'The old man is rich, and will look higher.' + +'I would he were poor!' sighed Reuben, with all the selfishness of a +lover. 'If this war last I may win myself some honour or title. +Who knows? Others have done it, and why not I!' + +'Of our three from Havant,' I remarked, 'one is spurred onwards by +ambition, and one by love. Now, what am I to do who care neither for +high office nor for the face of a maid? What is to carry me into the +fight?' + +'Our motives come and go, but yours is ever with you,' said Reuben. +'Honour and duty are the two stars, Micah, by which you have ever +steered your course.' + +'Faith, Mistress Ruth has taught you to make pretty speeches,' said I, +'but methinks she ought to be here amid the beauty of Taunton.' + +As I spoke we were riding into the market-place, which was now crowded +with our troops. Round the cross were grouped a score of maidens clad +in white muslin dresses with blue scarfs around their waists. As the +King approached, these little maids, with much pretty nervousness, +advanced to meet him, and handed him a banner which they had worked for +him, and also a dainty gold-clasped Bible. Monmouth handed the flag +to one of his captains, but he raised the book above his head, +exclaiming that he had come there to defend the truths contained within +it, at which the cheerings and acclamations broke forth with redoubled +vigour. It had been expected that he might address the people from the +cross, but he contented himself with waiting while the heralds +proclaimed his titles to the Crown, when he gave the word to disperse, +and the troops marched off to the different centres where food had been +provided for them. The King and his chief officers took up their +quarters in the Castle, while the Mayor and richer burgesses found bed +and board for the rest. As to the common soldiers, many were billeted +among the townsfolk, many others encamped in the streets and Castle +grounds, while the remainder took up their dwelling among the waggons in +the fields outside the city, where they lit up great fires, and had +sheep roasting and beer flowing as merrily as though a march on London +were but a holiday outing. + + + +Chapter XXI. + + +Of my Hand-grips with the Brandenburger + +King Monmouth had called a council meeting for the evening, and summoned +Colonel Decimus Saxon to attend it, with whom I went, bearing with me +the small package which Sir Jacob Clancing had given over to my keeping. +On arriving at the Castle we found that the King had not yet come out +from his chamber, but we were shown into the great hall to await him, +a fine room with lofty windows and a noble ceiling of carved woodwork. +At the further end the royal arms had been erected without the bar +sinister which Monmouth had formerly worn. Here were assembled the +principal chiefs of the army, with many of the inferior commanders, town +officers, and others who had petitions to offer. Lord Grey of Wark +stood silently by the window, looking out over the countryside with a +gloomy face. Wade and Holmes shook their heads and whispered in a +corner. Ferguson strode about with his wig awry, shouting out +exhortations and prayers in a broad Scottish accent. A few of the more +gaily dressed gathered round the empty fireplace, and listened to a tale +from one of their number which appeared to be shrouded in many oaths, +and which was greeted with shouts of laughter. In another corner a +numerous group of zealots, clad in black or russet gowns, with broad +white bands and hanging mantles, stood round some favourite preacher, +and discussed in an undertone Calvinistic philosophy and its relation to +statecraft. A few plain homely soldiers, who were neither sectaries nor +courtiers, wandered up and down, or stared out through the windows at +the busy encampment upon the Castle Green. To one of these, remarkable +for his great size and breadth of shoulder, Saxon led me, and touching +him on the sleeve, he held out his hand as to an old friend. +'Mein Gott!' cried the German soldier of fortune, for it was the same +man whom my companion had pointed out in the morning, 'I thought it was +you, Saxon, when I saw you by the gate, though you are even thinner than +of old. How a man could suck up so much good Bavarian beer as you have +done, and yet make so little flesh upon it, is more than I can +verstehen. How have all things gone with you?' + +'As of old,' said Saxon. 'More blows than thalers, and greater need of +a surgeon than of a strong-box. When did I see you last, friend? +Was it not at the onfall at Nurnberg, when I led the right and you the +left wing of the heavy horse?' + +'Nay,' said Buyse. 'I have met you in the way of business since then. +Have you forgot the skirmish on the Rhine bank, when you did flash your +snapphahn at me? Sapperment! Had some rascally schelm not stabbed my +horse I should have swept your head off as a boy cuts thistles mit a +stick.' + +'Aye, aye,' Saxon answered composedly, 'I had forgot it. You were +taken, if I remember aright, but did afterwards brain the sentry with +your fetters, and swam the Rhine under the fire of a regiment. Yet, I +think that we did offer you the same terms that you were having with the +others.' + +'Some such base offer was indeed made me,' said the German sternly. +'To which I answered that, though I sold my sword, I did not sell my +honour. It is well that cavaliers of fortune should show that an +engagement is with them--how do ye say it?--unbreakable until the war is +over. Then by all means let him change his paymaster. Warum nicht?' + +'True, friend, true!' replied Saxon. 'These beggarly Italians and Swiss +have made such a trade of the matter, and sold themselves so freely, +body and soul, to the longest purse, that it is well that we should be +nice upon points of honour. But you remember the old hand-grip which +no man in the Palatinate could exchange with you? Here is my captain, +Micah Clarke. Let him see how warm a North German welcome may be.' + +The Brandenburger showed his white teeth in a grin as he held out his +broad brown hand to me. The instant that mine was enclosed in it he +suddenly bent his whole strength upon it, and squeezed my fingers +together until the blood tingled in the nails, and the whole hand was +limp and powerless. + +'Donnerwetter!' he cried, laughing heartily at my start of pain and +surprise. 'It is a rough Prussian game, and the English lads have not +much stomach for it.' + +'Truly, sir,' said I, 'it is the first time that I have seen the +pastime, and I would fain practise it under so able a master.' + +'What, another!' he cried. 'Why, you must be still pringling from the +first. Nay, if you will I shall not refuse you, though I fear it may +weaken your hold upon your sword-hilt.' + +He held out his hand as he spoke, and I grasped it firmly, thumb to +thumb, keeping my elbow high so as to bear all my force upon it. His +own trick was, as I observed, to gain command of the other hand by a +great output of strength at the onset. This I prevented by myself +putting out all my power. For a minute or more we stood motionless, +gazing into each other's faces. Then I saw a bead of sweat trickle down +his forehead, and I knew that he was beaten. Slowly his grip relaxed, +and his hand grew limp and slack while my own tightened ever upon it, +until he was forced in a surly, muttering voice to request that I should +unhand him. + +'Teufel und hexerei!' he cried, wiping away the blood which oozed from +under his nails, 'I might as well put my fingers in a rat-trap. You are +the first man that ever yet exchanged fair hand-grips with Anthony +Buyse.' + +'We breed brawn in England as well as in Brandenburg,' said Saxon, who +was shaking with laughter over the German soldier's discomfiture. +'Why, I have seen that lad pick up a full-size sergeant of dragoons and +throw him into a cart as though he had been a clod of earth.' + +'Strong he is,' grumbled Buyse, still wringing his injured hand, 'strong +as old Gotz mit de iron grip. But what good is strength alone in the +handling of a weapon? It is not the force of a blow, but the way in +which it is geschlagen, that makes the effect. Your sword now is +heavier than mine, by the look of it, and yet my blade would bite +deeper. Eh? Is not that a more soldierly sport than kinderspiel such +as hand-grasping and the like?' + +'He is a modest youth,' said Saxon. 'Yet I would match his stroke +against yours.' + +'For what?' snarled the German. + +'For as much wine as we can take at a sitting. + +'No small amount, either,' said Buyse; 'a brace of gallons at the least. +Well, be it so. Do you accept the contest?' + +'I shall do what I may,' I answered, 'though I can scarce hope to strike +as heavy a blow as so old and tried a soldier.' + +'Henker take your compliments,' he cried gruffly. 'It was with sweet +words that you did coax my fingers into that fool-catcher of yours. +Now, here is my old headpiece of Spanish steel. It has, as you can see, +one or two dints of blows, and a fresh one will not hurt it. I place it +here upon this oaken stool high enough to be within fair sword-sweep. +Have at it, Junker, and let us see if you can leave your mark upon it!' + +'Do you strike first, sir,' said I, 'since the challenge is yours.' + +'I must bruise my own headpiece to regain my soldierly credit,' he +grumbled. 'Well, well, it has stood a cut or two in its day.' Drawing +his broadsword, he waved back the crowd who had gathered around us, +while he swung the great weapon with tremendous force round his head, +and brought it down with a full, clean sweep on to the smooth cap of +steel. The headpiece sprang high into the air and then clattered down +upon the oaken floor with a long, deep line bitten into the solid metal. + +'Well struck!' 'A brave stroke!' cried the spectators. 'It is proof +steel thrice welded, and warranted to turn a sword-blade,' one remarked, +raising up the helmet to examine it, and then replacing it upon the +stool. + +'I have seen my father cut through proof steel with this very sword,' +said I, drawing the fifty-year-old weapon. 'He put rather more of his +weight into it than you have done. I have heard him say that a good +stroke should come from the back and loins rather than from the mere +muscles of the arm.' + +'It is not a lecture we want, but a beispiel or example,' sneered the +German. 'It is with your stroke that we have to do, and not with the +teaching of your father.' + +'My stroke,' said I, 'is in accordance with his teaching;' and, +whistling round the sword, I brought it down with all my might and +strength upon the German's helmet. The good old Commonwealth blade +shore through the plate of steel, cut the stool asunder, and buried its +point two inches deep in the oaken floor. 'It is but a trick,' I +explained. 'I have practised it in the winter evenings at home.' + +'It is not a trick that I should care to have played upon me,' said Lord +Grey, amid a general murmur of applause and surprise. 'Od's bud, man, +you have lived two centuries too late. What would not your thews have +been worth before gunpowder put all men upon a level!' + +'Wunderbar!' growled Buyse, 'wunderbar! I am past my prime, young sir, +and may well resign the palm of strength to you. It was a right noble +stroke. It hath cost me a runlet or two of canary, and a good old +helmet; but I grudge it not, for it was fairly done. I am thankful that +my head was not darin. Saxon, here, used to show us some brave +schwertspielerei, but he hath not the weight for such smashing blows as +this.' + +'My eye is still true and my hand firm, though both are perhaps a trifle +the worse for want of use,' said Saxon, only too glad at the chance of +drawing the eyes of the chiefs upon him. 'At backsword, sword and +dagger, sword and buckler, single falchion and case of falchions, mine +old challenge still holds good against any comer, save only my brother +Quartus, who plays as well as I do, but hath an extra half-inch in reach +which gives him the vantage.' + +'I studied sword-play under Signor Contarini of Paris,' said Lord Grey. +'Who was your master?' + +'I have studied, my lord, under Signer Stern Necessity of Europe,' quoth +Saxon. 'For five-and-thirty years my life has depended from day to day +upon being able to cover myself with this slip of steel. Here is a +small trick which showeth some nicety of eye: to throw this ring to the +ceiling and catch it upon a rapier point. It seems simple, perchance, +and yet is only to be attained by some practice.' + +'Simple!' cried Wade the lawyer, a square-faced, bold-eyed man. +'Why, the ring is but the girth of your little finger. A man might do +it once by good luck, but none could ensure it.' + +'I will lay a guinea a thrust on it,' said Saxon; and tossing the little +gold circlet up into the air, he flashed out his rapier and made a pass +at it. The ring rasped down the steel blade and tinkled against the +hilt, fairly impaled. By a sharp motion of the wrist he shot it up to +the ceiling again, where it struck a carved rafter and altered its +course; but again, with a quick step forward, he got beneath it and +received it on his sword-point. 'Surely there is some cavalier present +who is as apt at the trick as I am,' he said, replacing the ring upon +his finger. + +'I think, Colonel, that I could venture upon it,' said a voice; and +looking round, we found that Monmouth had entered the room and was +standing quietly on the outskirts of the throng, unperceived in the +general interest which our contention had excited. 'Nay, nay, +gentlemen,' he continued pleasantly, as we uncovered and bowed with some +little embarrassment; 'how could my faithful followers be better +employed than by breathing themselves in a little sword-play? I prythee +lend me your rapier, Colonel.' He drew a diamond ring from his finger, +and spinning it up into the air, he transfixed it as deftly as Saxon had +done. 'I practised the trick at The Hague, where, by my faith, I had +only too many hours to devote to such trifles. But how come these steel +links and splinters of wood to be littered over the floor?' + +'A son of Anak hath appaired amang us,' said Ferguson, turning his face, +all scarred and reddened with the king's evil, in my direction. +'A Goliath o' Gath, wha hath a stroke like untae a weaver's beam. +Hath he no the smooth face o' a bairn and the thews' o' Behemoth?' + +'A shrewd blow indeed,' King Monmouth remarked, picking up half the +stool. 'How is our champion named?' + +'He is my captain, your Majesty,' Saxon answered, resheathing the sword +which the King had handed to him; 'Micah Clarke, a man of Hampshire +birth.' + +'They breed a good old English stock in those parts,' said Monmouth; +'but how comes it that you are here, sir? I summoned this meeting for +my own immediate household, and for the colonels of the regiments. +If every captain is to be admitted into our councils, we must hold our +meetings on the Castle Green, for no apartment could contain us.' + +'I ventured to come here, your Majesty,' I replied, 'because on my way +hither I received a commission, which was that I should deliver this +small but weighty package into your hands. I therefore thought it my +duty to lose no time in fulfilling my errand.' + +'What is in it?' he asked. + +'I know not,' I answered. + +Doctor Ferguson whispered a few words into the King's ear, who laughed +and held out his hand for the packet. + +'Tut! tut!' said he. 'The days of the Borgias and the Medicis are over, +Doctor. Besides, the lad is no Italian conspirator, but hath honest +blue eyes and flaxen hair as Nature's certificate to his character. +This is passing heavy--an ingot of lead, by the feel. Lend me your +dagger, Colonel Holmes. It is stitched round with packthread. Ha! it +is a bar of gold--solid virgin gold by all that is wonderful. Take +charge of it, Wade, and see that it is added to the common fund. This +little piece of metal may furnish ten pikemen. What have we here? +A letter and an enclosure. "To James, Duke of Monmouth"--hum! It was +written before we assumed our royal state. "Sir Jacob Glancing, late of +Snellaby Hall, sends greeting and a pledge of affection. Carry out the +good work. A hundred more such ingots await you when you have crossed +Salisbury Plain." Bravely promised, Sir Jacob! I would that you had +sent them. Well, gentlemen, ye see how support and tokens of goodwill +come pouring in upon us. Is not the tide upon the turn? Can the +usurper hope to hold his own? Will his men stand by him? Within a +month or less I shall see ye all gathered round me at Westminster, and +no duty will then be so pleasing to me as to see that ye are all, from +the highest to the lowest, rewarded for your loyalty to your monarch in +this the hour of his darkness and his danger.' + +A murmur of thanks rose up from the courtiers at this gracious speech, +but the German plucked at Saxon's sleeve and whispered, 'He hath his +warm fit upon him. You shall see him cold anon.' + +'Fifteen hundred men have joined me here where I did but expect a +thousand at the most,' the King continued. 'If we had high hopes when +we landed at Lyme Cobb with eighty at our back, what should we think now +when we find ourselves in the chief city of Somerset with eight thousand +brave men around us? 'Tis but one other affair like that at Axminster, +and my uncle's power will go down like a house of cards. But gather +round the table, gentlemen, and we shall discuss matters in due form.' + +'There is yet a scrap of paper which you have not read, sire,' said +Wade, picking up a little slip which had been enclosed in the note. + +'It is a rhyming catch or the posy of a ring,' said Monmouth, glancing +at it. 'What are we to make of this? + + "When thy star is in trine, + Between darkness and shine, + Duke Monmouth, Duke Monmouth, + Beware of the Rhine!" + +Thy star in trine! What tomfoolery is this?' + +'If it please your Majesty,' said I, 'I have reason to believe that the +man who sent you this message is one of those who are deeply skilled in +the arts of divination, and who pretend from the motions of the +celestial bodies to foretell the fates of men.' + +'This gentleman is right, sir,' remarked Lord Grey. '"Thy star in +trine" is an astrological term, which signifieth when your natal planet +shall be in a certain quarter of the heavens. The verse is of the +nature of a prophecy. The Chaldeans and Egyptians of old are said to +have attained much skill in the art, but I confess that I have no great +opinion of those latter-day prophets who busy themselves in answering +the foolish questions of every housewife.' + + 'And tell by Venus and the moon, + Who stole a thimble or a spoon.' +muttered Saxon, quoting from his favourite poem. + +'Why, here are our Colonels catching the rhyming complaint,' said the +King, laughing. 'We shall be dropping the sword and taking to the harp +anon, as Alfred did in these very parts. Or I shall become a king of +bards and trouveurs, like good King Rene of Provence. But, gentlemen, +if this be indeed a prophecy, it should, methinks, bode well for our +enterprise. It is true that I am warned against the Rhine, but there is +little prospect of our fighting this quarrel upon its banks.' + +'Worse luck !' murmured the German, under his breath. + +'We may, therefore, thank this Sir Jacob and his giant messenger for his +forecast as well as for his gold. But here comes the worthy Mayor of +Taunton, the oldest of our councillors and the youngest of our knights. +Captain Clarke, I desire you to stand at the inside of the door and to +prevent intrusion. What passes amongst us will, I am well convinced, +be safe in your keeping.' + +I bowed and took up my post as ordered, while the council-men and +commanders gathered round the great oaken table which ran down the +centre of the hall. The mellow evening light was streaming through the +three western windows, while the distant babble of the soldiers upon the +Castle Green sounded like the sleepy drone of insects. Monmouth paced +with quick uneasy steps up and down the further end of the room until +all were seated, when he turned towards them and addressed them. + +'You will have surmised, gentlemen,' he said, 'that I have called you +together to-day that I might have the benefit of your collective wisdom +in determining what our next steps should be. We have now marched some +forty miles into our kingdom, and we have met wherever we have gone with +the warm welcome which we expected. Close upon eight thousand men +follow our standards, and as many more have been turned away for want of +arms. We have twice met the enemy, with the effect that we have armed +ourselves with their muskets and field-pieces. From first to last there +hath been nothing which has not prospered with us. We must look to it +that the future be as successful as the past. To insure this I have +called ye together, and I now ask ye to give me your opinions of our +situation, leaving me after I have listened to your views to form our +plan of action. There are statesmen among ye, and there are soldiers +among ye, and there are godly men among ye who may chance to get a flash +of light when statesman and soldier are in the dark. Speak fearlessly, +then, and let me know what is in your minds.' + +From my central post by the door I could see the lines of faces on +either side of the board, the solemn close-shaven Puritans, sunburned +soldiers, and white-wigged moustachioed courtiers. My eyes rested +particularly upon Ferguson's scorbutic features, Saxon's hard aquiline +profile, the German's burly face, and the peaky thoughtful countenance +of the Lord of Wark. + +'If naebody else will gie an opeenion,' cried the fanatical Doctor, +'I'll een speak mysel' as led by the inward voice. For have I no worked +in the cause and slaved in it, much enduring and suffering mony things +at the honds o' the froward, whereby my ain speerit hath plentifully +fructified? Have I no been bruised as in a wine-press, and cast oot wi' +hissing and scorning into waste places?' + +'We know your merits and your sufferings, Doctor,' said the King. +'The question before us is as to our course of action.' + +'Was there no a voice heard in the East?' cried the old Whig. +'Was there no a soond as o' a great crying, the crying for a broken +covenant and a sinful generation? Whence came the cry? Wha's was the +voice? Was it no that o' the man Robert Ferguson, wha raised himsel' up +against the great ones in the land, and wouldna be appeased?' + +'Aye, aye, Doctor,' said Monmouth impatiently. 'Speak to the point, or +give place to another.' + +'I shall mak' mysel' clear, your Majesty. Have we no heard that Argyle +is cutten off? And why was he cutten off? Because he hadna due faith +in the workings o' the Almighty, and must needs reject the help o' the +children o' light in favour o' the bare-legged spawn o' Prelacy, wha are +half Pagan, half Popish. Had he walked in the path o' the Lord he wudna +be lying in the Tolbooth o' Edinburgh wi' the tow or the axe before him. +Why did he no gird up his loins and march straight onwards wi' the +banner o' light, instead o' dallying here and biding there like a +half-hairted Didymus? And the same or waur will fa' upon us if we dinna +march on intae the land and plant our ensigns afore the wicked toun o' +London--the toun where the Lord's wark is tae be done, and the tares tae +be separated frae the wheat, and piled up for the burning.' + +'Your advice, in short, is that we march on!' said Monmouth. + +'That we march on, your Majesty, and that we prepare oorselves tae be +the vessels o' grace, and forbear frae polluting the cause o' the Gospel +by wearing the livery o' the devil'--here he glared at a gaily attired +cavalier at the other side of the table--'or by the playing o' cairds, +the singing o' profane songs and the swearing o' oaths, all which are +nichtly done by members o' this army, wi' the effect o' giving much +scandal tae God's ain folk.' + +A hum of assent and approval rose up from the more Puritan members of +the council at this expression of opinion, while the courtiers glanced +at each other and curled their lips in derision. Monmouth took two or +three turns and then called for another opinion. + +'You, Lord Grey,' he said, 'are a soldier and a man of experience. +What is your advice? Should we halt here or push forward towards +London?' + +'To advance to the East would, in my humble judgment, be fatal to us,' +Grey answered, speaking slowly, with the manner of a man who has thought +long and deeply before delivering an opinion. 'James Stuart is strong +in horse, and we have none. We can hold our own amongst hedgerows or in +broken country, but what chance could we have in the middle of Salisbury +Plain? With the dragoons round us we should be like a flock of sheep +amid a pack of wolves. Again, every step which we take towards London +removes us from our natural vantage ground, and from the fertile country +which supplies our necessities, while it strengthens our enemy by +shortening the distance he has to convey his troops and his victuals. +Unless, therefore, we hear of some great outbreak elsewhere, or of some +general movement in London in our favour, we would do best to hold our +ground and wait an attack.' + +'You argue shrewdly and well, my Lord Grey,' said the King. 'But how +long are we to wait for this outbreak which never comes, and for this +support which is ever promised and never provided? We have now been +seven long days in England, and during that time of all the House of +Commons no single man hath come over to us, and of the lords none gave +my Lord Grey, who was himself an exile. Not a baron or an earl, and +only one baronet, hath taken up arms for me. Where are the men whom +Danvers and Wildman promised me from London? Where are the brisk boys +of the City who were said to be longing for me? Where are the breakings +out from Berwick to Portland which they foretold? Not a man hath moved +save only these good peasants. I have been deluded, ensnared, trapped-- +trapped by vile agents who have led me into the shambles.' He paced up +and down, wringing his hands and biting his lips, with despair stamped +upon his face. I observed that Buyse smiled and whispered something +to Saxon--a hint, I suppose, that this was the cold fit of which he +spoke. + +'Tell me, Colonel Buyse,' said the King, mastering his emotion by a +strong effort. 'Do you, as a soldier, agree with my Lord Grey?' + +'Ask Saxon, your Majesty,' the German answered. 'My opinion in a +Raths-Versammlung is, I have observed, ever the same as his.' + +'Then we turn to you, Colonel Saxon,' said Monmouth. 'We have in this +council a party who are in favour of an advance and a party who wish to +stand their ground. Their weight and numbers are, methinks, nearly +equal. If you had the casting vote how would you decide?' All eyes +were bent upon our leader, for his martial bearing, and the respect +shown to him by the veteran Buyse, made it likely that his opinion +might really turn the scale. He sat for a few moments in silence with +his hands before his face. + +'I will give my opinion, your Majesty,' he said at last. 'Feversham and +Churchill are making for Salisbury with three thousand foot, and they +have pushed on eight hundred of the Blue Guards, and two or three +dragoon regiments. We should, therefore, as Lord Grey says, have to +fight on Salisbury Plain, and our foot armed with a medley of weapons +could scarce make head against their horse. All is possible to the +Lord, as Dr. Ferguson wisely says. We are as grains of dust in the +hollow of His hand. Yet He hath given us brains wherewith to choose the +better course, and if we neglect it we must suffer the consequence of +our folly.' + +Ferguson laughed contemptuously, and breathed out a prayer, but many of +the other Puritans nodded their heads to acknowledge that this was not +an unreasonable view to take of it. + +'On the other hand, sire,' Saxon continued, 'it appears to me that to +remain here is equally impossible. Your Majesty's friends throughout +England would lose all heart if the army lay motionless and struck no +blow. The rustics would flock off to their wives and homes. Such an +example is catching. I have seen a great army thaw away like an icicle +in the sunshine. Once gone, it is no easy matter to collect them again. +To keep them we must employ them. Never let them have an idle minute. +Drill them. March them. Exercise them. Work them. Preach to them. +Make them obey God and their Colonel. This cannot be done in snug +quarters. They must travel. We cannot hope to end this business until +we get to London. London, then, must be our goal. But there are many +ways of reaching it. You have, sire, as I have heard, many friends at +Bristol and in the Midlands. If I might advise, I should say let us +march round in that direction. Every day that passes will serve to +swell your forces and improve your troops, while all will feel something +is astirring. Should we take Bristol--and I hear that the works are not +very strong--it would give us a very good command of shipping, and a +rare centre from which to act. If all goes well with us, we could make +our way to London through Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. In the +meantime I might suggest that a day of fast and humiliation be called to +bring down a blessing on the cause.' + +This address, skilfully compounded of worldly wisdom and of spiritual +zeal, won the applause of the whole council, and especially that of King +Monmouth, whose melancholy vanished as if by magic. + +'By my faith, Colonel,' said he, 'you make it all as clear as day. +Of course, if we make ourselves strong in the West, and my uncle is +threatened with disaffection elsewhere, he will have no chance to hold +out against us. Should he wish to fight us upon our own ground, he must +needs drain his troops from north, south, and east, which is not to be +thought of. We may very well march to London by way of Bristol.' + +'I think that the advice is good,' Lord Grey observed; 'but I should +like to ask Colonel Saxon what warrant he hath for saying that Churchill +and Feversham are on their way, with three thousand regular foot and +several regiments of horse?' + +'The word of an officer of the Blues with whom I conversed at +Salisbury,' Saxon answered. 'He confided in me, believing me to be one +of the Duke of Beaufort's household. As to the horse, one party pursued +us on Salisbury Plain with bloodhounds, and another attacked us not +twenty miles from here and lost a score of troopers and a cornet.' + +'We heard something of the brush,' said the King. 'It was bravely done. +But if these men are so close we have no great time for preparation.' + +'Their foot cannot he here before a week,' said the Mayor. 'By that +time we might be behind the walls of Bristol.' + +'There is one point which might be urged,' observed Wade the lawyer. +'We have, as your Majesty most truly says, met with heavy discouragement +in the fact that no noblemen and few commoners of repute have declared +for us. The reason is, I opine, that each doth wait for his neighbour +to make a move. Should one or two come over the others would soon +follow. How, then, are we to bring a duke or two to our standards?' + +'There's the question, Master Wade,' said Monmouth, shaking his head +despondently. + +'I think that it might be done,' continued the Whig lawyer. 'Mere +proclamations addressed to the commonalty will not catch these gold +fish. They are not to be angled for with a naked hook. I should +recommend that some form of summons or writ be served upon each of them, +calling upon them to appear in our camp within a certain date under pain +of high treason.' + +'There spake the legal mind,' quoth King Monmouth, with a laugh. +'But you have omitted to tell us how the said writ or summons is to be +conveyed to these same delinquents.' + +'There is the Duke of Beaufort,' continued Wade, disregarding the King's +objection. 'He is President of Wales, and he is, as your Majesty knows, +lieutenant of four English counties. His influence overshadows the +whole West. He hath two hundred horses in his stables at Badminton, and +a thousand men, as I have heard, sit down at his tables every day. +Why should not a special effort be made to gain over such a one, the +more so as we intend to march in his direction?' + +'Henry, Duke of Beaufort, is unfortunately already in arms against his +sovereign,' said Monmouth gloomily. + +'He is, sire, but he may be induced to turn in your favour the weapon +which he hath raised against you. He is a Protestant. He is said to be +a Whig. Why should we not send a message to him? Flatter his pride. +Appeal to his religion. Coax and threaten him. Who knows? He may have +private grievances of which we know nothing, and may be ripe for such a +move.' + +'Your counsel is good, Wade,' said Lord Grey, 'but methinks his Majesty +hath asked a pertinent question. Your messenger would, I fear, find +himself swinging upon one of the Badminton oaks if the Duke desired to +show his loyalty to James Stuart. Where are we to find a man who is +wary enough and bold enough for such a mission, without risking one of +our leaders, who could be ill-spared at such a time?' + +'It is true,' said the King. 'It were better not to venture it at all +than to do it in a clumsy and halting fashion. Beaufort would think +that it was a plot not to gain him over, but to throw discredit upon +him. But what means our giant at the door by signing to us?' + +'If it please your Majesty,' I asked, 'have I permission to +speak?' + +'We would fain hear you, Captain,' he answered graciously. 'If your +understanding is in any degree correspondent to your strength, your +opinion should be of weight.' + +'Then, your Majesty,' said I, 'I would offer myself as a fitting +messenger in this matter. My father bid me spare neither life nor limb +in this quarrel, and if this honourable council thinks that the Duke may +be gained over, I am ready to guarantee that the message shall be +conveyed to him if man and horse can do it.' + +'I'll warrant that no better herald could he found,' cried Saxon. 'The +lad hath a cool head and a staunch heart.' + +'Then, young sir, we shall accept your loyal and gallant offer,' said +Monmouth. 'Are ye all agreed, gentlemen, upon the point?' A murmur of +assent rose from the company. + +'You shall draw up the paper, Wade. Offer him money, a seniority +amongst the dukes, the perpetual Presidentship of Wales--what you will, +if you can but shake him. If not, sequestration, exile, and everlasting +infamy. And, hark ye! you can enclose a copy of the papers drawn up by +Van Brunow, which prove the marriage of my mother, together with the +attestations of the witnesses. Have them ready by to-morrow at +daybreak, when the messenger may start.' [Note H, Appendix.] + +'They shall be ready, your Majesty,' said Wade. + +'In that case, gentlemen,' continued King Monmouth, 'I may now dismiss +ye to your posts. Should anything fresh arise I shall summon ye again, +that I may profit by your wisdom. Here we shall stay, if Sir Stephen +Timewell will have us, until the men are refreshed and the recruits +enrolled. We shall then make our way Bristolwards, and see what luck +awaits us in the North. If Beaufort comes over all will be well. +Farewell, my kind friends! I need not tell ye to be diligent and +faithful.' + +The council rose at the King's salutation, and bowing to him they began +to file out of the Castle hall. Several of the members clustered round +me with hints for my journey or suggestions as to my conduct. + +'He is a proud, froward man,' said one. 'Speak humbly to him or he +will never hearken to your message, but will order you to be scourged +out of his presence.' + +'Nay, nay!' cried another. 'He is hot, but he loves a man that is a +man. Speak boldly and honestly to him, and he is more like to listen to +reason.' + +'Speak as the Lord shall direct you,' said a Puritan. 'It is His +message which you bear as well as the King's.' + +'Entice him out alone upon some excuse,' said Buyse, 'then up and away +mit him upon your crupper. Hagelsturm! that would be a proper game.' + +'Leave him alone,' cried Saxon. 'The lad hath as much sense as any of +ye. He will see which way the cat jumps. Come, friend, let us make our +way back to our men.' + +'I am sorry, indeed, to lose you,' he said, as we threaded our way +through the throng of peasants and soldiers upon the Castle Green. +'Your company will miss you sorely. Lockarby must see to the two. +If all goes well you should be back in three or four days. I need not +tell you that there is a real danger. If the Duke wishes to prove to +James that he would not allow himself to be tampered with, he can only +do it by punishing the messenger, which as lieutenant of a county he +hath power to do in times of civil commotion. He is a hard man if all +reports be true. On the other hand, if you should chance to succeed it +may lay the foundations of your fortunes and be the means of saving +Monmouth. He needs help, by the Lord Harry! Never have I seen such a +rabble as this army of his. Buyse says that they fought lustily at this +ruffle at Axminster, but he is of one mind with me, that a few whiffs +of shot and cavalry charges would scatter them over the countryside. +Have you any message to leave?' + +'None, save my love to my mother,' said I. + +'It is well. Should you fall in any unfair way, I shall not forget his +Grace of Beaufort, and the next of his gentlemen who comes in my way +shall hang as high as Haman. And now you had best make for your +chamber, and have as good a slumber as you may, since to-morrow at +cock-crow begins your new mission.' + + + +Chapter XXII. + +Of the News from Havant + +Having given my orders that Covenant should be saddled and bridled by +daybreak, I had gone to my room and was preparing for a long night's +rest, when Sir Gervas, who slept in the same apartment, came dancing in +with a bundle of papers waving over his head. + +'Three guesses, Clarke!' he cried. 'What would you most desire?' + +'Letters from Havant,' said I eagerly. + +'Right,' he answered, throwing them into my lap. 'Three of them, and +not a woman's hand among them. Sink me, if I can understand what you +have been doing all your life. + + "How can youthful heart resign + Lovely woman, sparkling wine?" + +But you are so lost in your news that you have not observed my +transformation.' + +'Why, wherever did you get these?' I asked in astonishment, for he was +attired in a delicate plum-coloured suit with gold buttons and +trimmings, set off by silken hosen and Spanish leather shoes with roses +on the instep. + +'It smacks more of the court than of the camp,' quoth Sir Gervas, +rubbing his hands and glancing down at himself with some satisfaction. +'I am also revictualled in the matter of ratafia and orange-flower +water, together with two new wigs, a bob and a court, a pound of the +Imperial snuff from the sign of the Black Man, a box of De Crepigny's +hair powder, my foxskin muff, and several other necessaries. But I +hinder you in your reading.' + +'I have seen enough to tell me that all is well at home,' I answered, +glancing over my father's letter. 'But how came these things?' + +'Some horsemen have come in from Petersfield, bearing them with them. +As to my little box, which a fair friend of mine in town packed for me, +it was to be forwarded to Bristol, where I am now supposed to be, and +should be were it not for my good fortune in meeting your party. +It chanced to find its way, however, to the Bruton inn, and the good +woman there, whom I had conciliated, found means to send it after +me. It is a good rule to go upon, Clarke, in this earthly pilgrimage, +always to kiss the landlady. It may seem a small thing, and yet life is +made up of small things. I have few fixed principles, I fear, but two +there are which I can say from my heart that I never transgress. +I always carry a corkscrew, and I never forget to kiss the landlady.' + +'From what I have seen of you,' said I, laughing, 'I could be warranty +that those two duties are ever fulfilled.' + +'I have letters, too,' said he, sitting on the side of the bed and +turning over a sheaf of papers. '"Your broken-hearted Araminta." Hum! +The wench cannot know that I am ruined or her heart would speedily be +restored. What's this? A challenge to match my bird Julius against my +Lord Dorchester's cockerel for a hundred guineas. Faith! I am too busy +backing the Monmouth rooster for the champion stakes. Another +asking me to chase the stag at Epping. Zounds! had I not cleared off I +should have been run down myself, with a pack of bandog bailiffs at my +heels. A dunning letter from my clothier. He can afford to lose this +bill. He hath had many a long one out of me. An offer of three +thousand from little Dicky Chichester. No, no, Dicky, it won't do. +A gentleman can't live upon his friends. None the less grateful. +How now? From Mrs. Butterworth! No money for three weeks! Bailiffs in +the house! Now, curse me, if this is not too bad!' + +'What is the matter?' I asked, glancing up from my own letters. +The baronet's pale face had taken a tinge of red, and he was striding +furiously up and down the bedroom with a letter crumpled up in his hand. + +'It is a burning shame, Clarke,' he cried. 'Hang it, she shall have my +watch. It is by Tompion, of the sign of the Three Crowns in Paul's +Yard, and cost a hundred when new. It should keep her for a few months. +Mortimer shall measure swords with me for this. I shall write villain +upon him with my rapier's point.' + +'I have never seen you ruffled before,' said I. + +'No,' he answered, laughing. 'Many have lived with me for years and +would give me a certificate for temper. But this is too much. +Sir Edward Mortimer is my mother's younger brother, Clarke, but he is +not many years older than myself. A proper, strait-laced, soft-voiced +lad he has ever been, and, as a consequence, he throve in the world, and +joined land to land after the scriptural fashion. I had befriended him +from my purse in the old days, but he soon came to be a richer man +than I, for all that he gained he kept, whereas all I got--well, it went +off like the smoke of the pipe which you are lighting. When I found +that all was up with me I received from Mortimer an advance, which was +sufficient to take me according to my wish over to Virginia, together +with a horse and a personal outfit. There was some chance, Clarke, of +the Jerome acres going to him should aught befall me, so that he was not +averse to helping me off to a land of fevers and scalping knives. +Nay, never shake your head, my dear country lad, you little know the +wiles of the world.' + +'Give him credit for the best until the worst is proved,' said I, +sitting up in bed smoking, with my letters littered about in front of +me. + +'The worst _is_ proved,' said Sir Gervas, with a darkening face. +'I have, as I said, done Mortimer some turns which he might remember, +though it did not become me to remind him of them. This Mistress +Butterworth is mine old wet-nurse, and it hath been the custom of the +family to provide for her. I could not bear the thought that in the +ruin of my fortune she should lose the paltry guinea or so a week which +stood between her and hunger. My only request to Mortimer, therefore, +made on the score of old friendship, was that he should continue this +pittance, I promising that should I prosper I would return whatever he +should disburse. The mean-hearted villain wrung my hand and swore that +it should be so. How vile a thing is human nature, Clarke! For the +sake of this paltry sum he, a rich man, hath broken his pledge, and left +this poor woman to starve. But he shall answer to me for it. He thinks +that I am on the Atlantic. If I march back to London with these brave +boys I shall disturb the tenor of his sainted existence. Meanwhile I +shall trust to sun-dials, and off goes my watch to Mother Butterworth. +Bless her ample bosoms! I have tried many liquors, but I dare bet that +the first was the most healthy. But how of your own letters? You have +been frowning and smiling like an April day.' + +'There is one from my father, with a few words attached from my mother,' +said I. 'The second is from an old friend of mine, Zachariah Palmer, +the village carpenter. The third is from Solomon Sprent, a retired +seaman, for whom I have an affection and respect.' + +'You have a rare trio of newsmen. I would I knew your father, Clarke. +he must, from what you say, be a stout bit of British oak. I spoke even +now of your knowing little of the world, but indeed it may be that in +your village you can see mankind without the varnish, and so come to +learn more of the good of human nature. Varnish or none, the bad will +ever peep through. Now this carpenter and seaman show themselves no +doubt for what they are. A man might know my friends of the court for a +lifetime, and never come upon their real selves, nor would it perhaps +repay the search when you had come across it. Sink me, but I wax +philosophical, which is the old refuge of the ruined man. Give me a +tub, and I shall set up in the Piazza of Covent Garden, and be the +Diogenes of London. I would not be wealthy again, Micah! How goes the +old lilt?-- + + "Our money shall never indite us + Or drag us to Goldsmith Hall, + No pirates or wrecks can affright us. + We that have no estates + Fear no plunder or rates, + Nor care to lock gates. + He that lies on the ground cannot fall!" + +That last would make a good motto for an almshouse.' + +'You will have Sir Stephen up,' said I warningly, for he was carolling +away at the pitch of his lungs. + +'Never fear! He and his 'prentices were all at the broad-sword exercise +in the hall as I came by. It is worth something to see the old fellow +stamp, and swing his sword, and cry, "Ha!" on the down-cut. Mistress +Ruth and friend Lockarby are in the tapestried room, she spinning and he +reading aloud one of those entertaining volumes which she would have me +read. Methinks she hath taken his conversion in hand, which may end in +his converting her from a maid into a wife. And so you go to the Duke +of Beaufort! Well, I would that I could travel with you, but Saxon will +not hear of it, and my musqueteers must be my first care. God send you +safe back! Where is my jasmine powder and the patch-box? Read me your +letters if there be aught in them of interest. I have been splitting a +flask with our gallant Colonel at his inn, and he hath told me enough of +your home at Havant to make me wish to know more.' + +'This one is somewhat grave,' said I. + +'Nay, I am in the humour for grave things. Have at it, if it contain +the whole Platonic philosophy.' + +''Tis from the venerable carpenter who hath for many years been my +adviser and friend. He is one who is religious without being sectarian, +philosophic without being a partisan, and loving without being weak.' + +'A paragon, truly!' exclaimed Sir Gervas, who was busy with his eyebrow +brush. + +'This is what he saith,' I continued, and proceeded to read the very +letter which I now read to you. + +'"Having heard from your father, my dear lad, that there was some chance +of being able to send a letter to you, I have written this, and am now +sending it under the charge of the worthy John Packingham, of +Chichester, who is bound for the West. I trust that you are now safe +with Monmouth's army, and that you have received honourable appointment +therein. I doubt not that you will find among your comrades some who +are extreme sectaries, and others who are scoffers and disbelievers. +Be advised by me, friend, and avoid both the one and the other. For the +zealot is a man who not only defends his own right of worship, wherein +he hath justice, but wishes to impose upon the consciences of others, by +which he falls into the very error against which he fights. The mere +brainless scoffer is, on the other hand, lower than the beast of the +field, since he lacks the animal's self-respect and humble +resignation."' + +'My faith!' cried the Baronet, 'the old gentleman hath a rough side to +his tongue.' + +'"Let us take religion upon its broadest base, for the truth must be +broader than aught which we can conceive. The presence of a table doth +prove the existence of a carpenter, and so the presence of a universe +proves the existence of a universe Maker, call Him by what name you +will. So far the ground is very firm beneath us, without either +inspiration, teaching, or any aid whatever. Since, then, there _must_ +be a world Maker, let us judge of His nature by His work. We cannot +observe the glories of the firmament, its infinite extent, its beauty, +and the Divine skill wherewith every plant and animal hath its wants +cared for, without seeing that He is full of wisdom, intelligence, and +power. We are still, you will perceive, upon solid ground, without +having to call to our aid aught save pure reason."' + +'"Having got so far, let us inquire to what end the universe was made, +and we put upon it. The teaching of all nature shows that it must be to +the end of improvement and upward growth, the increase in real virtue, +in knowledge, and in wisdom. Nature is a silent preacher which holds +forth upon week-days as on Sabbaths. We see the acorn grow into the +oak, the egg into the bird, the maggot into the butterfly. Shall we +doubt, then, that the human soul, the most precious of all things, is +also upon the upward path? And how can the soul progress save through +the cultivation of virtue and self-mastery? What other way is there? +There is none. We may say with confidence, then, that we are placed +here to increase in knowledge and in virtue."' + +'"This is the core of all religion, and this much needs no faith in the +acceptance. It is as true and as capable of proof as one of those +exercises of Euclid which we have gone over together. On this common +ground men have raised many different buildings. Christianity, the +creed of Mahomet, the creed of the Easterns, have all the same essence. +The difference lies in the forms and the details. Let us hold to our +own Christian creed, the beautiful, often-professed, and +seldom-practised doctrine of love, but let us not despise our +fellow-men, for we are all branches from the common root of truth."' + +'"Man comes out of darkness into light. He tarries awhile and then +passes into darkness again. Micah, lad, the days are passing, mine as +well as thine. Let them not be wasted. They are few in number. +What says Petrarch?' To him that enters, life seems infinite; to him +that departs, nothing.' Let every day, every hour, be spent in +furthering the Creator's end--in getting out whatever power for good +there is in you. What is pain, or work, or trouble? The cloud that +passes over the sun. But the result of work well done is everything. +It is eternal. It lives and waxes stronger through the centuries. +Pause not for rest. The rest will come when the hour of work is +past."' + +'"May God protect and guard you! There is no great news. +The Portsmouth garrison hath marched to the West. Sir John Lawson, the +magistrate, hath been down here threatening your father and others, but +he can do little for want of proofs. Church and Dissent are at each +other's throats as ever. Truly the stern law of Moses is more enduring +than the sweet words of Christ. Adieu, my dear lad! All good wishes +from your grey-headed friend, ZACHARIAH PALMER."' + +'Od's fish!' cried Sir Gervas, as I folded up the letter, 'I have heard +Stillingfleet and Tenison, but I never listened to a better sermon. +This is a bishop disguised as a carpenter. The crozier would suit his +hand better than the plane. But how of our seaman friend? Is he a +tarpaulin theologian--a divine among the tarry-breeks?' + +'Solomon Sprent is a very different man, though good enough in his way,' +said I. 'But you shall judge him from his letter.' + +'"Master Clarke. Sir,--When last we was in company I had run in under +the batteries on cutting-out service, while you did stand on and off in +the channel and wait signals. Having stopped to refit and to overhaul +my prize, which proved to be in proper trim alow and aloft--"' + +'What the devil doth he mean?' asked Sir Gervas. + +'It is a maid of whom he talks--Phoebe Dawson, the sister of the +blacksmith. He hath scarce put foot on land for nigh forty years, and +can as a consequence only speak in this sea jargon, though he fancies +that he uses as pure King's English as any man in Hampshire.' + +'Proceed, then,' quoth the Baronet. + +'"Having also read her the articles of war, I explained to her the +conditions under which we were to sail in company on life's voyage, +namely:"' + +'"First. She to obey signals without question as soon as received."' + +'"Second. She to steer by my reckoning."' + +'"Third. She to stand by me as true consort in foul weather, battle, or +shipwreck."' + +'"Fourth. She to run under my guns if assailed by picaroons, +privateeros, or garda-costas."' + +'"Fifth. Me to keep her in due repair, dry-dock her at intervals, and +see that she hath her allowance of coats of paint, streamers, and +bunting, as befits a saucy pleasure boat."' + +'"Sixth. Me to take no other craft in tow, and if any be now attached, +to cut their hawsers."' + +'"Seventh. Me to revictual her day by day."' + +'"Eighth. Should she chance to spring a leak, or be blown on her beam +ends by the winds of misfortune, to stand by her and see her pumped out +or righted."' + +'"Ninth. To fly the Protestant ensign at the peak during life's voyage, +and to lay our course for the great harbour, in the hope that moorings +and ground to swing may be found for two British-built crafts when laid +up for eternity."' + +'"'Twas close on eight-bells before these articles were signed and +sealed. When I headed after you I could not so much as catch a glimpse +of your topsail. Soon after I heard as you had gone a-soldiering, +together with that lean, rakish, long-sparred, picaroon-like craft which +I have seen of late in the village. I take it unkind of you that you +have not so much as dipped ensign to me on leaving. But perchance the +tide was favourable, and you could not tarry. Had I not been +jury-rigged, with one of my spars shot away, I should have dearly loved +to have strapped on my hanger and come with you to smell gunpowder once +more. I would do it now, timber-toe and all, were it not for my +consort, who might claim it as a breach of the articles, and so sheer +off. I must follow the light on her poop until we are fairly joined."' + +'"Farewell, mate! In action, take an old sailor's advice. Keep the +weather-gauge and board! Tell that to your admiral on the day of +battle. Whisper it in his ear. Say to him, 'Keep the weather-gauge and +board!' Tell him also to strike quick, strike hard, and keep on +striking. That's the word of Christopher Mings, and a better man has +not been launched, though he did climb in through the hawse-pipe.--Yours +to command, SOLOMON SPRENT."' + +Sir Gervas had been chuckling to himself during the reading of this +epistle, but at the last part we both broke out a-laughing. + +'Land or sea, he will have it that battles are fought in ships,' said +the Baronet. 'You should have had that sage piece of advice for +Monmouth's council to-day. Should he ever ask your opinion it must be, +"Keep the weather-gauge and board!"' + +'I must to sleep,' said I, laying aside my pipe. 'I should be on the +road by daybreak.' + +'Nay, I prythee, complete your kindness by letting me have a glimpse of +your respected parent, the Roundhead.' + +''Tis but a few lines,' I answered. 'He was ever short of speech. +But if they interest you, you shall hear them. "I am sending this by a +godly man, my dear son, to say that I trust that you are bearing +yourself as becomes you. In all danger and difficulty trust not to +yourself, but ask help from on high. If you are in authority, teach +your men to sing psalms when they fall on, as is the good old custom. +In action give point rather than edge. A thrust must beat a cut. +Your mother and the others send their affection to you. Sir John Lawson +hath been down here like a ravening wolf, but could find no proof +against me. John Marchbank, of Bedhampton, is cast into prison. +Truly Antichrist reigns in the land, but the kingdom of light is at +hand. Strike lustily for truth and conscience.--Your loving father, +JOSEPH CLARKE."' + +'"Postscriptum (from my mother).--I trust that you will remember what I +have said concerning your hosen and also the broad linen collars, which +you will find in the bag. It is little over a week since you left, yet +it seems a year. When cold or wet, take ten drops of Daffy's elixir in +a small glass of strong waters. Should your feet chafe, rub tallow on +the inside of your boots. Commend me to Master Saxon and to Master +Lockarby, if he be with you. His father was mad at his going, for he +hath a great brewing going forward, and none to mind the mash-tub. +Ruth hath baked a cake, but the oven hath played her false, and it is +lumpy in the inside. A thousand kisses, dear heart, from your loving +mother, M. C."' + +'A right sensible couple,' quoth Sir Gervas, who, having completed his +toilet, had betaken him to his couch. 'I now begin to understand your +manufacture, Clarke. I see the threads that are used in the weaving of +you. Your father looks to your spiritual wants. Your mother concerns +herself with the material. Yet the old carpenter's preaching is, +methinks, more to your taste. You are a rank latitudinarian, man. +Sir Stephen would cry fie upon you, and Joshua Pettigrue abjure you! +Well, out with the light, for we should both be stirring at cock-crow. +That is our religion at present.' + +'Early Christians,' I suggested, and we both laughed as we settled down +to sleep. + + + +Chapter XXIII. + + +Of the Snare on the Weston Road + +Just after sunrise I was awoke by one of the Mayor's servants, who +brought word that the Honourable Master Wade was awaiting me downstairs. +Having dressed and descended, I found him seated by the table in the +sitting-room with papers and wafer-box, sealing up the missive which I +was to carry. He was a small, worn, grey-faced man, very erect in his +bearing and sudden in his speech, with more of the soldier than of the +lawyer in his appearance. + +'So,' said he, pressing his seal above the fastening of the string, +'I see that your horse is ready for you outside. You had best make your +way round by Nether Stowey and the Bristol Channel, for we have heard +that the enemy's horse guard the roads on the far side of Wells. Here +is your packet.' + +I bowed and placed it in the inside of my tunic. + +'It is a written order as suggested in the council. The Duke's reply +may be written, or it may be by word of mouth. In either case guard it +well. This packet contains also a copy of the depositions of the +clergyman at The Hague, and of the other witnesses who saw Charles of +England marry Lucy Walters, the mother of his Majesty. Your mission is +one of such importance that the whole success of our enterprise may turn +upon it. See that you serve the paper upon Beaufort in person, and not +through any intermediary, or it might not stand in a court of law.' + +I promised to do so if possible. + +'I should advise you also,' he continued, 'to carry sword and pistol as +a protection against the chance dangers of the road, but to discard your +head-piece and steel-front as giving you too warlike an aspect for a +peaceful messenger.' + +'I had already come to that resolve,' said I. + +'There is nothing more to be said, Captain,' said the lawyer, giving me +his hand. 'May all good fortune go with you. Keep a still tongue and a +quick ear. Watch keenly how all things go. Mark whose face is gloomy +and whose content. The Duke may be at Bristol, but you had best make +for his seat at Badminton. Our sign of the day is Tewkesbury.' + +Thanking my instructor for his advice I went out and mounted Covenant, +who pawed and champed at his bit in his delight at getting started once +more. Few of the townsmen were stirring, though here and there a +night-bonneted head stared out at me through a casement. I took the +precaution of walking the horse very quietly until we were some distance +from the house, for I had told Reuben nothing of my intended journey, +and I was convinced that if he knew of it neither discipline, nor even +his new ties of love, would prevent him from coming with me. Covenant's +iron-shod feet rang sharply, in spite of my care, upon the cobblestones, +but looking back I saw that the blinds of my faithful friend's room were +undrawn, and that all seemed quiet in the house. I shook my bridle, +therefore, and rode at a brisk trot through the silent streets, which +were still strewn with faded flowers and gay with streamers. At the +north gate a guard of half a company was stationed, who let me pass upon +hearing the word. Once beyond the old walls I found myself out on the +country side, with my face to the north and a clear road in front of me. + +It was a blithesome morning. The sun was rising over the distant hills, +and heaven and earth were ruddy and golden. The trees in the wayside +orchards were full of swarms of birds, who chattered and sang until the +air was full of their piping. There was lightsomeness and gladness in +every breath. The wistful-eyed red Somerset kine stood along by the +hedgerows, casting great shadows down the fields and gazing at me as I +passed. Farm horses leaned over wooden gates, and snorted a word of +greeting to their glossy-coated brother. A great herd of snowy-fleeced +sheep streamed towards us over the hillside and frisked and gambolled in +the sunshine. All was innocent life, from the lark which sang on high +to the little shrew-mouse which ran amongst the ripening corn, or the +martin which dashed away at the sound of my approach. All alive and all +innocent. What are we to think, my dear children, when we see the +beasts of the field full of kindness and virtue and gratitude? Where is +this superiority of which we talk? + +From the high ground to the north I looked back upon the sleeping town, +with the broad edging of tents and waggons, which showed how suddenly +its population had outgrown it. The Royal Standard still fluttered from +the tower of St. Mary Magdalene, while close by its beautiful +brother-turret of St. James bore aloft the blue flag of Monmouth. As I +gazed the quick petulant roll of a drum rose up on the still morning +air, with the clear ringing call of the bugles summoning the troops from +their slumbers. Beyond the town, and on either side of it, stretched a +glorious view of the Somersetshire downs, rolling away to the distant +sea, with town and hamlet, castle turret and church tower, wooded coombe +and stretch of grain-land--as fair a scene as the eye could wish to rest +upon. As I wheeled my horse and sped upon my way I felt, my dears, that +this was a land worth fighting for, and that a man's life was a small +thing if he could but aid, in however trifling a degree, in working out +its freedom and its happiness. At a little village over the hill I fell +in with an outpost of horse, the commander of which rode some distance +with me, and set me on my road to Nether Stowey. It seemed strange to +my Hampshire eyes to note that the earth is all red in these parts--very +different to the chalk and gravel of Havant. The cows, too, are mostly +red. The cottages are built neither of brick nor of wood, but of some +form of plaster, which they call cob, which is strong and smooth so long +as no water comes near it. They shelter the walls from the rain, +therefore, by great overhanging thatches. There is scarcely a steeple +in the whole country-side, which also seems strange to a man from any +other part of England. Every church hath a square tower, with pinnacles +upon the top, and they are mostly very large, with fine peals of bells. + +My course ran along by the foot of the beautiful Quantock Hills, where +heavy-wooded coombes are scattered over the broad heathery downs, deep +with bracken and whortle-bushes. On either side of the track steep +winding glens sloped downwards, lined with yellow gorse, which blazed +out from the deep-red soil like a flame from embers. Peat-coloured +streams splashed down these valleys and over the road, through which +Covenant ploughed fetlock deep, and shied to see the broad-backed trout +darting from between his fore feet. + +All day I rode through this beautiful country, meeting few folk, for I +kept away from the main roads. A few shepherds and farmers, a +long-legged clergyman, a packman with his mule, and a horseman with a +great bag, whom I took to be a buyer of hair, are all that I can recall. +A black jack of ale and the heel of a loaf at a wayside inn were all my +refreshments. Near Combwich, Covenant cast a shoe, and two hours were +wasted before I found a smithy in the town and had the matter set right. +It was not until evening that I at last came out upon the banks of the +Bristol Channel, at a place called Shurton Bars, where the muddy Parret +makes its way into the sea. At this point the channel is so broad that +the Welsh mountains can scarcely be distinguished. The shore is flat +and black and oozy, flecked over with white patches of sea-birds, but +further to the east there rises a line of hills, very wild and rugged, +rising in places into steep precipices. These cliffs run out into the +sea, and numerous little harbours and bays are formed in their broken +surface, which are dry half the day, but can float a good-sized boat at +half-tide. The road wound over these bleak and rocky hills, which are +sparsely inhabited by a wild race of fishermen, or shepherds, who came +to their cabin doors on hearing the clatter of my horse's hoofs, and +shot some rough West-country jest at me as I passed. As the night drew +in the country became bleaker and more deserted. An occasional light +twinkling in the distance from some lonely hillside cottage was the only +sign of the presence of man. The rough track still skirted the sea, and +high as it was, the spray from the breakers drifted across it. The salt +prinkled on my lips, and the air was filled with the hoarse roar of the +surge and the thin piping of curlews, who flitted past in the darkness +like white, shadowy, sad-voiced creatures from some other world. +The wind blew in short, quick, angry puffs from the westward, and far +out on the black waters a single glimmer of light rising and falling, +tossing up, and then sinking out of sight, showed how fierce a sea had +risen in the channel. + +Riding through the gloaming in this strange wild scenery my mind +naturally turned towards the past. I thought of my father and my +mother, of the old carpenter and of Solomon Sprent. Then I pondered +over Decimus Saxon, his many-faced character having in it so much to be +admired and so much to be abhorred. Did I like him or no? It was more +than I could say. From him I wandered off to my faithful Reuben, and to +his love passage with the pretty Puritan, which in turn brought me to +Sir Gervas and the wreck of his fortunes. My mind then wandered to the +state of the army and the prospects of the rising, which led me to my +present mission with its perils and its difficulties. Having turned +over all these things in my mind I began to doze upon my horse's back, +overcome by the fatigue of the journey and the drowsy lullaby of the +waves. I had just fallen into a dream in which I saw Reuben Lockarby +crowned King of England by Mistress Ruth Timewell, while Decimus Saxon +endeavoured to shoot him with a bottle of Daffy's elixir, when in an +instant, without warning, I was dashed violently from my horse, and left +lying half-conscious on the stony track. + +So stunned and shaken was I by the sudden fall, that though I had a dim +knowledge of shadowy figures bending over me, and of hoarse laughter +sounding in my ears, I could not tell for a few minutes where I was nor +what had befallen me. When at last I did make an attempt to recover my +feet I found that a loop of rope had been slipped round my arms and my +legs so as to secure them. With a hard struggle I got one hand free, +and dashed it in the face of one of the men who were holding me down; +but the whole gang of a dozen or more set upon me at once, and while +some thumped and kicked at me, others tied a fresh cord round my elbows, +and deftly fastened it in such a way as to pinion me completely. +Finding that in my weak and dazed state all efforts were of no avail, I +lay sullen and watchful, taking no heed of the random blows which were +still showered upon me. So dark was it that I could neither see the +faces of my attackers, nor form any guess as to who they might be, or +how they had hurled me from my saddle. The champing and stamping of a +horse hard by showed me that Covenant was a prisoner as well as his +master. + +'Dutch Pete's got as much as he can carry,' said a rough, harsh voice. +'He lies on the track as limp as a conger.' + +'Ah, poor Pete!' muttered another. 'He'll never deal a card or drain a +glass of the right Cognac again.' + +'There you lie, mine goot vriend,' said the injured man, in weak, +quavering tones. 'And I will prove that you lie if you have a flaschen +in your pocket.' + +'If Pete were dead and buried,' the first speaker said, 'a word about +strong waters would bring him to. Give him a sup from your bottle, +Dicon.' + +There was a great gurgling and sucking in the darkness, followed by a +gasp from the drinker. 'Gott sei gelobt,' he exclaimed in a stronger +voice, 'I have seen more stars than ever were made. Had my kopf not +been well hooped he would have knocked it in like an ill-staved cask. +He shlags like the kick of a horse.' + +As he spoke the edge of the moon peeped over a cliff and threw a flood +of cold clear light upon the scene. Looking up I saw that a strong rope +had been tied across the road from one tree trunk to another about eight +feet above the ground. This could not be seen by me, even had I been +fully awake, in the dusk; but catching me across the breast as Covenant +trotted under it, it had swept me off and dashed me with great force to +the ground. Either the fall or the blows which I had received had cut +me badly, for I could feel the blood trickling in a warm stream past my +ear and down my neck. I made no attempt to move, however, but waited in +silence to find out who these men were into whose hands I had fallen. +My one fear was lest my letters should be taken away from me, and my +mission rendered of no avail. That in this, my first trust, I should be +disarmed without a blow and lose the papers which had been confided to +me, was a chance which made me flush and tingle with shame at the very +thought. + +The gang who had seized me were rough-bearded fellows in fur caps and +fustian jackets, with buff belts round their waists, from which hung +short straight whinyards. Their dark sun-dried faces and their great +boots marked them as fishermen or seamen, as might be guessed from their +rude sailor speech. A pair knelt on either side with their hands upon +my arms, a third stood behind with a cocked pistol pointed at my head, +while the others, seven or eight in number, were helping to his feet the +man whom I had struck, who was bleeding freely from a cut over the eye. + +'Take the horse up to Daddy Mycroft's,' said a stout, black-bearded man, +who seemed to be their leader. 'It is no mere dragooner hack,[Note I. +Appendix] but a comely, full-blooded brute, which will fetch sixty +pieces at the least. Your share of that, Peter, will buy salve and +plaster for your cut.' + +'Ha, houndsfoot!' cried the Dutchman, shaking his fist at me. +'You would strike Peter, would you? You would draw Peter's blood, would +you? Tausend Teufel, man! if you and I were together upon the hillside +we should see vich vas the petter man.' + +'Slack your jaw tackle, Pete,' growled one of his comrades. 'This +fellow is a limb of Satan for sure, and doth follow a calling that none +but a mean, snivelling, baseborn son of a gun would take to. Yet I +warrant, from the look of him, that he could truss you like a woodcock +if he had his great hands upon you. And you would howl for help as you +did last Martinmas, when you did mistake Cooper Dick's wife for a +gauger.' + +'Truss me, would he? Todt und Holle!' cried the other, whom the blow +and the brandy had driven to madness. 'We shall see. Take that, thou +deyvil's spawn, take that!' He ran at me, and kicked me as hard as he +could with his heavy sea-boots. + +Some of the gang laughed, but the man who had spoken before gave the +Dutchman a shove that sent him whirling. 'None of that,' he said +sternly. 'We'll have British fair-play on British soil, and none of +your cursed longshore tricks. I won't stand by and see an Englishman +kicked, d'ye see, by a tub-bellied, round-starned, schnapps-swilling, +chicken-hearted son of an Amsterdam lust-vrouw. Hang him, if the +skipper likes. That's all above board, but by thunder, if it's a fight +that you will have, touch that man again.' + +'All right, Dicon,' said their leader soothingly. 'We all know that +Pete's not a fighting man, but he's the best cooper on the coast, eh, +Pete? There is not his equal at staving, hooping, and bumping. +He'll take a plank of wood and turn it into a keg while another man +would be thinking of it.' + +'Oh, you remember that, Captain Murgatroyd,' said the Dutchman sulkily. +'But you see me knocked about and shlagged, and bullied, and called +names, and what help have I? So help me, when the _Maria_ is in the +Texel next, I'll take to my old trade, I will, and never set foot on her +again.' + +'No fear,' the Captain answered, laughing. 'While the _Maria_ brings in +five thousand good pieces a year, and can show her heels to any cutter +on the coast, there is no fear of greedy Pete losing his share of her. +Why, man, at this rate you may have a lust-haus of your own in a year or +two, with a trimmed lawn, and the trees all clipped like peacocks, and +the flowers in pattern, and a canal by the door, and a great bouncing +house-wife just like any Burgomeister. There's many such a fortune +been made out of Mechlin and Cognac.' + +'Aye, and there's many a broken kopf got over Mechlin and Cognac,' +grumbled my enemy. 'Donner! There are other things beside lust-houses +and flower-beds. There are lee-shores and nor'-westers, beaks and +preventives.' + +'And there's where the smart seaman has the pull over the herring buss, +or the skulking coaster that works from Christmas to Christmas with all +the danger and none of the little pickings. But enough said! Up with +the prisoner, and let us get him safely into the bilboes.' + +I was raised to my feet and half carried, half dragged along in the +midst of the gang. My horse had already been led away in the opposite +direction. Our course lay off the road, down a very rocky and rugged +ravine which sloped away towards the sea. There seemed to be no trace +of a path, and I could only stumble along over rocks and bushes as best +I might in my fettered and crippled state. The blood, however, had +dried over my wounds, and the cool sea breeze playing upon my forehead +refreshed me, and helped me to take a clearer view of my position. + +It was plain from their talk that these men were smugglers. As such, +they were not likely to have any great love for the Government, or +desire to uphold King James in any way. On the contrary, their goodwill +would probably be with Monmouth, for had I not seen the day before a +whole regiment of foot in his army, raised from among the coaster folk? +On the other hand, their greed might be stronger than their loyalty, and +might lead them to hand me over to justice in the hope of reward. +On the whole it would be best, I thought, to say nothing of my mission, +and to keep my papers secret as long as possible. + +But I could not but wonder, as I was dragged along, what had led these +men to lie in wait for me as they had done. The road along which I had +travelled was a lonely one, and yet a fair number of travellers bound +from the West through Weston to Bristol must use it. The gang could not +lie in perpetual guard over it. Why had they set a trap on this +particular night, then? The smugglers were a lawless and desperate +body, but they did not, as a rule, descend to foot-paddery or robbery. +As long as no one interfered with them they were seldom the first to +break the peace. Then, why had they lain in wait for me, who had never +injured them? Could it possibly be that I had been betrayed? I was +still turning over these questions in my mind when we all came to a +halt, and the Captain blew a shrill note on a whistle which hung round +his neck. + +The place where we found ourselves was the darkest and most rugged spot +in the whole wild gorge. On either side great cliffs shot up, which +arched over our heads, with a fringe of ferns and bracken on either lip, +so that the dark sky and the few twinkling stars were well-nigh hid. +Great black rocks loomed vaguely out in the shadowy light, while in +front a high tangle of what seemed to be brushwood barred our road. +At a second whistle, however, a glint of light was seen through the +branches, and the whole mass was swung to one side as though it moved +upon a hinge. Beyond it a dark winding passage opened into the side of +the hill, down which we went with our backs bowed, for the rock ceiling +was of no great height. On every side of us sounded the throbbing of +the sea. + +Passing through the entrance, which must have been dug with great labour +through the solid rock, we came out into a lofty and roomy cave, lit up +by a fire at one end, and by several torches. By their smoky yellow +glare I could see that the roof was, at least, fifty feet above us, and +was hung by long lime-crystals, which sparkled and gleamed with great +brightness. The floor of the cave was formed of fine sand, as soft and +velvety as a Wilton carpet, sloping down in a way which showed that the +cave must at its mouth open upon the sea, which was confirmed by the +booming and splashing of the waves, and by the fresh salt air which +filled the whole cavern. No water could be seen, however, as a sharp +turn cut off our view of the outlet. + +In this rock-girt space, which may have been sixty paces long and thirty +across, there were gathered great piles of casks, kegs and cases; +muskets, cutlasses, staves, cudgels, and straw were littered about upon +the floor. At one end a high wood fire blazed merrily, casting strange +shadows along the walls, and sparkling like a thousand diamonds among +the crystals on the roof. The smoke was carried away through a great +cleft in the rocks. Seated on boxes, or stretched on the sand round the +fire, there were seven or eight more of the band, who sprang to their +feet and ran eagerly towards us as we entered. + +Have ye got him?' they cried. 'Did he indeed come? Had he attendants?' + +'He is here, and he is alone,' the Captain answered. 'Our hawser +fetched him off his horse as neatly as ever a gull was netted by a +cragsman. What have ye done in our absence, Silas!' + +'We have the packs ready for carriage,' said the man addressed, a +sturdy, weather-beaten seaman of middle age. 'The silk and lace are +done in these squares covered over with sacking. The one I have marked +"yarn" and the other "jute"--a thousand of Mechlin to a hundred of the +shiny. They will sling over a mule's back. Brandy, schnapps, Schiedam, +and Hamburg Goldwasser are all set out in due order. The 'baccy is in +the flat cases over by the Black Drop there. A plaguey job we had +carrying it all out, but here it is ship-shape at last, and the lugger +floats like a skimming dish, with scarce ballast enough to stand up to a +five-knot breeze.' + +'Any signs of the _Fairy Queen_?' asked the smuggler. + +'None. Long John is down at the water's edge looking out for her +flash-light. This wind should bring her up if she has rounded +Combe-Martin Point. There was a sail about ten miles to the +east-nor'-east at sundown. She might have been a Bristol schooner, or +she might have been a King's fly-boat.' + +'A King's crawl-boat,' said Captain Murgatroyd, with a sneer. +'We cannot hang the gauger until Venables brings up the _Fairy Queen_, +for after all it was one of his hands that was snackled. Let him do his +own dirty work.' + +'Tausend Blitzen!' cried the ruffian Dutchman, 'would it not be a kindly +grass to Captain Venables to chuck the gauger down the Black Drop ere he +come? He may have such another job to do for us some day.' + +'Zounds, man, are you in command or am I?' said the leader angrily. +'Bring the prisoner forward to the fire! Now, hark ye, dog of a +land-shark; you are as surely a dead man as though you were laid out +with the tapers burning. See here'--he lifted a torch, and showed by +its red light a great crack in the floor across the far end of the +cave--'you can judge of the Black Drop's depth!' he said, raising an +empty keg and tossing it over into the yawning gulf. For ten seconds we +stood silent before a dull distant clatter told that it had at last +reached the bottom. + +'It will carry him half-way to hell before the breath leaves him,' said +one. + +'It's an easier death than the Devizes gallows!' cried a second. + +'Nay, he shall have the gallows first!' a third shouted. 'It is but his +burial that we are arranging.' + +'He hath not opened his mouth since we took him,' said the man who was +called Dicon. 'Is he a mute, then? Find your tongue, my fine fellow, +and let us hear what your name is. It would have been well for you if +you had been born dumb, so that you could not have sworn our comrade's +life away.' + +'I have been waiting for a civil question after all this brawling and +brabbling,' said I. 'My name is Micah Clarke. Now, pray inform me who +ye may be, and by what warrant ye stop peaceful travellers upon the +public highway?' + +'This is our warrant,' Murgatroyd answered, touching the hilt of his +cutlass. 'As to who we are, ye know that well enough. Your name is not +Clarke, but Westhouse, or Waterhouse, and you are the same cursed +exciseman who snackled our poor comrade, Cooper Dick, and swore away his +life at Ilchester.' + +'I swear that you are mistaken,' I replied. 'I have never in my life +been in these parts before.' + +'Fine words! Fine words!' cried another smuggler. 'Gauger or no, you +must jump for it, since you know the secret of our cave.' + +'Your secret is safe with me,' I answered. 'But if ye wish to murder +me, I shall meet my fate as a soldier should. I should have chosen to +die on the field of battle, rather than to lie at the mercy of such a +pack of water-rats in their burrow.' + +'My faith!' said Murgatroyd. 'This is too tall talk for a gauger. He +bears himself like a soldier, too. It is possible that in snaring the +owl we have caught the falcon. Yet we had certain token that he would +come this way, and on such another horse.' + +'Call up Long John,' suggested the Dutchman. 'I vould not give a plug +of Trinidado for the Schelm's word. Long John was with Cooper Dick when +he was taken.' + +'Aye,' growled the mate Silas. 'He got a wipe over the arm from the +gauger's whinyard. He'll know his face, if any will.' + +'Call him, then,' said Murgatroyd, and presently a long, loose-limbed +seaman came up from the mouth of the cave, where he had been on watch. +He wore a red kerchief round his forehead, and a blue jerkin, the sleeve +of which he slowly rolled up as he came nigh. + +'Where is Gauger Westhouse?' he cried; 'he has left his mark on my arm. +Rat me, if the scar is healed yet. The sun is on our side of the wall +now, gauger. But hullo, mates! Who be this that ye have clapped into +irons? This is not our man!' + +'Not our man!' they cried, with a volley of curses. + +'Why, this fellow would make two of the gauger, and leave enough over to +fashion a magistrate's clerk. Ye may hang him to make sure, but still +he's not the man.' + +'Yes, hang him!' said Dutch Pete. 'Sapperment! is our cave to be the +talk of all the country? Vere is the pretty _Maria_ to go then, vid her +silks and her satins, her kegs and her cases'? Are we to risk our cave +for the sake of this fellow? Besides, has he not schlagged my kopf-- +schlagged your cooper's kopf--as if he had hit me mit mine own mallet? +Is that not vorth a hemp cravat?' + +'Worth a jorum of rumbo,' cried Dicon. 'By your leave, Captain, I +would say that we are not a gang of padders and michers, but a crew of +honest seamen, who harm none but those who harm us. Exciseman Westhouse +hath slain Cooper Dick, and it is just that he should die for it; but as +to taking this young soldier's life, I'd as soon think of scuttling the +saucy _Maria_, or of mounting the Jolly Roger at her peak.' + +What answer would have been given to this speech I cannot tell, for at +that moment a shrill whistle resounded outside the cave, and two +smugglers appeared bearing between them the body of a man. It hung so +limp that I thought at first that he might be dead, but when they threw +him on the sand he moved, and at last sat up like one who is but half +awoken from a swoon. He was a square dogged-faced fellow, with a long +white scar down his cheek, and a close-fitting blue coat with brass +buttons. + +'It's Gauger Westhouse !' cried a chorus of voices. 'Yes, it is Gauger +Westhouse,' said the man calmly, giving his neck a wriggle as though he +were in pain. 'I represent the King's law, and in its name I arrest ye +all, and declare all the contraband goods which I see around me to be +confiscate and forfeited, according to the second section of the first +clause of the statute upon illegal dealing. If there are any honest men +in this company, they will assist me in the execution of my duty.' He +staggered to his feet as he spoke, but his spirit was greater than his +strength, and he sank back upon the sand amid a roar of laughter from +the rough seamen. + +'We found him lying on the road when we came from Daddy Mycroft's,' said +one of the new-comers, who were the same men who had led away my horse. +'He must have passed just after you left, and the rope caught him under +the chin and threw him a dozen paces. We saw the revenue button on his +coat, so we brought him down. Body o' me, but he kicked and plunged for +all that he was three-quarters stunned.' + +'Have ye slacked the hawser?' the Captain asked. + +'We cast one end loose and let it hang.' + +''Tis well. We must keep him for Captain Venables. But now, as to our +other prisoner: we must overhaul him and examine his papers, for so many +craft are sailing under false colours that we must needs be careful. +Hark ye, Mister Soldier! What brings you to these parts, and what king +do you serve? for I hear there's a mutiny broke out, and two skippers +claim equal rating in the old British ship.' + +'I am serving under King Monmouth,' I answered, seeing that the proposed +search must end in the finding of my papers. + +'Under King Monmouth!' cried the smuggler. 'Nay, friend, that rings +somewhat false. The good King hath, I hear, too much need of his +friends in the south to let an able soldier go wandering along the sea +coast like a Cornish wrecker in a sou'-wester.' + +'I bear despatches,' said I, 'from the King's own hand to Henry Duke of +Beaufort, at his castle at Badminton. Ye can find them in my inner +pocket, but I pray ye not to break the seal, lest it bring discredit +upon my mission.' + +'Sir,' cried the gauger, raising himself upon his elbow, 'I do hereby +arrest you on the charge of being a traitor, a promoter of treason, a +vagrant, and a masterless man within the meaning of the fourth statute +of the Act. As an officer of the law I call upon you to submit to my +warrant.' + +'Brace up his jaw with your scarf, Jim,' said Murgatroyd. 'When +Venables comes he will soon find a way to check his gab. Yes,' he +continued, looking at the back of my papers, 'it is marked, as you say, +"From James the Second of England, known lately as the Duke of Monmouth, +to Henry Duke of Beaufort, President of Wales, by the hand of Captain +Micah Clarke, of Saxon's regiment of Wiltshire foot." Cast off the +lashings, Dicon. So, Captain, you are a free man once more, and I +grieve that we should have unwittingly harmed you. We are good +Lutherans to a man, and would rather speed you than hinder you on this +mission.' + +'Could we not indeed help him on his way!' said the mate Silas. 'For +myself, I don't fear a wet jacket or a tarry hand for the cause, and I +doubt not ye are all of my way of thinking. Now with this breeze we +could run up to Bristol and drop the Captain by morning, which would +save him from being snapped up by any land-sharks on the road.' + +'Aye, aye,' cried Long John. 'The King's horse are out beyond Weston, +but he could give them the slip if he had the _Maria_ under him.' + +'Well,' said Murgatroyd, 'we could get back by three long tacks. +Venables will need a day or so to get his goods ashore. If we are to +sail back in company we shall have time on our hands. How would the +plan suit you, Captain?' + +'My horse!' I objected. + +'It need not stop us. I can rig up a handy horse-stall with my spare +spars and the grating. The wind has died down. The lugger could be +brought to Dead Man's Edge, and the horse led down to it. Run up to +Daddy's, Jim; and you, Silas, see to the boat. Here is some cold junk +and biscuit--seaman's fare, Captain--and a glass o' the real Jamaica to +wash it down an' thy stomach be not too dainty for rough living.' + +I seated myself on a barrel by the fire, and stretched my limbs, which +were cramped and stiffened by their confinement, while one of the seamen +bathed the cut on my head with a wet kerchief, and another laid out some +food on a case in front of me. The rest of the gang had trooped away to +the mouth of the cave to prepare the lugger, save only two or three who +stood on guard round the ill-fated gauger. He lay with his back resting +against the wall of the cave, and his arms crossed over his breast, +glancing round from time to time at the smugglers with menacing eyes, as +a staunch old hound might gaze at a pack of wolves who had overmatched +him. I was turning it over in my own mind whether aught could be done +to help him, when Murgatroyd came over, and dipping a tin pannikin into +the open rum tub, drained it to the success of my mission. + +'I shall send Silas Bolitho with you,' said he, 'while I bide here to +meet Venables, who commands my consort. If there is aught that I can do +to repay you for your ill usage--' + +'There is but one thing, Captain,' I broke in eagerly. 'It is as much, +or more, for your own sake than mine that I ask it. Do not allow this +unhappy man to be murdered.' + +Murgatroyd's face flushed with anger. 'You are a plain speaker, Captain +Clarke,' said he. 'This is no murder. It is justice. What harm do we +here? There is not an old housewife over the whole countryside who does +not bless us. Where is she to buy her souchong, or her strong waters, +except from us! We charge little, and force our goods on no one. We +are peaceful traders. Yet this man and his fellows are ever yelping +at our heels, like so many dogfish on a cod bank. We have been harried, +and chivied, and shot at until we are driven into such dens as this. +A month ago, four of our men were bearing a keg up the hillside to +Farmer Black, who hath dealt with us these five years back. Of a +sudden, down came half a score of horse, led by this gauger, hacked and +slashed with their broad-swords, cut Long John's arm open, and took +Cooper Dick prisoner. Dick was haled to Ilchester Gaol, and hung up +after the assizes like a stoat on a gamekeeper's door. This night +we had news that this very gauger was coming this way, little knowing +that we should be on the look-out for him. Is it a wonder that we +should lay a trap for him, and that, having caught him, we should give +him the same justice as he gave our comrades?' + +'He is but a servant, I argued. 'He hath not made the law. It is his +duty to enforce it. It is with the law itself that your quarrel is.' + +'You are right,' said the smuggler gloomily. 'It is with Judge +Moorcroft that we have our chief account to square. He may pass this +road upon his circuit. Heaven send he does! But we shall hang the +gauger too. He knows our cave now, and it would be madness to let him +go.' + +I saw that it was useless to argue longer, so I contented myself with +dropping my pocket-knife on the sand within reach of the prisoner, in +the hope that it might prove to be of some service to him. His guards +were laughing and joking together, and giving little heed to their +charge, but the gauger was keen enough, for I saw his hand close over +it. + +I had walked and smoked for an hour or more, when Silas the mate +appeared, and said that the lugger was ready and the horse aboard. +Bidding Murgatroyd farewell, I ventured a few more words in favour of +the gauger, which were received with a frown and an angry shake of the +head. A boat was drawn up on the sand, inside the cave, at the water's +edge. Into this I stepped, as directed, with my sword and pistols, +which had been given back to me, while the crew pushed her off and +sprang in as she glided into deep water. + +I could see by the dim light of the single torch which Murgatroyd held +upon the margin, that the roof of the cave sloped sheer down upon us as +we sculled slowly out towards the entrance. So low did it come at last +that there was only a space of a few feet between it and the water, and +we had to bend our heads to avoid the rocks above us. The boatmen gave +two strong strokes, and we shot out from under the overhanging ledge, +and found ourselves in the open with the stars shining murkily above us, +and the moon showing herself dimly and cloudily through a gathering +haze. Right in front of us was a dark blur, which, as we pulled towards +it, took the outline of a large lugger rising and falling with the pulse +of the sea. Her tall thin spars and delicate network of cordage towered +above us as we glided under the counter, while the creaking of blocks +and rattle of ropes showed that she was all ready to glide off upon her +journey. Lightly and daintily she rode upon the waters, like some giant +seafowl, spreading one white pinion after another in preparation for her +flight. The boatmen ran us alongside and steadied the dinghy while I +climbed over the bulwarks on to the deck. + +She was a roomy vessel, very broad in the beam, with a graceful curve in +her bows, and masts which were taller than any that I had seen on such a +boat on the Solent. She was decked over in front, but very deep in the +after part, with ropes fixed all round the sides to secure kegs when the +hold should be full. In the midst of this after-deck the mariners had +built a strong stall, in which my good steed was standing, with a bucket +full of oats in front of him. My old friend .shoved his nose against my +face as I came aboard, and neighed his pleasure at finding his master +once more. We were still exchanging caresses when the grizzled head of +Silas Bolitho the mate popped out of the cabin hatchway. + +'We are fairly on our way now, Captain Clarke,' said he. 'The breeze +has fallen away to nothing, as you can see, and we may be some time in +running down to our port. Are you not aweary?' + +'I am a little tired,' I confessed. 'My head is throbbing from the +crack I got when that hawser of yours dashed me from my saddle.' + +'An hour or two of sleep will make you as fresh as a Mother Carey's +chicken,' said the smuggler. 'Your horse is well cared for, and you can +leave him without fear. I will set a man to tend him, though, truth to +say, the rogues know more about studding-sails and halliards than they +do of steeds and their requirements. Yet no harm can come to him, so +you had best come down and turn in.' + +I descended the steep stairs which led down into the low-roofed cabin of +the lugger. On either side a recess in the wall had been fitted up as a +couch. + +'This is your bed,' said he, pointing to one of them. 'We shall call +you if there be aught to report.' I needed no second invitation, but +flinging myself down without undressing, I sank in a few minutes into a +dreamless sleep, which neither the gentle motion of the boat nor the +clank of feet above my head could break off. + + + +Chapter XXIV. + +Of the Welcome that met me at Badminton + +When I opened my eyes I had some ado to recall where I was, but on +sitting up it was brought home to me by my head striking the low ceiling +with a sharp rap. On the other side of the cabin Silas Bolitho was +stretched at full length with a red woollen nightcap upon his head, fast +asleep and snoring. In the centre of the cabin hung a swing-table, much +worn, and stained all over with the marks of countless glasses and +pannikins. A wooden bench, screwed to the floor, completed the +furniture, with the exception of a stand of muskets along one side. +Above and below the berths in which we lay were rows of lockers, in +which, doubtless, some of the more choice laces and silks were stowed. +The vessel was rising and falling with a gentle motion, but from the +flapping of canvas I judged that there was little wind. Slipping +quietly from my couch, so as not to wake the mate, I stole upon deck. + +We were, I found, not only becalmed, but hemmed in by a dense fog-bank +which rolled in thick, choking wreaths all round us, and hid the very +water beneath us. We might have been a ship of the air riding upon a +white cloud-bank. Now and anon a little puff of breeze caught the +foresail and bellied it out for a moment, only to let it flap back +against the mast, limp and slack, once more. A sunbeam would at times +break through the dense cloud, and would spangle the dead grey wall +with a streak of rainbow colour, but the haze would gather in again and +shut off the bright invader. Covenant was staring right and left with +great questioning eyes. The crew were gathered along the bulwarks and +smoking their pipes while they peered out into the dense fog. + +'God den, Captain,' said Dicon, touching his fur cap. 'We have had a +rare run while the breeze lasted, and the mate reckoned before he turned +in that we were not many miles from Bristol town.' + +'In that case, my good fellow,' I answered, 'ye can set me ashore, for I +have not far to go.' + +'We must e'en wait till the fog lifts,' said Long John. 'There's only +one place along here, d'ye see, where we can land cargoes unquestioned. +When it clears we shall turn her head for it, but until we can take our +bearings it is anxious work wi' the sands under our lee.' + +'Keep a look-out there, Tom Baldock!' cried Dicon to a man in the bows. +'We are in the track of every Bristol ship, and though there's so little +wind, a high-sparred craft might catch a breeze which we miss.' + +'Sh!' said Long John suddenly, holding up his hand in warning. 'Sh!' + +We listened with all our ears, but there was no sound, save the gentle +wash of the unseen waves against our sides. + +'Call the mate!' whispered the seaman. 'There's a craft close by us. +I heard the rattle of a rope upon her deck.' + +Silas Bolitho was up in an instant, and we all stood straining our ears, +and peering through the dense fog-bank. We had well-nigh made up our +minds that it was a false alarm, and the mate was turning back in no +very good humour, when a clear loud bell sounded seven times quite close +to us, followed by a shrill whistle and a confused shouting and +stamping. + +'It's a King's ship,' growled the mate. 'That's seven bells, and the +bo'sun is turning out the watch below.' + +'It was on our quarter,' whispered one. + +'Nay, I think it was on our larboard bow,' said another. + +The mate held up his hand, and we all listened for some fresh sign of +the whereabouts of our scurvy neighbour. The wind had freshened a +little, and we were slipping through the water at four or five knots an +hour. Of a sudden a hoarse voice was heard roaring at our very side. +''Bout ship!' it shouted. 'Bear a hand on the lee-braces, there! +Stand by the halliards! Bear a hand, ye lazy rogues, or I'll be among +ye with my cane, with a wannion to ye!' + +'It is a King's ship, sure enough, and she lies just there,' said Long +John, pointing out over the quarter. 'Merchant adventurers have civil +tongues. It's your blue-coated, gold-braided, swivel-eyed, +quarter-deckers that talk of canes. Ha! did I not tell ye!' + +As he spoke, the white screen of vapour rolled up like the curtain in a +playhouse, and uncovered a stately war-ship, lying so close that we +could have thrown a biscuit aboard. Her long, lean, black hull rose and +fell with a slow, graceful rhythm, while her beautiful spars and +snow-white sails shot aloft until they were lost in the wreaths of fog +which still hung around her. Nine bright brass cannons peeped out at us +from her portholes. Above the line of hammocks, which hung like carded +wool along her bulwarks, we could see the heads of the seamen staring +down at us, and pointing us out to each other. On the high poop stood +an elderly officer with cocked hat and trim white wig, who at once +whipped up his glass and gazed at us through it. + +'Ahoy, there!' he shouted, leaning over the taffrail. 'What lugger is +that?' + +'The _Lucy_,' answered the mate, 'bound from Porlock Quay to Bristol +with hides and tallow. Stand ready to tack!' he added in a lower voice, +'the fog is coming down again.' + +'Ye have one of the hides with the horse still in it,' cried the +officer. 'Run down under our counter. We must have a closer look at +ye.' + +'Aye, aye, sir!' said the mate, and putting his helm hard down the boom +swung across, and the _Maria_ darted off like a scared seabird into the +fog. Looking back there was nothing but a dim loom to show where we had +left the great vessel. We could hear, however, the hoarse shouting of +orders and the bustle of men. + +'Look out for squalls, lads!' cried the mate. 'He'll let us have it +now.' + +He had scarcely spoken before there were half-a-dozen throbs of flame in +the mist behind, and as many balls sung among our rigging. One cut away +the end of the yard, and left it dangling; another grazed the bowsprit, +and sent a puff of white splinters into the air. + +'Warm work, Captain, eh?' said old Silas, rubbing his hands. +'Zounds, they shoot better in the dark than ever they did in the light. +There have been more shots fired at this lugger than she could carry +wore she loaded with them. And yet they never so much as knocked the +paint off her before. There they go again!' + +A fresh discharge burst from the man-of-war, but this time they had lost +all trace of us, and were firing by guess. + +'That is their last bark, sir,' said Dicon. + +'No fear. They'll blaze away for the rest of the day,' growled another +of the smugglers. 'Why, Lor' bless ye, it's good exercise for the +crew, and the 'munition is the King's, so it don't cost nobody a groat.' + +'It's well the breeze freshened,' said Long John. 'I heard the creak o' +davits just after the first discharge. She was lowering her boats, or +I'm a Dutchman.' + +'The petter for you if you vas, you seven-foot stock-fish,' cried my +enemy the cooper, whose aspect was not improved by a great strip of +plaster over his eye. 'You might have learned something petter than to +pull on a rope, or to swab decks like a vrouw all your life.' + +'I'll set you adrift in one of your own barrels, you skin of lard,' said +the seaman. 'How often are we to trounce you before we knock the sauce +out of you?' + +'The fog lifts a little towards the land,' Silas remarked. 'Methinks I +see the loom of St. Austin's Point. It rises there upon the starboard +bow.' + +'There it is, sure enough, sir!' cried one of the seamen, pointing to a +dark cape which cut into the mist. + +'Steer for the three-fathom creek then,' said the mate. 'When we are on +the other side of the point, Captain Clarke, we shall be able to land +your horse and yourself. You will then be within a few hours' ride of +your destination.' + +I led the old seaman aside, and having thanked him for the kindness +which he had shown me, I spoke to him of the gauger, and implored him +to use his influence to save the man. + +'It rests with Captain Venables,' said he gloomily. 'If we let him go +what becomes of our cave?' + +'Is there no way of insuring his silence?' I asked. 'Well, we might +ship him to the Plantations,' said the mate. 'We could take him to the +Texel with us, and get Captain Donders or some other to give him a lift +across the western ocean.' + +'Do so,' said I, 'and I shall take care that King Monmouth shall hear of +the help which ye have given his messenger.' + +'Well, we shall be there in a brace of shakes,' he remarked. 'Let us go +below and load your ground tier, for there is nothing like starting well +trimmed with plenty of ballast in the hold.' + +Following the sailor's advice I went down with him and enjoyed a rude +but plentiful meal. By the time that we had finished, the lugger had +been run into a narrow creek, with shelving sandy banks on either side. +The district was wild and marshy, with few signs of any inhabitants. +With much coaxing and pushing Covenant was induced to take to the water, +and swam easily ashore, while I followed in the smuggler's dinghy. +A few words of rough, kindly leave-taking were shouted after me; I saw +the dinghy return, and the beautiful craft glided out to sea and faded +away once more into the mists which still hung over the face of the +waters. + +Truly Providence works in strange ways, my children, and until a man +comes to the autumn of his days he can scarce say what hath been +ill-luck and what hath been good. For of all the seeming misfortunes +which have befallen me during my wandering life, there is not one which +I have not come to look upon as a blessing. And if you once take this +into your hearts, it is a mighty help in enabling you to meet all +troubles with a stiff lip; for why should a man grieve when he hath not +yet determined whether what hath chanced may not prove to be a cause of +rejoicing? .Now here ye will perceive that I began by being dashed upon +a stony road, beaten, kicked, and finally well-nigh put to death in +mistake for another. Yet it ended in my being safely carried to my +journey's end, whereas, had I gone by land, it is more than likely that +I should have been cut off at Weston; for, as I heard afterwards, a +troop of horse were making themselves very active in those parts by +blocking the roads and seizing all who came that way. + +Being now alone, my first care was to bathe my face and hands in a +stream which ran down to the sea, and to wipe away any trace of my +adventures of the night before. My cut was but a small one, and was +concealed by my hair. Having reduced myself to some sort of order I +next rubbed down my horse as best I could, and rearranged his girth and +his saddle. I then led him by the bridle to the top of a sandhill hard +by, whence I might gain some idea as to my position. + +The fog lay thick upon the Channel, but all inland was very clear and +bright. Along the coast the country was dreary and marshy, but at the +other side a goodly extent of fertile plain lay before me, well tilled +and cared for. A range of lofty hills, which I guessed to be the +Mendips, bordered the whole skyline, and further north there lay a +second chain in the blue distance. The glittering Avon wound its way +over the country-side like a silver snake in a flower-bed. Close to its +mouth, and not more than two leagues from where I stood, rose the spires +and towers of stately Bristol, the Queen of the West, which was and +still may be the second city in the kingdom. The forests of masts which +shot up like a pinegrove above the roofs of the houses bore witness to +the great trade both with Ireland and with the Plantations which had +built up so flourishing a city. + +As I knew that the Duke's seat was miles on the Gloucestershire side of +the city, and as I feared lest I might be arrested and examined should I +attempt to pass the gates, I struck inland with intent to ride round the +walls and so avoid the peril. The path which I followed led me into a +country lane, which in turn opened into a broad highway crowded with +travellers, both on horseback and on foot. As the troublous times +required that a man should journey with his arms, there was naught in my +outfit to excite remark, and I was able to jog on among the other +horsemen without question or suspicion. From their appearance they +were, I judged, country farmers or squires for the most part, who were +riding into Bristol to hear the news, and to store away their things of +price in a place of safety. + +'By your leave, zur!' said a burly, heavy-faced man in a velveteen +jacket, riding up upon my bridle-arm. 'Can you tell me whether his +Grace of Beaufort is in Bristol or at his house o' Badminton?' + +I answered that I could not tell, but that I was myself bound for his +presence. + +'He was in Bristol yestreen a-drilling o' the train-bands,' said the +stranger; 'but, indeed, his Grace be that loyal, and works that hard for +his Majesty's cause, that he's a' ower the county, and it is but chance +work for to try and to catch him. But if you are about to zeek him, +whither shall you go?' + +'I will to Badminton,' I answered, 'and await him there. Can you tell +me the way?' + +'What! Not know the way to Badminton!' he cried, with a blank stare of +wonder. 'Whoy, I thought all the warld knew that. You're not fra Wales +or the border counties, zur, that be very clear.' + +'I am a Hampshire man,' said I. 'I have come some distance to see the +Duke.' + +'Aye, so I should think!' he cried, laughing loudly. 'If you doan't +know the way to Badminton you doan't know much! But I'll go with you, +danged if I doan't, and I'll show you your road, and run my chance o' +finding the Duke there. What be your name?' + +'Micah Clarke is my name.' + +'And Vairmer Brown is mine--John Brown by the register, but better +knowed as the Vairmer. Tak' this turn to the right off the high-road. +Now we can trot our beasts and not be smothered in other folk's dust. +And what be you going to Beaufort for?' + +'On private matters which will not brook discussion,' I answered. + +'Lor', now! Affairs o' State belike,' said he, with a whistle. +'Well, a still tongue saves many a neck. I'm a cautious man myself, and +these be times when I wouldna whisper some o' my thoughts--no, not into +the ears o' my old brown mare here--for fear I'd see her some day +standing over against me in the witness-box.' + +'They seem very busy over there,' I remarked, for we were now in full +sight of the walls of Bristol, where gangs of men were working hard with +pick and shovel improving the defences. + +'Aye, they be busy sure enough, makin' ready in case the rebels come +this road. Cromwell and his tawnies found it a rasper in my vather's +time, and Monmouth is like to do the same.' + +'It hath a strong garrison, too,' said I, bethinking me of Saxon's +advice at Salisbury. 'I see two or three regiments out yonder on the +bare open space.' + +'They have four thousand foot and a thousand horse,' the farmer +answered. 'But the foot are only train-bands, and there's no trusting +them after Axminster. They say up here that the rebels run to nigh +twenty thousand, and that they give no quarter. Well, if we must have +civil war, I hope it may be hot and sudden, not spun out for a dozen +years like the last one. If our throats are to be cut, let it be with a +shairp knife, and not with a blunt hedge shears.' + +'What say you to a stoup of cider?' I asked, for we were passing an +ivy-clad inn, with 'The Beaufort Arms' printed upon the sign. + +'With all my heart, lad,' my companion answered. 'Ho, there! two pints +of the old hard-brewed! That will serve to wash the dust down. +The real Beaufort Arms is up yonder at Badminton, for at the buttery +hatch one may call for what one will in reason and never put hand to +pocket.' + +'You speak of the house as though you knew it well,' said I. + +'And who should know it better?' asked the sturdy farmer, wiping his +lips, as we resumed our journey. 'Why, it seems but yesterday that I +played hide-and-seek wi' my brothers in the old Boteler Castle, that +stood where the new house o' Badminton, or Acton Turville, as some calls +it, now stands. The Duke hath built it but a few years, and, indeed, +his Dukedom itself is scarce older. There are some who think that he +would have done better to stick by the old name that his forebears +bore.' + +'What manner of man is the Duke?' I asked. + +'Hot and hasty, like all of his blood. Yet when he hath time to think, +and hath cooled down, he is just in the main. Your horse hath been in +the water this morning, vriend.' + +'Yes,' said I shortly, 'he hath had a bath.' + +'I am going to his Grace on the business of a horse,' quoth my +companion. 'His officers have pressed my piebald four-year-old, and +taken it without a "With your leave," or "By your leave," for the use of +the King. I would have them know that there is something higher than +the Duke, or even than the King. There is the English law, which will +preserve a man's goods and his chattels. I would do aught in reason for +King James's service, but my piebald four-year-old is too much.' + +'I fear that the needs of the public service will override your +objection,' said I. + +'Why it is enough to make a man a Whig,' he cried. 'Even the Roundheads +always paid their vair penny for every pennyworth they had, though they +wanted a vair pennyworth for each penny. I have heard my father say +that trade was never so brisk as in 'forty-six, when they were down this +way. Old Noll had a noose of hemp ready for horse-stealers, were +they for King or for Parliament. But here comes his Grace's carriage, +if I mistake not.' + +As he spoke a great heavy yellow coach, drawn by six cream-coloured +Flemish mares, dashed down the road, and came swiftly towards us. +Two mounted lackeys galloped in front, and two others all in light blue +and silver liveries rode on either side. + +'His Grace is not within, else there had been an escort behind,' said +the farmer, as we reined our horses aside to let the carriage pass. +As they swept by he shouted out a question as to whether the Duke was at +Badminton, and received a nod from the stately bewigged coachman in +reply. + +'We are in luck to catch him,' said Farmer Brown. 'He's as hard to find +these days as a crake in a wheatfield. We should be there in an hour or +less. I must thank you that I did not take a fruitless journey into +Bristol. What did you say your errand was?' + +I was again compelled to assure him that the matter was not one of which +I could speak with a stranger, on which he appeared to be huffed, and +rode for some miles without opening his mouth. Groves of trees lined +the road on either side, and the sweet smell of pines was in our +nostrils. Far away the musical pealing of a bell rose and fell on the +hot, close summer air. The shelter of the branches was pleasant, for +the sun was very strong, blazing down out of a cloudless heaven, and +raising a haze from the fields and valleys. + +''Tis the bell from Chipping Sodbury,' said my companion at last, wiping +his ruddy face. 'That's Sodbury Church yonder over the brow of the +hill, and here on the right is the entrance of Badminton Park.' + +High iron gates, with the leopard and griffin, which are the supporters +of the Beaufort arms, fixed on the pillars which flanked them, opened +into a beautiful domain of lawn and grass land with clumps of trees +scattered over it, and broad sheets of water, thick with wild fowl. +At every turn as we rode up the winding avenue some new beauty caught +our eyes, all of which were pointed out and expounded by Farmer Brown, +who seemed to take as much pride in the place as though it belonged to +him. Here it was a rockery where a thousand bright-coloured stones +shone out through the ferns and creepers which had been trained over +them. There it was a pretty prattling brook, the channel of which had +been turned so as to make it come foaming down over a steep ledge of +rocks. Or perhaps it was some statue of nymph or sylvan god, or some +artfully built arbour overgrown with roses or honeysuckle. I have never +seen grounds so tastefully laid out, and it was done, as all good work +in art must be done, by following Nature so closely that it only +differed from her handiwork in its profusion in so narrow a compass. +A few years later our healthy English taste was spoiled by the pedant +gardening of the Dutch with their straight flat ponds, and their trees +all clipped and in a line like vegetable grenadiers. In truth, I think +that the Prince of Orange and Sir William Temple had much to answer for +in working this change, but things have now come round again, I +understand, and we have ceased to be wiser than Nature in our +pleasure-grounds. + +As we drew near the house we came on a large extent of level sward on +which a troop of horse were exercising, who were raised, as my companion +informed me, entirely from the Duke's own personal attendants. Passing +them we rode through a grove of rare trees and came out on a broad space +of gravel which lay in front of the house. The building itself was of +great extent, built after the new Italian fashion, rather for comfort +than for defence; but on one wing there remained, as my companion +pointed out, a portion of the old keep and battlements of the feudal +castle of the Botelers, looking as out of place as a farthingale of +Queen Elizabeth joined to a court dress fresh from Paris. The main +doorway was led up to by lines of columns and a broad flight of marble +steps, on which stood a group of footmen and grooms, who took our horses +when we dismounted. A grey-haired steward or major-domo inquired our +business, and on learning that we wished to see the Duke in person, he +told us that his Grace would give audience to strangers in the afternoon +at half after three by the clock. In the meantime he said that the +guests' dinner had just been laid in the hall, and it was his master's +wish that none who came to Badminton should depart hungry. My companion +and I were but too glad to accept the steward's invitation, so having +visited the bath-room and attended to the needs of the toilet, we +followed a footman, who ushered us into a great room where the company +had already assembled. + +The guests may have numbered fifty or sixty, old and young, gentle and +simple, of the most varied types and appearance. I observed that many +of them cast haughty and inquiring glances round them, in the pauses +between the dishes, as though each marvelled how he came to be a member +of so motley a crew. Their only common feature appeared to be the +devotion which they showed to the platter and the wine flagon. There +was little talking, for there were few who knew their neighbours. +Some were soldiers who had come to offer their swords and their services +to the King's lieutenant; others were merchants from Bristol, with some +proposal or suggestion anent the safety of their property. There were +two or three officials of the city, who had come out to receive +instructions as to its defence, while here and there I marked the child +of Israel, who had found his way there in the hope that in times of +trouble he might find high interest and noble borrowers. Horse-dealers, +saddlers, armourers, surgeons, and clergymen completed the company, who +were waited upon by a staff of powdered and liveried servants, who +brought and removed the dishes with the silence and deftness of long +training. + +The room was a contrast to the bare plainness of Sir Stephen Timewell's +dining-hall at Taunton, for it was richly panelled and highly decorated +all round. The floor was formed of black and white marble, set in +squares, and the walls were of polished oak, and bore a long line of +paintings of the Somerset family, from John of Gaunt downwards. +The ceiling, too, was tastefully painted with flowers and nymphs, so +that a man's neck was stiff ere he had done admiring it. At the further +end of the hall yawned a great fireplace of white marble, with the +lions and lilies of the Somerset arms carved in oak above it, and a long +gilt scroll bearing the family motto, "Mutare vel timere sperno." +The massive tables at which we sat were loaded with silver chargers and +candelabra, and bright with the rich plate for which Badminton was +famous. I could not but think that, if Saxon could clap eyes upon it, +he would not be long in urging that the war be carried on in this +direction. + +After dinner we were all shown into a small ante-chamber, set round with +velvet settees, where we were to wait till the Duke was ready to see us. +In the centre of this room there stood several cases, glass-topped and +lined with silk, wherein were little steel and iron rods, with brass +tubes and divers other things, very bright and ingenious, though I could +not devise for what end they had been put together. A gentleman-in- +waiting came round with paper and ink-horn, making notes of our names +and of our business. Him I asked whether it might not be possible for +me to have an entirely private audience. + +'His Grace never sees in private,' he replied. 'He has ever his chosen +councillors and officers in attendance.' + +'But the business is one which is only fit for his own ear,' I urged. + +'His Grace holds that there is no business fit only for his own ear,' +said the gentleman. 'You must arrange matters as best you can when you +are shown in to him. I will promise, however, that your request be +carried to him, though I warn you that it cannot be granted.' + +I thanked him for his good offices, and turned away with the farmer to +look at the strange little engines within the cases. + +'What is it?' I asked. 'I have never seen aught that was like it.' + +'It is the work of the mad Marquis of Worcester,' quoth he. 'He was the +Duke's grandfather. He was ever making and devising such toys, but they +were never of any service to himself or to others. Now, look ye here! +This wi' the wheels were called the water-engine, and it was his crazy +thought that, by heating the water in that ere kettle, ye might make +the wheels go round, and thereby travel along iron bars quicker nor a +horse could run. 'Oons! I'd match my old brown mare against all such +contrivances to the end o' time. But to our places, for the Duke is +coming.' + +We had scarce taken our seats with the other suitors, when the +folding-doors were flung open, and a stout, thick, short man of fifty, +or thereabouts, came bustling into the room, and strode down it between +two lines of bowing clients. He had large projecting blue eyes, with +great pouches of skin beneath them, and a yellow, sallow visage. +At his heels walked a dozen officers and men of rank, with flowing wigs +and clanking swords. They had hardly passed through the opposite door +into the Duke's own room, when the gentleman with the list called out a +name, and the guests began one after the other to file into the great +man's presence. + +'Methinks his Grace is in no very gentle temper,' quoth Farmer Brown. +'Did you not mark how he gnawed his nether lip as he passed?' + +'He seemed a quiet gentleman enough,' I answered. 'It would try Job +himself to see all these folk of an afternoon.' + +'Hark at that!' he whispered, raising his finger. As he spoke the sound +of the Duke's voice in a storm of wrath was heard from the inner +chamber, and a little sharp-faced man came out and flew through the +ante-chamber as though fright had turned his head. + +'He is an armourer of Bristol,' whispered one of my neighbours. +'It is likely that the Duke cannot come to terms with him over a +contract.' + +'Nay,' said another. 'He supplied Sir Marmaduke Hyson's troop with +sabres, and it is said that the blades will bend as though they were +lead. Once used they can never he fitted back into the scabbard again.' + +'The tall man who goes in now is an inventor,' quoth the first. +'He hath the secret of some very grievous fire, such as hath been used +by the Greeks against the Turks in the Levant, which he desires to sell +for the better fortifying of Bristol.' + +The Greek fire seemed to be in no great request with the Duke, for the +inventor came out presently with his face as red as though it had been +touched by his own compound. The next upon the list was my honest +friend the farmer. The angry tones which greeted him promised badly for +the fate of the four-year-old, but a lull ensued, and the farmer came +out and resumed his seat, rubbing his great red hands with satisfaction. + +'Ecod!' he whispered. 'He was plaguy hot at first, but he soon came +round, and he hath promised that if I pay for the hire of a dragooner as +long as the war shall last I shall have back the piebald.' + +I had been sitting all this time wondering how in the world I was to +conduct my business amid the swarm of suppliants and the crowd of +officers who were attending the Duke. Had there been any likelihood of +my gaining audience with him in any other way I should gladly have +adopted it, but all my endeavours to that end had been useless. Unless +I took this occasion I might never come face to face with him at all. +But how could he give due thought or discussion to such a matter before +others? What chance was there of his weighing it as it should be +weighed? Even if his feelings inclined him that way, he dared not show +any sign of wavering when so many eyes were upon him. I was tempted to +feign some other reason for my coming, and trust to fortune to give me +some more favourable chance for handing him my papers. But then that +chance might never arrive, and time was pressing. It was said that he +would return to Bristol next morning. On the whole, it seemed best that +I should make the fittest use I could of my present position in the hope +that the Duke's own discretion and self-command might, when he saw the +address upon my despatches, lead to a more private interview. + +I had just come to this resolution when my name was read out, on which I +rose and advanced into the inner chamber. It was a small but lofty +room, hung in blue silk with a broad gold cornice. In the centre was a +square table littered over with piles of papers, and behind this sat his +Grace with full-bottomed wig rolling down to his shoulders, very stately +and imposing. He had the same subtle air of the court which I had +observed both in Monmouth and in Sir Gervas, which, with his high bold +features and large piercing eyes, marked him as a leader of men. +His private scrivener sat beside him, taking notes of his directions, +while the others stood behind in a half circle, or took snuff together +in the deep recess of the window. + +'Make a note of Smithson's order,' he said, as I entered. 'A hundred +pots and as many fronts and backs to be ready by Tuesday; also six score +snaphances for the musqueteers, and two hundred extra spades for the +workers. Mark that the order be declared null and void unless fulfilled +within the time appointed.' + +'It is so marked, your Grace.' + +'Captain Micah Clarke,' said the Duke, reading from the list in front of +him. 'What is your wish, Captain?' + +'One which it would be better if I could deliver privately to your +Grace,' I answered. + +'Ah, you are he who desired private audience? Well, Captain, these are +my council and they are as myself. So we may look upon ourselves as +alone. What I may hear they may hear. Zounds, man, never stammer and +boggle, but out with it!' + +My request had roused the interest of the company, and those who were in +the window came over to the table. Nothing could have been worse for +the success of my mission, and yet there was no help for it but to +deliver my despatches. I can say with a clear conscience, without any +vainglory, that I had no fears for myself. The doing of my duty was the +one thought in my mind. And here I may say once for all, my dear +children, that I am speaking of myself all through this statement with +the same freedom as though it were another man. In very truth the +strong active lad of one-and-twenty _was_ another man from the +grey-headed old fellow who sits in the chimney corner and can do naught +better than tell old tales to the youngsters. Shallow water gives a +great splash, and so a braggart has ever been contemptible in my eyes. +I trust, therefore, that ye will never think that your grandad is +singing his own praises, or setting himself up as better than his +neighbours. I do but lay the facts, as far as I can recall them, before +ye with all freedom and with all truth. + +My short delay and hesitation had sent a hot flush of anger into the +Duke's face, so I drew the packet of papers from my inner pocket and +handed them to him with a respectful bow. As his eyes fell upon the +superscription, he gave a sudden start of surprise and agitation, making +a motion as though to hide them in his bosom. If this were his impulse +he overcame it, and sat lost in thought for a minute or more with the +papers in his hand. Then with a quick toss of the head, like a man +who hath formed his resolution, he broke the seals and cast his eyes +over the contents, which he then threw down upon the table with a bitter +laugh. + +'What think ye, gentlemen!' he cried, looking round with scornful eyes; +'what think ye this private message hath proved to be? It is a letter +from the traitor Monmouth, calling upon me to resign the allegiance of +my natural sovereign and to draw my sword in his behalf! If I do this I +am to have his gracious favour and protection. If not, I incur +sequestration, banishment, and ruin. He thinks Beaufort's loyalty is to +be bought like a packman's ware, or bullied out of him by ruffling +words. The descendant of John of Gaunt is to render fealty to the brat +of a wandering playwoman!' + +Several of the company sprang to their feet, and a general buzz of +surprise and anger greeted the Duke's words. He sat with bent brows, +beating his foot against the ground, and turning over the papers upon +the table. + +'What hath raised his hopes to such mad heights?' he cried. 'How doth +he presume to send such a missive to one of my quality? Is it because +he hath seen the backs of a parcel of rascally militiamen, and because +he hath drawn a few hundred chawbacons from the plough's tail to his +standard, that he ventures to hold such language to the President of +Wales? But ye will be my witnesses as to the spirit in which I +received it?' + +'We can preserve your Grace from all danger of slander on that point,' +said an elderly officer, while a murmur of assent from the others +greeted the remark. + +'And you!' cried Beaufort, raising his voice and turning his flashing +eyes upon me; 'who are you that dare to bring such a message to +Badminton? You had surely taken leave of your senses ere you did set +out upon such an errand!' + +'I am in the hands of God here as elsewhere,' I answered, with some +flash of my father's fatalism. 'I have done what I promised to do, and +the rest is no concern of mine.' + +'You shall find it a very close concern of thine,' he shouted, springing +from his chair and pacing up and down the room; 'so close as to put an +end to all thy other concerns in this life. Call in the halberdiers +from the outer hall! Now, fellow, what have you to say for yourself?' + +'There is naught to be said,' I answered. + +'But something to be done,' he retorted in a fury. 'Seize this man and +secure his hands!' + +Four halberdiers who had answered the summons closed in upon me and laid +hands on me. Resistance would have been folly, for I had no wish to +harm the men in the doing of their duty. I had come to take my chance, +and if that chance should prove to be death, as seemed likely enough at +present, it must be met as a thing foreseen. I thought of those +old-time lines which Master Chillingfoot, of Petersfield, had ever held +up to our admiration-- + + Non civium ardor prava jubentium + Non vultus instantis tyranni + Mente quatit solida. + +Here was the 'vultus instantis tyranni,' in this stout, be-wigged, +lace-covered, yellow-faced man in front of me. I had obeyed the poet in +so far that my courage had not been shaken. I confess that this +spinning dust-heap of a world has never had such attractions for me that +it would be a pang to leave it. Never, at least, until my marriage--and +that, you will find, alters your thoughts about the value of your life, +and many other of your thoughts as well. This being so, I stood erect, +with my eyes fixed upon the angry nobleman, while his soldiers were +putting the gyves about my wrists. + + + +Chapter XXV. + + +Of Strange Doings in the Boteler Dungeon + +'Take down this fellow's statement,' said the Duke to his scrivener. +'Now, sirrah, it may not be known to you that his gracious Majesty the +King hath conferred plenary powers upon me during these troubled times, +and that I have his warrant to deal with all traitors without either +jury or judge. You do bear a commission, I understand, in the +rebellious body which is here described as Saxon's regiment of Wiltshire +Foot? Speak the truth for your neck's sake.' + +'I will speak the truth for the sake of something higher than that, your +Grace,' I answered. 'I command a company in that regiment.' + +'And who is this Saxon?' + +'I will answer all that I may concerning myself,' said I, 'but not a +word which may reflect upon others.' + +'Ha!' he roared, hot with anger. 'Our pretty gentleman must needs stand +upon the niceties of honour after taking up arms against his King. +I tell you, sir, that your honour is in such a parlous state already +that you may well throw it over and look to your safety. The sun is +sinking in the west. Ere it set your life, too, may have set for ever.' + +'I am the keeper of my own honour, your Grace,' I answered. 'As to my +life, I should not be standing here this moment if I had any great dread +of losing it. It is right that I should tell you that my Colonel hath +sworn to exact a return for any evil that may befall me, on you or any +of your household who may come into his power. This I say, not as a +threat, but as a warning, for I know him to be a man who is like to be +as good as his word.' + +'Your Colonel, as you call him, may find it hard enough to save himself +soon,' the Duke answered with a sneer. 'How many men hath Monmouth with +him?' + +I smiled and shook my head. + +'How shall we make this traitor find his tongue?' he asked furiously, +turning to his council. + +'I should clap on the thumbikins,' said one fierce-faced old soldier. + +'I have known a lighted match between the fingers work wonders,' another +suggested. 'Sir Thomas Dalzell hath in the Scottish war been able to +win over several of that most stubborn and hardened race, the Western +Covenanters, by such persuasion.' + +'Sir Thomas Dalzell,' said a grey-haired gentleman, clad in black +velvet, 'hath studied the art of war among the Muscovites, in their +barbarous and bloody encounters with the Turks. God forbid that we +Christians of England should seek our examples among the skin-clad +idolaters of a savage country.' + +'Sir William would like to see war carried out on truly courteous +principles,' said the first speaker. 'A battle should be like a stately +minuet, with no loss of dignity or of etiquette.' + +'Sir,' the other answered hotly, 'I have been in battles when you were +in your baby-linen, and I handled a battoon when you could scarce shake +a rattle. In leaguer or onfall a soldier's work is sharp and stern, but +I say that the use of torture, which the law of England hath abolished, +should also be laid aside by the law of nations.' + +'Enough, gentlemen, enough!' cried the Duke, seeing that the dispute was +like to wax warm. 'Your opinion, Sir William, hath much weight with us, +and yours also, Colonel Hearn. We shall discuss this at greater length +in privacy. Halberdiers, remove the prisoner, and let a clergyman be +sent to look to his spiritual needs!' + +'Shall we take him to the strong room, your Grace ?' asked the Captain +of the guard. + +'No, to the old Boteler dungeon,' he replied; and I heard the next name +upon the list called out, while I was led through a side door with a +guard in front and behind me. We passed through endless passages and +corridors, with heavy stop and clank of arms, until we reached the +ancient wing. Here, in the corner turret, was a small, bare room, +mouldy and damp, with a high, arched roof, and a single long slit in the +outer wall to admit light. A small wooden couch and a rude chair formed +the whole of the furniture. Into this I was shown by the Captain, who +stationed a guard at the door, and then came in after me and loosened my +wrists. He was a sad-faced man, with solemn sunken eyes and a dreary +expression, which matched ill with his bright trappings and gay +sword-knot. + +'Keep your heart up, friend,' said he, in a hollow voice. 'It is but a +choke and a struggle. A day or two since we had the same job to do, and +the man scarcely groaned. Old Spender, the Duke's marshal, hath as sure +a trick of tying and as good judgment in arranging a drop as hath Dun of +Tyburn. Be of good heart, therefore, for you shall not fall into the +hands of a bungler,' + +'I would that I could let Monmouth know that his letters were +delivered,' I exclaimed, seating myself on the side of the bed. + +'I' faith, they were delivered. Had you been the penny postman of Mr. +Robert Murray, of whom we heard so much in London last spring, you could +not have handed it in more directly. Why did you not talk the Duke +fair? He is a gracious nobleman, and kind of heart, save when he is +thwarted or angered. Some little talk as to the rebels' numbers and +dispositions might have saved you.' + +'I wonder that you, as a soldier, should speak or think of such a +thing,' said I coldly. + +'Well, well! Your neck is your own. If it please you to take a leap +into nothing it were pity to thwart you. But his Grace commanded that +you should have the chaplain. I must away to him.' + +'I prythee do not bring him,' said I. 'I am one of a dissenting stock, +and I see that there is a Bible in yonder recess. No man can aid me in +making my peace with God.' + +'It is well,' he answered, 'for Dean Hewby hath come over from +Chippenham, and he is discoursing with our good chaplain on the need of +self-denial, moistening his throat the while with a flask of the prime +Tokay. At dinner I heard him put up thanks for what he was to receive, +and in the same breath ask the butler how he dared to serve a deacon of +the Church with a pullet without truffle dressing. But, perhaps, you +would desire Dean Hewby's spiritual help? No? Well, what I can do for +you in reason shall be done, since you will not be long upon our hands. +Above all, keep a cheery heart.' + +He left the cell, but presently unlocked the door and pushed his dismal +face round the corner. 'I am Captain Sinclair, of the Duke's +household,' he said, 'should you have occasion to ask for me. You had +best have spiritual help, for I do assure you that there hath been +something worse than either warder or prisoner in this cell.' + +'What then?' I asked. + +'Why, marry, nothing less than the Devil,' he answered, coming in and +closing the door. 'It was in this way,' he went on, sinking his voice: +'Two years agone Hector Marot, the highwayman, was shut up in this very +Boteler dungeon. I was myself on guard in the corridor that night, and +saw the prisoner at ten o'clock sitting on that bed even as you are now. +At twelve I had occasion to look in, as my custom is, with the hope of +cheering his lonely hours, when lo, he was gone! Yes, you may well +stare. Mine eyes had never been off the door, and you can judge what +chance there was of his getting through the windows. Walls and floor +are both solid stone, which might be solid rock for the thickness. +When I entered there was a plaguy smell of brimstone, and the flame of +my lanthorn burned blue. Nay, it is no smiling matter. If the Devil +did not run away with Hector Marot, pray who did? for sure I am that no +angel of grace could come to him as to Peter of old. Perchance the Evil +One may desire a second bird out of the same cage, and so I tell you +this that you may be on your guard against his assaults.' + +'Nay, I fear him not,' I answered. + +'It is well,' croaked the Captain. 'Be not cast down!' His head +vanished, and the key turned in the creaking lock. So thick were the +walls that I could hear no sound after the door was closed. Save for +the sighing of the wind in the branches of the trees outside the narrow +window, all was as silent as the grave within the dungeon. + +Thus left to myself I tried to follow Captain Sinclair's advice as to +the keeping up of my heart, though his talk was far from being of a +cheering nature. In my young days, more particularly among the +sectaries with whom I had been brought most in contact, a belief in the +occasional appearance of the Prince of Darkness, and his interference in +bodily form with the affairs of men, was widespread and unquestioning. +Philosophers in their own quiet chambers may argue learnedly on the +absurdity of such things, but in a dim-lit dungeon, cut off from the +world, with the grey gloaming creeping down, and one's own fate hanging +in the balance, it becomes a very different matter. The escape, if the +Captain's story were true, appeared to border upon the miraculous. +I examined the walls of the cell very carefully. They were formed of +great square stones cunningly fitted together. The thin slit or window +was cut through the centre of a single large block. All over, as high +as the hand could reach, the face of the walls was covered with letters +and legends cut by many generations of captives. The floor was composed +of old foot-worn slabs, firmly cemented together. The closest search +failed to show any hole or cranny where a rat could have escaped, far +less a man. + +It is a very strange thing, my dears, to sit down in cold blood, and +think that the chances are that within a few hours your pulses will have +given their last throb, and your soul have sped away upon its final +errand. Strange and very awesome! The man who rideth down into the +press of the battle with his jaw set and his grip tight upon reign and +sword-hilt cannot feel this, for the human mind is such that one emotion +will ever push out another. Neither can the man who draws slow and +catching breaths upon the bed of deadly sickness be said to have +experience of it, for the mind weakened with disease can but submit +without examining too closely that which it submits to. When, however, +a young and hale man sits alone in quiet, and sees present death hanging +over him, he hath such food for thought that, should he survive and live +to be grey-headed, his whole life will be marked and altered by those +solemn hours, as a stream is changed in its course by some rough bank +against which it hath struck. Every little fault and blemish stands out +clear in the presence of death, as the dust specks appear when the +sunbeam shines into the darkened room. I noted them then, and I have, I +trust, noted them ever since. + +I was seated with my head bowed upon my breast, deeply buried in this +solemn train of thoughts, when I was startled by hearing a sharp click, +such as a man might give who wished to attract attention. I sprang to +my feet and gazed round in the gathering gloom without being able to +tell whence it came. I had well-nigh persuaded myself that my senses +had deceived me, when the sound was repeated louder than before, and +casting my eyes upwards I saw a face peering in at me through the slit, +or part of a face rather, for I could but see the eye and corner of the +cheek. Standing on my chair I made out that it was none other than the +farmer who had been my companion upon the road. + +'Hush, lad!' he whispered, with a warning forefinger pushed through the +narrow crack. 'Speak low, or the guard may chance to hear. What can I +do for you?' + +'How did you come to know where I was?' I asked in astonishment. + +'Whoy, mun,' he answered, 'I know as much of this 'ere house as Beaufort +does himsel'. Afore Badminton was built, me and my brothers has spent +many a day in climbing over the old Boteler tower. It's not the first +time that I have spoke through this window. But, quick; what can I do +for you?' + +'I am much beholden to you, sir,' I answered, 'but I fear that there is +no help which you can give me, unless, indeed, you could convey news to +my friends in the army of what hath befallen me.' + +'I might do that,' whispered Farmer Brown. 'Hark ye in your ear, lad, +what I never breathed to man yet. Mine own conscience pricks me at +times over this bolstering up of a Papist to rule over a Protestant +nation. Let like rule like, say I. At the 'lections I rode to +Sudbury, and I put in my vote for Maister Evans, of Turnford, who was in +favour o' the Exclusionists. Sure enough, if that same Bill had been +carried, the Duke would be sitting on his father's throne. The law +would have said yes. Now, it says nay. A wonderful thing is the law +with its yea, yea, and nay, nay, like Barclay, the Quaker man, that came +down here in a leather suit, and ca'd the parson a steepleman. There's +the law. It's no use shootin' at it, or passin' pikes through it, no, +nor chargin' at it wi' a troop of horse. If it begins by saying "nay" +it will say "nay" to the end of the chapter. Ye might as well fight wi' +the book o' Genesis. Let Monmouth get the law changed, and it will do +more for him than all the dukes in England. For all that he's a +Protestant, and I would do what I might to serve him.' + +'There is a Captain Lockarby, who is serving in Colonel Saxon's +regiment, in Monmouth's army,' said I. 'Should things go wrong with me, +I would take it as a great kindness if you would bear him my love, and +ask him to break it gently, by word or by letter, to those at Havant. +If I were sure that this would be done, it would be a great ease to my +mind.' + +'It shall be done, lad,' said the good farmer. 'I shall send my best +man and fleetest horse this very night, that they may know the straits +in which you are. I have a file here if it would help you.' + +'Nay,' I answered, 'human aid can do little to help me here.' + +'There used to be a hole in the roof. Look up and see if you can see +aught of it.' + +'It arches high above my head,' I answered, looking upwards; 'but there +is no sign of any opening.' + +'There was one,' he repeated. 'My brother Roger hath swung himself down +wi' a rope. In the old time the prisoners were put in so, like Joseph +into the pit. The door is but a new thing.' + +'Hole or no hole, it cannot help me,' I answered. 'I have no means of +climbing to it. Do not wait longer, kind friend, or you may find +yourself in trouble.' + +'Good-bye then, my brave heart,' he whispered, and the honest grey eye +and corner of ruddy cheek disappeared from the casement. Many a time +during the course of the long evening I glanced up with some wild hope +that he might return, and every creak of the branches outside brought me +on to the chair, but it was the last that I saw of Farmer Brown. + +This kindly visit, short as it was, relieved my mind greatly, for I had +a trusty man's word that, come what might, my friends should, at least, +have some news of my fate. It was now quite dark, and I was pacing up +and down the little chamber, when the key turned in the door, and the +Captain entered with a rushlight and a great bowl of bread and milk. + +'Here is your supper, friend,' said he. 'Take it down, appetite or no, +for it will give you strength to play the man at the time ye wot of. +They say it was beautiful to see my Lord Russell die upon Tower Hill. +Be of good cheer! Folk may say as much of you. His Grace is in a +terrible way. He walketh up and down, and biteth his lip, and clencheth +his hands like one who can scarce contain his wrath. It may not be +against you, but I know not what else can have angered him.' + +I made no answer to this Job's comforter, so he presently left me, +placing the bowl upon the chair, with the rushlight beside it. +I finished the food, and feeling the better for it, stretched myself +upon the couch, and fell into a heavy and dreamless sleep. This may +have lasted three or four hours, when I was suddenly awoken by a sound +like the creaking of hinges. Sitting up on the pallet I gazed around +me. The rushlight had burned out and the cell was impenetrably dark. +A greyish glimmer at one end showed dimly the position of the aperture, +but all else was thick and black. I strained my ears, but no further +sound fell upon them. Yet I was certain that I had not been deceived, +and that the noise which had aroused me was within my very chamber. +I rose and felt my way slowly round the room, passing my hand over the +walls and door. Then I paced backwards and forwards to test the +flooring. Neither around me nor beneath me was there any change. +Whence did the sound come from, then? I sat down upon the side of the +bed and waited patiently in the hope of hearing it once again. + +Presently it was repeated, a low groaning and creaking as though a door +or shutter long disused was being slowly and stealthily opened. At the +same time a dull yellow light streamed down from above, issuing from a +thin slit in the centre of the arched roof above me. Slowly as I +watched it this slit widened and extended as if a sliding panel were +being pulled out, until a good-sized hole was left, through which I saw +a head, looking down at me, outlined against the misty light behind it. +The knotted end of a rope was passed through this aperture, and came +dangling down to the dungeon floor. It was a good stout piece of hemp, +strong enough to bear the weight of a heavy man, and I found, upon +pulling at it, that it was firmly secured above. Clearly it was the +desire of my unknown benefactor that I should ascend by it, so I went up +hand over hand, and after some difficulty in squeezing my shoulders +through the hole I succeeded in reaching the room above. While I was +still rubbing my eyes after the sudden change from darkness into light, +the rope was swiftly whisked up and the sliding shutter closed once +more. To those who were not in the secret there was nothing to throw +light upon my disappearance. + +I found myself in the presence of a stout short man clad in a rude +jerkin and leather breeches, which gave him somewhat the appearance of a +groom. He wore a broad felt hat drawn down very low over his eyes, +while the lower part of his face was swathed round with a broad cravat. +In his hand he bore a horn lanthorn, by the light of which I saw that +the room in which we were was of the same size as the dungeon beneath, +and differed from it only in having a broad casement which looked out +upon the park. There was no furniture in the chamber, but a great beam +ran across it, to which the rope had been fastened by which I ascended. + +'Speak low, friend,' said the stranger. 'The walls are thick and the +doors are close, yet I would not have your guardians know by what means +you have been spirited away.' + +'Truly, sir,' I answered, 'I can scarce credit that it is other than a +dream. It is wondrous that my dungeon should be so easily broken into, +and more wondrous still that I should find a friend who would be willing +to risk so much for my sake.' + +'Look there!' quoth he, holding down his lanthorn so as to cast its +light on the part of the floor where the panel was fitted. Can you not +see how old and crumbled is the stone-work which surrounds it? +This opening in the roof is as old as the dungeon itself, and older far +than the door by which you were led into it. For this was one of those +bottle-shaped cells or oubliettes which hard men of old devised for the +safe keeping of their captives. Once lowered through this hole into the +stone-girt pit a man might eat his heart out, for his fate was sealed. +Yet you see that the very device which once hindered escape has now +brought freedom within your reach.' + +'Thanks to your clemency, your Grace,' I answered, looking keenly at my +companion. + +'Now out on these disguises!' he cried, peevishly pushing back the +broad-edged hat and disclosing, as I expected, the features of the Duke. +'Even a blunt soldier lad can see through my attempts at concealment. +I fear, Captain, that I should make a bad plotter, for my nature is as +open--well, as thine is. I cannot better the simile.' + +'Your Grace's voice once heard is not easily forgot,' said I. + +'Especially when it talks of hemp and dungeons,' he answered, with a +smile. 'But if I clapped you into prison, you must confess that I have +made you amends by pulling you out again at the end of my line, like a +minnow out of a bottle. But how came you to deliver such papers in the +presence of my council?' + +'I did what I could to deliver them in private,' said I. 'I sent you a +message to that effect.' + +'It is true,' he answered; 'but such messages come in to me from every +soldier who wishes to sell his sword, and every inventor who hath a long +tongue and a short purse. How could I tell that the matter was of real +import?' + +'I feared to let the chance slip lest it might never return,' said I. +'I hear that your Grace hath little leisure during these times.' + +'I cannot blame you,' he answered, pacing up and down the room. 'But it +was untoward. I might have hid the despatches, yet it would have roused +suspicions. Your errand would have leaked out. There are many who envy +my lofty fortunes, and who would seize upon a chance of injuring me with +King James. Sunderland or Somers would either of them blow the least +rumour into a flame which might prove unquenchable. There was naught +for it, therefore, but to show the papers and to turn a harsh face on +the messenger. The most venomous tongue could not find fault in my +conduct. What course would you have advised under such circumstances?' +'The most direct,' I answered. 'Aye, aye, Sir. Honesty. Public men +have, however, to pick their steps as best they may, for the straight +path would lead too often to the cliff-edge. The Tower would be too +scanty for its guests were we all to wear our hearts upon our sleeves. +But to you in this privacy I can tell my real thoughts without fear of +betrayal or misconstruction. On paper I will not write one word. +Your memory must be the sheet which bears my answer to Monmouth. +And first of all, erase from it all that you have heard me say in the +council-room. Let it be as though it never were spoken. Is that done?' + +'I understand that it did not really represent your Grace's thoughts.' + +'Very far from it, Captain. But prythee tell me what expectation of +success is there among the rebels themselves? You must have heard your +Colonel and others discuss the question, or noted by their bearing which +way their thoughts lay. Have they good hopes of holding out against the +King's troops?' + +'They have met with naught but success hitherto,' I answered. + +'Against the militia. But they will find it another thing when they +have trained troops to deal with. And yet--and yet!--One thing I know, +that any defeat of Feversham's army would cause a general rising +throughout the country. On the other hand, the King's party are active. +Every post brings news of some fresh levy. Albemarle still holds the +militia together in the west. The Earl of Pembroke is in arms in +Wiltshire. Lord Lumley is moving from the east with the Sussex forces. +The Earl of Abingdon is up in Oxfordshire. At the university the caps +and gowns are all turning into head-pieces and steel fronts. James's +Dutch regiments have sailed from Amsterdam. Yet Monmouth hath gained +two fights, and why not a third? They are troubled waters--troubled +waters!' The Duke paced backwards and forwards with brows drawn down, +muttering all this to himself rather than to me, and shaking his head +like one in the sorest perplexity. + +'I would have you tell Monmouth,' he said at last, 'that I thank him for +the papers which he hath sent me, and that I will duly read and weigh +them. Tell him also that I wish him well in his enterprise, and would +help him were it not that I am hemmed in by those who watch me closely, +and who would denounce me were I to show my true thoughts. Tell him +that, should he move his army into these parts, I may then openly +declare myself; but to do so now would be to ruin the fortunes of my +house, without in any way helping him. Can you bear him that message?' + +'I shall do so, your Grace. + +'Tell me,' he asked, 'how doth Monmouth bear himself in this +enterprise?' + +'Like a wise and gallant leader,' I answered. + +'Strange,' he murmured; 'it was ever the jest at court that he had +scarce energy or constancy enough to finish a game at ball, but would +ever throw his racquet down ere the winning point was scored. His plans +were like a weather-vane, altered by every breeze. He was constant only +in his inconstancy. It is true that he led the King's troops in +Scotland, but all men knew that Claverhouse and Dalzell were the real +conquerors at Bothwell Bridge. Methinks he resembles that Brutus in +Roman history who feigned weakness of mind as a cover to his ambitions.' + +The Duke was once again conversing with himself rather than with me, so +that I made no remark, save to observe that Monmouth had won the hearts +of the lower people. + +'There lies his strength,' said Beaufort. 'The blood of his mother runs +in his veins. He doth not think it beneath him to shake the dirty paw +of Jerry the tinker, or to run a race against a bumpkin on the village +green. Well, events have shown that he hath been right. These same +bumpkins have stood by him when nobler friends have held aloof. I would +I could see into the future. But you have my message, Captain, and I +trust that, if you change it in the delivery, it will be in the +direction of greater warmth and kindliness. It is time now that you +depart, for within three hours the guard is changed, and your escape +will be discovered.' + +'But how depart?' I asked. + +'Through here,' he answered, pushing open the casement, and sliding the +rope along the beam in that direction. 'The rope may be a foot or two +short, but you have extra inches to make matters even. When you have +reached the ground, take the gravel path which turns to the right, and +follow it until it leads you to the high trees which skirt the park. +The seventh of these hath a bough which shoots over the boundary wall. +Climb along the bough, drop over upon the other side, and you will find +my own valet waiting with your horse. Up with you, and ride, haste, +haste, post-haste, for the south. By morn you should be well out of +danger's way.' + +'My sword?' I asked. + +'All your property is there. Tell Monmouth what I have said, and let +him know that I have used you as kindly as was possible.' + +'But what will your Grace's council say when they find that I am gone?' +I asked. + +'Pshaw, man! Never fret about that! I will off to Bristol at daybreak, +and give my council enough to think of without their having time to +devote to your fate. The soldiers will but have another instance of the +working of the Father of Evil, who hath long been thought to have a +weakness for that cell beneath us. Faith, if all we hear be true, there +have been horrors enough acted there to call up every devil out of the +pit. But time presses. Gently through the casement! So! Remember the +message.' + +'Adieu, your Grace!' I answered, and seizing the rope slipped rapidly +and noiselessly to the ground, upon which he drew it up and closed the +casement. As I looked round, my eye fell upon the dark narrow slit +which opened into my cell, and through which honest Farmer Brown had +held converse with me. Half-an-hour ago I had been stretched upon the +prison pallet without a hope or a thought of escape. Now I was out in +the open with no hand to stay me, breathing the air of freedom with the +prison and the gallows cast off from me, as the waking man casts off his +evil dreams. Such changes shake a man's soul, my children. The heart +that can steel itself against death is softened by the assurance of +safety. So I have known a worthy trader bear up manfully when +convinced that his fortunes had been engulfed in the ocean, but lose all +philosophy on finding that the alarm was false, and that they had come +safely through the danger. For my own part, believing as I do that +there is nothing of chance in the affairs of this world, I felt that I +had been exposed to this trial in order to dispose me to serious +thought, and that I had been saved that I might put those thoughts into +effect. As an earnest of my endeavour to do so I knelt down on the +green sward, in the shadow of the Boteler turret, and I prayed that I +might come to be of use on the earth, and that I might be helped to rise +above my own wants and interests, to aid forward whatever of good or +noble might be stirring in my days. It is well-nigh fifty years, my +dears, since I bowed my spirit before the Great Unknown in the +moon-tinted park of Badminton, but I can truly say that from that day to +this the aims which I laid down for myself have served me as a compass +over the dark waters of life--a compass which I may perchance not always +follow--for flesh is weak and frail, but which hath, at least, been ever +present, that I might turn to it in seasons of doubt and of danger. + +The path to the right led through groves and past carp ponds for a mile +or more, until I reached the line of trees which skirted the boundary +wall. Not a living thing did I see upon my way, save a herd of +fallow-deer, which scudded away like swift shadows through the +shimmering moonshine. Looking back, the high turrets and gables of the +Boteler wing stood out dark and threatening against the starlit sky. +Having reached the seventh tree, I clambered along the projecting bough +which shot over the park wall, and dropped down upon the other side, +where I found my good old dapple-grey awaiting me in the charge of a +groom. Springing to my saddle, I strapped my sword once more to my +side, and galloped off as fast as the four willing feet could carry me +on my return journey. + +All that night I rode hard without drawing bridle, through sleeping +hamlets, by moon-bathed farmhouses, past shining stealthy rivers, and +over birch-clad hills. When the eastern sky deepened from pink into +scarlet, and the great sun pushed his rim over the blue north Somerset +hills, I was already far upon my journey. It was a Sabbath morning, and +from every village rose the sweet tinkling and calling of the bells. +I bore no dangerous papers with me now, and might therefore be more +careless as to my route. At one point I was questioned by a keen-eyed +toll-keeper as to whence I came, but my reply that I was riding direct +from his Grace of Beaufort put an end to his suspicions. Further down, +near Axbridge, I overtook a grazier who was jogging into Wells upon his +sleek cob. With him I rode for some time, and learned that the whole of +North Somerset, as well as south, was now in open revolt, and that +Wells, Shepton Mallet, and Glastonbury were held by armed volunteers for +King Monmouth. The royal forces had all retired west, or east, until +help should come. As I rode through the villages I marked the blue flag +upon the church towers, and the rustics drilling upon the green, without +any sign of trooper or dragoon to uphold the authority of the Stuarts. + +My road lay through Shepton Mallet, Piper's Inn, Bridgewater, and North +Petherton, until in the cool of the evening I pulled up my weary horse +at the Cross Hands, and saw the towers of Taunton in the valley beneath +me. A flagon of beer for the rider, and a sieveful of oats for the +steed, put fresh mettle into both of us, and we were jogging on our way +once more, when there came galloping down the side of the hill about +forty cavaliers, as hard as their horses could carry them. So wild was +their riding that I pulled up, uncertain whether they were friend or +foe, until, as they came whirling towards me, I recognised that the two +officers who rode in front of them were none other than Reuben Lockarby +and Sir Gervas Jerome. At the sight of me they flung up their hands, +and Reuben shot on to his horse's neck, where he sat for a moment +astride of the mane, until the brute tossed him back into the saddle. + +'It's Micah! It's Micah!' he gasped, with his mouth open, and the tears +hopping down his honest face. + +'Od's pitlikins, man, how did you come here?' asked Sir Gervas, poking +me with his forefinger as though to see if I were really of flesh and +blood. 'We were leading a forlorn of horse into Beaufort's country to +beat him up, and to burn his fine house about his ears if you had come +to harm. There has just come a groom from some farmer in those parts +who hath brought us news that you were under sentence of death, on +which I came away with my wig half frizzled, and found that friend +Lockarby had leave from Lord Grey to go north with these troopers. +But how have you fared?' + +'Well and ill,' I answered, wringing their kindly hands. 'I had not +thought last night to see another sun rise, and yet ye see that I am +here, sound in life and limb. But all these things will take some time +in the telling.' + +'Aye, and King Monmouth will be on thorns to see you. Right about, my +lads, and back for the camp. Never was errand so rapidly and happily +finished as this of ours. It would have fared ill with Badminton had +you been hurt.' + +The troopers turned their horses and trotted slowly back to Taunton, +while I rode behind them between my two faithful friends, hearing from +them all that had occurred in my absence, and telling my own adventures +in return. The night had fallen ere we rode through the gates, where I +handed Covenant over to the Mayor's groom, and went direct to the castle +to deliver an account of my mission. + + + +Chapter XXVI. + + +Of the Strife in the Council + +King Monmouth's council was assembled at the time of my coming, and my +entrance caused the utmost surprise and joy, as they had just heard news +of my sore danger. Even the royal presence could not prevent several +members, among whom were the old Mayor and the two soldiers of fortune, +from springing to their feet and shaking me warmly by the hand. +Monmouth himself said a few gracious words, and requested that I should +be seated at the board with the others. + +'You have earned the right to be of our council,' said he; 'and lest +there should be a jealousy amongst other captains that you should come +among us, I do hereby confer upon you the special title of Scout-master, +which, though it entail few if any duties in the present state of our +force, will yet give you precedence over your fellows. We had heard +that your greeting from Beaufort was of the roughest, and that you were +in sore straits in his dungeons. But you have happily come yourself on +the very heels of him who bore the tidings. Tell us then from the +beginning how things have fared with you.' + +I should have wished to have limited my story to Beaufort and his +message, but as the council seemed to be intent upon hearing a full +account of my journey, I told in as short and simple speech as I could +the various passages which had befallen me--the ambuscado of the +smugglers, the cave, the capture of the gauger, the journey in the +lugger, the acquaintance with Farmer Brown, my being cast into prison, +with the manner of my release and the message wherewith I had been +commissioned. To all of this the council hearkened with the uttermost +attention, while a muttered oath ever and anon from a courtier or a +groan and prayer from a Puritan showed how keenly they followed the +various phases of my fortunes. Above all, they gave the greatest heed +to Beaufort's words, and stopped me more than once when I appeared to be +passing over any saying or event before they had due time to weigh it. +When I at last finished they all sat speechless, looking into each +other's faces and waiting for an expression of opinion. + +'On my word,' said Monmouth at last, 'this is a young Ulysses, though +his Odyssey doth but take three days in the acting. Scudery might not +be so dull were she to take a hint from these smugglers' caves and +sliding panels. How say you, Grey?' + +'He hath indeed had his share of adventure,' the nobleman answered, +'and hath also performed his mission like a fearless and zealous +messenger. You say that Beaufort gave you nought in writing?' + +'Not a word, my lord,' I replied. + +'And his private message was that he wished us well, and would join us +if we were in his country?' + +'That was the effect, my lord.' + +'Yet in his council, as I understand, he did utter bitter things against +us, putting affronts upon the King, and making light of his just claims +upon the fealty of his nobility?' + +'He did,' I answered. + +'He would fain stand upon both sides of the hedge at once,' said King +Monmouth. 'Such a man is very like to find himself on neither side, but +in the very heart of the briars. It may he as well, however, that we +should move his way, so as to give him the chance of declaring himself.' + +'In any case, as your Majesty remembers,' said Saxon, 'we had determined +to march Bristolwards and attempt the town.' + +'The works are being strengthened,' said I, 'and there are five thousand +of the Gloucestershire train-bands assembled within. I saw the +labourers at work upon the ramparts as I passed.' + +'If we gain Beaufort we shall gain the town,' quoth Sir Stephen +Timewell. 'There are already a strong body of godly and honest folk +therein, who would rejoice to see a Protestant army within their gates. +Should we have to beleaguer it we may count upon some help from within.' + +'Hegel und blitzen!' exclaimed the German soldier, with an impatience +which even the presence of the King could not keep in bounds; 'how can +we talk of sieges and leaguers when we have not a breaching-piece in the +army?' + +'The Lard will find us the breaching-pieces,' cried Ferguson, in his +strange, nasal voice. 'Did the Lard no breach the too'ers o' Jericho +withoot the aid o' gunpooder? Did the Lard no raise up the man Robert +Ferguson and presairve him through five-and-thairty indictments and +twa-and-twenty proclamations o' the godless? What is there He canna do? +Hosannah! Hosannah!' + +'The Doctor is right,' said a square-faced, leather-skinned English +Independent. 'We talk too much o' carnal means and worldly chances, +without leaning upon that heavenly goodwill which should be to us as a +staff on stony and broken paths. Yes, gentlemen,' he continued, raising +his voice and glancing across the table at some of the courtiers, 'ye +may sneer at words of piety, but I say that it is you and those like you +who will bring down God's anger upon this army.' + +'And I say so too,' cried another sectary fiercely. + +'And I,' 'And I,' shouted several, with Saxon, I think, among them. + +'Is it your wish, your Majesty, that we should be insulted at your very +council board?' cried one of the courtiers, springing to his feet with a +flushed face. 'How long are we to be subject to this insolence because +we have the religion of a gentleman, and prefer to practise it in the +privacy of our hearts rather than at the street corners with these +pharisees?' + +'Speak not against God's saints,' cried a Puritan, in a loud stern +voice. 'There is a voice within me which tells me that it were better +to strike thee dead--yea, even in the presence of the King--than to +allow thee to revile those who have been born again.' + +Several had sprung to their feet on either side. Hands were laid upon +sword-hilts, and glances as stern and as deadly as rapier thrusts were +flashing backwards and forwards; but the more neutral and reasonable +members of the council succeeded in restoring peace, and in persuading +the angry disputants to resume their seats. + +'How now, gentlemen?' cried the King, his face dark with anger, when +silence was at last restored. 'Is this the extent of my authority that +ye should babble and brawl as though my council-chamber were a Fleet +Street pot-house? Is this your respect for my person? I tell ye that I +would forfeit my just claims for ever, and return to Holland, or devote +my sword to the cause of Christianity against the Turk, rather than +submit to such indignity. If any man he proved to have stirred up +strife amongst the soldiers or commonalty on the score of religion I +shall know how to deal with him. Let each preach to his own, but let +him not interfere with the flock of his neighbour. As to you, Mr. +Bramwell, and you, Mr. Joyce, and you also, Sir Henry Nuttall, we shall +hold ye excused from attending these meetings until ye have further +notice from us. Ye may now separate, each to your quarters, and +to-morrow morning we shall, with the blessing of God, start for the +north to see what luck may await our enterprise in those parts.' + +The King bowed as a sign that the formal meeting was over, and taking +Lord Grey aside, he conversed with him anxiously in a recess. +The courtiers, who numbered in their party several English and foreign +gentlemen, who had come over together with some Devonshire and Somerset +country squires, swaggered out of the room in a body, with much clinking +of spurs and clanking of swords. The Puritans drew gravely together and +followed after them, walking not with demure and downcast looks, as was +their common use, but with grim faces and knitted brows, as the Jews of +old may have appeared when, 'To your tents, O Israel!' was still ringing +in their ears. + +Indeed, religious dissension and sectarian heat were in the very air. +Outside, on the Castle Green, the voices of preachers rose up like the +drone of insects. Every waggon or barrel or chance provision case had +been converted into a pulpit, each with its own orator and little knot +of eager hearkeners. Here was a russet-coated Taunton volunteer in +jackboots and bandolier, holding forth on the justification by works. +Further on a grenadier of the militia, with blazing red coat and white +cross-belt, was deep in the mystery of the Trinity. In one or two +places, where the rude pulpits were too near to each other, the +sermons had changed into a hot discussion between the two preachers, in +which the audience took part by hums or groans, each applauding the +champion whose creed was most in accordance with his own. Through this +wild scene, made more striking by the ruddy flickering glare of the +camp-fires, I picked my way with a weight at my heart, for I felt how +vain it must be to hope for success where such division reigned, Saxon +looked on, however, with glistening eyes, and rubbed his hands with +satisfaction. + +'The leaven is working,' quoth he. 'Something will come of all this +ferment.' + +'I see not what can come of it save disorder and weakness,' I answered. + +'Good soldiers will come of it, lad,' said he. 'They are all sharpening +themselves, each after his own fashion, on the whetstone of religion. +This arguing breedeth fanatics, and fanatics are the stuff out of which +conquerors are fashioned. Have you not heard how Old Noll's army +divided into Presbyterians, Independents, Ranters, Anabaptists, Fifth +Monarchy men, Brownists, and a score of other sects, out of whose strife +rose the finest regiments that ever formed line upon a field of battle? + + "Such as do build their faith upon + The holy text of sword and gun." + +You know old Samuel's couplet. I tell you, I would rather see them thus +employed than at their drill, for all their wrangling and jangling.' + +'But how of this split in the council?' I asked. + +'Ah, that is indeed a graver matter. All creeds may be welded together, +but the Puritan and the scoffer are like oil and water. Yet the Puritan +is the oil, for he will be ever atop. These courtiers do but stand for +themselves, while the others are backed up by the pith and marrow of the +army. It is well that we are afoot to-morrow. The King's troops are, I +hear, pouring across Salisbury Plain, but their ordnance and stores are +delaying them, for they know well that they must bring all they need, +since they can expect little from the goodwill of the country folk. +Ah, friend Buyse, wie geht es?' + +'Ganz gut,' said the big German, looming up before us through the +darkness. 'But, sapperment, what a cawing and croaking, like a rookery +at sunset! You English are a strange people--yes, donnerwetter, a very +strange people! There are no two of you who think alike upon any +subject under Himmel! The Cavalier will have his gay coat and his loose +word. The Puritan will cut your throat rather than give up his +sad-coloured dress and his Bible. "King James!" cry some, "King +Monmouth!" say the peasants. "King Jesus!" says the Fifth Monarchy +man. "No King at all!" cry Master Wade and a few others who are for a +Commonwealth. Since I set foot on the Helderenbergh at Amsterdam, my +head hath been in a whirl with trying to understand what it is that ye +desire, for before I have got to the end of one man's tale, and begin to +see a little through the finsterniss, another will come with another +story, and I am in as evil a case as ever. But, my young Hercules, I am +right glad to see you back in safety. I am half in fear to give you my +hand now, after your recent treatment of it. I trust that you are none +the worse for the danger that you have gone through.' + +'Mine eyelids are in truth a little heavy,' I answered. 'Save for an +hour or two aboard the lugger, and about as long on a prison couch, I +have not closed eye since I left the camp.' + +'We shall fall in at the second bugle call, about eight of the clock,' +said Saxon. 'We shall leave you, therefore, that you may restore +yourself after your fatigues. 'With a parting nod the two old soldiers +strode off together down the crowded Fore Street, while I made the best +of my way back to the Mayor's hospitable dwelling, where I had to repeat +my story all over again to the assembled household before I was at last +suffered to seek my room. + + + +Chapter XXVII. + +Of the Affair near Keynsham Bridge + +Monday, June 21, 1685, broke very dark and windy, with dull clouds +moving heavily across the sky and a constant sputter of rain. Yet a +little after daybreak Monmouth's bugles were blowing in every quarter of +the town, from Tone Bridge to Shuttern, and by the hour appointed the +regiments had mustered, the roll had been called, and the vanguard was +marching briskly out through the eastern gate. It went forth in the +same order as it entered, our own regiment and the Taunton burghers +bringing up the rear. Mayor Timewell and Saxon had the ordering of this +part of the army between them, and being men who had seen much service, +they drew the ordnance into a less hazardous position, and placed a +strong guard of horse, a cannon's shot in the rear, to meet any attempt +of the Royal dragoons. + +It was remarked on all sides that the army had improved in order and +discipline during the three days' halt, owing perchance to the example +of our own unceasing drill and soldierly bearing. In numbers it had +increased to nigh eight thousand, and the men were well fed and light of +heart. With sturdy close-locked ranks they splashed their way through +mud and puddle, with many a rough country joke and many a lusty stave +from song or hymn. Sir Gervas rode at the head of his musqueteers, +whose befloured tails hung limp and lank with the water dripping from +them. Lockarby's pikemen and my own company of scythesmen were mostly +labourers from the country, who were hardened against all weathers, and +plodded patiently along with the rain-drops glistening upon their ruddy +faces. In front were the Taunton foot; behind, the lumbering train of +baggage waggons, with the horse in the rear of them. So the long line +wound its way over the hills. + +At the summit, where the road begins to dip down upon the other side, a +halt was called to enable the regiments to close up, and we looked back +at the fair town which many of us were never to see again. From the +dark walls and house roofs we could still mark the flapping and flutter +of white kerchiefs from those whom we left behind. Reuben sat his +horse beside me, with his spare shirt streaming in the wind and his +great pikemen all agrin behind him, though his thoughts and his eyes +were too far away to note them. As we gazed, a long thin quiver of +sunshine slipped out between two cloud banks and gilded the summit of +the Magdalene tower, with the Royal standard which still waved from it. +The incident was hailed as a happy augury, and a great shout spread from +rank to rank at the sight of it, with a waving of hats and a clattering +of weapons. Then the bugles blew a fanfare, the drums struck up a point +of war, Reuben thrust his shirt into his haversack, and on we marched +through mud and slush, with the dreary clouds bending low over us, and +buttressed by the no less dreary hills on either side. A seeker for +omens might have said that the heavens were weeping over our ill-fated +venture. + +All day we trudged along roads which were quagmires, over our ankles in +mud, until in the evening we made our way to Bridgewater, where we +gained some recruits, and also some hundred pounds for our military +chest, for it was a well-to-do place, with a thriving coast trade +carried on down the River Parret. After a night in snug quarters we set +off again in even worse weather than before. The country in these parts +is a quagmire in the driest season, but the heavy rains had caused the +fens to overflow, and turned them into broad lakes on either side of the +road. This may have been to some degree in our favour, as shielding us +from the raids of the King's cavalry, but it made our march very slow. +All day it was splashing and swashing through mud and mire, the +rain-drops shining on the gun-barrels and dripping from the heavy-footed +horses. Past the swollen Parret, through Eastover, by the peaceful +village of Bawdrip, and over Polden Hill we made our way, until the +bugles sounded a halt under the groves of Ashcot, and a rude meal was +served out to the men. Then on again, through the pitiless rain, past +the wooded park of Piper's Inn, through Walton, where the floods were +threatening the cottages, past the orchards of Street, and so in the +dusk of the evening into the grey old town of Glastonbury, where the +good folk did their best by the warmth of their welcome to atone for the +bitterness of the weather. + +The next morning was wet still and inclement, so the army made a short +march to Wells, which is a good-sized town, well laid out, with a fine +cathedral, which hath a great number of figures carved in stone and +placed in niches on the outer side, like that which we saw at Salisbury. +The townsfolk were strong for the Protestant cause, and the army was so +well received that their victual cost little from the military chest. +On this march we first began to come into touch with the Royal horse. +More than once when the rain mist cleared we saw the gleam of arms upon +the low hills which overlook the road, and our scouts came in with +reports of strong bodies of dragoons on either flank. At one time they +massed heavily upon our rear, as though planning a descent upon the +baggage. Saxon, however, planted a regiment of pikes on either side, so +that they broke up again and glinted off over the hills. + +From Wells we marched upon the twenty-fourth to Shepton Mallet, with the +ominous sabres and helmets still twinkling behind and on either side of +us. + +That evening we were at Keynsham Bridge, less than two leagues from +Bristol as the crow flies, and some of our horse forded the river and +pushed on almost to the walls. + +By morning the rain clouds had at last cleared, so Reuben and I rode +slowly up one of the sloping green hills which rose behind the camp, in +the hope of gaining some sight of the enemy. Our men we left littered +about upon the grass, trying to light fires with the damp sticks, or +laying out their clothes to dry in the sunshine. A strange-looking band +they were, coated and splashed with mud from head to heel, their hats +all limp and draggled, their arms rusted, and their boots so worn that +many walked barefoot, and others had swathed their kerchiefs round their +feet. Yet their short spell of soldiering had changed them from +honest-faced yokels into fierce-eyed, half-shaven, gaunt-cheeked +fellows, who could carry arms or port pikes as though they had done +nought else since childhood. + +The plight of the officers was no better than that of the men, nor +should an officer, my dears, when he is upon service, ever demean +himself by partaking of any comfort which all cannot share with him. +Let him lie by a soldier's fire and eat a soldier's fare, or let him +hence, for he is a hindrance and a stumbling-block. Our clothes were +pulp, our steel fronts red with rust, and our chargers as stained and +splashed as though they had rolled in the mire. Our very swords and +pistols were in such a plight that we could scarce draw the one or snap +the other. Sir Gervas alone succeeded in keeping his attire and his +person as neat and as dainty as ever. What he did in the watches of the +night, and how he gained his sleep, hath ever been a mystery to me, for +day after day he turned out at the bugle call, washed, scented, brushed, +with wig in order, and clothes from which every speck of mud had been +carefully removed. At his saddle-bow he bore with him the great flour +dredger which we saw him use at Taunton, and his honest musqueteers had +their heads duly dusted every morning, though in an hour their tails +would be as brown as nature made them, while the flour would be +trickling in little milky streams down their broad backs, or forming in +cakes upon the skirts of their coats. It was a long contest between +the weather and the Baronet, but our comrade proved the victor. + +'There was a time when I was called plump Reuben,' quoth my friend, as +we rode together up the winding track. 'What with too little that is +solid and too much that is liquid I am like to be skeleton Reuben ere I +see Havant again. I am as full of rain-water as my father's casks are +of October. I would, Micah, that you would wring me out and hang me to +dry upon one of these bushes.' + +'If we are wet, King James's men must be wetter,' said I, 'for at least +we have had such shelter as there was.' + +'It is poor comfort when you are starved to know that another is in the +same plight. I give you my word, Micah, I took in one hole of my +sword-belt on Monday, two on Tuesday, one yesterday, and one to-day. +I tell you, I am thawing like an icicle in the sun.' + +'If you should chance to dwindle to nought,' said I, laughing, 'what +account are we to give of you in Taunton? Since you have donned armour +and taken to winning the hearts of fair maidens, you have outstripped us +all in importance, and become a man of weight and substance.' + +'I had more substance and weight ere I began trailing over the +countryside like a Hambledon packman,' quoth he. 'But in very truth and +with all gravity, Micah, it is a strange thing to feel that the whole +world for you, your hopes, your ambitions, your all, are gathered into +so small a compass that a hood might cover it, and two little pattens +support it. I feel as if she were my own higher self, my loftier part, +and that I, should I be torn from her, would remain for ever an +incomplete and half-formed being. With her, I ask nothing else. +Without her, all else is nothing.' + +'But have you spoken to the old man?' I asked. 'Are you indeed +betrothed?' + +'I have spoken to him,' my friend answered, 'but he was so busy in +filling ammunition cases that I could not gain his attention. When I +tried once more he was counting the spare pikes in the Castle armoury +with a tally and an ink-horn. I told him that I had come to crave his +granddaughter's hand, on which he turned to me and asked, "which hand?" +with so blank a stare that it was clear that his mind was elsewhere. +On the third trial, though, the day that you did come back from +Badminton, I did at last prefer my request, but he flashed out at me +that this was no time for such fooleries, and he bade me wait until King +Monmouth was on the throne, when I might ask him again. I warrant that +he did not call such things fooleries fifty years ago, when he went +a-courting himself.' + +'At least he did not refuse you,' said I. 'It is as good as a promise +that; should the cause be successful, you shall be so too.' + +'By my faith,' cried Reuben, 'if a man could by his own single blade +bring that about, there is none who hath so strong an interest in it as +I. No, not Monmouth himself! The apprentice Derrick hath for a long +time raised his eyes to his master's daughter, and the old man was ready +to have him as a son, so much was he taken by his godliness and zeal. +Yet I have learned from a side-wind that he is but a debauched and +low-living man, though he covers his pleasures with a mask of piety. +I thought as you did think that he was at the head of the roisterers who +tried to bear Mistress Ruth away, though, i' faith, I can scarce think +harshly of them, since they did me the greatest service that ever men +did yet. Meanwhile I have taken occasion, ere we left Wells two nights +ago, to speak to Master Derrick on the matter, and to warn him as he +loved his life to plan no treachery against her. + +'And how took he this mild intimation?' I asked. + +'As a rat takes a rat trap. Snarled out some few words of godly hatred, +and so slunk away.' + +'On my life, lad,' said I, 'you have been having as many adventures in +your own way as I in mine. But here we are upon the hill-top, with as +fair an outlook as man could wish to have.' + +Just beneath us ran the Avon, curving in long bends through the +woodlands, with the gleam of the sun striking back from it here and +there, as though a row of baby suns had been set upon a silver string. +On the further side the peaceful, many-hued country, rising and falling +in a swell of cornfields and orchards, swept away to break in a fringe +of forest upon the distant Malverns. On our right were the green hills +near Bath and on our left the rugged Mendips, with queenly Bristol +crouching behind her forts, and the grey channel behind flecked with +snow-white sails. At our very feet lay Keynsham Bridge, and our army +spotted in dark patches over the green fields, the smoke of their fires +and the babble of their voices floating up in the still summer air. + +A road ran along the Somersetshire bank of the Avon, and down this two +troops of our horse were advancing, with intent to establish outposts +upon our eastern flank. As they jangled past in somewhat loose order, +their course lay through a pine-wood, into which the road takes a sharp +bend. We were gazing down at the scene when, like lightning from a +cloud, a troop of the Horse Guards wheeled out into the open, and +breaking from trot to canter, and from canter to gallop, dashed down in +a whirlwind of blue and steel upon our unprepared squadrons. A crackle +of hastily unslung carbines broke from the leading ranks, but in an +instant the Guards burst through them and plunged on into the second +troop. For a space the gallant rustics held their own, and the dense +mass of men and horses swayed backwards and forwards, with the swirling +sword-blades playing above them in flashes of angry light. Then blue +coats began to break from among the russet, the fight rolled wildly +back for a hundred paces, the dense throng was split asunder, and the +Royal Guards came pouring through the rent, and swerved off to right and +left through hedges and over ditches, stabbing and hacking at the +fleeing horsemen. The whole scene, with the stamping horses, tossing +manes, shouts of triumph or despair, gasping of hard-drawn breath and +musical clink and clatter of steel, was to us upon the hill like some +wild vision, so swiftly did it come and so swiftly go. A sharp, stern +bugle-call summoned the Blues back into the road, where they formed up +and trotted slowly away before fresh squadrons could come up from the +camp. The sun gleamed and the river rippled as ever, and there was +nothing save the long litter of men and horses to mark the course of the +hell blast which had broken so suddenly upon us. + +As the Blues retired we observed that a single officer brought up the +rear, riding very slowly, as though it went much against his mood to +turn his back even to an army. The space betwixt the troop and him was +steadily growing greater, yet he made no effort to quicken his pace, but +jogged quietly on, looking back from time to time to see if he were +followed. The same thought sprang into my comrade's mind and my own at +the same instant, and we read it in each other's faces. + +'This path,' cried he eagerly. 'It brings us out beyond the grove, and +is in the hollow all the way.' + +'Lead the horses until we get on better ground,' I answered. 'We may +just cut him off if we are lucky.' + +There was no time for another word, for we hurried off down the uneven +track, sliding and slipping on the rain-soaked turf. Springing into our +saddles we dashed down the gorge, through the grove, and so out on to +the road in time to see the troop disappear in the distance, and to meet +the solitary officer face to face. + +He was a sun-burned, high-featured man, with black mustachios, mounted +on a great raw-boned chestnut charger. As we broke out on to the road +he pulled up to have a good look at us. Then, having fully made up his +mind as to our hostile intent, he drew his sword, plucked a pistol out +of his holster with his left hand, and gripping the bridle between his +teeth, dug his spurs into his horse's flanks and charged down upon us +at the top of his speed. As we dashed at him, Reuben on his bridle arm +and I on the other, he cut fiercely at me, and at the same moment fired +at my companion. The ball grazed Reuben's cheek, leaving a red weal +behind it like a lash from a whip, and blackening his face with the +powder. His cut, however, fell short, and throwing my arm round his +waist as the two horses dashed past each other, I plucked him from the +saddle and drew him face upwards across my saddlebow. Brave Covenant +lumbered on with his double burden, and before the Guards had learned +that they had lost their officer, we had brought him safe, in spite of +his struggles and writhings, to within sight of Monmouth's camp. + +'A narrow shave, friend,' quoth Reuben, with his hand to his cheek. +'He hath tattooed my face with powder until I shall be taken for Solomon +Sprent's younger brother.' + +'Thank God that you are unhurt,' said I. 'See, our horse are advancing +along the upper road. Lord Grey himself rides at their head. We had +best take our prisoner into camp, since we can do nought here.' + +'For Christ's sake, either slay me or set me down!' he cried. +'I cannot bear to be carried in this plight, like a half-weaned infant, +through your campful of grinning yokels.' + +'I would not make sport of a brave man,' I answered. 'If you will give +your word to stay with us, you shall walk between us.' + +'Willingly,' said he, scrambling down and arranging his ruffled attire. +'By my faith, sirs, ye have taught me a lesson not to think too meanly +of mine enemies. I should have ridden with my troop had I thought that +there was a chance of falling in with outposts or videttes.' + +'We were upon the hill before we cut you off,' quoth Reuben. 'Had that +pistol ball been a thought straighter, it is I that should have been +truly the cut-off one. Zounds, Micah! I was grumbling even now that I +had fallen away, but had my cheek been as round as of old the slug had +been through it.' + +'Where have I seen you before?' asked our captive, bending his dark eyes +upon me. 'Aye, I have it! It was in the inn at Salisbury, where my +light-headed comrade Horsford did draw upon an old soldier who was +riding with you. Mine own name is Ogilvy--Major Ogilvy of the Horse +Guards Blue. I was right glad that ye did come off safely from the +hounds. Some word had come of your errand after your departure, so this +same Horsford with the Mayor and one or two other Tantivies, whose zeal +methinks outran their humanity, slipped the dogs upon your trail.' + +'I remember you well,' I answered. 'You will find Colonel Decimus +Saxon, my former companion, in the camp. No doubt you will be shortly +exchanged for some prisoner of ours.' + +'Much more likely to have my throat cut,' said he, with a smile. +'I fear that Feversham in his present temper will scarce pause to make +prisoners, and Monmouth may be tempted to pay him back in his own coin. +Yet it is the fortune of war, and I should pay for my want of all +soldierly caution. Truth to tell, my mind was far from battles and +ruses at the moment, for it had wandered away to aqua-regia and its +action upon the metals, until your appearance brought me back to +soldiership.' + +'The horse are out of sight,' said Reuben, looking backwards, 'ours as +well as theirs. Yet I see a clump of men over yonder at the other side +of the Avon, and there on the hillside can you not see the gleam of +steel?' + +'There are foot there,' I answered, puckering my eyes. 'It seems to me +that I can discern four or five regiments and as many colours of horse. +King Monmouth should know of this with all speed.' + +'He does know of it,' said Reuben. 'Yonder he stands under the trees +with his council about him. See, one of them rides this way!' + +A trooper had indeed detached himself from the group and galloped +towards us. 'If you are Captain Clarke, sir,' he said, with a salute, +'the King orders you to join his council.' + +'Then I leave the Major in your keeping, Reuben,' I cried. 'See that he +hath what our means allow.' So saying I spurred my horse, and soon +joined the group who were gathered round the King. There were Grey, +Wade, Buyse, Ferguson, Saxon, Hollis, and a score more, all looking very +grave, and peering down the valley with their glasses. Monmouth himself +had dismounted, and was leaning against the trunk of a tree, with his +arms folded upon his breast, and a look of white despair upon his face. +Behind the tree a lackey paced up and down leading his glossy black +charger, who pranced and tossed his lordly mane, a very king among +horses. + +'You see, friends,' said Monmouth, turning lack-lustre eyes from one +leader to another, 'Providence would seem to be against us. Some new +mishap is ever at our heels.' + +'Not Providence, your Majesty, but our own negligence,' cried Saxon +boldly. 'Had we advanced on Bristol last night, we might have been on +the right side of the ramparts by now.' + +'But we had no thought that the enemy's foot was so near!' exclaimed +Wade. + +'I told ye what would come of it, and so did Oberst Buyse and the worthy +Mayor of Taunton,' Saxon answered. 'However, there is nought to be +gained by mourning over a broken pipkin. We must e'en piece it together +as best we may.' + +'Let us advance on Bristol, and put oor trust in the Highest,' quoth +Ferguson. 'If it be His mighty will that we should tak' it, then shall +we enter into it, yea, though drakes and sakers lay as thick as +cobblestanes in the streets.' + +'Aye! aye! On to Bristol! God with us!' cried several of the Puritans +excitedly. + +'But it is madness--dummheit--utter foolishness,' Buyse broke in hotly. +'You have the chance and you will not take it. Now the chance is gone +and you are all eager to go. Here is an army of, as near as I can +judge, five thousand men on the right side of the river. We are on the +wrong side, and yet you talk of crossing and making a beleaguering of +Bristol without breaching-pieces or spades, and with this force in our +rear. Will the town make terms when they can see from their ramparts +the van of the army which comes to help them? Or does it assist us in +fighting the army to have a strong town beside us, from which horse and +foot can make an outfall upon our flank? I say again that it is +madness.' + +What the German soldier said was so clearly the truth that even the +fanatics were silenced. Away in the east the long shimmering lines of +steel, and the patches of scarlet upon the green hillside, were +arguments which the most thoughtless could not overlook. + +'What would you advise, then?' asked Monmouth moodily, tapping his +jewelled riding-whip against his high boots. + +'To cross the river and come to hand-grips with them ere they can get +help from the town,' the burly German answered bluntly. 'I cannot +understand what we are here for if it be not to fight. If we win, the +town must fall. If we lose, We have had a bold stroke for it, and can +do no more.' + +'Is that your opinion, too, Colonel Saxon?' the King asked. + +'Assuredly, your Majesty, if we can fight to advantage. We can scarce +do that, however, by crossing the river on a single narrow bridge in the +face of such a force. I should advise that we destroy this Keynsham +Bridge, and march down this southern bank in the hope of forcing a fight +in a position which we may choose.' + +'We have not yet summoned Bath,' said Wade. 'Let us do as Colonel Saxon +proposes, and let us in the meantime march in that direction and send a +trumpet to the governor.' + +'There is yet another plan,' quoth Sir Stephen Timewell, 'which is to +hasten to Gloucester, to cross the Severn there, and so march through +Worcestershire into Shropshire and Cheshire. Your Majesty has many +friends in those parts.' + +Monmouth paced up and down with his hand to his forehead like one +distrait. 'What am I to do,' he cried at last, 'in the midst of all +this conflicting advice, when I know that not only my own success, but +the lives of these poor faithful peasants and craftsmen depend upon my +resolution?' + +'With all humbleness, your Majesty,' said Lord Grey, who had just +returned with the horse, 'I should suggest, since there are only a few +troops of their cavalry on this side of the Avon, that we blow up the +bridge and move onwards to Bath, whence we can pass into Wiltshire, +which we know to be friendly.' + +'So be it!' cried the King, with the reckless air of one who accepts a +plan, not because it is the best, but because he feels that all are +equally hopeless. 'What think you, gentlemen?' he added, with a bitter +smile. 'I have heard news from London this morning, that my uncle has +clapped two hundred merchants and others who are suspected of being true +to their creed into the Tower and the Fleet. He will have one half of +the nation mounting guard over the other half ere long.' + +'Or the whole, your Majesty, mounting guard over him,' suggested Wade. +'He may himself see the Traitor's Gate some of these mornings.' + +'Ha, ha! Think ye so? think ye so!' cried Monmouth, rubbing his hands +and brightening into a smile. 'Well, mayhap you have nicked the truth. +Who knows? Henry's cause seemed a losing one until Bosworth Field +settled the contention. To your charges, gentlemen. We shall march +in half-an-hour. Colonel Saxon and you, Sir Stephen, shall cover the +rear and guard the baggage--a service of honour with this fringe of +horse upon our skirts.' + +The council broke up forthwith, every man riding off to his own +regiment. The whole camp was in a stir, bugles blowing and drums +rattling, until in a very short time the army was drawn up in order, and +the forlorn of cavalry had already started along the road which leads to +Bath. Five hundred horse with the Devonshire militiamen were in the +van. After them in order came the sailor regiment, the North Somerset +men, the first Taunton regiment of burghers, the Mendip and Bagworthy +miners, the lace and wool-workers of Honiton, Wellington, and Ottery St. +Mary; the woodmen, the graziers, the marsh-men, and the men from the +Quantock district. Behind were the guns and the baggage, with our own +brigade and four colours of horse as a rearguard. On our march we could +see the red coats of Feversham keeping pace with us upon the other side +of the Avon. A large body of his horse and dragoons had forded the +stream and hovered upon our skirts, but Saxon and Sir Stephen covered +the baggage so skilfully, and faced round so fiercely with such a snarl +of musketry whenever they came too nigh, that they never ventured to +charge home. + + + +Chapter XXVIII. + + +Of the Fight in Wells Cathedral + +I am fairly tied to the chariot-wheels of history now, my dear children, +and must follow on with name and place and date, whether my tale suffer +by it or no. With such a drama as this afoot it were impertinent to +speak of myself, save in so far as I saw or heard what may make these +old scenes more vivid to you. It is no pleasant matter for me to dwell +upon, yet, convinced as I am that there is no such thing as chance +either in the great or the little things of this world, I am very sure +that the sacrifices of these brave men were not thrown away, and that +their strivings were not as profitless as might at first sight appear. +If the perfidious race of Stuart is not now seated upon the throne, and +if religion in England is still a thing of free growth, we may, to my +thinking, thank these Somerset yokels for it, who first showed how small +a thing would shake the throne of an unpopular monarch. Monmouth's army +was but the vanguard of that which marched throe years later into +London, when James and his cruel ministers were flying as outcasts over +the face of the earth. + +On the night of June 27, or rather early in the morning of June 28, we +reached the town of Frome, very wet and miserable, for the rain had come +on again, and all the roads were quagmires. From this next day we +pushed on once more to Wells, where we spent the night and the whole of +the next day, to give the men time to get their clothes dry, and to +recover themselves after their privations. + +In the forenoon a parade of our Wiltshire regiment was held in the +Cathedral Close, when Monmouth praised it, as it well deserved, for the +soldierly progress made in so short a time. + +As we returned to our quarters after dismissing our men we came upon a +great throng of the rough Bagworthy and Oare miners, who were assembled +in the open space in front of the Cathedral, listening to one of their +own number, who was addressing them from a cart. The wild and frenzied +gestures of the man showed us that he was one of those extreme sectaries +whose religion runs perilously near to madness. The hums and groans +which rose from the crowd proved, however, that his fiery words were +well suited to his hearers, so we halted on the verge of the multitude +and hearkened to his address. A red-bearded, fierce-faced man he was, +with tangled shaggy hair tumbling over his gleaming eyes, and a hoarse +voice which resounded over the whole square. + +'What shall we not do for the Lord?' he cried; 'what shall we not do +for the Holy of Holies? Why is it that His hand is heavy upon us? +Why is it that we have not freed this land, even as Judith freed +Bethulia? Behold, we have looked for peace but no good came, and for a +time of health, and behold trouble! Why is this, I say? Truly, +brothers, it is because we have slighted the Lord, because we have not +been wholehearted towards Him. Lo! we have praised Him with our breath, +but in our deeds we have been cold towards Him. Ye know well that +Prelacy is an accursed thing--a hissing and an abomination in the eyes +of the Almighty! Yet what have we, His servants, wrought for Him in +this matter? Have we not seen Prelatist churches, churches of form and +of show, where the creature is confounded with the Creator--have we not +seen them, I say, and have we not forborne to sweep them away, and so +lent our sanction to them? There is the sin of a lukewarm and +back-sliding generation! There is the cause why the Lord should look +coldly upon His people! Lo! at Shepton and at Frome we have left such +churches behind us. At Glastonbury, too, we have spared those wicked +walls which were reared by idolatrous hands of old. Woe unto ye, if, +after having put your hands to God's plough, ye turn back from the work! +See there!' he howled, facing round to the beautiful Cathedral, +'what means this great heap of stones? Is it not an altar of Baal? +Is it not built for man-worship rather than God-worship? Is it not +there that the man Ken, tricked out in his foolish rochet and baubles, +may preach his soulless and lying doctrines, which are but the old dish +of Popery served up under a new cover? And shall we suffer this thing? +Shall we, the chosen children of the Great One, allow this plague-spot +to remain? Can we expect the Almighty to help us when we will not +stretch out a hand to help Him? We have left the other temples of +Prelacy behind us. Shall we leave this one, too, my brothers ?' + +'No, no!' yelled the crowd, tossing and swaying. + +'Shall we pluck it down, then, until no one stone is left upon another?' + +'Yes, yes!' they shouted. + +'Now, at once?' + +'Yes, yes!' + +'Then to work!' he cried, and springing from the cart he rushed towards +the Cathedral, with the whole mob of wild fanatics at his heels. +Some crowded in, shouting and yelling, through the open doors, while +others swarmed up the pillars and pedestals of the front, hacking at the +sculptured ornaments, and tugging at the grey old images which filled +every niche. + +'This must be stopped,' said Saxon curtly. 'We cannot afford to insult +and estray the whole Church of England to please a few hot-headed +ranters. The pillage of this Cathedral would do our cause more harm +than a pitched battle lost. Do you bring up your company, Sir Gervas, +and we shall do what we can to hold them in check until they come.' + +'Hi, Masterton!' cried the Baronet, spying one of his under-officers +among the crowd who were looking on, neither assisting nor opposing the +rioters. 'Do you hasten to the quarters, and tell Barker to bring up +the company with their matches burning. I may be of use here.' + +'Ha, here is Buyse!' cried Saxon joyously, as the huge German ploughed +his way through the crowd. 'And Lord Grey, too! We must save the +Cathedral, my lord! They would sack and burn it.' + +'This way, gentlemen,' cried an old grey-haired man, running out towards +us with hands outspread, and a bunch of keys clanking at his girdle. +'Oh hasten, gentlemen, if ye can indeed prevail over these lawless men! +They have pulled down Saint Peter, and they will have Paul down too +unless help comes. There will not be an apostle left. The east window +is broken. They have brought a hogshead of beer, and are broaching it +upon the high altar. Oh, alas, alas! That such things should be in a +Christian land!' He sobbed aloud and stamped about in a very frenzy of +grief. + +'It is the verger, sirs,' said one of the townsfolk. 'He hath grown +grey in the Cathedral.' + +'This way to the vestry door, my lords and gentlemen,' cried the old +man, pushing a way strenuously through the crowd. 'Now, lack-a-day, the +sainted Paul hath gone too!' + +As he spoke a splintering crash from inside the Cathedral announced some +fresh outrage on the part of the zealots. Our guide hastened on with +renewed speed, until he came to a low oaken door heavily arched, which +he unlocked with much rasping of wards and creaking of hinges. Through +this we sidled as best we might, and hurried after the old man down a +stone-flagged corridor, which led through a wicket into the Cathedral +close by the high altar. + +The great building was full of the rioters, who were rushing hither and +thither, destroying and breaking everything which they could lay their +hands on. A good number of these were genuine zealots, the followers of +the preacher whom we had listened to outside. Others, however, were on +the face of them mere rogues and thieves, such as gather round every +army upon the march. While the former were tearing down images from the +walls, or hurling the books of common prayer through the stained-glass +windows, the others were rooting up the massive brass candlesticks, and +carrying away everything which promised to be of value. One ragged +fellow was in the pulpit, tearing off the crimson velvet and hurling it +down among the crowd. Another had upset the reading-desk, and was +busily engaged in wrenching off the brazen fastenings. In the centre of +the side aisle a small group had a rope round the neck of Mark the +Evangelist, and were dragging lustily upon it, until, even as we +entered, the statue, after tottering for a few moments, came crashing +down upon the marble floor. The shouts which greeted every fresh +outrage, with the splintering of woodwork, the smashing of windows, and +the clatter of falling masonry, made up a most deafening uproar, which +was increased by the droning of the organ, until some of the rioters +silenced it by slitting up the bellows. + +What more immediately concerned ourselves was the scene which was being +enacted just in front of us at the high altar. A barrel of beer had +been placed upon it, and a dozen ruffians gathered round it, one of whom +with many ribald jests had climbed up, and was engaged in knocking in +the top of the cask with a hatchet. As we entered he had just succeeded +in broaching it, and the brown mead was foaming over, while the mob +with roars of laughter were passing up their dippers and pannikins. +The German soldier rapped out a rough jagged oath at this spectacle, and +shouldering his way through the roisterers he sprang upon the altar. +The ringleader was bending over his cask, black-jack in hand, when the +soldier's iron grip fell upon his collar, and in a moment his heels were +flapping in the air, and his head three feet deep in the cask, while the +beer splashed and foamed in every direction. With a mighty heave Buyse +picked up the barrel with the half-drowned miner inside, and hurled it +clattering down the broad marble steps which led from the body of the +church. At the same time, with the aid of a dozen of our men who had +followed us into the Cathedral, we drove back the fellow's comrades, and +thrust them out beyond the rails which divided the choir from the nave. + +Our inroad had the effect of checking the riot, but it simply did so by +turning the fury of the zealots from the walls and windows to ourselves. +Images, stone-work, and wood-carvings were all abandoned, and the whole +swarm came rushing up with a hoarse buzz of rage, all discipline and +order completely lost in their religious frenzy. 'Smite the +Prelatists!' they howled. 'Down with the friends of Antichrist! +Cut them off even at the horns of the altar! Down with them!' +On either side they massed, a wild, half-demented crowd, some with arms +and some without, but filled to a man with the very spirit of murder. + +'This is a civil war within a civil war,' said Lord Grey, with a quiet +smile. 'We had best draw, gentlemen, and defend the gap in the rails, +if we may hold it good until help arrives.' He flashed out his rapier +as he spoke, and took his stand on the top of the steps, with Saxon and +Sir Gervas upon one side of him, Buyse, Reuben, and myself upon the +other. There was only room for six to wield their weapons with effect, +so our scanty band of followers scattered themselves along the line of +the rails, which were luckily so high and strong as to make an escalado +difficult in the face of any opposition. + +The riot had now changed into open mutiny among these marshmen and +miners. Pikes, scythes, and knives glimmered through the dim light, +while their wild cries re-echoed from the high arched roof like the +howling of a pack of wolves. 'Go forward, my brothers,' cried the +fanatic preacher, who had been the cause of the outbreak--'go forward +against them! What though they be in high places! There is One who is +higher than they. Shall we shrink from His work because of a naked +sword? Shall we suffer the Prelatist altar to be preserved by these +sons of Amalek? On, on! In the name of the Lord!' + +'In the name of the Lord!' cried the crowd, with a sort of hissing gasp, +like one who is about to plunge into an icy bath. 'In the name of the +Lord!' From either side they came on, gathering speed and volume, until +at last with a wild cry they surged right down upon our sword-points. + +I can say nothing of what took place to right or left of me during the +ruffle, for indeed there were so many pressing upon us, and the fight +was so hot, that it was all that each of us could do to hold our own. +The very number of our assailants was in our favour, by hampering their +sword-arms. One burly miner cut fiercely at me with his scythe, but +missing me he swung half round with the force of the blow, and I passed +my sword through his body before he could recover himself. It was the +first time that I had ever slain a man in anger, my dear children, and I +shall never forget his white startled face as he looked over his +shoulder at me ere he fell. Another closed in with me before I could +get my weapon disengaged, but I struck him out with my left hand, and +then brought the flat of my sword upon his head, laying him senseless +upon the pavement. God knows, I did not wish to take the lives of +the misguided and ignorant zealots, but our own were at stake. +A marshman, looking more like a shaggy wild beast than a human being, +darted under my weapon and caught me round the knees, while another +brought a flail down upon my head-piece, from which it glanced on to my +shoulder. A third thrust at me with a pike, and pricked me on the +thigh, but I shore his weapon in two with one blow, and split his head +with the next. The man with the flail gave back at sight of this, and a +kick freed me from the unarmed ape-like creature at my feet, so that I +found myself clear of my assailants, and none the worse for my +encounter, save for a touch on the leg and some stiffness of the neck +and shoulder. + +Looking round I found that my comrades had also beaten off those who +were opposed to them. Saxon was holding his bloody rapier in his left +hand, while the blood was trickling from a slight wound upon his right. +Two miners lay across each other in front of him, but at the feet of Sir +Gervas Jerome no fewer than four bodies were piled together. He had +plucked out his snuff-box as I glanced at him, and was offering it with +a bow and a flourish to Lord Grey, as unconcernedly as though he were +back once more in his London coffee-house. Buyse leaned upon his long +broadsword, and looked gloomily at a headless trunk in front of him, +which I recognised from the dress as being that of the preacher. As to +Reuben, he was unhurt himself, but in sore distress over my own trifling +scar, though I assured the faithful lad that it was a less thing than +many a tear from branch or thorn which we had had when blackberrying +together. + +The fanatics, though driven back, were not men to be content with a +single repulse. They had lost ten of their number, including their +leader, without being able to break our line, but the failure only +served to increase their fury. For a minute or so they gathered panting +in the aisle. Then with a mad yell they dashed in once more, and made a +desperate effort to cut a way through to the altar. It was a fiercer +and more prolonged struggle than before. One of our followers was +stabbed to the heart over the rails, and fell without a groan. Another +was stunned by a mass of masonry hurled at him by a giant cragsman. +Reuben was felled by a club, and would have been dragged out and hacked +to pieces had I not stood over him and beaten off his assailants. +Sir Gervas was borne off his legs by the rush, but lay like a wounded +wildcat, striking out furiously at everything which came within his +reach. Buyse and Saxon, back to back, stood firm amidst the seething, +rushing crowd, cutting down every man within sweep of their swords. +Yet in such a struggle numbers must in the end prevail, and I confess +that I for one had begun to have fears for the upshot of our contest, +when the heavy tramp of disciplined feet rang through the Cathedral, and +the Baronet's musqueteers came at a quick run up the central aisle. +The fanatics did not await their charge, but darted off over benches and +pews, followed by our allies, who were furious on seeing their beloved +Captain upon the ground. There was a wild minute or two, with confused +shuffling of feet, stabs, groans, and the clatter of musket butts on the +marble floor. Of the rioters some were slain, but the greater part +threw down their arms and were arrested at the command of Lord Grey, +while a strong guard was placed at the gates to prevent any fresh +outburst of sectarian fury. + +When at last the Cathedral was cleared and order restored, we had time +to look around us and to reckon our own injuries. In all my wanderings, +and the many wars in which I afterwards fought--wars compared to which +this affair of Monmouth's was but the merest skirmish--I have never seen +a stranger or more impressive scene. In the dim, solemn light the pile +of bodies in front of the rails, with their twisted limbs and white-set +faces, had a most sad and ghost-like aspect. The evening light, shining +through one of the few unbroken stained-glass windows, cast great +splotches of vivid crimson and of sickly green upon the heap of +motionless figures. A few wounded men sat about in the front pews or +lay upon the steps moaning for water. Of our own small company not one +had escaped unscathed. Three of our followers had been slain outright, +while a fourth was lying stunned from a blow. Buyse and Sir Gervas were +much bruised. Saxon was cut on the right arm. Reuben had been felled +by a bludgeon stroke, and would certainly have been slain but for the +fine temper of Sir Jacob Clancing's breastplate, which had turned a +fierce pike-thrust. As to myself it is scarce worth the mention, but my +head sang for some hours like a good wife's kettle, and my boot was full +of blood, which may have been a blessing in disguise, for Sneckson, our +Havant barber, was ever dinning into my ears how much the better I +should be for a phlebotomy. + +In the meantime all the troops had assembled and the mutiny been swiftly +stamped out. There were doubtless many among the Puritans who had no +love for the Prelatists, but none save the most crack-brained fanatics +could fail to see that the sacking of the Cathedral would set the whole +Church of England in arms, and ruin the cause for which they were +fighting. As it was, much damage had been done; for whilst the gang +within had been smashing all which they could lay their hands upon, +others outside had chipped off cornices and gargoyles, and had even +dragged the lead covering from the roof and hurled it down in great +sheets to their companions beneath. This last led to some profit, for +the army had no great store of ammunition, so the lead was gathered up +by Monmouth's orders and recast into bullets. The prisoners were held +in custody for a time, but it was deemed unwise to punish them, so that +they were finally pardoned and dismissed from the army. + +A parade of our whole force was held in the fields outside the town upon +the second day of our stay at Wells, the weather having at last become +warm and sunny. The foot was then found to muster six regiments of nine +hundred men, or five thousand four hundred in all. Of these fifteen +hundred were musqueteers, two thousand were pikemen, and the rest were +scythesmen or peasants with flails and hammers. A few bodies, such as +our own or those from Taunton, might fairly lay claim to be soldiers, +but the most of them were still labourers and craftsmen with weapons in +their hands. Yet, ill-armed and ill-drilled as they were, they were +still strong robust Englishmen, full of native courage and of religious +zeal. The light and fickle Monmouth began to take heart once more at +the sight of their sturdy bearing, and at the sound of their hearty +cheers. I heard him as I sat my horse beside his staff speak exultantly +to those around him, and ask whether these fine fellows could possibly +be beaten by mercenary half-hearted hirelings. + +'What say you, Wade!' he cried. 'Are we never to see a smile on that +sad face of yours? Do you not see a woolsack in store for you as you +look upon these brave fellows?' + +'God forbid that I should say a word to damp your Majesty's ardour,' the +lawyer answered; 'yet I cannot but remember that there was a time when +your Majesty, at the head of these same hirelings, did drive men as +brave as these in headlong rout from Bothwell Bridge.' + +'True, true!' said the King, passing his hand over his forehead--a +favourite motion when he was worried and annoyed. 'They were bold men, +the western Covenanters, yet they could not stand against the rush of +our battalions. But they had had no training, whereas these can fight +in line and fire a platoon as well as one would wish to see.' + +'If we hadna a gun nor a patronal among us,' said Ferguson, 'if we hadna +sae muckle as a sword, but just oor ain honds, yet would the Lard gie us +the victory, if it seemed good in His a' seeing een.' + +'All battles are but chance work, your Majesty,' remarked Saxon, whose +sword-arm was bound round with his kerchief. 'Some lucky turn, some +slip or chance which none can foresee, is ever likely to turn the scale. +I have lost when I have looked to win, and I have won when I have looked +to lose. It is an uncertain game, and one never knows the finish till +the last card is played.' + +'Not till the stakes are drawn,' said Buyse, in his deep guttural voice. +'There is many a leader that wins what you call the trick, and yet loses +the game.' + +'The trick being the battle and the game the campaign,' quoth the King, +with a smile. 'Our German friend is a master of camp-fire metaphors. +But methinks our poor horses are in a sorry state. What would cousin +William over at The Hague, with his spruce guards, think of such a show +as this?' + +During this talk the long column of foot had tramped past, still bearing +the banners which they had brought with them to the wars, though much +the worse for wind and weather. Monmouth's remarks had been drawn forth +by the aspect of the ten troops of horse which followed. The chargers +had been sadly worn by the continued work and constant rain, while the +riders, having allowed their caps and fronts to get coated with rust, +appeared to be in as bad a plight as their steeds. It was clear to the +least experienced of us that if we were to hold our own it was upon our +foot that we must rely. On the tops of the low hills all round the +frequent shimmer of arms, glancing here and there when the sun's rays +struck upon them, showed how strong our enemies were in the very point +in which we were so weak. Yet in the main this Wells review was +cheering to us, as showing that the men kept in good heart, and that +there was no ill-feeling at the rough handling of the zealots upon +the day before. + +The enemy's horse hovered about us during these days, but the foot had +been delayed through the heavy weather and the swollen streams. On the +last day of June we marched out of Wells, and made our way across flat +sedgy plains and over the low Polden Hills to Bridgewater, where we +found some few recruits awaiting us. Here Monmouth had some thoughts of +making a stand, and even set to work raising earthworks, but it was +pointed out to him that, even could he hold the town, there was not more +than a few days' provisions within it, while the country round had been +already swept so bare that little more could be expected from it. +The works were therefore abandoned, and, fairly driven to bay, without a +loophole of escape left, we awaited the approach of the enemy. + + + +Chapter XXIX. + + +Of the Great Cry from the Lonely House + +And so our weary marching and counter-marching came at last to an end, +and we found ourselves with our backs fairly against the wall, and the +whole strength of the Government turned against us. Not a word came to +us of a rising or movement in our favour in any part of England. +Everywhere the Dissenters were cast into prison and the Church dominant. +From north and east and west the militia of the counties was on its +march against us. In London six regiments of Dutch troops had arrived +as a loan from the Prince of Orange. Others were said to be on their +way. The City had enrolled ten thousand men. Everywhere there was +mustering and marching to succour the flower of the English army, which +was already in Somersetshire. And all for the purpose of crushing some +five or six thousand clodhoppers and fishermen, half-armed and +penniless, who were ready to throw their lives away for a man and for an +idea. + +But this idea, my dear children, was a noble one, and one which a man +might very well sacrifice all for, and yet feel that all was well spent. +For though these poor peasants, in their dumb, blundering fashion, would +have found it hard to give all their reasons in words, yet in the inmost +heart of them they knew and felt that it was England's cause which they +were fighting for, and that they were upholding their country's true +self against those who would alter the old systems under which she had +led the nations. Three more years made all this very plain, and showed +that our simple unlettered followers had seen and judged the signs of +the times more correctly than those who called themselves their betters. +There are, to my thinking, stages of human progress for which the Church +of Rome is admirably suited. Where the mind of a nation is young, it +may be best that it should not concern itself with spiritual affairs, +but should lean upon the old staff of custom and authority. But England +had cast off her swaddling-clothes, and was a nursery of strong, +thinking men, who would bow to no authority save that which their reason +and conscience approved. It was hopeless, useless, foolish, to try to +drive such men back into a creed which they had outgrown. Such an +attempt was, however, being made, backed by all the weight of a bigoted +king with a powerful and wealthy Church as his ally. In three years the +nation would understand it, and the King would be flying from his angry +people; but at present, sunk in a torpor after the long civil wars and +the corrupt reign of Charles, they failed to see what was at stake, and +turned against those who would warn them, as a hasty man turns on the +messenger who is the bearer of evil tidings. Is it not strange, my +dears, how quickly a mere shadowy thought comes to take living form, and +grow into a very tragic reality? At one end of the chain is a king +brooding over a point of doctrine; at the other are six thousand +desperate men, chivied and chased from shire to shire, standing to bay +at last amid the bleak Bridgewater marshes, with their hearts as bitter +and as hopeless as those of hunted beasts of prey. A king's theology is +a dangerous thing for his subjects. + +But if the idea for which these poor men fought was a worthy one, what +shall we say of the man who had been chosen as the champion of their +cause? Alas, that such men should have had such a leader! Swinging +from the heights of confidence to the depths of despair, choosing his +future council of state one day and proposing to fly from the army on +the next, he appeared from the start to be possessed by the very spirit +of fickleness. Yet he had borne a fair name before this enterprise. +In Scotland he had won golden opinions, not only for his success, but +for the moderation and mercy with which he treated the vanquished. +On the Continent he had commanded an English brigade in a way that +earned praise from old soldiers of Louis and the Empire. Yet now, when +his own head and his own fortunes were at stake, he was feeble, +irresolute, and cowardly. In my father's phrase, 'all the virtue had +gone out of him.' I declare when I have seen him riding among his +troops, with his head bowed upon his breast and a face like a mute at a +burying, casting an air of gloom and of despair all round him, I have +felt that, even in case of success, such a man could never wear the +crown of the Tudors and the Plantagenets, but that some stronger hand, +were it that of one of his own generals, would wrest it from him. + +I will do Monmouth the justice to say that from the time when it was at +last decided to fight--for the very good reason that no other course was +open--he showed up in a more soldierly and manlier spirit. For the +first few days in July no means were neglected to hearten our troops and +to nerve them for the coming battle. From morning to night we were at +work, teaching our foot how to form up in dense groups to meet the +charge of horse, and how to depend upon each other, and look to their +officers for orders. At night the streets of the little town from the +Castle Field to the Parret Bridge resounded with the praying and the +preaching. There was no need for the officers to quell irregularities, +for the troops punished them amongst themselves. One man who came out +on the streets hot with wine was well-nigh hanged by his companions, who +finally cast him out of the town as being unworthy to fight in what they +looked upon as a sacred quarrel. As to their courage, there was no +occasion to quicken that, for they were as fearless as lions, and the +only danger was lest their fiery daring should lead them into +foolhardiness. Their desire was to hurl themselves upon the enemy like +a horde of Moslem fanatics, and it was no easy matter to drill such +hot-headed fellows into the steadiness and caution which war demands. + +Provisions ran low upon the third day of our stay in Bridgewater, which +was due to our having exhausted that part of the country before, and +also to the vigilance of the Royal Horse, who scoured the district round +and cut off our supplies. Lord Grey determined, therefore, to send out +two troops of horse under cover of night, to do what they could to +refill the larder. The command of the small expedition was given over +to Major Martin Hooker, an old Lifeguardsman of rough speech and curt +manners, who had done good service in drilling the headstrong farmers +and yeomen into some sort of order. Sir Gervas Jerome and I asked leave +from Lord Grey to join the foray--a favour which was readily granted, +since there was little stirring in the town. + +It was about eleven o'clock on a moonless night that we sallied out of +Bridgewater, intending to explore the country in the direction of +Boroughbridge and Athelney. We had word that there was no large body of +the enemy in that quarter, and it was a fertile district where good +store of supplies might be hoped for. We took with us four empty +waggons, to carry whatever we might have the luck to find. +Our commander arranged that one troop should ride before these and one +behind, while a small advance party, under the charge of Sir Gervas, +kept some hundreds of paces in front. In this order we clattered out of +the town just as the late bugles were blowing, and swept away down the +quiet shadowy roads, bringing anxious peering faces to the casements of +the wayside cottages as we whirled past in the darkness. + +That ride comes very clearly before me as I think of it. The dark loom +of the club-headed willows flitting by us, the moaning of the breeze +among the withies, the vague, blurred figures of the troopers, the dull +thud of the hoofs, and the jingling of scabbard against stirrup--eye and +ear can both conjure up those old-time memories. The Baronet and I rode +in front, knee against knee, and his light-hearted chatter of life in +town, with his little snatches of verse or song from Cowley or Waller, +were a very balm of Gilead to my sombre and somewhat heavy spirit. + +'Life is indeed life on such a night as this,' quoth he, as we breathed +in the fresh country air with the reeks of crops and of kine. 'Rabbit +me! but you are to be envied, Clarke, for having been born and bred in +the country! What pleasures has the town to offer compared to the free +gifts of nature, provided always that there be a perruquier's and a +snuff merchant's, and a scent vendor's, and one or two tolerable +outfitters within reach? With these and a good coffee-house and a +playhouse, I think I could make shift to lead a simple pastoral life for +some months.' + +'In the country,' said I, laughing, 'we have ever the feeling that the +true life of mankind, with the growth of knowledge and wisdom, are being +wrought out in the towns.' + +'Ventre Saint-Gris! It was little knowledge or wisdom that I acquired +there,' he answered. 'Truth to tell, I have lived more and learned more +during these few weeks that we have been sliding about in the rain with +our ragged lads, than ever I did when I was page of the court, with the +ball of fortune at my feet. It is a sorry thing for a man's mind to +have nothing higher to dwell upon than the turning of a compliment or +the dancing of a corranto. Zounds, lad! I have your friend the +carpenter to thank for much. As he says in his letter, unless a man can +get the good that is in him out, he is of loss value in the world than +one of those fowls that we hear cackling, for they at least fulfill +their mission, if it be only to lay eggs. Ged, it is a new creed for me +to be preaching!' + +'But,' said I, 'when you were a wealthy man you must have been of +service to some one, for how could one spend so much money and yet none +be the better?' + +'You dear bucolic Micah!' he cried, with a gay laugh. 'You will ever +speak of my poor fortune with bated breath and in an awestruck voice, as +though it were the wealth of the Indies. You cannot think, lad, how +easy it is for a money-bag to take unto itself wings and fly. It is +true that the man who spends it doth not consume the money, but passes +it on to some one who profits thereby. Yet the fault lies in the fact +that it was to the wrong folk that we passed our money, thereby breeding +a useless and debauched class at the expense of honest callings. +Od's fish, lad! when I think of the swarms of needy beggars, the +lecherous pimps, the nose-slitting bullies, the toadies and the +flatterers who were reared by us, I feel that in hatching such a +poisonous brood our money hath done what no money can undo. Have I not +seen them thirty deep of a morning when I have held my levee, cringing +up to my bedside--' + +'Your bedside!' I exclaimed. + +'Aye! it was the mode to receive in bed, attired in laced cambric shirt +and periwig, though afterwards it was permitted to sit up in your +chamber, but dressed _a la negligence_, in gown and slippers. The mode +is a terrible tyrant, Clarke, though its arm may not extend as far as +Havant. The idle man of the town must have some rule of life, so he +becomes a slave to the law of the fashions. No man in London was more +subject to it than myself. I was regular in my irregularities, and +orderly in my disorders. At eleven o'clock to the stroke, up came my +valet with the morning cup of hippocras, an excellent thing for the +qualms, and some slight refection, as the breast of an ortolan or wing +of a widgeon. Then came the levee, twenty, thirty, or forty of the +class I have spoken of, though now and then perhaps there might be some +honest case of want among them, some needy man-of-letters in quest of a +guinea, or pupil-less pedant with much ancient learning in his head and +very little modern coinage in his pocket. It was not only that I had +some power of mine own, but I was known to have the ear of my Lord +Halifax, Sidney Godolphin, Lawrence Hyde, and others whose will might +make or mar a man. Mark you those lights upon the left! Would it +not be well to see if there is not something to be had there?' + +'Hooker hath orders to proceed to a certain farm,' I answered. 'This we +could take upon our return should we still have space. We shall be back +here before morning.' + +'We must get supplies, if I have to ride back to Surrey for them,' said +he. 'Rat me, if I dare look my musqueteers in the face again unless I +bring them something to toast upon the end of their ramrods! They had +little more savoury than their own bullets to put in their mouths when I +left them. But I was speaking of old days in London. Our time was +well filled. Should a man of quality incline to sport there was ever +something to attract him. He might see sword-playing at Hockley, or +cocking at Shoe Lane, or baiting at Southwark, or shooting at Tothill +Fields. Again, he might walk in the physic gardens of St. James's, or +go down the river with the ebb tide to the cherry orchards at +Rotherhithe, or drive to Islington to drink the cream, or, above all, +walk in the Park, which is most modish for a gentleman who dresses in +the fashion. You see, Clarke, that we were active in our idleness, +and that there was no lack of employment. Then as evening came on there +were the playhouses to draw us, Dorset Gardens, Lincoln's Inn, Drury +Lane, and the Queen's--among the four there was ever some amusement to +be found.' + +'There, at least, your time was well employed,' said I; 'you could not +hearken to the grand thoughts or lofty words of Shakespeare or of +Massinger without feeling some image of them in your own soul.' + +Sir Gervas chuckled quietly. 'You are as fresh to me, Micah, as this +sweet country air,' said he. 'Know, thou dear babe, that it was not to +see the play that we frequented the playhouse.' + +'Then why, in Heaven's name?' I asked. + +'To see each other,' he answered. 'It was the mode, I assure you, for a +man of fashion to stand with his back turned to the stage from the rise +of the curtain to the fall of it. There were the orange wenches to +quiz--plaguey sharp of tongue the hussies are, too--and there were the +vizards of the pit, whose little black masks did invite inquiry, and +there were the beauties of the town and the toasts of the Court, all +fair mark for our quizzing-glasses. Play, indeed! S'bud, we had +something better to do than to listen to alexandrines or weigh the +merits of hexameters! 'Tis true that if La Jeune were dancing, or if +Mrs. Bracegirdle or Mrs. Oldfield came upon the boards, we would hum and +clap, but it was the fine woman that we applauded rather than the +actress.' + +'And when the play was over you went doubtless to supper and so to bed?' + +'To supper, certainly. Sometimes to the Rhenish House, sometimes to +Pontack's in Abchurch Lane. Every one had his own taste in that matter. +Then there were dice and cards at the Groom Porter's or under the arches +at Covent Garden, piquet, passage, hazard, primero--what you choose. +After that you could find all the world at the coffee-houses, where an +arriere supper was often served with devilled bones and prunes, to drive +the fumes of wine from the head. Zounds, Micah! If the Jews should +relax their pressure, or if this war brings us any luck, you shall come +to town with me and shall see all these things for yourself.' + +'Truth to tell, it doth not tempt me much,' I answered. 'Slow and +solemn I am by nature, and in such scenes as you have described I should +feel a very death's head at a banquet.' + +Sir Gervas was about to reply, when of a sudden out of the silence of +the night there rose a long-drawn piercing scream, which thrilled +through every nerve of our bodies. I have never heard such a wail of +despair. We pulled up our horses, as did the troopers behind us, and +strained our ears for some sign as to whence the sound proceeded, for +some were of opinion that it came from our right and some from our left. +The main body with the waggons had come up, and we all listened intently +for any return of the terrible cry. Presently it broke upon us again, +wild, shrill, and agonised: the scream of a woman in mortal distress. + +'Tis over there, Major Hooker,' cried Sir Gervas, standing up in his +stirrups and peering through the darkness. 'There is a house about two +fields off. I can see some glimmer, as from a window with the blind +drawn.' + +'Shall we not make for it at once?' I asked impatiently, for our +commander sat stolidly upon his horse as though by no means sure what +course he should pursue. + +'I am here, Captain Clarke,' said he, 'to convey supplies to the army, +and I am by no means justified in turning from my course to pursue other +adventures.' + +'Death, man! there is a woman in distress,' cried Sir Gervas. +'Why, Major, you would not ride past and let her call in vain for help? +Hark, there she is again!' As he spoke the wild scream rang out once +more from the lonely house. + +'Nay, I can abide this no longer,' I cried, my blood boiling in my +veins; 'do you go on your errand, Major Hooker, and my friend and I +shall leave you here. We shall know how to justify our action to the +King. Come, Sir Gervas!' + +'Mark ye, this is flat mutiny, Captain Clarke,' said Hooker; 'you are +under my orders, and should you desert me you do so at your peril.' + +'In such a case I care not a groat for thy orders,' I answered hotly. +Turning Covenant I spurred down a narrow, deeply-rutted lane which led +towards the house, followed by Sir Gervas and two or three of the +troopers. At the same moment I heard a sharp word of command from +Hooker and the creaking of wheels, showing that he had indeed abandoned +us and proceeded on his mission. + +'He is right,' quoth the Baronet, as we rode down the lane; 'Saxon or +any other old soldier would commend his discipline.' + +'There are things which are higher than discipline,' I muttered. +'I could not pass on and leave this poor soul in her distress. But see-- +what have we here?' + +A dark mass loomed in front of us, which proved as we approached to be +four horses fastened by their bridles to the hedge. + +'Cavalry horses, Captain Clarke !' cried one of the troopers who had +sprung down to examine them. 'They have the Government saddle and +holsters. Here is a wooden gate which opens on a pathway leading to the +house.' + +'We had best dismount, then,' said Sir Gervas, jumping down and tying +his horse beside the others. 'Do you, lads, stay by the horses, and if +we call for ye come to our aid. Sergeant Holloway, you can come with +us. Bring your pistols with you!' + + + +Chapter XXX. + + +Of the Swordsman with the Brown Jacket + +The sergeant, who was a great raw-boned west-countryman, pushed the gate +open, and we were advancing up the winding pathway, when a stream of +yellow light flooded out from a suddenly opened door, and we saw a dark +squat figure dart through it into the inside of the house. At the same +moment there rose up a babel of sounds, followed by two pistol shots, +and a roaring, gasping hubbub, with clash of swords and storm of oaths. +At this sudden uproar we all three ran at our topmost speed up the +pathway and peered in through the open door, where we saw a scene such +as I shall never forget while this old memory of mine can conjure up any +picture of the past. + +The room was large and lofty, with long rows of hams and salted meats +dangling from the smoke-browned rafters, as is usual in Somersetshire +farmhouses. A high black clock ticked in a corner, and a rude table, +with plates and dishes laid out as for a meal, stood in the centre. +Right in front of the door a great fire of wood faggots was blazing, and +before this, to our unutterable horror, there hung a man head downwards, +suspended by a rope which was knotted round his ankles, and which, +passing over a hook in a beam, had been made fast to a ring in the +floor. The struggles of this unhappy man had caused the rope to whirl +round, so that he was spinning in front of the blaze like a joint of +meat. Across the threshold lay a woman, the one whose cries had +attracted us, but her rigid face and twisted body showed that our aid +had come too late to save her from the fate which she had seen +impending. Close by her two swarthy dragoons in the glaring red coats +of the Royal army lay stretched across each other upon the floor, dark +and scowling even in death. In the centre of the room two other +dragoons were cutting and stabbing with their broad-swords at a thick, +short, heavy-shouldered man, clad in coarse brown kersey stuff, who +sprang about among the chairs and round the table with a long +basket-hilted rapier in his hand, parrying or dodging their blows with +wonderful adroitness, and every now and then putting in a thrust in +return. Hard pressed as he was, his set resolute face, firm mouth, and +bright well-opened eyes spoke of a bold spirit within, while the blood +which dripped from the sleeve of one of his opponents proved that the +contest was not so unequal as it might appear. Even as we gazed he +sprang back to avoid a fierce rush of the furious soldiers, and by a +quick sharp side stroke he severed the rope by which the victim was +hung. The body fell with a heavy thud upon the brick floor, while the +little swordsman danced off in a moment into another quarter of the +room, still stopping or avoiding with the utmost ease and skill the +shower of blows which rained upon him. + +This strange scene held us spell-bound for a few seconds, but there was +no time for delay, for a slip or trip would prove fatal to the gallant +stranger. Rushing into the chamber, sword in hand, we fell upon the +dragoons, who, outnumbered as they were, backed into a corner and struck +out fiercely, knowing that they need expect no mercy after the devil's +work in which they had been engaged. Holloway, our sergeant of horse, +springing furiously in, laid himself open to a thrust which stretched +him dead upon the ground. Before the dragoon could disengage his +weapon, Sir Gervas cut him down, while at the same moment the stranger +got past the guard of his antagonist, and wounded him mortally in the +throat. Of the four red-coats not one escaped alive, while the bodies +of our sergeant and of the old couple who had been the first victims +increased the horror of the scene. + +'Poor Holloway is gone,' said I, placing my hand over his heart. +'Who ever saw such a shambles? I feel sick and ill.' + +'Here is eau-de-vie, if I mistake not,' cried the stranger, clambering +up on a chair and reaching a bottle from the shelf. 'Good, too, by the +smell. Take a sup, for you are as white as a new-bleached sheet.' + +'Honest warfare I can abide, but scenes like this make my blood run +cold,' I answered, taking a gulp from the flask. I was a very young +soldier then, my dears, but I confess that to the end of my campaigns +any form of cruelty had the same effect upon me. I give you my word +that when I went to London last fall the sight of an overworked, +raw-backed cart-horse straining with its load, and flogged for not doing +that which it could not do, gave me greater qualms than did the field of +Sedgemoor, or that greater day when ten thousand of the flower of France +lay stretched before the earthworks of Landen. + +'The woman is dead,' said Sir Gervas, 'and the man is also, I fear, past +recovery. He is not burned, but suffers, I should judge, poor devil! +from the rush of blood to the head.' + +'If that be all it may well be cured, 'remarked the stranger; and taking +a small knife from his pocket, he rolled up the old man's sleeve and +opened one of his veins. At first only a few sluggish black drops oozed +from the wound, but presently the blood began to flow more freely, and +the injured man showed signs of returning sense. + +'He will live,' said the little swordsman, putting his lancet back in +his pocket. 'And now, who may you be to whom I owe this interference +which shortened the affair, though mayhap the result would have been the +same had you left us to settle it amongst ourselves?' + +'We are from Monmouth's army,' I answered. 'He lies at Bridgewater, and +we are scouting and seeking supplies.' + +'And who are you?' asked Sir Gervas. 'And how came you into this +ruffle? S'bud, you are a game little rooster to fight four such great +cockerels!' + +'My name is Hector Marot,' the man answered, cleaning out his empty +pistols and very carefully reloading them. 'As to who I am, it is a +matter of small moment. Suffice it that I have helped to lessen Kirk's +horse by four of his rogues. Mark their faces, so dusky and sun-dried +even in death. These men have learned warfare fighting against the +heathen in Africa, and now they practise on poor harmless English folk +the devil's tricks which they have picked up amongst the savages. +The Lord help Monmouth's men should they be beaten! These vermin are +more to be feared than hangman's cord or headsman's axe.' + +'But how did you chance upon the spot at the very nick of time?' I +asked. + +'Why, marry, I was jogging down the road on my mare when I heard the +clatter of hoofs behind me, and concealing myself in a field, as a +prudent man would while the country is in its present state, I saw these +four rogues gallop past. They made their way up to the farmhouse here, +and presently from cries and other tokens I knew what manner of +hell-fire business they had on hand. On that I left my mare in the +field and ran up, when I saw them through the casement, tricing the +good man up in front of his fire to make him confess where his wealth +lay hidden, though indeed it is my own belief that neither he nor any +other farmer in these parts hath any wealth left to hide, after two +armies have been quartered in turn upon them. Finding that his mouth +remained closed, they ran him up, as you saw, and would assuredly have +toasted him like a snipe, had I not stepped in and winged two of them +with my barkers. The others set upon me, but I pinked one through the +forearm, and should doubtless have given a good account of both of them +but for your incoming.' + +'Right gallantly done!' I exclaimed. 'But where have I heard your name +before, Mr. Hector Marot?' + +'Nay,' he answered, with a sharp, sidelong look, 'I cannot tell that.' + +'It is familiar to mine ear,' said I. + +He shrugged his broad shoulders, and continued to look to the priming of +his pistols, with a half-defiant and half-uneasy expression. He was a +very sturdy, deep-chested man, with a stern, square-jawed face, and a +white seam across his bronzed forehead as from a slash with a knife. +He wore a gold-edged riding-cap, a jacket of brown sad-coloured stuff +much stained by the weather, a pair of high rusty jack-boots, and a +small bob-wig. + +Sir Gervas, who had been staring very hard at the man, suddenly gave a +start, and slapped his hand against his leg. + +'Of course!' he cried. 'Sink me, if I could remember where I had seen +your face, but now it comes back to me very clearly.' + +The man glanced doggedly from under his bent brows at each of us in +turn. 'It seems that I have fallen among acquaintances,' he said +gruffly; 'yet I have no memory of ye. Methinks, young sirs, that your +fancy doth play ye false.' + +'Not a whit,' the Baronet answered quietly, and, bending forward, he +whispered a few words into the man's ear, which caused him to spring +from his seat and take a couple of quick strides forward, as though to +escape from the house. + +'Nay, nay!' cried Sir Gervas, springing between him and the door, 'you +shall not run away from us. Pshaw, man! never lay your hand upon your +sword. We have had bloody work enough for one night. Besides, we would +not harm you.' + +'What mean ye, then? What would ye have?' he asked, glancing about like +some fierce wild beast in a trap. + +'I have a most kindly feeling to you, man, after this night's work,' +cried Sir Gervas. 'What is it to me how ye pick up a living, as long as +you are a true man at heart? Let me perish if I ever forget a face +which I have once seen, and your bonne mine, with the trade-mark upon +your forehead, is especially hard to overlook.' + +'Suppose I be the same? What then?' the man asked sullenly. + +'There is no suppose in the matter. I could swear to you. But I would +not, lad--not if I caught you red-handed. You must know, Clarke, since +there is none to overhear us, that in the old days I was a Justice of +the Peace in Surrey, and that our friend here was brought up before me +on a charge of riding somewhat late o' night, and of being plaguey short +with travellers. You will understand me. He was referred to assizes, +but got away in the meanwhile, and so saved his neck. Right glad I am +of it, for you will agree with me that he is too proper a man to give a +tight-rope dance at Tyburn.' + +'And I remember well now where I have heard your name,' said I. +'Were you not a captive in the Duke of Beaufort's prison at Badminton, +and did you not succeed in escaping from the old Boteler dungeon?' + +'Nay, gentlemen,' he replied, seating himself on the edge of the table, +and carelessly swinging his legs, 'since ye know so much it would be +folly for me to attempt to deceive ye. I am indeed the same Hector +Marot who hath made his name a terror on the great Western road, and who +hath seen the inside of more prisons than any man in the south. +With truth, however, I can say that though I have been ten years upon +the roads, I have never yet taken a groat from the poor, or injured any +man who did not wish to injure me. On the contrary, I have often risked +life and limb to save those who were in trouble.' + +'We can bear you out in that,' I answered, 'for if these four red-coat +devils have paid the price of their crimes, it is your doing rather than +ours.' + +'Nay, I can take little credit for that,' our new acquaintance answered. +'Indeed, I had other scores to settle with Colonel Kirke's horse, and +was but too glad to have this breather with them.' + +Whilst we were talking the men whom we had left with the horses had come +up, together with some of the neighbouring farmers and cottagers, who +were aghast at the scene of slaughter, and much troubled in their minds +over the vengeance which might be exacted by the Royal troops next day. + +'For Christ's zake, zur,' cried one of them, an old ruddy-faced +countryman, 'move the bodies o' these soldier rogues into the road, and +let it zeem as how they have perished in a chance fight wi' your own +troopers loike. Should it be known as they have met their end within a +varmhouse, there will not be a thatch left unlighted over t' whole +country side; as it is, us can scarce keep these murthering Tangiers +devils from oor throats.' + +'His request is in reason,' said the highwayman bluntly. 'We have no +right to have our fun, and then go our way leaving others to pay the +score.' + +'Well, hark ye,' said Sir Gervas, turning to the group of frightened +rustics. 'I'll strike a bargain with ye over the matter. We have come +out for supplies, and can scarce go back empty-handed. If ye will among +ye provide us with a cart, filling it with such breadstuffs and greens +as ye may, with a dozen bullocks as well, we shall not only screen ye in +this matter, but I shall promise payment at fair market rates if ye will +come to the Protestant camp for the money.' + +'I'll spare the bullocks,' quoth the old man whom we had rescued, who +was now sufficiently recovered to sit up. 'Zince my poor dame is foully +murthered it matters little to me what becomes o' the stock. I shall +zee her laid in Durston graveyard, and shall then vollow you to t' camp, +where I shall die happy if I can but rid the earth o' one more o' these +incarnate devils.' + +'You say well, gaffer!' cried Hector Marot; 'you show the true spirit. +Methinks I see an old birding-piece on yonder hooks, which, with a brace +of slugs in it and a bold man behind it, might bring down one of these +fine birds for all their gay feathers.' + +'Her's been a true mate to me for more'n thirty year,' said the old man, +the tears coursing down his wrinkled cheeks. 'Thirty zeed-toimes and +thirty harvests we've worked together. But this is a zeed-toime which +shall have a harvest o' blood if my right hand can compass it.' + +'If you go to t' wars, Gaffer Swain, we'll look to your homestead,' said +the farmer who had spoken before. 'As to t' greenstuffs as this +gentleman asks for he shall have not one wainload but three, if he will +but gi' us half-an-hour to fill them up. If he does not tak them t' +others will, so we had raither that they go to the good cause. +Here, Miles, do you wak the labourers, and zee that they throw the +potato store wi' the spinach and the dried meats into the waggons wi' +all speed.' + +'Then we had best set about our part of the contract,' said Hector +Marot. With the aid of our troopers he carried out the four dragoons +and our dead sergeant, and laid them on the ground some way down the +lane, leading the horses all round and between their bodies, so as to +trample the earth, and bear out the idea of a cavalry skirmish. While +this was doing, some of the labourers had washed down the brick floor of +the kitchen and removed all traces of the tragedy. The murdered woman +had been carried up to her own chamber, so that nothing was left to +recall what had occurred, save the unhappy farmer, who sat moodily in +the same place, with his chin resting upon his stringy work-worn hands, +staring out in front of him with a stony, empty gaze, unconscious +apparently of all that was going on around him. + +The loading of the waggons had been quickly accomplished, and the little +drove of oxen gathered from a neighbouring field. We were just starting +upon our return journey when a young countryman rode up, with the news +that a troop of the Royal Horse were between the camp and ourselves. +This was grave tidings, for we were but seven all told, and our pace was +necessarily slow whilst we were hampered with the supplies. + +'How about Hooker?' I suggested. 'Should we not send after him and give +him warning?' + +'I'll goo at once,' said the countryman. 'I'm bound to zee him if he be +on the Athelney road.' So saying he set spurs to his horse and galloped +off through the darkness. + +'While we have such volunteer scouts as this,' I remarked, 'it is easy +to see which side the country folk have in their hearts. Hooker hath +still the better part of two troops with him, so surely he can hold his +own. But how are we to make our way back?' + +'Zounds, Clarke! let us extemporise a fortress,' suggested Sir Gervas. +'We could hold this farmhouse against all comers until Hooker returns, +and then join our forces to his. Now would our redoubtable Colonel be +in his glory, to have a chance of devising cross-fires, and +flanking-fires, with all the other refinements of a well-conducted +leaguer.' + +'Nay,' I answered, 'after leaving Major Hooker in a somewhat cavalier +fashion, it would be a bitter thing to have to ask his help now that +there is danger.' + +'Ho, ho!' cried the Baronet. 'It does not take a very deep lead-line to +come to the bottom of your stoical philosophy, friend Micah. For all +your cold-blooded stolidity you are keen enough where pride or honour is +concerned. Shall we then ride onwards, and chance it? I'll lay an even +crown that we never as much as see a red coat.' + +'If you will take my advice, gentlemen,' said the highwayman, trotting +up upon a beautiful bay mare, 'I should say that your best course is to +allow me to act as guide to you as far as the camp. It will be strange +if I cannot find roads which shall baffle these blundering soldiers.' + +'A very wise and seasonable proposition,' cried Sir Gervas. 'Master +Marot, a pinch from my snuff-box, which is ever a covenant of friendship +with its owner. Adslidikins, man! though our acquaintance at present is +limited to my having nearly hanged you on one occasion, yet I have a +kindly feeling towards you, though I wish you had some more savoury +trade.' + +'So do many who ride o' night,' Marot answered, with a chuckle. 'But we +had best start, for the east is whitening, and it will be daylight ere +we come to Bridgewater.' + +Leaving the ill-omened farmhouse behind us we set off with all military +precautions, Marot riding with me some distance in front, while two of +the troopers covered the rear. It was still very dark, though a thin +grey line on the horizon showed that the dawn was not far off. In spite +of the gloom, however, our new acquaintance guided us without a moment's +halt or hesitation through a network of lanes and bypaths, across fields +and over bogs, where the waggons were sometimes up to their axles in +bog, and sometimes were groaning and straining over rocks and stones. +So frequent were our turnings, and so often did we change the direction +of our advance, that I feared more than once that our guide was at +fault; yet, when at last the first rays of the sun brightened the +landscape we saw the steeple of Bridgewater parish church shooting up +right in front of us. + +'Zounds, man! you must have something of the cat in you to pick your way +so in the dark,' cried Sir Gervas, riding up to us. 'I am right glad to +see the town, for my poor waggons have been creaking and straining until +my ears are weary with listening for the snap of the axle-bar. Master +Marot, we owe you something for this.' + +'Is this your own particular district?' I asked, 'or have you a like +knowledge of every part of the south?' + +'My range,' said he, lighting his short, black pipe, 'is from Kent to +Cornwall, though never north of the Thames or Bristol Channel. Through +that district there is no road which is not familiar to me, nor as much +as a break in the hedge which I could not find in blackest midnight. +It is my calling. But the trade is not what it was. If I had a son I +should not bring him up to it. It hath been spoiled by the armed guards +to the mail-coaches, and by the accursed goldsmiths, who have opened +their banks and so taken the hard money into their strong boxes, giving +out instead slips of paper, which are as useless to us as an old +newsletter. I give ye my word that only a week gone last Friday I +stopped a grazier coming from Blandford fair, and I took seven hundred +guineas off him in these paper cheques, as they call them--enough, had +it been in gold, to have lasted me for a three month rouse. Truly the +country is coming to a pretty pass when such trash as that is allowed to +take the place of the King's coinage.' + +'Why should you persevere in such a trade ?' said I. 'Your own +knowledge must tell you that it can only lead to ruin and the gallows. +Have you ever known one who has thriven at it?' + +'That have I,' he answered readily. 'There was Kingston Jones, who +worked Hounslow for many a year. He took ten thousand yellow boys on +one job, and, like a wise man, he vowed never to risk his neck again. +He went into Cheshire, with some tale of having newly arrived from the +Indies, bought an estate, and is now a flourishing country gentleman of +good repute, and a Justice of the Peace into the bargain. Zounds, +man! to see him on the bench, condemning some poor devil for stealing a +dozen eggs, is as good as a comedy in the playhouse.' + +'Nay! but,' I persisted, 'you are a man, judging from what we have seen +of your courage and skill in the use of your weapons, who would gain +speedy preferment in any army. Surely it were better to use your gifts +to the gaining of honour and credit, than to make them a stepping-stone +to disgrace and the gallows?' + +'For the gallows I care not a clipped shilling,' the highwayman +answered, sending up thick blue curls of smoke into the morning air. +'We have all to pay nature's debt, and whether I do it in my boots or on +a feather bed, in one year or in ten, matters as little to me as to any +soldier among you. As to disgrace, it is a matter of opinion. I see no +shame myself in taking a toll upon the wealth of the rich, since I +freely expose my own skin in the doing of it.' + +'There is a right and there is a wrong,' I answered, 'which no words can +do away with, and it is a dangerous and unprofitable trick to juggle +with them.' + +'Besides, even if what you have said were true as to property,' Sir +Gervas remarked, 'it would not hold you excused for that recklessness of +human life which your trade begets.' + +'Nay! it is but hunting, save that your quarry may at any time turn +round upon you, and become in turn the hunter. It is, as you say, a +dangerous game, but two can play at it, and each has an equal chance. +There is no loading of the dice, or throwing of fulhams. Now it was but +a few days back that, riding down the high-road, I perceived three jolly +farmers at full gallop across the fields with a leash of dogs yelping in +front of them, and all in pursuit of one little harmless bunny. It was +a bare and unpeopled countryside on the border of Exmoor, so I bethought +me that I could not employ my leisure better than by chasing the +chasers. Odd's wouns! it was a proper hunt. Away went my gentlemen, +whooping like madmen, with their coat skirts flapping in the breeze, +chivying on the dogs, and having a rare morning's sport. They never +marked the quiet horseman who rode behind them, and who without a +"yoick!" or "hark-a-way !" was relishing his chase with the loudest of +them. It needed but a posse of peace officers at my heels to make up a +brave string of us, catch-who-catch-can, like the game the lads play on +the village green.' + +'And what came of it?' I asked, for our new acquaintance was laughing +silently to himself. + +'Well, my three friends ran down their hare, and pulled out their +flasks, as men who had done a good stroke of work. They were still +hobnobbing and laughing over the slaughtered bunny, and one had +dismounted to cut off its ears as the prize of their chase, when I came +up at a hand-gallop. "Good-morrow, gentlemen," said I, "we have had +rare sport." They looked at me blankly enough, I promise you, and one +of them asked me what the devil I did there, and how I dared to join in +a private sport. "Nay, I was not chasing your hare, gentlemen," said I. +"What then, fellow?" asked one of them. "Why, marry, I was chasing +you," I answered, "and a better run I have not had for years." +With that I lugged out my persuaders, and made the thing clear in a few +words, and I'll warrant you would have laughed could you have seen their +faces as they slowly dragged the fat leather purses from their fobs. +Seventy-one pounds was my prize that morning, which was better worth +riding for than a hare's ears.' + +'Did they not raise the country on your track?' I asked. + +'Nay! When Brown Alice is given her head she flies faster than the +news. Rumour spreads quick, but the good mare's stride is quicker +still.' + +'And here we are within our own outposts,' quoth Sir Gervas. 'Now, mine +honest friend--for honest you have been to us, whatever others may say +of you--will you not come with us, and strike in for a good cause? +Zounds, man! you have many an ill deed to atone for, I'll warrant. +Why not add one good one to your account, by risking your life for the +reformed faith?' + +'Not I,' the highwayman answered, reining up his horse. 'My own skin is +nothing, but why should I risk my mare in such a fool's quarrel? Should +she come to harm in the ruffle, where could I get such another? Besides, +it matters nothing to her whether Papist or Protestant sits on the +throne of England--does it, my beauty?' + +'But you might chance to gain preferment,' I said. 'Our Colonel, +Decimus Saxon, is one who loves a good swordsman, and his word hath +power with King Monmouth and the council.' + +'Nay, nay!' cried Hector Marot gruffly. 'Let every man stick to his own +trade. Kirke's Horse I am ever ready to have a brush with, for a party +of them hung old blind Jim Houston of Milverton, who was a friend of +mine. I have sent seven of the red-handed rogues to their last account +for it, and might work through the whole regiment had I time. But I +will not fight against King James, nor will I risk the mare, so let me +hear no more of it. And now I must leave ye, for I have much to do. +Farewell to you!' + +'Farewell, farewell!' we cried, pressing his brown horny hands; 'our +thanks to you for your guidance.' Raising his hat, he shook his bridle +and galloped off down the road in a rolling cloud of dust. + +'Rat me, if I ever say a word against the thieves again!' said Sir +Gervas. 'I never saw a man wield sword more deftly in my life, and he +must be a rare hand with a pistol to bring those two tall fellows down +with two shots. But look over there, Clarke! Can you not see bodies of +red-coats?' + +'Surely I can,' I answered, gazing out over the broad, reedy, +dead-coloured plain, which extended from the other side of the winding +Parret to the distant Polden Hills. 'I can see them over yonder in the +direction of Westonzoyland, as bright as the poppies among corn.' + +'There are more upon the left, near Chedzoy,' quoth Sir Gervas. 'One, +two, three, and one yonder, and two others behind--six regiments of foot +in all. Methinks I see the breastplates of horse over there, and some +sign of ordnance too. Faith! Monmouth must fight now, if he ever hopes +to feel the gold rim upon his temples. The whole of King James's army +hath closed upon him.' + +'We must get back to our command, then,' I answered. 'If I mistake not, +I see the flutter of our standards in the market-place.' We spurred our +weary steeds forward, and made our way with our little party and the +supplies which we had collected, until we found ourselves back in our +quarters, where we were hailed by the lusty cheers of our hungry +comrades. Before noon the drove of bullocks had been changed into +joints and steaks, while our green stuff and other victuals had helped +to furnish the last dinner which many of our men were ever destined to +eat. Major Hooker came in shortly after with a good store of +provisions, but in no very good case, for he had had a skirmish with the +dragoons, and had lost eight or ten of his men. He bore a complaint +straightway to the council concerning the manner in which we had +deserted him; but great events were coming fast upon us now, and there +was small time to inquire into petty matters of discipline. For myself, +I freely confess, looking back on it, that as a soldier he was entirely +in the right, and that from a strict military point of view our conduct +was not to be excused. Yet I trust, my dears, even now, when years have +weighed me down, that the scream of a woman in distress would be a +signal which would draw me to her aid while these old limbs could bear +me. For the duty which we owe to the weak overrides all other duties +and is superior to all circumstances, and I for one cannot see why the +coat of the soldier should harden the heart of the man. + + + +Chapter XXXI. + + +Of the Maid of the Marsh and the Bubble which rose from the Bog + +All Bridgewater was in a ferment as we rode in, for King James's forces +were within four miles, on the Sedgemoor Plain, and it was likely that +they would push on at once and storm the town. Some rude works had been +thrown up on the Eastover side, behind which two brigades were drawn up +in arms, while the rest of the army was held in reserve in the +market-place and Castle Field. Towards afternoon, however, parties of +our horse and peasants from the fen country came in with the news that +there was no fear of an assault being attempted. The Royal troops had +quartered themselves snugly in the little villages of the neighbourhood, +and having levied contributions of cider and of beer from the farmers, +they showed no sign of any wish to advance. + +The town was full of women, the wives, mothers, and sisters of our +peasants, who had come in from far and near to see their loved ones once +more. Fleet Street or Cheapside upon a busy day are not more crowded +than were the narrow streets and lanes of the Somersetshire town. +Jack-booted, buff-coated troopers; scarlet militiamen; brown, +stern-faced Tauntonians; serge-clad pikemen; wild, ragged miners; +smockfrocked yokels; reckless, weather-tanned seamen; gaunt cragsmen +from the northern coast--all pushed and jostled each other in a thick, +many-coloured crowd. Everywhere among them were the country women, +straw-bonneted and loud-tongued, weeping, embracing, and exhorting. +Here and there amid the motley dresses and gleam of arms moved the dark, +sombre figure of a Puritan minister, with sweeping sad-coloured mantle +and penthouse hat, scattering abroad short fiery ejaculations and stern +pithy texts of the old fighting order, which warmed the men's blood like +liquor. Ever and anon a sharp, fierce shout would rise from the people, +like the yelp of a high-spirited hound which is straining at its leash +and hot to be at the throat of its enemy. + +Our regiment had been taken off duty whenever it was clear that +Feversham did not mean to advance, and they were now busy upon the +victuals which our night-foray had furnished. It was a Sunday, fresh +and warm, with a clear, unclouded sky, and a gentle breeze, sweet with +the smack of the country. All day the bells of the neighbouring +villages rang out their alarm, pealing their music over the sunlit +countryside. The upper windows and red-tiled roofs of the houses were +crowded with pale-faced women and children, who peered out to eastward, +where the splotches of crimson upon the dun-coloured moor marked the +position of our enemies. + +At four o'clock Monmouth held a last council of war upon the square +tower out of which springs the steeple of Bridgewater parish church, +whence a good view can be obtained of all the country round. Since my +ride to Beaufort I had always been honoured with a summons to attend, in +spite of my humble rank in the army. There were some thirty councillors +in all, as many as the space would hold, soldiers and courtiers, +Cavaliers and Puritans, all drawn together now by the bond of a common +danger. Indeed, the near approach of a crisis in their fortunes had +broken down much of the distinction of manner which had served to +separate them. The sectary had lost something of his austerity and +become flushed and eager at the prospect of battle, while the giddy man +of fashion was hushed into unwonted gravity as he considered the danger +of his position. Their old feuds were forgotten as they gathered on the +parapet and gazed with set faces at the thick columns of smoke which +rose along the sky-line. + +King Monmouth stood among his chiefs, pale and haggard, with the +dishevelled, unkempt look of a man whose distress of mind has made him +forgetful of the care of his person. He held a pair of ivory glasses, +and as he raised them to his eyes his thin white hands shook and +twitched until it was grievous to watch him. Lord Grey handed his own +glasses to Saxon, who leaned his elbows upon the rough stone breastwork +and stared long and earnestly at the enemy. + +'They are the very men I have myself led,' said Monmouth at last, in a +low voice, as though uttering his thoughts aloud. 'Over yonder at the +right I see Dumbarton's foot. I know these men well. They will fight. +Had we them with us all would be well.' + +'Nay, your Majesty,' Lord Grey answered with spirit, 'you do your brave +followers an injustice. They, too, will fight to the last drop of their +blood in your quarrel.' + +'Look down at them !' said Monmouth sadly, pointing at the swarming +streets beneath us. 'Braver hearts never beat in English breasts, yet +do but mark how they brabble and clamour like clowns on a Saturday +night. Compare them with the stern, orderly array of the trained +battalions. Alas! that I should have dragged these honest souls from +their little homes to fight so hopeless a battle!' + +'Hark at that!' cried Wade. 'They do not think it hopeless, nor do we.' +As he spoke a wild shout rose from the dense crowd beneath, who were +listening to a preacher who was holding forth from a window. + +'It is worthy Doctor Ferguson,' said Sir Stephen Timewell, who had just +come up. 'He is as one inspired, powerfully borne onwards in his +discourse. Verily he is even as one of the prophets of old. He has +chosen for his text, "The Lord God of gods he knoweth and Israel he +shall know. If it be in rebellion or if in transgression against the +Lord, save us not this day."' + +'Amen, amen!' cried several of the Puritan soldiers devoutly, while +another hoarse burst of shouting from below, with the clashing of +scythe-blades and the clatter of arms, showed how deeply the people were +moved by the burning words of the fanatic. + +'They do indeed seem to be hot for battle,' said Monmouth, with a more +sprightly look. 'It may be that one who has commanded regular troops, +as I have done, is prone to lay too much weight upon the difference +which discipline and training make. These brave lads seem high of +heart. What think you of the enemy's dispositions, Colonel Saxon?' + +'By my faith, I think very little of them, your Majesty,' Saxon answered +bluntly. 'I have seen armies drawn up in array in many different parts +of the world and under many commanders. I have likewise read the +section which treats of the matter in the "De re militari" of Petrinus +Bellus, and in the works of a Fleming of repute, yet I have neither seen +nor heard anything which can commend the arrangements which we see +before us.' + +'How call you the hamlet on the left--that with the square ivy-clad +church tower?' asked Monmouth, turning to the Mayor of Bridgewater, a +small, anxious-faced man, who was evidently far from easy at the +prominence which his office had brought upon him. + +'Westonzoyland, your Honour--that is, your Grace--I mean, your Majesty,' +he stammered. 'The other, two miles farther off, is Middlezoy, and away +to the left, just on the far side of the rhine, is Chedzoy.' + +'The rhine, sir! What do you mean?' asked the King, starting violently, +and turning so fiercely upon the timid burgher, that he lost the little +balance of wits which was left to him. + +'Why, the rhine, your Grace, your Majesty,' he quavered. 'The rhine, +which, as your Majesty's Grace cannot but perceive, is what the country +folk call the rhine.' + +'It is a name, your Majesty, for the deep and broad ditches which drain +off the water from the great morass of Sedgemoor,' said Sir Stephen +Timewell. + +Monmouth turned white to his very lips, and several of the council +exchanged significant glances, recalling the strange prophetic jingle +which I had been the means of bringing to the camp. The silence was +broken, however, by an old Cromwellian Major named Hollis, who had been +drawing upon paper the position of the villages in which the enemy was +quartered. + +'If it please your Majesty, there is something in their order which +recalls to my mind that of the army of the Scots upon the occasion of +the battle of Dunbar. Cromwell lay in Dunbar even as we lie in +Bridgewater. The ground around, which was boggy and treacherous, was +held by the enemy. There was not a man in the army who would not own +that, had old Leslie held his position, we should, as far as human +wisdom could see, have had to betake us to our ships, leave our stores +and ordnance, and so make the best of our way to Newcastle. He moved, +however, through the blessing of Providence, in such a manner that a +quagmire intervened between his right wing and the rest of his army, on +which Cromwell fell upon that wing in the early dawn, and dashed it to +pieces, with such effect that the whole army fled, and we had the +execution of them to the very gates of Leith. Seven thousand Scots lost +their lives, but not more than a hundred or so of the honest folk. Now, +your Majesty will see through your glass that a mile of bogland +intervenes between these villages, and that the nearest one, Chedzoy, as +I think they call it, might be approached without ourselves entering the +morass. Very sure I am that were the Lord-General with us now he would +counsel us to venture some such attack.' + +'It is a bold thing with raw peasants to attack old soldiers,' quoth Sir +Stephen Timewell. 'Yet if it is to be done, I know well that there is +not a man born within sound of the bells of St. Mary Magdalene who will +flinch from it.' + +'You say well, Sir Stephen,' said Monmouth. 'At Dunbar Cromwell had +veterans at his back, and was opposed to troops who had small experience +of war.' + +'Yet there is much good sense in what Major Hollis has said,' remarked +Lord Grey. 'We must either fall on, or be gradually girt round and +starved out. That being so, why not take advantage at once of the +chance which Feversham's ignorance or carelessness hath given us? +To-morrow, if Churchill can prevail over his chief, I have little doubt +that we shall find their camp rearranged, and so have cause to regret +our lost opportunity.' + +'Their horse lie at Westonzoyland,' said Wade. 'The sun is so fierce +now that we can scarce see for its glare and the haze which rises up +from the marshes. Yet a little while ago I could make out through my +glasses the long lines of horses picketed on the moor beyond the +village. Behind, in Middlezoy, are two thousand militia, while in +Chedzoy, where our attack would fall, there are five regiments of +regular foot.' + +'If we could break those all would be well,' cried Monmouth. 'What is +your advice, Colonel Buyse?' + +'My advice is ever the same,' the German answered. 'We are here to +fight, and the sooner we get to work at it the better.' + +'And yours, Colonel Saxon? Do you agree with the opinion of your +friend?' + +'I think with Major Hollis, your Majesty, that Feversham by his +dispositions hath laid himself open to attack, and that we should take +advantage of it forthwith. Yet, considering that trained men and a +numerous horse have great advantage by daylight, I should be in favour +of a camisado or night onfall.' + +'The same thought was in my mind,' said Grey. 'Our friends here know +every inch of the ground, and could guide us to Chedzoy as surely in the +darkness as in the day.' + +'I have heard,' said Saxon, 'that much beer and cider, with wine and +strong waters, have found their way into their camp. If this be so we +may give them a rouse while their heads are still buzzing with the +liquor, when they shall scarce know whether it is ourselves or the blue +devils which have come upon them.' + +A general chorus of approval from the whole council showed that the +prospect of at last coming to an engagement was welcome, after the weary +marchings and delays of the last few weeks. + +'Has any cavalier anything to say against this plan?' asked the King. + +We all looked from one to the other, but though many faces were doubtful +or desponding, none had a word to say against the night attack, for it +was clear that our action in any case must be hazardous, and this had at +least the merit of promising a better chance of success than any other. +Yet, my dears, I dare say the boldest of us felt a sinking at the heart +as we looked at our downcast, sad-faced leader, and asked ourselves +whether this was a likely man to bring so desperate an enterprise to a +success. + +'If all are agreed,' said he, 'let our word be "Soho," and let us come +upon them as soon after midnight as may be. What remains to be settled +as to the order of battle may be left for the meantime. You will now, +gentlemen, return to your regiments, and you will remember that be the +upshot of this what it may, whether Monmouth be the crowned King of +England or a hunted fugitive, his heart, while it can still beat, will +ever bear in memory the brave friends who stood at his side in the hour +of his trouble.' + +At this simple and kindly speech a flush of devotion, mingled in my own +case at least with a heart-whole pity for the poor, weak gentleman, +swept over us. We pressed round him with our hands upon the hilts of +our swords, swearing that we would stand by him, though all the world +stood between him and his rights. Even the rigid and impassive Puritans +were moved to a show of loyalty; while the courtiers, carried away by +zeal, drew their rapiers and shouted until the crowd beneath caught the +enthusiasm, and the air was full of the cheering. The light returned to +Monmouth's eye and the colour to his cheek as he listened to the +clamour. For a moment at least he looked like the King which he aspired +to be. + +'My thanks to ye, dear friends and subjects,' he cried. 'The issue +rests with the Almighty, but what men can do will, I know well, be done +by you this night. If Monmouth cannot have all England, six feet of her +shall at least be his. Meanwhile, to your regiments, and may God defend +the right!' + +'May God defend the right! cried the council solemnly, and separated, +leaving the King with Grey to make the final dispositions for the +attack. + +'These popinjays of the Court are ready enough to wave their rapiers and +shout when there are four good miles between them and the foe,' said +Saxon, as we made our way through the crowd. 'I fear that they will +scarce be as forward when there is a line of musqueteers to be faced, +and a brigade of horse perhaps charging down upon their flank. But here +comes friend Lockarby, with news written upon his face.' + +'I have a report to make, Colonel,' said Reuben, hurrying breathlessly +up to us. 'You may remember that I and my company were placed on guard +this day at the eastern gates?' + +Saxon nodded. + +'Being desirous of seeing all that I could of the enemy, I clambered up +a lofty tree which stands just without the town. From this post, by the +aid of a glass, I was able to make out their lines and camp. Whilst I +was gazing I chanced to observe a man slinking along under cover of the +birch-trees half-way between their lines and the town. Watching him, I +found that he was indeed moving in our direction. Presently he came so +near that I was able to distinguish who it was--for it was one whom I +know--but instead of entering the town by my gate he walked round under +cover of the peat cuttings, and so made his way doubtless to some other +entrance. He is a man, however, who I have reason to believe has no +true love for the cause, and it is my belief that he hath been to the +Royal camp with news of our doings, and hath now come back for further +information.' + +'Aye!' said Saxon, raising his eyebrows. 'And what is the man's name?' + +'His name is Derrick, one time chief apprentice to Master Timewell at +Taunton, and now an officer in the Taunton foot.' + +'What, the young springald who had his eye upon pretty Mistress Ruth! +Now, out on love, if it is to turn a true man into a traitor! But +methought he was one of the elect? I have heard him hold forth to the +pikemen. How comes it that one of his kidney should lend help to the +Prelatist cause?' + +'Love again,' quoth I. 'This same love is a pretty flower when it grows +unchecked, but a sorry weed if thwarted.' + +'He hath an ill-feeling towards many in the camp,' said Reuben, 'and he +would ruin the army to avenge himself on them, as a rogue might sink a +ship in the hope of drowning one enemy. Sir Stephen himself hath +incurred his hatred for refusing to force his daughter into accepting +his suit. He has now returned into the camp, and I have reported the +matter to you, that you may judge whether it would not be well to send +a file of pikemen and lay him by the heels lest he play the spy once +more.' + +'Perhaps it would be best so,' Saxon answered, full of thought, 'and yet +no doubt the fellow would have some tale prepared which would outweigh +our mere suspicions. Could we not take him in the very act?' + +A thought slipped into my head. I had observed from the tower that +there was a single lonely cottage about a third of the way to the +enemy's camp, standing by the road at a place where there were marshes +on either side. Any one journeying that way must pass it. If Derrick +tried to carry our plans to Feversham he might be cut off at this point +by a party placed to lie in wait for him. + +'Most excellent!' Saxon exclaimed, when I had explained the project. +'My learned Fleming himself could not have devised a better rusus belli. +Do ye convey as many files as ye may think fit to this point, and I +shall see that Master Derrick is primed up with some fresh news for my +Lord Feversham.' + +'Nay, a body of troops marching out would set tongues wagging,' said +Reuben. 'Why should not Micah and I go ourselves?' + +'That would indeed be better.' Saxon answered. 'But ye must pledge your +words, come what may, to be back at sundown, for your companies must +stand to arms an hour before the advance.' + +We both gladly gave the desired promise; and having learned for certain +that Derrick had indeed returned to the camp, Saxon undertook to let +drop in his presence some words as to the plans for the night, while we +set off at once for our post. Our horses we left behind, and slipping +out through the eastern gate we made our way over bog and moor, +concealing ourselves as best we could, until we came out upon the lonely +roadway, and found ourselves in front of the house. + +It was a plain, whitewashed, thatch-roofed cottage, with a small board +above the door, whereon was written a notice that the occupier sold milk +and butter. No smoke reeked up from the chimney, and the shutters of +the window were closed, from which we gathered that the folk who owned +it had fled away from their perilous position. On either side the marsh +extended, reedy and shallow at the edge, but deeper at a distance, with +a bright green scum which covered its treacherous surface. We knocked +at the weather-blotched door, but receiving, as we expected, no reply, I +presently put my shoulder against it and forced the staple from its +fastenings. + +There was but a single chamber within, with a straight ladder in the +corner, leading through a square hole in the ceiling to the sleeping +chamber under the roof. Three or four chairs and stools were scattered +over the earthen floor, and at the side a deal table with the broad +brown milk basins upon it. Green blotches upon the wall and a sinking +in of one side of the cottage showed the effect of its damp, marsh-girt +position. + +To our surprise it had still one inmate within its walls. In the centre +of the room, facing the door as we entered, stood a little bright, +golden-haired maid, five or six years of age. She was clad in a clean +white smock, with trim leather belt and shining buckle about her waist. +Two plump little legs with socks and leathern boots peeped out from +under the dress, stoutly planted with right foot in advance as one who +was bent upon holding her ground. Her tiny head was thrown back, and +her large blue eyes were full of mingled wonder and defiance. As we +entered the little witch flapped her kerchief at us, and shooed as +though we were two of the intrusive fowl whom she was wont to chevy out +of the house. Reuben and I stood on the threshold, uncertain, and +awkward, like a pair of overgrown school lads, looking down at this +fairy queen whose realms we had invaded, in two minds whether to beat a +retreat or to appease her wrath by soft and coaxing words. + +'Go 'way!' she cried, still waving her hands and shaking her kerchief. +'Go 'way! Granny told me to tell any one that came to go 'way!' + +'But if they would not go away, little mistress,' asked Reuben, 'what +were you to do then?' + +'I was to drive them 'way,' she answered, advancing boldly against us +with many flaps. 'You bad man!' she continued, flashing out at me, 'you +have broken granny's bolt.' + +'Nay, I'll mend it again,' I answered penitently, and catching up a +stone I soon fastened the injured staple. 'There, mistress, your +granddam will never tell the difference.' + +'Ye must go 'way all the same,' she persisted; 'this is granny's house, +not yours.' + +What were we to do with this resolute little dame of the marshes? +That we should stay in the house was a crying need, for there was no +other cover or shelter among the dreary bogs where we could hide +ourselves. Yet she was bent upon driving us out with a decision and +fearlessness which might have put Monmouth to shame. + +'You sell milk,' said Reuben. 'We are tired and thirsty, so we have +come to have a horn of it.' + +'Nay,' she cried, breaking into smiles, 'will ye pay me just as the folk +pay granny? Oh, heart alive! but that will be fine!' She skipped up on +to a stool and filled a pair of deep mugs from the basins upon the +table. 'A penny, please!' said she. + +It was strange to see the little wife hide the coin away in her smock, +with pride and joy in her innocent face at this rare stroke of business +which she had done for her absent granny. We bore our milk away to the +window, and having loosed the shutters we seated ourselves so as to have +an outlook down the road. + +'For the Lord's sake, drink slow!' whispered Reuben, under his breath. +'We must keep on swilling milk or she will want to turn us out.' + +'We have paid toll now,' I answered; 'surely she will let us bide.' + +'If you have done you must go 'way,' she said firmly. + +'Were ever two men-at-arms so tyrannised over by a little dolly such as +this!' said I, laughing. 'Nay, little one, we shall compound with you +by paying you this shilling, which will buy all your milk. We can stay +here and drink it at our ease.' + +'Jinny, the cow, is just across the marsh,' quoth she. 'It is nigh +milking time, and I shall fetch her round if ye wish more.' + +'Now, God forbid!' cried Reuben. 'It will end in our having to buy the +cow. Where is your granny, little maid?' + +'She hath gone into the town,' the child answered. 'There are bad men +with red coats and guns coming to steal and to fight, but granny will +soon make them go 'way. Granny has gone to set it all right.' + +'We are fighting against the men with the red coats, my chuck,' said I; +'we shall take care of your house with you, and let no one steal +anything.' + +'Nay, then ye may stay,' quoth she, climbing up upon my knee as grave as +a sparrow upon a bough. 'What a great boy you are!' + +'And why not a man?' I asked. + +'Because you have no beard upon your face. Why, granny hath more hair +upon her chin than you. Besides, only boys drink milk. Men drink +cider.' + +'Then if I am a boy I shall be your sweetheart,' said I. + +'Nay, indeed!' she cried, with a toss of her golden locks. 'I have no +mind to wed for a while, but Giles Martin of Gommatch is my sweetheart. +What a pretty shining tin smock you have, and what a great sword! +Why should people have these things to harm each other with when they +are in truth all brothers?' + +'Why are they all brothers, little mistress?' asked Reuben. + +'Because granny says that they are all the children of the great +Father,' she answered. 'If they have all one father they must be +brothers, mustn't they?' + +'Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, Micah,' quoth Reuben, staring +out of the window. + +'You are a rare little marsh flower,' I said, as she clambered up to +grasp at my steel cap. 'Is it not strange to think, Reuben, that there +should be thousands of Christian men upon either side of us, athirst for +each other's lives, and here between them is a blue-eyed cherub who +lisps out the blessed philosophy which would send us all to our homes +with softened hearts and hale bodies?' + +'A day of this child would sicken me for over of soldiering,' Reuben +answered. 'The cavalier and the butcher become too near of kin, as I +listen to her.' + +'Perhaps both are equally needful,' said I, shrugging my shoulders. +'We have put our hands to the plough. But methinks I see the man for +whom we wait coming down under the shadow of yonder line of pollard +willows.' + +'It is he, sure enough,' cried Reuben, peeping through the diamond-paned +window. + +'Then, little one, you must sit here,' said I, raising her up from my +knee and placing her on a chair in a corner. 'You must be a brave lass +and sit still, whatever may chance. Will you do so?' + +She pursed up her rosy lips and nodded her head. + +'He comes on apace, Micah,' quoth my comrade, who was still standing by +the casement. 'Is he not like some treacherous fox or other beast of +prey?' + +There was indeed something in his lean, black-clothed figure and swift +furtive movements which was like some cruel and cunning animal. +He stole along under shadow of the stunted trees and withies, with bent +body and gliding gait, so that from Bridgewater it would be no easy +matter for the most keen-sighted to see him. Indeed, he was so far from +the town that he might safely have come out from his concealment and +struck across the moor, but the deep morass on either side prevented +him from leaving the road until he had passed the cottage. + +As he came abreast of our ambush we both sprang out from the open door +and barred his way. I have heard the Independent minister at Emsworth +give an account of Satan's appearance, but if the worthy man had been +with us that day, he need not have drawn upon his fancy. The man's dark +face whitened into a sickly and mottled pallor, while he drew back with +a long sharp intaking of the breath and a venomous flash from his black +eyes, glancing swiftly from right to left for some means of escape. +For an instant his hand shot towards his sword-hilt, but his reason told +him that he could scarce expect to fight his way past us. Then he +glanced round, but any retreat would lead him back to the men whom he +had betrayed. So he stood sullen and stolid, with heavy, downcast +face and shifting, restless eye, the very type and symbol of treachery. + +'We have waited some time for you, Master John Derrick,' said I. +'You must now return with us to the town.' + +'On what grounds do you arrest me?' he asked, in hoarse, broken tones. +'Where is your warranty? Who hath given you a commission to molest +travellers upon the King's highway?' + +'I have my Colonel's commission,' I answered shortly. 'You have been +once already to Feversham's camp this morning.' + +'It is a lie,' he snarled fiercely. 'I do but take a stroll to enjoy +the air.' + +'It is the truth,' said Reuben. 'I saw you myself on your return. +Let us see that paper which peeps from your doublet.' + +'We all know why you should set this trap for me,' Derrick cried +bitterly. 'You have set evil reports afloat against me, lest I stand +in your light with the Mayor's daughter. What are you that you should +dare to raise your eyes to her! A mere vagrant and masterless man, +coming none know whence. Why should you aspire to pluck the flower +which has grown up amongst us? What had you to do with her or with us? +Answer me!' + +'It is not a matter which I shall discuss, save at a more fitting time +and place,' Reuben answered quietly. 'Do you give over your sword and +come back with us. For my part, I promise to do what I can to save your +life. Should we win this night, your poor efforts can do little to harm +us. Should we lose, there may be few of us left to harm.' + +'I thank you for your kindly protection,' he replied, in the same white, +cold, bitter manner, unbuckling his sword as he spoke, and walking +slowly up to my companion. 'You can take this as a gift to Mistress +Ruth,' he said, presenting the weapon in his left hand, 'and this!' he +added, plucking a knife from his belt and burying it in my poor friend's +side. + +It was done in an instant--so suddenly that I had neither time to spring +between, nor to grasp his intention before the wounded man sank gasping +on the ground, and the knife tinkled upon the pathway at my feet. +The villain set up a shrill cry of triumph, and bounding back in time to +avoid the savage sword thrust which I made at him, he turned and fled +down the road at the top of his speed. He was a far lighter man than I, +and more scantily clad, yet I had, from my long wind and length of limb, +been the best runner of my district, and he soon learned by the sound of +my feet that he had no chance of shaking me off. Twice he doubled as a +hare does when the hound is upon him, and twice my sword passed within +a foot of him, for in very truth I had no more thought of mercy than if +he had been a poisonous snake who had fastened his fangs into my friend +before my eyes. I never dreamed of giving nor did he of claiming it. +At last, hearing my steps close upon him and my breathing at his very +shoulder, he sprang wildly through the reeds and dashed into the +treacherous morass. Ankle-deep, knee-deep, thigh-deep, waist-deep, we +struggled and staggered, I still gaining upon him, until I was within +arm's-reach of him, and had whirled up my sword to strike. It had been +ordained, however, my dear children, that he should die not the death of +a man, but that of the reptile which he was, for even as I closed upon +him he sank of a sudden with a gurgling sound, and the green marsh scum +met above his head. No ripple was there and no splash to mark the spot. +It was sudden and silent, as though some strange monster of the marshes +had seized him and dragged him down into the depths. As I stood with +upraised sword still gazing upon the spot, one single great bubble rose +and burst upon the surface, and then all was still once more, and +the dreary fens lay stretched before me, the very home of death and of +desolation. I know not whether he had indeed come upon some sudden pit +which had engulfed him, or whether in his despair he had cast himself +down of set purpose. I do but know that there in the great Sedgemoor +morass are buried the bones of the traitor and the spy. + +I made my way as best I could through the oozy clinging mud to the +margin, and hastened back to where Reuben was lying. Bending over him I +found that the knife had pierced through the side leather which +connected his back and front plates, and that the blood was not only +pouring out of the wound, but was trickling from the corner of his +mouth. With trembling fingers I undid the straps and buckles, loosened +the armour, and pressed my kerchief to his side to staunch the flow. + +'I trust that you have not slain him, Micah,' he said of a sudden, +opening his eyes. + +'A higher power than ours has judged him, Reuben,' I answered. + +'Poor devil! He has had much to embitter him,' he murmured, and +straightway fainted again. As I knelt over him, marking the lad's white +face and laboured breathing, and bethought me of his simple, kindly +nature and of the affection which I had done so little to deserve, I am +not ashamed to say, my dears, albeit I am a man somewhat backward in my +emotions, that my tears were mingled with his blood. + +As it chanced, Decimus Saxon had found time to ascend the church tower +for the purpose of watching us through his glass and seeing how we +fared. Noting that there was something amiss, he had hurried down for a +skilled chirurgeon, whom he brought out to us under an escort of +scythesmen. I was still kneeling by my senseless friend, doing what an +ignorant man might to assist him, when the party arrived and helped me +to bear him into the cottage, out of the glare of the sun. The minutes +were as hours while the man of physic with a grave face examined and +probed the wound. + +'It will scarce prove fatal,' he said at last, and I could have embraced +him for the words. 'The blade has glanced on a rib, though the lung is +slightly torn. We shall hear him back with us to the town.' + +'You hear what he says,' said Saxon kindly. 'He is a man whose opinion +is of weight-- + + "A skilful leach is better far, + Than half a hundred men of war." + +Cheer up, man! You are as white as though it were your blood and not his +which was drained away. Where is Derrick?' + +'Drowned in the marshes,' I answered. + +''Tis well! It will save us six feet of good hemp. But our position +here is somewhat exposed, since the Royal Horse might make a dash at us. +Who is this little maid who sits so white and still in the corner.' + +''Tis the guardian of the house. Her granny has left her here.' + +'You had better come with us. There may be rough work here ere all is +over.' + +'Nay, I must wait for granny,' she answered, with the tears running down +her cheeks. + +'But how if I take you to granny, little one,' said I. 'We cannot leave +you here. 'I held out my arms, and the child sprang into them and +nestled up against my bosom, sobbing as though her heart would break. +'Take me away,' she cried; 'I'se frightened.' + +I soothed the little trembling thing as best I might, and bore her off +with me upon my shoulder. The scythesmen had passed the handles of +their long weapons through the sleeves of their jerkins in such a way as +to form a couch or litter, upon which poor Reuben was laid. A slight +dash of colour had come back to his cheeks in answer to some cordial +given him by the chirurgeon, and he nodded and smiled at Saxon. Thus, +pacing slowly, we returned to Bridgewater, where Reuben was carried to +our quarters, and I bore the little maid of the marshes to kind +townsfolk, who promised to restore her to her home when the troubles +were over. + + + +Chapter XXXII. + + +Of the Onfall at Sedgemoor + +However pressing our own private griefs and needs, we had little time +now to dwell upon them, for the moment was at hand which was to decide +for the time not only our own fates, but that of the Protestant cause in +England. None of us made light of the danger. Nothing less than a +miracle could preserve us from defeat, and most of us were of opinion +that the days of the miracles were past. Others, however, thought +otherwise. I believe that many of our Puritans, had they seen the +heavens open that night, and the armies of the Seraphim and the Cherubim +descending to our aid, would have looked upon it as by no means a +wonderful or unexpected occurrence. + +The whole town was loud with the preaching. Every troop or company had +its own chosen orator, and sometimes more than one, who held forth and +expounded. From barrels, from waggons, from windows, and even from +housetops, they addressed the crowds beneath; nor was their eloquence in +vain. Hoarse, fierce shouts rose up from the streets, with broken +prayers and ejaculations. Men were drunk with religion as with wine. +Their faces were flushed, their speech thick, their gestures wild. +Sir Stephen and Saxon smiled at each other as they watched them, for +they knew, as old soldiers, that of all causes which make a man valiant +in deed and careless of life, this religious fit is the strongest and +the most enduring. + +In the evening I found time to look in upon my wounded friend, and found +him propped up with cushions upon his couch, breathing with some pain, +but as bright and merry as ever. Our prisoner, Major Ogilvy, who had +conceived a warm affection for us, sat by his side and read aloud to him +out of an old book of plays. + +'This wound hath come at an evil moment,' said Reuben impatiently. +'Is it not too much that a little prick like this should send my men +captainless into battle, after all our marching and drilling? I have +been present at the grace, and am cut off from the dinner.' + +'Your company hath been joined to mine,' I answered, 'though, indeed, +the honest fellows are cast down at not having their own captain. +Has the physician been to see you?' + +'He has left even now,' said Major Ogilvy. 'He pronounces our friend to +be doing right well, but hath warned me against allowing him to talk.' + +'Hark to that, lad!' said I, shaking my finger at him. 'If I hear a +word from you I go. You will escape a rough waking this night, Major. +What think you of our chance?' + +'I have thought little of your chance from the first,' he replied +frankly. 'Monmouth is like a ruined gamester, who is now putting his +last piece upon the board. He cannot win much, and he may lose all.' + +'Nay, that is a hard saying,' said I. 'A success might set the whole of +the Midlands in arms.' + +'England is not ripe for it,' the Major answered, with a shake of his +head. 'It is true that it has no fancy either for Papistry or for a +Papist King, but we know that it is but a passing evil, since the next +in succession, the Prince of Orange, is a Protestant. Why, then, should +we risk so many evils to bring that about which time and patience must, +perforce, accomplish between them? Besides, the man whom ye support +has shown that he is unworthy of confidence. Did he not in his +declaration promise to leave the choice of a monarch to the Commons? +And yet, in less than a week, he proclaimed himself at Taunton Market +Cross! Who could believe one who has so little regard for truth?' + +'Treason, Major, rank treason,' I answered, laughing. 'Yet if we could +order a leader as one does a coat we might, perchance, have chosen one +of a stronger texture. We are in arms not for him, but for the old +liberties and rights of Englishmen. Have you seen Sir Gervas?' + +Major Ogilvy, and even Reuben, burst out laughing. 'You will find him +in the room above,' said our prisoner. 'Never did a famous toast +prepare herself for a court ball as he is preparing for his battle. +If the King's troops take him they will assuredly think that they have +the Duke. He hath been in here to consult us as to his patches, hosen, +and I know not what beside. You had best go up to him.' + +'Adieu, then, Reuben!' I said, grasping his hand in mine. + +'Adieu, Micah! God shield you from harm,' said he. + +'Can I speak to you aside, Major?' I whispered. 'I think,' I went on, +as he followed me into the passage, 'that you will not say that your +captivity hath been made very harsh for you. May I ask, therefore, that +you will keep an eye upon my friend should we be indeed defeated this +night? No doubt if Feversham gains the upper hand there will be bloody +work. The hale can look after themselves, but he is helpless, and will +need a friend.' + +The Major pressed my hand. 'I swear to God,' he said, 'that no harm +shall befall him.' + +'You have taken a load from my heart,' I answered; 'I know that I leave +him in safety. 'I can now ride to battle with an easy mind.' With a +friendly smile the soldier returned to the sick-room, whilst I ascended +the stair and entered the quarters of Sir Gervas Jerome. + +He was standing before a table which was littered all over with pots, +brushes, boxes, and a score of the like trifles, which he had either +bought or borrowed for the occasion. A large hand-mirror was balanced +against the wall, with rush-lights on either side of it. In front of +this, with a most solemn and serious expression upon his pale, handsome +face, the Baronet was arranging and re-arranging a white berdash cravat. +His riding-boots were brightly polished, and the broken seam repaired. +His sword-sheath, breastplate, and trappings were clear and bright. +He wore his gayest and newest suit, and above all he had donned a most +noble and impressive full-bottomed periwig, which drooped down to his +shoulders, as white as powder could make it. From his dainty riding-hat +to his shining spur there was no speck or stain upon him--a sad set-off +to my own state, plastered as I was with a thick crust of the Sedgemoor +mud, and disordered from having ridden and worked for two days without +rest or repose. + +'Split me, but you have come in good time!' he exclaimed, as I entered. +'I have even now sent down for a flask of canary. Ah, and here it +comes!' as a maid from the inn tripped upstairs with the bottle and +glasses. 'Here is a gold piece, my pretty dear, the very last that I +have in the whole world. It is the only survivor of a goodly family. +Pay mine host for the wine, little one, and keep the change for thyself, +to buy ribbons for the next holiday. Now, curse me if I can get this +cravat to fit unwrinkled!' + +'There is nought amiss with it,' I answered. 'How can such trifles +occupy you at such a time?' + +'Trifles!' he cried angrily. 'Trifles! Well, there, it boots not to +argue with you. Your bucolic mind would never rise to the subtle import +which may lie in such matters--the rest of mind which it is to have them +right, and the plaguey uneasiness when aught is wrong. It comes, +doubtless, from training, and it may be that I have it more than others +of my class. I feel as a cat who would lick all day to take the least +speck from her fur. Is not the patch over the eyebrow happily chosen? +Nay, you cannot even offer an opinion; I would as soon ask friend Marot, +the knight of the pistol. Fill up your glass!' + +'Your company awaits you by the church,' I remarked; 'I saw them as I +passed.' + +'How looked they?' he asked. 'Were they powdered and clean?' + +'Nay, I had little leisure to observe. I saw that they were cutting +their matches and arranging their priming.' + +'I would that they had all snaphances,' he answered, sprinkling himself +with scented water; 'the matchlocks are slow and cumbersome. Have you +had wine enough?' + +'I will take no more,' I answered. + +'Then mayhap the Major may care to finish it. It is not often I ask +help with a bottle, but I would keep my head cool this night. Let us go +down and see to our men.' + +It was ten o'clock when we descended into the street. The hubbub of the +preachers and the shouting of the people had died away, for the +regiments had fallen into their places, and stood silent and stern, with +the faint light from the lamps and windows playing over their dark +serried ranks. A cool, clear moon shone down upon us from amidst fleecy +clouds, which drifted ever and anon across her face. Away in the north +tremulous rays of light flickered up into the heavens, coming and going +like long, quivering fingers. They were the northern lights, a sight +rarely seen in the southland counties. It is little wonder that, coming +at such a time, the fanatics should have pointed to them as signals from +another world, and should have compared them to that pillar of fire +which guided Israel through the dangers of the desert. The footpaths +and the windows were crowded with women and children, who broke into +shrill cries of fear or of wonder as the strange light waxed and waned. + +'It is half after ten by St. Mary's clock,' said Saxon, as we rode up to +the regiment. 'Have we nothing to give the men?' + +'There is a hogshead of Zoyland cider in the yard of yonder inn,' said +Sir Gervas. 'Here, Dawson, do you take those gold sleeve links and give +them to mine host in exchange. Broach the barrel, and let each man have +his horn full. Sink me, if they shall fight with nought but cold water +in them.' + +'They will feel the need of it ere morning,' said Saxon, as a score of +pikemen hastened off to the inn. 'The marsh air is chilling to the +blood.' + +'I feel cold already, and Covenant is stamping with it,' said I. +'Might we not, if we have time upon our hands, canter our horses down +the line?' + +'Of a surety,' Saxon answered gladly, 'we could not do better;' so +shaking our bridles we rode off, our horses' hoofs striking fire from +the flint-paved streets as we passed. + +Behind the horse, in a long line which stretched from the Eastover gate, +across the bridge, along the High Street, up the Cornhill, and so past +the church to the Pig Cross, stood our foot, silent and grim, save when +some woman's voice from the windows called forth a deep, short answer +from the ranks. The fitful light gleamed on scythes-blade or +gun-barrel, and showed up the lines of rugged, hard set faces, some of +mere children with never a hair upon their cheeks, others of old +men whose grey beards swept down to their cross-belts, but all bearing +the same stamp of a dogged courage and a fierce self-contained +resolution. Here were still the fisher folk of the south. Here, too, +were the fierce men from the Mendips, the wild hunters from Porlock Quay +and Minehead, the poachers of Exmoor, the shaggy marshmen of Axbridge, +the mountain men from the Quantocks, the serge and wool-workers of +Devonshire, the graziers of Bampton, the red-coats from the Militia, +the stout burghers of Taunton, and then, as the very bone and sinew of +all, the brave smockfrocked peasants of the plains, who had turned up +their jackets to the elbow, and exposed their brown and corded arms, as +was their wont when good work had to be done. As I speak to you, dear +children, fifty years rolls by like a mist in the morning, and I am +riding once more down the winding street, and see again the serried +ranks of my gallant companions. Brave hearts! They showed to all +time how little training it takes to turn an Englishman into a soldier, +and what manner of men are bred in those quiet, peaceful hamlets which +dot the sunny slopes of the Somerset and Devon downs. If ever it should +be that England should be struck upon her knees, if those who fight her +battles should have deserted her, and she should find herself unarmed in +the presence of her enemy, let her take heart and remember that every +village in the realm is a barrack, and that her real standing army is +the hardy courage and simple virtue which stand ever in the breast of +the humblest of her peasants. + +As we rode down the long line a buzz of greeting and welcome rose now +and again from the ranks as they recognised through the gloom Saxon's +tall, gaunt figure. The clock was on the stroke of eleven as we +returned to our own men, and at that very moment King Monmouth rode out +from the inn where he was quartered, and trotted with his staff down the +High Street. All cheering had been forbidden, but waving caps and +brandished arms spoke the ardour of his devoted followers. No bugle was +to sound the march, but as each received the word the one in its rear +followed its movements. The clatter and shuffle of hundreds of moving +feet came nearer and nearer, until the Frome men in front of us began to +march, and we found ourselves fairly started upon the last journey which +many of us were ever to take in this world. + +Our road lay across the Parret, through Eastover, and so along the +winding track past the spot where Derrick met his fate, and the lonely +cottage of the little maid. At the other side of this the road becomes +a mere pathway over the plain. A dense haze lay over the moor, +gathering thickly in the hollows, and veiling both the town which we had +left and the villages which we were approaching. Now and again it would +lift for a few moments, and then I could see in the moonlight the long +black writhing line of the army, with the shimmer of steel playing over +it, and the rude white standards flapping in the night breeze. Far on +the right a great fire was blazing--some farmhouse, doubtless, which the +Tangiers devils had made spoil of. Very slow our march was, and very +careful, for the plain was, as Sir Stephen Timewell had told us, cut +across by great ditches or rhines, which could not be passed save at +some few places. These ditches were cut for the purpose of draining the +marshes, and were many feet deep of water and of mud, so that even the +horse could not cross them. The bridges were narrow, and some time +passed before the army could get over. At last, however, the two main +ones, the Black Ditch and the Langmoor Rhine, were safely traversed and +a halt was called while the foot was formed in line, for we had reason +to believe that no other force lay between the Royal camp and ourselves. +So far our enterprise had succeeded admirably. We were within half a +mile of the camp without mistake or accident, and none of the enemy's +scouts had shown sign of their presence. Clearly they held us in such +contempt that it had never occurred to them that we might open the +attack. If ever a general deserved a beating it was Feversham that +night. As he drew up upon the moor the clock of Chedzoy struck one. + +'Is it not glorious?' whispered Sir Gervas, as we reined up upon the +further side of the Langmoor Rhine. 'What is there on earth to compare +with the excitement of this?' + +'You speak as though it wore a cocking-match or a bull-baiting, +'I answered, with some little coldness. 'It is a solemn and a sad +occasion. Win who will, English blood must soak the soil of England +this night.' + +'The more room for those who are left,' said he lightly. 'Mark over +yonder the glow of their camp-fires amidst the fog. What was it that +your seaman friend did recommend? Get the weather-gauge of them and +board--eh? Have you told that to the Colonel?' + +'Nay, this is no time for quips and cranks,' I answered gravely; 'the +chances are that few of us will ever see to-morrow's sun rise.' + +'I have no great curiosity to see it,' he remarked, with a laugh. +'It will be much as yesterday's. Zounds! though I have never risen to +see one in my life, I have looked on many a hundred ere I went to bed.' + +'I have told friend Reuben such few things as I should desire to be done +in case I should fall,' said I. 'It has eased my mind much to know that +I leave behind some word of farewell, and little remembrance to all whom +I have known. Is there no service of the sort which I can do for you?' + +'Hum!' said he, musing. 'If I go under, you can tell Araminta--nay, let +the poor wench alone! Why should I send her messages which may plague +her! Should you be in town, little Tommy Chichester would be glad to +hear of the fun which we have had in Somerset. You will find him at +the Coca Tree every day of the week between two and four of the clock. +There is Mother Butterworth, too, whom I might commend to your notice. +She was the queen of wet-nurses, but alas! cruel time hath dried up her +business, and she hath need of some little nursing herself.' + +'If I live and you should fall, I shall do what may be done for her,' +said I. 'Have you aught else to say?' + +'Only that Hacker of Paul's Yard is the best for vests,' he answered. +'It is a small piece of knowledge, yet like most other knowledge it hath +been bought and paid for. One other thing! I have a trinket or two +left which might serve as a gift for the pretty Puritan maid, should our +friend lead her to the altar. Od's my life, but she will make him read +some queer books! How now, Colonel, why are we stuck out on the moor +like a row of herons among the sedges?' + +'They are ordering the line for the attack,' said Saxon, who had ridden +up during our conversation. 'Donnerblitz! Who ever saw a camp so +exposed to an onfall? Oh for twelve hundred good horse--for an hour of +Wessenburg's Pandours! Would I not trample them down until their camp +was like a field of young corn after a hail-storm!' + +'May not our horse advance?' I asked. + +The old soldier gave a deep snort of disdain. 'If this fight is to be +won it must be by our foot,' said he; 'what can we hope for from such +cavalry? Keep your men well in hand, for we may have to bear the brunt +of the King's dragoons. A flank attack would fall upon us, for we are +in the post of honour.' + +'There are troops to the right of us,' I answered, peering through the +darkness. + +'Aye! the Taunton burghers and the Frome peasants. Our brigade covers +the right flank. Next us are the Mendip miners, nor could I wish for +better comrades, if their zeal do not outrun their discretion. They are +on their knees in the mud at this moment.' + +'They will fight none the worse for that,' I remarked; 'but surely the +troops are advancing!' + +'Aye, aye!' cried Saxon joyously, plucking out his sword, and tying his +handkerchief round the handle to strengthen his grip. 'The hour has +come! Forwards!' + +Very slowly and silently we crept on through the dense fog, our feet +splashing and slipping in the sodden soil. With all the care which we +could take, the advance of so great a number of men could not be +conducted without a deep sonorous sound from the thousands of marching +feet. Ahead of us were splotches of ruddy light twinkling through the +fog which marked the Royal watch-fires. Immediately in front in a dense +column our own horse moved forwards. Of a sudden out of the darkness +there came a sharp challenge and a shout, with the discharge of a +carbine and the sound of galloping hoofs. Away down the line we heard a +ripple of shots. The first line of outposts had been reached. At the +alarm our horse charged forward with a huzza, and we followed them as +fast as our men could run. We had crossed two or three hundred yards +of moor, and could hear the blowing of the Royal bugles quite close to +us, when our horse came to a sudden halt, and our whole advance was at a +standstill. + +'Sancta Maria!' cried Saxon, dashing forward with the rest of us to find +out the cause of the delay. 'We must on at any cost! A halt now will +ruin our camisado.' + +'Forwards, forwards!' cried Sir Gervas and I, waving our swords. + +'It is no use, gentlemen,' cried a cornet of horse, wringing his hands; +'we are undone and betrayed. There is a broad ditch without a ford in +front of us, full twenty feet across!' + +'Give me room for my horse, and I shall show ye the way across!' cried +the Baronet, backing his steed. 'Now, lads, who's for a jump?' + +'Nay, sir, for God's sake!' said a trooper, laying his hand upon his +bridle. 'Sergeant Sexton hath sprung in even now, and horse and man +have gone to the bottom!' + +'Let us see it, then!' cried Saxon, pushing his way through the crowd of +horsemen. We followed close at his heels, until we found ourselves on +the borders of the vast trench which impeded our advance. + +To this day I have never been able to make up my mind whether it was by +chance or by treachery on the part of our guides that this fosse was +overlooked until we stumbled upon it in the dark. There are some who +say that the Bussex Rhine, as it is called, is not either deep or broad, +and was, therefore, unmentioned by the moorsmen, but that the recent +constant rains had swollen it to an extent never before known. Others +say that the guides had been deceived by the fog, and taken a wrong +course, whereas, had we followed another track, we might have been able +to come upon the camp without crossing the ditch. However that may be, +it is certain that we found it stretching in front of us, broad, black, +and forbidding, full twenty feet from bank to bank, with the cap of the +ill-fated sergeant just visible in the centre as a mute warning to all +who might attempt to ford it. + +'There must be a passage somewhere,' cried Saxon furiously. 'Every +moment is worth a troop of horse to them. Where is my Lord Grey? Hath +the guide met with his deserts?' + +'Major Hollis hath hurled the guide into the ditch,' the young cornet +answered. 'My Lord Grey hath ridden along the bank seeking for a ford.' + +I caught a pike out of a footman's hand, and probed into the black oozy +mud, standing myself up to the waist in it, and holding Covenant's +bridle in my left hand. Nowhere could I touch bottom or find any hope +of solid foothold. + +'Here, fellow!' cried Saxon, seizing a trooper by the arm. 'Make for +the rear! Gallop as though the devil were behind you! Bring up a pair +of ammunition waggons, and we shall see whether we cannot bridge this +infernal puddle.' + +'If a few of us could make a lodgment upon the other side we might make +it good until help came,' said Sir Gervas, as the horseman galloped off +upon his mission. + +All down the rebel line a fierce low roar of disappointment and rage +showed that the whole army had met the same obstacle which hindered our +attack. On the other side of the ditch the drums beat, the bugles +screamed, and the shouts and oaths of the officers could be heard as +they marshalled their men. Glancing lights in Chedzoy, Westonzoyland, +and the other hamlets to left and right, showed how fast the alarm was +extending. Decimus Saxon rode up and down the edge of the fosse, +pattering forth foreign oaths, grinding his teeth in his fury, and +rising now and again in his stirrups to shake his gauntleted hands at +the enemy. + +'For whom are ye?' shouted a hoarse voice out of the haze. + +'For the King!' roared the peasants in answer. + +'For which King?' cried the voice. + +'For King Monmouth!' + +'Let them have it, lads!' and instantly a storm of musket bullets +whistled and sung about our ears. As the sheet of flame sprang out of +the darkness the maddened, half-broken horses dashed wildly away across +the plain, resisting the efforts of the riders to pull them up. There +are some, indeed, who say that those efforts were not very strong, and +that our troopers, disheartened at the check at the ditch, were not +sorry to show their heels to the enemy. As to my Lord Grey, I can say +truly that I saw him in the dim light among the flying squadrons, doing +all that a brave cavalier could do to bring them to a stand. Away they +went, however, thundering through the ranks of the foot and out over the +moor, leaving their companions to bear the whole brunt of the battle. + +'On to your faces, men!' shouted Saxon, in a voice which rose high above +the crash of the musketry and the cries of the wounded. The pikemen and +scythesmen threw themselves down at his command, while the musqueteers +knelt in front of them, loading and firing, with nothing to aim at save +the burning matches of the enemy's pieces, which could be seen twinkling +through the darkness. All along, both to the right and the left, a +rolling fire had broken out, coming in short, quick volleys from the +soldiers, and in a continuous confused rattle from the peasants. On the +further wing our four guns had been brought into play, and we could hear +their dull growling in the distance. + +'Sing, brothers, sing!' cried our stout-hearted chaplain, Master Joshua +Pettigrue, bustling backwards and forwards among the prostrate ranks. +'Let us call upon the Lord in our day of trial!' The men raised a loud +hymn of praise, which swelled into a great chorus as it was taken up by +the Taunton burghers upon our right and the miners upon our left. +At the sound the soldiers on the other side raised a fierce huzza, and +the whole air was full of clamour. + +Our musqueteers had been brought to the very edge of the Bussex Rhine, +and the Royal troops had also advanced as far as they were able, so that +there were not five pikes'-lengths between the lines. Yet that short +distance was so impassable that, save for the more deadly fire, a +quarter of a mile might have divided us. So near were we that the +burning wads from the enemy's muskets flew in flakes of fire over our +heads, and we felt upon our faces the hot, quick flush of their +discharges. Yet though the air was alive with bullets, the aim of the +soldiers was too high for our kneeling ranks, and very few of the men +were struck. For our part, we did what we could to keep the barrels of +our muskets from inclining upwards. Saxon, Sir Gervas, and I walked our +horses up and down without ceasing, pushing them level with our +sword-blades, and calling on the men to aim steadily and slowly. +The groans and cries from the other side of the ditch showed that some, +at least, of our bullets had not been fired in vain. + +'We hold our own in this quarter,' said I to Saxon. 'It seems to me +that their fire slackens.' + +'It is their horse that I fear,' he answered. 'They can avoid the +ditch, since they come from the hamlets on the flank. They may be upon +us at any time.' + +'Hullo, sir!' shouted Sir Gervas, reining up his steed upon the very +brink of the ditch, and raising his cap in salute to a mounted officer +upon the other side. 'Can you tell me if we have the honour to be +opposed to the foot guards?' + +'We are Dumbarton's regiment, sir,' cried the other. 'We shall give ye +good cause to remember having met us.' + +'We shall be across presently to make your further acquaintance,' Sir +Gervas answered, and at the same moment rolled, horse and all, into the +ditch, amid a roar of exultation from the soldiers. Half-a-dozen of his +musqueteers sprang instantly, waist deep, into the mud, and dragged our +friend out of danger, but the charger, which had been shot through the +heart, sank without a struggle. + +'There is no harm!' cried the Baronet, springing to his feet, 'I would +rather fight on foot like my brave musqueteers.' The men broke out +a-cheering at his words, and the fire on both sides became hotter than +ever. It was a marvel to me, and to many more, to see these brave +peasants with their mouths full of bullets, loading, priming, and firing +as steadily as though they had been at it all their lives, and holding +their own against a veteran regiment which has proved itself in other +fields to be second to none in the army of England. + +The grey light of morning was stealing over the moor, and still the +fight was undecided. The fog hung about us in feathery streaks, and the +smoke from our guns drifted across in a dun-coloured cloud, through +which the long lines of red coats upon the other side of the rhine +loomed up like a battalion of giants. My eyes ached and my lips +prinkled with the smack of the powder. On every side of me men were +falling fast, for the increased light had improved the aim of the +soldiers. Our good chaplain, in the very midst of a psalm, had uttered +a great shout of praise and thanksgiving, and so passed on to join those +of his parishioners who were scattered round him upon the moor. +Hope-above Williams and Keeper Milson, under-officers, and among the +stoutest men in the company, were both down, the one dead and the other +sorely wounded, but still ramming down charges, and spitting bullets +into his gun-barrel. The two Stukeleys of Somerton, twins, and lads of +great promise, lay silently with grey faces turned to the grey sky, +united in death as they had been in birth. Everywhere the dead lay +thick amid the living. Yet no man flinched from his place, and Saxon +still walked his horse among them with words of hope and praise, while +his stern, deep-lined face and tall sinewy figure were a very beacon of +hope to the simple rustics. Such of my scythesmen as could handle a +musket were thrown forward into the fighting line, and furnished with +the arms and pouches of those who had fallen. + +Ever and anon as the light waxed I could note through the rifts in the +smoke and the fog how the fight was progressing in other parts of the +field. On the right the heath was brown with the Taunton and Frome men, +who, like ourselves, were lying down to avoid the fire. Along the +borders of the Bussex Rhine a deep fringe of their musqueteers were +exchanging murderous volleys, almost muzzle to muzzle, with the left +wing of the same regiment with which we were engaged, which was +supported by a second regiment in broad white facings, which I believe +to have belonged to the Wiltshire Militia. On either bank of the black +trench a thick line of dead, brown on the one side, and scarlet on the +other, served as a screen to their companions, who sheltered themselves +behind them and rested their musket-barrels upon their prostrate bodies. +To the left amongst the withies lay five hundred Mendip and Bagworthy +miners, singing lustily, but so ill-armed that they had scarce one gun +among ten wherewith to reply to the fire which was poured into them. +They could not advance, and they would not retreat, so they sheltered +themselves as best they might, and waited patiently until their leaders +might decide what was to be done. Further down for half a mile or more +the long rolling cloud of smoke, with petulant flashes of flame spurting +out through it, showed that every one of our raw regiments was bearing +its part manfully. The cannon on the left had ceased firing. The Dutch +gunners had left the Islanders to settle their own quarrels, and were +scampering back to Bridgewater, leaving their silent pieces to the Royal +Horse. + +The battle was in this state when there rose a cry of 'The King, the +King!' and Monmouth rode through our ranks, bare-headed and wild-eyed, +with Buyse, Wade, and a dozen more beside him. They pulled up within a +spear's-length of me, and Saxon, spurring forward to meet them, raised +his sword to the salute. I could not but mark the contrast between the +calm, grave face of the veteran, composed yet alert, and the half +frantic bearing of the man whom we were compelled to look upon as our +leader. + +'How think ye, Colonel Saxon?' he cried wildly. 'How goes the fight? +Is all well with ye? What an error, alas! what an error! Shall we draw +off, eh? How say you?' + +'We hold our own here, your Majesty,' Saxon answered. 'Methinks had we +something after the nature of palisados or stockados, after the Swedish +fashion, we might even make it good against the horse.' + +'Ah, the horse!' cried the unhappy Monmouth. 'If we get over this, my +Lord Grey shall answer for it. They ran like a flock of sheep. +What leader could do anything with such troops? Oh, lack-a-day, +lack-a-day! Shall we not advance?' + +'There is no reason to advance, your Majesty, now that the surprise has +failed,' said Saxon. 'I had sent for carts to bridge over the trench, +according to the plan which is commended in the treatise, "De vallis et +fossis," but they are useless now. We can but fight it out as we are.' + +'To throw troops across would be to sacrifice them,' said Wade. +'We have lost heavily, Colonel Saxon, but I think from the look of +yonder bank that ye have given a good account of the red-coats.' + +'Stand firm! For God's sake, stand firm!' cried Monmouth distractedly. +'The horse have fled, and the cannoniers also. Oh! what can I do with +such men? What shall I do? Alas, alas!' He set spurs to his horse and +galloped off down the line, still ringing his hands and uttering his +dismal wailings. Oh, my children, how small, how very small a thing is +death when weighed in the balance with dishonour! Had this man but +borne his fate silently, as did the meanest footman who followed his +banners, how proud and glad would we have been to have discoursed of +him, our princely leader. But let him rest. The fears and agitations +and petty fond emotions, which showed upon him as the breeze shows upon +the water, are all stilled now for many a long year. Let us think of +the kind heart and forget the feeble spirit. + +As his escort trooped after him, the great German man-at-arms separated +from them and turned back to us. 'I am weary of trotting up and down +like a lust-ritter at a fair,' said he. 'If I bide with ye I am like to +have my share of any fighting which is going. So, steady, mein +Liebchen. That ball grazed her tail, but she is too old a soldier to +wince at trifles. Hullo, friend, where is your horse?' + +'At the bottom of the ditch,' said Sir Gervas, scraping the mud off his +dress with his sword-blade. ''Tis now half-past two,' he continued, +'and we have been at this child's-play for an hour and more. With a +line regiment, too! It is not what I had looked forward to!' + +'You shall have something to console you anon,' cried the German, with +his eyes shining. 'Mein Gott! Is it not splendid? Look to it, friend +Saxon, look to it!' + +It was no light matter which had so roused the soldier's admiration. +Out of the haze which still lay thick upon our right there twinkled here +and there a bright gleam of silvery light, while a dull, thundering +noise broke upon our ears like that of the surf upon a rocky shore. +More and more frequent came the fitful flashes of steel, louder and yet +louder grew the hoarse gathering tumult, until of a sudden the fog was +rent, and the long lines of the Royal cavalry broke out from it, wave +after wave, rich in scarlet and blue and gold, as grand a sight as ever +the eye rested upon. There was something in the smooth, steady sweep of +so great a body of horsemen which gave the feeling of irresistible +power. Rank after rank, and line after line, with waving standards, +tossing manes, and gleaming steel, they poured onwards, an army in +themselves, with either flank still shrouded in the mist. As they +thundered along, knee to knee and bridle to bridle, there came from them +such a gust of deep-chested oaths with the jangle of harness, the clash +of steel, and the measured beat of multitudinous hoofs, that no man who +hath not stood up against such a whirlwind, with nothing but a +seven-foot pike in his hand, can know how hard it is to face it with a +steady lip and a firm grip. + +But wonderful as was the sight, there was, as ye may guess, my dears, +little time for us to gaze upon it. Saxon and the German flung +themselves among the pikemen and did all that men could do to thicken +their array. Sir Gervas and I did the same with the scythesmen, who had +been trained to form a triple front after the German fashion, one rank +kneeling, one stooping, and one standing erect, with weapons advanced. +Close to us the Taunton men had hardened into a dark sullen ring, +bristling with steel, in the centre of which might be seen and heard +their venerable Mayor, his long beard fluttering in the breeze, and his +strident voice clanging over the field. Louder and louder grew the roar +of the horse. 'Steady, my brave lads,' cried Saxon, in trumpet tones. +'Dig the pike-butt into the earth! Best it on the right foot! Give not +an inch! Steady!' A great shout went up from either side, and then +the living wave broke over us. + +What hope is there to describe such a scene as that--the crashing of +wood, the sharp gasping cries, the snorting of horses, the jar when the +push of pike met with the sweep of sword! Who can hope to make another +see that of which he himself carries away so vague and dim an +impression? One who has acted in such a scene gathers no general sense +of the whole combat, such as might be gained by a mere onlooker, but he +has stamped for ever upon his mind just the few incidents which may +chance to occur before his own eyes. Thus my memories are confined to a +swirl of smoke with steel caps and fierce, eager faces breaking through +it, with the red gaping nostrils of horses and their pawing fore-feet as +they recoiled from the hedge of steel. I see, too, a young beardless +lad, an officer of dragoons, crawling on hands and knees under the +scythes, and I hear his groan as one of the peasants pinned him to the +ground. I see a bearded, broad-faced trooper riding a grey horse just +outside the fringe of the scythes, seeking for some entrance, and +screaming the while with rage. Small things imprint themselves upon a +man's notice at such a time. I even marked the man's strong white teeth +and pink gums. At the same time I see a white-faced, thin-lipped man +leaning far forward over his horse's neck and driving at me with his +sword point, cursing the while as only a dragoon can curse. All these +images start up as I think of that fierce rally, during which I hacked +and cut and thrust at man and horse without a thought of parry or of +guard. All round rose a fierce babel of shouts and cries, godly +ejaculations from the peasants and oaths from the horsemen, with Saxon's +voice above all imploring his pikemen to stand firm. Then the cloud of +horse-men recoiled, circling off over the plain, and the shout of +triumph from my comrades, and an open snuff-box thrust out in front of +me, proclaimed that we had seen the back of as stout a squadron as ever +followed a kettledrum. + +But if we could claim it as a victory, the army in general could scarce +say as much. None but the very pick of the troops could stand against +the flood of heavy horses and steel-clad men. The Frome peasants were +gone, swept utterly from the field. Many had been driven by pure weight +and pressure into the fatal mud which had checked our advance. Many +others, sorely cut and slashed, lay in ghastly heaps all over the ground +which they had held. A few by joining our ranks had saved themselves +from the fate of their companions. Further off the men of Taunton still +stood fast, though in sadly diminished numbers. A long ridge of horses +and cavaliers in front of them showed how stern had been the attack and +how fierce the resistance. On our left the wild miners had been broken +at the first rush, but had fought so savagely, throwing themselves upon +the ground and stabbing upwards at the stomachs of the horses, that they +had at last beaten off the dragoons. The Devonshire militiamen, +however, had been scattered, and shared the fate of the men of Frome. +During the whole of the struggle the foot upon the further bank of the +Bussex Rhine were pouring in a hail of bullets, which our musqueteers, +having to defend themselves against the horse, were unable to reply to. + +It needed no great amount of soldierly experience to see that the battle +was lost, and that Monmouth's cause was doomed. It was broad daylight +now, though the sun had not yet risen. Our cavalry was gone, our +ordnance was silent, our line was pierced in many places, and more than +one of our regiments had been destroyed. On the right flank the Horse +Guards Blue, the Tangiers Horse, and two dragoon regiments were forming +up for a fresh attack. On the left the foot-guards had bridged the +ditch and were fighting hand to hand with the men from North Somerset. +In front a steady fire was being poured into us, to which our reply was +feeble and uncertain, for the powder carts had gone astray in the dark, +and many were calling hoarsely for ammunition, while others were +loading with pebbles instead of ball. Add to this that the regiments +which still held their ground had all been badly shaken by the charge, +and had lost a third of their number. Yet the brave clowns sent up +cheer after cheer, and shouted words of encouragement and homely jests +to each other, as though a battle were but some rough game which must as +a matter of course be played out while there was a player left to join +in it. + +'Is Captain Clarke there?' cried Decimus Saxon, riding up with his +sword-arm flecked with blood. 'Ride over to Sir Stephen Timewell and +tell him to join his men to ours. Apart we shall be broken--together we +may stand another charge.' + +Setting spurs to Covenant I rode over to our companions and delivered +the message. Sir Stephen, who had been struck by a petronel bullet, and +wore a crimsoned kerchief bound round his snow-white head, saw the +wisdom of the advice, and moved his townsmen as directed. His +musqueteers being better provided with powder than ours did good service +by keeping down for a time the deadly fire from across the fosse. + +'Who would have thought it of him?' cried Sir Stephen, with flashing +eyes, as Buyse and Saxon rode out to meet him. 'What think ye now of +our noble monarch, our champion of the Protestant cause?' + +'He is no very great Krieger,' said Buyse. 'Yet perhaps it may be from +want of habit as much as from want of courage.' + +'Courage!' cried the old Mayor, in a voice of scorn. 'Look over yonder +and behold your King.' He pointed out over the moor with a finger which +shook as much from anger as from age. There, far away, showing up +against the dark peat-coloured soil, rode a gaily-dressed cavalier, +followed by a knot of attendants, galloping as fast as his horse would +carry him from the field of battle. There was no mistaking the +fugitive. It was the recreant Monmouth. + +'Hush!' cried Saxon, as we all gave a cry of horror and execration; +'do not dishearten our brave lads! Cowardice is catching and will run +through an army like the putrid fever.' + +'Der Feigherzige!' cried Buyse, grinding his teeth. 'And the brave +country folk! It is too much.' + +'Stand to your pikes, men!' roared Saxon, in a voice of thunder, and we +had scarce time to form our square and throw ourselves inside of it, +before the whirlwind of horse was upon us once more. When the Taunton +men had joined us a weak spot had been left in our ranks, and through +this in an instant the Blue Guards smashed their way, pouring through +the opening, and cutting fiercely to right and left. The burghers +on the one side and our own men on the other replied by savage stabs +from their pikes and scythes, which emptied many a saddle, but while the +struggle was at its hottest the King's cannon opened for the first time +with a deafening roar upon the other side of the rhine, and a storm of +balls ploughed their way through our dense ranks, leaving furrows of +dead and wounded behind them. At the same moment a great cry of +'Powder! For Christ's sake, powder!' arose from the musqueteers whose +last charge had been fired. Again the cannon roared, and again our men +were mowed down as though Death himself with his scythe were amongst us. +At last our ranks were breaking. In the very centre of the pikemen +steel caps were gleaming, and broadswords rising and falling. The whole +body was swept back two hundred paces or more, struggling furiously the +while, and was there mixed with other like bodies which had been dashed +out of all semblance of military order, and yet refused to fly. Men of +Devon, of Dorset, of Wiltshire, and of Somerset, trodden down by horse, +slashed by dragoons, dropping by scores under the rain of bullets, still +fought on with a dogged, desperate courage for a ruined cause and a man +who had deserted them. Everywhere as I glanced around me were set +faces, clenched teeth, yells of rage and defiance, but never a sound of +fear or of submission. Some clambered up upon the cruppers of the +riders and dragged them backwards from their saddles. Others lay upon +their faces and hamstrung the chargers with their scythe-blades, +stabbing the horsemen before they could disengage themselves. Again and +again the guards crashed through them from side to side, and yet the +shattered ranks closed up behind them and continued the long-drawn +struggle. So hopeless was it and so pitiable that I could have found it +in my heart to wish that they would break and fly, were it not that on +the broad moor there was no refuge which they could make for. And all +this time, while they struggled and fought, blackened with powder and +parched with thirst, spilling their blood as though it were water, the +man who called himself their King was spurring over the countryside with +a loose rein and a quaking heart, his thoughts centred upon saving his +own neck, come what might to his gallant followers. + +Large numbers of the foot fought to the death, neither giving nor +receiving quarter; but at last, scattered, broken, and without +ammunition, the main body of the peasants dispersed and fled across the +moor, closely followed by the horse. Saxon, Buyse, and I had done all +that we could to rally them once more, and had cut down some of the +foremost of the pursuers, when my eye fell suddenly upon Sir Gervas, +standing hatless with a few of his musqueteers in the midst of a swarm +of dragoons. Spurring our horses we cut a way to his rescue, and laid +our swords about us until we had cleared off his assailants for the +moment. + +'Jump up behind me!' I cried. 'We can make good our escape.' + +He looked up smiling and shook his head. 'I stay with my company,' said +he. + +'Your company!' Saxon cried. 'Why, man, you are mad! Your company is +cut off to the last man.' + +'That's what I mean,' he answered, flicking some dirt from his cravat. +'Don't ye mind! Look out for yourselves. Goodbye, Clarke! Present my +compliments to--' The dragoons charged down upon us again. We were all +borne backwards, fighting desperately, and when we could look round the +Baronet was gone for ever. We heard afterwards that the King's troops +found upon the field a body which they mistook for that of Monmouth, on +account of the effeminate grace of the features and the richness of the +attire. No doubt it was that of our undaunted friend, Sir Gervas +Jerome, a name which shall ever be dear to my heart. When, ten years +afterwards, we heard much of the gallantry of the young courtiers of the +household of the French King, and of the sprightly courage with which +they fought against us in the Lowlands at Steinkirk and elsewhere, I +have always thought, from my recollection of Sir Gervas, that I knew +what manner of men they were. + +And now it was every man for himself. In no part of the field did the +insurgents continue to resist. The first rays of the sun shining +slantwise across the great dreary plain lit up the long line of the +scarlet battalions, and glittered upon the cruel swords which rose and +fell among the struggling drove of resistless fugitives. The German had +become separated from us in the tumult, and we knew not whether he lived +or was slain, though long afterwards we learned that he made good his +escape, only to be captured with the ill-fated Duke of Monmouth. +Grey, Wade, Ferguson, and others had contrived also to save themselves, +while Stephen Timewell lay in the midst of a stern ring of his +hard-faced burghers, dying as he had lived, a gallant Puritan +Englishman. All this we learned afterwards. At present we rode for our +lives across the moor, followed by a few scattered bodies of horse, who +soon abandoned their pursuit in order to fasten upon some more easy +prey. + +We were passing a small clump of alder bushes when a loud manly voice +raised in prayer attracted our attention. Pushing aside the branches, +we came upon a man, seated with his back up against a great stone, +cutting at his own arm with a broad-bladed knife, and giving forth the +Lord's prayer the while, without a pause or a quiver in his tone. As he +glanced up from his terrible task we both recognised him as one Hollis, +whom I have mentioned as having been with Cromwell at Dunbar. His arm +had been half severed by a cannon-ball, and he was quietly completing +the separation in order to free himself from the dangling and useless +limb. Even Saxon, used as he was to all the forms and incidents of war, +stared open-eyed and aghast at this strange surgery; but the man, with a +short nod of recognition, went grimly forward with his task, until, even +as we gazed, he separated the last shred which held it, and lay over +with blanched lips which still murmured the prayer. [1] We could do +little to help him, and, indeed, might by our halt attract his pursuers +to his hiding-place; so, throwing him down my flask half filled with +water, we hastened on upon our way. Oh, war, my children, what a +terrible thing it is! How are men cozened and cheated by the rare +trappings and prancing steeds, by the empty terms of honour and of +glory, until they forget in the outward tinsel and show the real ghastly +horror of the accursed thing! Think not of the dazzling squadrons, nor +of the spirit-stirring blare of the trumpets, but think of that lonely +man under the shadow of the alders, and of what he was doing in a +Christian age and a Christian land. Surely I, who have grown grey in +harness, and who have seen as many fields as I have years of my life, +should be the last to preach upon this subject, and yet I can clearly +see that, in honesty, men must either give up war, or else they must +confess that the words of the Redeemer are too lofty for them, and that +there is no longer any use in pretending that His teaching can be +reduced to practice. I have seen a Christian minister blessing a cannon +which had just been founded, and another blessing a war-ship as it +glided from the slips. They, the so-called representatives of Christ, +blessed these engines of destruction which cruel man has devised to +destroy and tear his fellow-worms. What would we say if we read in Holy +Writ of our Lord having blessed the battering-rams and the catapults of +the legions? Would we think that it was in agreement with His teaching? +But there! As long as the heads of the Church wander away so far from +the spirit of its teaching as to live in palaces and drive in carriages, +what wonder if, with such examples before them, the lower clergy +overstep at times the lines laid down by their great Master? + +Looking back from the summit of the low hills which lie to the westward +of the moor, we could see the cloud of horse-men streaming over the +bridge of the Parret and into the town of Bridgewater, with the helpless +drove of fugitives still flying in front of them. We had pulled up our +horses, and were looking sadly and silently back at the fatal plain, +when the thud of hoofs fell upon our ears, and, turning round, we found +two horsemen in the dress of the guards riding towards us. They had +made a circuit to cut us off, for they were riding straight for us with +drawn swords and eager gestures. + +'More slaughter,' I said wearily. 'Why will they force us to it?' + +Saxon glanced keenly from beneath his drooping lids at the approaching +horsemen, and a grim smile wreathed his face in a thousand lines and +wrinkles. + +'It is our friend who set the hounds upon our track at Salisbury,' he +said. 'This is a happy meeting. I have a score to settle with him.' + +It was, indeed, the hot-headed young comet whom we had met at the outset +of our adventures. Some evil chance had led him to recognise the tall +figure of my companion as we rode from the field, and to follow him, in +the hope of obtaining revenge for the humiliation which he had met with +at his hands. The other was a lance-corporal, a man of square soldierly +build, riding a heavy black horse with a white blaze upon its forehead. + +Saxon rode slowly towards the officer, while the trooper and I fixed our +eyes upon each other. + +'Well, boy,' I heard my companion say, 'I trust that you have learned to +fence since we met last.' + +The young guardsman gave a snarl of rage at the taunt, and an instant +afterwards the clink of their sword-blades showed that they had met. +For my own part I dared not spare a glance upon them, for my opponent +attacked me with such fury that it was all that I could do to keep him +off. No pistol was drawn upon either side. It was an honest contest +of steel against steel. So constant were the corporal's thrusts, +now at my face, now at my body, that I had never an opening for one of +the heavy cuts which might have ended the matter. Our horses spun round +each other, biting and pawing, while we thrust and parried, until at +last, coming together knee to knee, we found ourselves within +sword-point, and grasped each other by the throat. He plucked a dagger +from his belt and struck it into my left arm, but I dealt him a blow +with my gauntleted hand, which smote him off his horse and stretched +him speechless upon the plain. Almost at the same moment the cornet +dropped from his horse, wounded in several places. Saxon sprang from +his saddle, and picking the soldier's dagger from the ground, would have +finished them both had I not jumped down also and restrained him. +He flashed round upon me with so savage a face that I could see that the +wild-beast nature within him was fairly roused. + +'What hast thou to do?' he snarled. 'Let go!' + +'Nay, nay! Blood enough hath been shed,' said I. 'Let them lie.' + +'What mercy would they have had upon us?' he cried passionately, +struggling to get his wrist free. 'They have lost, and must pay +forfeit.' + +'Not in cold blood,' I said firmly. 'I shall not abide it.' + +'Indeed, your lordship,' he sneered, with the devil peeping out through +his eyes. With a violent wrench he freed himself from my grasp, and +springing back, picked up the sword which he had dropped. + +'What then?' I asked, standing on my guard astride of the wounded man. + +He stood for a minute or more looking at me from under his heavy-hung +brows, with his whole face writhing with passion. Every instant I +expected that he would fly at me, but at last, with a gulp in his +throat, he sheathed his rapier with a sharp clang, and sprang back into +the saddle. + +'We part here,' he said coldly. 'I have twice been on the verge of +slaying you, and the third time might be too much for my patience. +You are no fit companion for a cavalier of fortune. Join the clergy, +lad; it is your vocation.' + +'Is this Decimus Saxon who speaks, or is it Will Spotterbridge?' +I asked, remembering his jest concerning his ancestry, but no answering +smile came upon his rugged face. Gathering up his bridle in his left +hand, he shot one last malignant glance at the bleeding officer, and +galloped off along one of the tracks which lead to the southward. +I stood gazing after him, but he never sent so much as a hand-wave back, +riding on with a rigid neck until he vanished in a dip in the moor. + +'There goes one friend,' thought I sadly, 'and all forsooth because I +will not stand by and see a helpless man's throat cut. Another friend +is dead on the field. A third, the oldest and dearest of all, lies +wounded at Bridgewater, at the mercy of a brutal soldiery. If I return +to my home I do but bring trouble and danger to those whom I love. +Whither shall I turn?' For some minutes I stood irresolute beside the +prostrate guardsmen, while Covenant strolled slowly along cropping the +scanty herbage, and turning his dark full eyes towards me from time to +time, as though to assure me that one friend at least was steadfast. +Northward I looked at the Polden Hills, southwards, at the Blackdowns, +westward at the long blue range of the Quantocks, and eastward at the +broad fen country; but nowhere could I see any hope of safety. Truth +to say, I felt sick at heart and cared little for the time whether +I escaped or no. + +A muttered oath followed by a groan roused me from my meditations. +The corporal was sitting up rubbing his head with a look of stupid +astonishment upon his face, as though he were not very sure either of +where he was or how he came there. The officer, too, had opened his +eyes and shown other signs of returning consciousness. His wounds were +clearly of no very serious nature. There was no danger of their +pursuing me even should they wish to do so, for their horses had trotted +off to join the numerous other riderless steeds who were wandering +all over the moorlands. I mounted, therefore, and rode slowly away, +saving my good charger as much as possible, for the morning's work had +already told somewhat heavily upon him. + +There were many scattered bodies of horse riding hither and thither over +the marshes, but I was able to avoid them, and trotted onwards, keeping +to the waste country until I found myself eight or ten miles from the +battlefield. The few cottages and houses which I passed wore deserted, +and many of them bore signs of having been plundered. Not a peasant was +to be seen. The evil fame of Kirke's lambs had chased away all those +who had not actually taken arms. At last, after riding for three +hours, I bethought me that I was far enough from the main line of +pursuit to be free from danger, so I chose out a sheltered spot where a +clump of bushes overhung a little brook. There, seated upon a bank of +velvet moss, I rested my weary limbs, and tried to wash the stains of +battle from my person. + +It was only now when I could look quietly at my own attire that it was +brought home to me how terrible the encounter must have been in which I +had been engaged, and how wonderful it was that I had come off so +scatheless. Of the blows which I had struck in the fight I had faint +remembrance, yet they must have been many and terrible, for my sword +edge was as jagged and turned as though I had hacked for an hour at an +iron bar. From head to foot I was splashed and crimsoned with blood, +partly my own, but mostly that of others. My headpiece was dinted with +blows. A petronel bullet had glanced off my front plate, striking it at +an angle, and had left a broad groove across it. Two or three other +cracks and stars showed where the good sheet of proof steel had saved +me. My left arm was stiff and well-nigh powerless from the corporal's +stab, but on stripping off my doublet and examining the place, I found +that though there had been much bleeding the wound was on the outer side +of the bone, and was therefore of no great import. A kerchief dipped in +water and bound tightly round it eased the smart and stanched the blood. +Beyond this scratch I had no injuries, though from my own efforts I felt +as stiff and sore all over as though I had been well cudgelled, and the +slight wound got in Wells Cathedral had reopened and was bleeding. With +a little patience and cold water, however, I was able to dress it and to +tie myself up as well as any chirurgeon in the kingdom. + +Having seen to my injuries I had now to attend to my appearance, for in +truth I might have stood for one of those gory giants with whom the +worthy Don Bellianis of Greece and other stout champions were wont to +contend. No woman or child but would have fled at the sight of me, for +I was as red as the parish butcher when Martinmas is nigh. A good wash, +however, in the brook soon removed those traces of war, and I was able +to get the marks off my breastplate and boots. In the case of my +clothes, however, it was so hopeless to clean them that I gave it up in +despair. My good old horse had been never so much as grazed by steel or +bullet, so that with a little watering and tending he was soon as fresh +as ever, and we turned our backs on the streamlet a better-favoured pair +than we had approached it. + +It was now going on to mid-day, and I began to feel very hungry, for I +had tasted nothing since the evening before. Two or three houses stood +in a cluster upon the moor, but the blackened walls and scorched thatch +showed that it was hopeless to expect anything from them. Once or twice +I spied folk in the fields or on the roadway; but at sight of an armed +horseman they ran for their lives, diving into the brushwood like wild +animals. At one place, where a high oak tree marked the meeting of +three roads, two bodies dangling from one of the branches showed that +the fears of the villagers were based upon experience. These poor men +had in all likelihood been hanged because the amount of their little +hoardings had not come up to the expectations of their plunderers; or +because, having given all to one band of robbers, they had nothing with +which to appease the next. At last, when I was fairly weary of my +fruitless search for food, I espied a windmill standing upon a green +hill at the other side of some fields. Judging from its appearance that +it had escaped the general pillage, I took the pathway which branched +away to it from the high-road. [Note J, Appendix] + +1. The incident is historically true, and may serve to show what sort +of men they were who had learned their soldiering under Cromwell. + + + +Chapter XXXIII. + + +Of my Perilous Adventure at the Mill + +At the base of the mill there stood a shed which was evidently used to +stall the horses which brought the farmers' grain. Some grass was +heaped up inside it, so I loosened Covenant's girths and left him to +have a hearty meal. The mill itself appeared to be silent and empty. +I climbed the steep wood ladder, and pushing the door open, walked into +a round stone-flagged room, from which a second ladder led to the loft +above. On one side of this chamber was a long wooden box, and all +round the walls were ranged rows of sacks full of flour. In the +fireplace stood a pile of faggots ready for lighting, so with the aid of +my tinder-box I soon had a cheerful blaze. Taking a large handful of +flour from the nearest bag I moistened it with water from a pitcher, and +having rolled it out into a flat cake, proceeded to bake it, smiling the +while to think of what my mother would say to such rough cookery. +Very sure I am that Patrick Lamb himself, whose book, the 'Complete +Court Cook,' was ever in the dear soul's left hand while she stirred and +basted with her right, could not have turned out a dish which was more +to my taste at the moment, for I had not even patience to wait for the +browning of it, but snapped it up and devoured it half hot. I then +rolled a second one, and having placed it before the fire, and drawn my +pipe from my pocket, I set myself to smoke, waiting with all the +philosophy which I could muster until it should be ready. + +I was lost in thought, brooding sadly over the blow which the news would +be to my father, when I was startled by a loud sneeze, which sounded as +though it were delivered in my very ear. I started to my feet and gazed +all round me, but there was nothing save the solid wall behind and the +empty chamber before. I had almost come to persuade myself that I had +been the creature of some delusion, when again a crashing sneeze, louder +and more prolonged than the last, broke upon the silence. Could some +one be hid in one of the bags? Drawing my sword I walked round pricking +the great flour sacks, but without being able to find cause for the +sound. I was still marvelling over the matter when a most extraordinary +chorus of gasps, snorts, and whistles broke out, with cries of 'Oh, holy +mother!' 'Blessed Redeemer!' and other such exclamations. This time +there could be no doubt as to whence the uproar came. Rushing up to the +great chest upon which I had been seated, I threw back the heavy lid and +gazed in. + +It was more than half full of flour, in the midst of which was +floundering some creature, which was so coated and caked with the white +powder, that it would have been hard to say that it was human were it +not for the pitiable cries which it was uttering. Stooping down I +dragged the man from his hiding-place, when he dropped upon his knees +upon the floor and yelled for mercy, raising such a cloud of dust +from every wriggle of his body that I began to cough and to sneeze. +As the skin of powder began to scale off from him, I saw to my surprise +that he was no miller or peasant, but was a man-at-arms, with a huge +sword girt to his side, looking at present not unlike a frosted icicle, +and a great steel-faced breastplate. His steel cap had remained behind +in the flour-bin, and his bright red hair, the only touch of colour +about him, stood straight up in the air with terror, as he implored me +to spare his life. Thinking that there was something familiar about his +voice, I drew my hand across his face, which set him yelling as though I +had slain him. There was no mistaking the heavy cheeks and the little +greedy eyes. It was none other than Master Tetheridge, the noisy +town-clerk of Taunton. + +But how much changed from the town-clerk whom we had seen strutting, in +all the pomp and bravery of his office, before the good Mayor on the day +of our coming to Somersetshire! Where now was the ruddy colour like a +pippin in September? Where was the assured manner and the manly port? +As he knelt his great jack-boots clicked together with apprehension, and +he poured forth in a piping voice, like that of a Lincoln's Inn mumper, +a string of pleadings, excuses, and entreaties, as though I were +Feversham in person, and was about to order him to instant execution. + +'I am but a poor scrivener man, your serene Highness,' he bawled. +'Indeed, I am a most unhappy clerk, your Honour, who has been driven +into these courses by the tyranny of those above him. A more loyal man, +your Grace, never wore neat's leather, but when the mayor says "Yes," +can the clerk say "No"? Spare me, your lordship; spare a most penitent +wretch, whose only prayer is that he may be allowed to serve King James +to the last drop of his blood!' + +'Do you renounce the Duke of Monmouth?' I asked, in a stern voice. + +'I do--from my heart!' said he fervently. + +'Then prepare to die!' I roared, whipping out my sword, 'for I am one of +his officers.' + +At the sight of the steel the wretched clerk gave a perfect bellow of +terror, and falling upon his face he wriggled and twisted, until looking +up he perceived that I was laughing. On that he crawled up on to his +knees once more, and from that to his feet, glancing at me askance, as +though by no means assured of my intentions. + +'You must remember me, Master Tetheridge,' I said. 'I am Captain +Clarke, of Saxon's regiment of Wiltshire foot. I am surprised, indeed, +that you should have fallen away from that allegiance to which you did +not only swear yourself, but did administer the oath to so many others.' + +'Not a whit, Captain, not a whit!' he answered, resuming his old +bantam-cock manner as soon as he saw that there was no danger. 'I am +upon oath as true and as leal a man as ever I was.' + +'That I can fully believe,' I answered. + +'I did but dissimulate,' he continued, brushing the flour from his +person. 'I did but practise that cunning of the serpent which should in +every warrior accompany the courage of the lion. You have read your +Homer, doubtless. Eh? I too have had a touch of the humanities. I am +no mere rough soldier, however stoutly I can hold mine own at +sword-play. Master Ulysses is my type, even as thine, I take it, is +Master Ajax.' + +'Methinks that Master Jack-in-the-box would fit you better,' said I. +'Wilt have a half of this cake? How came you in the flour-bin?' + +'Why, marry, in this wise,' he answered, with his mouth full of dough. +'It was a wile or ruse, after the fashion of the greatest commanders, +who have always been famous for concealing their movements, and lurking +where they were least expected. For when the fight was lost, and I had +cut and hacked until my arm was weary and my edge blunted, I found that +I was left alone alive of all the Taunton men. Were we on the field you +could see where I had stood by the ring of slain which would be found +within the sweep of my sword-arm. Finding that all was lost and that +our rogues were fled, I mounted our worthy Mayor's charger, seeing that +the gallant gentleman had no further need for it, and rode slowly from +the field. I promise you that there was that in my eye and bearing +which prevented their horse from making too close a pursuit of me. +One trooper did indeed throw himself across my path, but mine old +back-handed cut was too much for him. Alas, I have much upon my +conscience? I have made both widows and orphans. Why will they brave +me when--God of mercy, what is that?' + +''Tis but my horse in the stall below,' I answered. + +'I thought it was the dragoons,' quoth the clerk, wiping away the drops +which had started out upon his brow. 'You and I would have gone forth +and smitten them.' + +'Or climbed into the flour-bin,' said I. + +'I have not yet made clear to you how I came there,' he continued. +'Having ridden, then, some leagues from the field, and noting this +windmill, it did occur to me that a stout man might single-handed make +it good against a troop of horse. We have no great love of flight, we +Tetheridges. It may be mere empty pride, and yet the feeling runs +strong in the family. We have a fighting strain in us ever since my +kinsman followed Ireton's army as a sutler. I pulled up, therefore, and +had dismounted to take my observations, when my brute of a charger gave +the bridle a twitch, jerked itself free, and was off in an instant over +hedges and ditches. I had, therefore, only my good sword left to trust +to. I climbed up the ladder, and was engaged in planning how the +defence could best be conducted, when I heard the clank of hoofs, and on +the top of it you did ascend from below. I retired at once into ambush, +from which I should assuredly have made a sudden outfall or sally, had +the flour not so choked my breathing that I felt as though I had a +two-pound loaf stuck in my gizzard. For myself, I am glad that it has +so come about, for in my blind wrath I might unwittingly have done you +an injury. Hearing the clank of your sword as you did come up the +ladder, I did opine that you were one of King James's minions, the +captain, perchance, of some troop in the fields below.' + +'All very clear and explicit, Master Tetheridge,' said I, re-lighting my +pipe. 'No doubt your demeanour when I did draw you from your +hiding-place was also a mere cloak for your valour. But enough of that. +It is to the future that we have to look. What are your intentions?' + +'To remain with you, Captain,' said he. + +'Nay, that you shall not,' I answered; 'I have no great fancy for your +companionship. Your overflowing valour may bring me into ruffles which +I had otherwise avoided.' + +'Nay, nay! I shall moderate my spirit,' he cried. 'In such troublous +times you will find yourself none the worse for the company of a tried +fighting man.' + +'Tried and found wanting,' said I, weary of the man's braggart talk. +'I tell you I will go alone.' + +'Nay, you need not be so hot about it,' he exclaimed, shrinking away +from me. 'In any case, we had best stay here until nightfall, when we +may make our way to the coast.' + +'That is the first mark of sense that you have shown,' said I. +'The King's horse will find enough to do with the Zoyland cider and the +Bridgewater ale. If we can pass through, I have friends on the north +coast who would give us a lift in their lugger as far as Holland. +This help I will not refuse to give you, since you are my fellow in +misfortune. I would that Saxon had stayed with me! I fear he will be +taken!' + +'If you mean Colonel Saxon,' said the clerk, 'I think that he also is +one who hath much guile as well as valour. A stern, fierce soldier he +was, as I know well, having fought back to back with him for forty +minutes by the clock, against a troop of Sarsfield's horse. Plain of +speech he was, and perhaps a trifle inconsiderate of the honour of a +cavalier, but in the field it would have been well for the army had they +had more such commanders.' + +'You say truly,' I answered; 'but now that we have refreshed ourselves +it is time that we bethought us of taking some rest, since we may have +far to travel this night. I would that I could lay my hand upon a +flagon of ale.' + +'I would gladly drink to our further acquaintanceship in the same,' said +my companion, 'but as to the matter of slumber that may be readily +arranged. If you ascend that ladder you will find in the loft a litter +of empty sacks, upon which you can repose. For myself, I will stay down +here for a while and cook myself another cake.' + +'Do you remain on watch for two hours and then arouse me,' I replied. +'I shall then keep guard whilst you sleep.' He touched the hilt of his +sword as a sign that he would be true to his post, so not without some +misgivings I climbed up into the loft, and throwing myself upon the rude +couch was soon in a deep and dreamless slumber, lulled by the low, +mournful groaning and creaking of the sails. + +I was awoken by steps beside me, and found that the little clerk had +come up the ladder and was bending over me. I asked him if the time had +come for me to rouse, on which he answered in a strange quavering voice +that I had yet an hour, and that he had come up to see if there was any +service which he could render me. I was too weary to take much note of +his slinking manner and pallid cheeks, so thanking him for his +attention, I turned over and was soon asleep once more. + +My next waking was a rougher and a sterner one. There came a sudden +rush of heavy feet up the ladder, and a dozen red-coats swarmed into the +room. Springing on to my feet I put out my hand for the sword which I +had laid all ready by my side, but the trusty weapon had gone. It had +been stolen whilst I slumbered. Unarmed and taken at a vantage, I was +struck down and pinioned in a moment. One held a pistol to my head, and +swore that he would blow my brains out if I stirred, while the others +wound a coil of rope round my body and arms, until Samson himself could +scarce have got free. Feeling that my struggles were of no possible +avail, I lay silent and waited for whatever was to come. Neither now +nor at any time, dear children, have I laid great store upon my life, +but far less then than now, for each of you are tiny tendrils which bind +me to this world. Yet, when I think of the other dear ones who are +waiting for me on the further shore, I do not think that even now death +would seem an evil thing in my eyes. What a hopeless and empty thing +would life be without it! + +Having lashed my arms, the soldiers dragged me down the ladder, as +though I had been a truss of hay, into the room beneath, which was also +crowded with troopers. In one corner was the wretched scrivener, a +picture of abject terror, with chattering teeth and trembling knees, +only prevented from falling upon the floor by the grasp of a stalwart +corporal. In front of him stood two officers, one a little hard brown +man with dark twinkling eyes and an alert manner, the other tall and +slender, with a long golden moustache, which drooped down half-way to +his shoulders. The former had my sword in his hand, and they were both +examining the blade curiously. + +'It is a good bit of steel, Dick,' said one, putting the point against +the stone floor, and pressing down until he touched it with the handle. +'See, with what a snap it rebounds! No maker's name, but the date 1638 +is stamped upon the pommel. Where did you get it, fellow?' he asked, +fixing his keen gaze upon my face. + +'It was my father's before me,' I answered. + +'Then I trust that he drew it in a better quarrel than his son hath +done,' said the taller officer, with a sneer. + +'In as good, though not in a better,' I returned. 'That sword hath +always been drawn for the rights and liberties of Englishmen, and +against the tyranny of kings and the bigotry of priests.' + +'What a tag for a playhouse, Dick,' cried the officer. 'How doth it +run? "The bigotry of kings and the tyranny of priests." Why, if well +delivered by Betterton close up to the footlights, with one hand upon +his heart and the other pointing to the sky, I warrant the pit would +rise at it.' + +'Very like,' said the other, twirling his moustache. 'But we have no +time for fine speeches now. What are we to do with the little one?' + +'Hang him,' the other answered carelessly. + +'No, no, your most gracious honours,' howled Master Tetheridge, suddenly +writhing out of the corporal's grip and flinging himself upon the floor +at their feet. 'Did I not tell ye where ye could find one of the +stoutest soldiers of the rebel army? Did not I guide ye to him? +Did not I even creep up and remove his sword lest any of the King's +subjects be slain in the taking of him? Surely, surely, ye would not +use me so scurvily when I have done ye these services? Have I not +made good my words? Is he not as I described him, a giant in stature +and of wondrous strength? The whole army will bear me out in it, that +he was worth any two in single fight. I have given him over to ye. +Surely ye will let me go!' + +'Very well delivered--plaguily so!' quoth the little officer, clapping +the palm of one hand softly against the back of the other. 'The +emphasis was just, and the enunciation clear. A little further back +towards the wings, corporal, if you please. Thank you! Now, Dick, it +is your cue.' + +'Nay, John, you are too absurd!' cried the other impatiently. 'The mask +and the buskins are well enough in their place, but you look upon the +play as a reality and upon the reality as but a play. What this reptile +hath said is true. We must keep faith with him if we wish that others +of the country folk should give up the fugitives. There is no help +for it!' + +'For myself I believe in Jeddart law,' his companion answered. 'I would +hang the man first and then discuss the question of our promise. +However, pink me if I will obtrude my opinion on any man!' + +'Nay, it cannot be,' the taller said. 'Corporal, do you take him down. +Henderson will go with you. Take from him that plate and sword, which +his mother would wear with as good a grace. And hark ye, corporal, a +few touches of thy stirrup leathers across his fat shoulders might not +be amiss, as helping him to remember the King's dragoons.' + +My treacherous companion was dragged off, struggling and yelping, and +presently a series of piercing howls, growing fainter and fainter as he +fled before his tormentors, announced that the hint had been taken. +The two officers rushed to the little window of the mill and roared with +laughter, while the troopers, peeping furtively over their shoulders, +could not restrain themselves from joining in their mirth, from which I +gathered that Master Tetheridge, as, spurred on by fear, he hurled his +fat body through hedges and into ditches, was a somewhat comical sight. + +'And now for the other,' said the little officer, turning away from the +window and wiping the tears of laughter from his face. 'That beam over +yonder would serve our purpose. Where is Hangman Broderick, the Jack +Ketch of the Royals?' + +'Here I am, sir,' responded a sullen, heavy-faced trooper, shuffling +forward; 'I have a rope here with a noose.' + +'Throw it over the beam, then. What is amiss with your hand, you clumsy +rogue, that you should wear linen round it?' + +'May it please you, sir,' the man answered, 'it was all through an +ungrateful, prick-eared Presbyterian knave whom I hung at Gommatch. +I had done all that could be done for him. Had he been at Tyburn he +could scarce have met with more attention. Yet when I did put my hand +to his neck to see that all was as it should be, he did fix me with his +teeth, and hath gnawed a great piece from my thumb.' + +'I am sorry for you,' said the officer. 'You know, no doubt, that the +human bite under such circumstances is as deadly as that of the mad dog, +so that you may find yourself snapping and barking one of these fine +mornings. Nay, turn not pale! I have heard you preach patience and +courage to your victims. You are not afraid of death?' + +'Not of any Christian death, your Honour. Yet, ten shillings a week is +scarce enough to pay a man for an end like that!' + +'Nay, it is all a lottery,' remarked the Captain cheerily. 'I have +heard that in these cases a man is so drawn up that his heels do beat a +tattoo against the back of his head. But, mayhap, it is not as painful +as it would appear. Meanwhile, do you proceed to do your office.' + +Three or four troopers caught me by the arms, but I shook them off as +best I might, and walked with, as I trust, a steady step and a cheerful +face under the beam, which was a great smoke-blackened rafter passing +from one side of the chamber to the other. The rope was thrown over +this, and the noose placed round my neck with trembling fingers by the +hangman, who took particular care to keep beyond the range of my teeth. +Half-a-dozen dragoons seized the further end of the coil, and stood +ready to swing me into eternity. Through all my adventurous life I have +never been so close upon the threshold of death as at that moment, and +yet I declare to you that, terrible as my position was, I could think of +nothing but the tattoo marks upon old Solomon Sprent's arm, and the +cunning fashion in which he had interwoven the red and the blue. Yet I +was keenly alive to all that was going on around me. The scene of the +bleak stone-floored room, the single narrow window, the two lounging +elegant officers, the pile of arms in the corner, and even the texture +of the coarse red serge and the patterns of the great brass buttons upon +the sleeve of the man who held me, are all stamped clearly upon my mind. + +'We must do our work with order,' remarked the taller Captain, taking a +note-book from his pocket. 'Colonel Sarsfield may desire some details. +Let me see! This is the seventeenth, is it not?' + +'Four at the farm and five at the cross-roads,' the other answered, +counting upon his fingers. 'Then there was the one whom we shot in the +hedge, and the wounded one who nearly saved himself by dying, and the +two in the grove under the hill. I can remember no more, save those who +were strung up in 'Bridgewater immediately after the action.' + +'It is well to do it in an orderly fashion,' quoth the other, scribbling +in his book. 'It is very well for Kirke and his men, who are half Moors +themselves, to hang and to slaughter without discrimination or ceremony, +but we should set them a better example. What is your name, sirrah?' + +'My name is Captain Micah Clarke,' I answered. + +The two officers looked at each other, and the smaller one gave a long +whistle. 'It is the very man!' said he. 'This comes of asking +questions! Rat me, if I had not misgivings that it might prove to be +so. They said that he was large of limb.' + +'Tell me, sirrah, have you ever known one Major Ogilvy of the Horse +Guards Blue?' asked the Captain. + +'Seeing that I had the honour of taking him prisoner,' I replied, 'and +seeing also that he hath shared soldier's fare and quarters with me ever +since, I think I may fairly say that I do know him.' + +'Cast loose the cord!' said the officer, and the hangman reluctantly +slipped the cord over my head once more. 'Young man, you are surely +reserved for something great, for you will never be nearer your grave +until you do actually step into it. This Major Ogilvy hath made great +interest both for you and for a wounded comrade of yours who lies at +Bridgewater. Your name hath been given to the commanders of horse, with +orders to bring you in unscathed should you be taken. Yet it is but +fair to tell you that though the Major's good word may save you from +martial law, it will stand you in small stead before a civil judge, +before whom ye must in the end take your trial.' + +'I desire to share the same lot and fortune as has befallen my +companions-in-arms,' I answered. + +'Nay, that is but a sullen way to take your deliverance,' cried the +smaller officer. 'The situation is as flat as sutler's beer. Otway +would have made a bettor thing of it. Can you not rise to the occasion? +Where is she?' + +'She! Who?' I asked. + +'She. The she. The woman. Your wife, sweetheart, betrothed, what you +will.' + +'There is none such,' I answered. + +'There now! What can be done in a case like that?' cried he +despairingly. 'She should have rushed in from the wings and thrown +herself upon your bosom. I have seen such a situation earn three rounds +from the pit. There is good material spoiling here for want of some one +to work it up.' + +'We have something else to work up, Jack,' exclaimed his companion +impatiently. 'Sergeant Gredder, do you with two troopers conduct the +prisoner to Gommatch Church. It is time that we were once more upon our +way, for in a few hours the darkness will hinder the pursuit.' + +At the word of command the troopers descended into the field where their +horses were picketed, and were speedily on the march once more, the tall +Captain leading them, and the stage-struck cornet bringing up the rear. +The sergeant to whose care I had been committed--a great +square-shouldered, dark-browed man--ordered my own horse to be brought +out, and helped me to mount it. He removed the pistols from the +holsters, however, and hung them with my sword at his own saddle-bow. + +'Shall I tie his feet under the horse's belly?' asked one of the +dragoons. + +'Nay, the lad hath an honest face,' the sergeant answered. 'If he +promises to be quiet we shall cast free his arms.' + +'I have no desire to escape,' said I. + +'Then untie the rope. A brave man in misfortune hath ever my goodwill, +strike me dumb else! Sergeant Gredder is my name, formerly of Mackay's +and now of the Royals--as hard-worked and badly-paid a man as any in his +Majesty's service. Right wheel, and down the pathway! Do ye ride on +either side, and I behind! Our carbines are primed, friend, so stand +true to your promise!' + +'Nay, you can rely upon it,' I answered. + +'Your little comrade did play you a scurvy trick,' said the sergeant, +'for seeing us ride down the road he did make across to us, and +bargained with the Captain that his life should be spared, on condition +that he should deliver into our hands what he described as one of the +stoutest soldiers in the rebel army. Truly you have thews and sinews +enough, though you are surely too young to have seen much service.' + +'This hath been my first campaign,' I answered. + +'And is like to be your last,' he remarked, with soldierly frankness. +'I hear that the Privy Council intend to make such an example as will +take the heart out of the Whigs for twenty years to come. They have a +lawyer coming from London whose wig is more to be feared than our +helmets. He will slay more men in a day than a troop of horse in a +ten-mile chase. Faith! I would sooner they took this butcher-work into +their own hands. See those bodies on yonder tree. It is an evil season +when such acorns grow upon English oaks.' + +'It is an evil season,' said I, 'when men who call themselves Christians +inflict such vengeance upon poor simple peasants, who have done no more +than their conscience urged them. That the leaders and officers should +suffer is but fair. They stood to win in case of success, and should +pay forfeit now that they have lost. But it goes to my heart to see +those poor godly country folk so treated.' + +'Aye, there is truth in that,' said the sergeant. 'Now if it were some +of these snuffle-nosed preachers, the old lank-haired bell-wethers who +have led their flocks to the devil, it would be another thing. Why can +they not conform to the Church, and be plagued to them? It is good +enough for the King, so surely it is good enough for them; or are their +souls so delicate that they cannot satisfy themselves with that on which +every honest Englishman thrives? The main road to Heaven is too common +for them. They must needs have each a by-path of their own, and cry out +against all who will not follow it.' + +'Why,' said I, 'there are pious men of all creeds. If a man lead a life +of virtue, what matter what he believes? + +'Let a man keep his virtue in his heart,' quoth Sergeant Gredder. +'Let him pack it deep in the knapsack of his soul. I suspect godliness +which shows upon the surface, the snuffling talk, the rolling eyes, the +groaning and the hawking. It is like the forged money, which can be +told by its being more bright and more showy than the real.' + +'An apt comparison !' said I. 'But how comes it, sergeant, that you +have given attention to these matters? Unless they are much belied, the +Royal Dragoons find other things to think of.' + +'I was one of Mackay's foot,' he answered shortly. 'I have heard of +him,' said I. 'A man, I believe, both of parts and of piety.' + +'That, indeed, he is,' cried Sergeant Gredder warmly. 'He is a man +stern and soldierly to the outer eye, but with the heart of a saint +within him. I promise you there was little need of the strapado in his +regiment, for there was not a man who did not fear the look of sorrow in +his Colonel's eyes far more than he did the provost-marshal.' + +During the whole of our long ride I found the worthy sergeant a true +follower of the excellent Colonel Mackay, for he proved to be a man of +more than ordinary intelligence, and of serious and thoughtful habit. +As to the two troopers, they rode on either side of me as silent as +statues; for the common dragoons of those days could but talk of wine +and women, and were helpless and speechless when aught else was to the +fore. When we at last rode into the little village of Gommatch, which +overlooks the plain of Sedgemoor, it was with regret on each side that I +bade my guardian adieu. As a parting favour I begged him to take charge +of Covenant for me, promising to pay a certain sum by the month for his +keep, and commissioning him to retain the horse for his own use should I +fail to claim him within the year. It was a load off my mind when I saw +my trusty companion led away, staring back at me with questioning eyes, +as though unable to understand the separation. Come what might, I knew +now that, he was in the keeping of a good man who would see that no harm +befell him. + + + +Chapter XXXIV. + + +Of the Coming of Solomon Sprent + +The church of Gommatch was a small ivy-clad building with a square +Norman tower, standing in the centre of the hamlet of that name. +Its great oaken doors, studded with iron, and high narrow windows, +fitted it well for the use to which it was now turned. Two companies of +Dumbarton's Foot had been quartered in the village, with a portly Major +at their head, to whom I was handed over by Sergeant Gredder, with some +account of my capture, and of the reasons which had prevented my summary +execution. + +Night was now drawing in, but a few dim lamps, hung here and there upon +the walls, cast an uncertain, flickering light over the scene. +A hundred or more prisoners were scattered about upon the stone floor, +many of them wounded, and some evidently dying. The hale had gathered +in silent, subdued groups round their stricken friends, and were doing +what they could to lessen their sufferings. Some had even removed the +greater part of their clothing in order to furnish head-rests and +pallets for the wounded. Here and there in the shadows dark kneeling +figures might be seen, and the measured sound of their prayers rang +through the aisles, with a groan now and again, or a choking gasp as +some poor sufferer battled for breath. The dim, yellow light streaming +over the earnest pain-drawn faces, and the tattered mud-coloured +figures, would have made it a fitting study for any of those Low Country +painters whose pictures I saw long afterwards at The Hague. + +On Thursday morning, the third day after the battle, we were all +conveyed into Bridgewater, where we were confined for the remainder of +the week in St. Mary's Church, the very one from the tower of which +Monmouth and his commanders had inspected Feversham's position. +The more we heard of the fight from the soldiers and others, the more +clear it became that, but for the most unfortunate accidents, there was +every chance that our night attack might have succeeded. There was +scarcely a fault which a General could commit which Feversham had not +been guilty of. He had thought too lightly of his enemy, and left his +camp entirely open to a surprise. When the firing broke out he sprang +from his couch, but failing to find his wig, he had groped about his +tent while the battle was being decided, and only came out when it was +well-nigh over. All were agreed that had it not been for the chance of +the Bussex Rhine having been overlooked by our guides and scouts, we +should have been among the tents before the men could have been called +to arms. Only this and the fiery energy of John Churchill, the second +in command, afterwards better known under a higher name, both to French +and to English history, prevented the Royal army from meeting with a +reverse which might have altered the result of the campaign.[Note K, +Appendix.] Should ye hear or read, then, my dear children, that +Monmouth's rising was easily put down, or that it was hopeless from the +first, remember that I, who was concerned in it, say confidently that it +really trembled in the balance, and that this handful of resolute +peasants with their pikes and their scythes were within an ace of +altering the whole course of English history. The ferocity of the Privy +Council, after the rebellion was quelled, arose from their knowledge of +how very close it had been to success. + +I do not wish to say too much of the cruelty and barbarity of the +victors, for it is not good for your childish ears to hear of such +doings. The sluggard Feversham and the brutal Kirke have earned +themselves a name in the West, which is second only to that of the arch +villain who came after them. As for their victims, when they had hanged +and quartered and done their wicked worst upon them, at least they left +their names in their own little villages, to be treasured up and handed +from generation to generation, as brave men and true who had died for a +noble cause. Go now to Milverton, or to Wiveliscombe, or to Minehead, +or to Colyford, or to any village through the whole breadth and length +of Somersetshire, and you will find that they have not forgotten what +they proudly call their martyrs. But where now is Kirke and where is +Feversham? Their names are preserved, it is true, but preserved in a +county's hatred. Who can fail to see now that these men in punishing +others brought a far heavier punishment upon themselves? Their sin hath +indeed found them out. + +They did all that wicked and callous-hearted men could do, knowing well +that such deeds were acceptable to the cold-blooded, bigoted hypocrite +who sat upon the throne. They worked to win his favour, and they won +it. Men were hanged and cut down and hanged again. Every cross-road in +the country was ghastly with gibbets. There was not an insult or a +contumely which might make the pangs of death more unendurable, which +was not heaped upon these long-suffering men; yet it is proudly +recounted in their native shire that of all the host of victims there +was not one who did not meet his end with a firm lip, protesting that if +the thing were to do again he was ready to do it. + +At the end of a week or two news came of the fugitives. Monmouth, it +seems, had been captured by Portman's yellow coats when trying to make +his way to the New Forest, whence he hoped to escape to the Continent. +He was dragged, gaunt, unshaven, and trembling, out of a bean-field in +which he had taken refuge, and was carried to Ringwood, in Hampshire. +Strange rumours reached us concerning his behaviour--rumours which came +to our ears through the coarse jests of our guards. Some said that he +had gone on his knees to the yokels who had seized him. Others that he +had written to the King offering to do anything, even to throw over the +Protestant cause, to save his head from the scaffold.[Note L, Appendix.] +We laughed at these stories at the time, and set them down as inventions +of our enemies. It seemed too impossible that at a time when his +supporters were so sternly and so loyally standing true to him, he, +their leader, with the eyes of all men upon him, should be showing less +courage than every little drummer-boy displays, who trips along at the +head of his regiment upon the field of battle. Alas! time showed that +the stories were indeed true, and that there was no depth of infamy to +which this unhappy man would not descend, in the hope of prolonging +for a few years that existence which had proved a curse to so many who +trusted him. + +Of Saxon no news had come, good or bad, which encouraged me to hope that +he had found a hiding-place for himself. Reuben was still confined to +his couch by his wound, and was under the care and protection of Major +Ogilvy. The good gentleman came to see me more than once, and +endeavoured to add to my comfort, until I made him understand that it +pained me to find myself upon a different footing to the brave fellows +with whom I had shared the perils of the campaign. One great favour he +did me in writing to my father, and informing him that I was well and in +no pressing danger. In reply to this letter I had a stout Christian +answer from the old man, bidding me to be of good courage, and quoting +largely from a sermon on patience by the Reverend Josiah Seaton of +Petersfield. My mother, ho said, was in deep distress at my position, +but was held up by her confidence in the decrees of Providence. +He enclosed a draft for Major Ogilvy, commissioning him to use it in +whatever way I should suggest. This money, together with the small +hoard which my mother had sewed into my collar, proved to be invaluable, +for when the gaol fever broke out amongst us I was able to get fitting +food for the sick, and also to pay for the services of physicians, so +that the disease was stamped out ere it had time to spread. + +Early in August we were brought from Bridgewater to Taunton, where we +were thrown with hundreds of others into the same wool storehouse where +our regiment had been quartered in the early days of the campaign. +We gained little by the change, save that we found that our new guards +were somewhat more satiated with cruelty than our old ones, and were +therefore less exacting upon their prisoners. Not only were friends +allowed in occasionally to see us, but books and papers could be +obtained by the aid of a small present to the sergeant on duty. We were +able, therefore, to spend our time with some degree of comfort during +the month or more which passed before our trial. + +One evening I was standing listlessly with my back against the wall, +looking up at a thin slit of blue sky which showed itself through the +narrow window, and fancying myself back in the meadows of Havant once +more, when a voice fell upon my ear which did, indeed, recall me to my +Hampshire home. Those deep, husky tones, rising at times into an angry +roar, could belong to none other than my old friend the seaman. +I approached the door from which the uproar came, and all doubt vanished +as I listened to the conversation. + +'Won't let me pass, won't ye?' he was shouting. 'Let me tell you I've +held on my course when better men than you have asked me to veil +topsails. I tell you I have the admiral's permit, and I won't clew up +for a bit of a red-painted cock-boat; so move from athwart my hawse, or +I may chance to run you down.' + +'We don't know nothing about admirals here,' said the sergeant of the +guard. 'The time for seeing prisoners is over for the day, and if you +do not take your ill-favoured body out of this I may try the weight o' +my halberd on your back.' + +'I have taken blows and given them ere you were ever thought of, you +land-swab,' roared old Solomon. 'I was yardarm and yardarm with De +Ruyter when you were learning to suck milk; but, old as I am, I would +have you know that I am not condemned yet, and that I am fit to exchange +broadsides with any lobster-tailed piccaroon that ever was triced up to +a triangle and had the King's diamonds cut in his back. If I tack back +to Major Ogilvy and signal him the way that I have been welcomed, he'll +make your hide redder than ever your coat was.' + +'Major Ogilvy!' exclaimed the sergeant, in a more respectful voice. +'If you had said that your permit was from Major Ogilvy it would have +been another thing, but you did rave of admirals and commodores, and God +knows what other outlandish talk!' + +'Shame on your parents that they should have reared you with so slight a +knowledge o' the King's English!' grumbled Solomon. 'In truth, friend, +it is a marvel to me why sailor men should be able to show a lead to +those on shore in the matter of lingo. For out of seven hundred men in +the ship _Worcester_--the same that sank in the Bay of Funchal--there +was not so much as a powder-boy but could understand every word that I +said, whereas on shore there is many a great jolterhead, like thyself, +who might be a Portugee for all the English that he knows, and who +stares at me like a pig in a hurricane if I do lint ask him what he +makes the reckoning, or how many bells have gone.' + +'Whom is it that you would see?' asked the sergeant gruffly. 'You have +a most infernally long tongue.' + +'Aye, and a rough one, too, when I have fools to deal with,' returned +the seaman. 'If I had you in my watch, lad, for a three years' cruise, +I would make a man of you yet.' + +'Pass the old man through!' cried the sergeant furiously, and the sailor +came stumping in, with his bronzed face all screwed up and twisted, +partly with amusement at his victory over the sergeant, and partly from +a great chunk of tobacco which he was wont to stow within his cheek. +Having glanced round without perceiving me, he put his hands to his +mouth and bellowed out my name, with a string of 'Ahoys!' which rang +through the building. + +'Here I am, Solomon,' said I, touching him on the shoulder. + +'God bless you, lad! God bless you!' he cried, wringing my hand. +'I could not see you, for my port eye is as foggy as the Newfoundland +banks, and has been ever since Long Sue Williams of the Point hove a +quart pot at it in the Tiger inn nigh thirty year agone. How are you? +All sound, alow and aloft?' + +'As well as might be,' I answered. 'I have little to complain of.' + +'None of your standing rigging shot away!' said he. 'No spars crippled? +No shots between wind and water, eh? You have not been hulled, nor +raked, nor laid aboard of?' + +'None of these things,' said I, laughing. + +'Faith! you are leaner than of old, and have aged ten years in two +months. You did go forth as smart and trim a fighting ship as over +answered helm, and now you are like the same ship when the battle and +the storm have taken the gloss from her sides and torn the love-pennants +from her peak. Yet am I right glad to see you sound in wind and limb.' + +'I have looked upon sights,' said I, 'which might well add ten years to +a man's age.' + +'Aye, aye!' he answered, with a hollow groan, shaking his head from side +to side. 'It is a most accursed affair. Yet, bad as the tempest is, +the calm will ever come afterwards if you will but ride it out with your +anchor placed deep in Providence. Ah, lad, that is good holding ground! +But if I know you aright, your grief is more for these poor wretches +around you than for yourself.' + +'It is, indeed, a sore sight to see them suffer so patiently and +uncomplainingly,' I answered, 'and for such a man, too!' + +'Aye, the chicken-livered swab!' growled the seaman, grinding his teeth. + +'How are my mother and my father,' I asked, 'and how came you so far +from home?' + +'Nay, I should have grounded on my beef bones had I waited longer at my +moorings. I cut my cable, therefore, and, making a northerly tack as +far as Salisbury, I run down with a fair wind. Thy father hath set his +face hard, and goes about his work as usual, though much troubled by the +Justices, who have twice had him up to Winchester for examination, but +have found his papers all right and no charge to be brought against him. +Your mother, poor soul, hath little time to mope or to pipe her eye, for +she hath such a sense of duty that, were the ship to founder under her, +it is a plate galleon to a china orange that she would stand fast in the +caboose curing marigolds or rolling pastry. They have taken to prayer +as some would to rum, and warm their hearts with it when the wind of +misfortune blows chill. They were right glad that I should come down to +you, and I gave them the word of a sailor that I would get you out of +the bilboes if it might anyhow be done.' + +'Get me out, Solomon!' said I; 'nay, that may be put outside the +question. How could you get me out?' + +'There are many ways,' he answered, sinking his voice to a whisper, and +nodding his grizzled head as one who talks upon what has cost him much +time and thought. 'There is scuttling.' + +'Scuttling?' + +'Aye, lad! When I was quartermaster of the galley _Providence_ in the +second Dutch war, we were caught betwixt a lee shore and Van Tromp's +squadron, so that after fighting until our sticks were shot away and our +scuppers were arun with blood, we were carried by boarding and sent +as prisoners to the Texel. We were stowed away in irons in the +afterhold, amongst the bilge water and the rats, with hatches battened +down and guards atop, but even then they could not keep us, for the +irons got adrift, and Will Adams, the carpenter's mate, picked a hole in +the seams so that the vessel nearly foundered, and in the confusion we +fell upon the prize crew, and, using our fetters as cudgels, regained +possession of the vessel. But you smile, as though there were little +hopes from any such plan!' + +'If this wool-house were the galley _Providence_ and Taunton Deane were +the Bay of Biscay, it might be attempted,' I said. + +'I have indeed got out o' the channel,' he answered, with a wrinkled +brow. 'There is, however, another most excellent plan which I have +conceived, which is to blow up the building.' + +'To blow it up!' I cried. + +'Aye! A brace of kegs and a slow match would do it any dark night. +Then where would be these walls which now shut ye in?' + +'Where would be the folk that are now inside them!' I asked. +'Would you not blow them up as well?' + +'Plague take it, I had forgot that,' cried Solomon. 'Nay, then, I leave +it with you. What have you to propose? Do but give your sailing +orders, and, with or without a consort, you will find that I will steer +by them as long as this old hulk can answer to her helm.' + +'Then my advice is, my dear old friend,' said I, 'that you leave matters +to take their course, and hie back to Havant with a message from me to +those who know me, telling them to be of good cheer, and to hope for the +best. Neither you nor any other man can help me now, for I have thrown +in my lot with these poor folk, and I would not leave them if I could. +Do what you can to cheer my mother's heart, and commend me to Zachary +Palmer. Your visit hath been a joy to me, and your return will be the +same to them. You can serve me better so than by biding here.' + +'Sink me if I like going back without a blow struck,' he growled. +'Yet if it is your will there is an end of the matter. Tell me, lad. +Has that lank-sparred, slab-sided, herring-gutted friend of yours played +you false? for if he has, by the eternal, old as I am, my hanger shall +scrape acquaintance with the longshore tuck which hangs at his girdle. +I know where he hath laid himself up, moored stem and stern, all snug +and shipshape, waiting for the turn of the tide.' + +'What, Saxon!' I cried. 'Do you indeed know where he is? For God's +sake speak low, for it would mean a commission and five hundred good +pounds to any one of these soldiers could he lay hands upon him.' + +'They are scarce like to do that,' said Solomon. 'On my journey hither +I chanced to put into port at a place called Bruton, where there is an +inn that will compare with most, and the skipper is a wench with a glib +tongue and a merry eye. I was drinking a glass of spiced ale, as is my +custom about six bells of the middle watch, when I chanced to notice +a great lanky carter, who was loading up a waggon in the yard with a +cargo o' beer casks. Looking closer it seemed to me that the man's +nose, like the beak of a goshawk, and his glinting eyes with the lids +only half-reefed, were known to me, but when I overheard him swearing to +himself in good High Dutch, then his figurehead came back to me in a +moment. I put out into the yard, and touched him on the shoulder. +Zounds, lad! you should have seen him spring back and spit at me like a +wildcat with every hair of his head in a bristle. He whipped a knife +from under his smock, for he thought, doubtless, that I was about to +earn the reward by handing him over to the red-coats. I told him that +his secret was safe with me, and I asked him if he had heard that you +were laid by the heels. He answered that he knew it, and that he would +be answerable that no harm befell you, though in truth it seemed to me +that he had his hands full in trimming his own sails, without acting +as pilot to another. However, there I left him, and there I shall find +him again if so be as he has done you an injury.' + +'Nay,' I answered, 'I am right glad that he has found this refuge. +We did separate upon a difference of opinion, but I have no cause to +complain of him. In many ways he hath shown me both kindness and +goodwill.' + +'He is as crafty as a purser's clerk,' quoth Solomon. 'I have seen +Reuben Lockarby, who sends his love to you. He is still kept in his +bunk from his wound, but he meets with good treatment. Major Ogilvy +tells me that he has made such interest for him that there is every +chance that he will gain his discharge, the more particularly since he +was not present at the battle. Your own chance of pardon would, he +thinks, be greater if you had fought less stoutly, but you have marked +yourself as a dangerous man, more especially as you have the love of +many of the common folk among the rebels.' + +The good old seaman stayed with me until late in the night, listening to +my adventures, and narrating in return the simple gossip of the village, +which is of more interest to the absent wanderer than the rise and fall +of empires. Before he left he drew a great handful of silver pieces +from his pouch, and went round amongst the prisoners, listening to their +wants, and doing what he could with rough sailor talk and dropping coins +to lighten their troubles. There is a language in the kindly eye and +the honest brow which all men may understand; and though the seaman's +speeches might have been in Greek, for all that they conveyed to the +Somersetshire peasants, yet they crowded round him as he departed and +called blessings upon his head. I felt as though he had brought a whiff +of his own pure ocean breezes into our close and noisome prison, and +left us the sweeter and the healthier. + +Late in August the judges started from London upon that wicked journey +which blighted the lives and the homes of so many, and hath left a +memory in the counties through which they passed which shall never fade +while a father can speak to a son. We heard reports of them from day to +day, for the guards took pleasure in detailing them with many coarse and +foul jests, that we might know what was in store for us, and lose none +of what they called the pleasures of anticipation. At Winchester the +sainted and honoured Lady Alice Lisle was sentenced by Chief Justice +Jeffreys to be burned alive, and the exertions and prayers of her +friends could scarce prevail upon him to allow her the small boon of the +axe instead of the faggot. Her graceful head was hewn from her body +amidst the groans and the cries of a weeping multitude in the +market-place of the town. At Dorchester the slaughter was wholesale. +Three hundred were condemned to death, and seventy-four were actually +executed, until the most loyal and Tory of the country squires had to +complain of the universal presence of the dangling bodies. Thence the +judges proceeded to Exeter and thence to Taunton, which they reached in +the first week of September, more like furious and ravenous beasts which +have tasted blood and cannot quench their cravings for slaughter, than +just-minded men, trained to distinguish the various degrees of guilt, or +to pick out the innocent and screen him from injustice. A rare +field was open for their cruelty, for in Taunton alone there lay a +thousand hapless prisoners, many of whom were so little trained to +express their thoughts, and so hampered by the strange dialect in which +they spoke, that they might have been born dumb for all the chance they +had of making either judge or counsel understand the pleadings which +they wished to lay before them. + +It was on a Monday evening that the Lord Chief Justice made his entry. +From one of the windows of the room in which we were confined I saw him +pass. First rode the dragoons with their standards and kettledrums, +then the javelin-men with their halberds, and behind them the line of +coaches full of the high dignitaries of the law. Last of all, drawn by +six long-tailed Flemish mares, came a great open coach, thickly crusted +with gold, in which, reclining amidst velvet cushions, sat the infamous +Judge, wrapped in a cloak of crimson plush with a heavy white periwig +upon his head, which was so long that it dropped down over his +shoulders. They say that he wore scarlet in order to strike terror into +the hearts of the people, and that his courts were for the same reason +draped in the colour of blood. As for himself, it hath ever been the +custom, since his wickedness hath come to be known to all men, to +picture him as a man whose expression and features were as monstrous and +as hideous as was the mind behind them. This is by no means the case. +On the contrary, he was a man who, in his younger days, must have been +remarkable for his extreme beauty.[1] He was not, it is true, very +old, as years go, when I saw him, but debauchery and low living had left +their traces upon his countenance, without, however entirely destroying +the regularity and the beauty of his features. He was dark, more like a +Spaniard than an Englishman, with black eyes and olive complexion. +His expression was lofty and noble, but his temper was so easily aflame +that the slightest cross or annoyance would set him raving like a +madman, with blazing eyes and foaming mouth. I have seen him myself +with the froth upon his lips and his whole face twitching with passion, +like one who hath the falling sickness. Yet his other emotions were +under as little control, for I have heard say that a very little would +cause him to sob and to weep, more especially when he had himself been +slighted by those who were above him. He was, I believe, a man who had +great powers either for good or for evil, but by pandering to the darker +side of his nature and neglecting the other, he brought himself to be as +near a fiend as it is possible for a man to be. It must indeed have +been an evil government where so vile and foul-mouthed a wretch was +chosen out to hold the scales of justice. As he drove past, a Tory +gentleman riding by the side of his coach drew his attention to the +faces of the prisoners looking out at him. He glanced up at them with a +quick, malicious gleam of his white teeth, then settled down again +amongst the cushions. I observed that as he passed not a hat was raised +among the crowd, and that even the rude soldiers appeared to look upon +him half in terror, half in disgust, as a lion might look upon some +foul, blood-sucking bat which battened upon the prey which he had +himself struck down. + +[1] The painting of Jeffreys in the National Portrait Gallery more than +bears out Micah Clarke's remarks. He is the handsomest man in the +collection. + + + +Chapter XXXV. + + +Of the Devil in Wig and Gown + +There was no delay in the work of slaughter. That very night the great +gallows was erected outside the White Hart inn. Hour after hour we +could hear the blows of mallets and the sawing of beams, mingled with +the shoutings and the ribald choruses of the Chief Justice's suite, who +were carousing with the officers of the Tangiers regiment in the front +room, which overlooked the gibbet. Amongst the prisoners the night was +passed in prayer and meditation, the stout-hearted holding forth to +their weaker brethren, and exhorting them to play the man, and to go to +their death in a fashion which should be an example to true Protestants +throughout the world. The Puritan divines had been mostly strung up +off-hand immediately after the battle, but a few were left to sustain +the courage of their flocks, and to show them the way upon the scaffold. +Never have I seen anything so admirable as the cool and cheerful bravery +wherewith these poor clowns faced their fate. Their courage on the +battlefield paled before that which they showed in the shambles of +the law. So amid the low murmur of prayer and appeals for mercy to God +from tongues which never yet asked mercy from man, the morning broke, +the last morning which many of us were to spend upon earth. + +The court should have opened at nine, but my Lord Chief Justice was +indisposed, having sat up somewhat late with Colonel Kirke. It was +nearly eleven before the trumpeters and criers announced that he had +taken his seat. One by one my fellow-prisoners were called out by name, +the more prominent being chosen first. They went out from amongst us +amid hand-shakings and blessings, but we saw and heard no more of them, +save that a sudden fierce rattle of kettledrums would rise up now and +again, which was, as our guards told us, to drown any dying words which +might fall from the sufferers and bear fruit in the breasts of those who +heard them. With firm steps and smiling faces the roll of martyrs went +forth to their fate during the whole of that long autumn day, until the +rough soldiers of the guard stood silent and awed in the presence of a +courage which they could not but recognise as higher and nobler than +their own. Folk may call it a trial that they received, and a trial it +really was, but not in the sense that we Englishmen use it. It was but +being haled before a Judge, and insulted before being dragged to the +gibbet. The court-house was the thorny path which led to the scaffold. +What use to put a witness up, when he was shouted down, cursed at, and +threatened by the Chief Justice, who bellowed and swore until the +frightened burghers in Fore Street could hear him? I have heard from +those who were there that day that he raved like a demoniac, and that +his black eyes shone with a vivid vindictive brightness which was scarce +human. The jury shrank from him as from a venomous thing when he turned +his baleful glance upon them. At times, as I have been told, his +sternness gave place to a still more terrible merriment, and he would +lean back in his seat of justice and laugh until the tears hopped down +upon his ermine. Nearly a hundred were either executed or condemned to +death upon that opening day. + +I had expected to be amongst the first of those called, and no doubt I +should have been so but for the exertions of Major Ogilvy. As it was, +the second day passed, but I still found myself overlooked. On the +third and fourth days the slaughter was slackened, not on account of any +awakening grace on the part of the Judge, but because the great Tory +landowners, and the chief supporters of the Government, had still some +bowels of compassion, which revolted at this butchery of defenceless +men. Had it not been for the influence which these gentlemen brought to +bear upon the Judge, I have no doubt at all that Jeffreys would have +hung the whole eleven hundred prisoners then confined in Taunton. As it +was, two hundred and fifty fell victims to this accursed monster's +thirst for human blood. + +On the eighth day of the assizes there were but fifty of us left in the +wool warehouse. For the last few days prisoners had been tried in +batches of ten and twenty, but now the whole of us were taken in a +drove, under escort, to the court-house, where as many as could be +squeezed in were ranged in the dock, while the rest were penned, like +calves in the market, in the body of the hall. The Judge reclined in a +high chair, with a scarlet dais above him, while two other Judges, in +less elevated seats, were stationed on either side of him. On the right +hand was the jury-box, containing twelve carefully picked men--Tories of +the old school--firm upholders of the doctrines of non-resistance and +the divine right of kings. Much care had been taken by the Crown in the +choice of these men, and there was not one of them but would have +sentenced his own father had there been so much as a suspicion that he +leaned to Presbyterianism or to Whiggery. Just under the Judge was a +broad table, covered with green cloth and strewn with papers. On the +right hand of this were a long array of Crown lawyers, grim, +ferret-faced men, each with a sheaf of papers in his hands, which they +sniffed through again and again, as though they were so many +bloodhounds picking up the trail along which they were to hunt us down. +On the other side of the table sat a single fresh-faced young man, in +silk gown and wig, with a nervous, shuffling manner. This was the +barrister, Master Helstrop, whom the Crown in its clemency had allowed +us for our defence, lest any should be bold enough to say that we had +not had every fairness in our trial. The remainder of the court was +filled with the servants of the Justices' retinue and the soldiers of +the garrison, who used the place as their common lounge, looking on the +whole thing as a mighty cheap form of sport, and roaring with laughter +at the rude banter and coarse pleasantries of his Lordship. + +The clerk having gabbled through the usual form that we, the prisoners +at the bar, having shaken off the fear of God, had unlawfully and +traitorously assembled, and so onwards, the Lord Justice proceeded to +take matters into his own hands, as was his wont. + +'I trust that we shall come well out of this!' he broke out. 'I trust +that no judgment will fall upon this building! Was ever so much +wickedness fitted into one court-house before? Who ever saw such an +array of villainous faces? Ah, rogues, I see a rope ready for every one +of ye! Art not afraid of judgment? Art not afraid of hell-fire? You +grey-bearded rascal in the corner, how comes it that you have not had +more of the grace of God in you than to take up arms against your most +gracious and loving sovereign?' + +'I have followed the guidance of my conscience, my Lord,' said the +venerable cloth-worker of Wellington, to whom he spoke. + +'Ha, your conscience!' howled Jeffreys. 'A ranter with a conscience! +Where has your conscience been these two months back, you villain and +rogue? Your conscience will stand you in little stead, sirrah, when you +are dancing on nothing with a rope round your neck. Was ever such +wickedness? Who ever heard such effrontery? And you, you great hulking +rebel, have you not grace enough to cast your eyes down, but must needs +look justice in the face as though you were an honest man? Are you not +afeared, sirrah? Do you not see death close upon you?' + +'I have seen that before now, my Lord, and I was not afeared,' I +answered. + +'Generation of vipers!' he cried, throwing up his hands. 'The best of +fathers! The kindest of kings! See that my words are placed upon the +record, clerk! The most indulgent of parents! But wayward children +must, with all kindness, be flogged into obedience. Here he broke into +a savage grin. 'The King will save your own natural parents all further +care on your account. If they had wished to keep ye, they should have +brought ye up in better principles. Rogues, we shall be merciful to +ye--oh, merciful, merciful! How many are here, recorder?' + +'Fifty and one, my Lord.' + +'Oh, sink of villainy! Fifty and one as arrant knaves as ever lay on a +hurdle! Oh, what a mass of corruption have we here! Who defends the +villains?' + +'I defend the prisoners, your Lordship,' replied the young lawyer. + +'Master Helstrop, Master Helstrop!' cried Jeffreys, shaking his great +wig until the powder flew out of it; 'you are in all these dirty cases, +Master Helstrop. You might find yourself in a parlous condition, Master +Helstrop. I think sometimes that I see you yourself in the dock, +Master Helstrop. You may yourself soon need the help of a gentleman of +the long robe, Master Helstrop. Oh, have a care! Have a care!' + +'The brief is from the Crown, your Lordship,' the lawyer answered, in a +quavering voice. + +'Must I be answered back, then!' roared Jeffreys, his black eyes blazing +with the rage of a demon. 'Am I to be insulted in my own court? +Is every five-groat piece of a pleader, because he chance to have a wig +and a gown, to browbeat the Lord Justice, and to fly in the face of the +ruling of the Court? Oh, Master Helstrop, I fear that I shall live to +see some evil come upon you!' + +'I crave your Lordship's pardon!' cried the faint-hearted barrister, +with his face the colour of his brief. + +'Keep a guard upon your words and upon your actions?' Jeffreys answered, +in a menacing voice. 'See that you are not too zealous in the cause of +the scum of the earth. How now, then? What do these one and fifty +villains desire to say for themselves? What is their lie? Gentlemen of +the jury, I beg that ye will take particular notice of the cut-throat +faces of these men. 'Tis well that Colonel Kirke hath afforded the +Court a sufficient guard, for neither justice nor the Church is safe at +their hands.' + +'Forty of them desire to plead guilty to the charge of taking up arms +against the King,' replied our barrister. + +'Ah!' roared the Judge. 'Was ever such unparalleled impudence? +Was there ever such brazen effrontery? Guilty, quotha! Have they +expressed their repentance for this sin against a most kind and +long-suffering monarch! Put down those words on the record, clerk!' + +'They have refused to express repentance, your Lordship!' replied the +counsel for the defence. + +'Oh, the parricides! Oh, the shameless rogues!' cried the Judge. +'Put the forty together on this side of the enclosure. Oh, gentlemen, +have ye ever seen such a concentration of vice? See how baseness and +wickedness can stand with head erect! Oh, hardened monsters! But the +other eleven. How can they expect us to believe this transparent +falsehood--this palpable device? How can they foist it upon the Court?' + +'My Lord, their defence hath not yet been advanced!' stammered Master +Helstrop. + +'I can sniff a lie before it is uttered,' roared the Judge, by no means +abashed. 'I can read it as quick as ye can think it. Come, come, the +Court's time is precious. Put forward a defence, or seat yourself, and +let judgment be passed.' + +'These men, my Lord,' said the counsel, who was trembling until the +parchment rattled in his hand. 'These eleven men, my Lord--' + +'Eleven devils, my Lord,' interrupted Jeffreys. + +'They are innocent peasants, my Lord, who love God and the King, and +have in no wise mingled themselves in this recent business. They have +been dragged from their homes, my Lord, not because there was suspicion +against them, but because they could not satisfy the greed of certain +common soldiers who were balked of plunder in--' + +'Oh, shame, shame!' cried Jeffreys, in a voice of thunder. +'Oh, threefold shame, Master Helstrop! Are you not content with +bolstering up rebels, but you must go out of your way to slander the +King's troops? What is this world coming to? What, in a word, is the +defence of these rogues?' + +'An alibi, your Lordship.' + +'Ha! The common plea of every scoundrel. Have they witnesses?' + +'We have here a list of forty witnesses, your Lordship. They are +waiting below, many of them having come great distances, and with much +toil and trouble.' + +'Who are they? What are they?' cried Jeffreys. + +'They are country folk, your Lordship. Cottagers and farmers, the +neighbours of these poor men, who knew them well, and can speak as to +their doings.' + +'Cottagers and farmers!' the Judge shouted. 'Why, then, they are drawn +from the very class from which these men come. Would you have us +believe the oath of those who are themselves Whigs, Presbyterians, +Somersetshire ranters, the pothouse companions of the men whom we are +trying? I warrant they have arranged it all snugly over their beer-- +snugly, snugly, the rogues!' + +'Will you not hear the witnesses, your Lordship?' cried our counsel, +shamed into some little sense of manhood by this outrage. + +'Not a word from them, sirrah,' said Jeffreys. 'It is a question +whether my duty towards my kind master the King--write down "kind +master," clerk--doth not warrant me in placing all your witnesses in the +dock as the aiders and abettors of treason.' + +'If it please your Lordship,' cried one of the prisoners, 'I have for +witnesses Mr. Johnson, of Nether Stowey, who is a good Tory, and also +Mr. Shepperton, the clergyman.' + +'The more shame to them to appear in such a cause,' replied Jeffreys. +'What are we to say, gentlemen of the jury, when we see county gentry +and the clergy of the Established Church supporting treason and +rebellion in this fashion? Surely the last days are at hand! You are a +most malignant and dangerous Whig to have so far drawn them from their +duty.' + +'But hear me, my Lord!' cried one of the prisoners. + +'Hear you, you bellowing calf!' shouted the Judge. 'We can hear naught +else. Do you think that you are back in your conventicle, that you +should dare to raise your voice in such a fashion? Hear you, quotha! +We shall hear you at the end of a rope, ere many days.' + +'We scarce think, your Lordship,' said one of the Crown lawyers, +springing to his feet amid a great rustling of papers, 'we scarce think +that it is necessary for the Crown to state any case. We have already +heard the whole tale of this most damnable and execrable attempt many +times over. The men in the dock before your Lordship have for the most +part confessed to their guilt, and of those who hold out there is not +one who has given us any reason to believe that he is innocent of the +foul crime laid to his charge. The gentlemen of the long robe are +therefore unanimously of opinion that the jury may at once be required +to pronounce a single verdict upon the whole of the prisoners.' + +'Which is--?' asked Jeffreys, glancing round at the foreman-- + +'Guilty, your Lordship,' said he, with a grin, while his brother jurymen +nodded their heads and laughed to one another. + +'Of course, of course! guilty as Judas Iscariot!' cried the Judge, +looking down with exultant eyes at the throng of peasants and burghers +before him. 'Move them a little forwards, ushers, that I may see them +to more advantage. Oh, ye cunning ones! Are ye not taken? Are ye not +compassed around? Where now can ye fly? Do ye not see hell opening +at your feet? Eh? Are ye not afraid? Oh, short, short shall be your +shrift!' The very devil seemed to be in the man, for as he spoke he +writhed with unholy laughter, and drummed his hand upon the red cushion +in front of him. I glanced round at my companions, but their faces were +all as though they had been chiselled out of marble. If he had hoped to +see a moist eye or a quivering lip, the satisfaction was denied him. + +'Had I my way,' said he, 'there is not one of ye but should swing for +it. Aye, and if I had my way, some of those whose stomachs are too nice +for this work, and who profess to serve the King with their lips while +they intercede for his worst enemies, should themselves have cause to +remember Taunton assizes. Oh, most ungrateful rebels! Have ye not +heard how your most soft-hearted and compassionate monarch, the best of +men--put it down in the record, clerk--on the intercession of that great +and charitable statesman, Lord Sunderland--mark it down, clerk--hath had +pity on ye? Hath it not melted ye? Hath it not made ye loathe +yourselves? I declare, when I think of it'--here, with a sudden +catching of the breath, he burst out a-sobbing, the tears running down +his cheeks--'when I think of it, the Christian forbearance, the +ineffable mercy, it doth bring forcibly to my mind that great Judge +before whom all of us--even I--shall one day have to render an account. +Shall I repeat it, clerk, or have you it down?' + +'I have it down, your Lordship.' + +'Then write "sobs" in the margin. 'Tis well that the King should know +our opinion on such matters. Know, then, you most traitorous and +unnatural rebels, that this good father whom ye have spurned has stepped +in between yourselves and the laws which ye have offended. At his +command we withhold from ye the chastisement which ye have merited. +If ye can indeed pray, and if your soul-cursing conventicles have not +driven all grace out of ye, drop on your knees and offer up thanks when +I tell ye that he hath ordained that ye shall all have a free pardon.' +Here the Judge rose from his seat as though about to descend from the +tribunal, and we gazed upon each other in the utmost astonishment at +this most unlooked-for end to the trial. The soldiers and lawyers were +equally amazed, while a hum of joy and applause rose up from the few +country folk who had dared to venture within the accursed precincts. + +'This pardon, however,' continued Jeffreys, turning round with a +malicious smile upon his face, 'is coupled with certain conditions and +limitations. Ye shall all be removed from here to Poole, in chains, +where ye shall find a vessel awaiting ye. With others ye shall be +stowed away in the hold of the said vessel, and conveyed at the King's +expense to the Plantations, there to be sold as slaves. God send ye +masters who will know by the free use of wood and leather to soften your +stubborn thoughts and incline your mind to better things.' He was +again about to withdraw, when one of the Crown lawyers whispered +something across to him. + +'Well thought of, coz,' cried the Judge. 'I had forgot. Bring back the +prisoners, ushers! Perhaps ye think that by the Plantations I mean his +Majesty's American dominions. Unhappily, there are too many of your +breed in that part already. Ye would fall among friends who might +strengthen ye in your evil courses, and so risk your salvation. To send +ye there would be to add one brand to another and yet hope to put out +the fire. By the Plantations, therefore, I mean Barbadoes and the +Indies, where ye shall live with the other slaves, whose skins may be +blacker than yours, but I dare warrant that their souls are more white.' +With this concluding speech the trial ended, and we were led back +through the crowded streets to the prison from which we had been +brought. On either side of the street, as we passed, we could see the +limbs of former companions dangling in the wind, and their heads +grinning at us from the tops of poles and pikes. No savage country in +the heart of heathen Africa could have presented a more dreadful sight +than did the old English town of Taunton when Jeffreys and Kirke had the +ordering of it. There was death in the air, and the townsfolk crept +silently about, scarcely daring to wear black for those whom they had +loved and lost, lest it should be twisted into an act of treason. + +We were scarce back in the wool-house once more when a file of guards +with a sergeant entered, escorting a long, pale-faced man with +protruding teeth, whose bright blue coat and white silk breeches, +gold-headed sword, and glancing shoe-buckles, proclaimed him to be one +of those London exquisites whom interest or curiosity had brought down +to the scene of the rebellion. He tripped along upon his tiptoes like a +French dancing-master, waving his scented kerchief in front of his thin +high nose, and inhaling aromatic salts from a blue phial which he +carried in his left hand. + +'By the Lard!' he cried, 'but the stench of these filthy wretches is +enough to stap one's breath. It is, by the Lard! Smite my vitals if I +would venture among them if I were not a very rake hell. Is there a +danger of prison fever, sergeant? Heh?' + +'They are all sound as roaches, your honour,' said the under-officer, +touching his cap. + +'Heh, heh!' cried the exquisite, with a shrill treble laugh. 'It is not +often ye have a visit from a person of quality, I'll warrant. It is +business, sergeant, business! "Auri sacra fames"--you remember what +Virgilius Maro says, sergeant?' + +'Never heard the gentleman speak, sir--at least not to my knowledge, +sir,' said the sergeant. + +'Heh, heh! Never heard him speak, heh? That will do for Slaughter's, +sergeant. That will set them all in a titter at Slaughter's. Pink my +soul! but when I venture on a story the folk complain that they can't +get served, for the drawers laugh until there is no work to be got out +of them. Oh, lay me bleeding, but these are a filthy and most ungodly +crew! Let the musqueteers stand close, sergeant, lest they fly at me.' + +'We shall see to that, your honour.' + +'I have a grant of a dozen of them, and Captain Pogram hath offered me +twelve pounds a head. But they must be brawny rogues--strong and +brawny, for the voyage kills many, sergeant, and the climate doth also +tell upon them. Now here is one whom I must have. Yes, in very truth +he is a young man, and hath much life in him and much strength. Tick +him off, sergeant, tick him off!' + +'His name is Clarke,' said the soldier. 'I have marked him down.' + +'If this is the clerk I would I had a parson to match him,' cried the +fop, sniffing at his bottle. 'Do you see the pleasantry, sergeant. +Heh, heh! Does your sluggish mind rise to the occasion? Strike me +purple, but I am in excellent fettle! There is yonder man with the +brown face, you can mark him down. And the young man beside him, also. +Tick him off. Ha, he waves his hand towards me! Stand firm, sergeant! +Where are my salts? What is it, man, what is it?' + +'If it plaize your han'r,' said the young peasant, 'if so be as you have +chose me to be of a pairty, I trust that you will allow my vaither +yander to go with us also.' + +'Pshaw, pshaw!' cried the fop, 'you are beyond reason, you are indeed! +Who ever heard of such a thing? Honour forbids it! How could I foist +an old man upon mine honest friend, Captain Pogram. Fie, fie! Split me +asunder if he would not say that I had choused him! There is yonder +lusty fellow with the red head, sergeant! The blacks will think he is +a-fire. Those, and these six stout yokels, will make up my dozen.' + +'You have indeed the pick of them,' said the sergeant. + +'Aye, sink me, but I have a quick eye for horse, man, or woman! +I'll pick the best of a batch with most. Twelve twelves, close on a +hundred and fifty pieces, sergeant, and all for a few words, my friend, +all for a few words. I did but send my wife, a demmed handsome woman, +mark you, and dresses in the mode, to my good friend the secretary to +ask for some rebels. "How many?" says he. "A dozen will do," says she. +It was all done in a penstroke. What a cursed fool she was not to have +asked for a hundred! But what is this, sergeant, what is this?' + +A small, brisk, pippin-faced fellow in a riding-coat and high boots had +come clanking into the wool-house with much assurance and authority, +with a great old-fashioned sword trailing behind him, and a riding-whip +switching in his hand. + +'Morning, sergeant!' said he, in a loud, overbearing voice. 'You may +have heard my name? I am Master John Wooton, of Langmere House, near +Dulverton, who bestirred himself so for the King, and hath been termed +by Mr. Godolphin, in the House of Commons, one of the local pillars of +the State. Those were his words. Fine, were they not? Pillars, mark +ye, the conceit being that the State was, as it were, a palace or a +temple, and the loyal men so many pillars, amongst whom I also was one. +I am a local pillar. I have received a Royal permit, sergeant, to +choose from amongst your prisoners ten sturdy rogues whom I may sell as +a reward to me for my exertions. Draw them up, therefore, that I may +make my choice!' + +'Then, sir, we are upon the same errand,' quoth the Londoner, bowing +with his hand over his heart, until his sword seemed to point straight +up to the ceiling. 'The Honourable George Dawnish, at your service! +Your very humble and devoted servant, sir! Yours to command in any or +all ways. It is a real joy and privilege to me, sir, to make your +distinguished acquaintance. Hem!' + +The country squire appeared to be somewhat taken aback at this shower of +London compliments. 'Ahem, sir! Yes, sir!' said he, bobbing his head. +'Glad to see you, sir! Most damnably so! But these men, sergeant? +Time presses, for to-morrow is Shepton market, and I would fain see my +old twenty-score boar once more before he is sold. There is a beefy +one. I'll have him.' + +'Ged, I've forestalled you,' cried the courtier. 'Sink me, but it gives +me real pain. He is mine.' + +'Then this,' said the other, pointing with his whip. + +'He is mine, too. Heh, heh, heh! Strike me stiff, but this is too +funny!' + +'Od's wounds! How many are yours!' cried the Dulverton squire. + +'A dozen. Heh, heh! A round dozen. All those who stand upon this +side. Pink me, but I have got the best of you there! The early bird-- +you know the old saw!' + +'It is a disgrace,' the squire cried hotly. 'A shame and a disgrace. +We must needs fight for the King and risk our skins, and then when all +is done, down come a drove of lacqueys in waiting, and snap up the +pickings before their betters are served.' + +'Lacqueys in waiting, sir!' shrieked the exquisite. 'S'death, sir! +This toucheth mine honour very nearly! I have seen blood flow, yes, +sir, and wounds gape on less provocation. Retract, sir, retract!' + +'Away, you clothes-pole!' cried the other contemptuously. 'You are come +like the other birds of carrion when the fight is o'er. Have you been +named in full Parliament? Are you a local pillar? Away, away, you +tailor's dummy!' + +'You insolent clodhopper!' cried the fop. 'You most foul-mouthed +bumpkin! The only local pillar that you have ever deserved to make +acquaintance with is the whipping-post. Ha, sergeant, he lays his hand +upon his sword! Stop him, sergeant, stop him, or I may do him an +injury.' + +'Nay, gentlemen,' cried the under officer. 'This quarrel must not +continue here. We must have no brawling within the prison. Yet there +is a level turf without, and as fine elbow-room as a gentleman could +wish for a breather.' + +This proposal did not appear to commend itself to either of the angry +gentlemen, who proceeded to exchange the length of their swords, and to +promise that each should hear from the other before sunset. Our owner, +as I may call him, the fop, took his departure at last, and the country +squire having chosen the next ton swaggered off, cursing the courtiers, +the Londoners, the sergeant, the prisoners, and above all, the +ingratitude of the Government which had made him so small a return for +his exertions. This was but the first of many such scenes, for the +Government, in endeavouring to satisfy the claims of its supporters, had +promised many more than there were prisoners. I am grieved to say that +I have seen not only men, but even my own countrywomen, and ladies of +title to boot, wringing their hands and bewailing themselves because +they were unable to get any of the poor Somersetshire folk to sell as +slaves. Indeed, it was only with difficulty that they could be made to +see that their claim upon Government did not give them the right of +seizing any burgher or peasant who might come in their way, and shipping +him right off for the Plantations. + +Well, my dear grandchildren, from night to night through this long and +weary winter I have taken you back with me into the past, and made you +see scenes the players in which are all beneath the turf, save that +perhaps here and there some greybeard like myself may have a +recollection of them. I understand that you, Joseph, have every morning +set down upon paper that which I have narrated the night before. It is +as well that you should do so, for your own children and your children's +children may find it of interest, and even perhaps take a pride in +hearing that their ancestors played a part in such scenes. But now the +spring is coming, and the green is bare of snow, so that there are +better things for you to do than to sit listening to the stories of a +garrulous old man. Nay, nay, you shake your heads, but indeed those +young limbs want exercising and strengthening and knitting together, +which can never come from sitting toasting round the blaze. Besides, +my story draws quickly to an end now, for I had never intended to tell +you more than the events connected with the Western rising. If the +closing part hath been of the dreariest, and if all doth not wind up +with the ringing of bells and the joining of hands, like the tales in +the chap-books, you must blame history and not me. For Truth is a stern +mistress, and when one hath once started off with her one must follow on +after the jade, though she lead in flat defiance of all the rules and +conditions which would fain turn that tangled wilderness the world into +the trim Dutch garden of the story-tellers. + +Three days after our trial we were drawn up in North Street in front of +the Castle with others from the other prisons who were to share our +fate. We were placed four abreast, with a rope connecting each rank, +and of these ranks I counted fifty, which would bring our total to two +hundred. On each side of us rode dragoons, and in front and behind were +companies of musqueteers to prevent any attempt at rescue or escape. +In this order we set off upon the tenth day of September, amidst the +weeping and wailing of the townsfolk, many of whom saw their sons or +brothers marching off into exile without their being able to exchange a +last word or embrace with them. Some of these poor folk, doddering old +men and wrinkled, decrepit women, toiled for miles after us down the +high-road, until the rearguard of foot faced round upon them, and drove +them away with curses and blows from their ramrods. + +That day we made our way through Yeovil and Sherborne, and on the morrow +proceeded over tho North Downs as far as Blandford, where we were penned +together like cattle and left for the night. On the third day we +resumed our march through Wimbourne and a line of pretty Dorsetshire +villages--the last English villages which most of us were destined to +see for many a long year to come. Late in the afternoon the spars and +rigging of the shipping in Poole Harbour rose up before us, and in +another hour we had descended the steep and craggy path which leads to +the town. Here we were drawn up upon the quay opposite the +broad-decked, heavy-sparred brig which was destined to carry us into +slavery. Through all this march we met with the greatest kindness from +tho common people, who flocked out from their cottages with fruit and +with milk, which they divided amongst us. At other places, at, the risk +of their lives, Dissenting ministers came forth and stood by the +wayside, blessing us as we passed, in spite of the rough jeers and oaths +of the soldiers. + +We were marched aboard and led below by the mate of the vessel, a tall +red-faced seaman with ear-rings in his ears, while the captain stood on +the poop with his legs apart and a pipe in his mouth, checking us off +one by one by means of a list which he held in his hand. As he looked +at the sturdy build and rustic health of the peasants, which even their +long confinement had been unable to break down, his eyes glistened, +and he rubbed his big red hands together with delight. + +'Show them down, Jem!' he kept shouting to the mate. 'Stow them safe, +Jem! There's lodgings for a duchess down there, s'help me, there's +lodgings for a duchess! Pack 'em away!' + +One by one we passed before the delighted captain, and down the steep +ladder which led into the hold. Here we were led along a narrow +passage, on either side of which opened the stalls which were prepared +for us. As each man came opposite to the one set aside for him he was +thrown into it by the brawny mate, and fastened down with anklets of +iron by the seaman armourer in attendance. It was dark before we were +all secured, but the captain came round with a lanthorn to satisfy +himself that all his property was really safe. I could hear the mate +and him reckoning the value of each prisoner, and counting what he would +fetch in the Barbadoes market. + +'Have you served out their fodder, Jem?' he asked, flashing his light +into each stall in turn. 'Have you seen that they had their rations?' + +'A rye bread loaf and a pint o' water,' answered the mate. + +'Fit for a duchess, s'help me!' cried the captain. 'Look to this one, +Jem. He is a lusty rogue. Look to his great hands. He might work for +years in the rice-swamps ere the land crabs have the picking of him.' + +'Aye, we'll have smart bidding amid the settlers for this lot. 'Cod, +captain, but you have made a bargain of it! Od's bud! you have done +these London fools to some purpose.' + +'What is this?' roared the captain. 'Here is one who hath not touched +his allowance. How now, sirrah, art too dainty in the stomach to eat +what your betters have eaten before you?' + +'I have no hairt for food, zur,' the prisoner answered. + +'What, you must have your whims and fancies! You must pick and you must +choose! I tell you, sirrah, that you are mine, body and soul! Twelve +good pieces I paid for you, and now, forsooth, I am to be told that you +will not eat! Turn to it at this instant, you saucy rogue, or I shall +have you triced to the triangles!' + +'Here is another,' said the mate, 'who sits ever with his head sunk upon +his breast without spirit or life.' + +'Mutinous, obstinate dog!' cried the captain. 'What ails you then? +Why have you a face like an underwriter in a tempest?' + +'If it plaize you, zur,' the prisoner answered, 'Oi do but think o' +m' ould mother at Wellington, and woonder who will kape her now that +Oi'm gone!' + +'And what is that to me?' shouted the brutal seaman. 'How can you +arrive at your journey's end sound and hearty if you sit like a sick +fowl upon a perch? Laugh, man, and be merry, or I will give you +something to weep for. Out on you, you chicken-hearted swab, to sulk +and fret like a babe new weaned! Have you not all that heart could +desire? Give him a touch with the rope's-end, Jem, if ever you do +observe him fretting. It is but to spite us that he doth it.' + +'If it please your honour,' said a seaman, coming hurriedly down from +the deck, 'there is a stranger upon the poop who will have speech with +your honour.' + +'What manner of man, sirrah?' + +'Surely he is a person of quality, your honour. He is as free wi' his +words as though he were the captain o' the ship. The boatswain did but +jog against him, and he swore so woundily at him and stared at him so, +wi' een like a tiger-cat, that Job Harrison says we have shipped the +devil himsel.' The men don't like the look of him, your honour!' + +'Who the plague can this spark be?' said the skipper. 'Go on deck, +Jem, and tell him that I am counting my live stock, and that I shall be +with him anon.' + +'Nay, your honour! There will trouble come of it unless you come up. +He swears that he will not bear to be put off, and that he must see you +on the instant.' + +'Curse his blood, whoever he be!' growled the seaman. 'Every cock on +his own dunghill. What doth the rogue mean? Were he the Lord High +Privy Seal, I would have him to know that I am lord of my own +quarter-deck!' So saying, with many snorts of indignation, the mate and +the captain withdrew together up the ladder, banging the heavy hatchways +down as they passed through. + +A single oil-lamp swinging from a beam in the centre of the gangway +which led between the rows of cells was the only light which was +vouchsafed us. By its yellow, murky glimmer we could dimly see the +great wooden ribs of the vessel, arching up on either side of us, and +crossed by the huge beams which held the deck. A grievous stench from +foul bilge water poisoned the close, heavy air. Every now and then, +with a squeak and a clutter, a rat would dart across the little zone +of light and vanish in the gloom upon the further side. Heavy breathing +all round me showed that my companions, wearied out by their journey and +their sufferings, had dropped into a slumber. From time to time one +could hear the dismal clank of fetters, and the start and incatching of +the breath, as some poor peasant, fresh from dreams of his humble +homestead amid the groves of the Mendips, awoke of a sudden to see the +great wooden coffin around him, and to breathe the venomous air of the +prison ship. + +I lay long awake full of thought both for myself and for the poor souls +around me. At last, however, the measured swash of the water against +the side of the vessel and the slight rise and fall had lulled me into a +sleep, from which I was suddenly aroused by the flashing of a light in +my eyes. Sitting up, I found several sailors gathered about me, and a +tall man with a black cloak swathed round him swinging a lanthorn over +me. + +'That is the man,' he said. + +'Come, mate, you are to come on deck!' said the seaman armourer. With a +few blows from his hammer he knocked the irons from my feet. + +'Follow me!' said the tall stranger, and led the way up the hatchway +ladder. It was heavenly to come out into the pure air once more. +The stars were shining brightly overhead. A fresh breeze blew from the +shore, and hummed a pleasant tune among the cordage. Close beside us +the lights of the town gleamed yellow and cheery. Beyond, the moon +was peeping over the Bournemouth hills. + +'This way, sir,' said the sailor, 'right aft into the cabin, sir.' + +Still following my guide, I found myself in the low cabin of the brig. +A square shining table stood in the centre, with a bright swinging lamp +above it. At the further end in the glare of the light sat the +captain--his face shining with greed and expectation. On the table +stood a small pile of gold pieces, a rum-flask, glasses, a tobacco-box, +and two long pipes. + +'My compliments to you, Captain Clarke,' said the skipper, bobbing his +round bristling head. 'An honest seaman's compliments to you. +It seems that we are not to be shipmates this voyage, after all.' + +'Captain Micah Clarke must do a voyage of his own,' said the stranger. + +At the sound of his voice I sprang round in amazement. 'Good Heavens!' +I cried, 'Saxon!' + +'You have nicked it,' said he, throwing down his mantle and showing the +well-known face and figure of the soldier of fortune. 'Zounds, man! if +you can pick me out of the Solent, I suppose that I may pick you out of +this accursed rat-trap in which I find you. Tie and tie, as we say at +the green table. In truth, I was huffed with you when last we parted, +but I have had you in my mind for all that.' + +'A seat and a glass, Captain Clarke,' cried the skipper. 'Od's bud! +I should think that you would be glad to raise your little finger and +wet your whistle after what you have gone through.' + +I seated myself by the table with my brain in a whirl. 'This is more +than I can fathom,' said I. 'What is the meaning of it, and how comes +it about?' + +'For my own part, the meaning is as clear as the glass of my binnacle,' +quoth the seaman. 'Your good friend Colonel Saxon, as I understand his +name to be, has offered me as much as I could hope to gain by selling +you in the Indies. Sink it, I may be rough and ready, but my heart is +in the right place! Aye, aye! I would not maroon a man if I could set +him free. But we have all to look for ourselves, and trade is dull.' + +'Then I am free!' said I. + +'You are free,' he answered. 'There is your purchase-money upon the +table. You can go where you will, save only upon the land of England, +where you are still an outlaw under sentence.' + +'How have you done this, Saxon?' I asked. 'Are you not afraid for +yourself?' + +'Ho, ho!' laughed the old soldier. 'I am a free man, my lad! I hold my +pardon, and care not a maravedi for spy or informer. Who should I meet +but Colonel Kirke a day or so back. Yes, lad! I met him in the street, +and I cocked my hat in his face. The villain laid his hand upon his +hilt, and I should have out bilbo and sent his soul to hell had they +not come between us. I care not the ashes of this pipe for Jeffreys or +any other of them. I can snap this finger and thumb at them, so! +They would rather see Decimus Saxon's back than his face, I promise ye!' + +'But how comes this about?' I asked. + +'Why, marry, it is no mystery. Cunning old birds are not to be caught +with chaff. When I left you I made for a certain inn where I could +count upon finding a friend. There I lay by for a while, en cachette, +as the Messieurs call it, while I could work out the plan that was in my +head. Donner wetter! but I got a fright from that old seaman friend of +yours, who should be sold as a picture, for he is of little use as a +man. Well, I bethought me early in the affair of your visit to +Badminton, and of the Duke of B. We shall mention no names, but you can +follow my meaning. To him I sent a messenger, to the effect that I +purposed to purchase my own pardon by letting out all that I knew +concerning his double dealing with the rebels. The message was carried +to him secretly, and his answer was that I should meet him at a certain +spot by night. I sent my messenger instead of myself, and he was found +in the morning stiff and stark, with more holes in his doublet than ever +the tailor made. On this I sent again, raising my demands, and +insisting upon a speedy settlement. He asked my conditions. I replied, +a free pardon and a command for myself. For you, money enough to land +you safely in some foreign country where you can pursue the noble +profession of arms. I got them both, though it was like drawing teeth +from his head. His name hath much power at Court just now, and the King +can refuse him nothing. I have my pardon and a command of troops in New +England. For you I have two hundred pieces, of which thirty have been +paid in ransom to the captain, while twenty are due to me for my +disbursements over the matter. In this bag you will find the odd +hundred and fifty, of which you will pay fifteen to the fishermen who +have promised to see you safe to Flushing.' + +I was, as you may readily believe, my dear children, bewildered by this +sudden and most unlooked-for turn which events had taken. When Saxon +had ceased to speak I sat as one stunned, trying to realise what he had +said to me. There came a thought into my head, however, which chilled +the glow of hope and of happiness which had sprung up in me at the +thought of recovering my freedom. My presence had been a support and a +comfort to my unhappy companions. Would it not be a cruel thing to +leave them in their distress? There was not one of them who did not +look to me in his trouble, and to the best of my poor power I had +befriended and consoled them. How could I desert them now? + +'I am much beholden to you, Saxon,' I said at last, speaking slowly and +with some difficulty, for the words were hard to utter. 'But I fear +that your pains have been thrown away. These poor country folk have +none to look after or assist them. They are as simple as babes, and as +little fitted to be landed in a strange country. I cannot find it in my +heart to leave them!' + +Saxon burst out laughing, and leaned back in his seat with his long legs +stretched straight out and his hands in his breeches pockets. + +'This is too much!' he said at last. 'I saw many difficulties in my +way, yet I did not foresee this one. You are in very truth the most +contrary man that ever stood in neat's leather. You have ever some +outlandish reason for jibbing and shying like a hot-blooded, half-broken +colt. Yet I think that I can overcome these strange scruples of yours +by a little persuasion.' + +'As to the prisoners, Captain Clarke,' said the seaman, 'I'll be as good +as a father to them. S'help me, I will, on the word of an honest +sailor! If you should choose to lay out a trifle of twenty pieces upon +their comfort, I shall see that their food is such as mayhap many of +them never got at their own tables. They shall come on deck, too, in +watches, and have an hour or two o' fresh air in the day. I can't say +fairer!' + +'A word or two with you on deck!' said Saxon. He walked out of the +cabin and I followed him to the far end of the poop, where we stood +leaning against the bulwarks. One by one the lights had gone out in the +town, until the black ocean beat against a blacker shore. + +'You need not have any fear of the future of the prisoners,' he said, in +a low whisper. 'They are not bound for the Barbadoes, nor will this +skinflint of a captain have the selling of them, for all that he is so +cocksure. If he can bring his own skin out of the business, it will be +more than I expect. He hath a man aboard his ship who would think no +more of giving him a tilt over the side than I should.' + +'What mean you, Saxon?' I cried. + +'Hast ever heard of a man named Marot?' + +'Hector Marot! Yes, surely I knew him well. A highwayman he was, but a +mighty stout man with a kind heart beneath a thief's jacket.' + +'The same. He is as you say a stout man and a resolute swordsman, +though from what I have seen of his play he is weak in stoccado, and +perhaps somewhat too much attached to the edge, and doth not give +prominence enough to the point, in which respect he neglects the advice +and teaching of the most noteworthy fencers in Europe. Well, well, folk +differ on this as on every other subject! Yet it seems to me that I +would sooner be carried off the field after using my weapon secundum +artem, than walk off unscathed after breaking the laws d'escrime. +Quarte, tierce, and saccoon, say I, and the devil take your estramacons +and passados!' + +'But what of Marot?' I asked impatiently. + +'He is aboard,' said Saxon. 'It appears that he was much disturbed in +his mind over the cruelties which were inflicted on the country folk +after the battle at Bridgewater. Being a man of a somewhat stern and +fierce turn of mind, his disapproval did vent itself in actions rather +than words. Soldiers were found here and there over the countryside +pistolled or stabbed, and no trace left of their assailant. A dozen or +more were cut off in this way, and soon it came to be whispered about +that Marot the highwayman was the man that did it, and the chase became +hot at his heels.' + +'Well, and what then?' I asked, for Saxon had stopped to light his pipe +at the same old metal tinder-box which he had used when first I met him. +When I picture Saxon to myself it is usually of that moment that I +think, when the red glow beat upon his hard, eager, hawk-like face, and +showed up the thousand little seams and wrinkles which time and care had +imprinted upon his brown, weather-beaten skin. Sometimes in my dreams +that face in the darkness comes back to me, and his half-closed eyelids +and shifting, blinky eyes are turned towards me in his sidelong fashion, +until I find myself sitting up and holding out my hand into empty space, +half expecting to feel another thin sinewy hand close round it. A bad +man he was in many ways, my dears, cunning and wily, with little scruple +or conscience; and yet so strange a thing is human nature, and so +difficult is it for us to control our feelings, that my heart warms when +I think of him, and that fifty years have increased rather than weakened +the kindliness which I hear to him. + +'I had heard,' quoth he, puffing slowly at his pipe, 'that Marot was a +man of this kidney, and also that he was so compassed round that he was +in peril of capture. I sought him out, therefore, and held council with +him. His mare, it seems, had been slain by some chance shot, and as he +was much attached to the brute, the accident made him more savage and +more dangerous than ever. He had no heart, he said, to continue in his +old trade. Indeed, he was ripe for anything--the very stuff out of +which useful tools are made. I found that in his youth he had had a +training for the sea. When I heard that, I saw my way in the snap of a +petronel.' + +'What then?' I asked. 'I am still in the dark.' + +'Nay, it is surely plain enough to you now. Marot's end was to baffle +his pursuers and to benefit the exiles. How could he do this better +than by engaging as a seaman aboard this brig, the _Dorothy Fox_, and +sailing away from England in her? There are but thirty of a crew. +Below hatches are close on two hundred men, who, simple as they may be, +are, as you and I know, second to none in the cut-and-thrust work, +without order or discipline, which will be needed in such an affair. +Marot has but to go down amongst them some dark night, knock off their +anklets, and fit them up with a few stanchions or cudgels. Ho, ho, +Micah! what think you? The planters may dig their plantations +themselves for all the help they are like to get from West countrymen +this bout.' + +'It is, indeed, a well-conceived plan,' said I. 'It is a pity, Saxon, +that your ready wit and quick invention hath not had a fair field. You +are, us I know well, as fit to command armies and to order campaigns as +any man that ever bore a truncheon.' + +'Mark ye there!' whispered Saxon, grasping me by the arm. 'See where +the moonlight falls beside the hatchway! Do you not see that short +squat seaman who stands alone, lost in thought, with his head sunk upon +his breast? It is Marot! I tell you that if I were Captain Pogram I +would rather have the devil himself, horns, hoofs, and tail, for my +first mate and bunk companion, than have that man aboard my ship. +You need not concern yourself about the prisoners, Micah. Their future +is decided.' + +'Then, Saxon,' I answered, 'it only remains for me to thank you, and to +accept the means of safety which you have placed within my reach.' + +'Spoken like a man,' said he; 'is there aught which I may do for thee in +England? though, by the Mass, I may not be here very long myself, for, +as I understand, I am to be entrusted with the command of an expedition +that is fitting out against the Indians, who have ravaged the +plantations of our settlers. It will be good to get to some profitable +employment, for such a war, without either fighting or plunder, I have +never seen. I give you my word that I have scarce fingered silver since +the beginning of it. I would not for the sacking of London go through +with it again.' + +'There is a friend whom Sir Gervas Jerome did commend to my care,' I +remarked; 'I have, however, already taken measures to have his wishes +carried out. There is naught else save to assure all in Havant that a +King who hath battened upon his subjects, as this one of ours hath done, +is not one who is like to keep his seat very long upon the throne of +England. When he falls I shall return, and perhaps it may be sooner +than folk think.' + +'These doings in the West have indeed stirred up much ill-feeling all +over the country,' said my companion. 'On all hands I hear that there +is more hatred of the King and of his ministers than before the +outbreak. What ho, Captain Pogram, this way! We have settled the +matter, and my friend is willing to go.' + +'I thought he would tack round,' the captain said, staggering towards us +with a gait which showed that he had made the rum bottle his companion +since we had left him. 'S'help me, I was sure of it! Though, by the +Mass, I don't wonder that he thought twice before leaving the _Dorothy +Fox_, for she is fitted up fit for a duchess, s'help me! Where is your +boat?' + +'Alongside,' replied Saxon; 'my friend joins with me in hoping that you, +Captain Pogram, will have a pleasant and profitable voyage.' + +'I am cursedly beholden to him,' said the captain, with a flourish of +his three-cornered hat. + +'Also that you will reach Barbadoes in safety.' + +'Little doubt of that!' quoth the captain. + +'And that you will dispose of your wares in a manner which will repay +you for your charity and humanity.' + +'Nay, these are handsome words,' cried the captain. 'Sir, I am your +debtor.' + +A fishing-boat was lying alongside the brig. By the murky light of the +poop lanterns I could see the figures upon her deck, and the great brown +sail all ready for hoisting. I climbed the bulwark and set my foot upon +the rope-ladder which led down to her. + +'Good-bye, Decimus!' said I. + +'Good-bye, my lad! You have your pieces all safe?' + +'I have them.' + +'Then I have one other present to make you. It was brought to me by a +sergeant of the Royal Horse. It is that, Micah, on which you must now +depend for food, lodging, raiment, and all which you would have. It is +that to which a brave man can always look for his living. It is the +knife wherewith you can open the world's oyster. See, lad, it is +your sword!' + +'The old sword! My father's sword!' I cried in delight, as Saxon drew +from under his mantle and handed to me the discoloured, old-fashioned +leathern sheath with the heavy brass hilt which I knew so well. + +'You are now,' said he, 'one of the old and honourable guild of soldiers +of fortune. While the Turk is still snarling at the gates of Vienna +there will ever be work for strong arms and brave hearts. You will find +that among these wandering, fighting men, drawn from all climes and +nations, the name of Englishman stands high. Well I know that it will +stand none the lower for your having joined the brotherhood. I would +that I could come with you, but I am promised pay and position which it +would be ill to set aside. Farewell, lad, and may fortune go with you!' + +I pressed the rough soldier's horny hand, and descended into the +fishing-boat. The rope that held us was cast off, the sail mounted up, +and the boat shot out across the bay. Onward she went and on, through +the gathering gloom--a gloom as dark and impenetrable as the future +towards which my life's bark was driving. Soon the long rise and fall +told us that we were over the harbour bar and out in the open channel. +On the land, scattered twinkling lights at long stretches marked the +line of the coast. As I gazed backwards a cloud trailed off from the +moon, and I saw the hard lines of the brig's rigging stand out against +the white cold disk. By the shrouds stood the veteran, holding to a +rope with one hand, and waving the other in farewell and encouragement. +Another groat cloud blurred out the light, and that lean sinewy figure +with its long extended arm was the last which I saw for a weary time of +the dear country where I was born and bred. + + + +Chapter XXXVI. + + +Of the End of it All + +And so, my dear children, I come to the end of the history of a +failure--a brave failure and a noble one, but a failure none the less. +In three more years England was to come to herself, to tear the fetters +from her free limbs, and to send James and his poisonous brood flying +from her shores even as I was flying then. We had made the error of +being before our time. Yet there came days when folk thought kindly of +the lads who had fought so stoutly in the West, and when their limbs, +gathered from many a hangman's pit and waste place, were borne amid the +silent sorrow of a nation to the pretty country burial-grounds where +they would have chosen to lie. There, within the sound of the bell +which from infancy had called them to prayer, beneath the turf over +which they had wandered, under the shadow of those Mendip and Quantock +Hills which they loved so well, these brave hearts lie still and +peaceful, like tired children in the bosom of their mother. +Requiescant-requiescant in pace! + +Not another word about myself, dear children. This narrative doth +already bristle with I's, as though it were an Argus which is a flash of +wit, though I doubt if ye will understand it. I set myself to tell ye +the tale of the war in the West, and that tale ye have heard, nor will I +be coaxed or cajoled into one word further. Ah! ye know well how +garrulous the old man is, and that if you could but get to Flushing with +him he would take ye to the wars of the Empire, to William's Court, and +to the second invasion of the West, which had a better outcome than the +first. But not an inch further will I budge. On to the green, ye young +rogues! Have ye not other limbs to exercise besides your ears, that +ye should be so fond of squatting round grandad's chair? If I am spared +to next winter, and if the rheumatiz keeps away, it is like that I may +take up once more the broken thread of my story. + +Of the others I can only tell ye what I know. Some slipped out of my +ken entirely. Of others I have heard vague and incomplete accounts. +The leaders of the insurrection got off much more lightly than their +followers, for they found that the passion of greed was even stronger +than the passion of cruelty. Grey, Buyse, Wade, and others bought +themselves free at the price of all their possessions. Ferguson +escaped. Monmouth was executed on Tower Hill, and showed in his last +moments some faint traces of that spirit which spurted up now and again +from his feeble nature, like the momentary flash of an expiring fire. + +My father and my mother lived to see the Protestant religion regain its +place once more, and to see England become the champion of the reformed +faith upon the Continent. Three years later I found them in Havant much +as I had left them, save that there were more silver hairs amongst the +brown braided tresses of my mother, and that my father's great shoulders +were a trifle bowed and his brow furrowed with the lines of care. Hand +in hand they passed onwards down life's journey, the Puritan and the +Church woman, and I have never despaired of the healing of religious +feud in England since I have seen how easy it is for two folks to retain +the strongest belief in their own creeds, and yet to bear the heartiest +love and respect for the professor of another. The days may come when +the Church and the Chapel may be as a younger and an elder brother, each +working to one end, and each joying in the other's success. Let the +contest between them be not with pike and pistol, not with court and +prison; but let the strife be which shall lead the higher life, which +shall take the broader view, which shall boast the happiest and best +cared-for poor. Then their rivalry shall be not a curse, but a blessing +to this land of England. + +Reuben Lockarby was ill for many months, but when he at last recovered +he found a pardon awaiting him through the interest of Major Ogilvy. +After a time, when the troubles were all blown over, he married the +daughter of Mayor Timewell, and he still lives in Taunton, a well-to-do +and prosperous citizen. Thirty years ago there was a little Micah +Lockarby, and now I am told that there is another, the son of the first, +who promises to be as arrant a little Roundhead as ever marched to the +tuck of drum. + +Of Saxon I have heard more than once. So skilfully did he use his hold +over the Duke of Beaufort, that he was appointed through his interest to +the command of an expedition which had been sent to chastise the savages +of Virginia, who had wrought great cruelties upon the settlers. There +he did so out-ambush their ambushes, and out-trick their most cunning +warriors, that he hath left a great name among them, and is still +remembered there by an Indian word which signifieth 'The long-legged +wily one with the eye of a rat.' Having at last driven the tribes far +into the wilderness he was presented with a tract of country for his +services, where he settled down. There he married, and spent the rest +of his days in rearing tobacco and in teaching the principles of war to +a long line of gaunt and slab-sided children. They tell me that a +great nation of exceeding strength and of wondrous size promises some +day to rise up on the other side of the water. If this should indeed +come to pass, it may perhaps happen that these young Saxons or their +children may have a hand in the building of it. God grant that they may +never let their hearts harden to the little isle of the sea, which is +and must ever be the cradle of their race. + +Solomon Sprent married and lived for many years as happily as his +friends could wish. I had a letter from him when I was abroad, in which +he said that though his consort and he had started alone on the voyage +of wedlock, they were now accompanied by a jolly-boat and a gig. +One winter's night when the snow was on the ground he sent down for +my father, who hurried up to his house. He found the old man sitting up +in bed, with his flask of rumbo within reach, his tobacco-box beside +him, and a great brown Bible balanced against his updrawn knees. He was +breathing heavily, and was in sore distress. + +'I've strained a plank, and have nine feet in the well,' said he. +'It comes in quicker than I can put it out. In truth, friend, I have +not been seaworthy this many a day, and it is time that I was condemned +and broken up.' + +My father shook his head sadly as he marked his dusky face and laboured +breathing. 'How of your soul?' he asked. + +'Aye!' said Solomon, 'that's a cargo that we carry under our hatches, +though we can't see it, and had no hand in the stowing of it. I've been +overhauling the sailing orders here, and the ten articles of war, but I +can't find that I've gone so far out of my course that I may not hope to +come into the channel again.' + +'Trust not in yourself, but in Christ,' said my father. + +'He is the pilot, in course,' replied the old seaman. 'When I had a +pilot aboard o' my ship, however, it was my way always to keep my own +weather eye open, d'ye see, and so I'll do now. The pilot don't think +none the worse of ye for it. So I'll throw my own lead line, though I +hear as how there are no soundings in the ocean of God's mercy. Say, +friend, d'ye think this very body, this same hull o' mine, will rise +again?' + +'So we are taught,' my father answered. + +'I'd know it anywhere from the tattoo marks,' said Solomon. 'They was +done when I was with Sir Christopher in the West Indies, and I'd be +sorry to part with them. For myself, d'ye see, I've never borne +ill-will to any one, not even to the Dutch lubbers, though I fought +three wars wi' them, and they carried off one of my spars, and be hanged +to them! If I've let daylight into a few of them, d'ye see, it's all in +good part and by way of duty. I've drunk my share--enough to sweeten my +bilge-water--but there are few that have seen me cranky in the upper +rigging or refusing to answer to my helm. I never drew pay or +prize-money that my mate in distress was not welcome to the half of it. +As to the Polls, the less said the better. I've been a true consort to +my Phoebe since she agreed to look to me for signals. Those are my +papers, all clear and aboveboard. If I'm summoned aft this very night +by the great Lord High Admiral of all, I ain't afeared that He'll clap +me into the bilboes, for though I'm only a poor sailor man, I've got His +promise in this here book, and I'm not afraid of His going back from +it.' + +My father sat with the old man for some hours and did all that he could +to comfort and assist him, for it was clear that he was sinking rapidly. +When he at last left him, with his faithful wife beside him, he grasped +the brown but wasted hand which lay above the clothes. + +'I'll see you again soon,' he said. + +'Yes. In the latitude of heaven,' replied the dying seaman. His +foreboding was right, for in the early hours of the morning his wife, +bending over him, saw a bright smile upon his tanned, weather-beaten +face. Raising himself upon his pillow he touched his forelock, as is +the habit of sailor-men, and so sank slowly and peacefully back into the +long sleep which wakes when the night has ceased to be. + +You will ask me doubtless what became of Hector Marot and of the strange +shipload which had set sail from Poole Harbour. There was never a word +heard of them again, unless indeed a story which was spread some months +afterwards by Captain Elias Hopkins, of the Bristol ship _Caroline_, may +be taken as bearing upon their fate. For Captain Hopkins relates that, +being on his homeward voyage from our settlements, he chanced to meet +with thick fogs and a head wind in the neighbourhood of the great cod +banks. One night as he was beating about, with the weather so thick +that he could scarce see the truck of his own mast, a most strange +passage befell him. For as he and others stood upon the deck, they +heard to their astonishment the sound of many voices joined in a great +chorus, which was at first faint and distant, but which presently waxed +and increased until it appeared to pass within a stone-throw of his +vessel, when it slowly died away once more and was lost in the distance. +There were some among the crew who set the matter down as the doing of +the evil one, but, as Captain Elias Hopkins was wont to remark, it was a +strange thing that the foul fiend should choose West-country hymns for +his nightly exercise, and stranger still that the dwellers in the pit +should sing with a strong Somersetshire burr. For myself, I have little +doubt that it was indeed the _Dorothy Fox_ which had swept past in the +fog, and that the prisoners, having won their freedom, were celebrating +their delivery in true Puritan style. Whether they were driven on to +the rocky coast of Labrador, or whether they found a home in some +desolate land whence no kingly cruelty could harry them, is what must +remain for ever unknown. + +Zachariah Palmer lived for many years, a venerable and honoured old man, +before he, too, was called to his fathers. A sweet and simple village +philosopher he was, with a child's heart in his aged breast. The very +thought of him is to me as the smell of violets; for if in my views of +life and in my hopes of the future I differ somewhat from the hard and +gloomy teaching of my father, I know that I owe it to the wise words and +kindly training of the carpenter. If, as he was himself wont to say, +deeds are everything in this world and dogma is nothing, then his +sinless, blameless life might be a pattern to you and to all. May the +dust lie light upon him! + +One word of another friend--the last mentioned, but not the least +valued. When Dutch William had been ten years upon the English throne +there was still to be seen in the field by my father's house a tall, +strong-boned horse, whose grey skin was flecked with dashes of white. +And it was ever observed that, should the soldiers be passing from +Portsmouth, or should the clank of trumpet or the rattle of drum break +upon his ear, he would arch his old neck, throw out his grey-streaked +tail, and raise his stiff knees in a pompous and pedantic canter. The +country folk would stop to watch these antics of the old horse, and then +the chances are that one of them would tell the rest how that charger +had borne one of their own village lads to the wars, and how, when the +rider had to fly the country, a kindly sergeant in the King's troops +had brought the steed as a remembrance of him to his father at home. +So Covenant passed the last years of his life, a veteran among steeds, +well fed and cared for, and much given, mayhap, to telling in equine +language to all the poor, silly country steeds the wonderful passages +which had befallen him in the West. + + + +APPENDIX + + +Note A.--Hatred of Learning among the Puritans. + +In spite of the presence in their ranks of such ripe scholars as John +Milton, Colonel Hutchinson, and others, there was among the Independents +and Anabaptists a profound distrust of learning, which is commented upon +by writers of all shades of politics. Dr. South in his sermons remarks +that 'All learning was cried down, so that with them the best preachers +were such as could not read, and the best divines such as could not +write. In all their preachments they so highly pretended to the Spirit, +that some of them could hardly spell a letter. To be blind with them +was a proper qualification of a spiritual guide, and to be book-learned, +as they called it, and to be irreligious, were almost convertible terms. +None save tradesmen and mechanics were allowed to have the Spirit, and +those only were accounted like St. Paul who could work with their hands, +and were able to make a pulpit before preaching in it.' + +In the collection of loyal ballads reprinted in 1731, the Royalist +bard harps upon the same characteristic: + + 'We'll down with universities + Where learning is professed, + Because they practise and maintain + The language of the beast. + We'll drive the doctors out of doors, + And parts, whate'er they be, + We'll cry all parts and learning down, + And heigh, then up go we!' + + +Note B.--On the Speed of Couriers. + +It is difficult for us in these days of steam and electricity to realise +how long it took to despatch a message in the seventeenth century, even +when the occasion was most pressing. Thus, Monmouth landed at Lyme on +the morning of Thursday, the 11th of June. Gregory Alford, the Tory +mayor of Lyme, instantly fled to Honiton, whence he despatched a +messenger to the Privy Council. Yet it was five o'clock in the morning +of Saturday, the 13th, before the news reached London, though the +distance is but 156 miles. + + +Note C.--On the Claims of the Lender of a Horse. + +The difficulty touched upon by Decimus Saxon, as to the claim of the +lender of a horse upon the booty gained by the rider, is one frequently +discussed by writers of that date upon the usages of war. One +distinguished authority says: Praefectus turmae equitum Hispanorum, cum +proelio tuba caneret, unum ex equitibus suae turmae obvium habuit; qui +questus est quod paucis ante diebus equum suum in certamine amiserat, +propter quod non poterat imminenti proelio interesse; unde jussit +Praefectus ut unum ex suis equis conscenderet et ipsum comitaretur. +Miles, equo conscenso, inter fugandum hostes, incidit in ipsum ducem +hostilis exercitus, quem cepit et consignavit Duci exercitus Hispani, +qui a captivo vicena aureorum millia est consequutus. Dicebat +Praefectus partem pretii hujus redemptionis sibi debere, quod miles equo +suo dimicaverat, qui alias proelio interesse non potuit. Petrinus +Bellus affirmat se, cum esset Bruxellis in curia Hispaniarum Regis de +hac quaestione consultum, et censuisse, pro Praefecto facere aequitatem +quae praecipue respicitur inter milites, quorum controversiae ex aequo +et bono dirimendae sunt; unde ultra conventa quis obligatur ad id quod +alterum alteri prasstare oportet.' The case, it appears, ultimately went +against the horse-lending praefect. + + +Note D.--On the Pronunciation of Exquisites. + +The substitution of the a for the o was a common affectation in the +speech of the fops of the period, as may be found in Vanbrugh's +_Relapse_. The notorious Titus Oates, in his efforts to be in the mode, +pushed this trick to excess, and his cries of 'Oh Lard! Oh Lard!' were +familiar sounds in Westminster Hall at the time when the Salamanca +doctor was at the flood of his fortune. + + +Note E.--Hour-glasses in Pulpits. + +In those days it was customary to have an hour-glass stationed in a +frame of iron at the side of the pulpit, and visible to the whole +congregation. It was turned up as soon as the text was announced, and a +minister earned a name as a lazy preacher if he did not hold out until +the sand had ceased to run. If, on the other hand, he exceeded that +limit, his audience would signify by gapes and yawns that they had had +as much spiritual food as they could digest. Sir Roger L'Estrange +(_Fables_, Part II. Fab. 262) tells of a notorious spin-text who, having +exhausted his glass and being half-way through a second one, was at last +arrested in his career by a valiant sexton, who rose and departed, +remarking as he did so, 'Pray, sir, be pleased when you have done to +leave the key under the door.' + + +Note F.--Disturbances at the old Gast House of Little Burton. + +The circumstances referred to by the Mayor of Taunton in his allusion to +the Drummer of Tedsworth are probably too well known to require +elucidation. The haunting of the old Gast House at Burton would, +however, be fresh at that time in the minds of Somersetshire folk, +occurring as it did in 1677. Some short account from documents of that +date may be of interest. + +'The first night that I was there, with Hugh Mellmore and Edward Smith, +they heard as it were the washing of water over their heads. Then, +taking the candle and going up the stairs, there was a wet cloth thrown +at them, but it fell on the stairs. They, going up further, there was +another thrown as before. And when they were come up into the chamber +there stood a bowl of water, looking white, as though soap had been used +in it. The bowl just before was in the kitchen, and could not be +carried up but through the room where they were. The next thing was a +terrible noise, like a clap of thunder, and shortly afterwards they +heard a great scratching about the bedstead, and after that great +knocking with a hammer against the bed's-head, so that the two maids +that were in bed cried out for help. Then they ran up the stairs, and +there lay the hammer on the bed, and on the bed's-head there were near a +thousand prints of the hammer. The maids said that they were scratched +and pinched with a hand which had exceeding long nails. + +'The second night that James Sherring and Thomas Hillary were there, +James Sherring sat down in the chimney to fill a pipe of tobacco. +He used the tongs to lift a coal to light his pipe, and by-and-by the +tongs were drawn up the stairs and were cast upon the bed. The same +night one of the maids left her shoes by the fire, and they were carried +up into the chamber, and the old man's brought down and set in their +places. As they were going upstairs there were many things thrown at +them which were just before in the low room, and when they went down the +stairs the old man's breeches were thrown down after them. + +'On another night a saddle did come into the house from a pin in the +entry, and did hop about the place from table to table. It was very +troublesome to them, until they broke it into small pieces and threw it +out into the roadway. So for some weeks the haunting continued, with +rappings, scratching, movements of heavy articles, and many other +strange things, as are attested by all who were in the village, until at +last they ceased as suddenly as they had begun.' + + +Note G.--Monmouth's Progress in the West. + +During his triumphal progress through the western shires, some years +before the rebellion, Monmouth first ventured to exhibit upon his +escutcheon the lions of England and the lilies of France, without the +baton sinister. A still more ominous sign was that he ventured to touch +for the king's evil. The appended letter, extracted from the collection +of tracts in the British Museum, may be of interest as first-hand +evidence of the occasional efficacy of that curious ceremony. + +'His Grace the Duke of Monmouth honoured in his progress in the West of +England, in an account of an extraordinary cure of the king's evil. + +'Given in a letter from Crewkhorn, in Somerset, from the minister of the +parish and many others. + +'We, whose names are underwritten, do certify the miraculous cure of a +girl of this town, about twenty, by name Elizabeth Parcet, a poor +widow's daughter, who hath languished under sad affliction from that +distemper of the king's evil termed the joint evil, being said to be the +worst evil. For about ten or twelve years' time she had in her right +hand four running wounds, one on the inside, three on the back of her +hand, as well as two more in the same arm, one above her hand-wrist, the +other above the bending of her arm. She had betwixt her arm-pits a +swollen bunch, which the doctors said fed those six running wounds. +She had the same distemper also on her left eye, so she was almost +blind. Her mother, despairing of preserving her sight, and being not +of ability to send her to London to be touched by the king, being +miserably poor, having many poor children, and this girl not being +able to work, her mother, desirous to have her daughter cured, sent to +the chirurgeons for help, who tampered with it for some time, but +could do no good. She went likewise ten or eleven miles to a seventh +son, but all in vain. No visible hopes remained, and she expected +nothing but the grave. + +'But now, in this the girl's great extremity, God, the great physician, +dictates to her, then languishing in her miserable, hopeless condition, +what course to take and what to do for a cure, which was to go and touch +the Duke of Monmouth. The girl told her mother that, if she could but +touch the Duke she would be well. The mother reproved her for her +foolish conceit, but the girl did often persuade her mother to go to +Lackington to the Duke, who then lay with Mr. Speaks. "Certainly," said +she, "I should be well if I could touch him." The mother slighted these +pressing requests, but the more she slighted and reproved, the more +earnest the girl was for it. A few days after, the girl having noticed +that Sir John Sydenham intended to treat the Duke at White Lodge in +Henton Park, this girl with many of her neighbours went to the said +park. She being there timely waited the Duke's coming. When first she +observed the Duke she pressed in among a crowd of people and caught him +by the hand, his glove being on, and she likewise having a glove to +cover her wounds. She not being herewith satisfied at the first attempt +of touching his glove only, but her mind was she must touch some part of +his bare skin, she, weighing his coming forth, intended a second +attempt. The poor girl, thus between hope and fear, waited his motion. +On a sudden there was news of the Duke's coming on, which she to be +prepared rent off her glove, that was clung to the sores, in such haste +that she broke her glove, and brought away not only the sores but the +skin. The Duke's glove, as Providence would have it, the upper part +hung down, so that his hand-wrist was bare. She pressed on, and caught +him by the bare hand-wrist with her running hand, crying, "God bless +your highness!" and the Duke said "God bless you!" The girl, not a +little transported at her good success, came and assured her friends +that she would now be well. She came home to her mother in great +joy, and told her that she had touched the Duke's hand. The mother, +hearing what she had done, reproved her sharply for her boldness, asked +how she durst do such a thing, and threatened to beat her for it. +She cried out, "Oh, mother, I shall be well again, and healed of my +wounds!" And as God Almighty would have it, to the wonder and +admiration of all, the six wounds were speedily dried up, the eye became +perfectly well, and the girl was in good health. All which has been +discovered to us by the mother and daughter, and by neighbours that know +her. + +'Henry Clark, minister; Captain James Bale, &c &c. Whoever doubts the +truth of this relation may see the original under the hands of the +persons mentioned at the Amsterdam Coffee House, Bartholomew Lane, Royal +Exchange.' + +In spite of the uncouth verbiage of the old narrative, there is a touch +of human pathos about it which makes it worthy of reproduction. + + +Note H.--Monmouth's Contention of Legitimacy. + +Sir Patrick Hume, relating a talk with Monmouth before his expedition, +says: 'I urged if he considered himself as lawful son of King Charles, +late deceased. He said he did. I asked him if he were able to make out +and prove the marriage of his mother to King Charles, and whether he +intended to lay claim to the crown. He answered that he had been able +lately to prove the marriage, and if some persons are not lately dead, +of which he would inform himself, he would yet be able to prove it. +As for his claiming the crown, he intended not to do it unless it were +advised to be done by those who should concern themselves and join for +the delivery of the nations.' + +It may be remarked that in Monmouth's commission to be general, dated +April 1668, he is styled 'our most entirely beloved and natural son.' +Again, in a commission for the government of Hull, April 1673, he is +'our well-beloved natural son.' + + +Note I.--Dragooners and Chargers. + +The dragoons, being really mounted infantry, were provided with very +inferior animals to the real cavalry. From a letter of Cromwell's +('Squire Correspondence,' April 3, 1643), it will be seen that a +dragooner was worth twenty pieces, while a charger could not be obtained +under sixty. + +Note J.--Battle of Sedgemoor. + +A curious little sidelight upon the battle is afforded by the two +following letters exhibited to the Royal Archaeological Institute by the +Rev. C. W. Bingham. + +'To Mrs. Chaffin at Chettle House.' + +'Monday, about ye forenoon, July 6, 1685.' + +'My dearest creature,--This morning about one o'clock the rebbells fell +upon us whilest we were in our tents in King's Sedgemoor, with their +whole army. . . . We have killed and taken at least 1000 of them. +They are fled into Bridgewater. It is said that we have taken all their +cannon, but sure it is that most are, if all be not. A coat with stars +on 't is taken. ''Tis run through the back. By some 'tis thought that +the Duke rebbell had it on and is killed, but most doe think that a +servant wore it. I wish he were called, that the wars may be ended. +It's thought he'll never be able to make his men fight again. I thank +God I am very well without the least hurt, soe are our Dorsetshire +friends. Prythee let Biddy know this by the first opportunity. I am +thyne onely deare, TOSSEY.' + +BRIDGEWATER: July 7, 1685. + +'We have totally routed the enemies of God and the King, and can't hear +of fifty men together of the whole rebel army. We pick them up every +houre in cornfields and ditches. Williams, the late Duke's valet de +chambre, is taken, who gives a very ingenious account of the whole +affair, which is too long to write. The last word that he said to him +was at the time when his army fled, that he was undone and must shift +for himself. We think to march with the General this day to Wells, on +his way homeward. At present he is 3 miles off at the camp, soe I can't +certainly tell whether he intends for Wells. I shall be home certainly +on Saturday at farthest. I believe my deare Nan would for 500 pounds +that her Tossey had served the King to the end of the war. + +I am thyne, my deare childe, for ever.' + + +Note K.--Lord Grey and the Horse at Sedgemoor. + +It is only fair to state that Ferguson is held by many to have been as +doughty a soldier as he was zealous in religion. His own account of +Sedgemoor is interesting, as showing what was thought by those who were +actually engaged on the causes of their failure. + +'Now besides these two troops, whose officers though they had no great +skill yet had courage enough to have done something honourably, had they +not for want of a guide met with the aforesaid obstruction, there was no +one of all the rest of our troops that ever advanced to charge or +approached as near to the enemy as to give or receive a wound. +Mr. Hacker, one of our captains, came no sooner within view of their +camp than he villainously fired a pistol to give them notice of our +approach, and then forsook his charge and rode oft with all the speed he +could, to take the benefit of a proclamation emitted by the King, +offering pardon to all such as should return home within such a time. +And this he pleaded at his tryal, but was answered by Jeffreys +"that he above all other men deserved to be hanged, and that for his +treachery to Monmouth as well as his treason to the King." And though +no other of our officers acted so villainously, yet they were useless +and unserviceable, as never once attempting to charge, nor so much as +keeping their men in a body. And I dare affirm that if our horse had +never fired a pistol, but only stood in a posture to have given jealousy +and apprehension to the enemy, our foot alone would have carried the day +and been triumphant. But our horse standing scattered and disunited, +and flying upon every approach of a squadron of theirs, commanded by +Oglethorpe, gave that body of their cavalry an advantage, after they had +hovered up and down in the field without thinking it necessary to attack +those whom their own fears had dispersed, to fall in at last in the rear +of our battalions, and to wrest that victory out of their hands which +they were grasping at, and stood almost possessed of. Nor was that +party of their horse above three hundred at most, whereas we had more +than enough had they had any courage, and been commanded by a gallant +man, to have attacked them with ease both in front and flank. These +things I can declare with more certainty, because I was a doleful +spectator of them; for having contrary to my custom left attending upon +the Duke, who advanced with the foot, I betook myself to the horse, +because the first of that morning's action was expected from them, which +was to break in and disorder the enemy's camp. Against the time that +our battalions should come up, I endeavoured whatsoever I was capable of +performing, for I not only struck at several troopers who had forsaken +their station, but upbraided divers of the captains for being wanting +in their duty. But I spoke with great warmth to my Lord Grey, and +conjured him to charge, and not suffer the victory, which our foot +had in a manner taken hold of, to be ravished from us. But instead of +hearkening, he not only as an unworthy man and cowardly poltroon +deserted that part of the field and forsook his command, but rode with +the utmost speed to the Duke, telling him that all was lost and it was +more than time to shift for himself. Wherebye, as an addition to all +the mischief he had been the occasion of before, he drew the easy and +unfortunate gentleman to leave the battalions while they were +courageously disputing on which side the victory should fall. And this +fell most unhappily out, while a certain person was endeavouring to find +out the Duke to have begged of him to come and charge at the head of his +own troops. However, this I dare affirm, that if the Duke had been but +master of two hundred horse, well mounted, completely armed, personally +valiant, and commanded by experienced officers, they would have been +victorious. This is acknowledged by our enemies, who have often +confessed they were ready to fly through the impressions made upon them +by our foot, and must have been beaten had our horse done their part, +and not tamely looked on till their cavalry retrieved the day by falling +into the rear of our battalions. Nor was the fault in the private men, +who had courage to have followed their leaders, but it was in those who +led them, particularly my Lord Grey, in whom, if cowardice may be called +treachery, we may safely charge him with betraying our cause.' + +Extract from MS. of Dr. Ferguson, quoted in 'Ferguson the Plotter,' an +interesting work by his immediate descendant, an advocate of +Edinburgh. + + +Note L.--Monmouth's Attitude after Capture. + +The following letter, written by Monmouth to the Queen from the Tower, +is indicative of his abject state of mind. + +'Madam,--I would not take the boldness of writing to your Majesty till I +had shown the King how I do abhor the thing that I have done, and how +much I desire to live to serve him. I hope, madam, by what I have said +to the King to-day will satisfy how sincere I am, and how much I detest +all those people who have brought me to this. Having done this, madam, +I thought I was in a fitt condition to beg your intercession, which I am +sure you never refuse to the distressed, and I am sure, madam, that I am +an object of your pity, having been cousened and cheated into this +horrid business. Did I wish, madam, to live for living sake I would +never give you this trouble, but it is to have life to serve the King, +which I am able to doe, and will doe beyond what I can express. +Therefore, madam, upon such an account as I may take the boldness to +press you and beg of you to intersaid for me, for I am sure, madam, the +King will hearken to you. Your prairs can never be refused, especially +when it is begging for a life only to serve the King. I hope, madam, by +the King's generosity and goodness, and your intercession, I may hope +for my life which if I have shall be ever employed in showing to your +Majesty all the sense immadginable of gratitude, and in serving of the +King like a true subject. And ever be your Majesty's most dutiful and +obedient servant, MONMOUTH.' + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Micah Clarke, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MICAH CLARKE *** + +This file should be named micah10.txt or micah10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, micah11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, micah10a.txt + +Produced by Lionel G. Sear of Truro, Cornwall, England + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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