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diff --git a/7435.txt b/7435.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a2eaaf5 --- /dev/null +++ b/7435.txt @@ -0,0 +1,19425 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Springhaven, by R. D. Blackmore + +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: Springhaven + A Tale of the Great War + +Author: R. D. Blackmore + +Release Date: June 6, 2006 [EBook #7435] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPRINGHAVEN *** + + + + +Produced by Don Lainson + + + + + +SPRINGHAVEN: + +A Tale of the Great War + + +By R. D. Blackmore + + +1887 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +WHEN THE SHIP COMES HOME + + +In the days when England trusted mainly to the vigor and valor of one +man, against a world of enemies, no part of her coast was in greater +peril than the fair vale of Springhaven. But lying to the west of the +narrow seas, and the shouts both of menace and vigilance, the quiet +little village in the tranquil valley forbore to be uneasy. + +For the nature of the place and race, since time has outlived memory, +continually has been, and must be, to let the world pass easily. Little +to talk of, and nothing to do, is the healthy condition of mankind just +there. To all who love repose and shelter, freedom from the cares of +money and the cark of fashion, and (in lieu of these) refreshing air, +bright water, and green country, there is scarcely any valley left to +compare with that of Springhaven. This valley does not interrupt the +land, but comes in as a pleasant relief to it. No glaring chalk, no +grim sandstone, no rugged flint, outface it; but deep rich meadows, and +foliage thick, and cool arcades of ancient trees, defy the noise that +men make. And above the trees, in shelving distance, rise the crests of +upland, a soft gray lias, where orchards thrive, and greensward strokes +down the rigor of the rocks, and quick rills lace the bosom of the slope +with tags of twisted silver. + +In the murmur of the valley twenty little waters meet, and discoursing +their way to the sea, give name to the bay that receives them and the +anchorage they make. And here no muddy harbor reeks, no foul mouth +of rat-haunted drains, no slimy and scraggy wall runs out, to mar the +meeting of sweet and salt. With one or two mooring posts to watch it, +and a course of stepping-stones, the brook slides into the peaceful bay, +and is lost in larger waters. Even so, however, it is kindly still, for +it forms a tranquil haven. + +Because, where the ruffle of the land stream merges into the heavier +disquietude of sea, slopes of shell sand and white gravel give welcome +pillow to the weary keel. No southerly tempest smites the bark, no long +groundswell upheaves her; for a bold point, known as the "Haven-head," +baffles the storm in the offing, while the bulky rollers of a strong +spring-tide, that need no wind to urge them, are broken by the shifting +of the shore into a tier of white-frilled steps. So the deep-waisted +smacks that fish for many generations, and even the famous "London +trader" (a schooner of five-and-forty tons), have rest from their +labors, whenever they wish or whenever they can afford it, in the +arms of the land, and the mouth of the water, and under the eyes of +Springhaven. + +At the corner of the wall, where the brook comes down, and pebble turns +into shingle, there has always been a good white gate, respected (as a +white gate always is) from its strong declaration of purpose. Outside +of it, things may belong to the Crown, the Admiralty, Manor, or Trinity +Brethren, or perhaps the sea itself--according to the latest ebb or +flow of the fickle tide of Law Courts--but inside that gate everything +belongs to the fine old family of Darling. + +Concerning the origin of these Darlings divers tales are told, according +to the good-will or otherwise of the diver. The Darlings themselves +contend and prove that stock and name are Saxon, and the true form of +the name is "Deerlung," as witness the family bearings. But the foes of +the race, and especially the Carnes, of ancient Sussex lineage, declare +that the name describes itself. Forsooth, these Darlings are nothing +more, to their contemptuous certainty, than the offset of some +court favorite, too low to have won nobility, in the reign of some +light-affectioned king. + +If ever there was any truth in that, it has been worn out long ago by +friction of its own antiquity. Admiral Darling owns that gate, and +all the land inside it, as far as a Preventive man can see with his +spy-glass upon the top bar of it. And this includes nearly all the +village of Springhaven, and the Hall, and the valley, and the hills that +make it. And how much more does all this redound to the credit of the +family when the gazer reflects that this is nothing but their younger +tenement! For this is only Springhaven Hall, while Darling Holt, the +headquarters of the race, stands far inland, and belongs to Sir Francis, +the Admiral's elder brother. + +When the tides were at their spring, and the year 1802 of our era in +the same condition, Horatia Dorothy Darling, younger daughter of the +aforesaid Admiral, choosing a very quiet path among thick shrubs and +under-wood, came all alone to a wooden building, which her father called +his Round-house. In the war, which had been patched over now, but would +very soon break out again, that veteran officer held command of the +coast defense (westward of Nelson's charge) from Beachy Head to Selsey +Bill. No real danger had existed then, and no solid intent of invasion, +but many sharp outlooks had been set up, and among them was this at +Springhaven. + +Here was established under thatch, and with sliding lights before it, +the Admiral's favorite Munich glass, mounted by an old ship's carpenter +(who had followed the fortunes of his captain) on a stand which would +have puzzled anybody but the maker, with the added security of a lanyard +from the roof. The gear, though rough, was very strong and solid, +and afforded more range and firmer rest to the seven-feet tube and +adjustments than a costly mounting by a London optician would have been +likely to supply. It was a pleasure to look through such a glass, so +clear, and full of light, and firm; and one who could have borne to +be looked at through it, or examined even by a microscope, came now to +enjoy that pleasure. + +Miss Dolly Darling could not be happy--though her chief point was to +be so--without a little bit of excitement, though it were of her own +construction. Her imagination, being bright and tender and lively, +rather than powerful, was compelled to make its own material, out of +very little stuff sometimes. She was always longing for something sweet +and thrilling and romantic, and what chance of finding it in this +dull place, even with the longest telescope? For the war, with all its +stirring rumors and perpetual motion on shore and sea, and access of +gallant visitors, was gone for the moment, and dull peace was signed. + +This evening, as yet, there seemed little chance of anything to enliven +her. The village, in the valley and up the stream, was hidden by turns +of the land and trees; her father's house beneath the hill crest was out +of sight and hearing; not even a child was on the beach; and the only +movement was of wavelets leisurely advancing toward the sea-wall fringed +with tamarisk. The only thing she could hope to see was the happy return +of the fishing-smacks, and perhaps the "London trader," inasmuch as the +fishermen (now released from fencible duty and from French alarm) did +their best to return on Saturday night to their moorings, their homes, +the disposal of fish, and then the deep slumber of Sunday. If the breeze +should enable them to round the Head, and the tide avail for landing, +the lane to the village, the beach, and even the sea itself would swarm +with life and bustle and flurry and incident. But Dolly's desire was for +scenes more warlike and actors more august than these. + +Beauty, however, has an eye for beauty beyond its own looking-glass. +Deeply as Dolly began to feel the joy of her own loveliness, she had +managed to learn, and to feel as well, that so far as the strength and +vigor of beauty may compare with its grace and refinement, she had +her own match at Springhaven. Quite a hardworking youth, of no social +position and no needless education, had such a fine countenance and such +bright eyes that she neither could bear to look at him nor forbear to +think of him. And she knew that if the fleet came home she would see him +on board of the Rosalie. + +Flinging on a shelf the small white hat which had scarcely covered her +dark brown curls, she lifted and shored with a wooden prop the southern +casement of leaded glass. This being up, free range was given to the +swinging telescope along the beach to the right and left, and over the +open sea for miles, and into the measureless haze of air. She could +manage this glass to the best advantage, through her father's teaching, +and could take out the slide and clean the lenses, and even part the +object-glass, and refix it as well as possible. She belonged to the +order of the clever virgins, but scarcely to that of the wise ones. + + + +CHAPTER II + +WITH HER CREW AND CARGO + + +Long after the time of those who write and those who read this history, +the name of Zebedee Tugwell will be flourishing at Springhaven. + +To achieve unmerited honor is the special gift of thousands, but to +deserve and win befalls some few in every century, and one of these few +was Zebedee. To be the head-man of any other village, and the captain of +its fishing fleet, might prove no lofty eminence; but to be the leader +of Springhaven was true and arduous greatness. From Selsey Bill to +Orfordness, taking in all the Cinque Ports and all the port of London, +there was not a place that insisted on, and therefore possessed, all +its own rights so firmly as this village did. Not less than seven stout +fishing-smacks--six of them sloops, and the seventh a dandy--formed the +marine power of this place, and behaved as one multiplied by seven. All +the bold fishermen held their line from long-established ancestry, and +stuck to the stock of their grandfathers, and their wisdom and freedom +from prejudice. Strength was condensed into clear law with them--as +sinew boils down into jelly--and character carried out its force as the +stamp of solid impress. What the father had been, the son became, as the +generation squared itself, and the slates for the children to do their +copies were the tombstones of their granddads. Thus brave Etruria grew, +and thus the Rome which was not built in a day became the flower of the +world, and girt in unity of self seven citadels. + +There was Roman blood--of the Tenth Legion, perhaps--in the general +vein of Springhaven. There was scarcely a man who pretended to know much +outside of his own business, and there was not a woman unable to +wait (when her breath was quite gone) for sound reason. Solidity, +self-respect, pure absence of frivolous humor, ennobled the race and +enabled them to hold together, so that everybody not born in Springhaven +might lament, but never repair, his loss. + +This people had many ancient rules befitting a fine corporation, and +among them were the following: "Never do a job for a stranger; sleep in +your own bed when you can; be at home in good time on a Saturday; never +work harder than you need; throw your fish away rather than undersell +it; answer no question, but ask another; spend all your money among your +friends; and above all, never let any stranger come a-nigh your proper +fishing ground, nor land any fish at Springhaven." + +These were golden laws, and made a snug and plump community. From the +Foreland to the Isle of Wight their nets and lines were sacred, and no +other village could be found so thriving, orderly, well-conducted, and +almost well-contented. For the men were not of rash enterprise, hot +labor, or fervid ambition; and although they counted things by money, +they did not count one another so. They never encouraged a friend to +work so hard as to grow too wealthy, and if he did so, they expected him +to grow more generous than he liked to be. And as soon as he failed upon +that point, instead of adoring, they growled at him, because every one +of them might have had as full a worsted stocking if his mind had been +small enough to forget the difference betwixt the land and sea, the tide +of labor and the time of leisure. + +To these local and tribal distinctions they added the lofty expansion of +sons of the sea. The habit of rising on the surge and falling into the +trough behind it enables a biped, as soon as he lands, to take things +that are flat with indifference. His head and legs have got into a state +of firm confidence in one another, and all these declare--with the rest +of the body performing as chorus gratis--that now they are come to a +smaller affair, upon which they intend to enjoy themselves. So that, +while strenuous and quick of movement--whenever they could not help +it--and sometimes even brisk of mind (if anybody strove to cheat them), +these men generally made no griefs beyond what they were born to. + +Zebedee Tugwell was now their chief, and well deserved to be so. Every +community of common-sense demands to have somebody over it, and nobody +could have felt ashamed to be under Captain Tugwell. He had built with +his own hands, and bought--for no man's work is his own until he has +paid for as well as made it--the biggest and smartest of all the fleet, +that dandy-rigged smack, the Rosalie. He was proud of her, as he well +might be, and spent most of his time in thinking of her; but even she +was scarcely up to the size of his ideas. "Stiff in the joints," he now +said daily--"stiff in the joints is my complaint, and I never would have +believed it. But for all that, you shall see, my son, if the Lord should +spare you long enough, whether I don't beat her out and out with the +craft as have been in my mind this ten year." + +But what man could be built to beat Zebedee himself, in an age like +this, when yachts and men take the prize by profundity of false keel? +Tugwell yearned for no hot speed in his friends, or his house, or his +wife, or his walk, or even his way of thinking. He had seen more harm +come from one hour's hurry than a hundred years of care could cure, and +the longer he lived the more loath he grew to disturb the air around +him. + +"Admirable Nelson," he used to say--for his education had not been so +large as the parts allotted to receive it; "to my mind he is a brave +young man, with great understanding of his dooties. But he goeth too +fast, without clearing of his way. With a man like me 'longside of 'un, +he'd have brought they boats out of Bulong. See how I brings my boats +in, most particular of a Saturday!" + +It was Saturday now, when Miss Dolly was waiting to see this great +performance, of which she considered herself, as the daughter of +an admiral, no mean critic. And sure enough, as punctual as in a +well-conducted scheme of war, and with nice forecast of wind and tide, +and science of the supper-time, around the westward headland came the +bold fleet of Springhaven! + +Seven ships of the line--the fishing line--arranged in perfect order, +with the Rosalie as the flag-ship leading, and three upon either +quarter, in the comfort and leisure of the new-born peace, they spread +their sails with sunshine. Even the warlike Dolly could not help some +thoughts of peacefulness, and a gentle tide of large good-will submerged +the rocks of glory. + +"Why should those poor men all be killed?" she asked herself, as a new +thing, while she made out, by their faces, hats, fling of knee or +elbow, patch upon breeches, or sprawl of walking toward the attentive +telescope, pretty nearly who everybody of them was, and whatever else +there was about him. "After all, it is very hard," she said, "that they +should have to lose their lives because the countries fight so." + +But these jolly fellows had no idea of losing their lives, or a hair of +their heads, or anything more than their appetites, after waging hot +war upon victuals. Peace was proclaimed, and peace was reigning; and +the proper British feeling of contempt for snivelly Frenchmen, which +produces the entente cordiale, had replaced the wholesome dread of them. +Not that Springhaven had ever known fear, but still it was glad to leave +off terrifying the enemy. Lightness of heart and good-will prevailed, +and every man's sixpence was going to be a shilling. + +In the tranquil afternoon the sun was making it clear to the coast +of Albion that he had crossed the line once more, and rediscovered a +charming island. After a chilly and foggy season, worse than a brave +cold winter, there was joy in the greeting the land held out, and in the +more versatile expression of the sea. And not beneath the contempt of +one who strives to get into everything, were the creases and patches of +the sails of smacks, and the pattern of the resin-wood they called their +masts, and even the little striped things (like frogs with hats on, in +the distance) which had grown to believe themselves the only object the +sun was made to shine upon. + +But he shone upon the wide sea far behind, and the broad stretch of +land before them, and among their slowly gliding canvas scattered soft +touches of wandering light. Especially on the spritsail of the Rosalie, +whereunder was sitting, with the tiller in his hand and a very long pipe +in his mouth, Captain Zebedee Tugwell. His mighty legs were spread at +ease, his shoulders solid against a cask, his breast (like an elephant's +back in width, and bearing a bright blue crown tattooed) shone out of +the scarlet woolsey, whose plaits were filled with the golden shower of +a curly beard, untouched with gray. And his face was quite as worthy as +the substance leading up to it, being large and strengthful and slow to +move, though quick to make others do so. The forehead was heavy, and the +nose thickset, the lower jaw backed up the resolution of the other, and +the wide apart eyes, of a bright steel blue, were as steady as a brace +of pole-stars. + +"What a wonderful man!" fair Dolly thought, as the great figure, looking +even grander in the glass, came rising upon a long slow wave--"what a +wonderful man that Tugwell is! So firmly resolved to have his own way, +so thoroughly dauntless, and such a grand beard! Ten times more like an +admiral than old Flapfin or my father is, if he only knew how to hold +his pipe. There is something about him so dignified, so calm, and so +majestic; but, for all that, I like the young man better. I have a great +mind to take half a peep at him; somebody might ask whether he was there +or not." + +Being a young and bashful maid, as well as by birth a lady, she had +felt that it might be a very nice thing to contemplate sailors in the +distance, abstract sailors, old men who pulled ropes, or lounged on the +deck, if there was one. But to steal an unsuspected view at a young man +very well known to her, and acknowledged (not only by his mother +and himself, but also by every girl in the parish) as the Adonis of +Springhaven--this was a very different thing, and difficult to justify +even to one's self. The proper plan, therefore, was to do it, instead of +waiting to consider it. + +"How very hard upon him it does seem," she whispered to herself, after a +good gaze at him, "that he must not even dream of having any hope of +me, because he has not happened to be born a gentleman! But he looks a +thousand times more like one than nine out of ten of the great gentlemen +I know--or at any rate he would if his mother didn't make his clothes." + +For Zebedee Tugwell had a son called "Dan," as like him as a tender pea +can be like a tough one; promising also to be tough, in course of time, +by chafing of the world and weather. But at present Dan Tugwell was as +tender to the core as a marrowfat dallying till its young duck should be +ready; because Dan was podding into his first love. To the sympathetic +telescope his heart was low, and his mind gone beyond astronomical +range, and his hands (instead of briskly pairing soles) hung asunder, +and sprawled like a star-fish. + +"Indeed he does look sad," said Miss Dolly, "he is thinking of me, as +he always does; but I don't see how anybody can blame me. But here comes +daddy, with dear old Flapfin! I am not a bit afraid of either of them; +but perhaps I had better run away." + + + +CHAPTER III + +AND HER TRUE COMMANDER + + +The nature of "Flapfin"--as Miss Dolly Darling and other young people +were pleased to call him--was to make his enemies run away, but his +friends keep very near to him. He was one of the simplest-minded men +that ever trod the British oak. Whatever he thought he generally said; +and whatever he said he meant and did. Yet of tricks and frauds he had +quick perception, whenever they were tried against him, as well as a +marvellous power of seeing the shortest way to everything. He enjoyed a +little gentle piece of vanity, not vainglory, and he never could sec any +justice in losing the credit of any of his exploits. Moreover, he was +gifted with the highest faith in the hand of the Almighty over him (to +help him in all his righteous deeds), and over his enemies, to destroy +them. Though he never insisted on any deep piety in his own behavior, he +had a good deal in his heart when time allowed, and the linstocks were +waiting the signal. His trust was supreme in the Lord and himself; and +he loved to be called "My Lord Admiral." + +And a man of this noble type deserved to be met with his own nobility. +But the English government, according to its lights--which appear to be +everlasting--regarded him as the right man, when wanted, but at other +times the wrong one. They liked him to do them a very good turn, but +would not let him do himself one; and whenever he looked for some fair +chance of a little snug prize-money, they took him away from the likely +places, and set him to hard work and hard knocks. But his sense of duty +and love of country enabled him to bear it, with grumbling. + +"I don't care a rope's end," he was saying, with a truthfulness simple +and solid as beefsteak is, "whether we have peace or war; but let +us have one or the other of them. I love peace--it is a very fine +thing--and I hate to see poor fellows killed. All I want is to spend the +rest of my life ashore, and lay out the garden. You must come and see +what a bridge I have made to throw across the fish-pond. I can do well +enough with what I have got, as soon as my farm begins to pay, and I +hope I may never hear another shotted cannon; but, my dear Lingo, you +know as well as I do how much chance there is of that." + +"Laudo manentem. Let us praise her while we have got her. Parson Twemlow +keeps up my Latin, but you have forgotten all yours, my friend. I +brought you down here to see the fish come in, and to choose what you +like best for dinner. In the days when you were my smallest youngster, +and as proud as Punch to dine with me, your taste was the finest in the +ship, because your stomach was the weakest. How often I thought that the +fish would eat you! and but for your wonderful spirit, my friend, that +must have happened long ago. But your nature was to fight, and you +fought through, as you always do. A drumstick for your praise of peace!" + +Admiral Darling, a tall, stout man in the sixty-fifth year of his age, +looked down at his welcome and famous guest as if he knew a great deal +more of his nature than the owner did. And this made that owner, who +thought very highly of his own perception, look up and laugh. + +"Here comes the fish!" he cried. "Come along, Darling. Never lose a +moment--that's my rule. You can't get along as fast as I can. I'll go +and settle all the business for you." + +"Why should you be in such a hurry always? You will never come to my +age if you carry on so. You ought to tow a spar astern. Thank God, they +don't know who he is, and I'll take good care not to let them know. If +this is what comes of quick promotion, I am glad that I got on slowly. +Well, he may do as he likes for me. He always does--that's one thing." + +Stoutly grumbling thus, the elder and far heavier Admiral descended the +hill to the white gate slowly, as behooved the owner. And, by the time +he halted there, the other had been upon the beach five minutes, and +taken command of the fishing fleet. + +"Starboard there! Brail up your gaff! Is that the way to take the +ground? Ease helm, Rosalie. Smartly, smartly. Have a care, you lubber +there. Fenders out! So, so. Now stand by, all! There are two smart +lads among you, and no more. All the rest are no better than a pack +of Crappos. You want six months in a man-of-war's launch. This is what +comes of peace already!" + +The fishermen stared at this extraordinary man, who had taken all the +business out of Master Tugwell's hands; but without thinking twice about +it, all obeyed him with a speed that must have robbed them of a quantity +of rust. For although he was not in uniform, and bore no sword, his +dress was conspicuous, as he liked to have it, and his looks and deeds +kept suit with it. For he wore a blue coat (very badly made, with gilt +buttons and lappets too big for him), a waistcoat of dove-colored silk, +very long, coming over the place where his stomach should have been, and +white plush breeches, made while he was blockading Boulogne in 1801, and +therefore had scarcely any flesh upon his bones. Peace having fattened +him a little, these breeches had tightened upon him (as their way is +with a boy having six weeks' holiday); but still they could not make his +legs look big, though they showed them sharp and muscular. Below them +were brisk little sinewy calves in white silk hose, with a taper descent +to ankles as fine as a lady's, and insteps bright with large silver +buckles. Yet that which surpassed all the beauty of the clothes was the +vigor of the man inside them, who seemed to quicken and invigorate the +whole, even to the right sleeve, doubled up from the want of any arm +inside it. But the loss of the right arm, and the right eye also, seemed +to be of no account to the former owner, so hard did he work with the +residue of his body, and so much did he express with it. + +His noble cocked hat was in its leathern box yet, for he was only just +come from Merton; but the broad felt he wore was looped up in front, +and displayed all the power of his countenance, or rather the vigor; for +power is heavy, and his face was light and quickness. Softness also, and +a melancholy gift of dreaminess and reflection, enlarged and impressed +the effect of a gaze and a smile which have conquered history. + +"Why don't 'ee speak up to 'un, Cap'en Zeb?" cried young Harry Shanks, +of the Peggy, the smartest smack next to the Rosalie. "Whoever can 'a +be, to make thee so dumb? Doth 'a know our own business afore our own +selves? If 'ee don't speak up to 'un, Cap'en Zeb, I'll never take no +more commands from thee." + +"Harry Shanks, you was always a fool, and you always will be," Master +Tugwell replied, with his deep chest voice, which no gale of wind could +blow away. "Whether he be wrong or right--and I won't say but what I +might have done it better--none but a fool like you would dare to set +his squeak up against Admirable Lord Nelson." + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AND HER FAITHFUL CHAPLAIN + + +"I am not a man of the world, but a man of the Word," said Parson +Twemlow, the Rector of Springhaven; "and I shall not feel that I have +done my duty unless I stir him up to-morrow. His valor and glory are +nothing to me, nor even his value to the country. He does his duty, and +I shall do mine. It is useless to talk to me, Maria; I never shall have +such a chance again." + +"Well, dear, you know best," replied Mrs. Twemlow; "and duty is always +the highest and best and most sacred consideration. But you surely +should remember, for Eliza's sake, that we never shall dine at the Hall +again." + +"I don't care a snap for their dinners, or the chance of Eliza catching +some young officer; and very few come while this peace goes on. I won't +shirk my duty for any of that." + +"Nothing would ever make you shirk your duty, Joshua. And I hope that +you know me too well to suppose that I ever would dream of suggesting +it. But I do want to see you a Canon, and I know that he begins to have +influence in the Church, and therefore the Church is not at all the +place to allude to his private affairs in. And, after all, what do we +know about them? It does seem so low to be led away by gossip." + +"Maria," said the Rector, severely sorry, "I must beg you to leave me +to my conscience. I shall not refer to his private affairs. I shall put +leading truths in a general way, and let him make the home application." + +"Put the cap on if it fits. Very well: you will injure yourself, and do +no one any good. Lord Nelson won't know it; he is too simple-minded. +But Admiral Darling will never forgive us for insulting him while he is +staying at the Hall." + +"Maria! Well, I have long given up all attempts at reasoning with +you. If I see a man walking into a furnace, do I insult him by saying +beware?" + +"As I am beyond all reason, Joshua, it is far above me to understand +that. But if you escape insulting him, what you do is far worse, and +quite unlike a gentleman. You heap a whole pile of insults upon your own +brother clergymen." + +"I do not at all understand you, Maria: you fly off in such a way from +one thing to another!" + +"Not at all. Anybody who is not above paying attention must understand +me. When he is at Merton he goes to church, and his Rector is bound to +look after him. When he is at sea, he has his Chaplain, who preaches +whenever the weather permits, and dare not neglect his duties. But the +strongest point of all is this--his very own father and brother are +clergymen, and bound to do their best for him. All these you insult, +and in so many words condemn for neglecting their duty, because you are +unable to resist the pleasure of a stray shot at a celebrated man when +he comes down here for hospitality." + +"My dear, you have put the matter in a new light," said the Rev. Joshua +Twemlow; "I would be the last man in the world to cast a slur upon any +brother clergyman. But it is a sad denial to me, because I had put it so +neatly, and a line of Latin at the end of it." + +"Never mind, dear. That will do for some one else who deserves it, and +has got no influence. And if you could only put instead of it one of +your beautifully turned expressions about our debt of gratitude to the +noble defender of our country--" + +"No, no, Maria!" said her husband, with a smile; "be content without +pushing your victory further than Nelson himself would push it. It may +be my duty to spare him, but I will not fall down and worship him." + +Joshua Twemlow, Bachelor of Divinity, was not very likely to worship +anybody, nor even to admire, without due cause shown. He did not pretend +to be a learned man, any more than he made any other pretense which he +could not justify. But he loved a bit of Latin, whenever he could find +anybody to share it with him, and even in lack of intelligent partners +he indulged sometimes in that utterance. This was a grievance to the +Squire of the parish, because he was expected to enjoy at ear-shot that +which had passed out of the other ear in boyhood, with a painful echo +behind it. But the Admiral had his revenge by passing the Rector's bits +of Latin on--when he could remember them--to some one entitled to an +explanation, which he, with a pleasant smile, vouchsafed. This is one of +the many benefits of a classical education. + +But what are such little tags, compared with the pith and marrow of the +man himself? Parson Twemlow was no prig, no pedant, and no popinjay, +but a sensible, upright, honorable man, whose chief defect was a quick +temper. In parish affairs he loved to show his independence of the Hall, +and having a stronger will than Admiral Darling, he mostly conquered +him. But he knew very well how far to go, and never pressed the +supremacy of the Church beyond endurance. + +His wife, who was one of the Carnes of Carne Castle, some few miles +to the westward, encouraged him strongly in holding his own when the +Admiral strove to override him. That was her manner of putting the +case; while Admiral Darling would rather have a score of nightmares than +override any one. But the Carnes were a falling as much as the Darlings +were a rising family, and offense comes down the hill like stones +dislodged by the upward traveller. Mrs. Twemlow knew nothing she +disliked so much as any form of haughtiness; it was so small, so petty, +so opposed to all true Christianity. And this made her think that the +Darlings were always endeavoring to patronize her--a thing she would +much rather die than put up with. + +This excellent couple had allowed, however, their only son Erle, a +very fine young man, to give his heart entirely to Faith Darling, the +Admiral's eldest daughter, and to win hers to an equal extent; and +instead of displaying any haughtiness, her father had simply said: "Let +them wait two years; they are both very young, and may change their +minds. If they keep of the same mind for two years, they are welcome to +one another." + +For a kinder-hearted man than Admiral Darling never saw the sun. +There was nothing about him wonderful in the way of genius, heroism, +large-mindedness, or unselfishness. But people liked him much better +than if he combined all those vast rarities; because he was lively, +genial, simple, easily moved to wrath or grief, free-handed, a little +fond, perhaps, of quiet and confidential brag, and very fond of gossip. + +"I tell you," he said to Lord Nelson now, as they walked down the hill +to the church together that lovely Sunday morning, "you will not have +seen a finer sight than our fishermen in church--I dare say never. +Of course they don't all go. Nobody could expect it. But as many as a +reasonable man could desire come there, because they know I like it. +Twemlow thinks that they come to please him; but he finds a mighty +difference in his congregation when I and my daughters are out of the +parish. But if he goes away, there they are all the same, or perhaps +even more, to get a change from him. That will show which of us they +care about pleasing." + +"And they are quite right. I hate the levelling system," the hero of the +Nile replied. "A man should go to church to please his landlord, not to +please the parson. Is the Chaplain to settle how many come to prayers?" + +"That is the right way to look at the thing," said the larger-bodied +Admiral; "and I only wish Twemlow could have heard you. I asked him to +dine with us yesterday, as you know, because you would have done him so +much good; but he sent some trumpery excuse, although his wife was asked +to come with him. She stopped him, no doubt; to look big, I dare say; as +if they could dine with a Lord Nelson every day!" + +"They can do that every day, when they dine with a man who has done his +duty. But where is my pretty godchild Dolly? Horatia seems too long for +you. What a long name they gave me! It may have done very well for my +granduncle. But, my dear Lingo, look sharp for your Dolly. She has no +mother, nor even a duenna--she has turned her off, she said yesterday. +Your daughter Faith is an angel, but Dolly--" + +"My Dolly is a little devil, I suppose! You always found out everything. +What have you found my Dolly at? Perhaps she got it at her baptism." A +word against his pet child was steel upon flint to Admiral Darling. + +"I am not concerned with your opinion," Lord Nelson answered, loftily. +"But Horatia Dorothy Darling is my godchild by baptism, and you will +find her down in my will for a thousand pounds, if she behaves well, +and if it should please the Lord to send me some of the prize-money I +deserve." + +This was announced in such a manner, with the future testator's useful +eye bearing brightly on his comrade, and his cocked hat lifted as he +spoke of the great Awarder of prizes, that no one able to smile could +help a friendly and simple smile at him. So Admiral Darling forgot his +wrath, which never had long memory, and scorning even to look round for +Dolly, in whom he felt such confidence, took the mighty warrior by the +good arm and led him toward the peaceful bells. + +"Hurry; we shall be late," he said. "You remember when we called you +'Hurry,' because of being always foremost? But they know better than to +stop the bells till they see me in the church porch. Twemlow wanted to +upset that, for the parsons want to upset everything. And I said: 'Very +well; then I shall square it by locking the gate from your shrubbery. +That will give me five minutes to come down the hill.' For my +grandfather put up that gate, you must know, and of course the key +belongs to me. It saves Twemlow a cable's-length every time, and the +parsons go to church so often now, he would have to make at least +another knot a month. So the bells go on as they used to do. How many +bells do you make it, Mr. Nelson?" + +"Eight bells, sir," Lord Nelson replied, saluting like the middy in +charge of the watch. And at this little turn they both laughed, and went +on, with memory of ancient days, to church. + + + +CHAPTER V + +OPINION, MALE AND FEMALE + + +The fine young parsons of the present generation are too fond of asking +us why we come to church, and assigning fifty reasons out of their own +heads, not one of which is to our credit or theirs; whereas their proper +business is to cure the fish they have caught, instead of asking how +they caught them. Mr. Twemlow had sense enough for this, and treated the +largest congregation he had ever preached to as if they were come for +the good of their souls, and should have it, in spite of Lord Nelson. +But, alas! their bodies fared not so well, and scarcely a man got his +Sunday dinner according to his liking. Never a woman would stay by the +fire for the sake of a ten-pound leg of mutton, and the baker put his +shutters up at half past ten against every veal pie and every loin +of pork. Because in the church there would be seen this day (as the +servants at the Hall told every one) the man whom no Englishman could +behold without pride, and no Frenchman with it--the victor of the Nile, +and of Copenhagen, and countless other conflicts. Knowing that he would +be stared at well, he was equal to the occasion, and the people who saw +him were so proud of the sight that they would talk of it now if they +were alive. + +But those who were not there would exhibit more confidence than +conscience by describing every item of his raiment, which verily even +of those who beheld it none could do well, except a tailor or a woman. +Enough that he shone in the light of the sun (which came through a +windowful of bull's-eyes upon him, and was surprised to see stars by +daylight), but the glint of his jewels and glow of his gold diverted no +eye from the calm, sad face which in the day of battle could outflash +them all. That sensitive, mild, complaisant face (humble, and even +homely now, with scathe and scald and the lines of middle age) presented +itself as a great surprise to the many who came to gaze at it. With +its child-like simplicity and latent fire, it was rather the face of a +dreamer and poet than of a warrior and hero. + +Mrs. Cheeseman, the wife of Mr. Cheeseman, who kept the main shop in +the village, put this conclusion into better English, when Mrs. Shanks +(Harry's mother) came on Monday to buy a rasher and compare opinions. + +"If I could have fetched it to my mind," she said, "that Squire Darling +were a tarradiddle, and all his wenches liars--which some of them be, +and no mistake--and if I could refuse my own eyes about gold-lace, and +crown jewels, and arms off, happier would I sleep in my bed, ma'am, +every night the Lord seeth good for it. I would sooner have found +hoppers in the best ham in the shop than have gone to church so to +delude myself. But there! that Cheeseman would make me do it. I did +believe as we had somebody fit to do battle for us against Boney, and I +laughed about all they invasion and scares. But now--why, 'a can't say +bo to a goose! If 'a was to come and stand this moment where you be +a-standing, and say, 'Mrs. Cheeseman, I want a fine rasher,' not a bit +of gristle would I trim out, nor put it up in paper for him, as I do for +you, ma'am." + +And Widow Shanks quite agreed with her. + +"Never can I tell you what my feelings was, when I seed him a-standing +by the monument, ma'am. But I said to myself--'why, my poor John, as is +now in heaven, poor fellow, would 'a took you up with one hand, my lord, +stars and garters and crowns and all, and put you into his sow-west +pocket.' And so he could have done, Mrs. Cheeseman." + +But the opinion of the men was different, because they knew a bee from a +bull's foot. + +"He may not be so very big," they said, "nor so outrageous thunderin', +as the missus looked out for from what she have read. They always goes +by their own opinions, and wrong a score of times out of twenty. But any +one with a fork to his leg can see the sort of stuff he is made of. He +'tended his duty in the house of the Lord, and he wouldn't look after +the women; but he kept his live eye upon every young chap as were fit +for a man-of-war's-man--Dan Tugwell especial, and young Harry Shanks. +You see if he don't have both of they afore ever the war comes on +again!" + +Conscious of filling the public eye, with the privilege of being upon +private view, Lord Nelson had faced the position without flinching, and +drawn all the fire of the enemy. After that he began to make reprisals, +according to his manner, taking no trouble to regard the women--which +debarred them from thinking much of him--but settling with a steady +gaze at each sea-faring man, whether he was made of good stuff or of +pie-crust. And to the credit of the place it must be said that he found +very little of that soft material, but plenty of good stuff, slow, +perhaps, and heavy, but needing only such a soul as his to rouse it. + +"What a fine set of fellows you have in your village!" he said to Miss +Darling after dinner, as she sat at the head of her father's table, +for the Admiral had long been a widower. "The finest I have seen on +the south coast anywhere. And they look as if they had been under some +training. I suppose your father had most of them in the Fencibles, last +summer?" + +"Not one of them," Faith answered, with a sweet smile of pride. "They +have their own opinions, and nothing will disturb them. Nobody could get +them to believe for a moment that there was any danger of invasion. And +they carried on all their fishing business almost as calmly as they do +now. For that, of course, they may thank you, Lord Nelson; but they have +not the smallest sense of the obligation." + +"I am used to that, as your father knows; but more among the noble than +the simple. For the best thing I ever did I got no praise, or at any +rate very little. As to the Boulogne affair, Springhaven was quite +right. There was never much danger of invasion. I only wish the villains +would have tried it. Horatia, would you like to see your godfather at +work? I hope not. Young ladies should be peaceful." + +"Then I am not peaceful at all," cried Dolly, who was sitting by the +maimed side of her "Flapfin," as her young brother Johnny had nicknamed +him. "Why, if there was always peace, what on earth would any but very +low people find to do? There could scarcely be an admiral, or a general, +or even a captain, or--well, a boy to beat the drums." + +"But no drum would want to be beaten, Horatia," her elder sister Faith +replied, with the superior mind of twenty-one; "and the admirals and the +generals would have to be--" + +"Doctors, or clergymen, or something of that sort, or perhaps even +worse--nasty lawyers." Then Dolly (whose name was "Horatia" only +in presence of her great godfather) blushed, as befitted the age of +seventeen, at her daring, and looked at her father. + +"That last cut was meant for me," Frank Darling, the eldest of the +family, explained from the opposite side of the table. "Your lordship, +though so well known to us, can hardly be expected to know or remember +all the little particulars of our race. We are four, as you know; and +the elder two are peaceful, while the younger pair are warlike. And I +am to be the 'nasty lawyer,' called to the bar in the fullness of +time--which means after dining sufficiently--to the great disgust of +your little godchild, whose desire from her babyhood has been to get me +shot." + +"LITTLE, indeed! What a word to use about me! You told a great story. +But now you'll make it true." + +"To wit--as we say at Lincoln's Inn--she has not longed always for my +death in battle, but henceforth will do so; but I never shall afford +her that gratification. I shall keep out of danger as zealously as your +lordship rushes into it." + +"Franky going on, I suppose, with some of his usual nonsense," Admiral +Darling, who was rather deaf, called out from the bottom of the table. +"Nobody pays much attention to him, because he does not mean a word of +it. He belongs to the peace--peace--peace-at-any-price lot. But when a +man wanted to rob him last winter, he knocked him down, and took him by +the throat, and very nearly killed him." + +"That's the only game to play," exclaimed Lord Nelson, who had been +looking at Frank Darling with undisguised disgust. "My young friend, you +are not such a fool after all. And why should you try to be one?" + +"My brother," said the sweet-tempered Faith, "never tries to be a fool, +Lord Nelson; he only tries to be a poet." + +This made people laugh; and Nelson, feeling that he had been rude to a +youth who could not fairly answer him, jumped from his chair with the +lightness of a boy, and went round to Frank Darling, with his thin +figure leaning forward, and his gray unpowdered hair tossed about, and +upon his wrinkled face that smile which none could ever resist, because +it was so warm and yet so sad. + +"Shake hands, my dear young friend," he cried, "though I can not offer +the right one. I was wrong to call you a fool because you don't look at +things as I do. Poets are almost as good as sailors, and a great deal +better than soldiers. I have felt a gift that way myself, and turned out +some very tidy lines. But I believe they were mainly about myself, and I +never had time to go on with them." + +Such little touches of simplicity and kindness, from a man who never +knew the fear of men, helped largely to produce that love of Nelson +which England felt, and will always feel. + +"My lord," replied the young man, bending low--for he was half a cubit +higher than the mighty captain--"it is good for the world that you have +no right arm, when you disarm it so with your left one." + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AS OTHERS SEE US + + +Admiral Darling was very particular in trying to keep his grounds and +garden tolerably tidy always. But he never succeeded, for the simple +reason that he listened to every one's excuses; and not understanding a +walk or a lawn half so well as the deck of a battle-ship, he was always +defeated in argument. + +"Here's a state of things!" he used to say in summer-time; "thistles +full of seed within a biscuit-heave of my front door, and other +things--I forget their names--with heads like the head of a capstan +bursting, all as full of seeds as a purser is of lies!" + +"Your lordship do not understand them subjects," Mr. Swipes, the head +gardener, was in the habit of replying; "and small blame to you, in my +opinion, after so many years upon the briny wave. Ah! they can't grow +them things there." + +"Swipes, that is true, but to my mind not at all a satisfactory reason +for growing them here, just in front of the house and the windows. I +don't mind a few in the kitchen-garden, but you know as well as I do, +Swipes, that they can have no proper business here." + +"I did hear tell down to the Club, last night," Mr. Swipes would reply, +after wiping his forehead, as if his whole mind were perspired away, +"though I don't pretend to say how far true it may be, that all the +land of England is to be cultivated for the public good, same as on +the continence, without no propriety or privacy, my lord. But I don't +altogether see how they be to do it. So I thought I'd better ask your +lordship." + +"For the public good! The public-house good, you mean." The Admiral +answered nine times out of ten, being easily led from the track of his +wrath, and tired of telling Swipes that he was not a lord. "How +many times more must I tell you, Swipes, that I hate that Jacobin +association? Can you tell me of one seaman belonging to it? A set of +fish-jobbers, and men with barrows, and cheap-jacks from up the country. +Not one of my tenants would be such a fool as to go there, even if I +allowed him. I make great allowances for you, Swipes, because of your +obstinate nature. But don't let me hear of that Club any more, or YOU +may go and cultivate for the public good." + +"Your lordship knows that I goes there for nothing except to keep up my +burial. And with all the work there is upon this place, the Lord only +knows when I may be requiring of it. Ah! I never see the like; I never +did. And a blade of grass the wrong way comes down on poor old Swipes!" + +Hereupon the master, having done his duty, was relieved from overdoing +it, and went on other business with a peaceful mind. The feelings, +however, of Mr. Swipes were not to be appeased so lightly, but demanded +the immediate satisfaction of a pint of beer. And so large was his +charity that if his master fell short of duty upon that point, he +accredited him with the good intention, and enabled him to discharge it. + +"My dear soul," he said, with symptoms of exhaustion, to good Mrs. +Cloam, the housekeeper, who had all the keys at her girdle, about ten +o'clock on the Monday morning, "what a day we did have yesterday!" + +"A mercy upon me, Mr. Swipes," cried Mrs. Cloam, who was also short of +breath, "how you did exaggerate my poor narves, a-rushing up so soft, +with the cold steel in both your hands!" + +"Ah! ma'am, it have right to be a good deal wuss than that," the +chivalrous Swipes made answer, with the scythe beside his ear. "It don't +consarn what the masters say, though enough to take one's legs off. But +the ladies, Mrs. Cloam, the ladies--it's them as takes our heads off." + +"Go 'long with you, Mr. Swipes! You are so disastrous at turning things. +And how much did he say you was to have this time? Here's Jenny Shanks +coming up the passage." + +"Well, he left it to myself; he have that confidence in me. And little +it is I should ever care to take, with the power of my own will, ma'am. +Why, the little brown jug, ma'am, is as much as I can manage even of our +small beer now. Ah! I know the time when I would no more have thought +of rounding of my mouth for such small stuff than of your growing up, +ma'am, to be a young woman with the sponsorship of this big place upon +you. Wonderful! wonderful! And only yesterday, as a man with a gardening +mind looks at it, you was the prettiest young maiden on the green, and +the same--barring marriage--if you was to encounter with the young men +now." + +"Oh," said Mrs. Cloam, who was fifty, if a day, "how you do make me +think of sad troubles, Mr. Swipes! Jenny, take the yellow jug with the +three beef-eaters on it, and go to the third cask from the door--the key +turns upside down, mind--and let me hear you whistle till you bring me +back the key. Don't tell me nonsense about your lips being dry. You can +whistle like a blackbird when you choose." + +"Here's to your excellent health, Mrs. Cloam, and as blooming as it +finds you now, ma'am! As pretty a tap as I taste since Christmas, and +another dash of malt would 'a made it worthy a'most to speak your health +in. Well, ma'am, a leetle drop in crystal for yourself, and then for +my business, which is to inquire after your poor dear health to-day. +Blooming as you are, ma'am, you must bear in mind that beauty is only +skin-deep, Mrs. Cloam; and the purtier a flower is, the more delicate it +grows. I've a-been a-thinking of you every night, ma'am, knowing how +you must 'a been put about and driven. The Admiral have gone down to the +village, and Miss Dolly to stare at the boats going out." + +"Then I may speak a word for once at ease, Mr. Swipes, though the Lord +alone knows what a load is on my tongue. It requires a fine gardener, +being used to delicacy, to enter into half the worry we have to put up +with. Heroes of the Nile, indeed, and bucklers of the country! Why, he +could not buckle his own shoe, and Jenny Shanks had to do it for him. +Not that I blame him for having one arm, and a brave man he is to have +lost it, but that he might have said something about the things I got +up at a quarter to five every morning to make up for him. For cook is +no more than a smoke-jack, Mr. Swipes; if she keeps the joint turning, +that's as much as she can do." + +"And a little too fond of good beer, I'm afeard," replied Mr. Swipes, +having emptied his pot. "Men's heads was made for it, but not women's, +till they come to superior stations in life. But, oh, Mrs. Cloam, what a +life we lead with the crotchets of they gentry!" + +"It isn't that so much, Mr. Swipes, if only there was any way of giving +satisfaction. I wish everybody who is born to it to have the very best +of everything, likewise all who have fought up to it. But to make all +the things and have nothing made of them, whether indigestion or want +of appetite, turns one quite into the Negroes almost, that two or three +people go on with." + +"I don't look at what he hath aten or left," Mr. Swipes made answer, +loftily; "that lieth between him and his own stommick. But what hath a' +left for me, ma'am? He hath looked out over the garden when he pleased, +and this time of year no weeds is up, and he don't know enough of things +to think nothing of them. When his chaise come down I was out by the +gate with a broom in my hand, and I pulled off my hat, but his eye never +seemed to lay hold of me." + +"His eye lays hold of everything, whether he makes 'em feel or no. +One thing I'm sure of--he was quite up to Miss Dolly, and the way she +carries on with you know who, every blessed Sunday. If that is what they +go to church for--" + +"But, my dear soul," said the genial Swipes, whose heart was enlarged +with the power of good beer, "when you and I was young folk, what did +we go to church for? I can't speak for you, ma'am, being ever so much +younger, and a baby in the gallery in long clothes, if born by that +time; but so far as myself goes, it was the girls I went to look at, and +most of 'em come as well to have it done to them." + +"That never was my style, Mr. Swipes, though I know there were some not +above it. And amongst equals I won't say that there need be much harm +in it. But for a young man in the gallery, with a long stick of the +vile-base in his hand, and the only clean shirt of the week on his back, +and nothing but a plank of pitch to keep him, however good-looking he +may be, to be looking at the daughter, and the prettiest one too, though +not the best, some people think, of the gentleman that owns all the +houses and the haven--presumption is the smallest word that I can +find to use for it; and for her to allow it, fat--fat something in the +nation." + +"Well, ma'am," said Mr. Swipes, whose views were loose and liberal, "it +seems a little shock at first to those on trust in families. But Dannel +is a brave boy, and might fight his way to glory, and then they has +the pick of the femmels up to a thousand pound a year. You know what +happened the miller's son, no further off than Upton. And if it hadn't +been for Dannel, when she was a little chit, where would proud Miss +Dolly be, with her feathers and her furbelows? Natur' is the thing +I holds by, and I sees a deal of it. And betwixt you and me and the +bedpost, ma'am, whoever hath Miss Dolly will have to ride to London on +this here scythe. Miss Faith is the lass for a good quiet man, without +no airs and graces, and to my judgment every bit as comely, and more +of her to hold on by. But the Lord 'a mercy upon us. Mrs. Cloam, you've +a-been married like my poor self; and you knows what we be, and we knows +what you be. Looks 'ain't much to do with it after the first week or +two. It's the cooking, and the natur', and the not going contrairy. +B'lieve Miss Dolly would go contrairy to a hangel, if her was j'ined to +him three days." + +"Prejudice! prejudice!" the housekeeper replied, while shaking her +finger severely at him. "You ought to be above such opinions, Mr. +Swipes, a superior man, such as you are. If Miss Faith came into your +garden reading books, and finding fault here and there, and sniffing +at the flowers, a quarter so often as pretty Dolly does, perhaps you +wouldn't make such a perfect angel of her, and run down her sister in +comparison. But your wonderful Miss Faith comes peeping here and poking +there into pots and pans, and asking the maids how their mothers are, as +if her father kept no housekeeper. She provoked me so in the simple-room +last week, as if I was hiding thieves there, that I asked her at last +whether she expected to find Mr. Erle there. And you should have seen +how she burst out crying; for something had turned on her mind before." + +"Well, I couldn't have said that to her," quoth the tender-hearted +Swipes--"not if she had come and routed out every key and every box, +pot, pan, and pannier in the tool-house and stoke-hole and vinery! The +pretty dear! the pretty dear! And such a lady as she is! Ah, you women +are hard-hearted to one another, when your minds are up! But take my +word for it, Mrs. Cloam, no one will ever have the chance of making your +beautiful Miss Dolly cry by asking her where her sweetheart is." + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A SQUADRON IN THE DOWNS + + +"My dear girls, all your courage is gone," said Admiral Darling to his +daughters at luncheon, that same Monday; "departed perhaps with Lord +Nelson and Frank. I hate the new style of such come-and-go visits, as +if there was no time for anything. Directly a man knows the ways of the +house, and you can take him easily, off he goes. Just like Hurry, he +never can stop quiet. He talks as if peace was the joy of his life, and +a quiet farm his paradise, and very likely he believes it. But my belief +is that a year of peace would kill him, now that he has made himself so +famous. When that sort of thing begins, it seems as if it must go on." + +"But, father dear," exclaimed the elder daughter, "you could have done +every single thing that Lord Nelson has ever contrived to do, if you +had only happened to be there, and equally eager for destruction. I +have heard you say many times, though not of course before him, that you +could have managed the battle of the Nile considerably better than he +did. And instead of allowing the great vessel to blow up, you would have +brought her safe to Spithead." + +"My dear, you must have quite misunderstood me. Be sure that you never +express such opinions, which are entirely your own, in the presence +of naval officers. Though I will not say that they are quite without +foundation." + +"Why, papa," cried Miss Dolly, who was very truthful, when her own +interests were not involved, "you have often said twice as much as that. +How well I remember having heard you say--" + +"You young people always back up one another, and you don't care what +you make your poor father say. I wonder you don't vow that I declared +I could jump over the moon with my uniform on. But I'll tell you what +we'll do, to bring back your senses--we will go for a long ride this +fine afternoon. I've a great mind to go as far as Stonnington." + +"Now how many times have you told us that? I won't believe it till we +get there," young Dolly answered, with her bright eyes full of joy. "You +must be ashamed of yourself, papa, for neglecting your old friend's son +so long." + +"Well, to tell you the truth, I am, my dear," confessed the good-natured +Admiral; "but no one but myself has the least idea of the quantity of +things I have to do." + +"Exactly what old Swipes said this very morning, only much more +impressively. And I really did believe him, till I saw a yellow jug, and +a horn that holds a pint, in the summer-house. He threw his coat over +them, but it was too late." + +"Dolly, I shall have to put you in the blackhole. You belong too much +to the rising generation, or the upstart generation is the proper word. +What would Lord Nelson say? I must have him back again. He is the man +for strict discipline." + +"Oh, I want to ask one thing about my great godfather. You know he only +came down with one portmanteau, and his cocked-hat box, and two hampers. +But when I went into his bedroom to see, as a goddaughter should, that +his pillow was smooth, there he had got tacked up at the head of his +bed a picture of some very beautiful lady, and another at the side, and +another at the foot! And Jenny Shanks, who couldn't help peeping in, to +see how a great hero goes to sleep, wishes that she may be an old maid +forever if she did not see him say his prayers to them. Now the same +fate befall me if I don't find out who it is. You must know, papa, so +you had better tell at once." + +"That hussy shall leave the house tomorrow. I never heard of anything so +shameless. Mrs. Cloam seems to have no authority whatever. And you +too, Dolly, had no business there. If any one went to see the room +comfortable, it should have been Faith, as the lady of the house. Ever +since you persuaded me that you were too old for a governess, you seem +to be under no discipline at all." + +"Now you know that you don't mean that, papa. You say those cruel things +just to make me kiss you," cried Dolly, with the action suited to the +word, and with her bright hair falling upon his snowy beard the father +could not help returning the salute; "but I must know who that lady is. +And what can he want with three pictures of her?" + +"How should I know, Dolly? Perhaps it is his mother, or perhaps it is +the Queen of Naples, who made a Duke of him for what he did out there. +Now be quick, both of you, or no ride to-day. It is fifteen long miles +to Stonnington, I am sure, and I am not going to break my neck. As +it is, we must put dinner off till half past six, and we shall all be +starved by that time. Quick, girls, quick! I can only give you twenty +minutes." + +The Admiral, riding with all the vigor of an ancient mariner, looked +well between his two fair daughters, as they turned their horses' heads +inland, and made over the downs for Stonnington. Here was beautiful +cantering ground, without much furze or many rabbit-holes, and lovely +air flowing over green waves of land, to greet and to deepen the rose +upon young cheeks. Behind them was the broad sea, looking steadfast, +and spread with slowly travelling tints; before them and around lay the +beauty of the earth, with the goodness of the sky thrown over it. The +bright world quivered with the breath of spring, and her smile was shed +on everything. + +"What a lovely country we have been through! I should like to come here +every day," said Faith, as they struck into the London road again. "If +Stonnington is as nice as this, Mr. Scudamore must be happy there." + +"Well, we shall see," her father answered. "My business has been upon +the coast so much, that I know very little about Stonnington. But +Scudamore has such a happy nature that nothing would come much amiss to +him. You know why he is here, of course?" + +"No, I don't, papa. You are getting so mysterious that you never tell us +anything now," replied Dolly. "I only know that he was in the navy, and +now he is in a grammar school. The last time I saw him he was about a +yard high." + +"He is a good bit short of two yards now," said the Admiral, smiling as +he thought of him, "but quite tall enough for a sailor, Dolly, and the +most active young man I ever saw in my life, every inch of him sound and +quick and true. I shall think very little of your judgment unless you +like him heartily; not at first, perhaps, because he is so shy, but as +soon as you begin to know him. I mean to ask him to come down as soon +as he can get a holiday. His captain told me, when he served in the +Diomede, that there was not a man in the ship to come near him for +nimbleness and quiet fearlessness." + +"Then what made him take to his books again? Oh, how terribly dull he +must find them! Why, that must be Stonnington church, on the hill!" + +"Yes, and the old grammar school close by. I was very near going there +once myself, but they sent me to Winchester instead. It was partly +through me that he got his berth here, though not much to thank me for, +I am afraid. Sixty pounds a year and his rations isn't much for a man +who has been at Cambridge. But even that he could not get in the navy +when the slack time came last year. He held no commission, like many +other fine young fellows, but had entered as a first-class volunteer. +And so he had no rating when this vile peace was patched up--excuse me, +my dear, what I meant to say was, when the blessings of tranquillity +were restored. And before that his father, my dear old friend, died very +suddenly, as you have heard me say, without leaving more than would bury +him. Don't talk any more of it. It makes me sad to think of it." + +"But," persisted Dolly, "I could never understand why a famous man like +Sir Edmond Scudamore--a physician in large practice, and head doctor to +the King, as you have often told us--could possibly have died in that +sort of way, without leaving any money, or at least a quantity of +valuable furniture and jewels. And he had not a number of children, +papa, to spend all his money, as I do yours, whenever I get the chance; +though you are growing so dreadfully stingy now that I never can look +even decent." + +"My dear, it is a very long sad story. Not about my stinginess, I +mean--though that is a sad story, in another sense, but will not move my +compassion. As to Sir Edmond, I can only tell you now that, while he was +a man of great scientific knowledge, he knew very little indeed of money +matters, and was not only far too generous, but what is a thousand +times worse, too trustful. Being of an honorable race himself, and an +honorable sample of it, he supposed that a man of good family must be +a gentleman; which is not always the case. He advanced large sums of +money, and signed bonds for a gentleman, or rather a man of that rank, +whose name does not concern you; and by that man he was vilely betrayed; +and I would rather not tell you the rest of it. Poor Blyth had to leave +Cambridge first, where he was sure to have done very well indeed, and at +his wish he was sent afloat, where he would have done even better; and +then, as his father's troubles deepened, and ended in his death of heart +complaint, the poor boy was left to keep his broken-hearted mother upon +nothing but a Latin Grammar. And I fear it is like a purser's dip. But +here we are at Stonnington--a long steep pitch. Let us slacken sail, my +dears, as we have brought no cockswain. Neither of you need land, you +know, but I shall go into the schoolroom." + +"One thing I want to know," said the active-minded Dolly, as the horses +came blowing their breath up the hill: "if his father was Sir Edmond, +and he is the only child, according to all the laws of nature, he ought +to be Sir Blyth Scudamore." + +"It shows how little you have been out--as good Mrs. Twemlow expresses +it--that you do not even understand the laws of nature as between a +baronet and a knight." + +"Oh, to be sure; I recollect! How very stupid of me! The one goes on, +and the other doesn't, after the individual stops. But whose fault is +it that I go out so little? So you see you are caught in your own trap, +papa." + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A LESSON IN THE AENEID + + +In those days Stonnington was a very pretty village, and such it +continued to be until it was ravaged by a railway. With the railway came +all that is hideous and foul, and from it fled all that is comely. The +cattle-shed, called by rail-highwaymen "the Station," with its roof of +iron Pan-pipes and red bull's-eyes stuck on stack-poles, whistles and +stares where the grand trees stood and the village green lay sleeping. +On the site of the gray-stone grammar school is an "Operative +Institute," whose front (not so thick as the skin of a young ass) is +gayly tattooed with a ringworm of wind-bricks. And the old manor-house, +where great authors used to dine, and look out with long pipes through +the ivy, has been stripped of every shred of leaf, and painted red and +yellow, and barge-boarded into "the Temperance Tap." + +Ere ever these heathen so furiously raged, there was peace and content, +and the pleasure of the eyes, and of neighborly feeling abundance. +The men never burst with that bubble of hurry which every man now is +inflated with; and the women had time enough to mind one another's +affairs, without which they grow scandalous. And the trees, that kept +company with the houses, found matter for reflection in their calm blue +smoke, and the green crop that promised a little grove upon the roof. +So that as the road went up the hill, the traveller was content to leave +his legs to nature, while his eyes took their leisure of pleasant views, +and of just enough people to dwell upon. + +At the top of the hill rose the fine old church, and next to it, facing +on the road itself, without any kind of fence before it, stood the +grammar school of many generations. This was a long low building, ridged +with mossy slabs, and ribbed with green, where the drip oozed down +the buttresses. But the long reach of the front was divided by a gable +projecting a little into the broad high-road. And here was the way, +beneath a low stone arch, into a porch with oak beams bulging and a +bell-rope dangling, and thence with an oaken door flung back into the +dark arcade of learning. + +This was the place to learn things in, with some possibility of keeping +them, and herein lay the wisdom of our ancestors. Could they ever have +known half as much as they did, and ten times as much as we know, if +they had let the sun come in to dry it all up, as we do? Will even the +fourteen-coated onion root, with its bottom exposed to the sun, or will +a clever puppy grow long ears, in the power of strong daylight? + +The nature and nurture of solid learning were better understood when +schools were built from which came Shakespeare and Bacon and Raleigh; +and the glare of the sun was not let in to baffle the light of the +eyes upon the mind. And another consideration is that wherever there is +light, boys make a noise, which conduces but little to doctrine; whereas +in soft shadow their muscles relax, and their minds become apprehensive. +Thus had this ancient grammar school of Stonnington fostered many +scholars, some of whom had written grammars for themselves and their +posterity. + +The year being only at the end of March, and the day going on for five +o'clock, the light was just right, in the long low room, for correction +of manners and for discipline. Two boys had been horsed and brushed up +well, which had strengthened the conscience of all the rest, while sobs +and rubs of the part affected diffused a tender silence. Dr. Swinks, +the head-master, was leaning back in his canopied oaken chair, with the +pride inspired by noble actions. + +"What wonderfully good boys!" Dolly whispered, as she peeped in through +the dark porch with Faith, while her father was giving the horses in +charge to the hostler from the inn across the way; "I declare that I +shall be frightened even to look at Mr. Scudamore, if this is a specimen +of what he does. There is scarcely a boy looking off his book. But +how old he does look! I suppose it must be the effect of so much hard +teaching." + +"You silly thing," her sister answered; "you are looking at the great +head-master. Mr. Scudamore is here at the bottom of the school. Between +these big hinges you can see him; and he looks as young as you do." + +Miss Dolly, who dearly loved any sly peep, kept her light figure back +and the long skirt pulled in, as she brought her bright eyes to the slit +between the heavy black door and the stone-work. And she speedily gave +her opinion. + +"He is nothing but a regular frump. I declare I am dreadfully +disappointed. No wonder the title did not come on! He is nothing but a +very soft-natured stupe. Why, the boys can do what they like with him!" + +Certainly the scholars of the Virgil class, which Blyth Scudamore was +dealing with, had recovered from the querimonies of those two sons of +Ovid, on the further side of Ister, and were having a good laugh at the +face of "Captain Scuddy," as they called their beloved preceptor. For +he, being gifted with a gentle sense of humor, together with a patient +love of the origin of things, was questing in his quiet mind what had +led a boy to render a well-known line as follows: "Such a quantity of +salt there was, to season the Roman nation." Presently he hit upon the +clue to this great mystery. "Mola, the salted cake," he said; "and the +next a little error of conjugation. You have looked out your words, +Smith, but chanced upon the wrong ones." + +"Oh, Captain Scuddy," cried the head boy, grinning wisely, though he +might have made just the same blunder himself; "after that, do tell +us one of your sea-stories. It will strike five in about five minutes. +Something about Nelson, and killing ten great Frenchmen." + +"Oh, do," cried the other little fellows, crowding round him. "It is +ever so much better than Virgil, Captain Scuddy!" + +"I am not Captain Scuddy, as I tell you every day. I'm afraid I am a +great deal too good-natured with you. I shall have to send a dozen of +you up to be caned." + +"No, you couldn't do that if you tried, Captain Scuddy. But what are you +thinking of, all this time? There are two pretty ladies in riding-habits +peeping at you from the bell porch. Why, you have got sweethearts, +Captain Scuddy! What a shame of you never to have told us!" + +The youngest and fairest of all the boys there could scarcely have +blushed more deeply than their classical tutor did, as he stooped for +his hat, and shyly went between the old desks to the door in the porch. +All the boys looked after him with the deepest interest, and made +up their minds to see everything he did. This was not at all what he +desired, and the sense of it increased his hesitation and confusion. Of +the Admiral's lovely daughters he had heard while in the navy, and +now he was frightened to think that perhaps they were come here to +reconnoitre him. But luckily the Admiral was by this time to the fore, +and he marched into the school-room and saluted the head-master. + +"Dr. Swinks," he said, "I am your very humble servant, Vice-Admiral of +the Blue, Charles Darling, and beg a thousand pardons for intrusion on +deep learning. But they tell me that your watch is over in some half a +minute. Allow me to ask for the son of an old friend, Blyth Scudamore, +late of the Diomede frigate, but now of this ancient and learned grammar +school. When his labors are over, I would gladly speak with him." + +"Boys may go," the head-master pronounced, as the old clock wheezed +instead of striking. "Sir, my valued young coadjutor is advancing from +the fourth form toward you." + +The Doctor was nice in his choice of words, and prided himself on +Johnsonian precision, but his young coadjutor's advance was hardly to be +distinguished from a fine retreat. Like leaves before the wind, the +boys rushed out by a back door into the play-ground, while the master +solemnly passed to his house, with a deep slow bow to the ladies; and +there was poor Scudamore--most diffident of men whenever it came to +lady-work--left to face the visitors with a pleasing knowledge that his +neckcloth was dishevelled, and his hair sheafed up, the furrows of his +coat broadcast with pounce, and one of his hands gone to sleep from +holding a heavy Delphin for three-quarters of an hour. + +As he came out thus into the evening light, which dazed his blue eyes +for a moment, Miss Dolly turned away to hide a smile, but Faith, upon +her father's introduction, took his hand and looked at him tenderly. For +she was a very soft-hearted young woman, and the tale of his troubles +and goodness to his mother had moved her affection toward him, while +as one who was forever pledged--according to her own ideas--to a hero +beyond comparison, she was able to regard young men with mercy, and with +pity, if they had none to love. "How hard you have been at work!" she +said; "it makes us seem so lazy! But we never can find any good thing to +do." + +"That's a cut at me," cried the Admiral. "Scudamore, when you come to my +age, be wiser than to have any daughters. Sure enough, they find no good +to do; and they not only put all the fault of that on me, but they make +me the victim of all the mischief they invent. Dolly, my darling, wear +that cap if it fits. But you have not shaken hands with Mr. Scudamore +yet. I hope you will do so, some hundreds of times." + +"Not all at once, papa; or how thankful he would be! But stop, I have +not got half my glove off; this fur makes them stick so." + +Miss Dolly was proud of her hands, and lost few chances of getting them +looked at. Then with a little smile, partly at herself for petulance, +partly to him for forgiveness, she offered her soft warm rich white +hand, and looked at him beautifully as he took it. Alack and alas for +poor "Captain Scuddy"! + +His eyes, with a quick shy glance, met hers; and hers with soft inquiry +answered, "I wonder what you think of me?" Whenever she met a new face, +this was her manner of considering it. + +"Scudamore, I shall not allow you any time to think about it," Admiral +Darling broke in suddenly, so that the young man almost jumped. +"Although you have cut the service for a while, because of our stingy +peacefulness, you are sure to come back to us again when England wants +English, not Latin and Greek. I am your commanding officer, and my +orders are that you come to us from Saturday till Monday. I shall send +a boat--or at least I mean a buggy--to fetch you, as soon as you are off +duty, and return you the same way on Monday. Come, girls, 'twill be dark +before we are home; and since the patrols were withdrawn, I hear there's +a highwayman down this road again. That is one of the blessings +of peace, Scudamore; even as Latin and Greek are. 'Apertis otia +portis'--Open the gates for laziness. Ah, I should have done well at old +Winton, they tell me, if I had not happened to run away to sea." + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE MAROON + + +If yet there remained upon our southern coast a home for the rarer +virtues, such as gratitude, content, liberality (not of other people's +goods alone), faith in a gracious Providence, and strict abstinence from +rash labor, that home and stronghold was Springhaven. To most men good +success brings neither comfort, nor tranquillity, nor so much as a stool +to sit upon, but comes as a tread-mill which must be trodden without any +getting to the top of it. Not so did these wise men take their luck. If +ever they came from the fickle wave-bosom to the firm breast of land on +a Saturday, with a fine catch of fish, and sold it well--and such was +their sagacity that sooner would they keep it for cannibal temptation +than sell it badly--did they rush into the waves again, before they had +dried their breeches? Not they; nor did their wives, who were nearly +all good women, stir them up to be off again. Especially at this time of +year, with the days pulling out, and the season quickening, and the fish +coming back to wag their tails upon the shallows, a pleasant race of men +should take their pleasure, and leave flints to be skinned by the sons +of flint. + +This was the reason why Miss Dolly Darling had watched in vain at +the Monday morning tide for the bold issue of the fishing fleet. The +weariless tide came up and lifted the bedded keel and the plunged +forefoot, and gurgled with a quiet wash among the straky bends, then +lurched the boats to this side and to that, to get their heft correctly, +and dandled them at last with their bowsprits dipped and their little +mast-heads nodding. Every brave smack then was mounted, and riding, and +ready for a canter upon the broad sea: but not a blessed man came to set +her free. Tethered by head and by heel, she could only enjoy the poised +pace of the rocking-horse, instead of the racer's delight in careering +across the free sweep of the distance. + +Springhaven had done so well last week, that this week it meant to do +still better, by stopping at home till the money was gone, and making +short work afterward. Every man thoroughly enjoyed himself, keeping +sober whenever good manners allowed, foregoing all business, and +sauntering about to see the folk hard at work who had got no money. On +Wednesday, however, an order was issued by Captain Zebedee Tugwell that +all must be ready for a three days' trip when the tide should serve, +which would be at the first of the ebb, about ten in the morning. The +tides were slackening now, and the smacks had required some change of +berth, but still they were not very far from the Admiral's white gate. + +"I shall go down to see them, papa, if you please," Dolly said to her +father at breakfast-time. "They should have gone on Monday; but they +were too rich; and I think it very shameful of them. I dare say they +have not got a halfpenny left, and that makes them look so lively. Of +course they've been stuffing, and they won't move fast, and they can't +expect any more dinner till they catch it. But they have got so much +bacon that they don't care." + +"What could they have better, I should like to know?" asked the Admiral, +who had seen hard times. "Why, I gave seven men three dozen apiece for +turning their noses up at salt horse, just because he whisked his tail +in the copper. Lord bless my soul! what is the nation coming to, when a +man can't dine upon cold bacon?" + +"No, it is not that, papa. They are very good in that way, as their +wives will tell you. Jenny Shanks tells me the very same thing, and +of course she knows all about them. She knew they would never think of +going out on Monday, and if I had asked her I might have known it too. +But she says that they are sure to catch this tide." + +"Very well, Dolly. Go you and catch them. You are never content without +seeing something. Though what there is to see in a lot of lubberly craft +pushing off with punt-poles--" + +"Hush, papa, hush! Don't be so contemptuous. What did my godfather say +the other day? And I suppose he understands things." + +"Don't quote your godfather against your father. It was never intended +in the Catechism. And if it was, I would never put up with it." + +Dolly made off; for she knew that her father, while proud of his great +impartiality, candor, and scorn of all trumpery feeling, was sometimes +unable to make out the reason why a queer little middy of his own should +now stand upon the giddy truck of fame, while himself, still ahead of +him in the Navy List, might pace his quarter-deck and have hats touched +to him, but never a heart beat one pulse quicker. Jealous he was not; +but still, at least in his own family-- + +Leaving her dear father to his meditations, which Faith ran up to kiss +away, fair Dolly put on a plain hat and scarf, quite good enough for +the fishermen, and set off in haste for the Round-house, to see the +expedition start. By the time she was there, and had lifted the sashes, +and got the spy-glass ready, the flow of the tide was almost spent, and +the brimming moment of the slack was nigh. For this all the folk of the +village waited, according to the tradition of the place; the manhood +and boyhood, to launch forth; old age, womanhood, and childhood, to +contribute the comfort of kind looks and good-by. The tides, though not +to be compared to the winds in fickleness, are capricious here, having +sallies of irregularity when there has been a long period of northeast +winds, bringing a counter-flow to the Atlantic influx. And a man must +be thoroughly acquainted with the coast, as well as the moon and the +weather, to foretell how the water will rise and fall there. For the +present, however, there was no such puzzle. The last lift of the quiet +tide shone along the beach in three straight waves, shallow steps that +arose inshore, and spent themselves without breaking. + +"Toorn o' the tide!" the Captain shouted; "all aboord, aboord, my lads! +The more 'ee bide ashore, the wuss 'ee be. See to Master Cheeseman's +craft! Got a good hour afront of us. Dannel, what be mooning at? Fetch +'un a clout on his head, Harry Shanks; or Tim, you run up and do it. +Doubt the young hosebird were struck last moon, and his brains put to +salt in a herring-tub. Home with you, wife! And take Dan, if you will. +He'd do more good at the chipping job, with the full moon in his head +so." + +"Then home I will take my son, Master Tugwell," his wife answered, with +much dignity, for all the good wives of Springhaven heard him, and what +would they think of her if she said nothing? "Home I will take my son +and yours, and the wisest place for him to abide in, with his father set +agin him so. Dannel, you come along of me. I won't have my eldest boy +gainsaid so." + +Zebedee Tugwell closed his lips, and went on with his proper business. +All the women would side with him if he left them the use of their own +minds, and the sound of his wife's voice last; while all the men in +their hearts felt wisdom. But the young man, loath to be left behind, +came doubtfully down to the stern of the boat, which was pushed off for +the Rosalie. And he looked at the place where he generally sat, and then +at his father and the rest of them. + +"No gappermouths here!" cried his father, sternly. "Get theezell home +with the vemmelvolk. Shove off without him, Tim! How many more tides +would 'ee lose?" + +Young Dan, whose stout legs were in the swirling water, snatched up his +striped woolsey from under the tiller, threw it on his shoulder, and +walked off, without a farewell to any one. The whole of Springhaven that +could see saw it, and they never had seen such a thing before. Captain +Zeb stood up and stared, with his big forehead coming out under his +hat, and his golden beard shining in the morning sun; but the only +satisfaction for his eyes was the back of his son growing smaller and +smaller. + +"Chip of the old block!" "Sarve 'ee right, Cap'en!" "Starve 'un back +to his manners again!" the inferior chieftains of the expedition cried, +according to their several views of life. But Zebedee Tugwell paid no +heed to thoughts outside of his own hat and coat. "Spake when I ax you," +he said, urbanely, but with a glance which conveyed to any too urgent +sympathizer that he would be knocked down, when accessible. + +But, alas! the less-disciplined women rejoiced, with a wink at their +departing lords, as Mrs. Zebedee set off in chase of her long-striding +Daniel. The mother, enriched by home affections and course of duties +well performed, was of a rounded and ample figure, while the son was +tall, and thin as might be one of strong and well-knit frame. And the +sense of wrong would not permit him to turn his neck, or take a glance +at the enterprise which had rejected him. + +"How grand he does look! what a noble profile!" thought Dolly, who had +seen everything without the glass, but now brought it to bear upon his +countenance. "He is like the centurion in the painted window, or a Roman +medallion with a hat on. But that old woman will never catch him. She +might just as well go home again. He is walking about ten miles an hour, +and how beautifully straight his legs are! What a shame that he should +not be a gentleman! He is ten times more like one than most of the +officers that used to come bothering me so. I wonder how far he means +to go? I do hope he won't make away with himself. It is almost enough +to make him do it, to be so insulted by his own father, and disgraced +before all the village, simply because he can't help having his poor +head so full of me! Nobody shall ever say that I did anything to give +him the faintest encouragement, because it would be so very wicked and +so cruel, considering all he has done for me. But if he comes back, +when his father is out of sight, and he has walked off his righteous +indignation, and all these people are gone to dinner, it might give a +turn to his thoughts if I were to put on my shell-colored frock and +the pale blue sash, and just go and see, on the other side of the +stepping-stones, how much longer they mean to be with that boat they +began so long ago." + + + +CHAPTER X + +ACROSS THE STEPPING-STONES + + +Very good boats were built at this time in the south of England, stout, +that is to say, and strong, and fit to ride over a heavy sea, and plunge +gallantly into the trough of it. But as the strongest men are seldom +swift of foot or light of turn, so these robust and sturdy boats must +have their own time and swing allowed them, ere ever they would come +round or step out. Having met a good deal of the sea, they knew, like +a man who has felt a good deal of the world, that heavy endurance +and patient bluffness are safer to get through the waves somehow than +sensitive fibre and elegant frame. + +But the sea-going folk of Springhaven had learned, by lore of +generations, to build a boat with an especial sheer forward, beam far +back, and deep run of stern, so that she was lively in the heaviest of +weather, and strong enough to take a good thump smiling, when unable to +dance over it. Yet as a little thing often makes all the difference in +great things, it was very difficult for anybody to find out exactly +the difference between a boat built here and a boat built ten or twenty +miles off, in imitation of her. The sea, however, knew the difference in +a moment between the true thing and the counterfeit, and encouraged +the one to go merrily on, while it sent back the other staggering. The +secret lay chiefly in a hollow curve forward of nine or ten planks upon +either side, which could only be compassed by skilful use of adze and +chisel, frame-saw and small tools, after choice of the very best timber, +free from knots, tough, and flexible. And the best judge of these points +was Zebedee Tugwell. + +Not having cash enough just at present (by reason of family expenses, +and the high price of bread and of everything else) to set upon the +stocks the great smack of the future, which should sail round the +Rosalie, Captain Tugwell was easing his mind by building a boat for +stormy weather, such as they very seldom have inshore, but are likely to +meet with outside the Head. As yet there were not many rowing boats here +fit to go far in tumbling water, though the few that could do it did +it well, and Tugwell's intention was to beat them all, in power, and +spring, and buoyancy. The fame of his meaning was spread for as much as +twenty leagues along the coast; and jealous people laughed, instead of +waiting for him to finish it. + +Young Daniel had been well brought up in the mysteries of his father's +craft, and having a vigorous turn of wrist, as well as a true eye and +quick brain, he was even outgrowing the paternal skill, with experiments +against experience. He had beautiful theories of his own, and felt +certain that he could prove them, if any one with cash could be brought +to see their beauty. His father admitted that he had good ideas, and +might try them, if any fool would find the money. + +Wroth as he had been at the sharp rebuff and contumely of his father, +young Daniel, after a long strong walk, began to look at things more +peaceably. The power of the land and the greatness of the sea and the +goodness of the sky unangered him, and the air that came from some +oyster beds, as the tide was falling, hungered him. Home he went, in +good time for dinner, as the duty of a young man is; and instead of +laughing when he came by, the maids of Springhaven smiled at him. This +quite righted him in his own opinion, yet leaving him the benefit of +the doubt which comes from a shake in that cradle lately. He made a good +dinner, and shouldered his adze, with a frail of tools hanging on +the neck of it, and troubled with nothing but love--which is a woe of +self-infliction--whistled his way to the beach, to let all the women +understand that he was not a bit ashamed. And they felt for him all the +more, because he stood up for himself a little. + +Doubtful rights go cheap; and so the foreshore westward of the brook +being claimed by divers authorities, a tidy little cantle of it had +been leased by Admiral Darling, lord of the manor, to Zebedee Tugwell, +boat-builder, for the yearly provent of two and sixpence sterling. The +Admiral's man of law, Mr. Furkettle, had strongly advised, and +well prepared the necessary instrument, which would grow into value +by-and-by, as evidence of title. And who could serve summary process of +ejectment upon an interloper in a manner so valid as Zebedee's would be? +Possession was certain as long as he lived; ousters and filibusters, in +the form of railway companies and communists, were a bubble as yet in +the womb of ages. + +This piece of land, or sand, or rush, seemed very unlikely to be worth +dispute. If seisin corporeal, user immemorial, and prescription for +levance and couchance conferred any title indefeasible, then were the +rabbits the owners in fee-simple, absolute, paramount, and source of +pedigree. But they, while thoroughly aware of this, took very little +heed to go into it, nor troubled their gentle natures much about a +few yards of sand or grass, as the two-legged creatures near them did. +Inasmuch as they had soft banks of herb and vivid moss to sit upon, +sweet crisp grass and juicy clover for unlabored victuals--as well as +a thousand other nibbles which we are too gross to understand--and for +beverage not only all the abundance of the brook (whose brilliance might +taste of men), but also a little spring of their own which came out of +its hole like a rabbit; and then for scenery all the sea, with strange +things running over it, as well as a great park of their own having +countless avenues of rush, ragwort, and thistle-stump--where would they +have deserved to be, if they had not been contented? Content they +were, and even joyful at the proper time of day. Joyful in the morning, +because the sun was come again; joyful in the middle day to see how well +the world went; and in the evening merry with the tricks of their own +shadows. + +Quite fifteen stepping-stones stepped up--if you counted three that were +made of wood--to soothe the dignity of the brook in its last fresh-water +moments, rather than to gratify the dry-skin'd soles of gentlefolk. For +any one, with a five-shilling pair of boots to terminate in, might skip +dry-footed across the sandy purlings of the rivulet. And only when a +flood came down, or the head of some springtide came up, did any but +playful children tread the lichened cracks of the stepping-stones. And +nobody knew this better than Horatia Dorothy Darling. + +The bunnies who lived to the west of the brook had reconciled their +minds entirely now to the rising of that boat among them. At first it +made a noise, and scratched the sand, and creaking things came down to +it; and when the moon came through its ribs in the evening, tail was +the quarter to show to it. But as it went on naturally growing, seldom +appearing to make much noise, unless there was a man very near it, and +even then keeping him from doing any harm--outside the disturbance that +he lives in--without so much as a council called, they tolerated this +encroachment. Some of the bolder fathers came and sat inside to +consider it, and left their compliments all round to the masters of the +enterprise. And even when Daniel came to work, as he happened to do this +afternoon, they carried on their own work in its highest form--that of +play--upon the premises they lent him. + +Though not very large, it was a lively, punctual, well-conducted, and +pleasant rabbit-warren. Sudden death was avoidable on the part of most +of its members, nets, ferrets, gins, and wires being alike forbidden, +foxes scarcely ever seen, and even guns a rare and very memorable +visitation. The headland staves the southern storm, sand-hills shevelled +with long rush disarm the western fury, while inland gales from north +and east leap into the clouds from the uplands. Well aware of all their +bliss, and feeling worthy of it, the blameless citizens pour forth, upon +a mild spring evening, to give one another the time of day, to gaze +at the labors of men upon the sea, and to take the sweet leisure, +the breeze, and the browse. The gray old conies of curule rank, prime +senators of the sandy beach, and father of the father-land, hold a +just session upon the head borough, and look like brown loaves in the +distance. But these are conies of great mark and special character, full +of light and leading, because they have been shot at, and understand how +to avoid it henceforth. They are satisfied to chew very little bits of +stuff, and particular to have no sand in it, and they hunch their round +backs almost into one another, and double up their legs to keep them +warm, and reflect on their friends' gray whiskers. And one of their +truest pleasures is, sitting snug at their own doors, to watch their +children's gambols. + +For this is the time, with the light upon the slope, and the freshness +of salt flowing in from the sea, when the spirit of youth must be free +of the air, and the quickness of life is abounding. Without any heed +of the cares that are coming, or the prick-eared fears of the elders, a +fine lot of young bunnies with tails on the frisk scour everywhere over +the warren. Up and down the grassy dips and yellow piles of wind-drift, +and in and out of the ferny coves and tussocks of rush and ragwort, they +scamper, and caper, and chase one another, in joy that the winter is +banished at last, and the glorious sun come back again. + +Suddenly, as at the wave of a wand, they all stop short and listen. The +sun is behind them, low and calm, there is not a breath of wind to +stir their flax, not even the feather of a last year's bloom has moved, +unless they moved it. Yet signal of peril has passed among them; they +curve their soft ears for the sound of it, and open their sensitive +nostrils, and pat upon the ground with one little foot to encourage +themselves against the panting of their hearts and the traitorous length +of their shadows. + +Ha! Not for nothing was their fear this day. An active and dangerous +specimen of the human race was coming, lightly and gracefully skimming +the moss, above salt-water reach, of the stepping-stones. The steps +are said to be a thousand years old, and probably are of half that age, +belonging to a time when sound work was, and a monastery flourished +in the valley. Even though they come down from great Hercules himself, +never have they been crossed by a prettier foot or a fairer form than +now came gayly over them. But the rabbits made no account of that. To +the young man with the adze they were quite accustomed, and they liked +him, because he minded his own business, and cared nothing about theirs; +but of this wandering maiden they had no safe knowledge, and judged the +worst, and all rushed away, some tenscore strong, giving notice to him +as they passed the boat that he also had better be cautious. + +Daniel was in a sweet temper now, by virtue of hard labor and gratified +wit. By skill and persistence and bodily strength he had compassed a +curve his father had declared impossible without a dock-yard. Three +planks being fixed, he was sure of the rest, and could well afford to +stop, to admire the effect, and feel proud of his work, and of himself +the worker. Then the panic of the conies made him turn his head, and the +quick beat of his heart was quickened by worse than bodily labor. + +Miss Dolly Darling was sauntering sweetly, as if there were only one +sex in the world, and that an entirely divine one. The gleam of spring +sunset was bright in her hair, and in the soft garnish of health on +her cheeks, and the vigorous play of young life in her eyes; while the +silvery glance of the sloping shore, and breezy ruffle of the darkening +sea, did nothing but offer a foil for the form of the shell-colored +frock and the sky-blue sash. + +Young Daniel fell back upon his half-shaped work, and despised it, and +himself, and everything, except what he was afraid to look at. In the +hollow among the sand-hills where the cradle of the boat was, fine +rushes grew, and tufts of ragwort, and stalks of last year's thistles, +and sea-osiers where the spring oozed down. Through these the white +ribs of the rising boat shone forth like an elephant's skeleton; but +the builder entertained some hope, as well as some fear, of being +unperceived. + +But a far greater power than his own was here. Curved and hollow ships +are female in almost all languages, not only because of their curves and +hollows, but also because they are craft--so to speak. + +"Oh, Captain Tugwell, are you at work still? Why, you really ought to +have gone with the smacks. But perhaps you sent your son instead. I +am so glad to see you! It is such nice company to hear you! I did not +expect to be left alone, like this." + +"If you please, miss, it isn't father at all. Father is gone with the +fishing long ago. It is only me, Daniel, if you please, miss." + +"No, Daniel, I am not pleased at all. I am quite surprised that you +should work so late. It scarcely seems respectable." + +At this the young man was so much amazed that he could only stare while +she walked off, until the clear duty of righting himself in her good +opinion struck him. Then he threw on his coat and ran after her. + +"If you please, Miss Dolly--will you please, Miss Dolly?" he called, as +she made off for the stepping-stones; but she did not turn round, though +her name was "Miss Dolly" all over Springhaven, and she liked it. "You +are bound to stop, miss," he said, sternly; and she stopped, and cried, +"What do you mean by such words to me?" + +"Not any sort of harm, miss," he answered, humbly, inasmuch as she had +obeyed him; "and I ask your pardon for speaking so. But if you think +twice you are bound to explain what you said concerning me, now just." + +"Oh, about your working so late, you mean. I offered good advice to you. +I think it is wrong that you should go on, when everybody else has left +off long ago. But perhaps your father makes you." + +"Father is a just man," said young Tugwell, drawing up his own +integrity; "now and then he may take a crooked twist, or such like; but +he never goeth out of fair play to his knowledge. He hath a-been hard +upon me this day; but the main of it was to check mother of her ways. +You understand, miss, how the women-folk go on in a house, till the +other women hear of it. And then out-of-doors they are the same as +lambs." + +"It is most ungrateful and traitorous of you to your own mother to talk +so. Your mother spoils you, and this is all the thanks she gets! Wait +till you have a wife of your own, Master Daniel!" + +"Wait till I am dead then I may, Miss Dolly," he answered, with a depth +of voice which frightened her for a moment; and then he smiled and said, +"I beg your pardon," as gracefully as any gentleman could say it; "but +let me see you safe to your own gate; there are very rough people about +here now, and the times are not quite as they used to be, when we were +a-fighting daily." + +He followed her at a respectful distance, and then ran forward and +opened the white gate. "Good-night, Daniel," the young lady said, as +he lifted his working cap to her, showing his bright curls against the +darkening sea; "I am very much obliged to you, and I do hope I have not +said anything to vex you. I have never forgotten all you did for me, and +you must not mind the way I have of saying things." + +"What a shame it does appear--what a fearful shame it is," she whispered +to herself as she hurried through the trees--"that he should be +nothing but a fisherman! He is a gentleman in everything but birth and +education; and so strong, and so brave, and so good-looking!" + + + +CHAPTER XI + +NO PROMOTION + + +"Do it again now, Captain Scuddy; do it again; you know you must." + +"You touched the rim with your shoe, last time. You are bound to do it +clean, once more." + +"No, he didn't. You are a liar; it was only the ribbon of his shoe." + +"I'll punch your head if you say that again. It was his heel, and here's +the mark." + +"Oh, Scuddy dear, don't notice them. You can do it fifty times running, +if you like. Nobody can run or jump like you. Do it just once more to +please me." + +Kitty Fanshawe, a boy with large blue eyes and a purely gentle face, +looked up at Blyth Scudamore so faithfully that to resist him was +impossible. + +"Very well, then; once more for Kitty," said the sweetest-tempered of +mankind, as he vaulted back into the tub. "But you know that I always +leave off at a dozen. Thirteen--thirteen I could never stop at. I shall +have to do fourteen at least; and it is too bad, just after dinner. Now +all of you watch whether I touch it anywhere." + +A barrel almost five feet in height, and less than a yard in breadth, +stood under a clump of trees in the play-ground; and Blyth Scudamore had +made a clean leap one day, for his own satisfaction, out of it. Sharp +eyes saw him, and sharp wits were pleased, and a strong demand had +arisen that he should perform this feat perpetually. Good nerve, as well +as strong spring, and compactness of power are needed for it; and even +in this athletic age there are few who find it easy. + +"Come, now," he said, as he landed lightly, with both heels together; +"one of you big fellows come and do it. You are three inches taller than +I am. And you have only got to make up your minds." + +But all the big fellows hung back, or began to stimulate one another, +and to prove to each other how easy it was, by every proof but practice. +"Well, then, I must do it once more," said Blyth, "for I dare not leave +off at thirteen, for fear of some great calamity, such as I never could +jump out of." + +But before he could get into the tub again, to prepare for the clear +spring out of it, he beheld a man with silver buttons coming across +the playing-field. His heart fell into his heels, and no more agility +remained in him. He had made up his mind that Admiral Darling would +forget all about him by Saturday; and though the fair image of Dolly +would abide in that quiet mind for a long while, the balance of his +wishes (cast by shyness) was heavily against this visit. And the boys, +who understood his nature, with a poignant love--like that of our +friends in this world--began to probe his tender places. + +"One more jump, Captain Scuddy! You must; to show the flunky what you +can do." + +"Oh, don't I wish I was going? He'll have turtle soup, and venison, and +two men behind his chair." + +"And the beautiful young ladies looking at him every time he takes a +mouthful." + +"But he dare not go courting after thirteen jumps. And he has vowed that +he will have another. Come, Captain Scuddy, no time to lose." + +But Scudamore set off to face his doom, with his old hat hanging on the +back of his head--as it generally did--and his ruddy face and mild blue +eyes full of humorous diffidence and perplexity. + +"If you please, sir, his honour the Hadmiral have sent me to fetch 'e +and your things; and hoss be baiting along of the Blue Dragon." + +"I am sorry to say that I forgot all about it, or, at least, I thought +that he would. How long before we ought to start?" + +"My name is Gregory, sir--Coachman Gregory--accustomed always to a pair, +but doesn't mind a single hoss, to oblige the Hadmiral, once in a way. +About half an hour, sir, will suit me, unless they comes down to the +skittle-alley, as ought to be always on a Saturday afternoon; but not a +soul there when I looked in." + +Any man in Scudamore's position, except himself, would have grieved and +groaned. For the evening dress of that time, though less gorgeous than +of the age before, was still an expensive and elaborate affair; and the +young man, in this ebb of fortune, was poorly stocked with raiment. But +he passed this trouble with his usual calmness and disregard of trifles. +"If I wear the best I have got," he thought, "I cannot be charged with +disrespect. The Admiral knows what a sailor is; and, after all, who will +look at me?" Accordingly he went just as he was, for he never wore an +overcoat, but taking a little canvas kit, with pumps and silk stockings +for evening wear, and all the best that he could muster of his Volunteer +equipment. + +The Admiral came to the door of the Hall, and met him with such hearty +warmth, and a glance of such kind approval at his open throat and +glowing cheeks, that the young man felt a bound of love and tender +veneration towards him, which endured for lifetime. + +"Your father was my dearest friend, and the very best man I ever knew. +I must call you 'Blyth,'" said the Admiral, "for if I call you +'Scudamore,' I shall think perpetually of my loss." + +At dinner that day there was no other guest, and nothing to disturb the +present one, except a young lady's quick glances, of which he endeavored +to have no knowledge. Faith Darling, a gentle and beautiful young +woman, had taken a natural liking to him, because of his troubles, and +simplicity, and devotion to his widowed mother. But to the younger, +Dolly Darling, he was only a visitor, dull and stupid, requiring, +without at all repaying, the trouble of some attention. He was not tall, +nor handsome, nor of striking appearance in any way; and although he was +clearly a gentleman, to her judgment he was not an accomplished, or +even a clever one. His inborn modesty and shyness placed him at great +disadvantage, until well known; and the simple truth of his nature +forbade any of the large talk and bold utterance which pleased her as +yet among young officers. + +"What a plague he will be all day tomorrow!" she said to her sister in +the drawing-room. "Father was obliged, I suppose, to invite him; but +what can we do with him all the day? Sundays are dull enough, I am sure, +already, without our having to amuse a gentleman who has scarcely +got two ideas of his own, and is afraid to say 'bo' to a goose, I do +believe. Did you hear what he said when I asked him whether he was fond +of riding?" + +"Yes; and I thought it so good of him, to answer so straightforwardly. +He said that he used to be very fond of it, but was afraid that he +should fall off now." + +"I should like to see him. I tell you what we'll do. We will make him +ride back on Monday morning, and put him on 'Blue Bangles,' who won't +have seen daylight since Friday. Won't he jump about a bit! What a shame +it is, not to let us ride on Sundays!" + +Ignorant of these kind intentions, Scudamore was enjoying himself in +his quiet, observant way. Mr. Twemlow, the rector of the parish, had +chanced--as he often chanced on a Saturday, after buckling up a brace +of sermons--to issue his mind (with his body outside it) for a little +relief of neighbourhood. And these little airings of his chastening +love--for he loved everybody, when he had done his sermon--came, +whenever there was a fair chance of it, to a glass of the fine old port +which is the true haven for an ancient Admiral. + +"Just in time, Rector," cried Admiral Darling, who had added by many +a hardship to his inborn hospitality. "This is my young friend Blyth +Scudamore, the son of one of my oldest friends. You have heard of Sir +Edmond Scudamore?" + +"And seen him and felt him. And to him I owe, under a merciful +Providence, the power of drinking in this fine port the health of his +son, which I do with deep pleasure, for the excellence both of end and +means." + +The old man bowed at the praise of his wine, and the young one at that +of his father. Then, after the usual pinch of snuff from the Rector's +long gold box, the host returned to the subject he had been full of +before this interruption. + +"The question we have in hand is this. What is to be done with our +friend Blyth? He was getting on famously, till this vile peace came. +Twemlow, you called it that yourself, so that argument about words is +useless. Blyth's lieutenancy was on the books, and the way they carry +things on now, and shoot poor fellows' heads off, he might have been +a post-captain in a twelvemonth. And now there seems nothing on earth +before him better than Holy-Orders." + +"Admiral Darling is kind enough to think," said Scudamore, in his mild, +hesitative way, blushing outwardly, but smiling inwardly, "that I am too +good to be a clergyman." + +"And so you are, and Heaven knows it, Blyth, unless there was a chance +of getting on by goodness, which there is in the Navy, but not in the +Church. Twemlow, what is your opinion?" + +"It would not be modest in me," said the Rector, "to stand up too much +for my own order. We do our duty, and we don't get on." + +"Exactly. You could not have put it better. You get no vacancies by shot +and shell, and being fit for another world, you keep out of it. Have you +ever heard me tell the story about Gunner MacCrab, of the Bellerophon?" + +"Fifty times, and more than that," replied the sturdy parson, who liked +to make a little cut at the Church sometimes, but would not allow any +other hand to do it. "But now about our young friend here. Surely, with +all that we know by this time of the character of that Bony, we can see +that this peace is a mere trick of his to bamboozle us while he gets +ready. In six months we shall be at war again, hammer and tongs, as sure +as my name is Twemlow." + +"So be it!" cried the Admiral, with a stamp on his oak floor, while +Scudamore's gentle eyes flashed and fell; "if it is the will of God, so +be it. But if it once begins again, God alone knows where France will be +before you and I are in our graves. They have drained all our patience, +and our pockets very nearly; but they have scarcely put a tap into our +energy and endurance. But what are they? A gang of slaves, rammed into +the cannon by a Despot." + +"They seem to like it, and the question is for them. But the struggle +will be desperate, mountains of carnage, oceans of blood, universal +mourning, lamentation, and woe. And I have had enough trouble with my +tithes already." + +"Tithes are dependent on the will of the Almighty," said the Admiral, +who paid more than he altogether liked; "but a war goes by reason and +good management. It encourages the best men of the day, and it brings +out the difference between right and wrong, which are quite smothered up +in peace time. It keeps out a quantity of foreign rubbish and stuff only +made to be looked at, and it makes people trust one another, and know +what country they belong to, and feel how much they have left to be +thankful for. And what is the use of a noble fleet, unless it can get +some fighting? Blyth, what say you? You know something about that." + +"No, sir, I have never been at close quarters yet. And I doubt--or at +least I am certain that I should not like it. I am afraid that I should +want to run down below." + +Mr. Twemlow, having never smelled hostile powder, gazed at him rather +loftily, while the young man blushed at his own truth, yet looked up +bravely to confirm it. + +"Of all I have ever known or met," said Admiral Darling, quietly, +"there are but three--Nelson and two others, and one of those two was +half-witted--who could fetch up muzzle to muzzle without a feeling of +that sort. The true courage lies in resisting the impulse, more than +being free from it. I know that I was in a precious fright the first +time I was shot at, even at a decent distance; and I don't pretend to +like it even now. But I am pretty safe now from any further chance, I +fear. When we cut our wisdom-teeth, they shelf us. Twemlow, how much +wiser you are in the Church! The older a man gets, the higher they +promote him." + +"Then let them begin with me," the Rector answered, smiling; "I am old +enough now for almost anything, and the only promotion I get is stiff +joints, and teeth that crave peace from an olive. Placitam paci, Mr. +Scudamore knows the rest, being fresh from the learned Stonnington. +But, Squire, you know that I am content. I love Springhaven, Springhaven +loves me, and we chasten one another." + +"A man who knows all the Latin you know, Rector--for I own that you beat +me to the spelling-book--should be at least an Archdeacon in the Church, +which is equal to the rank of Rear-Admiral. But you never have pushed +as you should do; and you let it all off in quotations. Those are very +comforting to the mind, but I never knew a man do good with them, unless +they come out of the Bible. When Gunner Matthew of the Erigdoupos was +waiting to have his leg off, with no prospect before him--except a +better world--you know what our Chaplain said to him; and the effect +upon his mind was such, that I have got him to this day upon my land." + +"Of course you have--the biggest old poacher in the county. He shoots +half your pheasants with his wooden leg by moonlight. What your Chaplain +said to him was entirely profane in the turn of a text of Holy-Writ; +and it shows how our cloth is spoiled by contact with yours"--for the +Admiral was laughing to himself at this old tale, which he would +not produce before young Scudamore, but loved to have out with the +Rector--"and I hope it will be a good warning to you, Squire, to +settle no more old gunners on your property. You must understand, Mr. +Scudamore, that the Admiral makes a sort of Naval Hospital, for all his +old salts, on his own Estates." + +"I am sure it is wonderfully kind in him," the young man answered, +bravely, "for the poor old fellows are thrown to the dogs by the +country, when it has disabled them. I have not seen much of the service, +but quite enough to know that, Mr. Twemlow." + +"I have seen a great deal, and I say that it is so. And my good friend +knows it as well as I do, and is one of the first to lend a helping +hand. In all such cases he does more than I do, whenever they come +within his knowledge. But let us return to the matter in hand. Here is +a young man, a first-rate sailor, who would have been under my +guardianship, I know, but for--but for sad circumstances. Is he to be +grinding at Virgil and Ovid till all his spirit goes out of him, because +we have patched up a very shabby peace? It can never last long. Every +Englishman hates it, although it may seem to save his pocket. Twemlow, +I am no politician. You read the papers more than I do. How much longer +will this wretched compact hold? You have predicted the course of things +before." + +"And so I will again," replied the Rector. "Atheism, mockery, cynicism, +blasphemy, lust, and blood-thirstyness cannot rage and raven within +a few leagues of a godly and just nation without stinking in their +nostrils. Sir, it is our mission from the Lord to quench Bony, and +to conquer the bullies of Europe. We don't look like doing it now, I +confess. But do it we shall, in the end, as sure as the name of our +country is England." + +"I have no doubt of it," said the Admiral, simply; "but there will be a +deal of fighting betwixt this and then. Blyth, will you leave me to see +what I can do, whenever we get to work again?" + +"I should think that I would, sir, and never forget it. I am not fond of +fighting; but how I have longed to feel myself afloat again!" + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AT THE YEW-TREE + + +All the common-sense of England, more abundant in those days than now, +felt that the war had not been fought out, and the way to the lap of +peace could only be won by vigorous use of the arms. Some few there +were even then, as now there is a cackling multitude, besotted enough to +believe that facts can be undone by blinking them. But our forefathers +on the whole were wise, and knew that nothing is trampled more basely +than right that will not right itself. + +Therefore they set their faces hard, and toughened their hearts like +knotted oak, against all that man could do to them. There were no +magnificent proclamations, no big vaunts of victory at the buckling +on of armour, but the quiet strength of steadfast wills, and the stern +resolve to strike when stricken, and try to last the longest. And so +their mother-land became the mother of men and freedom. + +In November, 1802, the speech from the throne apprised the world that +England was preparing. The widest, longest, and deadliest war, since the +date of gunpowder, was lowering; and the hearts of all who loved their +kin were heavy, but found no help for it. + +The sermon which Mr. Twemlow preached in Springhaven church was +magnificent. Some parishioners, keeping memory more alert than +conscience, declared that they had received it all nine, or it might be +ten, years since, when the fighting first was called for. If so, that +proved it none the worse, but themselves, for again requiring it. Their +Rector told them that they thought too much of their own flesh-pots and +fish-kettles, and their country might go to the bottom of the sea, if it +left them their own fishing-grounds. And he said that they would wake up +some day and find themselves turned into Frenchmen, for all things were +possible with the Lord; and then they might smite their breasts, but +must confess that they had deserved it. Neither would years of prayer +and fasting fetch them back into decent Englishmen; the abomination of +desolation would be set up over their doorways, and the scarlet woman of +Babylon would revel in their sanctuaries. + +"Now don't let none of us be in no hurry," Captain Tugwell said, after +dwelling and sleeping upon this form of doctrine; "a man knoweth his own +trade the best, the very same way as the parson doth. And I never knew +no good to come of any hurry. Our lives are given us by the Lord. And He +never would 'a made 'em threescore and ten, or for men of any strength +fourscore, if His will had been to jerk us over them. Never did I see no +Frenchman as could be turned to an Englishman, not if he was to fast and +pray all day, and cut himself with knives at the going down of the sun. +My opinion is that Parson Twemlow were touched up by his own conscience +for having a nephew more French than English; and 'Caryl Carne' is the +name thereof, with more French than English sound to it." + +"Why, he have been gone for years and years," said the landlord of the +Darling Arms, where the village was holding council; "he have never +been seen in these parts since the death of the last Squire Carne, to my +knowledge." + +"And what did the old Squire die of, John Prater? Not that he were to be +called old--younger, I dare say, than I be now. What did he die of, but +marrying with a long outlandish 'ooman? A femmel as couldn't speak a +word of English, to be anyhow sure of her meaning! Ah, them was bad +times at Carne Castle; and as nice a place as need be then, until they +dipped the property. Six grey horses they were used to go with to London +Parliament every year, before the last Squire come of age, as I have +heered my father say scores of times, and no lie ever come from his +mouth, no more than it could from mine, almost. Then they dropped to +four, and then to two, and pretended that the roads were easier." + +"When I was down the coast, last week, so far as Littlehampton," said +a stout young man in the corner, "a very coorous thing happened me, +leastways by my own opinion, and glad shall I be to have the judgment +of Cappen Zeb consarning it. There come in there a queer-rigged craft +of some sixty ton from Halvers, desiring to set up trade again, or to do +some smoogling, or spying perhaps. Her name was the Doctor Humm, which +seem a great favorite with they Crappos, and her skipper had a queer +name too, as if he was two men in one, for he called himself 'Jacks'; a +fellow about forty year old, as I hauled out of the sea with a boat-hook +one night on the Varners. Well, he seemed to think a good deal of that, +though contrary to their nature, and nothing would do but I must go to +be fated with him everywhere, if the folk would change his money. He had +picked up a decent bit of talk from shipping in the oyster line before +the war; and I put his lingo into order for him, for which he was very +thankful." + +"And so he was bound to be. But you had no call to do it, Charley +Bowles." Captain Tugwell spoke severely, and the young man felt that he +was wrong, for the elders shook their heads at him, as a traitor to the +English language. + +"Well, main likely, I went amiss. But he seemed to take it so uncommon +kind of me hitching him with a boat-hook, that we got on together +wonderful, and he called me 'Friar Sharley,' and he tried to take up +with our manners and customs; but his head was outlandish for English +grog. One night he was three sheets in the wind, at a snug little crib +by the river, and he took to the brag as is born with them. 'All dis +contray in one year now,' says he, nodding over his glass at me, 'shall +be of the grand nashong, and I will make a great man of you, Friar +Sharley. Do you know what prawns are, my good friend?' Well, I said I +had caught a good many in my time; but he laughed and said, 'Prawns will +catch you this time. One tousand prawns, all with two hondred men inside +him, and the leetle prawns will come to land at your house, Sharley. +Bootiful place, quiet sea, no bad rocks. You look out in the morning, +and the white coast is made black with them.' Now what do you say to +that, Cappen Tugwell?" + +"I've a-heered that style of talk many times afore," Master Tugwell +answered, solidly; "and all I can say is that I should have punched his +head. And you deserve the same thing, Charley Bowles, unless you've got +more than that to tell us." + +"So I might, Cappen, and I won't deny you there. But the discourse were +consarning Squire Carne now just, and the troubles he fell into, before +I was come to my judgment yet. Why, an uncle of mine served footman +there--Jeremiah Bowles, known to every one, until he was no more heard +of." + +Nods of assent to the fame of Jeremiah encouraged the stout young man in +his tale, and a wedge of tobacco rekindled him. + +"Yes, it were a coorous thing indeed, and coorous for me to hear of it, +out of all mast-head of Springhaven. Says Moosoo Jacks to me, that night +when I boused him up unpretending: 'You keep your feather eye open, my +tear,' for such was his way of pronouncing it, 'and you shall arrive to +laglore, laglore--and what is still nobler, de monnay. In one two tree +month, you shall see a young captain returned to his contray dominion, +and then you will go to his side and say Jacks, and he will make present +to you a sack of silver.' Well, I hailed the chance of this pretty +smart, you may suppose, and I asked him what the sailor's name would be, +and surprised I was when he answered Carne, or Carny, for he gave it in +two syllables. Next morning's tide, the Doctor Humm cleared out, and I +had no other chance of discourse with Moosoo Jacks. But I want to know +what you think, Cappen Zeb." + +"So you shall," said the captain of Springhaven, sternly. "I think +you had better call your Moosoo Jacks 'Master Jackass,' or 'Master +Jackanapes,' and put your own name on the back of him. You been with a +Frenchman hob and nobbing, and you don't even know how they pronounce +themselves, unchristian as it is to do so. 'Jarks' were his name, the +very same as Navy beef, and a common one in that country. But to speak +of any Carne coming nigh us with French plottings, and of prawns landing +here at Springhaven--'tis as likely as I should drop French money into +the till of this baccy-box. And you can see that I be not going to play +such a trick as that, John Prater." + +"Why to my mind there never was bigger stuff talked," the landlord spoke +out, without fear of offence, for there was no other sign-board within +three miles, "than to carry on in that way, Charley. What they may do +at Littlehampton is beyond my knowledge, never having kept a snug crib +there, as you was pleased to call it. But at Springhaven 'twould be the +wrong place for hatching of French treacheries. We all know one another +a deal too well for that, I hope." + +"Prater, you are right," exclaimed Mr. Cheeseman, owner of the main shop +in the village, and universally respected. "Bowles, you must have an +imagination the same as your uncle Jerry had. And to speak of the Carnes +in a light way of talking, after all their misfortunes, is terrible. +Why, I passed the old castle one night last week, with the moon to one +side of it, and only me in my one-horse shay to the other, and none but +a man with a first-rate conscience would have had the stomach to do so. +However, I seed no ghosts that time, though I did hear some noises as +made me use the whip; and the swing of the ivy was black as a hearse. A +little drop more of my own rum, John: it gives me quite a chill to think +of it." + +"I don't take much account of what people say," Harry Shanks, who had a +deep clear voice, observed, "without it is in my own family. But my +own cousin Bob was coming home one night from a bit of sweethearting at +Pebbleridge, when, to save the risk of rabbit-holes in the dark, for he +put out his knee-cap one time, what does he do but take the path inland +through the wood below Carne Castle--the opposite side to where you +was, Master Cheeseman, and the same side as the moon would be, only she +wasn't up that night. Well, he had some misgivings, as anybody must; +still he pushed along, whistling and swinging his stick, and saying to +himself that there was no such thing as cowardice in our family; +till just at the corner where the big yew-tree is, that we sometimes +starboard helm by when the tide is making with a nor'west wind; there +Bob seed a sight as made his hair crawl. But I won't say another word +about it now, and have to go home in the dark by myself arter'ards." + +"Come, now, Harry!" "Oh, we can't stand that!" "We'll see you to your +door, lad, if you out with it, fair and forcible." + +Of these and other exhortations Harry took no notice, but folded his +arms across his breast, and gazed at something which his mind presented. + +"Harry Shanks, you will have the manners"--Captain Tugwell spoke +impressively, not for his own sake, for he knew the tale, and had been +consulted about it, but from sense of public dignity--"to finish the +story which you began. To begin a yarn of your own accord, and then +drop it all of a heap, is not respectful to present company. Springhaven +never did allow such tricks, and will not put up with them from any +young fellow. If your meaning was to drop it, you should never have +begun." + +Glasses and even pipes rang sharply upon the old oak table in applause +of this British sentiment, and the young man, with a sheepish look, +submitted to the voice of the public. + +"Well, then, all of you know where the big yew-tree stands, at the break +of the hill about half a mile inland, and how black it looms among the +other stuff. But Bob, with his sweetheart in his head, no doubt, was +that full of courage that he forgot all about the old tree, and the +murder done inside it a hundred and twenty years ago, they say, until +there it was, over his head a'most, with the gaps in it staring like +ribs at him. 'Bout ship was the word, pretty sharp, you may be sure, +when he come to his wits consarning it, and the purse of his lips, as +was whistling a jig, went as dry as a bag with the bottom out. Through +the grey of the night there was sounds coming to him, such as had no +right to be in the air, and a sort of a shiver laid hold of his heart, +like a cold hand flung over his shoulder. As hard as he could lay foot +to the ground, away he went down hill, forgetting of his kneecap, for +such was the condition of his mind and body. + +"You must understand, mates, that he hadn't seen nothing to skeer him, +but only heard sounds, which come into his ears to make his hair rise; +and his mind might have put into them more than there was, for the want +of intarpreting. Perhaps this come across him, as soon as he felt at +a better distance with his wind short; anyhow, he brought up again' +a piece of rock-stuff in a hollow of the ground, and begun to look +skeerily backward. For a bit of a while there was nothing to distemper +him, only the dark of the hill and the trees, and the grey light +a-coming from the sea in front. But just as he were beginning for to +call himself a fool, and to pick himself onto his legs for trudging +home, he seed a thing as skeered him worse than ever, and fetched him +flat upon his lower end. + +"From the black of the yew-tree there burst a big light, brighter than +a lighthouse or a blue thunder-bolt, and flying with a long streak down +the hollow, just as if all the world was a-blazing. Three times it come, +with three different colours, first blue, and then white, and then +red as new blood; and poor Bob was in a condition of mind must be seen +before saying more of it. If he had been brought up to follow the sea, +instead of the shoemaking, maybe his wits would have been more about +him, and the narves of his symptom more ship-shape. But it never was +borne into his mind whatever, to keep a lookout upon the offing, nor +even to lie snug in the ferns and watch the yew-tree. All he was up +for was to make all sail, the moment his sticks would carry it; and he +feared to go nigh his sweetheart any more, till she took up with another +fellow." + +"And sarve him quite right," was the judgment of the room, in high +fettle with hot rum and water; "to be skeered of his life by a +smuggler's signal! Eh, Cappen Zebedee, you know that were it?" + +But the captain of Springhaven shook his head. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +WHENCE, AND WHEREFORE? + + +At the rectory, too, ere the end of that week, there was no little +shaking of heads almost as wise as Zebedee Tugwell's. Mrs. Twemlow, +though nearly sixty years of age, and acquainted with many a sorrow, was +as lively and busy and notable as ever, and even more determined to +be the mistress of the house. For by this time her daughter Eliza, +beginning to be twenty-five years old--a job which takes some years in +finishing--began at the same time to approve her birth by a vigorous aim +at the mastery. For, as everybody said, Miss Eliza was a Carne in +blood and breed and fibre. There was little of the Twemlow stock about +her--for the Twemlows were mild and humorous--but plenty of the strength +and dash and wildness and contemptuous spirit of the ancient Carnes. + +Carne a carne, as Mr. Twemlow said, when his wife was inclined to be +masterful--a derivation confirmed by the family motto, "Carne non +caret carne." In the case, however, of Mrs. Twemlow, age, affliction, +experience, affection, and perhaps above all her good husband's larger +benevolence and placidity, had wrought a great change for the better, +and made a nice old lady of her. She was tall and straight and slender +still; and knew how to make the most, by grave attire and graceful +attitude, of the bodily excellence entailed for ages on the lineage +of Carne. Of moral goodness there had not been an equally strict +settlement, at least in male heredity. So that Mrs. Twemlow's thoughts +about her kith and kindred were rather sad than proud, unless some +ignorance was shown about them. + +"Poor as I am," said Mr. Twemlow, now consulting with her, "and poor as +every beneficed clergyman must be, if this war returns, I would rather +have lost a hundred pounds than have heard what you tell me, Maria." + +"My dear, I cannot quite see that," his wife made thoughtful answer; +"if he only had money to keep up the place, and clear off those nasty +incumbrances, I should rejoice at his coming back to live where we have +been for centuries." + +"My dear, you are too poetical, though the feeling is a fine one. Within +the old walls there can scarcely be a room that has a sound floor to +it. And as for the roof, when that thunder-storm was, and I took shelter +with my pony--well, you know the state I came home in, and all my best +clothes on for the Visitation. Luckily there seems to be no rheumatism +in your family, Maria; and perhaps he is too young as yet to pay out for +it till he gets older. But if he comes for business, and to see to the +relics of his property, surely he might have a bedroom here, and come +and go at his liking. After all his foreign fanglements, a course of +quiet English life and the tone of English principles might be of the +greatest use to him. He would never wish to see the Continent again." + +"It is not to be thought of," said Mrs. Twemlow. "I would not have him +to live in this house for fifty thousand pounds a year. You are a +great deal wiser than I am, Joshua; but of his nature you know nothing, +whereas I know it from his childhood. And Eliza is so strong-willed +and stubborn--you dislike, of course, to hear me say it, but it is the +fact--it is, my dear. And I would rather stand by our daughter's grave +than see her fall in love with Caryl Carne. You know what a handsome +young man he must be now, and full of French style and frippery. I am +sure it is most kind of you to desire to help my poor family; but you +would rue the day, my dear, that brought him beneath our quiet roof. +I have lost my only son, as it seems, by the will of the Lord, who +afflicts us. But I will not lose my only daughter, by any such folly of +my own." + +Tears rolled down Mrs. Twemlow's cheeks as she spoke of her mysterious +affliction; and her husband, who knew that she was not weak-minded, +consoled her by sharing her sorrow. + +"It shall be exactly as you like," he said, after a quiet interval. "You +say that no answer is needed; and there is no address to send one to. We +shall hear of it, of course, when he takes possession, if, indeed, he is +allowed to do so." + +"Who is to prevent him from coming, if he chooses, to live in the home +of his ancestors? The estates are all mortgaged, and the park is gone, +turned into a pound for Scotch cattle-breeding. But the poor old castle +belongs to us still, because no one would take the expense of it." + +"And because of the stories concerning it, Maria. Your nephew Caryl is +a brave young fellow if he means to live there all alone, and I fear he +can afford himself no company. You understand him so much better: what +do you suppose his motive is?" + +"I make no pretence to understand him, dear, any more than his poor +father could. My dear brother was of headstrong order, and it did him +no good to contradict him, and indeed it was dangerous to do so; but his +nature was as simple as a child's almost, to any one accustomed to him. +If he had not married that grand French lady, who revelled in every +extravagance, though she knew how we all were impoverished, he might +have been living and in high position now, though a good many years my +senior. And the worst of it was that he did it at a time when he ought +to have known so much better. However, he paid for it bitterly enough, +and his only child was set against him." + +"A very sad case altogether," said the rector. "I remember, as if it +were yesterday, how angry poor Montagu was with me. You remember what +words he used, and his threat of attacking me with his horsewhip. But he +begged my pardon, most humbly, as soon as he saw how thoroughly right I +was. You are like him in some things, as I often notice, but not quite +so generous in confessing you were wrong." + +"Because I don't do it as he did, Joshua. You would never understand me +if I did. But of course for a man you can make allowance. My rule is to +do it both for men and women, quite as fairly as if one was the other." + +"Certainly, Maria--certainly. And therefore you can do it, and have +always done it, even for poor Josephine. No doubt there is much to be +pleaded, by a candid and gentle mind, on her behalf." + +"What! that dreadful creature who ruined my poor brother, and called +herself the Countess de Lune, or some such nonsense! No, Joshua, no! +I have not so entirely lost all English principle as to quite do that. +Instead of being largeness, that would be mere looseness." + +"There are many things, however, that we never understood, and perhaps +never shall in this world," Mr. Twemlow continued, as if talking to +himself, for reason on that subject would be misaddressed to her; "and +nothing is more natural than that young Caryl should side with his +mother, who so petted him, against his poor father, who was violent and +harsh, especially when he had to pay such bills. But perhaps our good +nephew has amassed some cash, though there seems to be but little on the +Continent, after all this devastation. Is there anything, Maria, in his +letter to enable us to hope that he is coming home with money?" + +"Not a word, I am afraid," Mrs. Twemlow answered, sadly. "But take it, +my dear, and read it to me slowly. You make things so plain, because +of practice every Sunday. Oh, Joshua, I never can be sure which you +are greatest in--the Lessons or the Sermon. But before you begin I will +shoot the bolt a little, as if it had caught by accident. Eliza does +rush in upon us sometimes in the most unbecoming, unladylike way. And I +never can get you to reprove her." + +"It would be as much as my place is worth, as the maids say when +imagined to have stolen sugar. And I must not read this letter so loud +as the Lessons, unless you wish Lizzie to hear every word, for she has +all her mother's quick senses. There is not much of it, and the scrawl +seems hasty. We might have had more for three and fourpence. But I am +not the one to grumble about bad measure--as the boy said about old +Busby. Now, Maria, listen, but say nothing; if feminine capacity may +compass it. Why, bless my heart, every word of it is French!" The rector +threw down his spectacles, and gazed at his wife reproachfully. But she +smiled with superior innocence. + +"What else could you expect, after all his years abroad? I cannot +make out the whole of it, for certain. But surely it is not beyond the +compass of masculine capacity." + +"Yes, it is, Maria; and you know it well enough. No honest Englishman +can endure a word of French. Latin, or Greek, or even Hebrew--though I +took to that rather late in life. But French is only fit for women, and +very few of them can manage it. Let us hear what this Frenchman says." + +"He is not a Frenchman, Joshua. He is an Englishman, and probably a very +fine one. I won't be sure about all of his letter, because it is so long +since I was at school; and French books are generally unfit to read. But +the general meaning is something like this: + + +'MY BELOVED AND HIGHLY VALUED AUNT,--Since I heard from you there +are many years now, but I hope you have held me in memory. I have the +intention of returning to the country of England, even in this bad time +of winter, when the climate is most funereal. I shall do my best to call +back, if possible, the scattered ruins of the property, and to institute +again the name which my father made displeasing. In this good work you +will, I have faith, afford me your best assistance, and the influence +of your high connection in the neighbourhood. Accept, dear aunt, the +assurance of my highest consideration, of the most sincere and the most +devoted, and allow me the honour of writing myself your most loving and +respectful nephew, + +'CARYL CARNE.' + + +Now, Joshua, what do you think of that?" + +"Fine words and no substance; like all French stuff. And he never even +mentions me, who gave him a top, when he should have had the whip. I +will not pretend to understand him, for he always was beyond me. Dark +and excitable, moody and capricious, haughty and sarcastic, and devoid +of love for animals. You remember his pony, and what he did to it, and +the little dog that crawled upon her stomach towards him. For your +sake I would have put up with him, my dear, and striven to improve his +nature, which is sure to be much worse at six-and-twenty, after so many +years abroad. But I confess it is a great relief to me that you wisely +prefer not to have him in this house, any more at least than we can help +it. But who comes here? What a hurry we are in! Lizzie, my darling, be +patient." + +"Here's this plague of a door barred and bolted again! Am I not to have +an atom of breakfast, because I just happened to oversleep myself? The +mornings get darker and darker; it is almost impossible to see to dress +oneself." + +"There is plenty of tinder in the house, Eliza, and plenty of good +tallow candles," Mrs. Twemlow replied, having put away the letter, while +her husband let the complainant in. "For the third time this week +we have had prayers without you, and the example is shocking for the +servants. We shall have to establish the rule you suggest--too late to +pray for food, too late to get it. But I have kept your help of bacon +hot, quite hot, by the fire. And the teapot is under the cozy." + +"Thank you, dear mother," the young lady answered, careless of words, +if deeds were in her favour, and too clever to argue the question. "I +suppose there is no kind of news this morning to reward one for getting +up so early." + +"Nothing whatever for you, Miss Lizzie," said her father, as soon as he +had kissed her. "But the paper is full of the prospects of war, and the +extent of the preparations. If we are driven to fight again, we shall do +it in earnest, and not spare ourselves." + +"Nor our enemies either, I do hope with all my heart. How long are we to +be afraid of them? We have always invaded the French till now. And for +them to talk of invading us! There is not a bit of spirit left in this +island, except in the heart of Lord Nelson." + +"What a hot little patriot this child is!" said the father, with a quiet +smile at her. "What would she say to an Englishman, who was more French +than English, and would only write French letters? And yet it might be +possible to find such people." + +"If such a wretch existed," cried Miss Twemlow, "I should like to +crunch him as I crunch this toast. For a Frenchman I can make all fair +allowance, because he cannot help his birth. But for an Englishman to +turn Frenchman--" + +"However reluctant we may be to allow it," the candid rector argued, +"they are the foremost nation in the world, just now, for energy, +valour, decision, discipline, and I fear I must add patriotism. The +most wonderful man who has appeared in the world for centuries is their +leader, and by land his success has been almost unbroken. If we must +have war again, as I fear we must, and very speedily, our chief hope +must be that the Lord will support His cause against the scoffer and the +infidel, the libertine and the assassin." + +"You see how beautifully your father puts it, Eliza; but he never abuses +people. That is a habit in which, I am sorry to say, you indulge too +freely. You show no good feeling to anybody who differs from you in +opinion, and you talk as if Frenchmen had no religion, no principles, +and no humanity. And what do you know about them, pray? Have you ever +spoken to a Frenchman? Have you ever even seen one? Would you know one +if you even set eyes upon him?" + +"Well, I am not at all sure that I should," the young lady replied, +being thoroughly truthful; "and I have no wish for the opportunity. But +I have seen a French woman, mother; and that is quite enough for me. If +they are so, what must the men be?" + +"There is a name for this process of feminine reasoning, this cumulative +and syncopetic process of the mind, entirely feminine (but regarded by +itself as rational), a name which I used to know well in the days when I +had the ten Fallacies at my fingers' ends, more tenaciously perhaps +than the Decalogue. Strange to say, the name is gone from my memory; +but--but--" + +"But then you had better go after it, my dear," his wife suggested with +authority. "If your only impulse when you hear reason is to search after +hard names for it, you are safer outside of its sphere altogether." + +"I am struck with the truth of that remark," observed the rector; "and +the more so because I descry a male member of our race approaching, with +a hat--at once the emblem and the crown of sound reason. Away with all +fallacies; it is Church-warden Cheeseman!" + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A HORRIBLE SUGGESTION + + +"Can you guess what has brought me down here in this hurry?" Lord +Nelson asked Admiral Darling, having jumped like a boy from his yellow +post-chaise, and shaken his old friend's broad right hand with his +slender but strenuous left one, even as a big bell is swung by a thin +rope. "I have no time to spare--not a day, not an hour; but I made up my +mind to see you before I start. I cannot expect to come home alive, and, +except for one reason, I should not wish it." + +"Nonsense!" said the Admiral, who was sauntering near his upper gate, +and enjoying the world this fine spring morning; "you are always in +such a confounded hurry! When you come to my time of life, you will know +better. What is it this time? The Channel fleet again?" + +"No, no; Billy Blue keeps that, thank God! I hate looking after a school +of herring-boats. The Mediterranean for me, my friend. I received the +order yesterday, and shall be at sea by the twentieth." + +"I am very glad to hear it, for your sake. If ever there was a restless +fellow--in the good old times we were not like that. Come up to the +house and talk about it; at least they must take the horses out. They +are not like you; they can't work forever." + +"And they don't get knocked about like me; though one of them has lost +his starboard eye, and he sails and steers all the better for it. Let +them go up to the stable, Darling, while you come down to the beach with +me. I want to show you something." + +"What crotchet is in his too active brain now?" the elder and stronger +man asked himself, as he found himself hooked by the right arm, and led +down a track through the trees scarcely known to himself, and quite +out of sight from the village. "Why, this is not the way to the beach! +However, it is never any good to oppose him. He gets his own way so +because of his fame. Or perhaps that's the way he got his fame. But to +show me about over my own land! But let him go on, let him go on." + +"You are wondering, I dare say, what I am about," cried Nelson, stopping +suddenly, and fixing his sound eye--which was wonderfully keen, though +he was always in a fright about it--upon the large and peaceful blinkers +of his ancient commander; "but now I shall be able to convince you, +though I am not a land-surveyor, nor even a general of land-forces. If +God Almighty prolongs my life--which is not very likely--it will be that +I may meet that scoundrel, Napoleon Bonaparte, on dry land. I hear +that he is eager to encounter me on the waves, himself commanding a +line-of-battle ship. I should send him to the devil in a quarter of an +hour. And ashore I could astonish him, I think, a little, if I had a +good army to back me up. Remember what I did at Bastia, in the land that +produced this monster, and where I was called the Brigadier; and again, +upon the coast of Italy, I showed that I understood all their dry-ground +business. Tush! I can beat him, ashore and afloat; and I shall, if I +live long enough. But this time the villain is in earnest, I believe, +with his trumpery invasion; and as soon as he hears that I am gone, +he will make sure of having his own way. We know, of course, there are +fifty men as good as myself to stop him, including you, my dear Darling; +but everything goes by reputation--the noise of the people--praise-puff. +That's all I get; while the luckier fellows, like Cathcart, get the +prize-money. But I don't want to grumble. Now what do you see?" + +"Well, I see you, for one thing," the Admiral answered, at his leisure, +being quite inured to his friend's quick fire, "and wearing a coat that +would be a disgrace to any other man in the navy. And further on I see +some land that I never shall get my rent for; and beyond that nothing +but the sea, with a few fishing-craft inshore, and in the offing a sail, +an outward-bound East Indiaman--some fool who wouldn't wait for convoy, +with war as good as proclaimed again." + +"Nothing but the sea, indeed? The sweep of the land, and the shelter +of the bay, the shoaling of the shore without a rock to break it, the +headland that shuts out both wind and waves; and outside the headland, +off Pebbleridge, deep water for a fleet of line-of-battle ships to +anchor and command the land approaches--moreover, a stream of the purest +water from deep and never-failing springs--Darling, the place of all +places in England for the French to land is opposite to your front +door." + +"I am truly obliged to you for predicting, and to them for doing it, if +ever they attempt such impudence. If they find out that you are away, +they can also find out that I am here, as commander of the sea defences, +from Dungeness to Selsey-Bill." + +"That will make it all the more delightful to land at your front door, +my friend; and all the easier to do it. My own plan is to strike with +all force at the head-quarters of the enemy, because the most likely to +be unprepared. About a year ago, when I was down here, a little before +my dear father's death, without your commission I took command of your +fishing-craft coming home for their Sunday, and showed them how to +take the beach, partly to confirm my own suspicions. There is no other +landing on all the south coast, this side of Hayling Island, fit to be +compared with it for the use of flat-bottomed craft, such as most of +Boney's are. And remember the set of the tide, which makes the fortunes +of your fishermen. To be sure, he knows nothing of that himself; but he +has sharp rogues about him. If they once made good their landing here, +it would be difficult to dislodge them. It must all be done from the +land side then, for even a 42-gun frigate could scarcely come near +enough to pepper them. They love shoal water, the skulks--and that has +enabled them to baffle me so often. Not that they would conquer the +country--all brag--but still it would be a nasty predicament, and scare +the poor cockneys like the very devil." + +"But remember the distance from Boulogne, Hurry. If they cannot cross +twenty-five miles of channel in the teeth of our ships, what chance +would they have when the distance is nearer eighty?" + +"A much better chance, if they knew how to do it. All our cruisers would +be to the eastward. One afternoon perhaps, when a haze is on, they make +a feint with light craft toward the Scheldt--every British ship crowds +sail after them. Then, at dusk, the main body of the expedition slips +with the first of the ebb to the westward; they meet the flood tide in +mid-channel, and using their long sweeps are in Springhaven, or at any +rate the lightest of them, by the top of that tide, just when you +are shaving. You laugh at such a thought of mine. I tell you, my dear +friend, that with skill and good luck it is easy; and do it they should, +if they were under my command." + +If anybody else had even talked of such a plan as within the bounds of +likelihood, Admiral Darling would have been almost enraged. But now he +looked doubtfully, first at the sea (as if it might be thick with prames +already), and then at the land--which was his own--as if the rent might +go into a Frenchman's pocket, and then at his old and admired friend, +who had ruined his sleep for the summer. + +"Happily they are not under your command, and they have no man to +compare with you;" he spoke rather nervously; while Nelson smiled, +for he loved the praise which he had so well earned; "and if it were +possible for you to talk nonsense, I should say that you had done it +now. But two things surely you have overlooked. In the first place, the +French can have no idea of the special opportunities this place affords. +And again, if they had, they could do nothing, without a pilot well +acquainted with the spot. Though the landing is so easy, there are +shoals outside, very intricate and dangerous, and known to none except +the natives of the place, who are jealous to the last degree about their +knowledge." + +"That is true enough; and even I should want a pilot here, though I +know every spit of sand eastward. But away fly both your difficulties if +there should happen to be a local traitor." + +"A traitor at Springhaven! Such a thing is quite impossible. You would +laugh at yourself, if you only knew the character of our people. There +never has been, and there never will be, a Springhaven man capable of +treachery." + +"That is good news, ay, and strange news too," the visitor answered, +with his left hand on his sword, for he was now in full though rather +shabby uniform. "There are not many traitors in England, I believe; but +they are as likely to be found in one place as another, according to my +experience. Well, well, I am very glad you have no such scoundrels here. +I won't say a single word against your people, who are as fine a lot +as any in the south of England, and as obstinate as any I could wish to +see. Of an obstinate man I can always make good; with a limp one I can +do nothing. But bear in mind every word you have heard me say, because I +came down on purpose about it; and I generally penetrate the devices of +the enemy, though they lead me on a wild-goose-chase sometimes, but only +when our own folk back them up, either by lies or stupidity. Now look +once more, for you are slower as well as a great deal wiser than I am. +You see how this land-locked bight of Springhaven seems made by the +Almighty for flat-bottomed craft, if once they can find their way into +it; while the trend of the coast towards Pebbleridge is equally suited +for the covering fleet, unless a gale from southwest comes on, in +which case they must run for it. And you see that the landed force, by +crowning the hill above your house and across the valley, might defy +our noble Volunteers, and all that could be brought against them, till a +hundred thousand cutthroats were established here. And Boney would make +his head-quarters at the Hall, with a French cook in your kitchen, and +a German butler in your cellar, and my pretty godchild to wait upon him, +for the rogue loves pretty maidens." + +"That will do. That is quite enough. No wonder you have written poems, +Nelson, as you told us the last time you were here. If my son had only +got your imagination--but perhaps you know something more than you have +told me. Perhaps you have been told--" + +"Never mind about that," the great sea-captain answered, turning away +as if on springs; "it is high time for me to be off again, and my chaise +has springs on her cables." + +"Not she. I have ordered her to be docked. Dine with us you shall this +day, if we have to dine two hours earlier, and though Mother Cloam rage +furiously. How much longer do you suppose you can carry on at this pace? +Look at me. I have double your bodily substance; but if I went on as +you do--you remember the twenty-four-pounder old Hotcoppers put into the +launch, and fired it, in spite of all I could say to him? Well, you are +just the same. You have not got the scantling for the metal you carry +and are always working. You will either blow up, or else scuttle +yourself. Look here, how your seams are opening!" Here Admiral Darling +thrust his thumb through the ravelled seam of his old friend's coat, +which made him jump back, for he loved his old coat. "Yes, and you will +go in the very same way. I wonder how any coat lasts so much as a month, +with you inside it." + +"This coat," said Nelson, who was most sweet-tempered with any one he +loved, though hot as pepper when stirred up by strangers--"this coat is +the one I wore at Copenhagen, and a sounder and kinder coat never came +on a man's back. Charles Darling, you have made a bad hit this time. +If I am no more worn out than this coat is, I am fit to go to sea for a +number of years yet. And I hope to show it to a good many Frenchmen, and +take as many ships, every time they show fight, as there are buttons on +it." + +"Then you will double all your captures at the Nile;" such a series of +buttons had this coat, though mostly loose upon their moorings, for his +guardian angel was not "domestic"; "but you may be trusted not to let +them drift so. You have given me a lesson in coast-defence, and now you +shall be boarded by the ladies. You possess some gifts of the tongue, +my friend, as well as great gifts of hand and eye; but I will back my +daughters to beat you there. Come up to the house. No turning of tail." + +"I spoke very well in the House of Lords," said Nelson, in his simple +way, "in reply to the speech of his Majesty, and again about the +Commissioner's Bill; or at least everybody tells me so. But in the House +of Ladies I hold my tongue, because there is abundance without it." + +This, however, he failed to do when the matter came to the issue; for +his godchild Horatia, more commonly called Dolly, happened to be in the +mood for taking outrageous liberties with him. She possessed very little +of that gift--most precious among women--the sense of veneration; and to +her a hero was only a man heroic in acts of utility. "He shall do it," +she said to Faith, when she heard that he was come again; "if I have to +kiss him, he shall do it; and I don't like kissing those old men." + +"Hush!" said her elder sister. "Dolly, you do say things so recklessly. +One would think that you liked to kiss younger men! But I am sure that +is not your meaning. I would rather kiss Lord Nelson than all the young +men in the kingdom." + +"Well done, Faith! All the young men in the kingdom! How recklessly you +do say things! And you can't kiss him--he is MY godfather. But just see +how I get round him, if you have wits enough to understand it." + +So these two joined in their kind endeavour to make the visitor useful, +the object being so good that doubtful means might be excused for it. +In different ways and for divers reasons, each of these young ladies now +had taken to like Blyth Scudamore. Faith, by power of pity first, and of +grief for her own misfortunes, and of admiration for his goodness to his +widowed mother--which made his best breeches shine hard at the knees; +and Dolly, because of his shy adoration, and dauntless defence of her +against a cow (whose calf was on the road to terminate in veal), as well +as his special skill with his pocket-knife in cutting out figures that +could dance, and almost sing; also his great gifts, when the tide was +out, of making rare creatures run after him. What avails to explore +female reason precisely?--their minds were made up that he must be a +captain, if Nelson had to build the ship with his one hand for him. + +"After that, there is nothing more to be said," confessed the vanquished +warrior; "but the daughters of an Admiral should know that no man can be +posted until he has served his time as lieutenant; and this young hero +of yours has never even held the King's commission yet. But as he has +seen some service, and is beyond the age of a middy, in the present +rush he might get appointed as junior lieutenant, if he had any stout +seconders. Your father is the man, he is always at hand, and can watch +his opportunity. He knows more big-wigs than I do, and he has not given +offence where I have. Get your father, my dears, to attend to it." + +But the ladies were not to be so put off, for they understood the +difference of character. Lord Nelson was as sure to do a thing as +Admiral Darling was to drop it if it grew too heavy. Hence it came +to pass that Blyth Scudamore, though failing of the Victory and +Amphion--which he would have chosen, if the choice were his--received +with that cheerful philosophy (which had made him so dear to the +school-boys, and was largely required among them) his appointment as +junior lieutenant to the 38-gun frigate Leda, attached to the Channel +fleet under Cornwallis, whose business it was to deal with the French +flotilla of invasion. + + + +CHAPTER XV + +ORDEAL OF AUDIT + + +England saw the growing danger, and prepared, with an even mind and +well-girt body, to confront it. As yet stood up no other country to help +or even comfort her, so cowed was all the Continent by the lash, and +spur of an upstart. Alone, encumbered with the pack of Ireland, pinched +with hunger and dearth of victuals, and cramped with the colic of +Whiggery, she set her strong shoulder to the wheel of fortune, and so +kept it till the hill was behind her. Some nations (which owe their +existence to her) have forgotten these things conveniently; an +Englishman hates to speak of them, through his unjust abhorrence of +self-praise; and so does a Frenchman, by virtue of motives equally +respectable. + +But now the especial danger lay in the special strength of England. +Scarcely any man along the coast, who had ever come across a Frenchman, +could be led (by quotations from history or even from newspapers) to +believe that there was any sense in this menace of his to come and +conquer us. Even if he landed, which was not likely--for none of them +could box the compass--the only thing he took would be a jolly good +thrashing, and a few pills of lead for his garlic. This lofty contempt +on the part of the seafaring men had been enhanced by Nelson, and throve +with stoutest vigour in the enlightened breasts of Springhaven. + +Yet military men thought otherwise, and so did the owners of crops and +ricks, and so did the dealers in bacon and eggs and crockery, and even +hardware. Mr. Cheeseman, for instance, who left nothing unsold that he +could turn a penny by, was anything but easy in his mind, and dreamed +such dreams as he could not impart to his wife--on account of her +tendency to hysterics--but told with much power to his daughter Polly, +now the recognised belle of Springhaven. This vigilant grocer and +butterman, tea, coffee, tobacco, and snuffman, hosier also, and general +provider for the outer as well as the inner man, had much of that +enterprise in his nature which the country believes to come from London. +His possession of this was ascribed by all persons of a thoughtful turn +to his ownership of that well-built schooner the London Trader. Sailing +as she did, when the weather was fine, nearly every other week, for +London, and returning with equal frequency, to the women who had never +been ten miles from home she was a mystery and a watchword. Not one of +them would allow lad of hers to join this romantic galleon, and tempt +the black cloud of the distance; neither did Mr. Cheeseman yearn (for +reasons of his own about city prices) to navigate this good ship with +natives. Moreover, it was absurd, as he said, with a keen sense of his +own cheapness, to suppose that he could find the funds to buy and ply +such a ship as that! + +Truth is a fugitive creature, even when she deigns to be visible, or +even to exist. The truth of Mr. Cheeseman's statement had existed, but +was long since flown. Such was his worth that he could now afford to buy +the London Trader three times over, and pay ready money every time. But +when he first invested hard cash in her--against the solid tears of his +prudent wife--true enough it was that he could only scrape together one +quarter of the sum required. Mrs. Cheeseman, who was then in a condition +of absorbing interest with Polly, made it her last request in this +world--for she never expected to get over it--that Jemmy should not +run in debt on a goose-chase, and fetch her poor spirit from its grave +again. James Cheeseman was compelled--as the noblest man may be--to +dissemble and even deny his intentions until the blessed period of +caudle-cup, when, the weather being pleasant and the wind along the +shore, he found himself encouraged to put up the window gently. The +tide was coming in with a long seesaw, and upon it, like the baby in the +cradle full of sleep, lay rocking another little stranger, or rather a +very big one, to the lady's conception. + +Let bygones be bygones. There were some reproaches; but the weaker +vessel, Mrs. Cheeseman, at last struck flag, without sinking, as she +threatened to do. And when little Polly went for her first airing, the +London Trader had accomplished her first voyage, and was sailing in +triumphantly with a box of "tops and bottoms" from the ancient firm in +Threadneedle Street, which has saved so many infants from the power that +cuts the thread. After that, everything went as it should go, including +this addition to the commercial strength of Britain, which the lady was +enabled soon to talk of as "our ship," and to cite when any question +rose of the latest London fashion. But even now, when a score of years, +save one, had made their score and gone, Mrs. Cheeseman only guessed and +doubted as to the purchase of her ship. James Cheeseman knew the value +of his own counsel, and so kept it; and was patted on both shoulders by +the world, while he patted his own butter. + +He wore an apron of the purest white, with shoulder-straps of linen +tape, and upon his counter he had a desk, with a carved oak rail in +front of it and returned at either end. The joy of his life was here to +stand, with goodly shirt sleeves shining, his bright cheeks also shining +in the sun, unless it were hot enough to hurt his goods. He was not a +great man, but a good one--in the opinion of all who owed him nothing, +and even in his own estimate, though he owed so much to himself. It was +enough to make any one who possessed a shilling hungry to see him so +clean, so ready, and ruddy among the many good things which his looks +and manner, as well as his words, commended. And as soon as he began +to smack his rosy lips, which nature had fitted up on purpose, over a +rasher, or a cut of gammon, or a keg of best Aylesbury, or a fine red +herring, no customer having a penny in his pocket might struggle hard +enough to keep it there. For the half-hearted policy of fingering +one's money, and asking a price theoretically, would recoil upon the +constitution of the strongest man, unless he could detach from all +cooperation the congenial researches of his eyes and nose. When the +weather was cool and the air full of appetite, and a fine smack of salt +from the sea was sparkling on the margin of the plate of expectation, +there was Mr. Cheeseman, with a knife and fork, amid a presence of +hungrifying goods that beat the weak efforts of imagination. Hams of +the first rank and highest education, springs of pork sweeter than the +purest spring of poetry, pats of butter fragrant as the most delicious +flattery, chicks with breast too ample to require to be broken, and +sometimes prawns from round the headland, fresh enough to saw one +another's heads off, but for being boiled already. + +Memory fails to record one-tenth of all the good things gathered there. +And why? Because hope was the power aroused, and how seldom can memory +endorse it! Even in the case of Mr. Cheeseman's wares there were people +who said, after making short work with them, that short weight had +enabled them to do so. And every one living in the village was surprised +to find his own scales require balancing again every time he sent his +little girl to Cheeseman's. + +This upright tradesman was attending to his business one cold day in +May, 1803, soon after Nelson sailed from Portsmouth, and he stood with +his beloved pounds of farm-house butter, bladders of lard, and new-laid +eggs, and squares of cream-cheese behind him, with a broad butter-spathe +of white wood in his hand, a long goose-pen tucked over his left ear, +and the great copper scales hanging handy. So strict was his style, +though he was not above a joke, that only his own hands might serve +forth an ounce of best butter to the public. And whenever this was +weighed, and the beam adjusted handsomely to the satisfaction of the +purchaser, down went the butter to be packed upon a shelf uninvaded by +the public eye. Persons too scantily endowed with the greatest of all +Christian virtues had the hardihood to say that Mr. Cheeseman here +indulged in a process of high art discovered by himself. Discoursing +of the weather, or the crops, or perhaps the war, and mourning the +dishonesty of statesmen nowadays, by dexterous undersweep of keen steel +blade, from the bottom of the round, or pat, or roll, he would have away +a thin slice, and with that motion jerk it into the barrel which he kept +beneath his desk. + +"Is this, then, the establishment of the illustrious Mr. Cheeseman?" +The time was yet early, and the gentleman who put this question was in +riding dress. The worthy tradesman looked at him, and the rosy hue upon +his cheeks was marbled with a paler tint. + +"This is the shop of the 'umble James Cheeseman," he answered, but not +with the alacrity of business. "All things good that are in season, and +nothing kept unseasonable. With what can I have the honor of serving +you, sir?" + +"With a little talk." The stranger's manner was not unpleasantly +contemptuous, but lofty, and such as the English shopman loves, and +calls "aristocratic." + +"To talk with a gentleman is a pleasure as well as an honour," said +Cheeseman. + +"But not in this public establishment." The visitor waved both hands as +he spoke, in a style not then common with Englishmen--though they are +learning eloquent gesticulation now. "It is fine, Mr. Cheeseman; but it +is not--bah, I forget your English words." + +"It is fine, sir, as you are good enough to observe"--the humble James +Cheeseman was proud of his shop--"but not, as you remarked, altogether +private. That can hardly be expected, where business is conducted to +suit universal requirements. Polly, my dear, if your mother can spare +you, come and take my place at the desk a few minutes. I have business +inside with this gentleman. You may sell almost anything, except butter. +If any one wants that, they must wait till I come back." + +A very pretty damsel, with a cap of foreign lace both adorning and +adorned by her beautiful bright hair, came shyly from a little door +behind the counter, receiving with a quick blush the stranger's earnest +gaze, and returning with a curtsey the courteous flourish of his +looped-up riding-hat. "What a handsome gentleman!" said Polly to +herself; "but there is something very sad and very wild in his +appearance." Her father's conclusion was the same, and his heart misgave +him as he led in this unexpected guest. + +"There is no cause for apologies. This place is a very good one," +the stranger replied, laying down his heavy whip on the table of a +stone-floored room, to which he had been shown. "You are a man of +business, and I am come upon dry business. You can conjecture--is it not +so?--who I am by this time, although I am told that I do not bear any +strong resemblance to my father." + +He took off his hat as he spoke, shook back his long black hair, and +fixed his jet-black eyes upon Cheeseman. That upright dealer had not +recovered his usual self-possession yet, but managed to look up--for he +was shorter by a head than his visitor--with a doubtful and enquiring +smile. + +"I am Caryl Carne, of Carne Castle, as you are pleased to call it. I +have not been in England these many years; from the death of my father I +have been afar; and now, for causes of my own, I am returned, with hope +of collecting the fragments of the property of my ancestors. It appears +to have been their custom to scatter, but not gather up again. My +intention is to make a sheaf of the relics spread by squanderers, and +snapped up by scoundrels." + +"To be sure, to be sure," cried the general dealer; "this is vastly to +your credit, sir, and I wish you all success, sir, and so will all who +have so long respected your ancient and honourable family, sir. Take a +chair, sir--please to take a chair." + +"I find very little to my credit," Mr. Carne said, dryly, as he took the +offered chair, but kept his eyes still upon Cheeseman's; "but among that +little is a bond from you, given nearly twenty years agone, and of which +you will retain, no doubt, a vivid recollection." + +"A bond, sir--a bond!" exclaimed the other, with his bright eyes +twinkling, as in some business enterprise. "I never signed a bond in all +my life, sir. Why, a bond requires sureties, and nobody ever went surety +for me." + +"Bond may not be the proper legal term. It is possible. I know nothing +of the English law. But a document it is, under hand and seal, and your +signature is witnessed, Mr. Cheeseman." + +"Ah well! Let me consider. I begin to remember something. But my memory +is not as it used to be, and twenty years makes a great hole in it. Will +you kindly allow me to see this paper, if you have it with you, sir?" + +"It is not a paper; it is written upon parchment, and I have not brought +it with me. But I have written down the intention of it, and it is as +follows: + +"'This indenture made between James Cheeseman (with a long description), +of the one part, and Montagu Carne (treated likewise), of the other +part, after a long account of some arrangement made between them, +witnesseth that in consideration of the sum of 300 pounds well and truly +paid by the said Montagu Carne to Cheeseman, he, the said Cheeseman, +doth assign, transfer, set over, and so on, to the said Carne, etc., one +equal undivided moiety and one half part of the other moiety of and in a +certain vessel, ship, trading-craft, and so forth, known or thenceforth +to be known as the London Trader, of Springhaven, in the county of +Sussex, by way of security for the interest at the rate of five per +cent. per annum, payable half-yearly, as well as for the principal sum +of 300 pounds, so advanced as aforesaid.'" + +"If it should prove, sir, that money is owing," Mr. Cheeseman said, with +that exalted candour which made a weak customer condemn his own eyes and +nose, "no effort on my part shall be wanting, bad as the times are, +to procure it and discharge it. In every commercial transaction I +have found, and my experience is now considerable, that confidence, as +between man and man, is the only true footing to go upon. And how can +true confidence exist, unless--" + +"Unless a man shows some honesty. And a man who keeps books such as +these," pursued the visitor, suggesting a small kick to a pile of +ledgers, "can hardly help knowing whether he owes a large sum or whether +he has paid it. But that is not the only question now. In continuation +of that document I find a condition, a clause provisional, that it +shall be at the option of the aforesaid Montagu Carne, and his +representatives, either to receive the interest at the rate before +mentioned and thereby secured, or, if he or they should so prefer, to +take for their own benefit absolutely three-fourths of the net profits, +proceeds, or other increment realised by the trading ventures, or other +employment from time to time, of the said London Trader. Also there is a +covenant for the insurance of the said vessel, and a power of sale, and +some other provisions about access to trading books, etc., with which +you have, no doubt, a good acquaintance, Mr. Cheeseman." + +That enterprising merchant, importer of commodities, and wholesale and +retail dealer was fond of assuring his numerous friends that "nothing +ever came amiss to him." But some of them now would have doubted about +this if they had watched his face as carefully as Caryl Carne was +watching it. Mr. Cheeseman could look a hundred people in the face, and +with great vigour too, when a small account was running. But the +sad, contemptuous, and piercing gaze--as if he were hardly worth +penetrating--and the twirl of the black tuft above the lip, and the firm +conviction on the broad white forehead that it was confronting a rogue +too common and shallow to be worth frowning at--all these, and the facts +that were under them, came amiss to the true James Cheeseman. + +"I scarcely see how to take this," he said, being clever enough to +suppose that a dash of candour might sweeten the embroilment. "I will +not deny that I was under obligation to your highly respected +father, who was greatly beloved for his good-will to his neighbours. +'Cheeseman,' he used to say, 'I will stand by you. You are the only man +of enterprise in these here parts. Whatever you do is for the good of +Springhaven, which belonged to my family for centuries before those +new-fangled Darlings came. And, Cheeseman, you may trust to the honour +of the Carnes not to grind down a poor man who has his way to make.' +Them were his words, sir; how well I recollect them!" + +"Too well almost," replied the young man, coldly, "considering how +scanty was your memory just now. But it may save time, and painful +efforts of your memory, if I tell you at once that I am not concerned in +any way with the sentiments of my father. I owe him very little, as you +must be well aware; and the matter betwixt you and me is strictly one +of business. The position in which I am left is such that I must press +every legal claim to the extremest. And having the option under this +good document, I have determined to insist upon three-quarters of the +clear proceeds of this trading-ship, from the date of the purchase until +the present day, as well as the capital sum invested on this security." + +"Very well, sir, if you do, there is only one course left me--to go into +the Court of Bankruptcy, see all my little stock in trade sold up, and +start in life again at the age of fifty-seven, with a curse upon all old +families." + +"Your curse, my good friend, will not add sixpence to your credit. And +the heat you exhibit is not well adapted for calculations commercial. +There is one other course which I am able to propose, though I will not +give a promise yet to do so--a course which would relieve me from taking +possession of this noble ship which has made your fortune, and perhaps +from enforcing the strict examination of your trading-books, to which I +am entitled. But before I propose any such concession, which will be +a grand abdication of rights, one or two things become necessary. +For example, I must have some acquaintance with your character, some +certitude that you can keep your own counsel, and not divulge everything +that arrives within your knowledge; also that you have some courage, +some freedom of mind from small insular sentiments, some desire to +promote the true interests of mankind, and the destruction of national +prejudices." + +"Certainly, sir; all of those I can approve of. They are very glorious +things," cried Cheeseman--a man of fine liberal vein, whenever two +half-crowns were as good as a crown. "We are cramped and trampled and +down-trodden by the airs big people give themselves, and the longing of +such of us as thinks is to speak our minds about it. Upon that point +of freedom, sir, I can heartily go with you, and every stick upon my +premises is well insured." + +"Including, I hope, the London Trader, according to your covenant. And +that reminds me of another question--is it well-found, well-manned, and +a good rapid ship to make the voyage? No falsehood, if you please, about +this matter." + +"She is the fastest sailer on the English coast, built at Dunkirk, and +as sound as a bell. She could show her taffrail, in light weather, to +any British cruiser in the Channel. She could run a fine cargo of French +cognac and foreign laces any day." + +"It is not my desire," Caryl Carne replied, "to cheat the British +Revenue. For that purpose exist already plenty of British tradesmen. For +the present I impress upon you one thing only, that you shall observe +silence, a sacred silence, regarding this conversation. For your own +sake you will be inclined to do so, and that is the only sake a man pays +much attention to. But how much for your own sake you are obliged to +keep your counsel, you will very soon find out if you betray it." + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +FOX-HILL + + +When it was known in this fine old village that young Squire Carne from +foreign parts was come back to live in the ancient castle, there was +much larger outlay (both of words and thoughts) about that than about +any French invasion. "Let them land if they can," said the able-bodied +men, in discussion of the latter question; "they won't find it so easy +to get away again as they seem to put into their reckoning. But the +plague of it all is the damage to the fishing." + +Not that the squadron of Captain Tugwell was shorn as yet of its number, +though all the young men were under notice to hold themselves ready as +"Sea-Fencibles." The injury to their trade lay rather in the difficulty +of getting to their fishing-grounds, and in the disturbance of these by +cruisers, with little respect for their nets and lines. Again, as the +tidings of French preparation waxed more and more outrageous, Zebedee +had as much as he could do to keep all his young hands loyal. All their +solid interest lay (as he told them every morning) in sticking to +the Springhaven flag--a pair of soles couchant, herring salient, +and mackerel regardant, all upon a bright sea-green--rather than in +hankering after roll of drum and Union-Jack. What could come of these +but hardship, want of victuals, wounds, and death; or else to stump +about on one leg, and hold out a hat for a penny with one arm? They felt +that it was true; they had seen enough of that; it had happened in all +their own families. + +Yet such is the love of the native land and the yearning to stand in +front of it, and such is the hate of being triumphed over by fellows who +kiss one another and weep, and such is the tingling of the knuckles for +a blow when the body has been kicked in sore places, that the heart +will at last get the better of the head--or at least it used to be so +in England. Wherefore Charley Bowles was in arms already against his +country's enemies; and Harry Shanks waited for little except a clear +proclamation of prize-money; and even young Daniel was tearing at his +kedge like a lively craft riding in a brisk sea-way. He had seen Lord +Nelson, and had spoken to Lord Nelson, and that great man would have +patted him on the head--so patriotic were his sentiments--if the great +man had been a little taller. + +But the one thing that kept Dan Tugwell firm to his moorings at +Springhaven was the deep hold of his steadfast heart in a love which it +knew to be hopeless. To die for his country might become a stern duty, +about which he would rather not be hurried; but to die for Miss Dolly +would be a wild delight; and how could he do it unless he were at hand? +And now there were so many young officers again, landing in boats, +coming in post-chaises, or charging down the road on horseback, that +Daniel, while touching up the finish of his boat with paint and varnish +and Venetian Red, was not so happy as an artist should be who knows how +to place the whole. Sometimes, with the paint stirred up and creaming, +and the ooze of the brush trimmed warily, through the rushes and ragwort +and sea-willow his keen, unconquerable eyes would spy the only figure +that quelled them, faraway, shown against the shining water, or shadowed +upon the flat mirror of the sand. But, alas! there was always another +figure near it, bigger, bulkier, framed with ugly angles, jerking about +with the elbow sticking out, instead of gliding gracefully. Likely +enough the lovely form, brought nearer to the eyes and heart by love, +would flit about beautifully for two sweet moments, filling with rapture +all the flashes of the sea and calm of the evening sky beyond; and then +the third moment would be hideous. For the figure of the ungainly foe +would stride across the delicious vision, huge against the waves like +Cyclops, and like him gesticulant, but unhappily not so single-eyed that +the slippery fair might despise him. Then away would fly all sense of +art and joy in the touch of perfection, and a very nasty feeling would +ensue, as if nothing were worth living for, and nobody could be believed +in. + +That plaguesome Polypheme was Captain Stubbard, begirt with a wife, +and endowed with a family almost in excess of benediction, and dancing +attendance upon Miss Dolly, too stoutly for his own comfort, in the hope +of procuring for his own Penates something to eat and to sit upon. Some +evil genius had whispered, or rather trumpeted, into his ear--for he +had but one left, and that worked very seldom, through alarm about the +bullet which had carried off its fellow--that if he desired, as he did +with heart and stomach, to get a clear widening by 200 pounds of his +strait ways and restricted means, through Admiral Darling it might +be done, and Miss Dolly was the proper one to make him do it. For the +Inspectorship of Sea-Fencibles from Selsea-Bill to Dungeness was worth +all that money in hard cash yearly; and the late Inspector having +quitted this life--through pork boiled in a copper kettle--the situation +was naturally vacant; and the Admiral being the man for whose check the +Inspectorship was appointed, it is needless to say that (in the spirit +of fair play) the appointment was vested in the Admiral. + +The opinion of all who knew him was that Captain Stubbard was fairly +entitled to look for something higher. And he shared that opinion, +taking loftier aim than figures could be made to square with, till the +latter prevailed, as they generally do, because they can work without +victuals. For although the brave Captain had lost three ribs--or at any +rate more than he could spare of them (not being a pig)--in the service +of his country, he required as much as ever to put inside them; and +his children, not having inherited that loss as scientifically as +they should have done, were hard to bring up upon the 15 pounds yearly +allowed by Great Britain for each of the gone bones. From the ear that +was gone he derived no income, having rashly compounded for 25 pounds. + +In the nature of things, which the names have followed, the father is +the feeder; and the world is full of remarks unless he becomes a good +clothier also. But everything went against this father, with nine little +Stubbards running after him, and no ninepence in any of his pockets, +because he was shelfed upon half-pay, on account of the depression of +the times and of his ribs. But Miss Dolly Darling was resolved to see +him righted, for she hated all national meanness. + +"What is the use of having any influence," she asked her good father, +"unless you employ it for your own friends? I should be quite ashamed +to have it said of me, or thought, that I could get a good thing for any +one I was fond of, and was mean enough not to do it, for fear of paltry +jealousy. Mean is much too weak a word; it is downright dishonest, and +what is much worse, cowardly. What is the government meant for, unless +it is to do good to people?" + +"Certainly, my dear child, certainly. To the people at large, that is to +say, and the higher interests of the country." + +"Can there be any people more at large than Captain Stubbard and his +wife and children? Their elbows are coming out of their clothes, and +they have scarcely got a bed to sleep upon. My income is not enough to +stop to count, even when I get it paid punctually. But every farthing I +receive shall go--that is to say, if it ever does come--into the lap of +Mrs. Stubbard, anonymously and respectfully." + +"Pay your bills, first," said the Admiral, taking the weather-gage of +the discussion: "a little bird tells me that you owe a good trifle, even +in Springhaven." + +"Then the little bird has got a false bill," replied Dolly, who was not +very easy to fluster. "Who is there to spend sixpence with in a little +hole of this kind? I am not a customer for tea, coffee, tobacco, snuff, +or pepper, nor even for whiting, soles, or conger. Old Cheeseman imports +all the fashions, as he says; but I go by my own judgment. And trumpery +as my income is, very little of it goes into his till. But I should like +to know who told you such a wicked story, father?" + +"Things are mentioned in confidence, and I put them together," said the +Admiral. "Don't say another word, or look as if you would be happier if +you had something to cry about. Your dear mother used to do it; and it +beats me always. I have long had my eye upon Captain Stubbard, and I +remember well that gallant action when his three ribs flew away. We +called him Adam, because of his wife coming just when his middle rib +went, and his name was Adam Stubbard, sure enough. Such men, in the +prime of their life, should be promoted, instead of being disabled, for +a scratch like that. Why, he walks every bit as well as I do, and +his watch-ribbon covers it. And nine children! Lord bless my heart! I +scarcely know which way to turn, with only four!" + +Within a short fortnight Captain Stubbard was appointed, with an +office established at the house of Widow Shanks--though his real office +naturally was at the public-house--and Royal Proclamations aroused the +valour of nearly everybody who could read them. Nine little Stubbards +soon were rigged too smart to know themselves, as the style is of all +dandies; and even Mrs. Stubbard had a new belt made to go round her, +when the weather was elastic. + +"These are the things that prove the eye of an All-wise Providence over +us," said the Captain to the Admiral, pointing out six pairs of short +legs, galligaskined from one roll of cloth; "these are the things that +make one feel the force of the words of David." + +"Certainly, yes, to be sure!" replied the gallant senior officer, all +at sea as to the passage suggested. "Good legs they have got, and no +mistake; like the polished corners of the temple. Let them go and dip +them in the sea, while you give the benefit of your opinion here. Not +here, I mean, but upon Fox-hill yonder; if Mrs. Stubbard will spare you +for a couple of hours, most kindly." + +Of the heights that look down with a breezy air upon the snug nest of +Springhaven, the fairest to see from a distance, and to tread with brisk +foot, is Fox-hill. For the downs, which are channelled with the springs +that form the brook, keep this for their own last spring into the air, +before bathing in the vigorous composure of the sea. All the other hills +fall back a little, to let Fox-hill have the first choice of aspect--or +bear the first brunt, as itself would state the matter. And to anybody +coming up, and ten times to a stranger, this resolute foreland offers +more invitation to go home again, than to come visiting. For the bulge +of the breast is steep, and ribbed with hoops coming up in denial, +concrete with chalk, muricated with flint, and thornily crested with +good stout furze. And the forefront of the head, when gained, is stiff +with brambles, and stubbed with sloes, and mitred with a choice band of +stanch sting-nettles. + +"It would take a better Frenchman," said the Admiral, with that brevity +which is the happy result of stoutness up steep hill, "than any of 'they +flat-bottoms,' as Swipes, my gardener, calls them, to get through +these prickles, Stubbard, without Sark-blewing. Such a wonderfully +thin-skinned lot they are! Did I ever tell you the story of our +boatswain's mate? But that takes a better sailing breeze than I've got +now. You see where we are, don't you?" + +"Certainly, Admiral," replied Captain Stubbard, disdaining to lay hand +to his injured side, painfully as it yearned for pressure; "we have had +a long pull, and we get a fine outlook over the country for leagues, and +the Channel. How close at hand everything looks! I suppose we shall have +rain, and we want it. I could thump that old castle among the trees into +smash, and your church looks as if I could put a shot with a rifle-gun +into the bell-chamber." + +"And so you could. What I want to show you is that very point, and +the importance of it. With a battery of long twenty-fours up here, the +landing, the bay, and all the roads are at our mercy. My dear old friend +Nelson drew my attention to it." + +"It is plain as a pikestaff to Tom, Dick, or Harry:" Captain Stubbard +was a frank, straightforward man, and much as he owed to the Admiral's +aid, not a farthing would he pay in flattery. "But why should we want to +command this spot? There is nothing to protect but a few common houses, +and some half-score of fishing-craft, and a schooner that trades to +London, and yonder old church, and--oh yes, to be sure, your own house +and property, Admiral." + +"Those must take their chance, like others. I hope I know better than to +think of them in comparison with the good of the country. But if we fail +to occupy this important post, the enemy might take us by surprise, and +do so." + +"Possible, but most improbable. This little place lies, by the trend of +the coast, quite out of their course from Boulogne to London; and what +is there here to tempt them? No rich town to sack, no great commerce to +rob, no valuable shipping to lay hands on." + +"No; but there's my house and my two girls; and I don't want my old +roof burned, and my daughters put to wait on Boney. But to think of +self-interest is below contempt, with our country going through such +trials. Neither should we add any needless expense to a treasury already +overburdened." + +"Certainly not. It would be absolutely wicked. We have a long and costly +war before us, and not a shilling should be spent except in case of +clear necessity." + +"I am very glad indeed to find your opinion so decided, so untainted +with petty self-interest." As Admiral Darling spoke he closed a little +silver telescope, with which he had been gazing through the wooded +coronet of the hill. "I thought it my duty to consult you, Stubbard, +before despatching this letter, which, being backed by Nelson's opinion, +would probably have received attention. If a strong battery were thrown +up here, as it would be in a fortnight from the receipt of this bit of +foolscap, the appointment of commandant would rest with me, and I could +appoint nobody but your good self, because of your well-known experience +in earthworks. The appointment would have doubled your present pay, +which, though better than nothing, is far below your merits. But your +opinion settles the question otherwise, and I must burn my letter. Let +us lose no more time. Mrs. Stubbard will call me a savage, for keeping +you away so long." + +"Important business," replied the Captain, "will not wait even for +ladies, or, rather, they must try to wait for it, and give way to more +reasonable urgency. Some time is required for considering this matter, +and deciding what is most for the interest of the nation. Oblige me with +your spy-glass, Admiral. There is one side on which I have neglected +to look out, and that may of all be the most important. A conclusion +arrived at by yourself and Nelson is not to be hastily set aside. Your +knowledge of the country is so far beyond mine, though I may have +had more to do with land-works. We ought to think twice, sir, if the +government will pay for it, about a valuable job of this kind." + +With these words Captain Stubbard began to use the telescope carefully, +forming his opinion through it, and wisely shaking his head, now and +then, with a longer and longer focus. Then he closed the glass, and his +own lips firmly--whereby a man announces that no other should open his +against them--and sternly striding the yard exact, took measurement for +the battery. The hill was crowned with a ring of Scotch firs, casting +a quiet shade upon the warlike haste of the Captain. If Admiral Darling +smiled, it was to the landscape and the offing, for he knew that +Stubbard was of rather touchy fibre, and relished no jokes unless of +home production. His slow, solid face was enough to show this, and the +squareness of his outline, and the forward thrust of his knees as he +walked, and the larkspur impress of his lingering heels. And he seldom +said much, without something to say. + +"Well," cried the Admiral, growing tired of sitting so long upon a +fallen trunk, "what conclusion do you feel inclined to come to? 'Tis +a fine breezy place to clear the brain, and a briny air to sharpen the +judgment." + +"Only one tree need come down--this crooked one at the southeast +corner." Captain Stubbard began to swing his arms about, like a windmill +uncertain of the wind. "All gentlemen hate to have a tree cut down, +all blackguards delight in the process. Admiral, we will not hurt +your trees. They will add to our strength, by masking it. Six long +twenty-fours of the new make, here in front, and two eighteens upon +either flank, and I should like to see the whole of the Boulogne +flotilla try to take yonder shore by daylight. That is to say, of +course, if I commanded, with good old salts to second me. With +your common artillery officers, landlubbers, smell-the-wicks, +cross-the-braces sons of guns, there had better not be anything at all +put up. They can't make a fortification; and when they have made it, +they can't work it. Admiral Darling, you know that, though you have not +had the bad luck to deal with them as I have. I may thank one of them +for being up here on the shelf." + +"Of one thing you may be quite certain," replied the commander of the +sea defence; "if we have any battery on this Fox-hill, it shall be +constructed and manned by blue-jackets. I have a large draft of them now +at discretion. Every man in Springhaven will lend a hand, if paid for +it. It would take at least a twelvemonth to get it done from Woolwich. A +seaman does a thing before a landsman thinks about it." + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +SEA-SIDE LODGINGS + + +To set a dog barking is easier than to stop him by the soundest +reasoning. Even if the roof above his honest head, growing loose on its +nails, is being mended, he comes out to ask about the matter, and in +strong terms proclaims his opinion to the distance. + +After this kind behaved the people about to be protected by this +battery. They had dreamed of no danger till they saw their houses +beginning to be protected, and for this--though it added to their +importance--they were not truly thankful. They took it in various ways, +according to their rich variety of reflection; but the way in which +nobody took it was that of gratitude and humility. + +"Everything upside down," they said, "everything gone clean topsy-turvy! +And the deep meaning of it is to rob our fishing, under pretence of the +Nationals. It may bring a good bit of money to the place, for the lining +of one or two pockets, such as John Prater's and Cheeseman's; but I +never did hold so much with money, when shattery ways comes along of it. +No daughter of mine stirs out-of-doors after sundown, I can tell them." + +Thus were the minds of the men disturbed, or at any rate those of the +elder ones; while the women, on the whole, were pleased, although they +pretended to be contemptuous. "I'll tell you what I think, ma'am," Mrs. +Cheeseman said to Widow Shanks quite early, "if you take a farthing less +than half a guinea a week for your dimity-parlour, with the window up +the hill, and the little door under the big sweet-briar, I shall think +that you are not as you used to be." + +"And right you would be, ma'am, and too right there;" Mrs. Shanks sighed +deeply as she thought of it. "There is nobody but you can understand +it, and I don't mind saying it on that account to you. Whenever I have +wanted for a little bit of money, as the nature of lone widows generally +does, it has always been out of your power, Mrs. Cheeseman, to oblige +me, and quite right of you. But I have a good son, thank the Lord, +by the name of Harry, to provide for me; and a guinea a week is the +agreement now for the dimity-parlour, and the three leg'd bed, and cold +dinner to be paid for extra, such as I might send for to your good shop, +with the money ready in the hand of my little girl, and jug below her +apron for refreshment from the Darling." + +"Well, I never! My dear soul, you have taken all my breath away. Why, +it must be the captain of all the gunners. How gunpowder do pay, to be +sure!" + +"Lor, ma'am, why, don't you know," replied Mrs. Shanks, with some +contempt, "that the man with three ribs is the captain of the +gunners--the man in my back sitting-room? No dimity-parlour for him with +his family, not for a guinea and a half a week. But if I was to tell +you who the gentleman is, and one of the highest all round these parts, +truthful as you know me, Mrs. Cheeseman, you would say to yourself, what +a liar she is!" + +"Mrs. Shanks, I never use coarse expressions, even to myself in private. +And perhaps I could tell you a thing or two would astonish you more than +me, ma'am. Suppose I should tell you, to begin with, who your guinea +lodger is?" + +"That you could never do, Mrs. Cheeseman, with all your time a-counting +changes. He is not of the rank for a twopenny rasher, or a wedge of +cheese packed in old petticoat." + +These two ladies now looked at one another. They had not had a quarrel +for almost three months, and a large arrear of little pricks on either +side was pending. Sooner or later it would have to be fought out (like +a feud between two nations), with a houseful of loss and woe to either +side, but a thimbleful of pride and glory. Yet so much wiser were these +women than the most sagacious nations that they put off to a cheaper +time their grudge against each other. + +"His rank may be royal," said the wife of Mr. Cheeseman, "though a +going-downhill kind of royalty, perhaps, and yet he might be glad, Mrs. +Shanks, to come where the butter has the milk spots, and none is in the +cheese, ma'am." + +"If such should be his wish, ma'am, for supper or for breakfast, or even +for dinner on a Sunday when the rain comes through the Castle, you may +trust me to know where to send him, but not to guarantee him at all of +his money." + +"They high ones is very apt to slip in that," Mrs. Cheeseman answered, +thoughtfully; "they seem to be less particular in paying for a thing +than they was to have it good. But a burnt child dreads the fire, as +they say; and a young man with a castleful of owls and rats, by reason +of going for these hundred years on credit, will have it brought home +to him to pay ready money. But the Lord be over us! if I don't see him +a-going your way already! Good-by, my dear soul--good-by, and preserve +you; and if at any time short of table or bed linen, a loan from an old +friend, and coming back well washed, and it sha'n't be, as the children +sing, 'A friend with a loan has the pick of your bone, and he won't let +you very long alone.'" + +"Many thanks to you for friendly meaning, ma'am," said the widow, as she +took up her basket to go home, "and glad I may be to profit by it, with +the time commanding. But as yet I have had neither sleepers or feeders +in my little house, but the children. Though both of them reserves +the right to do it, if nature should so compel them--the three-ribbed +gentleman with one ear, at five shillings a week, in the sitting-room, +and the young man up over him. Their meaning is for business, and +studying, and keeping of accounts, and having of a quiet place in bad +weather, though feed they must, sooner or later, I depend; and then who +is there but Mr. Cheeseman?" + +"How grand he do look upon that black horse, quite as solid as if he was +glued to it!" the lady of the shop replied, as she put away the money; +"and to do that without victuals is beyond a young man's power. He +looks like what they used to call a knight upon an errand, in the +picture-books, when I was romantic, only for the hair that comes under +his nose. Ah! his errand will be to break the hearts of the young ladies +that goes down upon the sands in their blue gowns, I'm afraid, if they +can only manage with the hair below his nose." + +"And do them good, some of them, and be a judgment from the Lord, for +the French style in their skirts is a shocking thing to see. What should +we have said when you and I were young, my dear? But quick step is the +word for me, for I expect my Jenny home on her day out from the Admiral, +and no Harry in the house to look after her. Ah! dimity-parlours is a +thing as may happen to cut both ways, Mrs. Cheeseman." + +Widow Shanks had good cause to be proud of her cottage, which was the +prettiest in Springhaven, and one of the most commodious. She had fought +a hard fight, when her widowhood began, and the children were too young +to help her, rather than give up the home of her love-time, and the +cradle of her little ones. Some of her neighbours (who wanted the house) +were sadly pained at her stubbornness, and even dishonesty, as they put +it, when she knew that she never could pay her rent. But "never is a +long time," according to the proverb; and with the forbearance of +the Admiral, the kindness of his daughters, and the growth of her own +children, she stood clear of all debt now, except the sweet one of +gratitude. + +And now she could listen to the moaning of the sea (which used to make +her weep all night) with a milder sense of the cruel woe that it had +drowned her husband, and a lull of sorrow that was almost hope; until +the dark visions of wrecks and corpses melted into sweet dreams of her +son upon the waters, finishing his supper, and getting ready for his +pipe. For Harry was making his own track well in the wake of his dear +father. + +Now if she had gone inland to dwell, from the stroke of her great +calamity--as most people told her to make haste and do--not only the +sympathy of the sea, but many of the little cares, which are the ants +that bury heavy grief, would have been wholly lost to her. And amongst +these cares the foremost always, and the most distracting, was that +of keeping her husband's cottage--as she still would call it--tidy, +comfortable, bright, and snug, as if he were coming on Saturday. + +Where the brook runs into the first hearing of the sea, to defer its own +extinction it takes a lively turn inland, leaving a pleasant breadth of +green between itself and its destiny. At the breath of salt the larger +trees hang back, and turn their boughs up; but plenty of pretty shrubs +come forth, and shade the cottage garden. Neither have the cottage walls +any lack of leafy mantle, where the summer sun works his own defeat by +fostering cool obstruction. For here are the tamarisk, and jasmin, and +the old-fashioned corchorus flowering all the summer through, as well +as the myrtle that loves the shore, with a thicket of stiff young sprigs +arising, slow of growth, but hiding yearly the havoc made in its head +and body by the frost of 1795, when the mark of every wave upon the +sands was ice. And a vine, that seems to have been evolved from a +miller, or to have prejected him, clambers with grey silver pointrels +through the more glossy and darker green. And over these you behold the +thatch, thick and long and parti-coloured, eaved with little windows, +where a bird may nest for ever. + +But it was not for this outward beauty that Widow Shanks, stuck to her +house, and paid the rent at intervals. To her steadfast and well-managed +mind, the number of rooms, and the separate staircase which a solvent +lodger might enjoy, were the choicest grant of the household gods. The +times were bad--as they always are when conscientious people think +of them--and poor Mrs. Shanks was desirous of paying her rent, by the +payment of somebody. Every now and then some well-fed family, hungering +(after long carnage) for fish, would come from village pastures or town +shambles, to gaze at the sea, and to taste its contents. For in those +days fish were still in their duty, to fry well, to boil well, and to +go into the mouth well, instead of being dissolute--as nowadays the +best is--with dirty ice, and flabby with arrested fermentation. In the +pleasant dimity-parlour then, commanding a fair view of the lively sea +and the stream that sparkled into it, were noble dinners of sole, and +mackerel, and smelt that smelled of cucumber, and dainty dory, and +pearl-buttoned turbot, and sometimes even the crisp sand-lance, happily +for himself, unhappily for whitebait, still unknown in London. Then, +after long rovings ashore or afloat, these diners came back with a new +light shed upon them--that of the moon outside the house, of the supper +candles inside. There was sure to be a crab or lobster ready, and a dish +of prawns sprigged with parsley; if the sea were beginning to get cool +again, a keg of philanthropic oysters; or if these were not hospitably +on their hinges yet, certainly there would be choice-bodied creatures, +dried with a dash of salt upon the sunny shingle, and lacking of +perfection nothing more than to be warmed through upon a toasting-fork. + +By none, however, of these delights was the newly won lodger tempted. +All that he wanted was peace and quiet, time to go through a great trunk +full of papers and parchments, which he brought with him, and a breath +of fresh air from the downs on the north, and the sea to the south, +to enliven him. And in good truth he wanted to be enlivened, as Widow +Shanks said to her daughter Jenny; for his eyes were gloomy, and his +face was stern, and he seldom said anything good-natured. He seemed to +avoid all company, and to be wrapped up wholly in his own concerns, and +to take little pleasure in anything. As yet he had not used the bed at +his lodgings, nor broken his fast there to her knowledge, though he rode +down early every morning and put up his horse at Cheeseman's, and never +rode away again until the dark had fallen. Neither had he cared to make +the acquaintance of Captain Stubbarb, who occupied the room beneath +his for a Royal Office--as the landlady proudly entitled it; nor had +he received, to the best of her knowledge, so much as a single visitor, +though such might come by his private entrance among the shrubs +unnoticed. All these things stirred with deep interest and wonder the +enquiring mind of the widow. + +"And what do they say of him up at the Hall?" she asked her daughter +Jenny, who was come to spend holiday at home. "What do they say of my +new gentleman, young Squire Carne from the Castle? The Carnes and the +Darlings was never great friends, as every one knows in Springhaven. +Still, it do seem hard and unchristianlike to keep up them old enmities; +most of all, when the one side is down in the world, with the owls and +the bats and the coneys." + +"No, mother, no. They are not a bit like that," replied Jenny--a maid +of good loyalty; "it is only that he has not called upon them. All +gentlefolks have their proper rules of behaviour. You can't be expected +to understand them, mother." + +"But why should he go to them more than they should come to him, +particular with young ladies there? And him with only one horse to +their seven or eight. I am right, you may depend upon it, Jenny; and +my mother, your grandmother, was a lady's-maid in a higher family than +Darling--it depends upon them to come and look him up first, and he have +no call to knock at their door without it. Why, it stands to reason, +poor young man! And not a bit hath he eaten from Monday." + +"Well, I believe I am right, but I'll ask Miss Dolly. She is that sharp, +she knows everything, and I don't mind what I say to her, when she +thinks that she looks handsome. And it takes a very bad dress, I can +tell you, to put her out of that opinion." + +"She is right enough there:" Mrs. Shanks shook her head at her daughter +for speaking in this way. "The ugliest frock as ever came from France +couldn't make her any but a booty. And the Lord knows the quality have +come to queer shapes now. Undecent would be the name for it in our ranks +of women. Why, the last of her frocks she gave you, Jenny, how much did +I put on, at top and bottom, and you three inches shorter than she is! +And the slips they ties round them--oh dear! oh dear! as if that was to +hold them up and buckle them together! Won't they have the groanings by +the time they come to my age?" + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +FRENCH AND ENGLISH + + +Admiral Darling was now so busy, and so continually called from home by +the duties of his commandership, that he could not fairly be expected +to call upon Mr. Caryl Carne. Yet that gentleman, being rather +sensitive--which sometimes means very spiteful--resented as a personal +slight this failure; although, if the overture had been made, he would +have ascribed it to intrusive curiosity, and a low desire to behold him +in his ruins. But truly in the old man's kindly heart there was no sour +corner for ill blood to lurk in, and no dull fibre for ill-will to feed +on. He kept on meaning to go and call on Caryl Carne, and he had quite +made up his mind to do it, but something always happened to prevent him. + +Neither did he care a groat for his old friend Twemlow's advice upon +that subject. "Don't go near him," said the Rector, taking care that +his wife was quite safe out of hearing; "it would ill become me to say +a word against my dear wife's own nephew, and the representative of her +family. And, to the utmost of my knowledge, there is nothing to be said +against him. But I can't get on with him at all. I don't know why. He +has only honored us with a visit twice, and he would not even come to +dinner. Nice manners they learn on the Continent! But none of us wept +when he declined; not even his good aunt, my wife. Though he must have +got a good deal to tell us, and an extraordinary knowledge of foreign +ways. But instead of doing that, he seems to sneer at us. I can look +at a question from every point of view, and I defy anybody to call me +narrow-minded. But still, one must draw the line somewhere, or throw +overboard all principles; and I draw it, my dear Admiral, against +infidels and against Frenchmen." + +"No rational person can do otherwise"--the Admiral's opinion was +decisive--"but this young man is of good English birth, and one can't +help feeling sorry for his circumstances. And I assure you, Twemlow, +that I feel respect as well for the courage that he shows, and the +perseverance, in coming home and facing those vile usurers. And your own +wife's nephew! Why, you ought to take his part through thick and thin, +whatever you may think of him. From all I hear he must be a young man of +exceedingly high principle; and I shall make a point of calling upon him +the first half-hour I get to spare. To-morrow, if possible; or if not, +the day after, at the very latest." + +But the needful half-hour had not yet been found; and Carne, who was +wont to think the worst of everybody, concluded that the Darling race +still cherished the old grudge, which had always been on his own side. +For this he cared little, and perhaps was rather glad of it. For the +old dwelling-place of his family (the Carne Castle besieged by the +Roundheads a hundred and sixty years agone) now threatened to tumble +about the ears of any one knocking at the gate too hard. Or rather the +remnants of its walls did so; the greater part, having already fallen, +lay harmless, and produced fine blackberries. + +As a castle, it had been well respected in its day, though not of mighty +bulwarks or impregnable position. Standing on a knoll, between the +ramp of high land and the slope of shore, it would still have been +conspicuous to traveller and to voyager but for the tall trees around +it. These hid the moat, and the relics of the drawbridge, the groined +archway, and cloven tower of the keep--which had twice been struck by +lightning--as well as the windows of the armoury, and the chapel hushed +with ivy. The banqueting hall was in better repair, for the Carnes had +been hospitable to the last; but the windows kept no wind off, neither +did the roof repulse the rain. In short, all the front was in a pretty +state of ruin, very nice to look at, very nasty to live in, except for +toads, and bats, and owls, and rats, and efts, and brindled slugs with +yellow stripes; or on a summer eve the cockroach and the carrion-beetle. + +At the back, however, and above the road which Cheeseman travelled in +his pony-chaise, was a range of rooms still fit to dwell in, though +poorly furnished, and floored with stone. In better times these had been +the domain of the house-keeper and the butler, the cook and the other +upper servants, who had minded their duty and heeded their comfort more +truly than the master and mistress did. For the downfall of this family, +as of very many others, had been chiefly caused by unwise marriage. +Instead of choosing sensible and active wives to look after their home +affairs and regulate the household, the Carnes for several generations +now had wedded flighty ladies of good birth and pretty manners, none +of whom brought them a pipkinful of money, while all helped to spend a +potful. Therefore their descendant was now living in the kitchens, and +had no idea how to make use of them, in spite of his French education; +of comfort also he had not much idea, which was all the better for him; +and he scarcely knew what it was to earn and enjoy soft quietude. + +One night, when the summer was in full prime, and the weather almost +blameless, this young Squire Carne rode slowly back from Springhaven to +his worn-out castle. The beauty of the night had kept him back, for +he hated to meet people on the road. The lingering gossips, the tired +fagot-bearers, the youths going home from the hay-rick, the man with +a gun who knows where the hares play, and beyond them all the +truant sweethearts, who cannot have enough of one another, and wish +"good-night" at every corner of the lane, till they tumble over one +another's cottage steps--all these to Caryl Carne were a smell to be +avoided, an eyesore to shut the eyes at. He let them get home and pull +their boots off, and set the frying-pan a-bubbling--for they ended the +day with a bit of bacon, whenever they could cash or credit it--and then +he set forth upon his lonely ride, striking fear into the heart of any +bad child that lay awake. + +"Almost as good as France is this," he muttered in French, though for +once enjoying the pleasure of good English air; "and better than France +would it be, if only it were not cut short so suddenly. There will come +a cold wind by-and-by, or a chilly black cloud from the east, and then +all is shivers and rawness. But if it only remained like this, I could +forgive it for producing me. After all, it is my native land; and I saw +the loveliest girl to-day that ever I set eyes on. None of their made-up +and highly finished demoiselles is fit to look at her--such simple +beauty, such charms of nature, such enchanting innocence! Ah, that is +where those French girls fail--they are always studying how they look, +instead of leaving us to think of it. Bah! What odds to me? I have +higher stakes to play for. But according to old Twemlow's description, +she must be the daughter of that old bear Darling, with whom I shall +have to pick a bone some day. Ha! How amusing is that battery to me! How +little John Bull knows the nature of French troops! To-morrow we are +to have a grand practice-day; and I hope they won't shoot me in my new +lodgings. Nothing is impossible to such an idiot as Stubbard. What a set +of imbeciles I have found to do with! They have scarcely wit enough to +amuse oneself with. Pest of my soul! Is that you, Charron? Again you +have broken my orders." + +"Names should be avoided in the open air," answered the man, who was +swinging on a gate with the simple delight of a Picard. "The climate is +of France so much to-night that I found it my duty to encourage it. +For what reason shall not I do that? It is not so often that I have +occasion. My dear friend, scold not, but accept the compliment very +seldom truthful to your native land. There are none of your clod-pates +about to-night." + +"Come in at once. The mere sound of your breath is enough to set the +neighbourhood wondering. Could I ever have been burdened with a more +French Frenchman, though you speak as good English as I do?" + +"It was all of that miserable Cheray," the French gentleman said, when +they sat in the kitchen, and Jerry Bowles was feeding the fine black +horse. "Fruit is a thing that my mouth prepares for, directly there is +any warmth in the sun. It puts itself up, it is elevated, it will not +have meat, or any substance coarse. Wine of the softest and fruit of +the finest is what it must then have, or unmouth itself. That miserable +Cheray, his maledictioned name put me forth to be on fire for the good +thing he designs. Cherays you call them, and for cherays I despatched +him, suspended between the leaves in the good sun. Bah! there is nothing +ever fit to eat in England. The cherays look very fine, very fine +indeed; and so many did I consume that to travel on a gate was the +only palliation. Would you have me stay all day in this long cellar? +No diversion, no solace, no change, no conversation! Old Cheray may +sit with his hands upon his knees, but to Renaud Charron that is not +sufficient. How much longer before I sally forth to do the things, +to fight, to conquer the nations? Where is even my little ship of +despatch?" + +"Captain," answered Caryl Carne, preparing calmly for his frugal supper, +"you are placed under my command, and another such speech will despatch +you to Dunkirk, bound hand and foot, in the hold of the Little Corporal, +with which I am now in communication. Unless by the time I have severed +this bone you hand me your sword in submission, my supper will have to +be postponed, while I march you to the yew-tree, signal for a boat, and +lay you strapped beneath the oarsmen." + +Captain Charron, who had held the command of a French corvette, stared +furiously at this man, younger than himself, so strongly established +over him. Carne was not concerned to look at him; all he cared about was +to divide the joint of a wing-rib of cold roast beef, where some good +pickings lurked in the hollow. Then the French man, whose chance would +have been very small in a personal encounter with his chief, arose and +took a naval sword, short but rather heavy, from a hook which in better +days had held a big dish-cover, and making a salute rather graceful than +gracious, presented the fringed handle to the carver. + +"This behaviour is sensible, my friend, and worthy of your distinguished +abilities." Carne's resolute face seldom yielded to a smile, but the +smile when it came was a sweet one. "Pardon me for speaking strongly, +but my instructions must be the law to you. If you were my commander +(as, but for local knowledge, and questions of position here, you would +be), do you think then that you would allow me to rebel, to grumble, +to wander, to demand my own pleasure, when you knew that it would ruin +things?" + +"Bravo! It is well spoken. My captain, I embrace you. In you lives the +spirit of the Grand Army, which we of the sea and of the ships admire +always, and always desire to emulate. Ah, if England possessed many +Englishmen like you, she would be hard to conquer." + +The owner of this old English castle shot a glance at the Frenchman +for any sign of irony in his words. Seeing none, he continued, in the +friendly vein: + +"Our business here demands the greatest caution, skill, reserve, and +self-denial. We are fortunate in having no man of any keen penetration +in the neighbourhood, at least of those in authority and concerned with +public matters. As one of an ancient family, possessing the land for +centuries, I have every right to be here, and to pursue my private +business in privacy. But if it once gets talked about that a French +officer is with me, these stupid people will awake their suspicions more +strongly by their own stupidity. In this queer island you may do what +you like till the neighbourhood turns against you; and then, if you +revolve upon a pin, you cannot suit them. You understand? You have heard +me before. It is this that I never can knock into you." + +Renaud Charron, who considered himself--as all Frenchmen did then, and +perhaps do now--far swifter of intellect than any Englishman, found +himself not well pleased at this, and desired to know more about it. + +"Nothing can be simpler," the Englishman replied; "and therefore nothing +surer. You know the old proverb--'Everything in turn, except scandal, +whose turn is always.' And again another saying of our own land--'The +second side of the bread takes less time to toast.' We must not let the +first side of ours be toasted; we will shun all the fire of suspicion. +And to do this, you must not be seen, my dear friend. I may go abroad +freely; you must hide your gallant head until matters are ripe for +action. You know that you may trust me not to keep you in the dark a day +longer than is needful. I have got the old shopkeeper under my thumb, +and can do what I please with his trading-ship. But before I place you +in command I must change some more of the crew, and do it warily. There +is an obstinate Cornishman to get rid of, who sticks to the planks like +a limpet. If we throw him overboard, we shall alarm the others; if we +discharge him without showing cause, he will go to the old Admiral and +tell all his suspicions. He must be got rid of in London with skill, +and then we ship three or four Americans, first-rate seamen, afraid of +nothing, who will pass here as fellows from Lancashire. After that we +may run among the cruisers as we like, with the boldness and skill of a +certain Captain Charron, who must be ill in his cabin when his ship is +boarded." + +"It is famous, it is very good, my friend. The patience I will have, and +the obedience, and the courage; and so much the more readily because my +pay is good, and keeps itself going on dry land as well as sea." + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +IN THE LINE OF FIRE + + +No wonder there had been a great deal of talking in the village all that +evening, for the following notice had appeared in a dozen conspicuous +places, beginning with the gate of the church-yard, and ending with two +of the biggest mooring-posts, and not even sparing the Admiral's white +gate, where it flapped between the two upper rails. It was not printed, +but written in round hand, with a liberal supply of capitals, on a stiff +sheet of official paper, stamped with the Royal Arms at the top. +And those who were in the secret knew that Master Bob Stubbard, the +Captain's eldest son, had accomplished this great literary feat at a +guerdon of one shilling from the public service funds every time he +sucked his pen at the end of it. + + +"By order of His Majesty King George III. To-morrow being Wednesday, and +the fishing-boats at sea, Artillery practice from Fox-hill fort will be +carried on from twelve at noon until three P.M. at a mark-boat moored +half a mile from the shore. Therefore His Majesty's loyal subjects +are warned to avoid the beach westward of the brook between the white +flagstaffs, as well as the sea in front of it, and not to cross the line +of fire below the village but at their own risk and peril. + +"(Signed) ADAM JACKSON STUBBARD, R.N., commanding Fox-hill Battery." + + +Some indignation was aroused by this; for Mrs. Caper junior (who was +Mrs. Prater's cousin) had been confined, out of proper calculation, and +for the very first time, the moment the boats were gone on Monday; and +her house, being nearest to the fort, and in a hollow where the noise +would be certain to keep going round and round, the effect upon her +head, not to mention the dear baby's, was more than any one dared to +think of, with the poor father so far away. And if Squire Darling had +only been at home, not a woman who could walk would have thought twice +about it, but gone all together to insist upon it that he should stop +this wicked bombardment. And this was most unselfish of all of them, +they were sure, because they had so long looked forward to putting +cotton-wool in their ears, and seeing how all the enemies of England +would be demolished. But Mrs. Caper junior, and Caper, natu minimus, +fell fast asleep together, as things turned out, and heard not a single +bang of it. + +And so it turned out, in another line of life, with things against +all calculation, resenting to be reckoned as they always do, like the +countless children of Israel. For Admiral Darling was gone far away +inspecting, leaving his daughters to inspect themselves. + +"You may just say exactly what you consider right, dear," said Miss +Dolly Darling to her sister Faith; "and I dare say it makes you more +comfortable. But you know as well as I do, that there is no reason in +it. Father is a darling; but he must be wrong sometimes. And how can +he tell whether he is wrong or right, when he goes away fifty miles +to attend to other people? Of course I would never disobey his orders, +anymore than you would. But facts change according to circumstances, and +I feel convinced that if he were here he would say, 'Go down and see it, +Dolly.'" + +"We have no right to speculate as to what he might say," replied Faith, +who was very clear-headed. "His orders were definite: 'Keep within the +grounds, when notice is given of artillery practice.' And those orders I +mean to obey." + +"And so do I; but not to misunderstand them. The beach is a part of our +grounds, as I have heard him say fifty times in argument, when people +tried to come encroaching. And I mean to go on that part of his grounds, +because I can't see well from the other part. That is clearly what he +meant; and he would laugh at us, if we could tell him nothing when he +comes home. Why, he promised to take us as far as Portsmouth to see some +artillery practice." + +"That is a different thing altogether, because we should be under his +control. If you disobey him, it is at your own risk, and I shall not let +one of the servants go with you, for I am mistress of the household, if +not of you." + +"What trumpery airs you do give yourself! One would think you were fifty +years old at least. Stay at home, if you are such a coward! I am sure +dear daddy would be quite ashamed of you. They are popping already, and +I mean to watch them." + +"You won't go so very far, I am quite sure of that," answered Faith, who +understood her sister. "You know your own value, darling Dolly, and you +would not go at all, if you had not been forbidden." + +"When people talk like that, it goads me up to almost anything. I intend +to go, and stand, as near as can be, in the middle of the space that is +marked off 'dangerous.'" + +"Do, that's a dear. I will lend you my shell-silk that measures twenty +yards, that you may be sure of being hit, dear." + +"Inhuman, selfish, wicked creature!" cried Dolly, and it was almost +crying; "you shall see what comes of your cold-bloodedness! I shall pace +to and fro in the direct line of fire, and hang on my back the king's +proclamation, inside out, and written on it in large letters--'By order +of my sister I do this.' Then what will be said of you, if they only +kill me? My feelings might be very sad, but I should not envy yours, +Faith." + +"Kiss me, at any rate, before you perish, in token of forgiveness;" and +Dolly (who dearly loved her sister at the keenest height of rebellion) +ran up and kissed Faith, with a smile for her, and a tear for her own +self-sacrifice. "I shall put on my shell-pink," she said, "and they +won't have the heart to fire shells at it." + +The dress of the ladies of the present passing period had been largely +affected by the recent peace, which allowed the "French babies"--as +the milliners' dolls were called--to come in as quickly as they were +conceived. In war time scores of these "doxy-dummies"--as the rough tars +called them--were tossed overboard from captured vessels or set up as +a mark for tobacco-juice, while sweet eyes in London wept for want of +them. And even Mr. Cheeseman had failed to bring any type genuinely +French from the wholesale house in St. Mary's Axe, which was famed for +canonical issue. But blessed are the patient, if their patience lasts +long enough. The ladies of England were now in full enjoyment of all the +new French discoveries, which proved to be the right name, inasmuch as +they banished all reputable forms of covering. At least, so Mrs. Twemlow +said; and the Rector went further than she did, obtaining for his +sympathy a recommendation to attend to his own business. But when he +showed the Admiral his wife's last book of patterns--from a drawer which +he had no right to go to--great laughter was held between the twain, +with some glancing over shoulders, and much dread of bad example. +"Whatever you do, don't let my girls see it; I'll be bound you won't +let your Eliza," said the Admiral, after a pinch of snuff to restore the +true balance of his principles; "Faith would pitch it straight into the +fire; but I am not quite so sure that my Dolly would. She loves a bit of +finery, and she looks well in it." + +"Tonnish females," as the magazine of fashion called the higher class +of popinjays, would have stared with contempt at both Faith and Dolly +Darling in their simple walking-dress that day. Dowdies would have been +the name for them, or frumps, or frights, or country gawks, because +their attire was not statuesque or classic, as it should have been, +which means that they were not half naked. + +Faith, the eldest sister, had meant to let young Dolly take the course +of her own stubbornness; but no sooner did she see her go forth alone +than she threw on cloak and hat, and followed. The day was unsuited for +classic apparel, as English days are apt to be, and a lady of fashion +would have looked more foolish, and even more indecent, than usual. A +brisk and rather crisp east wind had arisen, which had no respect for +persons, and even Faith and Dolly in their high-necked country dresses +had to handle their tackle warily. + +Dolly had a good start, and growing much excited with the petulance of +the wind and with her own audacity, crossed the mouth of the brook at a +very fine pace, with the easterly gusts to second her. She could see +the little mark-boat well out in the offing, with a red flag flaring +merrily, defying all the efforts of the gunners on the hill to plunge it +into the bright dance of the waves. And now and then she heard what she +knew to be the rush of a round shot far above her head, and following +the sound saw a little silver fountain leap up into the sunshine and +skim before the breeze; then glancing up the hill she saw the gray puff +drifting, and presently felt the dull rumble of the air. At the root +of the smoke-puffs, once or twice, she descried a stocky figure moving +leisurely, and in spite of the distance and huddle of vapour could +declare that it was Captain Stubbard. Then a dense mass of smoke was +brought down by an eddy of wind, and set her coughing. + +"Come away, come away this very moment, Dolly," cried Faith, who had +hurried up and seized her hand; "you are past the danger-post, and I met +a man back there who says they are going to fire shells, and they have +got two short guns on purpose. He says it will be very dangerous till +they get the range, and he begged me most earnestly not to come on here. +If I were anybody else, he said, he would lay hands on me and hold me +back." + +"Some old fisherman, no doubt. What do they know about gun practice? I +can see Captain Stubbard up there; he would rather shoot himself than +me, he said yesterday." + +While Dolly was repeating this assurance, the following words were being +exchanged upon the smoky parapet: "If you please, sir, I can see two +women on the beach, half-way between the posts a'most." "Can't help +it--wouldn't stop for all the petticoats in the kingdom. If they choose +to go there, they must take their chance. A bit more up, and to you, my +good man. Are you sure you put in twenty-three? Steady! so, so--that's +beautiful." + +"What a noisy thing! What does it come here for? I never saw it fall. +There must be some mistake. I hope there's nothing nasty inside it. Run +for your life, Faith; it means to burst, I do believe." + +"Down on your faces!" cried a loud, stern voice; and Dolly obeyed in +an instant. But Faith stood calmly, and said to the man who rushed past +her, "I trust in the Lord, sir." + +There was no time to answer. The shell had left off rolling, and +sputtered more fiercely as the fuse thickened. The man laid hold of +this, and tried to pull it out, but could not, and jumped with both feet +on it; while Faith, who quite expected to be blown to pieces, said to +herself, "What pretty boots he has!" + +"A fine bit of gunnery!" said the young man, stooping over it, after +treading the last spark into the springy sand. "The little artillery man +is wanted here. Ladies, you may safely stay here now. They will not make +two hits in proximity to each other." + +"You shall not go," said Faith, as he was hurrying away, "until we know +who has been so reckless of his life, to save the lives of others. Both +your hands are burned--very seriously, I fear." + +"And your clothes, sir," cried Dolly, running up in hot terror, as soon +as the danger was over; "your clothes are spoiled sadly. Oh, how good +it was of you! And the whole fault was mine--or at least Captain +Stubbard's. He will never dare to face me again, I should hope." + +"Young ladies, if I have been of any service to you," said the stranger, +with a smile at their excitement, "I beg you to be silent to the Captain +Stubbard concerning my share in this occasion. He would not be gratified +by the interest I feel in his beautiful little bombardments, especially +that of fair ladies. Ha, there goes another shell! They will make better +aim now; but you must not delay. I beseech you to hasten home, if you +would do me kindness." + +The fair daughters of the Admiral had enjoyed enough of warfare to last +them till the end of their honeymoon, and they could not reject the +entreaty of a man who had risked his life to save them. Trembling and +bewildered, they made off at the quickest step permitted by maiden +dignity, with one or two kindly turns of neck, to show that he was +meant to follow them. But another sulphurous cloud rushed down from the +indefatigable Stubbard, and when it had passed them, they looked back +vainly for the gentleman who had spoiled his boots. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +AMONG THE LADIES + + +It would have surprised the stout Captain Stubbard, who thought no small +beer of his gunnery, to hear that it was held in very light esteem by +the "Frenchified young man overhead," as he called Caryl Carne, to his +landlady. And it would have amazed him to learn that this young man was +a captain of artillery, in the grand army mustering across the sea, and +one of the most able among plenty of ability, and favoured by the great +First Consul. + +In the gully where the Tugwell boats were built, behind a fringe +of rough longshore growth, young Carne had been sitting with a good +field-glass, observing the practice of the battery. He had also been +able to observe unseen the disobedient practices of young ladies, when +their father is widely out of sight. Upon Faith, however, no blame could +fall, for she went against her wish, and only to retrieve the rebellious +Dolly. + +Secure from the danger, these two held council in the comfort of the +Admiral's Round-house. There Miss Dolly, who considered it her domain, +kept sundry snug appliances congenial to young ladies, for removing +all traces of sudden excitement, and making them fit to be seen again. +Simple and unfashionable as they were in dress, they were sure to have +something to do to themselves after the late derangement, ere ever they +could run the risk of meeting any of the brave young officers, who were +so mysteriously fond of coming for orders to Springhaven Hall. + +"You look well enough, dear," said Faith at last, "and much better than +you deserve to look, after leading me such a dance by your self-will. +But one thing must be settled before we go back--are we to speak of this +matter, or not?" + +"How can you ask such a question, Faith?" Miss Dolly loved a bit of +secrecy. "Of course we must rather bite our tongues out, than break the +solemn pledges which we have given." She had cried a good deal, and she +began to cry again. + +"Don't cry, that's a darling," said the simple-hearted sister. "You +make the whole world seem so cruel when you cry, because you look so +innocent. It shall be as you please, if I can only think it right. But +I cannot see how we gave a pledge of any sort, considering that we ran +away without speaking. The question is--have we any right to conceal it, +when father has a right to know everything?" + +"He would be in such a sad passion," pleaded Dolly, with a stock of +fresh tears only waiting, "and he never would look again at poor Captain +Stubbard, and what would become of all his family?" + +"Father is a just and conscientious man," replied the daughter who +inherited those qualities; "he would not blame Captain Stubbard; he +would blame us, and no others." + +"Oh, I could not bear to hear you blamed, Faith. I should have to +say that it was all my fault. And then how I should catch it, and be +punished for a month! Confined to the grounds for a month at least, +and never have a bit of appetite. But I am not thinking of myself, I am +quite sure of that. You know that I never do that much. I am thinking of +that heroic gentleman, who stamped out the sparks so cleverly. All the +time I lay on the sand I watched him, though I expected to be blown +to pieces every single moment. Oh! what a nasty sensation it was! I +expected to find all my hair turned grey. But, thank Heaven, I don't see +a streak in it!" To make sure of that, she went to the glass again. + +"If all mine had turned grey, 'twould be no odds to nobody--as Captain +Zeb says about his income--because I am intended for an old maid." Miss +Darling, whose beauty still lacked many years of its prime, turned away +for a moment, because her eyes were glistening, and her sister was +tired of the subject. "But for yours there are fifty to weep, Dolly. +Especially perhaps this young gentleman, towards whom you feel so much +gratitude." + +"How unkind you are, Faith! All the gratitude I owe him is for saving +your life. As for myself, I was flat upon the sand, with a heap of +sea-weed between me and the thing. If it had gone off, it would have +gone over me; but you chose to stand up, like a stupid. Your life was +saved, beyond all doubt, by him; and the way you acknowledge it is to go +and tell his chief enemy that he was there observing him!" + +"Well, I never!" Faith exclaimed, with more vigour than grace of +language. "A minute ago you knew nothing of him, and even wondered who +he was, and now you know all about his enemies! I am afraid that you +stick at nothing." + +"I don't stick thinking, as you do, Miss," Dolly answered, without +abashment, and knowing that the elder hated to be so addressed; "but +things come to me by the light of nature, without a twelvemonth of +brown-study. When I said what you remind me of, in such a hurry, it was +perfectly true--so true that you need have no trouble about it, with all +your truth. But since that, a sudden idea flashed across me, the sort of +idea that proves itself. Your hero you are in such a hurry to betray can +be nobody but the mysterious lodger in Widow Shanks' dimity-parlour, as +she calls it; and Jenny has told me all she knows about him, which is +a great deal less than she ought to know. I meant to have told you, but +you are so grand in your lofty contempt of what you call gossip, but +which I call good neighbourly intercourse! You know that he is Mr. Caryl +Carne, of course. Everybody knows that, and there the knowledge seems to +terminate. Even the Twemlows, his own aunt and uncle, are scarcely ever +favoured with his company; and I, who am always on the beach, or in the +village, have never had the honour of beholding him, until--until it +came to this"--here she imitated with her lips the spluttering of the +fuse so well that her sister could not keep from laughing. "He never +goes out, and he never asks questions, any more than he answers them, +and he never cares to hear what fish they have caught, or anything else, +about anybody. He never eats or drinks, and he never says a word about +the flowers they put upon his table; and what he does all day long +nobody knows, except that he has a lot of books with him. Widow Shanks, +who has the best right to know all about him, has made up her mind that +his head has been turned by the troubles of his family, except for +his going without dinner, which no lunatic ever does, according to her +knowledge. And he seems to have got 'Butter Cheeseman,' as they call +him, entirely at his beck and call. He leaves his black horse there +every morning, and rides home at night to his ancestral ruins. There, +now, you know as much as I do." + +"There is mischief at the bottom of all this," said Faith; "in these +dangerous times, it must not be neglected. We are bound, as you say, +to consider his wishes, after all that he has done for us. But the +tale about us will be over the place in a few hours, at the latest. The +gunners will have known where their bad shot fell, and perhaps they will +have seen us with their glasses. How will it be possible to keep this +affair from gossip?" + +"They may have seen us, without seeing him at all, on account of the +smoke that came afterwards. At any rate, let us say nothing about it +until we hear what other people say. The shell will be washed away +or buried in the sand, for it fell upon the shingle, and then rolled +towards the sea; and there need be no fuss unless we choose to make it, +and so perhaps ruin Captain Stubbard and his family. And his wife has +made such pretty things for us. If he knew what he had done, he would go +and shoot himself. He is so excessively humane and kind." + +"We will not urge his humanity to that extreme. I hate all mystery, as +you know well. But about this affair I will say nothing, unless there is +cause to do so, at least until father comes back; and then I shall tell +him if it seems to be my duty." + +"It won't be your duty, it can't be your duty, to get good people into +trouble, Faith. I find it my duty to keep out of trouble, and I like to +treat others the same as myself." + +"You are such a lover of duty, dear Dolly, because everything you +like becomes your duty. And now your next duty is to your dinner. Mrs. +Twemlow is coming--I forgot to tell you--as well as Eliza, and Mrs. +Stubbard. And if Johnny comes home in time from Harrow, to be Jack among +the ladies, we shall hear some wonders, you may be quite sure." + +"Oh, I vow, I forgot all about that wicked Johnny. What a blessing that +he was not here just now! It is my black Monday when his holidays begin. +Instead of getting steadier, he grows more plaguesome. And the wonder of +it is that he would tie your kid shoes; while he pulls out my jaconet, +and sits on my French hat. How I wish he was old enough for his +commission! To-morrow he will be dancing in and out of every cottage, +boat, or gun, or rabbit-hole, and nothing shall be hidden from his eyes +and ears. Let him come. 'I am accustomed to have all things go awry,' +as somebody says in some tragedy. The only chance is to make him fall +in love, deeply in love, with Miss Stubbard. He did it with somebody for +his Easter week, and became as harmless as a sucking dove, till he found +his nymph eating onions raw with a pocketful of boiled limpets. Maggie +Stubbard is too perfect in her style for that. She is twelve years old, +and has lots of hair, and eyes as large as oysters. I shall introduce +Johnny to-morrow, and hope to keep him melancholy all his holidays." + +"Perhaps it will be for his good," said Faith, "because, without some +high ideas, he gets into such dreadful scrapes; and certainly it will be +for our good." + +After making light of young love thus, these girls deserved the shafts +of Cupid, in addition to Captain Stubbard's shells. And it would have +been hard to find fairer marks when they came down dressed for dinner. +Mrs. Twemlow arrived with her daughter Eliza, but without her husband, +who was to fetch her in the evening; and Mrs. Stubbard came quite +alone, for her walkable children--as she called them--were all up at the +battery. "Can't smell powder too young in such days as these," was the +Captain's utterance; and, sure enough, they took to it, like sons of +guns. + +"I should be so frightened," Mrs. Twemlow said, when Johnny (who sat at +the foot of the table representing his father most gallantly) had said +grace in Latin, to astonish their weak minds, "so nervous all the time, +so excessively anxious, the whole time that dreadful din was proceeding! +It is over now, thank goodness! But how can you have endured it, how +can you have gone about your household duties calmly, with seven of your +children--I think you said--going about in that fiery furnace?" + +"Because, ma'am," replied Mrs. Stubbard, who was dry of speech, and fit +mother of heroes, "the cannons are so made, if you can understand, that +they do not shoot out of their back ends." + +"We are quite aware of that"--Miss Twemlow came to her mother's relief +very sharply--"but still they are apt to burst, or to be overloaded, or +badly directed, or even to fly back suddenly, as I have heard on good +authority." + +"Very likely, miss, when they are commanded by young women." + +Eliza Twemlow coloured, for she was rather quick of temper; but she did +not condescend to pay rudeness in kind. + +"It would hardly be a lady-like position, I suppose," she answered, with +a curve of her graceful neck--the Carnes had been celebrated for their +necks, which were longer than those of the Darlings; "but even under +the command of a most skilful man, for instance Captain Stubbard, little +accidents will happen, like the fall of a shell upon the beach this +afternoon. Some people were close to it, according to the rumour; but +luckily it did not explode." + +"How providential!" cried Mrs. Twemlow; "but the stupid people would +have gone without much pity, whatever had befallen them, unless they +were blind, or too ignorant to read. Don't you think so, Faith, my +dear?" + +"I don't believe a single word of that story," Mrs. Stubbard cut short +the question; "for the simple reason that it never could have happened. +My husband was to direct every gun himself. Is it likely he would have +shelled the beach?" + +"Well, the beach is the proper place for shells; but if I had only known +it, wouldn't I have come a few hours earlier?" said Johnny. "Even now +there must be something left to see; and I am bound to understand that +sort of thing. Ladies, I entreat you not to think me rude, if I go +as soon as ever you can do without me. I think I have got you nearly +everything you want; and perhaps you would rather be without me." + +With many thanks and compliments--such a pretty boy he was--the ladies +released him gladly; and then Mrs. Twemlow, having reasons of her own, +drew nigh to Mrs. Stubbard with lively interest in her children. At +first, she received short answers only; for the Captain's wife had drawn +more sour juices than sweet uses from adversity. But the wife of the +man of peace outflanked the better half of the man of war, drove in her +outposts, and secured the key of all her communications. + +"I can scarcely believe that you are so kind. My dear Mrs. Twemlow, how +good you are! My Bob is a nice boy, so manly and clever, so gentle and +well-behaved, even when he knows that I am not likely to find him out. +But that you should have noticed it, is what surprises me--so few +people now know the difference! But in the House of God--as you so well +observe--you can very soon see what a boy is. When I tell him that he +may ride your grey pony, I wish you could be there to watch the fine +expression of his face. How he does love dumb animals! It was only last +Saturday, he knocked down a boy nearly three times his own size for +poking a pin into a poor donkey with the fish. And Maggie to have a +flower-bed on your front lawn! They won't let her touch a plant, at our +cottage, though she understands gardening so thoroughly. She won't +sleep a wink to-night, if I tell her, and I had better keep that for the +morning. Poor children! They have had a hard time of it; but they have +come out like pure gold from the fire--I mean as many of them as can use +their legs. But to be on horseback--what will Bob say?" + +"You must have met with very little kindness, Mrs. Stubbard, to attach +any importance to such mere trifles. It makes me blush to think that +there can be a spot in England where such children as yours could pass +unnoticed. It is not a question of religious feeling only. Far from +it; in fact, quite the opposite; though my husband, of course, is quite +right in insisting that all our opinions and actions must be referred +to that one standard. But I look at things also from a motherly point +of view, because I have suffered such sad trials. Three dear ones in the +churchyard, and the dearest of all--the Almighty only knows where he is. +Sometimes it is more than I can bear, to live on in this dark and most +dreadful uncertainty. My medical man has forbidden me to speak of it. +But how can he know what it is to be a mother? But hush! Or darling +Faith may hear me. Sometimes I lose all self-command." + +Mrs. Twemlow's eyes were in need of wiping, and stout Mrs. Stubbard's +in the same condition. "How I wish I could help you," said the latter, +softly: "is there anything in the world that I can do?" + +"No, my dear friend; I wish there was, for I'm sure that it would be +a pleasure to you. But another anxiety, though far less painful, is +worrying me as well just now. My poor brother's son is behaving most +strangely. He hardly ever comes near us, and he seems to dislike my dear +husband. He has taken rooms over your brave husband's Office, and he +comes and goes very mysteriously. It is my duty to know something about +this; but I dare not ask Captain Stubbard." + +"My dear Mrs. Twemlow, it has puzzled me too. But thinking that you knew +all about it, I concluded that everything must be quite right. What +you tell me has surprised me more than I can tell. I shall go to work +quietly to find out all about it. Mystery and secrecy are such hateful +things; and a woman is always the best hand at either." + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A GRACIOUS MERCY + + +As a matter of course, every gunner at the fort was ready to make oath +by every colour of the rainbow, that never shot, shell, wad, sponge, or +even powder-flake could by any possibility have fallen on the beach. And +before they had time to grow much more than doubly positive--that is to +say, within three days' time--the sound of guns fired in earnest drowned +all questions of bad practice. + +For the following Sunday beheld Springhaven in a state of excitement +beyond the memory of the very oldest inhabitant, or the imagination of +the youngest. Excitement is a crop that, to be large, must grow--though +it thrives all the better without much root--and in this particular +field it began to grow before noon of Saturday. For the men who were +too old to go to sea, and the boys who were too young, and the women +who were never of the proper age, all these kept looking from the best +lookouts, but nothing could they see to enable them to say when the +kettle, or the frying-pan, or gridiron, would be wanted. They rubbed +their eyes grievously, and spun round three times, if time had brought +or left them the power so to spin; and they pulled an Irish +halfpenny, with the harp on, from their pockets, and moistened it with +saliva--which in English means spat on it--and then threw it into the +pocket on the other side of body. But none of these accredited appeals +to heaven put a speck upon the sea where the boats ought to have been, +or cast upon the clouds a shade of any sail approaching. Uneasily +wondering, the grannies, wives, and little ones went home, when the +nightfall quenched all eyesight, and told one another ancient tales of +woe. + +Yet there is a salve for every sore, a bung for every bunghole. Upon the +Sunday morning, when the tide was coming in, and a golden haze hung +upon the peaceful sea, and the seven bells of the old grey church were +speaking of the service cheerfully, suddenly a deep boom moved the bosom +of distance, and palpitated all along the shore. Six or seven hale +old gaffers (not too stiff to walk, with the help of a staff, a little +further than the rest) were coming to hear parson by the path below the +warren, where a smack of salt would season them for doctrine. They knew +from long experience, the grandmother of science, that the mist of the +sea, coming on at breakfast-time, in the month of August (with the wind +where it was and the tides as they were), would be sure to hold fast +until dinner-time. Else, good as they were, and preparing punctually +once a week for a better world, the hind buttons of their Sunday coats +would have been towards the church, and the front ones to the headland. +For the bodies of their sons were dearer to them, substantially dearer, +than their own old souls. + +They were all beginning to be deaf, or rather going on with it very +agreeably, losing thereby a great deal of disturbance, and gaining great +room for reflection. And now when the sound of a gun from the sea hung +shaking in the web of vapour, each of these wise men gazed steadfastly +at the rest, to see his own conclusion reflected, or concluded. A gun +it was indeed--a big well-shotted gun, and no deafness could throw any +doubt on it. There might not be anything to see, but still there would +be plenty to hear at the headland--a sound more arousing than the +parson's voice, a roar beyond that of all the gallery. "'Tis a battle!" +said one, and his neighbour cried, "A rare one!" They turned to the +parish church the quarters of farewell, and those of salutation to the +battle out at sea. + +It was all over the village, in the time it takes to put a hat on, that +the British and the French fleets were hammer and tongs at it, within +the distance you may throw an apple off Springhaven headland. + +Even the young women knew that this was quite impossible, because there +was no water there for a collier-brig to anchor; nevertheless, in the +hurry and scare, the thoughts of that new battery and Lord Nelson, and +above all in the fog, they believed it. So that there was scarcely any +room to stand, at the Watch-point, inside the Shag-rock; while in church +there was no one who could help being there, by force of holy office, or +example. + +These latter were not in a devout frame of mind, and (but for the look +of it) would have done more good by joining the other congregation. +For the sound of cannon-shot came into their ears, like balls of +unadulterated pepper, and every report made them look at one another, +and whisper--"Ah! there goes some poor fellow's head." For the sacred +building was constructed so that the sounds outside of it had more power +than the good things offered in the inside. + +However, as many, or as few, as did their duty, by joining the good +company of the minister, found themselves all the better for it, and +more fresh for a start than the runagates. Inasmuch as these latter had +nearly got enough of listening without seeing anything, while the steady +church-goers had refreshed the entire system by looking about without +listening. And to show the truant people where their duty should have +bound them, the haze had been thickening all over the sea, while the sun +kept the time on the old church dial. This was spoken of for many years, +throughout the village, as a Scriptural token of the proper thing to do. + +"Well, and what have 'e seen?" asked the senior church-warden--not +Cheeseman, who was only the junior, and had neither been at church +nor on the headland--but Farmer Graves, the tenant of the Glebe and of +Up-farm, the Admiral's best holding; "what have 'e seen, good people +all, to leave parson to prache to hisself a'most a sarmon as he's +hathn't prached for five year, to my knowledge? Have 'e seen fat bulls +of Basan?" + +"Naw; but us have heer'd un roar," replied one who was sure to say +something. "Wust of it is, there be no making out what language un do +roar in." + +"One Englishman, I tell 'e, and two Frenchmen," said an ancient tar who +had served under Keppel; "by the ring of the guns I could swear to that +much. And they loads them so different, that they do." + +Before the others had well finished laughing at him, it became his turn +to laugh at them. The wind was in the east, and the weather set fair, +and but for the sea-mist the power of the sun would have been enough to +dazzle all beholders. Already this vapour was beginning to clear off, +coiling up in fleecy wisps above the glistening water, but clinging +still to any bluff or cliff it could lay hold on. + +"Halloa, Jem! Where be going of now?" shouted one or two voices from the +Oar-stone point, the furthest outlook of the Havenhead hill. + +"To see them Frenchy hoppers get a jolly hiding," Jem Prater replied, +without easing his sculls. He was John Prater's nephew, of the "Darling +Arms," and had stopped behind the fishing to see his uncle's monthly +beer in. "You can't see up there, I reckon, the same as I do here. +One English ship have got a job to tackle two Crappos. But, by George! +she'll do it, mates. Good bye, and the Lord defend you!" + +He had nobody but his little brother Sam, who was holding the tiller, +to help him, and his uncle's boat (which he had taken without leave) +was neither stout nor handy. But the stir of the battle had fetched him +forth, and he meant to see the whole of it without taking harm. Every +Englishman had a full right to do this, in a case of such French +audacity, and the English sea and air began to give him fair occasion. +For now the sun had swept the mist with a besom of gold wire, widening +every sweep, and throwing brilliant prospect down it. The gentle heave +of the sea flashed forth with the white birds hovering over it, and the +curdles of fugitive vapour glowed like pillars of fire as they floated +off. Then out of the drift appeared three ships, partly shrouded in +their own fog. + +The wind was too light for manoeuvring much, and the combatants swung to +their broadsides, having taken the breath of the air away by the fury of +their fire. All three were standing to the north-north-west, under easy +sail, and on the starboard tack, but scarcely holding steerage-way, +and taking little heed of it. Close quarters, closer and closer still, +muzzle to muzzle, and beard to beard, clinched teeth, and hard pounding, +were the order of the day, with the crash of shattered timber and the +cries of dying men. And still the ships came onward, forgetting where +they were, heaving too much iron to have thought of heaving lead, ready +to be shipwrecks, if they could but wreck the enemy. + +Between the bulky curls of smoke could be seen the scars of furious +battle, splintered masts and shivered yards, tattered sails and yawning +bulwarks, and great gaps even of the solid side; and above the ruck of +smoke appeared the tricolor flag upon the right hand and the left, and +the Union-jack in the middle. + +"She've a'got more than she can do, I reckon," said an old man famous in +the lobster line; "other a one of they is as big as she be, and two to +one seemeth onfair odds. Wish her well out of it--that's all as can be +done." + +"Kelks, you're a fool," replied the ancient navyman, steadying his +spy-glass upon a ledge of rock. "In my time we made very little of that; +and the breed may be slacked off a little, but not quite so bad as that +would be. Ah! you should a' heard what old Keppel--on the twenty-seventh +day of July it was, in the year of our Lord 1778. Talk about Nelson! to +my mind old Keppel could have boxed his compass backward. Not but what +these men know how to fight quite as well as need be nowadays. Why, if I +was aboard of that there frigate, I couldn't do much more than she have +done. She'll have one of them, you see if she don't, though she look to +have the worst of it, till you comes to understand. The Leader her name +is, of thirty-eight guns, and she'll lead one of they into Portsmouth, +to refit." + +It was hard to understand the matter, in its present aspect, at all as +the ancient sailor did; for the fire of the Leda ceased suddenly, and +she fell behind the others, as if hampered with her canvas. A thrill of +pain ran through all the gazing Britons. + +"How now, old Navy-Mike?" cried the lobster man. "Strike is the word, +and no mistake. And small blame to her either. She hathn't got a sound +thread to draw, I do believe. Who is the fool now, Mike? Though vexed I +be to ask it." + +"Wait a bit, old lobster-pot. Ah, there now, she breezes! Whistle for +a wind, lads, whistle, whistle. Sure as I'm a sinner, yes! She's laying +her course to board the Frenchman on the weather quarter. With a slant +of wind she'll do it, too, if it only holds two minutes. Whistle on your +nails, my boys, for the glory of old England." + +In reply to their shrill appeal--for even the women tried to whistle--or +perhaps in compulsory sequence of the sun, the wind freshened briskly +from the sunny side of east. The tattered sails of the brave ship +filled, with the light falling through them upon one another, the head +swung round at the command of helm, the pennons flew gaily and the +ensign flapped, and she bore down smoothly on the outer and therefore +unwounded side of the enemy. + +"That's what I call judgmatical," old Mike shouted, with a voice that +rivalled cannon; "whoever thought of that deserves three epulets, one +on each shoulder and one upon his head. Doubt if old Keppel would have +thought of that, now. You see, mates, the other Crappo can't fire at her +without first hitting of her own consort. And better than that--ever so +much better--the tilt of the charge will throw her over on her wounds. +Master Muncher hath two great holes 'twixt wind and water on his +larboard side, and won't they suck the briny, with the weight of our +bows upon the starboard beam? 'Twill take fifty hands to stop leaks, +instead of stopping boarders." + +The smoke was drifting off, and the sun shone bravely. The battle had +been gliding toward the feet of the spectators; and now from the height +of the cliff they could descry the decks, the guns, the coils of rope, +the turmoil, and dark rush of men to their fate. Small fights, man to +man, demanded still the power of a telescope, and distance made the +trenchant arms of heroes, working right and left, appear like the +nippers of an earwig. The only thing certain was that men were being +killed, and glory was being manufactured largely. + +"She've a doed it, she've a doed it rarely. There's not a d----d froggy +left to go to heaven; or if there be so he's a' battened down below," +old Mike shouted, flourishing his spy-glass, which rattled in its joints +as much as he did; "down comes the blood, froth, and blue blazes, +as they call the Republican emrods, and up goes the Union-jack, my +hearties. Three cheers! three cheers! Again! again! again!" + +From the sea far below, and far away, came also the volume of a noble +English shout, as the flag began to flutter in the quickening breeze, +and the sea arose and danced with sunshine. No one, who had got all his +blood left in him, could think of anything but glory. + +"My certy, they had better mind their soundings, though!" said the old +navy-man, with a stitch in his side and a lump in his throat, from loud +utterance; "five fathoms is every inch of it where they be now, and +the tide making strong, and precious little wind to claw off with. Jem +Prater! Jem Prater! Oar up, and give signal. Ah, he's too far off to +do any good. In five minutes more they'll be on the White Pig, where no +ship ever got off again. Oh, thank the Lord, mates, thank the Lord, for +his mercy endureth forever! The other froggy is stuck hard and fast, and +our lads will just fetch out in time." + +Old Navy-Mike had made no mistake. The consort of the captured frigate, +a corvette of twenty-four guns, had boldly stood on with the intention +of rounding to the wind, crossing the bows of the other twain, and +retrieving the fortunes of the day perhaps, by a broadside into the +shattered upper works of the terribly hampered British ship. The idea +was clever and spirited, and had a very fair chance of success; but +the land below the sea forefended it. Full of fine ardour and the noble +thirst for fame, speeding on for the palm of high enterprise and the +glory of the native land, alas, they stuck fast in a soft bit of English +sand! It was in their power now to swear by all they disbelieved in, +and in everything visible and too tangible; but their power was limited +strictly to that; and the faster they swore, the faster they were bound +to stick. + +Springhaven dined well, with its enemy so placed, and a message from +the Leda by Jem Prater, that the fishing fleet was rescued, and would +be home to early supper, and so much to be talked about all dinner-time, +that for once in his life nearly everybody found it more expedient to +eat with his fork than his knife. Then all who could be spared from +washing up, and getting ready for further cookery, went duly to church +in the afternoon, to hear the good rector return humble thanks for a +Gracious Mercy to the British arms, and to see a young man, who had +landed with despatches, put a face full of gunpowder in at window, to +learn whether Admiral Darling was there. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A SPECIAL URGENCY + + +Admiral Darling was not in church. His duty to his country kept him +up the hill, and in close consultation with Captain Stubbard, who was +burning to fire his battery. + +"I never knew such bad luck in all my life. The devil has been appointed +First Lord of the weather ever since I came to Springhaven." As Stubbard +declared these great truths he strode about in his little fortress, +delivering a kick at the heels of things which had no right to be +lumbering there. "To think that I should never have seen those beggars, +when but for the fog I could have smashed them right and left. Admiral, +these things make a Christian an infidel." + +"Nonsense, sir!" said the Admiral, sternly, for a man of his kind +nature; "you forget that without the fog, or rather the mist--for it +was only that--those fellows would never have come within range. We have +very great blessings to be thankful for, though the credit falls not to +our battery. The Frenchmen fought wonderfully well, as well as the best +Englishman could have done, and to capture them both is a miracle of +luck, if indeed we can manage to secure them. My friend, young Honyman, +of the Leda, has proved himself just what I said he would be; and has +performed a very gallant exploit, though I fear he is severely wounded. +But we shall know more now, for I see a young fellow jumping up the +hill, like a kangaroo, and probably he comes for orders. One thing we +have learned, Stubbard, and must take the hint to-morrow--put a hut on +the Haven head, and keep a watchman there. Why, bless my heart, it is +Blyth Scudamore that's coming! There is nobody else that can skip like +that." + +The young lieutenant entered between two guns--the gunners were +dismissed in great disgust to dinner--with his pleasant face still a +little grimed with gunpowder, and flushed by his hurry up the steep +hill-side. + +"This for you, sir," he said, saluting the Admiral, presenting his +letter, and then drawing back; "and I am to wait your convenience for +reply." + +"What next will the service come to," asked the Admiral of Captain +Stubbard, "when a young man just commissioned gives himself such mighty +airs? Shake hands, Blyth, and promise you will come and dine with us, +unless you are ordered to return on board at once. How is your good +captain? I knew him when he wore Nankins. Jem Prater brought word that +he was wounded. I hope it is not serious." + +"No, sir; not much to speak of. He has only lost three fingers. That was +why I wrote this letter--or report, I ought to call it, if anybody else +had written it. Oh, sir! I cannot bear to think of it! I was fifth luff +when the fight began, and now there is only one left above me, and he is +in command of our biggest prize, the Ville d'Anvers. But, Admiral, here +you will find it all, as I wrote it, from the lips, when they tied up +the fingers, of Captain Honyman." + +"How could you tie them up when they were gone?" Captain Stubbard +enquired, with a sneer at such a youth. He had got on very slowly in his +early days, and could not bear to see a young man with such vacancies +before him. "Why, you are the luckiest lad I ever saw! Sure to go up at +least three steps. How well you must have kept out of it! And how happy +you must feel, Lieutenant Scudamore!" + +"I am not at all happy at losing dear friends," the young man answered, +gently, as he turned away and patted the breech of a gun, upon which +there was a little rust next day; "that feeling comes later in life, I +suppose." + +The Admiral was not attending to them now, but absorbed in the +brief account of the conflict, begun by Captain Honyman in his own +handwriting, and finished by his voice, but not his pen. Any one +desirous to read this may do so in the proper place. For the present +purpose it is enough to say that the modesty of the language was +scarcely surpassed by the brilliancy of the exploit. And if anything +were needed to commend the writer to the deepest good will of the +reader, it was found in the fact that this enterprise sprang from warm +zeal for the commerce of Springhaven. The Leda had been ordered on +Friday last to protect the peaceful little fishing fleet from a crafty +design for their capture, and this she had done with good effect, having +justice on her side, and fortune. The particulars of the combat were not +so clear, after the captain's three fingers were gone; but if one made +proper allowance for that, there was not very much to complain of. +The Admiral considered it a very good report; and then put on his +spectacles, and thought it still better. + +"Why! why! why!" he said--for without affectation many officers had +caught the style of His then Gracious Majesty--"What's this? what's +this? Something on the other side, in a different man's handwriting, and +mighty difficult to read, in my opinion. Stubbard, did you ever see such +a scrawl? Make it out for me. You have good eyes, like a hawk, or the +man who saw through a milestone. Scudamore, what was his name? You +know." + +"Three fingers at five pounds apiece per annum as long as he lives!" +Captain Stubbard computed on his own: "fifteen pounds a year perhaps for +forty years, as you seem to say how young he is; that comes to just 600 +pounds, and his hand as good as ever"--("I'll be hanged if it is, if he +wrote this!" the Admiral interjected)--"and better, I must say, from a +selfish point of view, because of only two nails left to clean, and +his other hand increased in value; why, the scale is disgraceful, +iniquitous, boobyish, and made without any knowledge of the human frame, +and the comparative value of its members. Lieutenant Scudamore, look at +me. Here you see me without an ear, damaged in the fore-hatch, and with +the larboard bow stove in--and how much do I get, though so much older?" + +"Well, if you won't help me, Stubbard," said the Admiral, who knew +how long his friend would carry on upon that tack, "I must even get +Scudamore to read it, though it seems to have been written on purpose to +elude him. Blyth, my dear boy, can you explain it?" + +"It was--it was only something, sir"--the lieutenant blushed, and +hesitated, and looked away unmanfully--"which I asked Captain Honyman +to leave out, because--because it had nothing to do with it. I mean, +because it was of no importance, even if he happened to have that +opinion. His hand was tied up so, that I did not like to say too much, +and I thought that he would go to sleep, because the doctor had made him +drink a poppy head boiled down with pigtail. But it seems as if he had +got up after that--for he always will have his own way--while I was gone +to put this coat on; and perhaps he wrote that with his left hand, sir. +But it is no part of the business." + +"Then we will leave it," said Admiral Darling, "for younger eyes than +mine to read. Nelson wrote better with his left hand than ever he did +with his right, to my thinking, the very first time that he tried it. +But we can't expect everybody to do that. There is no sign of any change +of weather, is there, Stubbard? My orders will depend very much upon +that. I must go home and look at the quicksilver before I know what is +best to do. You had better come with me, Scudamore." + +Admiral Darling was quite right in this. Everything depended upon the +weather; and although the rough autumn was not come yet, the prime of +the hopeful year was past. The summer had not been a grand one, such +as we get about once in a decade, but of loose and uncertain character, +such as an Englishman has to make the best of. It might be taking up for +a golden autumn, ripening corn, and fruit, and tree, or it might break +up into shower and tempest, sodden earth, and weltering sky. + +"Your captain refers to me for orders," said Admiral Darling to +Scudamore, while they were hastening to the Hall, "as Commander of the +Coast Defence, because he has been brought too far inshore, and one of +the Frenchmen is stranded. The frigate you boarded and carried is the +Ville d'Anvers, of forty guns. The corvette that took the ground, so +luckily for you, when half of your hands were aboard the prize, is the +Blonde, teak-built, and only launched last year. We must try to have +her, whatever happens. She won't hurt where she is, unless it comes +on to blow. Our sands hold fast without nipping, as you know, like a +well-bred sheep-dog, and the White Pig is the toughest of all of them. +She may stay there till the equinox, without much mischief, if the +present light airs continue. But the worst job will be with the +prisoners; they are the plague of all these affairs, and we can't +imitate Boney by poisoning them. On the whole, it had better not have +happened, perhaps. Though you must not tell Honyman that I said so. It +was a very gallant action, very skilful, very beautiful; and I hope he +will get a fine lift for it; and you too, my dear Blyth, for you must +have fought well." + +"But, Admiral, surely you would have been grieved if so many of your +tenants, and their boats as well, had been swept away into a French +harbour. What would Springhaven be without its Captain Zebedee?" + +"You are right, Blyth; I forgot that for the moment. There would have +been weeping and wailing indeed, even in our own household. But they +could not have kept them long, though the loss of their boats would have +been most terrible. But I cannot make out why the French should have +wanted to catch a few harmless fishing-smacks. Aquila non captat muscas, +as you taught the boys at Stonnington. And two ships despatched upon +a paltry job of that sort! Either Captain Honyman was strangely +misinformed, or there is something in the background, entirely beyond +our knowledge. Pay attention to this matter, and let me know what you +hear of it--as a friend, Blyth, as a friend, I mean. But here we are! +You must want feeding. Mrs. Cloam will take care of you, and find all +that is needful for a warrior's cleanup. I must look at the barometer, +and consider my despatches. Let us have dinner, Mrs. Cloam, in twenty +minutes, if possible. For we stand in real need of it." + +Concerning that there could be no doubt. Glory, as all English officers +know, is no durable stay for the stomach. The urgency of mankind +for victuals may roughly be gauged by the length of the jaw. Captain +Stubbard had jaws of tremendous length, and always carried a bag of +captain's biscuits, to which he was obliged to have recourse in the +height of the hottest engagement. Scudamore had short jaws, well set up, +and powerful, without rapacity. But even these, after twelve hours of +fasting, demanded something better than gunpowder. He could not help +thinking that his host was regarding the condition of affairs very +calmly, until he remembered that the day was Sunday, when no Briton has +any call to be disturbed by any but sacred insistency. At any rate, he +was under orders now, and those orders were entirely to his liking. So +he freshened up his cheerful and simple-minded face, put his sailor-knot +neckcloth askew, as usual, and with some trepidation went down to +dinner. + +The young ladies would not have been young women if they had not +received him warmly. Kind Faith, who loved him as a sister might--for +she had long discovered his good qualities--had tears in her beautiful +eyes, as she gave him both hands, and smiled sweetly at his bashfulness. +And even the critical Dolly, who looked so sharply at the outside +of everything, allowed her fair hand to stay well in his, and said +something which was melody to him. Then Johnny, who was of a warlike +cast, and hoped soon to destroy the French nation, shook hands with this +public benefactor already employed in that great work. + +"I shall scarcely have time for a bit of dinner," said Admiral Darling, +as they sat down. "I have sent word to have the Protector launched, and +to give little Billy a feed of corn. All you young people may take your +leisure. Youth is the time that commands time and space. But for my +part, if I can only manage this plate of soup, and a slice of that fish, +and then one help of mutton, and just an apple-fritter, or some trifle +of that sort, I shall be quite as lucky as I can hope to be. Duty +perpetually spoils my dinner, and I must get some clever fellow to +invent a plate that will keep as hot as duty is in these volcanic times. +But I never complain; I am so used to it. Eat your dinners, children, +and don't think of mine." + +Having scarcely afforded himself an hour, the Admiral, in full uniform, +embarked upon little Billy, a gentle-minded pony from the west country, +who conducted his own digestion while he consulted that of his rider. At +the haven they found the Protector ready, a ten-oared galley manned by +Captain Stubbard's men, good samples of Sea-Fencibles. And the Captain +himself was there, to take the tiller, and do any fighting if the chance +should arise, for he had been disappointed all the morning. The boat +which brought Scudamore had been recalled by signal from the Leda, and +that active young officer having sought her vainly, and thereby missed +the Protector, followed steadily in Mr. Prater's boat, with the nephew, +Jem, pulling the other oar, and Johnny Darling, who raged at the thought +of being left behind, steering vaguely. And just as they rounded the +harbour-head, the long glassy sweep of the palpitating sea bore inward +and homeward the peaceful squadron, so wistfully watched for and so +dearly welcome. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +YOH-HEAVE-OH! + + +"Her condition was very bad, as bad as could be, without going straight +to the bottom," the Admiral said to the Rector that night, as they +smoked a pipe together; "and to the bottom she must have gone, if the +sea had got up, before we thrummed her. Honyman wanted to have her +brought inside the Head; but even if we could have got there, she would +ground at low water and fill with the tide. And what could we do with +all those prisoners? With our fresh hands at the pumps, we very soon +fetched the water out of her, and made her as tight as we could; and +I think they will manage to take her to Portsmouth. She has beautiful +lines. I never saw a smarter ship. How she came to the wind, with all +that water in her! The wind is all right for Portsmouth, and she will be +a fine addition to the Navy." + +"But what is become of the other vessel, craft, corvette, or whatever +you call her? You say that she is scarcely hurt at all. And if she gets +off the White Pig's back in the night, she may come up and bombard us. +Not that I am afraid; but my wife is nervous, and the Rectory faces +the sea so much. If you have ordered away the Leda, which seems to have +conquered both of them, the least you can do is to keep Captain Stubbard +under arms all night in his battery." + +"I have a great mind to do so; it would be a good idea, for he was very +much inclined to cut up rough to-day. But he never would forgive me, he +is such a hog at hammock--as we used to say, until we grew too elegant. +And he knows that the Blonde has hauled down her colours, and Scudamore +is now prize-captain. I have sent away most of her crew in the Leda, and +I am not at all sure that we ought not to blow her up. In the end, we +shall have to do so, no doubt; for nothing larger than a smack has ever +got off that sand, and floated. But let our young friend try; let him +have a fair trial. He has the stuff of a very fine seaman in him. And if +he should succeed, it would be scored with a long leg for him. Halloa! +Why, I thought the girls were fast asleep long ago!" + +"As if we could sleep, papa, with this upon our minds!" Dolly waved an +open letter in the air, and then presented it. "Perhaps Faith might, but +I am sure I never could. You defied us to make out this, which is on the +other leaf; and then, without giving us fair play, you took it to the +desk in your Oak-room, and there you left it. Well, I took the liberty +of going there for it, for there can't be any secret about a thing that +will be printed; and how are they to print it, if they can't contrive to +read it? How much will you pay me for interpreting, papa? Mr. Twemlow, +I think I ought to have a guinea. Can you read it, now, with all your +learning, and knowledge of dead languages?" + +"My dear, it is not my duty to read it, and not at all my business. It +seems to be written with the end of a stick, by a boy who was learning +his letters. If you can interpret it, you must be almost a Daniel." + +"Do you hear that, papa, you who think I am so stupid? Faith gave it up; +she has no perseverance, or perhaps no curiosity. And I was very nearly +beaten too, till a very fine idea came into my head, and I have made +out every word except three, and perhaps even those three, if Captain +Honyman is not very particular in his spelling. Can you tell me anything +about that, papa?" + +"Yes, Dolly, just what you have heard from me before. Honyman is a good +officer; a very good one, as he has just proved. No good officer ever +spells well, whether in the army or the navy. Look at Nelson's letters. +I am inclined to ascribe my own slow promotion to the unnatural accuracy +of my spelling, which offended my lords, because it puzzled them." + +"Then all is straight sailing, as you say, papa. But I must tell you +first how I found it out, or perhaps you won't believe me. I knew that +Captain Honyman wrote this postscript, or whatever it is, with his +left hand, so I took a pen in my own left hand, and practised all the +letters, and the way they join, which is quite different from the other +hand. And here is the copy of the words, as my left hand taught my right +to put them down, after inking ever so many fingers: + +"'We never could have done it without Scudamore. He jumped a most +wonderful jump from our jib-boom into her mizzen chains, when our +grapples had slipped, and we could get no nearer, and there he made +fast, though the enemy came at him with cutlasses, pikes, and muskets. +By this means we borded and carried the ship, with a loss as above +reported. When I grew faint from a trifling wound, Luff Scudamore led +the borders with a cool courage that discomfited the fo.'" + +"Robert Honyman all over!" cried the Admiral, with delight. "I could +swear that he wrote it, if it was written with his toes. 'Twas an old +joke against him, when he was lieutenant, that he never could spell his +own title; and he never would put an e after an o in any word. He is +far too straightforward a man to spell well; and now the loss of three +fingers will cut his words shorter than ever, and be a fine excuse +for him. He was faint again, when I boarded the Leda, partly no doubt +through strong medical measures; for the doctor, who is an ornament to +his profession, had cauterised his stumps with a marlinspike, for fear +of inflammation. And I heard that he had singed the other finger off. +But I hope that may prove incorrect. At any rate, I could not bear to +disturb him, but left written orders with Scudamore; for the senior was +on board the prize. Dolly, be off to bed, this moment." + +"Well, now," said the Rector, drawing near, and filling another +deliberative pipe, "I have no right to ask what your orders were, and +perhaps you have no right to tell me. But as to the ship that remains in +my parish, or at any rate on its borders, if you can tell me anything, +I shall be very grateful, both as a question of parochial duty, and also +because of the many questions I am sure to have to answer from my wife +and daughter." + +"There is no cause for secrecy; I will tell you everything:" the Admiral +hated mystery. "Why, the London papers will publish the whole of it, and +a great deal more than that, in three days' time. I have sent off the +Leda with her prize to Portsmouth. With this easterly breeze and smooth +water, they will get there, crippled as they are, in some twenty-four +hours. There the wounded will be cared for, and the prisoners drafted +off. The Blonde, the corvette which is aground, surrendered, as you +know, when she found herself helpless, and within range of our new +battery. Stubbard's men longed to have a few shots at her; but of course +we stopped any such outrage. Nearly all her officers and most of her +crew are on board the Leda, having given their parole to attempt no +rising; and Frenchmen are always honourable, unless they have some very +wicked leader. But we left in the corvette her captain, an exceedingly +fine fellow, and about a score of hands who volunteered to stay to help +to work the ship, upon condition that if we can float her, they shall +have their freedom. And we put a prize crew from the Leda on board her, +only eight-and-twenty hands, which was all that could be spared, and +in command of them our friend Blyth Scudamore. I sent him to ask Robert +Honyman about it, when he managed to survive the doctor, for a captain +is the master of his own luffs; and he answered that it was exactly +what he wished. Our gallant frigate lost three lieutenants in this very +spirited action, two killed and one heavily wounded. And the first is +in charge of the Ville d'Anvers, so there was nobody for this enterprise +except the gentle Scuddy, as they call him. He is very young for such a +business, and we must do all we can to help him." + +"I have confidence in that young man," said Mr. Twemlow, as if it were +a question of theology; "he has very sound views, and his principles are +high; and he would have taken holy orders, I believe, if his father's +assets had permitted it. He perceives all the rapidly growing dangers +with which the Church is surrounded, and when I was in doubt about a +line of Horace, he showed the finest diffidence, and yet proved that +I was right. The 'White Pig,' as the name of a submarine bank, is most +clearly of classic origin. We find it in Homer, and in Virgil too; and +probably the Romans, who undoubtedly had a naval station in Springhaven, +and exterminated the oyster, as they always did--" + +"Come, come, Twemlow," said the Admiral, with a smile which smoothed the +breach of interruption, "you carry me out of my depth so far that I long +to be stranded on my pillow. When your great book comes out, we shall +have in perfect form all the pile of your discoveries, which you break +up into little bits too liberally. The Blonde on the Pig is like Beauty +and the Beast. If gentle Scuddy rescues her, it won't be by Homer, or +Horace, or even holy orders, but by hard tugs and stout seamanship." + +"With the blessing of the Lord, it shall be done," said the Rector, +knocking his pipe out; "and I trust that Providence may see fit to have +it done very speedily; for I dread the effect which so many gallant +strangers, all working hard and apparently in peril, may produce upon +the females of this parish." + +But the Admiral laughed, and said, "Pooh, pooh!" for he had faith in the +maids of Springhaven. + +For these there was a fine time now in store--young men up and down +everywhere, people running in and out with some new news, before they +could get their hats on, the kettle to boil half a dozen times a day, +and almost as much to see as they could talk of. At every high-water +that came by daylight--and sometimes there were two of them--every maid +in the parish was bound to run to the top of a sand-hill high enough to +see over the neck of the Head, and there to be up among the rushes all +together, and repulse disdainfully the society of lads. These took the +matter in a very different light, and thought it quite a pity and a +piece of fickle-mindedness, that they might go the round of crab-pots, +or of inshore lug-lines, without anybody to watch them off, or come down +with a basket to meet them. + +For be it understood that the great fishing fleet had not launched forth +upon its labours. Their narrow escape from the two French cruisers would +last them a long time to think over, and to say the same thing to each +other about it that each other had said to them every time they met. And +they knew that they could not do this so well as to make a new credit of +it every time, when once they were in the same craft together, and could +not go asunder more than ten yards and a half. And better, far better, +than all these reasons for staying at home and enjoying themselves, +was the great fact that they could make more money by leisure than by +labour, in this nobly golden time. + +Luck fostered skill in this great affair, which deserves to be recorded +for the good of any village gifted with like opportunity. It appears +that the British Admiralty had long been eager for the capture of the +Blonde, because of her speed and strength and beauty, and the mischief +she had done to English trade. To destroy her would be a great comfort, +but to employ her aright would be glorious; and her proper employment +was to serve as a model for English frigates first, and then to fight +against her native land. Therefore, no sooner did their lordships hear +what had happened at Springhaven than they sent down a rider express, +to say that the ship must be saved at any price. And as nothing could +be spared from the blockading force, or the fleet in the Downs, or the +cruising squadron, the Commander of the coast-defence was instructed to +enrol, impress, or adapt somehow all the men and the matter available. +Something was said about free use of money in the service of His +Majesty, but not a penny was sent to begin upon. But Admiral Darling +carried out his orders, as if he had received them framed in gold. "They +are pretty sure to pay me in the end," he said; "and if they don't, it +won't break me. I would give 500 pounds on my own account, to carry +that corvette to Spithead. And it would be the making of Scudamore, who +reminds me of his father more and more, every time I come across him." + +The fleet under Captain Tugwell had quite lately fallen off from seven +to five, through the fierce patriotism of some younger members, and +their sanguine belief in bounty-money. Captain Zeb had presented them +with his experience in a long harangue--nearly fifty words long--and +they looked as if they were convinced by it. However, in the morning +they were gone, having mostly had tiffs with their sweethearts--which +are fervent incentives to patriotism--and they chartered themselves, +and their boats were numbered for the service of their Country. They had +done their work well, because they had none to do, except to draw small +wages, and they found themselves qualified now for more money, and came +home at the earliest chance of it. + +Two guineas a day for each smack and four hands, were the terms +offered by the Admiral, whose hard-working conscience was twitched into +herring-bones by the strife between native land and native spot. "I have +had many tussles with uncertainty before," he told Dolly, going down +one evening, "but never such vexation of the mind as now. All our people +expect to get more for a day, than a month of fine fishing would bring +them; while the Government goes by the worst time they make, and expects +them to throw in their boats for nothing. 'The same as our breeches,' +Tugwell said to me; 'whenever we works, we throws in they, and we ought +to do the very same with our boats.' This makes it very hard for me." + +But by doing his best, he got over the hardship, as people generally do. +He settled the daily wages as above, with a bonus of double that +amount for the day that saw the Blonde upon her legs again. Indignation +prevailed, or pretended to do so; but common-sense conquered, and all +set to work. Hawsers, and chains, and buoys, and all other needful gear +and tackle were provided by the Admiralty from the store-house built not +long ago for the Fencibles. And Zebedee Tugwell, by right of position, +and without a word said for it--because who could say a word against +it?--became the commander of the Rescue fleet, and drew double pay +naturally for himself and family. + +"I does it," he said, "if you ask me why I does it, without any +intention of bettering myself, for the Lord hath placed me above need of +that; but mainly for the sake of discipline, and the respectability of +things. Suppose I was under you, sir, and knew you was getting no more +than I was, why, my stomach would fly every time that you gave me an +order without a 'Please, Zebedee!' But as soon as I feels that you +pocket a shilling, in the time I take pocketing twopence, the value of +your brain ariseth plain before me; and instead of thinking what you +says, I does it." + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +ACCORDING TO CONTRACT + + +When the Blonde had been on the White Pig for a week, in spite of all +the science of Scudamore, ready money of the Admiral, and efforts of the +natives, there began to be signs of a change in the weather. The sea was +as smooth, and the sky as bright, and the land as brown as ever; but the +feel of the air was not the same, and the sounds that came through it +were different. "Rain afore Friday," said Captain Zeb, "and a blow from +sowwest afore Sunday. 'Twill break up the Blunder, I reckon, my lads." + +With various aspects they looked at him, all holding sweet converse at +the Darling Arms, after the manifold struggles of the day. The eyes of +the younger men were filled with disappointment and anger, as at a sure +seer of evil; the elder, to whom cash was more important, gazed with +anxiety and dismay; while a pair, old enough to be sires of Zebedee, +nodded approval, and looked at one another, expecting to receive, but +too discreet to give, a wink. Then a lively discourse arose and throve +among the younger; and the elders let them hold it, while they talked of +something else. + +On the following morning two dialogues were held upon different parts +of Springhaven shore, but each of great import to the beautiful captive +still fast aground in the offing. The first was between Captain Zebedee +Tugwell and Lieutenant Scudamore. The gentle Scuddy, still hoping +against hope, had stuck fast to his charge, upon whose fortunes so much +of his own depended. If he could only succeed in floating and carrying +her into Portsmouth, his mark would be made, his position secured far +quicker than by ten gallant actions; and that which he cared for a +hundredfold, the comfort of his widowed mother, would be advanced and +established. For, upon the valuation of the prizes, a considerable sum +would fall to him, and every farthing of it would be sent to her. Bright +with youthful hope, and trustful in the rising spring of tide, which had +all but released them yesterday, according to his firm belief, he ran +from the Hall through the Admiral's grounds, to meet the boat which +was waiting for him, while he was having breakfast and council with his +chief. Between the Round-house and the old white gate he heard a low +whistle from a clump of shrubs, and turning that way, met Tugwell. With +that prince of fishermen he shook hands, according to the manner of +Springhaven, for he had learned to admire the brave habit of the man, +his strong mind, and frank taciturnity. And Tugwell on his part had +taken a liking to the simple and cheerful young officer, who received +his suggestions, was kind to all hands, and so manfully bore the daily +disappointment. + +"Nobody in there?" asked Zeb, with one finger pointing to the +Round-house; "then sit down on this bit of bank, sir, a minute. Less +chance to be shot at by any French ship." + +The bit of bank really was a bit of hollow, where no one could see them +from the beach, or lane, or even from the Round-house. Scudamore, who +understood his man, obeyed; and Tugwell came to his bearings on a clump +of fern before him. + +"How much will Government pay the chaps as fetches her out of that snug +little berth? For division to self and partners, how much? For division +to self and family, how much?" + +"I have thought about that," the lieutenant answered, with little +surprise at the question, but much at the secrecy thrown around it; "and +I think it would be very unsafe to count upon getting a penny beyond the +Admiral's terms--double pay for the day that we float her." + +Captain Zebedee shook his head, and the golden sheaf of his Olympian +beard ruffled and crisped, as to an adverse wind. + +"Can't a'most believe it," he replied, with his bright eyes steadily +settled on Scudamore's; "the English country, as I belongs to, can't +quite 'a coom to that yet!" + +"I fear that it has indeed," Blyth answered, very gravely; "at least I +am sure of this, Master Tugwell, that you must not look forward to +any bounty, bonus, or premium, or whatever it is called, from the +Authorities who should provide it. But for myself, and the difference it +will make to me whether we succeed or fail, I shall be happy, and will +give my word, to send you 50 pounds, to be divided at your discretion +among the smacks. I mean, of course, as soon as I get paid." + +Scudamore was frightened by the size of his own promise; for he had +never yet owned 50 pounds in the solid. And then he was scared at the +wholesale loss of so large a sum to his mother. + +"Never fear, lad," honest Tugwell replied, for the young man's face was +fair to read; "we'll not take a farden of thy hard airnings, not a brass +farden, so help me Bob! Gentlefolks has so much call for money, as none +of us know nothing of. And thou hast helped to save all the lot of us +from Frenchies, and been the most forwardest, as I hear tell. But if us +could 'a got 50 pounds out of Government, why so much more for us, and +none the less for they. But a Englishman must do his duty, in reason, +and when 'a don't hurt his self by the same. There's a change in +the weather, as forbids more sport. You shall have the Blunder off +to-morrow, lad. Wouldn't do to be too sudden like." + +"I fear I am very stupid, Master Tugwell. But I don't see how you can +manage it so surely, after labouring nine days all in vain." + +Zebedee hesitated half a moment, betwixt discretion and the pride of +knowledge. Then the latter vanquished and relieved his mind. + +"I trust in your honour, sir, of course, to keep me clear. I might have +brought 'e off the Pig, first day, or second to the latest, if it were +sound business. But with winter time coming, and the week's fishing +lost, our duty to our families and this place was to pull 'e on harder, +sir, to pull 'e aground firmer; and with the help of the Lord we have +a-doed it well. We wasn't a-going to kill the goose as laid the golden +eggs. No offence to you, sir; it wasn't you as was the goose." + +Master Tugwell rubbed his pockets with a very pleasant smile, and then +put his elbows on his great square knees, and complacently studied the +lieutenant's smaller mind. + +"I can understand how you could do such a thing," said Scudamore, after +he had rubbed his eyes, and then looked away for fear of laughing, "but +I cannot understand by what power on earth you are enabled to look at me +and tell me this. For nine days you have been paid every night, and paid +pretty well, as you yourself acknowledge, to haul a ship off a shoal; +and all the time you have been hauling her harder upon it!" + +"Young man," replied Tugwell, with just indignation, "a hofficer should +be above such words. But I forgive 'e, and hope the Lord will do the +same, with allowance for youth and ill-convenience. I might 'a knowed no +better, at your age and training." + +"But what were you paid for, just answer me that, unless it was to pull +the Blonde off the sand-bank? And how can you pretend that you have done +an honest thing by pulling her further upon the bank?" + +"I won't ask 'e, sir, to beg my pardon for saying what never man said +to me, without reading the words of the contraction;" Zeb pulled out +a paper from his hat, and spread it, and laid a stone at every corner; +"this contraction was signed by yourself and Squire Darling, for and on +behalf of the kingdom; and the words are for us to give our services, to +pull, haul, tow, warp, or otherwise as directed, release, relieve, set +free, and rescue the aforesaid ship, or bark, or vessel, craft, or--" + +"Please not to read all that," cried Scuddy, "or a gale of wind may come +before you are half-way through. It was Admiral Darling's lawyer, Mr. +Furkettle, who prepared it, to prevent any chance of misunderstanding." + +"Provided always," continued Tugwell, slowly, "and the meaning, +condition, purport, object, sense, and intention of this agreement is, +that the aforesaid Zebedee Tugwell shall submit in everything to the +orders, commands, instructions, counsel, directions, injunctions, +authority, or discretion, whether in writing or otherwise, of the +aforesaid--" + +"I would not interrupt you if I could help it"--Scudamore had a large +stock of patience (enhanced by laborious practice at Stonnington), but +who might abide, when time was precious, to see Zebedee feeling his way +with his fingers along the bottom and to the end of every word, and then +stopping to congratulate himself at the conquest of every one over two +syllables? "But excuse me for saying that I know all these conditions; +and the tide will be lost, if we stop here." + +"Very good, sir; then you see how it standeth. Who hath broken them? +Not us! We was paid for to haul; and haul we did, according to superior +orders. She grounded from the south, with the tide making upp'ard, +somewhere about three-quarter flow; and the Squire, and you, and all +the rest of 'e, without no knowledge of the Pig whatsomever, fastens all +your pulley-haulies by the starn, and says, 'now pull!' And pull we did, +to the tune of sixteen guineas a day for the good of Springhaven." + +"And you knew all the time that it was wrong! Well, I never came across +such people. But surely some one of you would have had the honesty--I +beg pardon, I mean the good-will--to tell us. I can scarcely imagine +some forty men and boys preserving such a secret for nine whole days, +hauling for their lives in the wrong direction, and never even by a wink +or smile--" + +"Springhaven is like that," said Master Tugwell, proudly; "we does a +thing one and all together, even if us reasons consarning it. And over +and above that, sir, there is but two men in Springhaven as understands +the White Pig, barring my own self. The young 'uns might 'a smelt a rat, +but they knew better than to say so. Where the Blunder grounded--and she +hath airned her name, for the good of the dwellers in this village--is +the chine of the Pig; and he hath a double back, with the outer side +higher than the inner one. She came through a narrow nick in his outer +back, and then plumped, stem on, upon the inner one. You may haul at +her forever by the starn, and there she'll 'bide, or lay up again on the +other back. But bring her weight forrard, and tackle her by the head, +and off she comes, the very next fair tide; for she hath berthed herself +over the biggest of it, and there bain't but a basketful under her +forefoot." + +"Then, Master Tugwell, let us lose no time, but have at her at once, and +be done with it." Scudamore jumped up, to give action to his words; but +Tugwell sate aground still, as firmly as the Blonde. + +"Begging of your pardon, sir, I would invite of you not to be in no sart +of hurry hasting forwardly. Us must come off gradual, after holding on +so long there, and better to have Squire Darling round the corner first, +sir. Not that he knoweth much about it, but 'a might make believe to +do so. And when 'a hath seen us pull wrong ways, a hundred and twenty +guineas' worth, a' might grudge us the reward for pulling right ways. +I've a-knowed 'un get into that state of mind, although it was his own +tenants." + +The lieutenant was at length compelled to laugh, though for many reasons +loth to do so. But the quiet contempt for the Admiral's skill, and the +brief hint about his character, touched his sense of the ludicrous more +softly than the explanation of his own mishaps. Then the Captain of +Springhaven smiled almost imperceptibly; for he was a serious man, and +his smiles were accustomed to be interior. + +"I did hear tell," he said, stroking his beard, for fear of having +discomposed it, "that the Squire were under compulsion to go a bit +westward again to-morrow. And when he cometh back he would be glad to +find us had managed the job without him. No fear of the weather breaking +up afore Friday, and her can't take no harm for a tide or two. If you +thinks well, sir, let us heave at her to-day, as afore, by superior +orders. Then it come into your mind to try t'other end a bit, and you +shift all the guns and heavy lumber forrard to give weight to the bows +and lift the starn, and off her will glide at the first tug to-morrow, +so sure as my name is Zebedee. But mind one thing, sir, that you keep +her, when you've got her. She hath too many furriner natives aboard of +her, to be any way to my liking." + +"Oh, there need be no doubt about them," replied Blyth; "we treat them +like ourselves, and they are all upon their honour, which no Frenchman +ever thinks of breaking. But my men will be tired of waiting for me. I +shall leave you to your plans, Tugwell." + +"Ah, I know the natur' of they young men," Captain Zebedee mused, as he +sate in his hollow, till Scudamore's boat was far away; "they be full +of scruples for themselves and faith in other fellows. He'll never tell +Squire, nor no one else here, what I laid him under, and the laugh would +go again' him, if he did. We shall get to-day's money, I reckon, as well +as double pay to-morrow, and airn it. Well, it might 'a been better, and +it might be wuss." + +About two miles westward of the brook, some rocks marked the end of the +fine Springhaven sands and the beginning of a far more rugged beach, the +shingles and flint shelves of Pebbleridge. Here the chalk of the Sussex +backbone (which has been plumped over and sleeked by the flesh of the +valley) juts forth, like the scrags of a skeleton, and crumbles in low +but rugged cliffs into the flat domain of sea. Here the landing is bad, +and the anchorage worse, for a slippery shale rejects the fluke, and the +water is usually kept in a fidget between the orders of the west wind +and scurry of the tide. + +This very quiet morning, with the wind off shore, and scarcely enough of +it to comb the sea, four smart-looking Frenchmen, with red caps on their +heads, were barely holding way upon the light gig of the Blonde, while +their Captain was keeping an appointment with a stranger, not far +from the weed-strewn line of waves. In a deep rocky channel where a +land-spring rose (which was still-born except at low water), and laver +and dilsk and claw-coral showed that the sea had more dominion there +than the sky, two men stood facing each other; and their words, though +belonging to the most polite of tongues, were not so courteous as might +be. Each man stood with his back to a rock--not touching it, however, +because it was too wet--one was as cold and as firm as the rock, +the other like the sea, tumultuous. The passionate man was Captain +Desportes, and the cold one Caryl Carne. + +"Then you wish me to conclude, monsieur," Carne spoke as one offering +repentance, "that you will not do your duty to your country, in the +subject set before you? I pray you to deliberate, because your position +hangs upon it." + +"Never! Never! Once more, Captain, with all thanks for your +consideration, I refuse. My duty to my own honour has first place. After +that my duty to my country. Speak of it no more, sir; it quite is to +insult me." + +"No, Captain Desportes, it is nothing of that kind, or I should not +be here to propose it. Your parole is given only as long as your ship +continues upon the sand. The moment she floats, you are liberated. +Then is the time for a noble stroke of fortune. Is it not so, my dear +friend?" + +"No, sir. This affair is impossible. My honour has been pledged, not +until the ship is floating, but until I am myself set free in France. I +am sorry not to see things as you see them for me; but the question is +for my own consideration." + +Captain Desportes had resented, as an honest man must do, especially +when more advanced in years, the other's calm settlement, without +invitation, of matters which concerned his own conscience. And as most +mankind--if at all perceptive--like or dislike one another at a glance, +Desportes, being very quick and warm of nature, had felt at first sight +a strong repulsion from the cold and arrogant man who faced him. His age +was at least twice that of Carne, he had seen much service in the better +days of France, and had risen slowly by his own skill and valour; he +knew that his future in the service depended upon his decision in +this matter, and he had a large family to maintain. But his honour was +pledged, and he held fast by it. + +"There is one consideration," Carne replied, with rancour slowly +kindling in his great black eyes, "which precedes all others, even +that of honour, in the mind of a trusted officer. It is not that of +patriotism--which has not its usual weight with monsieur--but it is that +of obedience, discipline, loyalty, faith, towards those who have placed +faith in him. Captain Desportes, as commander of a ship, is entrusted +with property; and that confidence is the first debt upon his honour." + +To Desportes, as to most men of action, the right was plainer than the +reason. He knew that this final plea was unsound, but he did not see how +to contest it. So he came back to fact, which was easier for him. + +"How am I to know, monsieur, what would be the wishes of those who have +entrusted me with my position? You are placed in authority by some means +here, in your own country, but against it. That much you have proved to +me, by papers. But your credentials are general only. They do not apply +to this especial case. If the Chief of the State knew my position, he +would wish me to act as I mean to act, for the honour and credit of our +nation." + +"Are you then acquainted with his signature? If so, perhaps you will +verify this, even if you are resolved to reject it." + +Carne drew a letter from an inner pocket, and carefully unfolded it. +There were many words and minute directions upon various subjects, +written by the hand of the most minute, and yet most comprehensive, of +mankind. + +"There is nothing in this that concerns you," he said, after showing +the date, only four days old, "except these few words at the end, +which perhaps you may like to read, before you make final decision. The +signature of the Chief is clear." + +Captain Desportes read aloud--"It is of the utmost importance to me, +that the Blonde should not be captured by the enemy, as the Ville +d'Anvers has been. You tell me that it is ashore near you, and the +Captain and crew upon parole, to be liberated if they assist in the +extrication of the vessel. This must not be. In the service of the +State, I demand that they consider not at all their parole. The +well-known speed and light draught of that vessel have rendered her +almost indispensable to me. When the vessel is free, they must rise upon +the enemy, and make for the nearest of our ports without delay. Upon +this I insist, and place confidence in your established courage and +management, to accomplish it to my satisfaction." + +"Your orders are clear enough," said Caryl Carne. "What reason can you +give, as an officer of the Republic, for disobeying them?" + +Desportes looked at his ship in the distance, and then at the sea and +the sky, with a groan, as if he were bidding farewell to them. Carne +felt sure that he had prevailed, and a smile shed light, but not a soft +light, on his hard pale countenance. + +"Be in no rash haste," said the French sea-captain, and he could not +have found words more annoying to the cold proud man before him; "I do +not recognise in this mandate the voice of my country, of the honourable +France, which would never say, 'Let my sons break their word of honour!' +This man speaks, not as Chief of a grand State, not as leader of noble +gentlemen, but as Emperor of a society of serfs. France is no empire; +she is a grand nation of spirit, of valour, above all, of honour. The +English have treated me, as I would treat them, with kindness, with +largeness, with confidence. In the name of fair France, I will not do +this thing." + +Carne was naturally pale, but now he grew white with rage, and his black +eyes flashed. + +"France will be an empire within six months; and your honour will be put +upon prison diet, while your family starve for the sake of it." + +"If I ever meet you under other circumstances," replied the brave +Frenchman, now equally pale, "I shall demand reparation, sir." + +"With great pleasure," replied Carne, contemptuously; "meanwhile +monsieur will have enough to do to repair his broken fortunes." + +Captain Desportes turned his back, and gave a whistle for his crew, +then stepped with much dignity into his boat. "To the Blonde, lads," +he cried, "to the unsullied Blonde!" Then he sate, looking at her, and +stroked his grizzled beard, into which there came trickling a bitter +tear or two, as he thought of his wife and family. He had acted well; +but, according to the measure of the present world, unwisely. + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +NO CONCERN OF OURS + + +The very next morning it was known to the faithful of Springhaven +that the glory of the place would be trebled that day, and its income +increased desirably. That day, the fair stranger (which had so long +awakened the admiration of the women, and the jealousy of the men) would +by the consummate skill of Captain Zeb--who had triumphed over all the +officers of the British Navy--float forth magnificently from her narrow +bed, hoist her white sails, and under British ensign salute the new +fort, and shape a course for Portsmouth. That she had stuck fast and in +danger so long was simply because the cocked hats were too proud to give +ear to the wisdom in an old otter-skin. Now Admiral Darling was baffled +and gone; and Captain Tugwell would show the world what he could do, and +what stuff his men were made of, if they only had their way. From old +Daddy Stakes, the bald father of the village, to Mrs. Caper junior's +baby--equally bald, but with a crop as sure of coming as mustard and +cress beneath his flannel--some in arms, some on legs, some upon brave +crutches, all were abroad in the soft air from the west, which had +stolen up under the stiff steel skirt of the east wind, exactly as wise +Captain Zeb predicted. + +"My dear," said Mrs. Twemlow to the solid Mrs. Stubbard, for a very +sweet friendship had sprung up between these ladies, and would last +until their interests should happen to diverge, "this will be a great +day for my dear husband's parish. Perhaps there is no other parish +in the kingdom capable of acting as Springhaven has, so obedient, so +disciplined, so faithful to their contract! I am told that they even +pulled the vessel more aground, in preference to setting up their own +opinions. I am told that as soon as the Admiral was gone--for between +you and me he is a little overbearing, with the very best intentions in +the world, but too confident in his own sagacity--then that clever but +exceedingly modest young man, Lieutenant Scudamore, was allowed at last +to listen to our great man Tugwell, who has long been the oracle of the +neighbourhood about the sea, and the weather, and all questions of that +kind. And between you and me, my dear, the poor old Admiral seems a +little bit jealous of his reputation. And what do you think he said +before he went, which shows his high opinion of his own abilities? +Tugwell said something in his rough and ready way, which, I suppose, put +his mightiness upon the high ropes, for he shouted out in everybody's +hearing, 'I'll tell you what it is, my man, if you can get her off, by +any of your'--something I must not repeat--'devices, I'll give you fifty +guineas, five-and-twenty for yourself, and the rest to be divided among +these other fellows.' Then Zebedee pulled out a Testament from his +pocket, for he is a man of deep religious convictions, and can read +almost all the easy places, though he thinks most of the hard ones, and +he made his son Dan (who is a great scholar, as they say, and a very +fine-looking youth as well) put down at the end what the Admiral had +said. Now, what do you think of that, dear Mrs. Stubbard?" + +"I think," replied that strong-minded lady, "that Tugwell is an arrant +old fox; and if he gets the fifty guineas, he will put every farthing +into his own pocket." + +"Oh, no! He is honest as the day itself. He will take his own +twenty-five, and then leave the rest to settle whether he should share +in their twenty-five. But we must be quick, or we shall lose the sight. +Quite a number of people are come from inland. How wonderfully quickly +these things spread! They came the first day, and then made up their +minds that nothing could be done, and so they stopped at home. But now, +here they are again, as if by magic! If the ship gets off, it will be +known halfway to London before nightfall. But I see Captain Stubbard +going up the hill to your charming battery. That shows implicit faith in +Tugwell, to return the salute of the fair captive! It is indeed a proud +day for Springhaven!" + +"But it isn't done yet. And perhaps it won't be done. I would rather +trust officers of the navy than people who catch crabs and oysters. I +would go up to the battery, to laugh at my husband, but for the tricks +the children play me. My authority is gone, at the very first puff of +smoke. How children do delight in that vile gunpowder!" + +"So they ought, in the present state of our country, with five hundred +thousand of Frenchmen coming. My dear Mrs. Stubbard, how thankful we +should be to have children who love gunpowder!" + +"But not when they blow up their mother, ma'am." + +"Oh, here comes Eliza!" cried Mrs. Twemlow. "I am so glad, because she +knows everything. I thought we had missed her. My dear child, where are +Faith and Dolly Darling gone? There are so many strangers about to-day +that the better class should keep together." + +"Here are three of us at any rate," replied the young lady, who +considered her mother old-fashioned: "enough to secure one another's +sanctity from the lower orders. Faith has gone on to the headland, with +that heroic mannikin, Johnny. Dolly was to follow, with that Shanks maid +to protect her, as soon as her hat was trimmed, or some such era. But +I'll answer for it that she loses herself in the crowd, or some fib of +that sort." + +"Eliza!" said her mother, and very severely, because Mrs. Stubbard was +present, "I am quite astonished at your talking so. You might do the +greatest injury to a very lively and harmless, but not over-prudent +girl, if any one heard you who would repeat it. We all know that the +Admiral is so wrapped up in Dolly that he lets her do many things which +a mother would forbid. But that is no concern of ours; and once for all, +if such things must be said, I beg that they may not be said by you." + +In the present age, Mrs. Twemlow would have got sharp answer. But her +daughter only looked aggrieved, and glanced at Mrs. Stubbard, as if to +say, "Well, time will show whether I deserve it." And then they hastened +on, among the worse class, to the headland. + +Not only all the fishing-smacks, and Captain Stubbard's galley, but +every boat half as sound as a hat, might now be seen near the grounded +vessel, preparing to labour or look on. And though the White Pig was +allowed to be three-quarters of a mile from the nearest point, the +mighty voice of Captain Zeb rode over the flickering breadth of sea, +and through the soft babble of the waves ashore. The wind was light +from southwest, and the warp being nearly in the same direction now, the +Blonde began to set her courses, to catch a lift of air, when the tide +should come busily working under her. And this would be the best tide +since she took the ground, last Sunday week, when the springs were going +off. As soon as the hawsers were made fast, and the shouts of Zebedee +redoubled with great strength (both of sound and of language), and the +long ropes lifted with a flash of splashes, and a creak of heavy wood, +and the cry was, "With a will! with a will, my gay lads!" every body +having a sound eye in it was gazing intently, and every heart was +fluttering, except the loveliest eyes and quickest heart in all +Springhaven. + +Miss Dolly had made up her mind to go, and would have had warm words +ready for any one rash enough to try to prevent her. But a very short +note which was put into her hand about 10 A.M. distracted her. + +"If you wish to do me a real service, according to your kind words of +Saturday, be in the upper shrubbery at half past eleven; but tell no one +except the bearer. You will see all that happens better there than on +the beach, and I will bring a telescope." + +Dolly knew at once who had written this, and admired it all the more +because it was followed by no signature. For years she had longed for +a bit of romance; and the common-sense of all the world irked her. She +knew as well as possible that what she ought to do was to take this +letter to her sister Faith, and be guided by her advice about it. Faith +was her elder by three years or more, and as steadfast as a rock, yet as +tender as young moss. There was no fear that Faith would ride the high +horse with her, or lay down the law severely; she was much more likely +to be too indulgent, though certain not to play with wrong. + +All this the younger sister knew, and therefore resolved to eschew +that knowledge. She liked her own way, and she meant to have it, in a +harmless sort of way; her own high spirit should be her guide, and she +was old enough now to be her own judge. Mr. Carne had saved her sister's +life, when she stood up in that senseless way; and if Faith had no +gratitude, Dolly must feel, and endeavour to express it for her. + +Reasoning thus, and much better than this, she was very particular about +her hat, and French pelerine of fluted lawn, and frock of pale violet +trimmed on either side with gathered muslin. Her little heart fluttered +at being drawn in, when it should have been plumped up to her neck, and +very nearly displayed to the public; but her father was stern upon some +points, and never would hear of the classic discoveries. She had not +even Grecian sandals, nor a "surprise fan" to flutter from her wrist, +nor hair oiled into flat Lesbian coils, but freedom of rich young +tresses, and of graceful figure, and taper limbs. There was no one who +could say her nay, of the lovers of maiden nature. + +However, maidens must be discreet, even when most adventurous; and +so she took another maid to help her, of respected but not romantic +name--Jenny Shanks, who had brought her that letter. Jenny was much +prettier than her name, and the ground she trod on was worshipped by +many, even when her shoes were down at heel. Especially in this track +remained the finer part of Charley Bowles's heart (while the coarser +was up against the Frenchmen), as well as a good deal of Mr. Prater's +nephew's, and of several other sole-fishers. This enabled Jenny to enter +kindly into tender questions. And she fetched her Sunday bonnet down the +trap-ladder where she kept it--because the other maids were so nasty--as +soon as her letter was delivered. + +"Your place, Jenny, is to go behind," Miss Dolly said, with no small +dignity, as this zealous attendant kept step for step with her, and +swung her red arm against the lady's fair one. "I am come upon important +business, Jenny, such as you cannot understand, but may stay at a proper +distance." + +"Lor, miss, I am sure I begs your pardon. I thought it was a kind of +coorting-match, and you might be glad of my experience." + +"Such things I never do, and have no idea what you mean. I shall be much +obliged to you, Jenny, if you will hold your tongue." + +"Oh yes, miss; no fear of my telling anybody. Wild horses would never +pull a syllable out of me. The young men is so aggravating that I keep +my proper distance from them. But the mind must be made up, at one time +or other." + +Dolly looked down at her with vast contempt, which she would not lower +herself by expressing, even with favour of time and place. Then turning +a corner of the grassy walk, between ground-ash and young larches, they +came upon an opening planted round with ilex, arbutus, juniper, and +laurel, and backed by one of the rocks which form the outworks of the +valley. From a niche in this rock, like the port-hole of a ship, a rill +of sparkling water poured, and beginning to make a noise already, cut +corner's--of its own production--short, in its hurry to be a brook, and +then to help the sea. And across its exit from the rock (like a measure +of its insignificance) a very comfortable seat was fixed, so that any +gentleman--or even a lady with divided skirts--might freely sit with one +foot on either bank of this menacing but not yet very formidable stream. +So that on the whole this nook of shelter under the coronet of rock was +a favourite place for a sage cock-pheasant, or even a woodcock in wintry +weather. + +Upon that bench (where the Admiral loved to sit, in the afternoon of +peace and leisure, observing with a spy-glass the manoeuvres of his +tranquil fishing fleet) Caryl Carne was sitting now, with his long and +strong legs well spread out, his shoulders comfortably settled back, and +his head cast a little on one side, as if he were trying to compute his +property. Then, as Dolly came into the opening, he arose, made a bow +beyond the compass of any true Briton, and swinging his hat, came to +meet her. Dolly made a curtsey in the style impressed upon her by her +last governess but one--a French lady of exceedingly high ancestry and +manners--and Carne recognised it as a fine thing out of date. + +"Jenny, get away!" said Dolly--words not meant for him to hear, but he +had grave command of countenance. + +"This lays me under one more obligation:" Carne spoke in a low voice, +and with a smile of diffidence which reminded her of Scudamore, though +the two smiles were as different as night and day. "I have taken a great +liberty in asking you to come, and that multiplies my gratitude for +your good-will. For my own sake alone I would not have dared to sue this +great favour from you, though I put it so, in terror of alarming you. +But it is for my own sake also, since anything evil to you would be +terrible to me." + +"No one can wish to hurt me," she answered, looking up at him bravely, +and yet frightened by his gaze, "because I have never harmed any one. +And I assure you, sir, that I have many to defend me, even when my +father is gone from home." + +"It is beyond doubt. Who would not rush to do so? But it is from those +who are least suspected that the danger comes the worst. The most modest +of all gentlemen, who blushes like a damsel, or the gallant officer +devoted to his wife and children, or the simple veteran with his stars, +and scars, and downright speech--these are the people that do the wrong, +because no one believes it is in them." + +"Then which of the three is to carry me off from home, and friends, and +family--Lieutenant Scudamore, Captain Stubbard, or my own godfather, +Lord Nelson?" + +This young man nourished a large contempt for the intellect of women, +and was therefore surprised at the quickness and spirit of the girl whom +he wished to terrify. A sterner tone must be used with her. + +"I never deal in jokes," he said, with a smile of sad sympathy for +those who do; "my life is one perpetual peril, and that restrains +facetiousness. But I can make allowance for those who like it." + +Miss Dolly, the pet child of the house, and all the people +round it--except the gardener, Mr. Swipes, who found her too +inquisitive--quick as she was, could not realise at once the possibility +of being looked down upon. + +"I am sorry that you have to be so grave," she said, "because it +prevents all enjoyment. But why should you be in such continual danger? +You promised to explain it, on Saturday, only you had no time then. +We are all in danger from the French, of course, if they ever should +succeed in landing. But you mean something more than that; and it seems +so hard, after all your losses, that you should not be safe from harm." + +With all her many faults--many more than she dreamed of--fair Dolly had +a warm and gentle heart, which filled her eyes with tender loveliness, +whenever it obtained command of them. Carne, who was watching them +steadfastly for his own purpose, forgot that purpose, and dropped his +dark eyes, and lost the way to tell a lie. + +"If I may ask you," he said, almost stammering, and longing without +knowledge for the blessing of her touch, "to--to allow me just to lead +you to this seat, I may perhaps be able--I will not take the liberty of +sitting at your side--but I may perhaps be able to explain as much of my +affairs as you can wish to hear of them, and a great deal more, I fear, +a great deal more, Miss Darling." + +Dolly blushed at the rich tone in which he pronounced her name, almost +as if it were an adjective; but she allowed him to take her hand, +and lead her to the bench beneath the rock. Then, regardless of his +breeches, although of fine padusoy, and his coat, though of purple +velvet, he sate down on the bank of the rill at her feet, and waited for +her to say something. The young lady loved mainly to take the lead, but +would liefer have followed suit just now. + +"You have promised to tell me," she said, very softly, and with an +unusual timidity, which added to her face and manner almost the only +charm they lacked, "some things which I do not understand, and which I +have no right to ask you of, except for your own offer. Why should you, +without injuring any one, but only having suffered loss of all your +family property, and of all your rights and comforts, and living in +that lonely place which used to be full of company--why should you be +in danger now, when you have nothing more to be robbed of? I beg your +pardon--I mean when all your enemies must have done their worst." + +"You are too young yet to understand the world," he answered, with a +well-drawn sigh; "and I hope most truly that you may never do so. In +your gentle presence I cannot speak with bitterness, even if I could +feel it. I will not speak harshly of any one, however I may have been +treated. But you will understand that my life alone remains betwixt the +plunderers and their prey, and that my errand here prevents them from +legally swallowing up the spoil." + +Miss Dolly's idea of the law, in common with that of most young ladies, +suggested a horrible monster ravening to devour the fallen. And the fall +of the Carnes had long been a subject of romantic interest to her. + +"Oh, I see!" she exclaimed, with a look of deep wisdom. "I can quite +understand a thing like that, from what I have heard about witnesses. I +hope you will be very careful. My sister owes so much to you, and so do +I." + +"You must never speak of that again, unless you wish to grieve me. I +know that I have said too much about myself; but you alone care to know +anything about me; and that beguiles one out--out of one's wits. If I +speak bad English, you will forgive me. I have passed so many years +on the Continent, and am picking up the language of my childhood +very slowly. You will pardon me, when I am misled by--by my own +signification." + +"Well done!" cried the innocent Dolly. "Now that is the very first piece +of bad English you have used, to the best of my belief, and I am rather +quick in that. But you have not yet explained to me my own danger, +though you asked me to come here for that purpose, I believe." + +"But you shall not be so; you shall not be in danger. My life shall be +given for your defence. What imports my peril compared with yours? I am +not of cold blood. I will sacrifice all. Have faith in me purely, and +all shall be done." + +"All what?" Dolly asked, with a turn of common-sense, which is the most +provoking of all things sometimes; and she looked at him steadily, to +follow up her question. + +"You cannot be persuaded that you are in any danger. It is possible that +I have been too anxious. Do you speak the French language easily? Do you +comprehend it, when spoken quickly?" + +"Not a word of it. I have had to learn, of course, and can pronounce +very well, my last mistress said; but I cannot make it out at all in the +way the French people pronounce it, when one comes to talk with them." + +"It is very wrong of them, and the loss is theirs. They expect us to +copy them even in their language, because we do it in everything else. +Pardon me--one moment. May I look at the great enterprise which is to +glorify Springhaven? It is more than kind of you to be here instead of +there. But this, as I ventured to say, is a far better place to observe +the operation. Your words reminded me of Captain Desportes, who has +been, I think, your father's guest. A very gallant sailor, and famed for +the most unexpected exploits. Without doubt, he would have captured all +three ships, if he had not contrived to run his own aground." + +"How could he capture his own ship? I thought that you never dealt in +jokes. But if you dislike them, you seem to be fond of a little mystery. +I like the French captain very much, and he took the trouble to speak +slowly for me. My father says that he bears his misfortune nobly, and +like a perfect gentleman. Mr. Scudamore admires him, and they are great +friends. And yet, sir, you seem inclined to hint that I am in danger +from Captain Desportes!" + +"Ha! she is afloat! They have succeeded. I thought that they had so +arranged it. The brave ship spreads her pinions. How clever the people +of Springhaven are! If you will condescend to look through this glass, +you will see much embracing of the Saxon and the Gaul, or rather, I +should say, of the Saxon by the Gaul. Old Tugwell is not fond to be +embraced." + +"Oh, let me see that! I must see that!" cried Dolly, with all reserve +and caution flown; "to see Capp'en Zeb in the arms of a Frenchman--yes, +I declare, two have got him, if not three, and he puts his great back +against the mast to disentangle it. Oh, what will he do next? He has +knocked down two, in reply to excessive cordiality. What wonderful +creatures Frenchmen are! How kind it is of you to show me this! But +excuse me, Mr. Carne; there will be twenty people coming to the house +before I can get back almost. And the ship will salute the battery, +and the battery will return it. Look! there goes a great puff of smoke +already. They can see me up here, when they get to that corner." + +"But this spot is not private? I trust that I have not intruded. +Your father allows a sort of foot-path through this upper end of his +grounds?" + +"Yes, to all the villagers, and you are almost one of them; there is +no right of way at all; and they very seldom come this way, because it +leads to nowhere. Faith is fond of sitting here, to watch the sea, and +think of things. And so am I--sometimes, I mean." + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +LONG-PIPE TIMES + + +Daily now the roar and clank of war grew loud and louder, across the +narrow seas, and up the rivers, and around the quiet homes of England. +If any unusual cloud of dust, any moving shade, appeared afar, if the +tramp of horses in the lane were heard, or neigh of a colt from the +four-cross roads, people at dinner would start up and cry, "The French, +the French have landed!" while the men in the fields would get nearer +the hedge to peep through it, and then run away down the ditch. + +But the nation at large, and the governing powers, certainly were not +in any great fright. Nay, rather they erred, if at all, on the side +of tranquillity and self-confidence; as one who has been fired at with +blank-cartridge forgets that the click of the trigger will not tell him +when the bullet has been dropped in. The bullet was there this time; and +it missed the heart of Britannia, only through the failure of the powder +to explode all at once. + +It was some years before all this was known; even Nelson had no +perception of it; and although much alarm was indulged in on the sly, +the few who gave voice to it were condemned as faint-hearted fellows +and "alarmists." How then could Springhaven, which never had feared +any enemies, or even neighbours, depart from its habits, while still +an eye-witness of what had befallen the Frenchman? And in this state of +mind, having plenty to talk of, it did not (as otherwise must have been +done) attach any deep importance to the strange vagaries of the London +Trader. + +That great Institution, and Royal Exchange, as well as central embassy +of Fashion, had lately become most uncertain in its dates, which for +years had announced to loose-reckoning housewives the day of the week +and the hour to buy candles. Instead of coming home on a Saturday eve, +in the van of all the fishing fleet, returning their cheers and those of +customers on the beach, the London Trader arrived anywhen, as often in +the dark as daylight, never took the ground at all, and gave a very wide +berth to Captain Zeb Tugwell, his craft, and his crews. At times she +landed packages big and bulky, which would have been searched (in spite +of London bills of lading) if there had been any Custom-house here, +or any keen Officer of Customs. But these were delivered by daylight +always, and carted by Mr. Cheeseman's horse direct to his master's +cellars; and Cheeseman had told everybody that his wife, having come +into a little legacy, was resolved in spite of his advice to try a bit +of speculation in hardware, through her sister miles away at Uckfield. +Most of the neighbours liked Mrs. Cheeseman, because she gave good +weight (scarcely half an ounce short, with her conscience to her family +thrown in against it), as well as the soundest piece of gossip to be had +for the money in Springhaven. And therefore they wished her well, and +boxed their children's ears if they found them poking nose into her +packages. Mrs. Cheeseman shook her head when enquired of on the subject, +and said with grave truth that the Lord alone can tell how any of poor +people's doings may turn out. + +Some other things puzzled the village, and would in more sensible times +have produced a sensation. Why did Mr. Cheeseman now think nothing of as +much as three spots on his white linen apron, even in the first half of +the week? Why was he seldom at John Prater's now, and silent in a corner +even when he did appear? What was become of the ruddy polish, like that +of a Winter Redstrake, on his cheeks, which made a man long for a slice +of his ham? Why, the only joke he had made for the last three months was +a terrible one at his own expense. He had rushed down the street about +ten o'clock one morning, at a pace quite insane for a middle-aged man, +with no hat on his head and no coat on his back, but the strings of +his apron dashed wild on the breeze, and his biggest ham-carver making +flashes in his hand. It was thought that some boy must have run off with +a penny, or some visitor changed a bad shilling; but no, there was no +such good reason to give for it. + +The yearning of all ages, especially dotage, is for a relapse to the +infantile state when all playthings were held in common. And this wisest +of all places (in its own opinion) had a certain eccentric inclination +towards the poetic perfection when it will be impossible to steal, +because there will be nothing left worth stealing. Still everybody +here stuck to his own rights, and would knock down anybody across them, +though finding it very nice to talk as if others could have no such +standing-point. Moreover, they had sufficient common-sense to begin with +the right end foremost, and to take a tender interest in one another's +goods, moveable, handy, and divisible; instead of hungering after hungry +land, which feeds nobody, until itself well fed and tended, and is as +useless without a master as a donkey or a man is. The knowledge of these +rudiments of civilization was not yet lost at Springhaven; and while +everybody felt and even proved his desire to share a neighbour's +trouble, nobody meddled with any right of his, save his right to be +assisted. + +Among them throve the old English feeling of respect for ancient +families, which is nowadays called "toadyism" by those whom it baulks +of robbery. To trade upon this good-will is almost as low a thing as any +man can do, even when he does it for good uses. But to trade upon it, +for the harm of those who feel it, and the ruin of his country, is +without exception the very lowest--and this was what Caryl Carne was at. + +He looked at the matter in a wholly different light, and would have +stabbed any man who put it as above; for his sense of honour was as +quick and hot as it was crooked and misguided. His father had been +a true Carne, of the old stamp--hot-blooded, headstrong, stubborn, +wayward, narrow-minded, and often arrogant; but--to balance these faults +and many others--truthful, generous, kind-hearted, affectionate, staunch +to his friends, to his inferiors genial, loyal to his country, and +respectful to religion. And he might have done well, but for two sad +evils--he took a burdened property, and he plunged into a bad marriage. + +His wife, on the other hand, might have done well, if she had married +almost anybody else. But her nature was too like his own, with feminine +vanity and caprice, French conceit, and the pride of noble birth--in the +proudest age of nobility--hardening all her faults, and hammering the +rivets of her strong self-will. To these little difficulties must be +added the difference of religion; and though neither of them cared two +pins for that, it was a matter for crossed daggers. A pound of feathers +weighs as much as (and in some poise more than) a pound of lead, and +the leaden-headed Squire and the feather-headed Madame swung always at +opposite ends of the beam, until it broke between them. Tales of rough +conflict, imprisonment, starvation, and even vile blows, were told about +them for several years; and then "Madame la Comtesse" (as her husband +disdainfully called her) disappeared, carrying off her one child, Caryl. +She was still of very comely face and form; and the Squire made known to +all whom it concerned, and many whom it did not concern, that his French +wife had run away with a young Frenchman, according to the habit of +her race and kind. In support of this charge he had nothing whatever to +show, and his friends disbelieved it, knowing him to be the last man in +the world to leave such a wrong unresented. + +During the last three generations the fortunes of the Carnes had been +declining, slowly at first, and then faster and faster; and now they +fell with the final crash. The lady of high birth and great beauty had +brought nothing else into the family, but rather had impoverished it by +her settlement, and wild extravagance afterwards. Her husband Montagu +Carne staved off the evil day just for the present, by raising a large +sum upon second mortgage and the security of a trustful friend. But this +sum was dissipated, like the rest; for the Squire, being deeply wounded +by his wife's desertion, proved to the world his indifference about it +by plunging into still more reckless ways. He had none to succeed him; +for he vowed that the son of the adulteress--as he called her--should +never have Carne Castle; and his last mad act was to buy five-and-twenty +barrels of powder, wherewith to blow up his ancestral home. But ere he +could accomplish that stroke of business he stumbled and fell down the +old chapel steps, and was found the next morning by faithful Jeremiah, +as cold as the ivy which had caught his feet, and as dead as the stones +he would have sent to heaven. + +No marvel that his son had no love for his memory, and little for the +land that gave him birth. In very early days this boy had shown that +his French blood was predominant. He would bite, and kick, and scratch, +instead of striking, as an English child does, and he never cared for +dogs or horses, neither worshipped he the gamekeeper. France was the +proper land for him, as his mother always said with a sweet proud smile, +and his father with a sneer, or a brief word now condemned. And France +was the land for him (as facts ordained) to be nourished, and taught, +and grown into tall manhood, and formed into the principles and habitude +and character which every nation stamps upon the nature of its members. + +However, our strong point--like that of all others--is absolute freedom +from prejudice; and the few English people who met Caryl Carne were +well pleased with his difference from themselves. Even the enlightened +fishermen, imbued with a due contempt for Crappos, felt a kindly will +towards him, and were touched by his return to a ruined home and a +lonely life. But the women, romantic as they ought to be, felt a tender +interest in a young man so handsome and so unlucky, who lifted his hat +to them, and paid his way. + +Among the rising spirits of the place, who liked to take a larger +view, on the strength of more education, than their fathers had found +confirmed by life, Dan Tugwell was perhaps the foremost. In the present +days he might have been a hot radical, even a socialist; but things were +not come to that pass yet among people brought up to their duty. And +Dan's free sentiments had not been worked by those who make a trade of +such work now. So that he was pleased and respectful, instead of carping +and contradictory, when persons of higher position than his own would +discuss the condition of the times with him. Carne had discovered this, +although as a rule he said little to his neighbours, and for reasons of +his own he was striving to get a good hold upon this young fellow. +He knew that it could not be done in a moment, nor by any common +corruption; the mind of the youth being keen, clear-sighted, and +simple--by reason of soundness. Then Carne accidentally heard of +something, which encouraged and helped him in his design upon Dan. + +Business was slack upon the sea just now, but unusually active upon +land, a tide of gold having flowed into Springhaven, and bubbled up in +frying-pans and sparkled in new bonnets. The fishing fleet had captured +the finest French frigate--according to feminine history--that ever +endeavoured to capture them. After such a prisoner, let the fish go +free, till hunger should spring again in the human breast, or the part +that stands up under it. The hero of the whole (unlike most heroes) had +not succeeded in ruining himself by his services to his country, but was +able to go about patting his pocket, with an echo in his heart, every +time it tinkled, that a quantity more to come into it was lying +locked up in a drawer at home. These are the things that breed present +happiness in a noble human nature, all else being either of the future +or the past; and this is the reason why gold outweighs everything that +can be said against it. + +Captain Tugwell, in his pithy style, was wont to divide all human life +into two distinctive tenses--the long-pipe time and the short-pipe time. +The long-pipe time was of ease and leisure, comfort in the way of hot +victuals and cool pots, the stretching of legs without strain of muscle, +and that ever-fresh well-spring of delight to the hard worker, the +censorial but not censorious contemplation of equally fine fellows, +equally lazy, yet pegging hard, because of nothing in their pockets to +tap. Such were the golden periods of standing, or, still better, sitting +with his back against a tree, and a cool yard of clay between his gently +smiling lips, shaving with his girdle-knife a cake of rich tobacco, and +then milling it complacently betwixt his horny palms, with his resolute +eyes relaxing into a gentle gaze at the labouring sea, and the part +(where his supper soon would be) warming into a fine condition for it, +by good-will towards all the world. As for the short-pipe times, with +a bitter gale dashing the cold spray into his eyes, legs drenched with +sleet, and shivering to the fork, and shoulders racked with rheumatism +against the groaning mast, and the stump of a pipe keeping chatter with +his teeth--away with all thought of such hardship now, except what would +serve to fatten present comfort. + +But fatherly feeling and sense of right compelled Captain Zeb to check +idle enjoyment from going too far--i. e., further than himself. Every +other member of his family but himself, however good the times might +be, must work away as hard as ever, and earn whatever victuals it should +please the Lord to send them. There was always a job to be found, he +knew that, if a young man or maid had a mind for it; and "no silver no +supper" was the order of his house. His eldest son Dan was the first to +be driven--for a good example to the younger ones--and now he was set to +work full time and overtime, upon a heavy job at Pebbleridge. + +Young Daniel was not at all afraid of work, whenever there was any kind +of skill to be shown, or bodily strength to be proved by it. But the +present task was hateful to him; for any big-armed yokel, or common +wood-hewer, might have done as much as he could do, and perhaps more, +at it, and could have taken the same wage over it. Mr. Coggs, of +Pebbleridge, the only wheelwright within ten miles of Springhaven, had +taken a Government contract to supply within a certain time five hundred +spoke-wheels for ammunition tumbrils, and as many block-wheels for small +artillery; and to hack out these latter for better men to finish was the +daily task of Dan Tugwell. + +This job swelled his muscles and enlarged his calves, and fetched away +all the fat he had been enabled to form in loftier walks of art; but +these outward improvements were made at the expense of his inner and +nobler qualities. To hack and hew timber by the cubic foot, without any +growing pleasure of proportion or design, to knit the brows hard for a +struggle with knots, and smile the stern smile of destruction; and +then, after a long and rough walk in the dark--for the equinox now was +impending--to be joked at by his father (who had lounged about all +day), and have all his money told into the paternal pocket, with narrow +enquiries, each Saturday night. But worst of all to know that because he +was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he had no heart--no heart +that he could offer where he laid it; but there it must lie, and +be trodden on in silence, while rakish-looking popinjays--But this +reflection stopped him, for it was too bitter to be thought out, and +fetched down his quivering hand upon his axe. Enough that these things +did not tend to a healthy condition of mind, or the proper worship of +the British Constitution. However, he was not quite a Radical yet. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +FAIR IN THEORY + + +One Saturday evening, when the dusk was just beginning to smoothe the +break of billow and to blunt the edge of rock, young Dan Tugwell swung +his axe upon his shoulder, with the flag basket hanging from it in which +his food had been, and in a rather crusty state of mind set forth upon +his long walk home to Springhaven. As Harry Shanks had said, and +almost everybody knew, an ancient foot-path, little used, but never yet +obstructed, cut off a large bend of the shore, and saved half a mile +of plodding over rock and shingle. This path was very lonesome, and +infested with dark places, as well as waylaid with a very piteous ghost, +who never would keep to the spot where he was murdered, but might appear +at any shady stretch or woody corner. Dan Tugwell knew three courageous +men who had seen this ghost, and would take good care to avoid any +further interview, and his own faith in ghosts was as stanch as in gold; +yet such was his mood this evening that he determined to go that way +and chance it, not for the saving of distance, but simply because he +had been told in the yard that day that the foot-path was stopped by the +landowner. "We'll see about that," said Dan; and now he was going to see +about it. + +For the first field or two there was no impediment, except the usual +stile or gate; but when he had crossed a little woodland hollow, where +the fence of the castle grounds ran down to the brow of the cliff, he +found entrance barred. Three stout oak rails had been nailed across +from tree to tree, and on a board above them was roughly painted: "No +thoroughfare. Tresspassers will be prosecuted." For a moment the young +man hesitated, his dread of the law being virtuously deep, and his +mind well assured that his father would not back him up against settled +authorities. But the shame of turning back, and the quick sense of +wrong, which had long been demanding some outlet, conquered his calmer +judgment, and he cast the basket from his back. Then swinging his +favourite axe, he rushed at the oaken bars, and with a few strokes sent +them rolling down the steep bank-side. + +"That for your stoppage of a right of way!" he cried; "and now perhaps +you'll want to know who done it." + +To gratify this natural curiosity he drew a piece of chalk from his +pocket, and wrote on the notice-board in large round hand, "Daniel +Tugwell, son of Zebedee Tugwell, of Springhaven." But suddenly his smile +of satisfaction fled, and his face turned as white as the chalk in his +hand. At the next turn of the path, a few yards before him, in the gray +gloom cast by an ivy-mantled tree, stood a tall dark figure, with the +right arm raised. The face was indistinct, but (as Dan's conscience +told him) hostile and unforgiving; there was nothing to reflect a ray +of light, and there seemed to be a rustle of some departure, like the +spirit fleeing. + +The ghost! What could it be but the ghost? Ghosts ought to be white; but +terror scorns all prejudice. Probably this murdered one was buried in +his breeches. Dan's heart beat quicker than his axe had struck; and his +feet were off to beat the ground still quicker. But no Springhaven lad +ever left his baggage. Dan leaped aside first to catch up his basket, +and while he stooped for it, he heard a clear strong voice. + +"Who are you, that have dared to come and cut my fence down?" + +No ghost could speak like that, even if he could put a fence up. The +inborn courage of the youth revived, and the shame of his fright made +him hardier. He stepped forward again, catching breath as he spoke, and +eager to meet any man in the flesh. + +"I am Daniel Tugwell, of Springhaven. And no living man shall deny me of +my rights. I have a right to pass here, and I mean to do it." + +Caryl Carne, looking stately in his suit of black velvet, drew sword and +stood behind the shattered barrier. "Are you ready to run against this?" +he asked. "Poor peasant, go back; what are your rights worth?" + +"I could smash that skewer at a blow," said Daniel, flourishing his axe +as if to do it; "but my rights, as you say, are not worth the hazard. +What has a poor man to do with rights? Would you stop a man of your own +rank, Squire Carne?" + +"Ah, that would be a different thing indeed! Justice wears a sword, +because she is of gentle birth. Work-people with axes must not prate +of rights, or a prison will be their next one. Your right is to be +disdained, young man, because you were not born a gentleman; and your +duty is to receive scorn with your hat off. You like it, probably, +because your father did. But come in, Daniel; I will not deny you of the +only right an English peasant has--the right of the foot to plod in +his father's footsteps. The right of the hand, and the tongue, and the +stomach--even the right of the eye is denied him; but by some freak of +law he has some little right of foot, doubtless to enable him to go and +serve his master." + +Dan was amazed, and his better sense aroused. Why should this gentleman +step out of the rank of his birth, to talk in this way? Now and then Dan +himself had indulged in such ideas, but always with a doubt that they +were wicked, and not long enough to make them seem good in his eyes. He +knew that some fellows at "the Club" talked thus; but they were a lot of +idle strangers, who came there chiefly to corrupt the natives, and work +the fish trade out of their hands. These wholesome reflections made him +doubt about accepting Squire Carne's invitation; and it would have been +good for him if that doubt had prevailed, though he trudged a thousand +miles for it. + +"What! Break down a fence, and then be afraid to enter! That is the +style of your race, friend Daniel. That is why you never get your +rights, even when you dare to talk of them. I thought you were made of +different stuff. Go home and boast that you shattered my fence, and +then feared to come through it, when I asked you." Carne smiled at his +antagonist, and waved his hand. + +Dan leaped in a moment through the hanging splinters, and stood before +the other, with a frown upon his face. "Then mind one thing, sir," he +said, with a look of defiance, while touching his hat from force of +habit, "I pass here, not with your permission, but of right." + +"Very well. Let us not split words," said Carne, who had now quite +recovered his native language. "I am glad to find a man that dares to +claim his rights, in the present state of England. I am going towards +Springhaven. Give me the pleasure of your company, and the benefit of +your opinion upon politics. I have heard the highest praise of your +abilities, my friend. Speak to me just as you would to one of your +brother fishermen. By the accident of birth I am placed differently from +you; and in this country that makes all the difference between a man +and a dog, in our value. Though you may be, and probably are, the better +man--more truthful, more courageous, more generous, more true-hearted, +and certain to be the more humble of the two. I have been brought up +where all men are equal, and the things I see here make a new world to +me. Very likely these are right, and all the rest of the world quite +wrong. Englishmen always are certain of that; and as I belong to the +privileged classes, my great desire is to believe it. Only I want to +know how the lower orders--the dregs, the scum, the dirt under our +feet, the slaves that do all the work and get starved for it--how these +trampled wretches regard the question. If they are happy, submissive, +contented, delighted to lick the boots of their betters, my conscience +will be clear to accept their homage, and their money for any stick +of mine they look at. But you have amazed me by a most outrageous act. +Because the lower orders have owned a path here for some centuries, you +think it wrong that they should lose their right. Explain to me, Daniel, +these extraordinary sentiments." + +"If you please, sir," said Dan, who was following in the track, though +invited to walk by the side, of Caryl Carne, "I can hardly tell you how +the lower orders feel, because father and me don't belong to them. Our +family have always owned their own boat, and worked for their own hand, +this two hundred years, and, for all we know, ever since the Romans was +here. We call them the lower orders, as come round to pick up jobs, and +have no settlement in our village." + +"A sound and very excellent distinction, Dan. But as against those who +make the laws, and take good care to enforce them, even you (though of +the upper rank here) must be counted of the lower order. For instance, +can you look at a pheasant, or a hare, without being put into prison? +Can you dine in the same room with Admiral Darling, or ask how his gout +is, without being stared at?" + +"No, sir. He would think it a great impertinence, even if I dared to do +such a thing. But my father might do it, as a tenant and old neighbour. +Though he never gets the gout, when he rides about so much." + +"What a matter-of-fact youth it is! But to come to things every man has +a right to. If you saved the life of one of the Admiral's daughters, +and she fell in love with you, as young people will, would you dare even +lift your eyes to her? Would you not be kicked out of the house and the +parish, if you dared to indulge the right of every honest heart? +Would you dare to look upon her as a human being, of the same order of +creation as yourself, who might one day be your wife, if you were true +and honest, and helped to break down the absurd distinctions built up by +vile tyranny between you? In a word, are you a man--as every man is on +the Continent--or only an English slave, of the lower classes?" + +The hot flush of wrath, and the soft glow of shame, met and deepened +each other on the fair cheeks of this "slave"; while his mind would +not come to him to make a fit reply. That his passion for Dolly, his +hopeless passion, should thus be discovered by a man of her own rank, +but not scorned or ridiculed, only pitied, because of his want of manly +spirit; that he should be called a "slave" because of honest modesty, +and even encouraged in his wild hopes by a gentleman, who had seen all +the world, and looked down from a lofty distance on it; that in his +true estimate of things there should be nothing but prejudice, low and +selfish prejudice, between--Well, he could not think it out; that would +take him many hours; let this large-minded man begin again. It was so +dark now, that if he turned round on him, unless he was a cat, he would +be no wiser. + +"You do well to take these things with some doubt," continued Carne, too +sagacious to set up argument, which inures even young men in their own +opinions; "if I were in your place, I should do the same. Centuries of +oppression have stamped out the plain light of truth in those who are +not allowed it. To me, as an individual, it is better so. Chance has +ordained that I should belong to the order of those who profit by it. +It is against my interest to speak as I have done. Am I likely to desire +that my fences should be broken, my property invaded, the distinction so +pleasing to me set aside, simply because I consider it a false one? No, +no, friend Daniel; it is not for me to move. The present state of things +is entirely in my favour. And I never give expression to my sense of +right and wrong, unless it is surprised from me by circumstances. Your +bold and entirely just proceedings have forced me to explain why I +feel no resentment, but rather admiration, at a thing which any other +land-owner in England would not rest in his bed until he had avenged. He +would drag you before a bench of magistrates and fine you. Your father, +if I know him, would refuse to pay the fine; and to prison you would +go, with the taint of it to lie upon your good name forever. The penalty +would be wrong, outrageous, ruinous; no rich man would submit to it, but +a poor man must. Is this the truth, Daniel, or is it what it ought to +be--a scandalous misdescription of the laws of England?" + +"No, sir; it is true enough, and too true, I am afraid. I never thought +of consequences, when I used my axe. I only thought of what was right, +and fair, and honest, as between a man who has a right, and one who +takes it from him." + +"That is the natural way to look at things, but never permitted in +this country. You are fortunate in having to deal with one who has been +brought up in a juster land, where all mankind are equal. But one thing +I insist upon; and remember it is the condition of my forbearance. Not +a single word to any one about your dashing exploit. No gentleman in the +county would ever speak to me again, if I were known to have put up with +it." + +"I am sure, sir," said Daniel, in a truly contrite tone, "I never should +have done such an impudent thing against you, if I had only known what a +nice gentleman you are. I took you for nothing but a haughty land-owner, +without a word to fling at a poor fisherman. And now you go ever so far +beyond what the Club doth, in speaking of the right that every poor man +hasn't. I could listen to you by the hour, sir, and learn the difference +between us and abroad." + +"Tugwell, I could tell you things that would make a real man of you. But +why should I? You are better as you are; and so are we who get all the +good out of you. And besides, I have no time for politics at present. +All my time is occupied with stern business--collecting the ruins of my +property." + +"But, sir--but you come down here sometimes from the castle in the +evening; and if I might cross, without claiming right of way, sometimes +I might have the luck to meet you." + +"Certainly you may pass, as often as you please, and so may anybody who +sets value on his rights. And if I should meet you again, I shall be +glad of it. You can open my eyes, doubtless, quite as much as I can +yours. Good-night, my friend, and better fortunes to you!" + +"It was worth my while to nail up those rails," Carne said to himself, +as he went home to his ruins. "I have hooked that clod, as firm as ever +he hooked a cod. But, thousand thunders! what does he mean, by going +away without touching his hat to me?" + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +FOUL IN PRACTICE + + +"I hope, my dear, that your ride has done you good," said the Rector's +wife to the Rector, as he came into the hall with a wonderfully red +face, one fine afternoon in October. "If colour proves health, you have +gained it." + +"Maria, I have not been so upset for many years. Unwholesome indignation +dyes my cheeks, and that is almost as bad as indigestion. I have had +quite a turn--as you women always put it. I am never moved by little +things, as you know well, and sometimes to your great disgust; but +to-day my troubles have conspired to devour me. I am not so young as I +was, Maria. And what will the parish come to, if I give in?" + +"Exactly, dear; and therefore you must not give in." Mrs. Twemlow +replied with great spirit, but her hands were trembling as she helped +him to pull off his new riding-coat. "Remember your own exhortations, +Joshua--I am sure they were beautiful--last Sunday. But take something, +dear, to restore your circulation. A reaction in the system is so +dangerous." + +"Not anything at present," Mr. Twemlow answered, firmly; "these mental +cares are beyond the reach of bodily refreshments. Let me sit down, and +be sure where I am, and then you may give me a glass of treble X. In +the first place, the pony nearly kicked me off, when that idiot of a +Stubbard began firing from his battery. What have I done, or my peaceful +flock, that a noisy set of guns should be set up amidst us? However, I +showed Juniper that he had a master, though I shall find it hard to +come down-stairs tomorrow. Well, the next thing was that I saw James +Cheeseman, Church-warden Cheeseman, Buttery Cheeseman, as the bad boys +call him, in the lane, in front of me not more than thirty yards, as +plainly as I now have the pleasure of seeing you, Maria; and while I +said 'kuck' to the pony, he was gone! I particularly wished to speak to +Cheeseman, to ask him some questions about things I have observed, and +especially his sad neglect of public worship--a most shameful example +on the part of a church-warden--and I was thinking how to put it, +affectionately yet firmly, when, to my great surprise, there was no +Cheeseman to receive it! I called at his house on my return, about three +hours afterwards, having made up my mind to have it out with him, when +they positively told me--or at least Polly Cheeseman did--that I must be +mistaken about her 'dear papa,' because he was gone in the pony-shay all +the way to Uckfield, and would not be back till night." + +"The nasty little story-teller!" Mrs. Twemlow cried. "But I am not at +all surprised at it, when I saw how she had got her hair done up, last +Sunday." + +"No; Polly believed it. I am quite sure of that. But what I want to tell +you is much stranger and more important, though it cannot have anything +at all to do with Cheeseman. You know, I told you I was going for a good +long ride; but I did not tell you where, because I knew that you would +try to stop me. But the fact was that I had made up my mind to see what +Caryl Carne is at, among his owls and ivy. You remember the last time +I went to the old place I knocked till I was tired, but could get no +answer, and the window was stopped with some rusty old spiked railings, +where we used to be able to get in at the side. All the others are out +of reach, as you know well; and being of a yielding nature, I came +sadly home. And at that time I still had some faith in your friend Mrs. +Stubbard, who promised to find out all about him, by means of Widow +Shanks and the Dimity-parlour. But nothing has come of that. Poor Mrs. +Stubbard is almost as stupid as her husband; and as for Widow Shanks--I +am quite sure, Maria, if your nephew were plotting the overthrow of +King, Church, and Government, that deluded woman would not listen to a +word against him." + +"She calls him a model, and a blessed martyr"--Mrs. Twemlow was smiling +at the thought of it; "and she says she is a woman of great penetration, +and never will listen to anything. But it only shows what I have always +said, that our family has a peculiar power, a sort of attraction, a +superior gift of knowledge of their own minds, which makes them--But +there, you are laughing at me, Joshua!" + +"Not I; but smiling at my own good fortune, that ever I get my own +way at all. But, Maria, you are right; your family has always +been distinguished for having its own way--a masterful race, and a +mistressful. And so much the more do the rest of mankind grow eager to +know all about them. In an ordinary mind, such as mine, that feeling +becomes at last irresistible; and finding no other way to gratify it, +I resolved to take the bull by the horns, or rather by the tail, this +morning. The poor old castle has been breaking up most grievously, even +within the last twenty years, and you, who have played as a child among +the ruins of the ramparts, would scarcely know them now. You cannot bear +to go there, which is natural enough, after all the sad things that have +happened; but if you did, you would be surprised, Maria; and I believe a +great part has been knocked down on purpose. But you remember the little +way in from the copse, where you and I, five-and-thirty years ago--" + +"Of course I do, darling. It seems but yesterday; and I have a flower +now which you gathered for me there. It grew at a very giddy height upon +the wall, full of cracks and places where the evening-star came through; +but up you went, like a rocket or a race-horse; and what a fright I was +in, until you came down safe! I think that must have made up my mind to +have nobody except my Joshua." + +"Well, my dear, you might have done much worse. But I happened to think +of that way in, this morning, when you put up your elbow, as you made +the tea, exactly as you used to do when I might come up there. And that +set me thinking of a quantity of things, and among them this plan which +I resolved to carry out. I took the trouble first to be sure that Caryl +was down here for the day, under the roof of Widow Shanks; and then I +set off by the road up the hill, for the stronghold of all the Carnes. +Without further peril than the fight with the pony, and the strange +apparition of Cheeseman about half a mile from the back entrance, I came +to the copse where the violets used to be, and the sorrel, and the lords +and ladies. There I tethered our friend Juniper in a quiet little nook, +and crossed the soft ground, without making any noise, to the place we +used to call our little postern. It looked so sad, compared with what +it used to be, so desolate and brambled up and ruinous, that I scarcely +should have known it, except for the gray pedestal of the prostrate dial +we used to moralise about. And the ground inside it, that was nice turf +once, with the rill running down it that perhaps supplied the moat--all +stony now, and overgrown, and tangled, with ugly-looking elder-bushes +sprawling through the ivy. To a painter it might have proved very +attractive; but to me it seemed so dreary, and so sombre, and +oppressive, that, although I am not sentimental, as you know, I actually +turned away, to put my little visit off, until I should be in better +spirits for it. And that, my dear Maria, would in all probability have +been never. + +"But before I had time to begin my retreat, a very extraordinary sound, +which I cannot describe by any word I know, reached my ears. It was not +a roar, nor a clank, nor a boom, nor a clap, nor a crash, nor a thud, +but if you have ever heard a noise combining all those elements, with a +small percentage of screech to enliven them, that comes as near it as I +can contrive to tell. We know from Holy Scripture that there used to be +such creatures as dragons, though we have never seen them; but I seemed +to be hearing one as I stood there. It was just the sort of groan you +might have expected from a dragon, who had swallowed something highly +indigestible." + +"My dear! And he might have swallowed you, if you had stopped. How could +you help running away, my Joshua? I should have insisted immediately +upon it. But you are so terribly intrepid!" + +"Far from it, Maria. Quite the contrary, I assure you. In fact, I did +make off, for a considerable distance; not rapidly as a youth might do, +but with self-reproach at my tardiness. But the sound ceased coming; and +then I remembered how wholly we are in the hand of the Lord. A sense of +the power of right rose within me, backed up by a strong curiosity; and +I said to myself that if I went home, with nothing more than that to +tell you, I should not have at all an easy time of it. Therefore I +resolved to face the question again, and ascertain, if possible, without +self-sacrifice, what was going on among the ruins. You know every stick +and stone, as they used to be, but not as they are at present; therefore +I must tell you. The wall at the bottom of the little Dial-court, where +there used to be a sweet-briar hedge to come through, is entirely gone, +either tumbled down or knocked down--the latter I believe to be the +true reason of it. Also, instead of sweet-briar, there is now a very +flourishing crop of sting-nettles. But the wall at the side of the +little court stands almost as sound as ever; and what surprised me most +was to see, when I got further, proceeding of course very quietly, that +the large court beyond (which used to be the servants' yard, and the +drying-ground, and general lounging-place) had a timber floor laid down +it, with a rope on either side, a long heavy rope on either side; +and these ropes were still quivering, as if from a heavy strain just +loosened. All this I could see, because the high door with the spikes, +that used to part the Dial-court from this place of common business, was +fallen forward from its upper hinge, and splayed out so that I could put +my fist through. + +"By this time I had quite recovered all my self-command, and was as calm +as I am now, or even calmer, because I was under that reaction which +ensues when a sensible man has made a fool of himself. I perceived, +without thinking, that the sound which had so scared me proceeded from +this gangway, or timberway, or staging, or whatever may be the right +word for it; and I made up my mind to stay where I was, only stooping a +little with my body towards the wall, to get some idea of what might be +going forward. And then I heard a sort of small hubbub of voices, such +as foreigners make when they are ordered to keep quiet, and have to +carry on a struggle with their noisy nature. + +"This was enough to settle my decision not to budge an inch, until +I knew what they were up to. I could not see round the corner, +mind--though ladies seem capable of doing that, Maria--and so these +fellows, who seemed to be in two lots, some at the top and some at the +bottom of the plankway, were entirely out of my sight as yet, though I +had a good view of their sliding-plane. But presently the ropes began to +strain and creak, drawn taut--as our fishermen express it--either +from the upper or the lower end, and I saw three barrels come sliding +down--sliding, not rolling (you must understand), and not as a brewer +delivers beer into a cellar. These passed by me; and after a little +while there came again that strange sepulchral sound, which had made me +feel so uneasy. + +"Maria, you know that I can hold my own against almost anybody in +the world but you; and although this place is far outside my parish +boundaries, I felt that as the Uncle of the present owner--so far at +least as the lawyers have not snapped him up--and the brother-in-law +of the previous proprietor, I possessed an undeniable legal right--quo +warranto, or whatever it is called--to look into all proceedings on +these premises. Next to Holy Scripture, Horace is my guide and guardian; +and I called to mind a well-known passage, which may roughly be rendered +thus: 'If the crushed world tumble on him, the ruins shall strike him +undismayed.' With this in my head, I went softly down the side-wall of +the Dial-court (for there was no getting through the place where I had +been peeping) to the bottom, where there used to be an old flint wall, +and a hedge of sweet-briar in front of it. You remember the pretty +conceit I made--quaint and wholesome as one of Herrick's--when you said +something--but I verily believe we were better in those days than we +ever have been since. Now don't interrupt me about that, my dear. + +"Some of these briars still were there, or perhaps some of their +descendants, straggling weakly among the nettles, and mullein, and other +wild stuff, but making all together a pretty good screen, through which +I could get a safe side-view of the bottom of the timber gangway. So +I took off my hat, for some ruffian fellows like foreign sailors were +standing below, throwing out their arms, and making noises in their +throats, because not allowed to scream as usual. It was plain enough at +once to any one who knew the place, that a large hole had been cut in +the solid castle wall, or rather, a loophole had been enlarged very +freely on either side, and brought down almost to the level of the +ground outside. On either side of this great opening stood three heavy +muskets at full cock, and it made my blood run cold to think how likely +some fatal discharge appeared. If I had been brought up to war, Maria, +as all the young people are bound to be now, I might have been more at +home with such matters, and able to reconnoitre calmly; but I thought of +myself, and of you, and Eliza, and what a shocking thing it would be for +all of us--but a merciful Providence was over me. + +"Too late I regretted the desire for knowledge, which had led me into +this predicament, for I durst not rush off from my very sad position, +for my breath would soon fail me, and my lower limbs are thick from the +exercise of hospitality. How I longed for the wings of a dove, or at +any rate for the legs of Lieutenant Blyth Scudamore! And my dark +apprehensions gained double force when a stone was dislodged by my foot +(which may have trembled), and rolled with a sharp echo down into the +ballium, or whatever it should be called, where these desperadoes stood. +In an instant three of them had their long guns pointed at the very +thicket which sheltered me, and if I had moved or attempted to make +off, there would have been a vacancy in this preferment. But luckily a +rabbit, who had been lying as close as I had, and as much afraid of me +perhaps as I was of those ruffians, set off at full speed from the hop +of the stone, and they saw him, and took him for the cause of it. This +enabled me to draw my breath again, and consider the best way of making +my escape, for I cared to see nothing more, except my own house-door. + +"Happily the chance was not long in coming. At a shout from below--which +seemed to me to be in English, and sounded uncommonly like 'now, +then!'--all those fellows turned their backs to me, and began very +carefully to lower, one by one, the barrels that had been let down +the incline. And other things were standing there, besides barrels: +packing-cases, crates, very bulky-looking boxes, and low massive wheels, +such as you often see to artillery. You know what a vast extent there +is of cellars and vaults below your old castle, most of them nearly as +sound as ever, and occupied mainly by empty bottles, and the refuse +of past hospitality. Well, they are going to fill these with +something--French wines, smuggled brandy, contraband goods of every kind +you can think of, so long as high profit can be made of them. That is +how your nephew Caryl means to redeem his patrimony. No wonder that he +has been so dark and distant! It never would have done to let us get the +least suspicion of it, because of my position in the Church, and in the +Diocese. By this light a thousand things are clear to me, which exceeded +all the powers of the Sphinx till now." + +"But how did you get away, my darling Joshua?" Mrs. Twemlow enquired, +as behoved her. "So fearless, so devoted, so alive to every call of +duty--how could you stand there, and let the wretches shoot at you?" + +"By taking good care not to do it," the Rector answered, simply. "No +sooner were all their backs towards me, than I said to myself that +the human race happily is not spiderine. I girt up my loins, or rather +fetched my tails up under my arms very closely, and glided away, with +the silence of the serpent, and the craft of the enemy of our fallen +race. Great care was needful, and I exercised it; and here you behold +me, unshot and unshot-at, and free from all anxiety, except a pressing +urgency for a bowl of your admirable soup, Maria, and a cut from the +saddle I saw hanging in the cellar." + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +MATERNAL ELOQUENCE + + +Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof; and more than sufficient +with most of us. Mr. Twemlow and his wife resolved discreetly, after a +fireside council, to have nothing to say to Carne Castle, or about it, +save what might be forced out of them. They perceived most clearly, and +very deeply felt, how exceedingly wrong it is for anybody to transgress, +or even go aside of, the laws of his country, as by Statute settled. +Still, if his ruin had been chiefly legal; if he had been brought up +under different laws, and in places where they made those things which +he desired to deal in; if it was clear that those things were good, and +their benefit might be extended to persons who otherwise could have no +taste of them; above all, if it were the first and best desire of all +who heard of it to have their own fingers in the pie--then let others +stop it, who by duty and interest were so minded; the Rector was not in +the Commission of the Peace--though he ought to have been there years +ago--and the breach of the law, if it came to that, was outside of his +parish boundary. The voice of the neighbourhood would be with him, for +not turning against his own nephew, even if it ever should come to be +known that he had reason for suspicions. + +It is hard to see things in their proper light, if only one eye has a +fly in it; but if both are in that sad condition, who shall be blamed +for winking? Not only the pastor, but all his flock, were in need of +wire spectacles now, to keep their vision clear and their foreheads +calm. Thicker than flies around the milk-pail, rumours came flitting +daily; and even the night--that fair time of thinking--was busy with +buzzing multitude. + +"Long time have I lived, and a sight have I seed," said Zebedee Tugwell +to his wife, "of things as I couldn't make no head nor tail of; but +nothing to my knowledge ever coom nigh the sort of way our folk has +taken to go on. Parson Twemlow told us, when the war began again, that +the Lord could turn us all into Frenchmen, if we sinned against Him +more than He could bear. I were fool enough to laugh about it then, +not intaking how it could be on this side of Kingdom Come, where no +distinction is of persons. But now, there it is--a thing the Almighty +hath in hand; and who shall say Him nay, when He layeth His hand to it?" + +"I reckon, 'a hath begun with you too, Zeb," Mrs. Tugwell would answer, +undesirably. "To be always going on so about trash trifles, as a woman +hath a right to fly up at, but no man! Surely Dan hath a right to his +politics and his parables, as much as any lame old chap that sitteth on +a bench. He works hard all day, and he airns his money; and any man hath +a right to wag his tongue of night-time, when his arms and his legs have +been wagging all day." + +"Depends upon how he wags 'un." The glance of old Tugwell was stern, as +he spoke, and his eyebrows knitted over it. "If for a yarn, to plaise +children or maidens, or a bit of argyment about his business, or talk +about his neighbours, or aught that consarns him--why, lads must be +fools, and I can smoke my pipe and think that at his age I was like him. +But when it comes to talking of his betters, and the Government, and +the right of everybody to command the ship, and the soup--soup, what was +it?" + +"Superior position of the working classes, dignity of labour, +undefeasible rights of mankind to the soil as they was born in, and +soshallistick--something." + +"So--shall--I--stick equality," Mr. Tugwell amended, triumphantly; "and +so shall I stick him, by the holy poker, afore the end of the week is +out. I've a-been fool enough to leave off ropesending of him now for a +matter of two years, because 'a was good, and outgrowing of it like, and +because you always coom between us. But mind you, mother, I'll have none +of that, next time. Business I means, and good measure it shall be." + +"Zeb Tugwell," said his wife, longing greatly to defy him, but +frightened by the steadfast gaze she met, "you can never mean to say +that you would lay your hand on Dan--a grown man, a'most as big as +yourself, and a good half-head taller! Suppose he was to hit you back +again!" + +"If he did, I should just kill him," Zeb answered, calmly. "He would +be but a jellyfish in my two hands. But there, I'll not talk about it, +mother. No need to trouble you with it. 'Tis none of my seeking--the +Lord in heaven knows--but a job as He hath dutified for me to do. I'll +go out, and have my pipe, and dwell on it." + +"And I may lay a deal of it on myself," Mrs. Tugwell began to moan, as +soon as he was gone; "for I have cockered Dan up, and there's no denying +it, afore Tim, or Tryphena, or Tabby, or Debby, or even little Solomon. +Because he were the first, and so like his dear father, afore he got +on in the world so. Oh, it all comes of that, all the troubles comes of +that, and of laying up of money, apart from your wife, and forgetting +almost of her Christian name! And the very same thing of it--money, +money, and the getting on with breeches that requireth no mending, and +the looking over Church-books at gay young ladies--all of it leadeth +to the same bad end of his betters, and the Government, and the +Soshallistick Quality. + +"Why, with all these mercies," continued Mrs. Tugwell, though not in a +continuous frame of mind, as Daniel came in, with a slow heavy step, and +sat down by the fire in silence, "all these mercies, as are bought and +paid for, from one and sixpence up to three half-crowns, and gives no +more trouble beyond dusting once a week--how any one can lay his eyes +on other people's property, without consideration of his own, as will be +after his poor mother's time, is to me quite a puzzle and a pin-prick. +Not as if they was owing for, or bought at auction, or so much as beaten +down by sixpence, but all at full price and own judgment, paid for by +airnings of labour and perils of the deep. And as Widow Shanks said, the +last time she was here, by spoiling of the enemies of England, who makes +us pay tremenjious for 'most everything we lives on. And I know who +would understand them crackeries, and dust them when I be gone to +dust, and see her own pretty face in them, whenever they has the +back-varnish." + +Dan knew that the future fair owner and duster designed by his mother +was Miss Cheeseman, towards whom he had cherished tender yearnings in +the sensible and wholesome days. And if Polly Cheeseman had hung herself +on high--which she might have done without a bit of arrogance--perhaps +she would still have been to this young man the star of fate and glory, +instead of a dip, thirty-two to the pound; the like whereof she sold +for a farthing. Distance makes the difference. "He that won't allow heed +shall pay dear in his need;" the good mother grew warm, as the son began +to whistle; "and to my mind, Master Dan, it won't be long afore you have +homer things to think of than politics. 'Politics is fiddle-sticks' was +what men of my age used to say; sensible men with a house and freehold, +and a pig of their own, and experience. And such a man I might have had, +and sensible children by him, children as never would have whistled at +their mother, if it hadn't been for your poor father, Dan. Misguided he +may be, and too much of his own way, and not well enough in his own mind +to take in a woman's--but for all that he hath a right to be honoured by +his children, and to lead their minds in matters touching of the King, +and Church, and true religion. Why only last night, no, the night afore +last, I met Mrs. Prater, and I said to her--" + +"You told me all that, mother; and it must have been a week ago; for I +have heard it every night this week. What is it you desire that I should +do, or say, or think?" + +"Holy mercy!" cried Mrs. Tugwell, "what a way to put things, Dan! All +I desire is for your good only, and so leading on to the comfort of the +rest. For the whole place goes wrong, and the cat sits in the corner, +when you go on with politics as your dear father grunts at. No doubt it +may all be very fine and just, and worth a man giving his life for, if +he don't care about it, nor nobody else--but even if it was to keep the +French out, and yourn goeth nearer to letting them in, what difference +of a button would it make to us, Dan, compared to our sticking together, +and feeding with a knowledge and a yielding to the fancies of each +other?" + +"I am sure it's no fault of mine," said Daniel, moved from his high +ropes by this last appeal; "to me it never matters twopence what I have +for dinner, and you saw me give Tim all the brown of the baked potatoes +the very last time I had my dinner here. But what comes above all those +little bothers is the necessity for insisting upon freedom of opinion. I +don't pretend to be so old as my father, nor to know so much as he knows +about the world in general. But I have read a great deal more than he +has, of course, because he takes a long time to get a book with the +right end to him; and I have thought, without knowing it, about what I +have read, and I have heard very clever men (who could have no desire +to go wrong, but quite the other way) carrying on about these high +subjects, beyond me, but full of plain language. And I won't be forced +out of a word of it by fear." + +"But for love of your mother you might keep it under, and think it all +inside you, without bringing of it out, in the presence of your elders. +You know what your father is--a man as never yet laid his tongue to a +thing without doing of it--right or wrong, right or wrong; and this time +he hath right, and the law, and the Lord, and the King himself, to the +side of him. And a rope's-end in his pocket, Dan, as I tried to steal +away, but he were too wide-awake. Such a big hard one you never did +see!" + +"A rope's end for me, well turned twenty years of age!" cried Daniel, +with a laugh, but not a merry one; "two can play at that game, mother. +I'll not be ropes ended by nobody." + +"Then you'll be rope-noosed;" the poor mother fell into the settle, away +from the fire-light, and put both hands over her eyes, to shut out the +spectacle of Dan dangling; "or else your father will be, for you. Ever +since the Romans, Dan, there have been Tugwells, and respected ten times +more than they was. Oh do 'e, do 'e think; and not bring us all to the +grave, and then the gallows! Why I can mind the time, no more agone than +last Sunday, when you used to lie here in the hollow of my arm, without +a stitch of clothes on, and kind people was tempted to smack you in +pleasure, because you did stick out so prettily. For a better-formed +baby there never was seen, nor a finer-tempered one, when he had his +way. And the many nights I walked the floor with you, Dan, when your +first tooth was coming through, the size of a horse-radish, and your +father most wonderful to put up with my coo to you, when he had not had +a night in bed for nigh three weeks--oh, Dan, do 'e think of things as +consarneth your homer life, and things as is above all reason; and let +they blessed politics go home to them as trades in them." + +Mrs. Tugwell's tender recollections had given her a pain in the part +where Dan was nursed, and driven her out of true logical course; but she +came back to it, before Dan had time to finish the interesting pictures +of himself which she had suggested. + +"Now can you deny a word of that, Dan? And if not, what is there more to +say? You was smacked as a little babe, by many people kindly, when ever +so much tenderer than you now can claim to be. And in those days you +never could have deserved it yet, not having framed a word beyond 'Mam,' +and 'Da,' and both of those made much of, because doubtful. There was +nothing about the Constitooshun then, but the colour of the tongue and +the condition of the bowels; and if any fool had asked you what politics +was, you would have sucked your thumb, and offered them to suck it; for +generous you always was, and just came after. And what cry have bigger +folk, grown upright and wicked, to make about being smacked, when they +deserve it, for meddling with matters outside of their business, by +those in authority over them?" + +"Well, mother, I daresay you are right, though I don't altogether see +the lines of it. But one thing I will promise you--whatever father does +to me, I will not lift a hand against him. But I must be off. I am late +already." + +"Where to, Dan? Where to? I always used to know, even if you was going +courting. Go a-courting, Dan, as much as ever you like, only don't make +no promises. But whatever you do, keep away from that bad, wicked, Free +and Frisky Club, my dear." + +"Mother, that's the very place I am just bound to. After all you have +said, I would have stayed away to-night, except for being on the list, +and pledged in honour to twenty-eight questions, all bearing upon the +grand issues of the age." + +"I don't know no more than the dead, what that means, Dan. But I know +what your father has got in his pocket for you. And he said the next +time you went there, you should have it." + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +PATERNAL DISCIPLINE + + +"The Fair, Free, and Frisky"--as they called themselves, were not of +a violent order at all, neither treasonable, nor even disloyal. Their +Club, if it deserved the name, had not been of political, social, or +even convivial intention, but had lapsed unawares into all three uses, +and most of all that last mentioned. The harder the times are, the more +confidential (and therefore convivial) do Englishmen become; and if +Free-trade survives with us for another decade, it will be the death of +total abstinence. But now they had bad times, without Free-trade--that +Goddess being still in the goose-egg--and when two friends met, without +a river between them, they were bound to drink one another's health, and +did it, without the unstable and cold-blooded element. The sense of this +duty was paramount among the "Free and Frisky," and without it their +final cause would have vanished long ago, and therewith their formal +one. + +None of the old-established folk of the blue blood of Springhaven, +such as the Tugwells, the Shankses, the Praters, the Bowleses, the +Stickfasts, the Blocks, or the Kedgers, would have anything to do +with this Association, which had formed itself among them, like +an anti-corn-law league, for the destruction of their rights and +properties. Its origin had been commercial, and its principles +aggressive, no less an outrage being contemplated than the purchase of +fish at low figures on the beach, and the speedy distribution of that +slippery ware among the nearest villages and towns. But from time +immemorial the trade had been in the hands of a few staunch factors, +who paid a price governed by the seasons and the weather, and sent +the commodity as far as it would go, with soundness, and the hope of +freshness. Springhaven believed that it supplied all London, and was +proud and blest in so believing. With these barrowmen, hucksters and +pedlars of fish, it would have no manifest dealing; but if the factors +who managed the trade chose to sell their refuse or surplus to them, +that was their own business. In this way perhaps, and by bargains on +the sly, these petty dealers managed to procure enough to carry on +their weekly enterprise, and for a certain good reason took a room and +court-yard handy to the Darling Arms, to discuss other people's business +and their own. The good reason was that they were not allowed to leave +the village, with their barrows or trucks or baskets, until the night +had fallen, on penalty of being pelted with their own wares. Such was +the dignity of this place, and its noble abhorrence of anything low. + +The vision of lofty institutions, which one may not participate, +inspires in the lower human nature more jealousy than admiration. +These higglers may have been very honest fellows, in all but pecuniary +questions, and possibly continued to be so in the bosom of their own +families. But here in Springhaven, by the force of circumstances they +were almost compelled to be radicals: even as the sweetest cow's milk +turns sour, when she can just reach red clover with her breath, but +not her lips. But still they were not without manners, and reason, and +good-will to people who had patience with them. This enabled them to +argue lofty questions, without black eyes, or kicking, or even tweak of +noses; and a very lofty question was now before them. + +To get once into Admiral Darling's employment was to obtain a vested +interest; so kind was his nature and so forgiving, especially when he +had scolded anybody. Mr. Swipes, the head gardener for so many years, +held an estate of freehold in the garden--although he had no head, and +would never be a gardener, till the hanging gardens of Babylon should +be hung on the top of the tower of Babel--with a vested remainder to his +son, and a contingent one to all descendants. Yet this man, although +his hands were generally in his pockets, had not enough sense of their +linings to feel that continuance, usage, institution, orderly sequence, +heredity, and such like, were the buttons of his coat and the texture of +his breeches, and the warmth of his body inside them. Therefore he never +could hold aloof from the Free and Frisky gatherings, and accepted the +chair upon Bumper-nights, when it was a sinecure benefice. + +This was a Bumper-night, and in the chair sat Mr. Swipes, discharging +gracefully the arduous duties of the office, which consisted mainly +in calling upon members for a speech, a sentiment, or a song, and in +default of mental satisfaction, bodily amendment by a pint all round. +But as soon as Dan Tugwell entered the room, the Free and Friskies with +one accord returned to loftier business. Mr. Swipes, the gay Liber of +the genial hour, retired from the chair, and his place was taken by a +Liberal--though the name was not yet invented--estranged from his own +godfather. This was a hard man, who made salt herrings, and longed to +cure everything fresh in the world. + +Dan, being still a very tender youth, and quite unaccustomed to public +speaking, was abashed by these tokens of his own importance, and +heartily wished that he had stopped at home. It never occurred to +his simple mind that his value was not political, but commercial; not +"anthropological," but fishy, the main ambition of the Free and Frisky +Club having long been the capture of his father. If once Zeb Tugwell +could be brought to treat, a golden era would dawn upon them, and a +boundless vision of free-trade, when a man might be paid for refusing to +sell fish, as he now is for keeping to himself his screws. Dan knew not +these things, and his heart misgave him, and he wished that he had never +heard of the twenty-eight questions set down in his name for solution. + +However, his disturbance of mind was needless, concerning those great +issues. All the members, except the chairman, had forgotten all about +them; and the only matter they cared about was to make a new member of +Daniel. A little flourish went on about large things (which nobody knew, +or cared to know), then the table was hammered with the heel of a pipe, +and Dan was made a Free and Frisky. An honorary member, with nothing to +pay, and the honour on their side, they told him; and every man rose, +with his pot in one hand and his pipe in the other, yet able to stand, +and to thump with his heels, being careful. Then the President made +entry in a book, and bowed, and Dan was requested to sign it. In the +fervour of good-will, and fine feeling, and the pride of popularity, the +young man was not old enough to resist, but set his name down firmly. +Then all shook hands with him, and the meeting was declared to be +festive, in honour of a new and noble member. + +It is altogether wrong to say--though many people said it--that young +Dan Tugwell was even a quarter of a sheet in the wind, when he steered +his way home. His head was as solid as that of his father; which, +instead of growing light, increased in specific, generic, and +differential gravity, under circumstances which tend otherwise, with an +age like ours, that insists upon sobriety, without allowing practice. +All Springhaven folk had long practice in the art of keeping sober, and +if ever a man walked with his legs outside his influence, it was always +from defect of proper average quite lately. + +Be that as it may, the young man came home with an enlarged map of the +future in his mind, a brisk and elastic rise in his walk, and his head +much encouraged to go on with liberal and indescribable feelings. In +accordance with these, he expected his mother to be ready to embrace +him at the door, while a saucepan simmered on the good-night of the +wood-ash, with just as much gentle breath of onion from the cover as a +youth may taste dreamily from the lips of love. But oh, instead of this, +he met his father, spread out and yet solid across the doorway, with +very large arms bare and lumpy in the gleam of a fireplace uncrowned by +any pot. Dan's large ideas vanished, like a blaze without a bottom. + +"Rather late, Daniel," said the captain of Springhaven, with a nod of +his great head, made gigantic on the ceiling. "All the rest are abed, +the proper place for honest folk. I suppose you've been airning money, +overtime?" + +"Not I," said Dan; "I work hard enough all day. I just looked in at the +Club, and had a little talk of politics." + +"The Club, indeed! The stinking barrow-grinders! Did I tell you, or did +I forget to tell you, never to go there no more?" + +"You told me fast enough, father; no doubt about that. But I am not +aboard your boat, when I happen on dry land, and I am old enough now to +have opinions of my own." + +"Oh, that's it, is it? And to upset all the State, the King, the House +of Lords, and the Parliamentary House, and all as is descended from the +Romans? Well, and what did their Wusships say to you? Did they anoint +you king of slooshings?" + +"Father, they did this--and you have a right to know it;" Dan spoke with +a grave debative tone, though his voice became doubtful, as he saw that +his father was quietly seeking for something; "almost before I knew what +was coming, they had made me a member, and I signed the book. They have +no desire to upset the kingdom; I heard no talk of that kind; only that +every man should have his own opinions, and be free to show what can be +said for them. And you know, father, that the world goes on by reason, +and justice, and good-will, and fair play--" + +"No, it don't," cried the captain, who had found what he wanted; "if +it had to wait for they, it would never go on at all. It goes on by +government, and management, and discipline, and the stopping of younkers +from their blessed foolery, and by the ten commandments, and the +proverbs of King Solomon. You to teach your father how the world goes +on! Off with your coat, and I'll teach you." + +"Father," said Dan, with his milder nature trembling at the stern +resolution in his father's eyes, as the hearth-fire flashing up showed +their stronger flash, "you will never do such a thing, at my age and +size?" + +"Won't I?" answered Zebedee, cracking in the air the three knotted +tails of the stout hempen twist. "As for your age, why, it ought to know +better; and as for your size, why, the more room for this!" + +It never came into Daniel's head that he should either resist or run +away. But into his heart came the deadly sense of disgrace at being +flogged, even by his own father, at full age to have a wife and even +children of his own. + +"Father," he said, as he pulled off his coat and red striped shirt, and +showed his broad white back, "if you do this thing, you will never set +eyes on my face again--so help me God!" + +"Don't care if I don't," the captain shouted. "You was never son of +mine, to be a runagate, and traitor. How old be you, Master Free and +Frisky, to larn me how the world goes on?" + +"As if you didn't know, father! The fifteenth of last March I was twenty +years of age." + +"Then one for each year of your life, my lad, and another to make a +man of thee. This little tickler hath three tails; seven threes is +twenty-one--comes just right." + +When his father had done with him, Dan went softly up the dark staircase +of old ship timber, and entering his own little room, struck a light. +He saw that his bed was turned down for him, by the loving hand of his +mother, and that his favourite brother Solomon, the youngest of the +Tugwell race, was sleeping sweetly in the opposite cot. Then he caught a +side view of his own poor back in the little black-framed looking-glass, +and was quite amazed; for he had not felt much pain, neither flinched, +nor winced, nor spoken. In a moment self-pity did more than pain, +indignation, outrage, or shame could do; it brought large tears into his +softened eyes, and a long sob into his swelling throat. + +He had borne himself like a man when flogged; but now he behaved in +the manner of a boy. "He shall never hear the last of this job," he +muttered, "as long as mother has a tongue in her head." To this end he +filled a wet sponge with the red proofs of his scourging, laid it where +it must be seen, and beside it a leaf torn from his wage-book, on which +he had written with a trembling hand: "He says that I am no son of his, +and this looks like it. Signed, Daniel Tugwell, or whatever my name +ought to be." + +Then he washed and dressed with neat's-foot oil all of his wounds that +he could reach, and tied a band of linen over them, and, in spite of +increasing smarts and pangs, dressed himself carefully in his Sunday +clothes. From time to time he listened for his father's step, inasmuch +as there was no bolt to his door, and to burn a light so late was +against all law. But nobody came to disturb him; his mother at the end +of the passage slept heavily, and his two child-sisters in the room +close by, Tabby and Debby, were in the land of dreams, as far gone +as little Solly was. Having turned out his tools from their flat flag +basket, or at least all but three or four favourites, he filled it with +other clothes likely to be needed, and buckled it over his hatchet-head. +Then the beating of his heart was like a flail inside a barn, as he +stole along silently for one terrible good-bye. + +This was to his darling pet of all pets, Debby, who worshipped this +brother a great deal more than she worshipped her heavenly Father; +because, as she said to her mother, when rebuked--"I can see Dan, +mother, but I can't see Him. Can I sit in His lap, mother, and look +into His face, and be told pretty stories, and eat apples all the time?" +Tabby was of different grain, and her deity was Tim; for she was of +the Tomboy kind, and had no imagination. But Debby was enough to make a +sound and seasoned heart to ache, as she lay in her little bed, with +the flush of sleep deepening the delicate tint of her cheeks, shedding +bright innocence fresh from heaven on the tranquil droop of eyelid and +the smiling curve of lip. Her hair lay fluttered, as if by play with the +angels that protected her; and if she could not see her heavenly Father, +it was not because she was out of His sight. + +A better tear than was ever shed by self-pity, or any other selfishness, +ran down the cheek she had kissed so often, and fell upon her coaxing, +nestling neck. Then Dan, with his candle behind the curtain, set a long +light kiss upon the forehead of his darling, and with a heart so full, +and yet so empty, took one more gaze at her, and then was gone. With the +basket in his hand, he dropped softly from his window upon the pile +of seaweed at the back of the house--collected to make the walls +wholesome--and then, caring little what his course might be, was led +perhaps by the force of habit down the foot-path towards the beach. So +late at night, it was not likely that any one would disturb him there, +and no one in the cottage which he had left would miss him before the +morning. The end of October now was near, the nights were long, and he +need not hurry. He might even lie down in his favourite boat, the best +of her size in Springhaven, the one he had built among the rabbits. +There he could say good-bye to all that he had known and loved so long, +and be off before dawn, to some place where he might earn his crust and +think his thoughts. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +SORE TEMPTATION + + +When a man's spirit and heart are low, and the world seems turned +against him, he had better stop both ears than hearken to the sound of +the sad sea waves at night. Even if he can see their movement, with the +moon behind them, drawing paths of rippled light, and boats (with white +sails pluming shadow, or thin oars that dive for gems), and perhaps a +merry crew with music, coming home not all sea-sick--well, even so, in +the summer sparkle, the long low fall of the waves is sad. But how much +more on a winter night, when the moon is away below the sea, and weary +waters roll unseen from a vast profundity of gloom, fall unreckoned, and +are no more than a wistful moan, as man is! + +The tide was at quarter-ebb, and a dismal haze lay thick on shore and +sea. It was not enough to be called a fog, or even a mist, but quite +enough to deaden the gray light, always flowing along the boundary of +sky and sea. But over the wet sand and the white frill of the gently +gurgling waves more of faint light, or rather perhaps, less of heavy +night, prevailed. But Dan had keen eyes, and was well accustomed to the +tricks of darkness; and he came to take his leave forever of the +fishing squadron, with a certainty of knowing all the five, as if by +daylight--for now there were only five again. + +As the tide withdrew, the fishing-smacks (which had scarcely earned +their name of late) were compelled to make the best of the world until +the tide came back again. To judge by creakings, strainings, groanings, +and even grindings of timber millstones [if there yet lives in Ireland +the good-will for a loan to us], all these little craft were making +dreadful hardship of the abandonment which man and nature inflicted on +them every thirteenth hour. But all things do make more noise at +night, when they get the chance (perhaps in order to assert their own +prerogative), and they seem to know that noise goes further, and assumes +a higher character, when men have left off making it. + +The poor young fisherman's back was getting very sore by this time, and +he began to look about for the white side-streak which he had painted +along the water-line of that new boat, to distract the meddlesome gaze +of rivals from the peculiar curve below, which even Admiral Darling +had not noticed, when he passed her on the beach; but Nelson would have +spied it out in half a second, and known all about it in the other half. +Dan knew that he should find a very fair berth there, with a roll or two +of stuff to lay his back on, and a piece of tarpauling to draw over his +legs. In the faint light that hovered from the breaking of the wavelets +he soon found his boat, and saw a tall man standing by her. + +"Daniel," said the tall man, without moving, "my sight is very bad at +night, but unless it is worse than usual, you are my admired friend +Daniel. A young man in a thousand--one who dares to think." + +"Yes, Squire Carne," the admired friend replied, with a touch of hat +protesting against any claim to friendship: "Dan Tugwell, at your +service. And I have thought too much, and been paid out for it." + +"You see me in a melancholy attitude, and among melancholy +surroundings." Caryl Carne offered his hand as he spoke, and Dan took +it with great reverence. "The truth is, that anger at a gross injustice, +which has just come to my knowledge, drove me from my books and sad +family papers, in the room beneath the roof of our good Widow Shanks. +And I needs must come down here, to think beside the sea, which seems to +be the only free thing in England. But I little expected to see you." + +"And I little expected to be here, Squire Carne. But if not making too +bold to ask--was it anybody that was beaten?" + +"Beaten is not the right word for it, Dan; cruelly flogged and lashed, +a dear young friend of mine has been, as fine a young fellow as ever +lived--and now he has not got a sound place on his back. And why? +Because he was poor, and dared to lift his eyes to a rich young lady." + +"But he was not flogged by his own father?" asked Dan, deeply interested +in this romance, and rubbing his back, as the pain increased with +sympathy. + +"Not quite so bad as that," replied the other; "such a thing would be +impossible, even in England. No; his father took his part, as any father +in the world would do; even if the great man, the young lady's father, +should happen to be his own landlord." + +A very black suspicion crossed the mind of Dan, for Carne possessed the +art of suggesting vile suspicions: might Admiral Darling have discovered +something, and requested Dan's father to correct him? It was certain +that the Admiral, so kind of heart, would never have desired such +severity; but he might have told Captain Tugwell, with whom he had a +talk almost every time they met, that his eldest son wanted a little +discipline; and the Club might have served as a pretext for this, when +the true crime must not be declared, by reason of its enormity. Dan +closed his teeth, and English air grew bitter in his mouth, as this +belief ran through him. + +"Good-night, my young friend; I am beginning to recover," Carne +continued, briskly, for he knew that a nail snaps in good oak, when the +hammer falls too heavily. "What is a little bit of outrage, after all? +When I have been in England a few years more, I shall laugh at myself +for having loved fair play and self-respect, in this innocent young +freshness. We must wag as the world does; and you know the proverb, What +makes the world wag, but the weight of the bag?" + +"But if you were more in earnest, sir--or at least--I mean, if you were +not bound here by property and business, and an ancient family, and +things you could not get away from, and if you wanted only to be allowed +fair play, and treated as a man by other men, and be able to keep your +own money when you earned it, or at least to buy your own victuals with +it--what would you try to do, or what part of the country would you +think best to go to?" + +"Dan, you must belong to a very clever family. It is useless to +shake your head--you must; or you never could put such questions, so +impossible to answer. In all this blessed island, there is no spot yet +discovered, where such absurd visions can be realized. Nay, nay, my +romantic friend; be content with more than the average blessings of +this land. You are not starved, you are not imprisoned, you are not even +beaten; and if you are not allowed to think, what harm of that? If you +thought all day, you would never dare to act upon your thoughts, and +so you are better without them. Tush! an Englishman was never born for +freedom. Good-night." + +"But, sir, Squire Carne," cried Dan, pursuing him, "there is one +thing which you do not seem to know. I am driven away from this place +to-night; and it would have been so kind of you to advise me where to go +to." + +"Driven away!" exclaimed Carne, with amazement. "The pride of the +village driven out of it! You may be driving yourself away, Tugwell, +through some scrape, or love affair; but when that blows over you will +soon come back. What would Springhaven do without you? And your dear +good father would never let you go." + +"I am not the pride, but the shame, of the village." Dan forgot all his +home-pride at last. "And my dear good father is the man who has done it. +He has leathered me worse than the gentleman you spoke of, and without +half so much to be said against him. For nothing but going to the Club +to-night, where I am sure we drank King George's health, my father has +lashed me so, that I am ashamed to tell it. And I am sure that I never +meant to tell it, until your kindness, in a way of speaking, almost +drove it out of me." + +"Daniel Tugwell," Carne answered, with solemnity, "this is beyond +belief, even in England. You must have fallen asleep, Dan, in the middle +of large thoughts, and dreamed this great impossibility." + +"My back knows whether it has been a dream, sir. I never heard of dreams +as left one-and-twenty lines behind them. But whether it be one, or +whether it be twenty, makes no odds of value. The disgrace it is that +drives me out." + +"Is there no way of healing this sad breach?" Carne asked, in a tone of +deep compassion; "if your father could be brought to beg your pardon, or +even to say that he was sorry--" + +"He, sir! If such a thing was put before him, his answer would be just +to do it again, if I were fool enough to go near him. You are too mild +of nature, sir, to understand what father is." + +"It is indeed horrible, too horrible to think of"--the voice of this +kind gentleman betrayed that he was shuddering. "If a Frenchman did such +a thing, he would be torn to pieces. But no French father would ever +dream of such atrocity. He would rather flog himself within an inch of +his own life." + +"Are they so much better, then, and kinder, than us Englishmen?" In +spite of all his pain and grief, Dan could not help smiling at the +thought of his father ropesending himself. "So superior to us, sir, in +every way?" + +"In almost every way, I am sorry to confess. I fear, indeed, in +every way, except bodily strength, and obstinate, ignorant endurance, +miscalled 'courage,' and those rough qualities--whatever they may +be--which seem needful for the making of a seaman. But in good manners, +justice, the sense of what is due from one man to another, in dignity, +equality, temperance, benevolence, largeness of feeling, and quickness +of mind, and above all in love of freedom, they are very, very sadly far +beyond us. And indeed I have been led to think from some of your finer +perceptions, Dan, that you must have a share of French blood in your +veins." + +"Me, sir!" cried Dan, jumping back, in a style which showed the distance +between faith and argument; "no, sir, thank God there was never none +of that; but all English, with some of the Romans, who was pretty near +equal to us, from what I hear. I suppose, Squire Carne, you thought +that low of me because I made a fuss about being larruped, the same as +a Frenchman I pulled out of the water did about my doing of it, as if I +could have helped it. No Englishman would have said much about that; +but they seem to make more fuss than we do. And I dare say it was +French-like of me, to go on about my hiding." + +"Daniel," answered Caryl Carne, in alarm at this British sentiment; "as +a man of self-respect, you have only one course left, if your father +refuses to apologise. You must cast off his tyranny; you must prove +yourself a man; you must begin life upon your own account. No more +of this drudgery, and slavery for others, who allow you no rights in +return. But a nobler employment among free people, with a chance of +asserting your courage and manhood, and a certainty that no man will +think you his bondslave because you were born upon his land, or in his +house. My father behaved to me--well, it does not matter. He might have +repented of it, if he had lived longer; and I feel ashamed to speak of +it, after such a case as yours. But behold, how greatly it has been +for my advantage! Without that, I might now have been a true and simple +Englishman!" + +Carne (who had taken most kindly to the fortune which made him an +untrue Englishman) clapped his breast with both hands; not proudly, as +a Frenchman does, nor yet with that abashment and contempt of +demonstration which make a true Briton very clumsy in such doings; while +Daniel Tugwell, being very solid, and by no means "emotional"--as people +call it nowadays--was looking at him, to the utmost of his power (which +would have been greater by daylight), with gratitude, and wonder, and +consideration, and some hesitation about his foreign sentiments. + +"Well, sir," said Dan, with the usual impulse of the British workman, +"is there any sort of work as you could find for me, to earn my own +living, and be able to think afterwards?" + +"There is work of a noble kind, such as any man of high nature may be +proud to share in, to which it is possible that I might get an entrance +for you, if there should be a vacancy; work of high character, such as +admits of no higgling and haggling, and splitting of halfpence, but an +independent feeling, and a sense of advancing the liberty of mankind, +without risking a penny, but putting many guineas into one's own pocket, +and so becoming fitted for a loftier line of life." + +"Is it smuggling, sir?" Daniel asked, with sore misgivings, for he had +been brought up to be very shy of that. "Many folk consider that quite +honest; but father calls it roguery--though I never shall hear any more +of his opinions now." + +"Sigh not, friend Daniel; sigh not so heavily at your own emancipation." +Carne never could resist the chance of a little bit of sarcasm, though +it often injured his own plots. "Smuggling is a very fine pursuit, no +doubt, but petty in comparison with large affairs like ours. No, Dan +Tugwell, I am not a smuggler, but a high politician, and a polisher of +mankind. How soon do you think of leaving this outrageous hole?" + +Despite the stupid outrage upon himself, Dan was too loyal and generous +of nature to be pleased with this description of his native place. But +Carne, too quick of temper for a really fine intriguer, cut short his +expostulations. + +"Call it what you please," he said; "only make your mind up quickly. If +you wish to remain here, do so: a man of no spirit is useless to me. +But if you resolve to push your fortunes among brave and lofty comrades, +stirring scenes, and brisk adventures, meet me at six to-morrow evening, +at the place where you chopped down my rails. All you want will be +provided, and your course of promotion begins at once. But remember, +all must be honour bright. No shilly-shallying, no lukewarmness, no +indifference to a noble cause. Faint heart never won fair lady." + +The waning moon had risen, and now shone upon Carne's face, lighting up +all its gloomy beauty, and strange power of sadness. Dan seemed to lose +his clear keen sight beneath the dark influence of the other's gaze; and +his will, though not a weak one, dropped before a larger and stronger. +"He knows all about me and Miss Dolly," said the poor young fisherman to +himself; "I thought so before, and I am certain of it now. And, for +some reason beyond my knowledge, he wishes to encourage it. Oh, perhaps +because the Carnes have always been against the Darlings! I never +thought of that before." + +This was a bitter reflection to him, and might have inclined him the +right way, if time had allowed him to work it out. But no such time was +afforded; and in the confusion and gratitude of the moment, he answered, +"Sir, I shall be always at your service, and do my very best in +every way to please you." Caryl Carne smiled; and the church clock of +Springhaven solemnly struck midnight. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE TRIALS OF FAITH + + +He following day, the 27th of October, was a dark one in the calendar of +a fair and good young lady. Two years would then have passed since Faith +Darling, at the age of twenty, had received sad tidings, which would +make the rest of her life flow on in shadow. So at least she thought, +forgetful (or rather perhaps unconscious, for she had not yet learned +the facts of life) that time and the tide of years submerge the loftiest +youthful sorrow. To a warm and stedfast heart like hers, and a nature +strong but self-controlled, no casual change, or light diversion, or +sudden interest in other matters, could take the place of the motive +lost. Therefore, being of a deep true faith, and staunch in the belief +of a great God, good to all who seek His goodness, she never went away +from what she meant, that faith and hope should feed each other. + +This saved her from being a trouble to any one, or damping anybody's +cheerfulness, or diminishing the gaiety around her. She took a lively +interest in the affairs of other people, which a "blighted being" +declines to do; and their pleasures ministered to her own good cheer +without, or at any rate beyond, her knowledge. Therefore she was liked +by everybody, and beloved by all who had any heart for a brave and +pitiful story. Thus a sweet flower, half closed by the storm, continues +to breathe forth its sweetness. + +However, there were times when even Faith was lost in sad remembrance, +and her bright young spirit became depressed by the hope deferred that +maketh sick the heart. As time grew longer, hope grew less; and even the +cheerful Admiral, well versed in perils of the deep, and acquainted with +many a wandering story, had made up his mind that Erle Twemlow was +dead, and would never more be heard of. The rector also, the young man's +father, could hold out no longer against that conclusion; and even the +mother, disdaining the mention, yet understood the meaning, of despair. +And so among those to whom the subject was the most interesting in the +world, it was now the strict rule to avoid it with the lips, though the +eyes were often filled with it. + +Faith Darling at first scorned this hard law. "It does seem so unkind," +she used to say, "that even his name should be interdicted, as if he had +disgraced himself. If he is dead, he has died with honour. None who ever +saw him can doubt that. But he is not dead. He will come back to us, +perhaps next week, perhaps to-morrow, perhaps even while we are afraid +to speak of him. If it is for my sake that you behave thus, I am not +quite so weak as to require it." + +The peculiar circumstances of the case had not only baffled enquiry, +but from the very beginning precluded it. The man with the keenest eyes, +sharpest nose, biggest ears, and longest head, of all the many sneaks +who now conduct what they call "special enquiries," could have done +nothing with a case like this, because there was no beginning it. Even +now, in fair peace, and with large knowledge added, the matter would +not have been easy; but in war universal, and blank ignorance, there was +nothing to be done but to sit down and think. And the story invited a +good deal of thinking, because of its disappointing turn. + +During the negotiations for peace in 1801, and before any articles were +signed, orders were sent to the Cape of Good Hope for the return of a +regiment of the line, which had not been more than three months there. +But the Cape was likely to be restored to Holland, and two empty +transports returning from India were to call under convoy, and bring +home these troops. One of the officers was Captain Erle Twemlow, then +about twenty-five years of age, and under probation, by the Admiral's +decree, for the hand of the maiden whose heart had been his from a time +to itself immemorial. After tiresome days of impatience, the transports +arrived under conduct of a frigate; and after another week, the soldiers +embarked with fine readiness for their native land. + +But before they had cleared the Bay, they met a brig-of-war direct +from Portsmouth, carrying despatches for the officer in command of the +troops, as well as for the captain of the frigate. Some barbarous tribes +on the coast of Guinea, the part that is called the Ivory Coast, had +plundered and burnt a British trading station within a few miles of Cape +Palmas, and had killed and devoured the traders. These natives must be +punished, and a stern example made, and a negro monarch of the name of +Hunko Jum must have his palace burned, if he possessed one; while his +rival, the king of the Crumbo tribe, whose name was Bandeliah, who had +striven to protect the traders, must be rewarded, and have a treaty +made with him, if he could be brought to understand it. Both sailors +and soldiers were ready enough to undertake this little spree, as they +called it, expecting to have a pleasant run ashore, a fine bit of sport +with the negroes, and perhaps a few noserings of gold to take home to +their wives and sweethearts. + +But, alas! the reality was not so fine. The negroes who had done all +the mischief made off, carrying most of their houses with them; and +the palace of Hunko Jum, if he possessed one, was always a little +way further on. The Colonel was a stubborn man, and so was the +sea-captain--good Tories both, and not desirous to skulk out of scrapes, +and leave better men to pick up their clumsy breakages. Blue and red +vied with one another to scour the country, and punish the natives--if +only they could catch them--and to vindicate, with much strong language, +the dignity of Great Britain, and to make an eternal example. + +But white bones are what the white man makes, under that slimy sunshine +and putrefying moon. Weary, slack-jointed, low-hearted as they were, the +deadly coast-fever fell upon them, and they shivered, and burned, and +groaned, and raved, and leaped into holes, or rolled into camp fires. +The Colonel died early, and the Naval Captain followed him; none stood +upon the order of their going; but man followed man, as in a funeral, to +the grave, until there was no grave to go to. The hand of the Lord +was stretched out against them; and never would one have come back +to England, out of more than five hundred who landed, except for the +manhood and vigour of a seaman, Captain Southcombe, of the transport +Gwalior. + +This brave and sensible man had been left with his ship lying off to be +signalled for, in case of mishap, while his consort and the frigate were +despatched in advance to a creek, about twenty leagues westward, where +the land-force triumphant was to join them. Captain Southcombe, with +every hand he could muster, traced the unfortunate party inland, and +found them led many leagues in the wrong direction, lost among quagmires +breathing death, worn out with vermin, venom, and despair, and hemmed +in by savages lurking for the night, to rush in upon and make an end of +them. What need of many words? This man, and his comrades, did more than +any other men on the face of this earth could have done without British +blood in them. They buried the many who had died without hope of the +decent concealment which our life has had, and therefore our death longs +for; they took on their shoulders, or on cane wattles, the many who had +made up their minds to die, and were in much doubt about having done it, +and they roused up and worked up by the scruff of their loose places the +few who could get along on their own legs. And so, with great spirit, +and still greater patience, they managed to save quite as many as +deserved it. + +Because, when they came within signal of the Gwalior, Captain +Southcombe, marching slowly with his long limp burdens, found ready on +the sand the little barrel, about as big as a kilderkin, of true and +unsullied Stockholm pitch, which he had taken, as his brother took +Madeira, for ripeness and for betterance, by right of change of climate. +With a little of this given choicely and carefully at the back of every +sick man's tongue, and a little more spread across the hollow of his +stomach, he found them so enabled in the afternoon that they were glad +to sit up in the bottom of a boat, and resign themselves to an All-wise +Providence. + +Many survived, and blessed Captain Southcombe, not at first +cordially--for the man yet remains to be discovered who is grateful to +his doctor--but gradually more and more, and with that healthy action +of the human bosom which is called expectoration, whenever grateful +memories were rekindled by the smell of tar. But this is a trifle; many +useful lives were saved, and the Nation should have thanked Captain +Southcombe, but did not. + +After these sad incidents, when sorrow for old friends was tempered by +the friendly warmth afforded by their shoes, a muster was held by the +Major in command, and there was only one officer who could neither +assert himself alive, nor be certified as dead. That one was Erle +Twemlow, and the regiment would rather have lost any other two officers. +Urgent as it was, for the safety of the rest, to fly with every feather +from this pestilential coast, sails were handed, boats despatched, and +dealings tried with Hunko Jum, who had reappeared with promptitude, the +moment he was not wanted. From this noble monarch, and his chiefs, and +all his nation, it was hard to get any clear intelligence, because their +own was absorbed in absorbing. They had found upon the sands a cask of +Admiralty rum, as well as a stout residue of unadulterated pitch. Noses, +and tongues, and historical romance--for a cask had been washed ashore +five generations since, and set up for a god, when the last drop was +licked--induced this brave nation to begin upon the rum; and fashion (as +powerful with them as with us) compelled them to drink the tar likewise, +because they had seen the white men doing it. This would have made it +hard to understand them, even if they had been English scholars, which +their ignorance of rum proved them not to be; and our sailors very +nearly went their way, after sadly ascertaining nothing, except that the +cask was empty. + +But luckily, just as they were pushing off, a very large, black head +appeared from behind a vegetable-ivory tree, less than a quarter of a +mile away, and they knew that this belonged to Bandeliah, the revered +king of the Crumbos, who had evidently smelled rum far inland. With +him they were enabled to hold discourse, partly by signs, and partly by +means of an old and highly polished negro, who had been the rat-catcher +at the factory now consumed; and the conclusion, or perhaps the +confusion, arrived at from signs, grunts, grins, nods, waggings of +fingers and twistings of toes, translated grandiloquently into broken +English, was not far from being to the following effect: + +To wit, that two great kings reigned inland, either of them able to eat +up Hunko Jum and Bandeliah at a mouthful, but both of them too proud to +set foot upon land that was flat, or in water that was salt. They ruled +over two great nations called the Houlas, and the Quackwas, going out of +sight among great rivers and lands with clear water standing over them. +And if the white men could not understand this, it was because they +drank salt-water. + +Moreover, they said that of these two kings, the king of the Houlas was +a woman, the most beautiful ever seen in all the world, and able to +jump over any man's head. But the king of the Quackwas was a man, and +although he had more than two thousand wives, and was taller by a +joint of a bamboo than Bandeliah--whose stature was at least six feet +four--yet nothing would be of any use to him, unless he could come to an +agreement with Mabonga, the queen of the Houlas, to split a durra straw +with him. But Mabonga was coy, and understanding men, as well as jumping +over them, would grant them no other favour than the acceptance of their +presents. However, the other great king was determined to have her +for his wife, if he abolished all the rest, and for this reason he had +caught and kept the lost Englishman as a medicine-man; and it was not +likely that he would kill him, until he failed or succeeded. + +To further enquiries Bandeliah answered that to rescue the prisoner was +impossible. If it had been his own newest wife, he would not push out a +toe for her. The great king Golo lived up in high places that overlooked +the ground, as he would these white men, and his armies went like wind +and spread like fire. None of his warriors ate white man's flesh; they +were afraid it would make them cowardly. + +A brave heart is generally tender in the middle, to make up for being so +firm outside, even as the Durian fruit is. Captain Southcombe had walked +the poop-deck of the Gwalior many a time, in the cool of the night, with +Erle Twemlow for his companion, and had taken a very warm liking to him. +So that when the survivors of the regiment were landed at Portsmouth, +this brave sailor travelled at his own cost to Springhaven, and told +the Rector the whole sad story, making it clear to him beyond all doubt, +that nothing whatever could be done to rescue the poor young man from +those savages, or even to ascertain his fate. For the Quackwas were an +inland tribe, inhabiting vast regions wholly unknown to any European, +and believed to extend to some mighty rivers, and lakes resembling +inland seas. + +Therefore Mr. Twemlow, in a deep quiet voice, asked Captain Southcombe +one question only--whether he might keep any hope of ever having, by +the mercy of the Lord, his only son restored to him. And the sailor +said--yes; the mistake would be ever to abandon such a hope, for at +the moment he least expected it, his son might stand before him. He +pretended to no experience of the western coast of Africa, and niggers +he knew were a very queer lot, acting according to their own lights, +which differed according to their natures. But he was free to say, that +in such a condition he never would think of despairing, though it might +become very hard not to do so, as time went on without bringing any +news. He himself had been in sad peril more than once, and once it +appeared quite hopeless; but he thought of his wife and his children at +home, and the Lord had been pleased to deliver him. + +The parson was rebuked by this brave man's faith, who made no pretence +whatever to piety; and when they said Goodbye, their eyes were bright +with the goodwill and pity of the human race, who know trouble not +inflicted as yet upon monkeys. Mr. Twemlow's heart fell when the sailor +was gone, quite as if he had lost his own mainstay; but he braced +himself up to the heavy duty of imparting sad news to his wife and +daughter, and worst of all to Faith Darling. But the latter surprised +him by the way in which she bore it; for while she made no pretence +to hide her tears, she was speaking as if they were needless. And +the strangest thing of all, in Mr. Twemlow's opinion, was her curious +persistence about Queen Mabonga. Could any black woman--and she supposed +she must be that--be considered by white people to be beautiful? Had +Captain Southcombe ever even seen her; and if not, how could he be in +such raptures about her attractions? She did not like to say a word, +because he had been so kind and so faithful to those poor soldiers, whom +it was his duty to bring home safe; but if it had not been for that, she +might have thought that with so many children and a wife at Limehouse, +he should not have allowed his mind to dwell so fondly on the personal +appearance of a negress! + +The Rector was astonished at this injustice, and began to revise his +opinion about Faith as the fairest and sweetest girl in all the world; +but Mrs. Twemlow smiled, when she had left off crying, and said that +she liked the dear child all the better for concluding that Ponga--or +whatever her name was--must of necessity and at the first glance fall +desperately in love with her own Erle. Then the Rector cried, "Oh, to +be sure, that explained it! But he never could have thought of that, +without his wife's assistance." + +Two years now, two years of quiet patience, of busy cheerfulness now and +then, and of kindness to others always, had made of Faith Darling a lady +to be loved for a hundred years, and for ever. The sense of her sorrow +was never far from her, yet never brought near to any other by herself; +and her smile was as warm, and her eyes as bright, as if there had never +been a shadow on her youth. To be greeted by her, and to receive her +hand, and one sweet glance of her large goodwill, was enough to make an +old man feel that he must have been good at some time, and a young man +hope that he should be so by-and-by; though the tendency was generally +contented with the hope. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +FAREWELL, DANIEL + + +Thoughtful for others as she always was, this lovely and loveable young +woman went alone, on the morning of the day that was so sorrowful for +her, to bear a little share of an elder lady's sorrow, and comfort her +with hopes, or at any rate with kindness. They had shed tears together +when the bad news arrived, and again when a twelvemonth had weakened +feeble hope; and now that another year had well-nigh killed it in old +hearts too conversant with the cruelties of the world, a little talk, a +tender look, a gentle repetition of things that had been said at least a +hundred times before, might enter by some subtle passage to the cells of +comfort. Who knows how the welted vine leaf, when we give it shade +and moisture, crisps its curves again, and breathes new bloom upon +its veinage? And who can tell how the flagging heart, beneath the cool +mantle of time, revives, shapes itself into keen sympathies again, and +spreads itself congenially to the altered light? + +Without thinking about it, but only desiring to do a little good, +if possible, Faith took the private way through her father's grounds +leading to the rectory, eastward of the village. It was scarcely two +o'clock, and the sun was shining, and the air clear and happy, as it can +be in October. She was walking rather fast, for fear of dropping into +the brooding vein, when in the little fir plantation a man came forth on +her path, and stood within a few yards in front of her. She was startled +for an instant, because the place was lonely, and Captain Stubbard's +battery crew had established their power to repulse the French by +pounding their fellow-countrymen. But presently she saw that it was Dan +Tugwell, looking as unlike himself as any man can do (without the aid of +an artist), and with some surprise she went on to meet him. + +Instead of looking bright, and bold, and fearless, with the freedom of +the sea in his open face, and that of the sun in his clustering curls, +young Daniel appeared careworn and battered, not only unlike his proper +self, but afraid of and ashamed of it. He stood not firmly on the +ground, nor lightly poised like a gallant sailor, but loosely and +clumsily like a ploughman who leaves off at the end of his furrow to +ease the cramp. His hat looked as if he had slept in it, and his eyes as +if he had not slept with them. + +Miss Darling had always been fond of Dan, from the days when they played +on the beach together, in childhood's contempt of social law. Her old +nurse used to shut her eyes, after looking round to make sure that there +was "nobody coming to tell on them," while as pretty a pair of children +as the benevolent sea ever prattled with were making mirth and music +and romance along its margin. And though in ripe boyhood the unfaithful +Daniel transferred the hot part of his homage to the more coquettish +Dolly, Faith had not made any grievance of that, but rather thought all +the more of him, especially when he saved her sister's life in a very +rash boating adventure. + +So now she went up to him with a friendly mind, and asked him softly and +pitifully what trouble had fallen upon him. At the sweet sound of her +voice, and the bright encouragement of her eyes, he felt as if he was +getting better. + +"If you please, miss," he said, with a meek salutation, which proved his +panisic ideas to be not properly wrought into his system as yet--"if you +please, miss, things are very hard upon me." + +"Is it money?" she asked, with the true British instinct that all common +woes have their origin there; "if it is, I shall be so glad that I +happen to have a good bit put by just now." + +But Dan shook his head with such dignified sadness that Faith was quite +afraid of having hurt his feelings. "Oh, I might have known," she said, +"that it was nothing of that kind. You are always so industrious and +steady. But what can it be? Is it anything about Captain Stubbard +and his men, because I know you do not like them, and none of the old +Springhaven people seem to do so? Have you been obliged to fight with +any of them, Daniel?" + +"No, miss, no. I would not soil my hand by laying it on any of such +chaps as those. Unless they should go for to insult me, I mean, or any +one belonging to me. No, miss, no. It is ten times worse than money, or +assault and battery." + +"Well, Daniel, I would not on any account," said Faith, with her desire +of knowledge growing hotter by delay, as a kettle boils by waiting--"on +no account would I desire to know anything that you do not seem to think +my advice might help you to get out of. I am not in a hurry, but still +my time is getting rather late for what I have to do. By the time I come +back from the rectory, perhaps you will have made up your mind about it. +Till then, good-bye to you, Daniel." + +He stepped out of the path, that she might go by, and only said, "Then +goodbye, miss; I shall be far away when you come back." + +This was more than the best-regulated, or largest--which generally is +the worst-regulated--feminine mind could put up with. Miss Darling came +back, with her mind made up to learn all, or to know the reason why. + +"Dan, this is unworthy of you," she said, with her sweet voice full of +sorrow. "Have I ever been hard or unkind to you, Dan, that you should be +so afraid of me?" + +"No, miss, never. But too much the other way. That makes it so bad for +me to say good-bye. I am going away, miss. I must be off this evening. I +never shall see Springhaven no more, nor you, miss--nor nobody else." + +"It is quite impossible, Dan. You must be dreaming. You don't look at +all like yourself to-day. You have been doing too much over-time. I have +heard all about it, and how very hard you work. I have been quite sorry +for you on Sundays, to see you in the gallery, without a bit of rest, +still obliged to give the time with your elbow. I have often been +astonished that your mother could allow it. Why, Dan, if you go +away, you will break her heart, and I don't know how many more in +Springhaven." + +"No, miss, no. They very soon mends them. It is the one as goes away +that gets a deal the worst of it. I am sure I don't know whatever I +shall do, without the old work to attend to. But it will get on just as +well without me." + +"No, it won't," replied Faith, looking at him very sadly, and shaking +her head at such cynical views; "nothing will be the same, when you are +gone, Daniel; and you ought to have more consideration." + +"I am going with a good man, at any rate," he answered, "the +freest-minded gentleman that ever came to these parts. Squire Carne, of +Carne Castle, if you please, miss." + +"Mr. Caryl Carne!" cried Faith, in a tone which made Daniel look at her +with some surprise. "Is he going away? Oh, I am so glad!" + +"No, miss; not Squire Carne himself. Only to provide for me work far +away, and not to be beholden any more to my own people. And work where +a man may earn and keep his own money, and hold up his head while adoing +of it." + +"Oh, Dan, you know more of such things than I do. And every man has a +right to be independent, and ought to be so, and I should despise +him otherwise. But don't be driven by it into the opposite extreme of +disliking the people in a different rank--" + +"No, miss, there is no fear of that--the only fear is liking some of +them too much." + +"And then," continued Faith, who was now upon one of her favourite +subjects past interruption, "you must try to remember that if you work +hard, so do we, or nearly all of us. From the time my father gets up in +the morning, to the time when he goes to bed at night, he has not got +five minutes--as he tells us every day--for attending to anything +but business. Even at dinner, when you get a good hour, and won't be +disturbed--now will you?" + +"No, miss; not if all the work was tumbling down. No workman as respects +himself would take fifty-nine minutes for sixty." + +"Exactly so; and you are right. You stand up for your rights. Your +dinner you have earned, and you will have it. And the same with your +breakfast, and your supper too, and a good long night to get over it. Do +you jump up in bed, before you have shut both eyes, hearing or fancying +you have heard the bell, that calls you out into the cold, and the dark, +and a wet saddle, from a warm pillow? And putting that by, as a trouble +of the war, and the chance of being shot at by dark tall men"--here +Faith shuddered at her own presentment, as the image of Caryl Carne +passed before her--"have you to consider, at every turn, that whatever +you do--though you mean it for the best--will be twisted and turned +against you by some one, and made into wickedness that you never dreamed +of, by envious people, whose grudge against you is that they fancy you +look down on them? Though I am sure of one thing, and that is that my +father, instead of looking down upon any honest man because he is poor, +looks up to him; and so do I; and so does every gentleman or lady. +And any one who goes about to persuade the working-people--as they are +called, because they have to use their hands more--that people like +my father look down upon them, and treat them like dogs, and all those +wicked stories--all I can say is, any man who does it deserves to be put +in the stocks, or the pillory, or even to be transported as an enemy to +his country." + +Dan looked at the lady with great surprise. He had always known her +to be kind and gentle, and what the old people called "mannersome," to +every living body that came near her. But to hear her put, better than +he could put them, his own budding sentiments (which he thought to be +new, with the timeworn illusion of young Liberals), and to know from her +bright cheeks, and brighter eyes, that her heart was in every word of +it, and to feel himself rebuked for the evil he had thought, and the +mischief he had given ear to--all this was enough to make him angry with +himself, and uncertain how to answer. + +"I am certain that you never thought of such things," Miss Darling +continued, with her gentle smile returning; "you are much too +industrious and sensible for that. But I hear that some persons are now +in our parish who make it their business, for some reason of their own, +to spread ill-will and jealousy and hatred everywhere, to make us all +strangers and foes to one another, and foreigners to our own country. We +have enemies enough, by the will of the Lord (as Mr. Twemlow says), for +a sharp trial to us, and a lesson to our pride, and a deep source of +gratitude, and charity, and good-will--though I scarcely understand how +they come in--and, above all, a warning to us to stick together, and not +exactly hate, but still abhor, everybody who has a word to say against +his own country at a time like this. And ten thousand times as much, +if he is afraid to say it, but crawls with crafty poison into simple +English bosoms." + +"There is nothing of that, miss, to my knowledge, here," the young +fisherman answered, simply; "Springhaven would never stand none of +that; and the club drinks the health of King George every night of their +meeting, and stamps on the floor for him. But I never shall help to do +that any more. I must be going, miss--and thank you." + +"Then you will not tell me why you go? You speak of it as if it was +against your will, and yet refuse to say what drives you. Have you been +poaching, Dan? Ah, that is it! But I can beg you off immediately. My +father is very good even to strangers, and as for his doing anything to +you--have no fear, Dan; you shall not be charged with it, even if you +have been in Brown Bushes." + +Brown Bushes, a copse about a mile inland, was the Admiral's most sacred +spot, when peace allowed him to go shooting, because it was beloved by +woodcocks, his favourite birds both for trigger and for fork. But Daniel +only shook his head; he had not been near Brown Bushes. Few things +perhaps will endure more wear than feminine curiosity. But when a trap +has been set too long, it gets tongue-bound, and grows content without +contents. + +"Daniel Tugwell," said Miss Darling, severely, "if you have not been +fighting, or conspiring against society, or even poaching, I can well +understand that you may have reasons for not desiring my assistance or +advice. And I only wonder that under such circumstances you took the +trouble to wait for me here, as you appear to have done. Good-bye." + +"Oh, don't be cross, miss! please not to be cross," cried Daniel, +running after her; "I would tell you all about it this very instant +moment, if it were behoving to me. You will hear all about it when you +get to Parson Twemlow's, for I saw mother going there, afore she had her +breakfast, though I was not concernable to let her see me. If the Squire +had been home, she would have gone up to Hall first. No, miss, no. I +done nothing to be ashamed of; and if you turn back on me, you'll be +sorry afterwards." + +Faith was more apt to think that she had been too sharp than to be so in +behaviour to any one. She began at once, with a blush for her bad ideas, +to beg Dan's pardon, and he saw his way to say what he was come to say. + +"You always were too good, Miss Faith, too good to be hard upon any one, +and I am sure you have not been hard upon me; for I know that I look +disrespectable. But I couldn't find words to say what I wanted, until +you spoke so soft and kind. And perhaps, when I say it, you'll be angry +with me, and think that I trespass upon you." + +"No, I won't, Dan; I will promise you that. You may tell me, as if I +were Mr. Swipes, who says that he never lost his temper in his life, +because he is always right, and other people wrong." + +"Well, miss, I'm afraid that I am not like that, and that makes me feel +so uncomfortable with the difference between us. Because it is all about +Miss Dolly, and I might seem so impudent. But you know that I would +go through fire and water to serve Miss Dolly, and I durstn't go away +forever without one message to her. If I was in her own rank of life, +God Almighty alone should part us, whether I was rich or whether I +was poor, and I'd like to see any one come near her! But being only an +ignorant fellow without any birth or book-learning, I am not such a fool +as to forget that the breadth of the world lies between us. Only I may +wish her well, all the same--I may wish her well and happy, miss?" + +"Certainly you may." Faith blushed at the passion of his words, and +sighed at their despair. "You have saved her life. She respects and +likes you, the same as my father and I do. You may trust me with your +message, Dan." + +"I suppose it would not be the proper thing for me to see her once +before I go; just for one minute, with you standing by her, that I +might--that she might--" + +"No," answered Faith, though it grieved her to say it; "we must not +think of that, Dan. It could do you no good, and it might do her harm. +But if you have any message, to be useful to her--" + +"The useful part of it must be through you, miss, and not sent to her at +all, I think, or it would be very impertinent. The kind part is to give +her my good-bye, and say that I would die to help her. And the useful +part is for yourself. For God's sake, miss, do keep Miss Dolly out of +the way of Squire Carne! He hath a tongue equal to any woman, with the +mind of a man beneath it. He hath gotten me body and soul; because I +care not the skin of a dab what befalls me. But oh, miss, he never +must get Miss Dolly. He may be a very good man in some ways, and he is +wonderful free-minded; but any young lady as marries him had better have +leaped into the Culver Hole. Farewell, miss, now that I have told you." +He was gone before Faith could even offer him her hand, but he took +off his hat and put one finger to his curls, as he looked back from +the clearing; and her eyes filled with tears, as she waved her hand and +answered, "Farewell, Daniel!" + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +CAULIFLOWERS + + +"They cocks and hens," Mr. Swipes used to say in the earlier days of +his empire--"bless you, my lord, they cocks and hens knows a good bit of +gardening as well as I do. They calls one another, and they comes to see +it, and they puts their heads to one side and talks about it, and they +say to one another, 'Must be something good there, or he wouldn't have +made it so bootiful'; and then up go their combs, and they tear away +into it, like a passel of Scotchmen at a scratching-match. If your +lordship won't put a lock on the door, you will never taste a bit of +good vegetable." + +Admiral Darling was at length persuaded to allow Mr. Swipes the +privilege of locking himself in the kitchen-garden; and then, for +the purpose of getting at him, a bell was put in the gable of the +tool-house, with a long handle hanging outside the door in the courtyard +towards the kitchen. Thus he was able to rest from his labours, without +incurring unjust reproach; and gradually as he declined, with increasing +decision, to answer the bell when it rang, according to the highest laws +of nature it left off ringing altogether. So Mr. Swipes in the walled +kitchen-garden sought peace and ensued it. + +One quiet November afternoon, when the disappearance of Dan Tugwell had +been talked out and done with, a sad mishap befell this gardener, during +the performance, or, to speak more correctly, the contemplation of his +work. A yawn of such length and breadth and height and profundity took +possession of him that the space it had so well occupied still retained +the tender memory. In plainer words, he had ricked his jaw, not from +general want of usage, but from the momentary excess. + +"Sarves me right," he muttered, "for carrying on so, without nothing +inside of 'un. Must go to doctor, quick step, and no mistake." + +In this strait he set off for John Prater's (for it was a matter of +luck to get ale at the Hall, and in such emergency he must not trust to +fortune), and passing hastily through the door, left it unlocked behind +him. Going down the hill he remembered this, and had a great mind to go +back again, but the unanimous demand of his system for beer impelled +him downwards. He never could get up that hill again without hydraulic +pressure. + +All might have gone well, and all would have gone well, except for the +grievous mistake of Nature in furnishing women with eyes whose keenness +is only exceeded by that of their tongues. The cook at the Hall, a +superior person--though lightly esteemed by Mrs. Cloam--had long been +ambitious to have a voice in the selection of her raw material. If +anything was good, who got the credit? Mr. Swipes, immediately. But if +everything was bad, as more often happened, who received the blame? Mary +Knuckledown. Her lawful name was "Knuckleup," but early misfortunes +had reduced her to such mildness that her name became converted--as she +expressed it--in harmony with her nature. Facts having generally been +adverse to her, she found some comfort in warm affection for their +natural enemies and ever-victorious rivals--words. Any words coming with +a brave rush are able to scatter to the winds the strongest facts; but +big words--as all our great orators know--knock them at once on the head +and cremate them. But the cook was a kind-hearted woman, and liked both +little and big words, without thinking of them. + +She had put down her joint, a good aitch-bone, for roasting--than which, +if well treated, are few better treats--to revolve in the distant salute +of the fire (until it should ripen for the close embrace, where the +tints of gold and chestnut vie), when it came into her provident mind +with a flash that neither horse-radish nor cauliflower had yet been +delivered by Mr. Swipes. She must run out and pull the long handle in +the yard, and remind him gently of her needs, for she stood in some awe +of his character, as a great annalist of little people's lives. + +Leaving the small dog Dandolo with stern orders to keep the jack +steadily going, with a stick on the dresser to intimidate one eye, and +a sop in the dripping-pan to encourage the other, Mrs. Knuckledown ran +into the court-yard, just in time to see the last swing of the skirt of +that noble gardener's coat, as he turned the wall corner on his march +towards the tap. She longed to call him back, but remembered just in +time how fearfully cross that had made him once before, and she was +yielding with a sigh to her usual bad luck, when an eager and triumphant +cluck made her look about. The monarch and patriarch of cocks, a +magnificent old Dorking, not idly endowed with five claws for the +scratch, had discovered something great, and was calling all his wives, +and even his sons, as many as yet crowed not against him, to share this +special luck of fortune, or kind mood of Providence. In a minute or two +he had levied an army, some half-hundred strong, and all spurring the +land, to practise their liberal claws betimes for the gorgeous joy of +scattering it. Then the grand old cock, whose name was "Bill," made +them all fall in behind him, and strutting till he almost tumbled on his +head, led the march of destruction to the garden door. + +But, alas, he had waited for his followers too long, eager as they were +for rapine. When he came to his portal of delight, there stood, stout +as Britannia herself, and sweeping a long knife for her trident, the +valiant cook, to protect her cauliflowers. "You be off, Bill," she +cried. "I don't want to hurt you, because you have been a good bird in +your time, but now you be growing outrageous." Bill made a rush for it, +but losing a slice of his top-heavy comb, retired. + +"Now's my opportunity," said Mary to herself, "for to cut my own cabbage +for once in my life, and to see what that old beast does in here. Oh my! +The old villain, and robber that he is! Bamboozlement is the language +for it." Embezzlement she should have said, and to one who knew as she +did how badly the table of the master was supplied, the suspicion was +almost unavoidable. For here she saw in plenteous show, and appetising +excellence, a many many of the very things she had vainly craved from +Mr. Swipes. And if it was so now in November, what must it have been two +months ago? Why, poor Miss Faith--Mary Knuckledown's idol, because of +her kindness and sad disappointment--had asked a little while ago for a +bit of salsify, not for herself--she never thought of herself--but for a +guest who was fond of it; also the Admiral himself had called out for a +good dish of skirrets. But no; Mr. Swipes said the weather and the black +blight had destroyed them. Yet here they were; Mary could swear to them +both, with their necks above-ground, as if waiting for the washing! +Cauliflowers also (as the cooks call broccoli of every kind), here they +were in abundance, ten long rows all across the middle square, very +beautiful to behold. Some were just curling in their crinkled coronets, +to conceal the young heart that was forming, as Miss in her teens draws +her tresses around the first peep of her own palpitation; others were +showing their broad candid bosoms, with bold sprigs of nature's green +lace crisping round; while others had their ripe breasts shielded from +the air by the breakage of their own broad fringe upon them. + +Mary knew that this was done by Mr. Swipes himself, because he had +brought her some in that condition; but the unsuspicious master had +accepted his assurance that "they was only fit for pigs as soon as the +break-stalk blight come on 'em"; and then the next day he had bought +the very same, perhaps at ninepence apiece, from Mr. Cheeseman's window, +trimmed and shorn close, like the head of a monk. "I'll see every bit of +'un, now that I be here." Mrs. Knuckledown spoke aloud, to keep up her +courage. "Too bad for that old beast to keep us locked out from the very +place us ought to have for pommylarding, because he saith all the fruit +would go into our pockets. And what goes into his'en, I should like to +know? Suppose I lock him out, as he hath locked us out. He won't be back +yet for half an hour, anyway. Wish I could write--what a list I would +make, if it was only of the things he denieth he hath got!" + +Strong in her own honesty and loyalty to her master, the cook turned the +key in the lock, and left Swipes to ring himself into his own garden, as +he always called it. That is to say, if he should return, which was not +very likely, before she had time for a good look round. But she saw +such a sight of things she had longed for, to redeem her repute in the +vegetable way, as well as such herbs for dainty stuffing, of which she +knew more than cooks generally do, that her cap nearly came off her head +with amazement, and time flew by unheeded. Until she was startled and +terrified sadly by the loud, angry clang of the bell in the gable. Not +only was Mr. Swipes come back, but he was in a furious rage outside, +though his fury was chilled with some shivers of fear. At first, when he +found the door locked against him, he thought that the Admiral must have +come home unexpected, and failing to find him at work, had turned the +key against him, while himself inside. If so, his situation would be in +sad peril, and many acres of lies would be required to redeem it. For +trusting in his master's long times of absence, and full times of public +duty when at home, Mr. Swipes had grown more private stock, as he +called it, and denied the kitchen more, than he had ever done before, +in special preparation for some public dinners about to be given at the +Darling Arms, by military officers to naval, and in turn by the latter +to the former; for those were hospitable days, when all true Britons +stuck their country's enemy with knife and fork, as well as sword. + +But learning, as he soon did at the stables, that the Admiral was still +away, and both the young ladies were gone for a ride with Miss Twemlow, +the gardener came back in a rage, and rang the bell. "Oh, whatever shall +I do?" the trembling Mary asked herself. "Best take the upper hand if +I can. He's a thief, and a rogue, and he ought to be frighted. Does +he know I can't write? No, for certain he dothn't. One of his big lies +about me was a letter I wrote to poor Jonadab." + +With her courage renewed by the sense of that wrong, she opened the +door, and stood facing Mr. Swipes, with a piece of paper in her hand, +which a woman's quick wit bade her fetch from her pocket. + +"Halloa, madam!" the gardener exclaimed, with a sweep of his hat and +a low salute, which he meant to be vastly satirical; "so your ladyship +have come to take the air in my poor garden, instead of tending the +spit. And what do your ladyship think of it, so please you? Sorry as I +had any dung about, but hadn't no warning of this royal honour." + +"Sir," said Mrs. Knuckledown, pretending to be frightened a great deal +more than she was--"oh, sir, forgive me! I am sure I meant no harm. But +the fowls was running in, and I ran up to stop them." + +"Oh, that was how your ladyship condescended; and to keep out the fowls, +you locked out me! Allow me the royal and unapparelled honour of showing +your ladyship to her carriage; and if I ever catch her in here again, +I'll pitch you down the court-yard pretty quick. Be off, you dirty +baggage, or I won't answer for it now!" + +"Oh, you are too kind, Mr. Swipes; I am sure you are too gentle, to +forgive me, like of that! And the little list I made of the flowers +in your garden, I shall put it in a teapot till the Quality wants +something." + +Mr. Swipes gave a start, and his over-watered eyes could not meet those +of Mary, which were mildly set upon them. "List!" he muttered--"little +list! What do you please to mean, Miss?" + +"Well, the 'dirty baggage' means nothing unparalleled, sir, but just the +same as anybody else might do. Some people calls it a Inventionary, and +some an Emmarandum, and some a Catalogue. It don't interfere with you, +Mr. Swipes; only the next time as Miss Dolly asks, the same as she was +doing the other day--" + +"Oh, she was, was she? The little -----!" Mr. Swipes used a word +concerning that young lady which would have insured his immediate +discharge, together with one from the Admiral's best toe. "And pray, +what was her observations, ma'am?" + +"It was Charles told me, for he was waiting at dinner. Seems that the +turnip was not to her liking, though I picked out the very best of what +few you sent in, so she looks up from her plate, and she says: 'Well, I +cannot understand it! To me it is the greatest mistress in the world,' +she says, 'that we never can get a bit of vegetable fit for eating. +We've got,' she says, 'a kitchen-garden close upon two acres, and a man +who calls himself head gardener, by the name of Swipes'--my pardoning +to you, Mr. Swipes, for the young lady's way of saying it--'and his two +sons, and his nephew, and I dare say soon his grandsons. Well, and what +comes of it?' says she. 'Why, that we never has a bit of any kind +of vegetable, much less of fruit, fit to lay a fork to!' Charles was +a-pricking up his ears at this, because of his own grumbles, and the +master saw it, and he says, 'Hush, Dolly!' But she up and answers +spiritly: 'No, I won't hush, papa, because it is too bad. Only you +leave it to me,' she says, 'and if I don't keep the key from that old +thief--excoose me, Mr. Swipes, for her shocking language--'and find out +what he locks up in there, my name's not Horatia Dorothy Darling.' Oh, +don't let it dwell so on your mind, Mr. Swipes! You know what young +ladies be. They says things random, and then goes away and never +thinks no more about it. Oh, don't be upset so--or I shall have to call +Charles!" + +Mr. Swipes took his hat off to ease his poor mind, which had lost its +way altogether in other people's wickedness. "May I never set eyes on +that young man no more!" he exclaimed, with more pathetic force than +reasoning power. "Either him or me quits this establishment to-morrow. +Ah, I know well why he left his last place, and somebody else shall know +to-morrow!" + +"What harm have poor Charles done?" the cook asked sharply; "it +wasn't him that said it; it was Miss Dolly. Charley only told me +conferentially." + +"Oh, I know what 'conferentially' means, when anything once gets among +the womenkind! But I know a thing or two about Miss Dolly, as will give +her enough to do at home, I'll warrant, without coming spying after me +and my affairs. Don't you be surprised, cook, whatever you may hear, as +soon as ever the Admiral returneth. He's a soft man enough in a number +of ways, but he won't put up with everything. The nasty little vixen, if +she don't smart for this!" + +"Oh, don't 'e, now don't 'e, Mr. Swipes, that's a dear!" cried the +soft-hearted Mrs. Knuckledown; "don't 'e tell on her, the poor young +thing. If her hath been carrying on a bit with some of them young +hofficers, why, it's only natteral, and her such a young booty. Don't 'e +be Dick-tell-tale, with a name to it, or without. And perhaps her never +said half the things that Charles hath contributed to her." The truth +was that poor Dolly had said scarcely one of them. + +"Bain't no young hofficer," Mr. Swipes replied, contemptuously; "ten +times wuss than that, and madder for the Admiral. Give me that paper, +Miss, and then, perhaps, I'll tell 'e. Be no good to you, and might be +useful to me." + +Mary could not give up the paper, because it was a letter from one of +her adorers, which, with the aid of Jenny Shanks, she had interpreted. +"No, no," she said, with a coaxing look; "by-and-by, Mr. Swipes, when +you have told me who it is, and when you have promised not to tell on +poor Miss Dolly. But nobody sha'n't see it, without your permission. +We'll have another talk about that to-morrow. But, oh my! look at the +time you have kept me, with all the good things to make a hangel's +mouth water! Bring me two cauliflowers in two seconds. My beef will want +basting long ago; and if Dandy hathn't left his job, he'll be pretty +well roasted hisself by now." + +Mr. Swipes went muttering up the walk, and was forced to cut two of the +finest cauliflowers intended for Cheeseman's adornment to-morrow. This +turned his heart very sour again, and he shook his head, growling in +self-commune: "You see if I don't do it, my young lady. You speaks again +me, behind my back, and I writes again you, before your face; though, in +course, I need not put my name to it." + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +LOYAL, AYE LOYAL + + +One of the dinners at the Darling Arms, and perhaps the most brilliant +and exciting of the whole, because even the waiters understood the +subject, was the entertainment given in the month of December, A.D. +1803, not only by the officers of two regiments quartered for the time +near Stonnington, but also by all the leading people round about those +parts, in celebration of the great work done by His Majesty's 38-gun +frigate Leda. Several smaller dinners had been consumed already, by way +of practice, both for the cooks and the waiters and the chairman, and +Mr. John Prater, who always stood behind him, with a napkin in one hand +and a corkscrew in the other, and his heart in the middle, ready either +to assuage or stimulate. As for the guests, it was always found that no +practice had been required. + +"But now, but now"--as Mr. Prater said, when his wife pretended to make +nothing of it, for no other purpose than to aggravate him, because she +thought that he was making too much money, in proportion to what he was +giving her--"now we shall see what Springhaven can do for the good of +the Country and the glory of herself. Two bottles and a half a head is +the lowest that can be charged for, with the treble X outside, and the +punch to follow after. His lordship is the gentleman to keep the bottle +going." + +For the Lord-Lieutenant of the county, the popular Marquis of Southdown, +had promised to preside at this grand dinner; and everybody knew what +that meant. "Short tongue and long throat," was his lordship's motto in +the discharge of all public business, and "Bottle to the gentleman on +my left!" was the practical form of his eulogies. In a small space like +this, there would be no chance for a sober-minded guest to escape his +searching eye, and Blyth Scudamore (appointed to represent the officers +of the Leda, and therefore the hero of the evening) felt as happy as a +dog being led to be drowned, in view of this liquid ordeal. For Blyth +was a temperate and moderate young man, neither such a savage as to turn +his wine to poison, nor yet so Anti-Christian as to turn it into water. + +Many finer places had been offered for the feast, and foremost amongst +them the Admiral's house; but the committee with sound judgment had +declined them all. The great point was to have a place within easy reach +of boats, and where gallant naval officers could be recalled at once, +if the French should do anything outrageous, which they are apt to do +at the most outrageous time. But when a partition had been knocked down, +and the breach tacked over with festoons of laurel, Mr. Prater was quite +justified in rubbing his red hands and declaring it as snug a box +as could be for the business. There was even a dark elbow where the +staircase jutted out, below the big bressemer of the partition, and made +a little gallery for ladies to hear speeches, and behold the festive +heroes while still fit to be beholden. And Admiral Darling, as +vice-chairman, entering into facts masculine and feminine, had promised +his daughters and Miss Twemlow, under charge of the rector's wife and +Mrs. Stubbard, a peep at this heroic scene, before it should become too +convivial. The rescuers also of the Blonde, the flesh and bone, without +which the master brain must still have lain stranded, were to have a +grand supper in the covered skittle-alley, as the joints came away from +their betters, this lower deck being in command of Captain Tugwell, who +could rouse up his crew as fast as his lordship roused his officers. + +Admiral Darling had been engaged of late in the service of his Country +so continually, and kept up and down the great roads so much, or in and +out of any little port where sailors grew, that his own door had nearly +forgotten his shadow, and his dining-room table the reflection of his +face. For, in those days, to keep a good table implied that the table +must be good, as well as what was put upon it; and calico spread upon +turpentine was not yet considered the proper footing for the hospitable +and social glass. + +"When shall Twemlow and I have a hobnob again?" the Admiral asked +himself many a time. "How the dear old fellow loves to see the image of +his glass upon the table, and the ruby of his port reflected! Heigho! +I am getting very stiff in the back, and never a decent bit of dinner +for'ard. And as for a glass of good wine--oh Lord! my timbers will be +broken up, before it comes to mend them. And when I come home for even +half an hour, there is all this small rubbish to attend to. I must +have Frank home, to take this stuff off my hands, or else keep what I +abominate, a private secretary." + +Among the pile of letters that had lain unopened was one which he left +to the last, because he disliked both the look and the smell of it. A +dirty, ugly scrawl it was, bulged out with clumsy folding, and dabbed +with wax in the creases. With some dislike he tore it open; and the +dislike became loathing, as he read: + + +"Hon'd Sir. These foo lines comes from a umble but arty frend to +command. Rekwesting of your pardon sir, i have kep a hi same been father +of good dawters on the goings on of your fammeley. Miss Faith she is +a hangel sir but Miss Dolly I fere no better than she ort to be, and +wonderful fond of been noticed. I see her keeping company and carryin on +dreadful with a tall dark young man as meens no good and lives to Widow +Shankses. Too nites running when the days was short she been up to the +cornder of your grounds to meat he there ever so long. Only you hask her +if you don't believe me and wash her fase same time sir. Too other peple +besides me nose it. Excoose hon'd sir this trubble from your obejiant +servant + +"FAX AND NO MISSTAKE." + + +The Admiral's healthy face turned blue with rage and contempt, and he +stamped with his heel, as if he had the writer under it. To write a +stabbing letter, and to dare to deal the stab, and yet fear to show the +hand that deals it, was at that time considered a low thing to do. Even +now there are people who so regard it, though a still better tool for a +blackguard--the anonymous post-card--is now superseding it. + +All the old man's pleasure, and cheer, and comfort, and joy in having +one day at home at last, were dashed and shattered and turned into +wretched anxiety by this vile scrawl. He meant to have gone down, light +of heart, with a smiling daughter upon either arm, to the gallant little +festival where everybody knew him, and every one admired and loved him. +His two pretty daughters would sit upstairs, watching from a bow-window +(though themselves unseen) all the dashing arrivals and the grand +apparel. Then when the Marquis made his speech, and the King and Queen +and Royal Family rode upon the clouds, and the grandeur of Great Britain +was above the stars of heaven, the ladies in the gallery would venture +just to show themselves, not for one moment with a dream of being looked +at, but from romantic loyalty, and the fervour of great sentiments. +People pretending not to know would ask, "Who are those very lovely +ladies?" And he would make believe to know nothing at all about it, but +his heart would know whether he knew it or not. + +On the very eve of all this well-earned bliss, when it would have +refreshed his fagged body and soul--which were now not so young as they +used to be--to hear from some scoundrel without a name, that his pet +child, the life of his life, was no better than she ought to be, which +being said of a woman means that she is as bad as she can be! This fine +old gentleman had never received such a cowardly back-handed blow till +now, and for a moment he bent under it. + +Then, greatly ashamed of himself, he arose, and with one strong word, +which even Mr. Twemlow might have used under such provocation, he trod +the vile stuff under foot, and pitched it with the fire-tongs into the +fire. After this he felt better, and resolving most stoutly that he +never would let it cross his mind again, made a light and cheerful +answer to the profligate one--his young girl who came seeking him. + +"Oh, father, and you ought to be dressed!" she cried. "Shall we keep His +Majesty the Lord-Lieutenant waiting? Don't let us go at all. Let us stop +at home, papa. We never see you now, more than once in a month; and we +don't want to see you from a staircase hole, where we mustn't even blow +a kiss to you. I have got such a lot of things to tell you, dear father; +and I could make you laugh much more than they will." + +"But, my darling--all these grand things?" said the father, gently +fingering but half afraid to look at her, because of what had been in +his own mind; "the sweetest Navy blue, and the brightest Army red, and +little bits of silver lace so quiet in between them! I am sure I don't +know what to call a quarter of it; but the finest ship ever seen under +full sail, with the sun coming through her from her royals to her +courses--" + +"Now, papa, don't be so ridiculous. You know that I am not a fine ship +at all, but only a small frigate, about eighteen guns at the outside, I +should say--though she would be a sloop of war, wouldn't she?--and come +here at any rate for you to command her, if you are not far too lofty an +Admiral." + +"Do you love your old father, my dear?" said he, being carried beyond +his usual state by the joy in her eyes as she touched him. + +"What a shame to ask me such a question? Oh, papa, I ought to say, 'Do +you love me?' when you go away weeks and months almost together! Take +that, papa; and be quite ashamed of yourself." + +She swept all her breast-knots away anyhow--that had taken an hour to +arbitrate--and flung back her hair that would never be coiled, and with +a flash of tears leaping into laughing eyes, threw both arms round her +father's neck, and pressed her cool sweet lips to his, which were not at +all in the same condition. + +"There, see what you've done for me now!" she cried. "It will take +three-quarters of an hour, papa, to make me look fit to be looked at +again. The fashions are growing so ridiculous now--it is a happy thing +for us that we are a hundred years behind them, as Eliza Twemlow had the +impudence to say; and really, for the daughter of a clergyman--" + +"I don't care that for Eliza Twemlow," the Admiral exclaimed, with a +snap of his thumb. "Let her show herself as much as there is demand for. +Or rather, what I mean to say is, let Miss Twemlow be as beautiful as +nature has made her, my dear; and no doubt that is very considerable. +But I like you to be different; and you are. I like you to be simple, +and shy, and retiring, and not to care twopence what any one thinks of +you, so long as your father is contented." + +Dolly looked at her father, as if there were no other man in the world +for the moment. Then her conscience made her bright eyes fall, as she +whispered: "To be sure, papa. I only put these things on to please you; +and if you don't like them, away they go. Perhaps I should look nicer in +my great-aunt's shawl. And my feet would be warmer, oh ever so much! I +know where it is, and if you prefer the look of it--" + +"No, no!" cried the simple old father, as the girl tripped away in hot +haste to seek for it; "I forbid you to make such a guy of yourself. You +must not take my little banter, darling, in such a matter-of-fact way, +or I must hold my tongue." + +"Thank God," he continued to himself, as Miss Dolly ran away, to repair +her damages; "the simple little soul thinks of nobody but me! How could +I be such a fool as to imagine harm of her? Why, she is quite a child, a +bigger child than I am. I shall enjoy my evening all the more for this." + +And truly there seemed to be no reason why all the guests at that great +festival, save those who had speeches to make, should not enjoy their +evening thoroughly. Great preparations had been made, and goodly +presents contributed; plenty of serving-men would be there, and John +Prater (now growing white-headed and portly) was becoming so skilful a +caterer that if anything was suggested to him, he had always thought of +it long ago. The only grief was that the hour should be so late--five +o'clock, an unchristian time, as they said, for who could have manners +after starving so long? + +There was some sense in this; but the unreasonable lateness of the hour +could not be helped, because the Lord-Lieutenant had to wait upon the +King at eight o'clock that morning. That he could do so, and yet be in +Springhaven by five, seemed almost impossible; for only ten years ago +the journey took two days. But the war seemed to make everything go +quicker, and it was no use to wonder at anything. Only if everything +else went quicker, why should dinner (the most important of them all) +come slower? And as yet there was nobody to answer this; though perhaps +there is no one to ask it now. + +All things began very beautifully. The young ladies slipped in +unobserved, and the elder blessings of mankind came after, escorting +themselves with dignity. Then the heroes who had fought, and the +gallants who had not had the luck yet, but were eager for it, came +pleasantly clanking in, well girt to demolish ox and sheep, like Ajax, +in lack of loftier carnage. The rector said grace, and the Marquis amen, +and in less than two minutes every elbow was up, and every mouth at +business. There was very little talking for the first half hour. In +those days emptiness was not allowed to make the process of filling a +misery. + +While these fine fellows were still in the prime of their feeding, bent +over and upon it, two men with empty stomachs, and a long way between +them and their victuals, stood afar regarding them. That is to say, just +far enough to be quite out of sight from the windows, in the gloom of +the December evening; but at the same time near enough, to their own +unhappiness, to see and even smell the choice affairs across the road. + +"For what, then, hast thou brought me here?" the shorter man sharply +asked the tall one, both being in an uncomfortable place in a hedge, and +with briars that scratched them. "Is it to see other people eat, when +to eat myself is impossible? You have promised to show me a very fine +thing, and leagues have I traversed to please you. Fie, then, what is +it? To see eat, eat, eat, and drink, drink, drink, and have nothing for +myself!" + +"My friend," said the tall man, "I have not brought you here with any +desire to improve your appetite, which is always abundant, and cannot be +gratified for several hours, and with poor stuff then, compared to what +you are beholding. Those men are feeding well. You can see how they +enjoy it. There is not a morsel in their mouths that has not a very +choice flavour of its own distinguished relish. See, there is the +venison just waiting to be carved, and a pheasant between every two of +them. If only the wind was a little more that way, and the covers taken +off the sauce-boats, and the gravy--ah, do I perceive a fine fragrance, +or is it a desirous imagination?" + +"Bah! you are of the cold-blood, the wicked self-command. For me it is +either to rush in, or rush away. No longer can I hold my nose and mouth. +And behold they have wine--grand wine--the wine of Sillery, of Medoc, of +Barsac, and of Burgundy! By the bottles I can tell them, and by all the +Saints--" + +"Be not so excited, for you cannot smack the lips. It is too late now to +envy them their solids, because they have made such speed with them. But +listen, my dear friend"--and here the tall man whispered into the ear of +his brisk companion, who danced with delight in the ungenial hedge, till +his face was scarred with brambles. + +"It is magnificent, it is droll, it is what you call in England one +grand spree, though of that you understand not the signification. But, +my faith, it is at the same time barbarous, and almost too malignant." + +"Too benevolent Charron," said the tall stern man, "that shall rest +upon my conscience, not on yours. The object is not to spoil their noisy +revel, but to gain instruction of importance. To obtain a clear idea +of the measures they adopt--ah, you see, you are as quick as lightning. +This urgent message is upon official paper, which I have taken from the +desk of that very stupid Stubbard. Take the horse Jerry holds at the +corner, and the officer's hat and cape provided are ample disguise for +so dark a night. Take the lane behind the hills, and gallop two miles +eastward, till you come to the shore again, then turn back towards the +village by way of the beach, and you will meet the Coast-guard on duty, +a stupid fellow called Vickers. Your horse by that time will be piping +and roaring: he can go like the wind, but his own is broken. The moment +you see Vickers, begin to swear at your horse. I have practised you in +d--ns, for an emergency." + +"Ten thousand thunders, I can say d--n now to equal and surpass the +purest born of all Britons." + +"Not so loud, my friend, until by-and-by. The Coast-guard will come +to you, and you pull up with your horse hanging down his head, as if +dead-beaten. Using your accomplishment again, you say: 'Here, take +this on to Admiral Darling. My nag is quite done, and I must get to +Stonnington to call Colonel James. For your life, run, run. You'll get a +guinea, if you look sharp.' Before he can think of it, turn your horse, +and make back to the lane, as if for Stonnington. But instead of that, +gallop back to our ruins; and we'll go up the hill, and see what comes +of it." + +"It is very good, it is magnificent. But will not the sentinel perceive +my voice and accent?" + +"Not he; he is a very honest and therefore stupid fellow. Give him no +time, answer no questions. Be all in a rush, as you so generally are. I +would do it myself, but I am too well known. Say, will you undertake it? +It will be a fine joke for you." + +About half an hour after this, the Lord-Lieutenant having hammered on +the table with an empty bottle, stood up to propose the chief toast +of the evening--the gallant crew of the Leda, and the bold sailors of +Springhaven. His lordship had scarcely had a bottle and a half, and +was now in the prime of his intellect. A very large man, with a long +brocaded coat of ruby-coloured cloth, and white satin breeches, a +waistcoat of primrose plush emblazoned with the Union-jack (then the +popular device) in gorgeous silks with a margin of bright gold, and a +neckcloth pointed and plaited in with the rarest lace, worth all the +rest put together--what a pity it seemed that such a man should get +drunk, or at any rate try so hard to do it. There was not a pimple on +his face, his cheeks were rosy and glistening, but not flushed; and his +eyes were as bright and clear and deep as a couple of large sapphires. + +This nobleman said a few words, without any excitement, or desire to +create it, every word to the point, and the best that could be chosen +not to go beyond the point. There was no attempt at eloquence, and yet +the speech was eloquent, because it suggested so much more than was +said. More excitable natures, overcome by half a bottle, resolved to +have the other half, in honour of that toast. + +Then the Marquis did a very kind and thoughtful thing, for which he +deserved a bottle of the Royal Tokay, such as even Napoleon could not +obtain. When the cheering was done, and every eye was fixed upon the +blushing Scudamore--who felt himself, under that fixture, like an insect +under a lens which the sun is turning into a burning-glass--the Chairman +perceived his sad plight, and to give him more time and more spirit, +rose again. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "or I would rather call you brother Englishmen at +this moment, I have forgotten one thing. Before our young hero replies +to his health, let us give him that spirited song 'Billy Blue,' which is +well known to every man here, I'll be bound. Tell the drummer down +there to be ready for chorus." Billy Blue, though almost forgotten now +(because the enemy would not fight him), the blockader of Brest, the +hardy, skilful, and ever watchful Admiral Cornwallis, would be known to +us nearly as well as Nelson, if fame were not a lottery. + +As the Lord-Lieutenant waved his hand, the company rose with one accord, +and followed the lead of his strong clear voice in the popular song, +called + + + "BILLY BLUE" + + 1 + + "'Tis a terrible time for Englishmen; + All tyrants do abhor them; + Every one of them hath to fight with ten, + And the Lord alone is for them. + But the Lord hath given the strong right hand, + And the courage to face the thunder; + If a Frenchman treads this English land, + He shall find his grave thereunder. + + CHORUS + + Britannia is the Ocean-Queen, and she standeth staunch and + true, + With Nelson for her faulchion keen, and her buckler Billy Blue. + + 2 + + "They are mustering on yon Gallic coasts, + You can see them from this high land, + The biggest of all the outlandish hosts + That ever devoured an island. + There are steeds that have scoured the Continent, + Ere ever one might say, 'Whoa, there!' + And ships that would fill the Thames and Trent, + If we would let them go there. + + CHORUS + + But England is the Ocean-Queen, and it shall be hard to do; + Not a Frenchman shall skulk in between herself and her Billy + Blue. + + 3 + + "From the smiling bays of Devonshire + To the frowning cliffs of Filey, + Leaps forth every son of an English sire, + To fight for his native isley. + He hath drawn the sword of his father now + From the rusty sheath it rattled in; + And Dobbin, who dragged the peaceful plough, + Is neighing for the battle-din. + + CHORUS + + For Albion still is Ocean-Queen, and though her sons be few, + They challenge the world with a dauntless mien, and the flag + of Billy Blue. + + 4 + + "Then pledge me your English palm, my lad; + Keep the knuckles for Sir Frenchman; + No slave can you be till you change your dad, + And no son of yours a henchman. + The fight is to come; and we will not brag, + Nor expect whatever we sigh for, + But stand as the rock that bears the flag + Our duty is to die for. + + CHORUS + + For Englishmen confront serene whatever them betideth; + And England shall be Ocean's Queen as long as the world + abideth." + + +What with the drum and the fifes of one of the regiments now at +Stonnington, and the mighty bass of some sea-captains vehement in +chorus, these rough and rolling lines were enough to frighten a thousand +Frenchmen, while proving the vigour of British nerve, and fortitude both +of heart and ear. When people have done a thing well, they know it, and +applaud one another to include themselves; and even the ladies, who were +meant to be unseen, forgot that and waved their handkerchiefs. Then up +and spoke Blyth Scudamore, in the spirit of the moment; and all that he +said was good and true, well-balanced and well-condensed, like himself. +His quiet melodious voice went further than the Lord-Lieutenant's, +because it was new to the air of noise, and that fickle element loves +novelty. All was silence while he spoke, and when he ceased--great +uproar. + +"That lad will do," said the Marquis to his supporter on the right hand; +"I was just like him at that age myself. Let me draw this cork--it is +the bottle of the evening. None but my own fellows understand a cork, +and they seem to have got away somewhere. What the doose are they +about--why, halloa, Darling! What's the meaning of all this, at such a +time?" + +"Well, my lord, you must judge for yourself," said the Admiral, who had +made his way quietly from the bottom of the table. "We know that false +alarms are plentiful. But this looks like business, from the paper it is +written on; and I know that old Dudgeon is as solid as myself. Vickers +the Coast-guard brought it in, from an officer whose horse was blown, +who had orders to get somehow to Stonnington." + +"Is Vickers a knave, or a fool who is likely to be made the victim of a +very low joke? There are hundreds of jealous scoundrels eager to spoil +every patriotic gathering. Ah, this looks rather serious, though, if you +can vouch for the paper." + +"I can vouch for the paper, my lord, and for Vickers; but not for +Dudgeon's signature. Of that I have no knowledge--though it looks right +enough, so far as I know. Shall I read it aloud, and let officers who +are not under my command judge for themselves, as I shall judge for +those I have the honour to command?" + +The Lord-Lieutenant, with his cork just squeaking in the neck of the +bottle, nodded; and the Admiral, with officers crowding round, read +aloud as follows, part being in type, and part in manuscript: + + +"Commander of Coast-defence at Hythe, to Vice-Admiral Darling, +Springhaven. + +"French fleet standing in, must have slipped Cornwallis. Do all you can. +Not a moment to lose. + +(Signed) "BELLAMY DUDGEON." + + +"Well, it may be true, or it may be a lie," said the Marquis, pouring +carefully; "my opinion is the latter; but I have nothing to do with +it officially, according to the new arrangements. Every gentleman +must judge for himself. And I mean to abide by my own judgment, which +strongly recommends me to finish this bottle." + +"Probably you are right enough; and in your place perhaps I should do +the same," the Admiral answered, quietly; "but be the alarm either true +or false, I am bound to act otherwise. All Naval Officers present will +be good enough to follow me, and prepare to rejoin if ordered. We shall +very soon know from the signal-point, unless fog has set in suddenly, +whether we are bound to beat a general alarm." + +All the sons of the sea arose quietly, and were despatched with brief +orders to the right and left, to communicate with their signal stations, +while Stubbard hurried back to his battery. + +"What cold blood they do display!" whispered the Frenchman, who had +returned with the author of the plot to watch the issue from a point of +vantage. "My faith, they march slowly for their native land! Not less +than six bottles of great French wine did I anticipate to steal through +the window, while they fell out precipitous. But there sits a man big +enough to leave me nothing--not even a remainder of my own body. Soul of +St. Denis, can it be that they question the word of a gentleman?" + +"Not they!" replied Carne, who was vexed, however; "they are taking +things easily, according to the custom of the nation. But two good +things we have done, friend Charron; we have learned their proceedings, +and we have spoiled their feasting." + +"But not at all; they are all coming back to enjoy it all the more!" +cried the Frenchman. "Oh that I were an Englishman, to get such a +dinner, and to be so loyal to it!" + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +FAIR CRITICISM + + +Few things can be worse for a very young woman than to want to be led +by somebody, and yet find nobody fit to do it. Or at any rate, through +superior quickness and the knowledge of it, to regard old friends and +relatives of experience as very slow coaches, and prigs or prudes, who +cannot enter into quick young feelings, but deal in old saws which grate +upon them. + +Not to moralise about it--for if young ladies hate anything, it is such +moralising--Miss Dolly Darling was now in that uncomfortable frame of +mind when advice is most needed, yet most certain to be spurned. She +looked upon her loving and sensible sister as one who was fated to be +an old maid, and was meant perhaps by nature for that condition, which +appeared to herself the most abject in the world. And even without that +conclusion about Faith she would have been loth to seek counsel from +her, having always resented most unduly what she called her "superior +air of wisdom." Dolly knew that she was quicker of wit than her +sister--as shallow waters run more rapidly--and she fancied that she +possessed a world of lively feelings into which the slower intellect +could not enter. For instance, their elder brother Frank had just +published a volume of poems, very noble in their way, and glowing with +ardour for freedom, democracy, and the like, as well as exhibiting fine +perception of sound, and great boldness in matters beyond sounding, yet +largely ungifted with knowledge of nature, whether human or superior. + +"Better stick to his law-books," the Admiral had said, after singing out +some of the rhyme of it to the tune of "Billy Benbow"; "never sit on the +wool-sack by spewing oakum this way." + +Faith had tried, as a matter of duty, to peruse this book to its cover; +but she found it beyond even her good-will, and mild sympathy with +everything, to do so. There was not the touch of nature in it which +makes humble people feel, and tickles even the very highest with desire +to enter into it. So Faith declared that it must be very clever, and no +doubt very beautiful, but she herself was so stupid that she could not +make out very clearly what it was all about. + +"Well, I understand every word of it," Miss Dolly cried, with a literary +look. "I don't see how you can help doing that, when you know all about +Frank, who wrote it. Whenever it is not quite clear, it is because he +wants us to think that he knows too much, or else because he is not +quite certain what he wants to mean himself. And as for his talk about +freedom, and all that, I don't see why you should object to it. It is +quite the fashion with all clever people now, and it stops them from +doing any mischief. And nobody pays much attention to them, after the +cruel things done in France when I was seven or eight years old. If I +see Frank, I shall tell him that I like it." + +"And I shall tell him that I don't," said Faith. "It cannot do anybody +any good. And what they call 'freedom' seems to mean making free with +other people's property." + +These poems were issued in one volume, and under one title--The +Harmodiad--although there must have been some half-hundred of them, +and not more than nine odes to freedom in the lot. Some were almost +tolerable, and others lofty rubbish, and the critics (not knowing the +author) spoke their bright opinions freely. The poet, though shy as a +mouse in his preface, expected a mountain of inquiry as to the identity +of this new bard, and modestly signed himself "Asteroid," which made +his own father stare and swear. Growing sore prematurely from much +keelhauling--for the reviewers of the period were patriotic, and the +English public anti-Gallic--Frank quitted his chambers at Lincoln's Inn, +and came home to be comforted for Christmas. This was the wisest thing +that he could do, though he felt that it was not Harmodian. In spite of +all crotchets, he was not a bad fellow, and not likely to make a good +lawyer. + +As the fates would have it (being naturally hostile to poets who defy +them), by the same coach to Stonnington came Master Johnny, in high +feather for his Christmas holidays. Now these two brothers were as +different of nature as their sisters were, or more so; and unlike the +gentler pair, each of these cherished lofty disdain for the other. Frank +looked down upon the school-boy as an unlicked cub without two +ideas; the bodily defect he endeavoured to cure by frequent outward +applications, but the mental shortcoming was beneath his efforts. Johnny +meanwhile, who was as hard as nails, no sooner recovered from a thumping +than he renewed and redoubled his loud contempt for a great lout over +six feet high, who had never drawn a sword or pulled a trigger. And now +for the winter this book would be a perpetual snowball for him to pelt +his big brother with, and yet (like a critic) be scarcely fair object +for a hiding. In season out of season, upstairs down-stairs, even in +the breakfast and the dinner chambers, this young imp poked clumsy +splinters--worse than thorns, because so dull--into the tender poetic +side; and people, who laugh at the less wit the better, laughed very +kindly, to please the boy, without asking whether they vexed the man. +And the worst of it was that the author too must laugh. + +All this might be looked down at by a soul well hoisted upon the +guy-ropes of contempt; and now and then a very solid drubbing given +handsomely (upon other grounds) to the chief tormentor solaced the mind +of unacknowledged merit. But as the most vindictive measure to the man +who has written an abusive letter is to vouchsafe him no reply, so to +the poet who rebukes the age the bitterest answer it can give is none. +Frank Darling could retaliate upon his brother Johnny, and did so +whenever he could lay hold of him alone; but the stedfast silence of his +sister Faith (to whom one of his loftiest odes was addressed), and of +his lively father, irked him far more than a thousand low parodies. +Dolly alone was some comfort to him, some little vindication of true +insight; and he was surprised to find how quickly her intelligence +(which until now he had despised) had strengthened, deepened, and +enlarged itself. Still he wanted some one older, bigger, more capable of +shutting up the mouth, and nodding (instead of showing such a lot of red +tongue and white teeth), before he could be half as snug as a true +poet should be, upon the hobs of his own fire. And happily he found his +Anti-Zoilus ere long. + +One day he was walking in a melancholy mood along the beach towards +Pebbleridge, doubting deeply in his honest mind whether he ever should +do any good, in versification, or anything else. He said to himself that +he had been too sanguine, eager, self-confident, ardent, impetuous, and, +if the nasty word must be faced, even too self-conceited. Only yesterday +he had tried, by delicate setting of little word-traps, to lead +Mr. Twemlow towards the subject, and obtain that kind-hearted man's +comforting opinion. But no; the gentle Rector would not be brought to +book, or at any rate not to that book; and the author had sense enough +to know without a wink that his volume had won volumes of dislike. + +Parnassus could never have lived till now without two heads--one to +carry on with, while the other is being thumped to pieces. While the +critics demolish one peak, the poet withdraws to the other, and assures +himself that the general public, the larger voice of the nation, will +salute him there. But alas, Frank Darling had just discovered that even +that eminence was not his, except as a desert out of human sight. For +he had in his pocket a letter from his publishers, received that dreary +morning, announcing a great many copies gone gratis, six sold to the +trade at a frightful discount, and six to the enterprising public. All +these facts combined to make him feel uncommonly sad and sore to-day. + +A man of experience could have told him that this disappointment was for +his good; but he failed to see it in that light, and did not bless the +blessing. Slowly and heavily he went on, without much heed of anything, +swinging his clouded cane now and then, as some slashing reviews +occurred to him, yet becoming more peaceful and impartial of mind under +the long monotonous cadence and quiet repetitions of the soothing sea. +For now he was beyond the Haven head--the bulwark that makes the bay a +pond in all common westerly weather--and waves that were worthy of the +name flowed towards him, with a gentle breeze stepping over them. + +The brisk air was like a fresh beverage to him, and the fall of the +waves sweet music. He took off his hat, and stopped, and listened, and +his eyes grew brighter. Although the waves had nothing very distinct to +say in dying, yet no two (if you hearkened well), or at any rate no two +in succession, died with exactly the same expression, or vanished with +precisely the same farewell. Continual shifts went on among them, and +momentary changes; each in proper sequence marching, and allowed its +proper time, yet at any angle traversed, even in its crowning curl, +not only by the wind its father, but by the penitent return and white +contrition of its shattered elder brother. And if this were not enough +to make a samely man take interest in perpetually flowing changes, the +sun and clouds, at every look and breath, varied variety. + +Frank Darling thought how small his griefs were, and how vain his +vanity. Of all the bubbly clots of froth, or frayed and shattered dabs +of drift, flying beside him or falling at his feet, every one was +as good as his ideas, and as valuable as his labours. And of all the +unreckoned waves advancing, lifting their fugitive crests, and roaring, +there certainly was not one that fell with weight so futile as his +own. Who cared even to hear his sound? What ear was soothed by his long +rhythm, or what mind solaced by the magnitude of his rolling? + +Suddenly he found that some mind was so. For when he had been standing +a long while thus, chewing the salt cud of marine reflections, he seemed +to hear something more intelligible than the sea. With more surprise +than interest he walked towards the sound, and stood behind the corner +of a jutting rock to listen. In another second his interest overpowered +his surprise, for he knew every word of the lines brought to his ears, +for the very simple reason that they were his own. Round the corner of +that rock, so absorbed in admiration that he could hear no footstep, a +very fine young man of the highest order was reading aloud in a powerful +voice, and with extremely ardent gesticulation, a fine passage from that +greatly undervalued poem, the Harmodiad, of and concerning the beauties +of Freedom-- + + + "No crown upon her comely head she bore, + No wreath her affluent tresses to restrain; + A smile the only ornament she wore, + Her only gem a tear for others' pain. + Herself did not her own mishaps deplore, + Because she lives immortal as the dew, + Which falling from the stars soon mounts again; + And in this wise all space she travels through, + Beneficent as heaven, and to the earth more true. + + "Her blessings all may win who seek the prize, + If only they be faithful, meek, and strong, + And crave not that which others' right denies, + But march against the citadel of wrong. + A glorious army this, that finds allies + Wherever God hath built the heart of man + With attributes that to Himself belong; + By Him ordained to crown what He began, + And shatter despotism, which is the foul fiend's ban." + + +Frank thought that he had never heard nobler reading, sonorous, clear, +well timed, well poised, and of harmonious cadence. The curved rock gave +a melodious ring, and the husky waves a fine contrast to it, while +the reader was so engrossed with grandeur--the grandeur of Frank's own +mind!--that his hat could evidently not contain his head, but was flung +at the mercy of his feet. What a fine, expressive, and commanding face! + +If Frank Darling had been a Frenchman--which he sometimes longed to be, +for the sake of that fair Liberty--the scene, instead of being awkward, +would have been elegant, rapturous, ennobling. But being of the clumsy +English race, he was quite at a loss what to do with himself. On paper +he could be effusive, ardent, eloquent, sentimental; but not a bit of +that to meet the world in his own waistcoat. He gave a swing to his +stick, and walked across the opening as if he were looking at sea-gulls. +And on he would have walked without further notice, except a big gulp in +his throat, if it had not been for a trifling accident. + +Somehow or other the recitative gentleman's hat turned over to the wind, +and that active body (which never neglects any sportive opportunity) got +into the crown, with the speed of an upstart, and made off with it along +the stones. A costly hat it was, and comely with rich braid and satin +loops, becoming also to a well-shaped head, unlike the chimney-pot of +the present day, which any man must thank God for losing. However, the +owner was so wrapped up in poetry that his breeches might have gone +without his being any wiser. + +"Sir," said Frank Darling, after chasing the hat (which could not +trundle as our pots do, combining every possible absurdity), "excuse me +for interrupting you, but this appears to be your hat, and it was on its +way to a pool of salt-water." + +"Hat!--my hat?" replied the other gentleman. "Oh, to be sure! I had +quite forgotten. Sir, I am very much obliged to you. My hat might have +gone to the devil, I believe, I was so delightfully occupied. Such a +thing never happened to me before, for I am very hard indeed to please; +but I was reading, sir; I was reading. Accept my thanks, sir; and I +suppose I must leave off." + +"I thought that I heard a voice," said Frank, growing bold with fear +that he should know no more, for the other was closing his book with +great care, and committing it to a pouch buckled over his shoulder; "and +I fear that I broke in upon a pleasant moment. Perhaps I should have +pleased you better if I had left this hat to drown." + +"I seem ungrateful," the stranger answered, with a sweet but melancholy +smile, as he donned his hat and then lifted it gracefully to salute its +rescuer; "but it is only because I have been carried far away from all +thoughts of self, by the power of a much larger mind. Such a thing may +have occurred to you, sir, though it happens very seldom in one life. If +so, you will know how to forgive me." + +"I scarcely dare ask--or rather I would say"--stammered the anxious +poet--"that I cannot expect you to tell me the name of the fortunate +writer who has moved you so." + +"Would to Heaven that I could!" exclaimed the other. "But this great +poet has withheld his name--all great poets are always modest--but it +cannot long remain unknown. Such grandeur of conception and force of +language, combined with such gifts of melody, must produce universal +demand to know the name of this benefactor. I cannot express myself as I +would desire, because I have been brought up in France, where literature +is so different, and people judge a work more liberally, without +recourse to politics. This is a new work, only out last week; and a +friend of mine, a very fine judge of literature, was so enchanted +with it that he bought a score of copies at once, and as my good stars +prevailed, he sent me one. You are welcome to see it, sir. It is unknown +in these parts; but will soon be known all over Europe, unless these +cruel wars retard it." + +With a face of deep gravity, Caryl Carne put into Frank Darling's hand +a copy of his own book, quite young, but already scored with many loving +marks of admiration and keen sympathy. Frank took it, and reddened with +warm delight. + +"You may not understand it at first," said the other; "though I beg your +pardon for saying that. What I mean is, that I can well suppose that +an Englishman, though a good judge in general, would probably have his +judgment darkened by insular prejudices, and the petty feeling which +calls itself patriotism, and condemns whatever is nobler and larger than +itself. My friend tells me that the critics have begun to vent their +little spite already. The author would treat them with calm disdain!" + +"Horribly nasty fellows!" cried Frank. "They ought to be kicked; but +they are below contempt. But if I could only catch them here--" + +"I am delighted to find," replied Carne, looking at him with kind +surprise, "that you agree with me about that, sir. Read a few lines, and +your indignation against that low lot will grow hotter." + +"It cannot grow hotter," cried the author; "I know every word that the +villains have said. Why, in that first line that I heard you reading, +the wretches actually asked me whether I expected my beautiful goddess +to wear her crown upon her comely tail!" + +"I am quite at a loss to understand you, sir. Why, you speak as if this +great work were your own!" + +"So it is, every word of it," cried Frank, hurried out of all reserve +by excitement. "At least, I don't mean that it is a great work--though +others, besides your good self, have said--Are you sure that your friend +bought twenty copies? My publishers will have to clear up that. Why, +they say, under date of yesterday, that they have only sold six copies +altogether. And it was out on Guy Fawkes' Day, two months ago!" + +Caryl Carne's face was full of wonder. And the greatest wonder of all +was its gravity. He drew back a little, in this vast surprise, and +shaded his forehead with one hand, that he might think. + +"I can hardly help laughing at myself," he said, "for being so stupid +and so slow of mind. But a coincidence like this is enough to excuse +anything. If I could be sure that you are not jesting with me, seeing +how my whole mind is taken up with this book--" + +"Sir, I can feel for your surprise," answered Frank, handing back the +book, for which the other had made a sign, "because my own is even +greater; for I never have been read aloud before--by anybody else +I mean, of course; and the sound is very strange, and highly +gratifying--at least, when done as you do it. But to prove my claim to +the authorship of the little work which you so kindly esteem, I will +show you the letter I spoke of." + +The single-minded poet produced from near his heart a very large letter +with much sealing-wax endorsed, and the fervent admirer of his genius +read: + + +"DEAR SIR,--In answer to your favour to hand, we beg to state that your +poetical work the Harmodiad, published by our firm, begins to move. +Following the instructions in your last, we have already disposed of +more than fifty copies. Forty-two of these have been distributed to +those who will forward the interests of the book, by commending it to +the Public; six have been sold to the trade at a discount of 75 per +cent.; and six have been taken by private purchasers, at the full +price of ten shillings. We have reason to anticipate a more rapid sale +hereafter. But the political views expressed in the poems--as we frankly +stated to you at first--are not likely to be popular just now, when the +Country is in peril, and the Book trade incommoded, by the immediate +prospect of a French invasion. We are, dear sir, your obedient servants, +TICKLEBOIS, LATHERUP, BLINKERS, & Co.--To Mr. FRANK DARLING, Springhaven +Hall." + + +"You cannot call that much encouragement," said Frank; "and it is a most +trusty and honourable house. I cannot do what a friend of mine has +done, who went to inferior publishers--denounce them as rogues, and +call myself a martyr. If the book had been good, it would have sold; +especially as all the poets now are writing vague national songs, full +of slaughter and brag, like that 'Billy Blue' thing all our fishermen +are humming." + +"You have nothing to do but to bide your time. In the long-run, fine +work is sure to make its way. Meanwhile I must apologise for praising +you to your face, in utter ignorance, of course. But it must have made +you feel uncomfortable." + +"Not at all; far otherwise," said the truthful Frank. "It has been the +very greatest comfort to me. And strange to say, it came just when I +wanted it most sadly. I shall never forget your most kind approval." + +"In that case I may take the liberty of introducing myself, I trust. +You have told me who you are, in the most delightful way. I have no such +claim upon your attention, or upon that of the world at large. I am +only the last of an ill-fated race, famous for nothing except ruining +themselves. I am Caryl Carne, of yonder ruin, which you, must have known +from childhood." + +Frank Darling lifted his hat in reply to the other's more graceful +salutation, and then shook hands with him heartily. "I ought to +have known who you are," he said; "for I have heard of you often at +Springhaven. But you have not been there since I came down, and we +thought that you had left the neighbourhood. Our little village is +like the ear of the tyrant, except that it carries more false than true +sound. I hope you are come to remain among us, and I hope that we shall +see you at my father's house. Years ago I have heard that there used to +be no especial good-will between your family and mine--petty disputes +about boundaries, no doubt. How narrow and ridiculous such things are! +We live in a better age than that, at any rate, although we are small +enough still in many ways." + +"You are not; and you will enlarge many others," Carne answered, as +if the matter were beyond debate. "As for boundaries now, I have none, +because the estates are gone, and I am all the richer. That is the +surest way to liberate the mind." + +"Will you oblige me," said Frank, to change the subject, for his mind +did not seek to be liberated so, and yet wished its new admirer to +remain in admiration, "by looking along the shore towards Springhaven as +far as you can see, and telling me whether any one is coming? My sisters +were to follow me, if the weather kept fine, as soon as they had paid +a little visit at the rectory. And my sight is not good for long +distances." + +"I think I can see two ladies coming, or at any rate two figures moving, +about a mile or more away, where the sands are shining in a gleam of +sunlight. Yes, they are ladies. I know by their walk. Good-bye. I have a +way up the cliff from here. You must not be surprised if you do not see +me again. I may have to be off for France. I have business there, of +which I should like to talk to you. You are so far above mean prejudice. +If I go, I shall carry this precious volume with me. Farewell, my +friend, if I may call you so." + +"Do wait a minute," cried the much admiring Frank; "or walk a few yards +with me towards Springhaven. It would give me such pleasure to introduce +you to my sisters. And I am sure they will be so glad to know you, when +I tell them what I think. I very seldom get such a chance as this." + +"There is no resisting that!" replied the graceful Carne; "I have not +the honour of knowing a lady in England, except my aunt Mrs. Twemlow, +and my cousin Eliza--both very good, but to the last degree insular." + +"It is very hard to help being that, when people have never been out of +an island. But I fear that I am taking you out of your way." + +In a few minutes these two young men drew near to the two young women, +whose manners were hard put to hide surprise. When their brother +introduced Mr. Carne to them, Faith bowed rather stiffly, for she had +formed without reason a dark and obstinate dislike to him. But the +impetuous Dolly ran up and offered him both her hands, and said, "Why, +Mr. Carne saved both our lives only a few days ago." + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +NEITHER AT HOME + + +Though Admiral Darling had not deigned to speak to his younger daughter +about that vile anonymous charge, he was not always quite comfortable +in his inner mind concerning it. More than once he thought of asking +Faith's opinion, for he knew her good sense and discretion; but even +this was repugnant to him, and might give her the idea that he cherished +low suspicions. And then he was called from home again, being occupied +among other things with a vain enquiry about the recent false alarm. +For Carne and Charron had managed too well, and judged too correctly the +character of Vickers, to afford any chance of discovery. So that, when +the Admiral came home again, his calm and--in its fair state--gentle +nature was ruffled by the prosperity of the wicked. + +"Oh, he is a fine judge of poetry, is he?" he said, more sarcastically +than his wont; "that means, I suppose, that he admires yours, Frank. +Remember what Nelson said about you. The longer I live, the more I find +his views confirmed." + +"Papa, you are too bad! You are come home cross!" cried Dolly, who +always took Frank's part now. "What does my godfather know of poetry, +indeed? If he ever had any ear for it, the guns would have ruined it +long ago." + +"No mostacchio in my house!" said the master, without heeding her. "I +believe that is the correct way to pronounce the filthy thing--a foreign +abomination altogether. Who could keep his lips clean, with that dirt +over them? A more tolerant man than myself never lived--a great deal too +tolerant, as everybody knows. But I'll never tolerate a son of mine in +disgusting French hairiness of that sort." + +"Papa, you are come home as cross as a bear!" cried Dolly, presuming on +her favour. "Lord Dashville was here the other day with a very nice one, +and I hear that all Cavalry Officers mean to have one, when they can. +And Mr. Carne, Frank's friend, encourages it." + +"The less you have to say about that young man, the better. And the less +he has to say to any child of mine, the better, both for him and her, I +say. I know that the age is turned upside down. But I'll not have that +sort of thing at my table." + +When a kind and indulgent father breaks forth thus, the result is +consternation, followed by anxiety about his health. Faith glanced at +Dolly, who was looking quite bewildered, and the two girls withdrew +without a word. Johnny was already gone to visit Captain Stubbard, with +whose eldest daughter Maggie and the cannons of the battery he was by +this time desperately in love; and poor Frank was left to have it out +with the angry father. + +"I very seldom speak harshly, my boy," said the Admiral, drawing near +his son gradually, for his wrath (like good vegetables) was very short +of staple; "and when I do so you may feel quite certain that there is +sound reason at the bottom of it"--here he looked as if his depth was +unfathomable. "It is not only that I am not myself, because of the many +hours spent upon hard leather, and vile chalks of flint that go by me +half asleep, when I ought to be snoring in the feathers; neither has it +anything to do with my consuming the hide of some quadruped for dinner, +instead of meat. And the bread is made of rye, if of any grain at all; +I rather think of spent tan, kneaded up with tallow ends, such as I have +seen cast by in bushels, when the times were good. And every loaf of +that costs two shillings--one for me, and one for Government. They all +seem to acknowledge that I can put up with that; and I make a strict +point of mild language, which enables them to do it again with me. +And all up and down the roads, everybody likes me. But if I was shot +to-morrow, would they care twopence?" + +"I am sure they would, sir; and a good deal more than that," answered +Frank, who perceived that his father was out of his usual lines of +thinking, perhaps because he had just had a good dinner--so ill do we +digest our mercies. "I am sure that there is nobody in Sussex, Kent, or +Hampshire who does not admire and respect and trust you." + +"I dare say, and rejoice to see me do the work they ought to do. They +have long nights in bed, every one of them, and they get their meals +when they want them. I am not at all astonished at what Nelson said. He +is younger than I am by a good many years, but he seems to have picked +up more than I have, in the way of common sentiments, and such like. +'You may do everybody's work, if you are fool enough,' he said to me the +last time I saw him; 'and ease them of their souls as well, if you are +rogue enough, as they do in the Popish countries. I am nearly sick of +doing it,' he said, and he looked it. 'If you once begin with it, you +must go on.' I find it more true every day of my life. Don't interrupt +me; don't go on with comfortable stuff about doing good, and one's duty +towards one's Country--though I fear that you think very little of that. +If I thought I had done good enough to make up for my back-aches, and +three fine stumps lost through chewing patriotic sentiments, why, of +course I should be thankful, and make the best of my reward. But charity +begins at home, my boy, and one's shirt should be considered before +one's cloak. A man's family is the nearest piece of his country, and the +dearest one." + +"I am sure, sir, I hope," replied Frank, who had never heard his father +talk like this before, "that nothing is going on amiss with us here. +When you are away, I keep a sharp lookout. And if I saw anything going +wrong, I should let you know of it immediately." + +"No doubt you would; but you are much too soft. You are quite as +easygoing as I used to be at your age"--here the Admiral looked as if +he felt himself to be uncommonly hard-going now--"and that sort of thing +will not do in these days. For my own discomforts I care nothing. I +could live on lobscouse, or soap and bully, for a year, and thank God +for getting more than I deserved. But my children, Frank, are very +different. From me you would never hear a grumble, or a syllable of +anything but perfect satisfaction, so long as I felt that I was doing +good work, and having it appreciated. And all my old comrades have just +the same feeling. But you, who come after us, are not like that. You +must have everything made to fit you, instead of making yourselves fit +them. The result will be, I have very little doubt, the downfall of +England in the scale of nations. I was talking to my old friend St. +Vincent last week, and he most heartily agreed with me. However, I don't +mean to blame you, Frank. You cannot help your unfortunate nature for +stringing ends of words together that happen to sound alike. Johnny will +make a fine Officer, not in the Navy, but of Artillery--Stubbard says +that he has the rarest eyes he ever came across in one so young, and he +wishes he could put them into his Bob's head. He shall not go back to +Harrow; he can spell his own name, which seems to be all they teach them +there, instead of fine scholarship, such as I obtained at Winton. But to +spell his own name is quite enough for a soldier. In the Navy we always +were better educated. Johnny shall go to Chatham, when his togs are +ready. I settled all about it in London, last week. Nothing hurts him. +He is water-proof and thunder-proof. Toss him up anyhow, he falls upon +his feet. But that sort of nature very seldom goes up high. But you, +Frank, you might have done some good, without that nasty twist of +yours for writing and for rhyming, which is a sure indication of spinal +complaint. Don't interrupt me; I speak from long experience. Things +might be worse, and I ought to be thankful. None of my children will +ever disgrace me. At the same time, things would go on better if I were +able to be more at home. That Caryl Carne, for instance, what does he +come here for?" + +"Well, sir, he has only been here twice. And it took a long time to +persuade him at all. He said that as you had not called upon him, he +felt that he might be intruding here. And Faith, who is sometimes very +spiteful, bowed, as much as to say that he had better wait. But Dolly, +who is very kind-hearted, assured him that she had heard you say at +least a dozen times: 'Be sure that I call upon Mr. Carne to-day. What +will he think of my neglect? But I hope that he will set it down to the +right cause--the perpetual demands upon my time.' And when she told him +that, he said that he would call the next day, and so he did." + +"Ah!" cried the old man, not well pleased; "it was Dolly who took that +little business off my shoulders! She might have been content with her +elder sister's judgment, in a family question of that sort. But I dare +say she thought it right to make my excuses. Very well, I'll do that for +myself. To-morrow I shall call upon that young man, unless I get another +despatch to-night. But I hear he wants nobody at his ruins. I suppose he +has not asked even you to go there?" + +"No, sir; I think he took his little place here, because it would be so +painful for him to receive any friends at that tumble-down castle. He +has not yet been able to do any repairs." + +"I respect him for that," said the Admiral, with his generous sympathies +aroused; "they have been a grand old family, though I can't say much for +those I knew--except, of course, Mrs. Twemlow. But he may be a very fine +young fellow, though a great deal too Frenchified, from all I hear. And +why my friend Twemlow cold-shoulders him so, is something of a mystery +to me. Twemlow is generally a judicious man in things that have nothing +to do with the Church. When it comes to that, he is very stiff-backed, +as I have often had to tell him. Perhaps this young man is a Papist. His +mother was, and she brought him up." + +"I am sure I don't know, sir," answered Frank. "I should think none +the worse of him if he were, unless he allowed it to interfere with his +proper respect for liberty." + +"Liberty be hanged!" cried the Admiral; "and that's the proper end for +most of those who prate about it, when they ought to be fighting for +their Country. I shall sound him about that stuff to-morrow. If he is +one of that lot, he won't come here with my good-will, I can assure +him. What time is he generally to be found down there? He is right over +Stubbard's head, I believe, and yet friend Adam knows nothing about him. +Nor even Mrs. Adam! I should have thought that worthy pair would have +drawn any badger in the kingdom. I suppose the youth will see me, if I +call. I don't want to go round that way for nothing. I did want to have +a quiet day at home, and saunter in the garden, as the weather is so +mild, and consult poor Swipes about Spring crops, and then have a pipe +or two, and take my gun to Brown Bushes for a woodcock, or a hare, and +come home with a fine appetite to a good dinner. But I never must hope +for a bit of pleasure now." + +"You may depend upon it, sir," said Frank, "that Caryl Carne will be +greatly pleased to see you. And I think you will agree with me that a +more straightforward and simple-minded man is not to be found in this +country. He combines what we are pleased to call our national dignity +and self-respect with the elegant manners, and fraternal warmth, and +bonhomie--as they themselves express it--of our friends across the +water." + +"You be off! I don't want to be cross any more. Two hundred thousand +friends there at this moment eager to burn down our homes and cut +our throats! Tired as I am, I ought to take a stick to you, as friend +Tugwell did to his son for much less. I have the greatest mind not to go +near that young man. I wish I had Twemlow here to talk it over. Pay your +fine for a French word, and be off!" + +Frank Darling gravely laid down five shillings on his dessert plate, and +walked off. The fine for a French word in that house, and in hundreds +of other English houses at this patriotic period, was a crown for a +gentleman, and a shilling for a lady, the latter not being liable except +when gentlemen were present. The poet knew well that another word on his +part would irritate his father to such a degree that no visit would be +paid to-morrow to the admirer of the Harmodiad, whose admiration he +was longing to reward with a series of good dinners. And so he did his +utmost to ensure his father's visit. + +But when the Admiral, going warily--because he was so stiff from +saddle-work--made his way down to the house of Widow Shanks, and winking +at the Royal Arms in the lower front window, where Stubbard kept Office +and convenience, knocked with the knocker at the private door, there +seemed to be a great deal of thought required before anybody came to +answer. + +"Susie," said the visitor, who had an especial knack of remembering +Christian names, which endeared him to the bearers, "I am come to see +Mr. Carne, and I hope he is at home." + +"No, that 'a bain't, sir," the little girl made answer, after looking at +the Admiral as if he was an elephant, and wiping her nose with unwonted +diligence; "he be gone away, sir; and please, sir, mother said so." + +"Well, here's a penny for you, my dear, because you are the best little +needle-woman in the school, they tell me. Run and tell your mother to +come and see me.--Oh, Mrs. Shanks, I am very glad to see you, and so +blooming in spite of all your hard work. Ah, it is no easy thing in +these hard times to maintain a large family and keep the pot boiling. +And everything clean as a quarter-deck! My certy, you are a woman in a +thousand!" + +"No, sir, no. It is all the Lord's doing. And you to the back of Him, as +I alway say. Not a penny can they make out as I owes justly, bad as I be +at the figures, Squire. Do 'e come in, and sit down, there's a dear. Ah, +I mind the time when you was like a dart, Squire!" + +"Well, and now I am like a cannon-ball," said the Admiral, who +understood and liked this unflattering talk; "only I don't travel quite +so fast as that. I scarcely get time to see any old friends. But I +came to look out for a young friend now, the gentleman you make +so comfortable upstairs. Don't I wish I was a young man without +incumbrance, to come and lodge with such a wonderful landlady!" + +"Ah, if there was more of your sort, sir, there'd be a deal less trouble +in the world, there would. Not that my young gentleman is troublesome, +mind you, only so full of them outlandish furrin ways--abideth all day +long without ating ort, so different from a honest Englishman. First I +used to think as he couldn't afford it, and long to send him up a bit +of my own dinner, but dursn't for the life of me--too grand for that, +by ever so--till one day little Susie there comes a-running down +the stairs, and she sings out, with her face as red as ever a boiled +lobster: 'Looky see, mother! Oh, do 'e come and looky see! Pollyon hath +got a heap of guineas on his table; wouldn't go into the big yellow +pudding-basin!' And sure enough he had, your Honour, in piles, as if +he was telling of them. He had slipped out suddenly, and thought +the passage door was bolted. What a comfort it was to me, I can't +configurate. Because I could eat my dinner comfortable now, for such a +big heap of money never I did see." + +"I am very glad--heartily glad," exclaimed the smiling Admiral. "I hope +he may get cash enough to buy back all the great Carne property, and +kick out those rascally Jews and lawyers. But what makes Susie call him +that?" + +"Well, sir, the young ones must have a nickname for anything beyond +them; and because he never takes any notice of them--so different from +your handsome Master Frank--and some simility of his black horse, or his +proud walk, to the pictur', 'Pollyon' is the name they give him, out of +Pilgrim's Progress. Though not a bit like him, for such a gentleman to +pay his rent and keep his place untroublesome I never had before. And a +fortnight he paid me last night, afore going, and took away the keys of +all three doors." + +"He is gone, then, is he? To London, I dare say. It would be useless to +look for him at the castle. My son will be disappointed more than I am. +To tell you the truth, Mrs. Shanks, in these days the great thing is to +stick to the people that we know. The world is so full, not of rogues, +but of people who are always wanting something out of one, that to talk +with a thoroughly kind, honest person, like yourself, is a real luxury. +When the gentleman comes back, let him know that I have called." + +"And my Jenny, sir?" cried the anxious mother, running after him into +the passage; "not a word have you said about my Jenny. I hope she show +no sign of flightiness?" + +"Jenny is as steady as the church," replied the Admiral. "We are going +to put her on a pound a year from next quarter-day, by Mrs. Cloam's +advice. She'll have a good stocking by the time she gets married." + +"There never was such a pleasant gentleman, nor such a kind-hearted one, +I do believe," said Widow Shanks, as she came in with bright eyes. "What +are they Carnes to the Darlings, after all? As different as night and +day." + +But the Admiral's next visit was not quite so pleasant; for when he got +back into the village road, expecting a nice walk to his luncheon and +his pipe, a man running furiously almost knocked him down, and had no +time to beg his pardon. The runner's hat was off his head, and his +hair blowing out, but luckily for itself his tongue was not between his +teeth. + +"Has the devil got hold of you at last, Jem Prater?" the Admiral asked, +not profanely; for he had seen a good deal of mankind, and believed in +diabolical possession. + +"For Parson! for Parson!" cried Jem, starting off again as hard as he +could go. "Butter Cheeseman hath hanged his self in his own scales. And +nobody is any good but Parson." + +Admiral Darling was much disturbed. "What will the world come to? I +never knew such times," he exclaimed to himself, with some solemnity; +and then set off, as fast as his overridden state permitted, for the +house of Mr. Cheeseman. Passing through the shop, which had nobody in +it, he was led by the sound of voices into a little room beyond it--the +room in which Mr. Cheeseman had first received Caryl Carne. Here +he beheld an extraordinary scene, of which he often had to dream +thereafter. + +From a beam in the roof (which had nothing to do with his scales, as Jem +Prater had imagined), by a long but not well-plaited cord, was dangling +the respected Church-warden Cheeseman. Happily for him, he had relied on +his own goods; and the rope being therefore of very bad hemp, had failed +in this sad and too practical proof. The weight of its vendor had added +to its length some fifteen inches--as he loved to pull out things--and +his toes touched the floor, which relieved him now and then. + +"Why don't you cut him down, you old fools?" cried the Admiral to three +gaffers, who stood moralising, while Mrs. Cheeseman sat upon a barrel, +sobbing heavily, with both hands spread to conceal the sad sight. + +"We was afraid of hurting of him," said the quickest-witted of the +gaffers; "Us wanted to know why 'a doed it," said the deepest; and, "The +will of the Lord must be done," said the wisest. + +After fumbling in vain for his knife, and looking round, the Admiral ran +back into the shop, and caught up the sharp steel blade with which the +victim of a troubled mind had often unsold a sold ounce in the days of +happy commerce. In a moment the Admiral had the poor Church-warden in +his sturdy arms, and with a sailor's skill had unknotted the choking +noose, and was shouting for brandy, as he kept the blue head from +falling back. + +When a little of the finest eau de vie that ever was smuggled had been +administered, the patient rallied, and becoming comparatively cheerful, +was enabled to explain that "it was all a mistake altogether." This +removed all misunderstanding; but Rector Twemlow, arriving too late +for anything but exhortation, asked a little too sternly--as everybody +felt--under what influence of the Evil One Cheeseman had committed that +mistake. The reply was worthy of an enterprising tradesman, and brought +him such orders from a score of miles around that the resources of the +establishment could only book them. + +"Sir," he said, looking at the parson sadly, with his right hand laid +upon his heart, which was feeble, and his left hand intimating that his +neck was sore, "if anything has happened that had better not have been, +it must have been by reason of the weight I give, and the value such a +deal above the prices." + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +EVERYBODY'S MASTER + + +The peril of England was now growing fast; all the faster from being in +the dark. The real design of the enemy escaped the penetration even +of Nelson, and our Government showed more anxiety about their great +adversary landing on the coast of Egypt than on that of England. Naval +men laughed at his flat-bottomed boats, and declared that one frigate +could sink a hundred of them; whereas it is probable that two of them, +with their powerful guns and level fire, would have sunk any frigate we +then possessed. But the crafty and far-seeing foe did not mean to allow +any frigate, or line-of-battle ship, the chance of enquiring how that +might be. + +His true scheme, as everybody now knows well, was to send the English +fleet upon a wild-goose chase, whether to Egypt, the west coast of +Ireland, or the West Indies, as the case might be; and then, by a rapid +concentration of his ships, to obtain command of the English Channel, +if only for twenty-four hours at a time. Twenty-four hours of clearance +from our cruisers would have seen a hundred thousand men landed on our +coast, throwing up entrenchments, and covering the landing of another +hundred thousand, coming close upon their heels. Who would have faced +them? A few good regiments, badly found, and perhaps worse led, and a +mob of militia and raw volunteers, the reward of whose courage would be +carnage. + +But as a chip smells like the tree, and a hair like the dog it belongs +to, so Springhaven was a very fair sample of the England whereof (in its +own opinion) it formed a most important part. Contempt for the body of +a man leads rashly to an under-estimate of his mind; and one of the +greatest men that ever grew on earth--if greatness can be without +goodness--was held in low account because not of high inches, and +laughed at as "little Boney." + +However, there were, as there always are, thousands of sensible +Englishmen then; and rogues had not yet made a wreck of grand +Institutions to scramble for what should wash up. Abuses existed, as +they always must; but the greatest abuse of all (the destruction of +every good usage) was undreamed of yet. And the right man was even now +approaching to the rescue, the greatest Prime-Minister of any age or +country. + +Unwitting perhaps of the fine time afforded by the feeble delays of +Mr. Addington, and absorbed in the tissue of plot and counterplot +now thickening fast in Paris--the arch-plotter in all of them being +himself--the First Consul had slackened awhile his hot haste to set foot +upon the shore of England. His bottomless ambition for the moment had +a top, and that top was the crown of France; and as soon as he had got +that on his head, the head would have no rest until the crown was that +of Europe. + +But before any crown could be put on at all, the tender hearts of +Frenchmen must be touched by the appearance of great danger--the danger +which is of all the greatest, that to their nearest and dearest selves. +A bloody farce was in preparation, noble lives were to be perjured away, +and above all, the only great rival in the hearts of soldiers must be +turned out of France. This foul job worked--as foul Radical jobs do +now--for the good of England. If the French invasion had come to pass, +as it was fully meant to do, in the month of February, 1804, perhaps its +history must have been written in French, for us to understand it. + +So, at any rate, thought Caryl Carne, who knew the resources of either +side, and the difference between a fine army and a mob. He felt quite +sure that his mother's country would conquer his father's without much +trouble, and he knew that his horn would be exalted in the land, when he +had guided the conqueror into it. Sure enough then he would recover his +ancestral property with interest and be able to punish his enemies well, +and reward his friends if they deserved it. Thinking of these things, +and believing that his own preparations would soon be finished, he +left Widow Shanks to proclaim his merits, while under the bold and able +conduct of Captain Renaud Charron he ran the gauntlet of the English +fleet, and was put ashore southward of Cape Grisnez. Here is a long +reach of dreary exposure, facing the west unprofitably, with a shallow +slope of brown sand, and a scour of tide, and no pleasant moorings. +Jotted as the coast was all along (whereon dry batteries grinned +defiance, or sands just awash smiled treachery) with shallow transports, +gun-boats, prames, scows, bilanders, brigs, and schooners, row-galleys, +luggers, and every sort of craft that has a mast, or gets on without +one, and even a few good ships of war pondering malice in the safer +roadsteads, yet here the sweep of the west wind, and the long roll +from the ocean following, kept a league or two, northward of the mighty +defences of Boulogne, inviolate by the petty enmities of man. Along the +slight curve of the coast might be seen, beyond Ambleteuse and Wimereux, +the vast extent of the French flotilla, ranged in three divisions, +before the great lunette of the central camp, and hills jotted with +tents thick as limpets on a rock. + +Carne (whose dealings were quite unknown to all of the French +authorities save one, and that the supreme one) was come by appointment +to meet his commander in a quiet and secluded spot. It was early +February now, and although the day was waning, and the wind, which was +drawing to the north of west, delivered a cold blow from the sea, yet +the breath of Spring was in the air already, and the beat of her pulse +came through the ground. Almost any man, except those two concerting +to shed blood and spread fire, would have looked about a little at the +pleasure of the earth, and felt a touch of happiness in the goodness of +the sky. + +Caryl Carne waited in the shelter of a tree, scarcely deserving to be +called a tree, except for its stiff tenacity. All the branches were +driven by the western gales, and scourged flat in one direction--that in +which they best could hold together, and try to believe that their life +was their own. Like the wings of a sea bird striving with a tempest, +all the sprays were frayed alike, and all the twigs hackled with the +self-same pile. Whoever observes a tree like this should stop to wonder +how ever it managed to make itself any sort of trunk at all, and how +it was persuaded to go up just high enough to lose the chance of ever +coming down again. But Carne cared for nothing of this sort, and heeded +very little that did not concern himself. All he thought of was how he +might persuade his master to try the great issue at once. + +While he leaned heavily against the tree, with his long sea-cloak +flapping round his legs, two horsemen struck out of the Ambleteuse road, +and came at hand-gallop towards him. The foremost, who rode with short +stirrups, and sat his horse as if he despised him, was the foremost man +of the world just now, and for ten years yet to come. + +Carne ran forward to show himself, and the master of France dismounted. +He always looked best upon horseback, as short men generally do, if they +ride well; and his face (which helped to make his fortune) appeared +even more commanding at a little distance. An astonishing face, in its +sculptured beauty, set aspect, and stern haughtiness, calm with the +power of transcendant mind, and a will that never met its equal. Even +Carne, void of much imagination, and contemptuous of all the human +character he shared, was the slave of that face when in its presence, +and could never meet steadily those piercing eyes. And yet, to the study +of a neutral dog, or a man of abstract science, the face was as bad as +it was beautiful. + +Napoleon--as he was soon to be called by a cringing world--smiled +affably, and offered his firm white hand, which Carne barely touched, +and bent over with deference. Then the foaming horse was sent away in +charge of the attendant trooper, and the master began to take short +quick steps, to and fro, in front of the weather-beaten tree; for to +stand still was not in his nature. Carne, being beckoned to keep at his +side, lost a good deal of what he had meant to say, from the trouble he +found in timing his wonted stride to the brisk pace of the other. + +"You have done well--on the whole very well," said Napoleon, whose voice +was deep, yet clear and distinct as the sound of a bell. "You have +kept me well informed; you are not suspected; you are enlarging your +knowledge of the enemy and of his resources; every day you become more +capable of conducting us to the safe landing. For what, then, this +hurry, this demand to see me, this exposing of yourself to the risk of +capture?" + +Carne was about to answer; but the speaker, who undershot the thoughts +of others before they were shaped--as the shuttle of the lightning +underweaves a cloud--raised his hand to stop him, and went on: + +"Because you suppose that all is ripe. Because you believe that the slow +beasts of islanders will strengthen their defences more by delay than +we shall strengthen our attack. Because you are afraid of incurring +suspicion, if you continue to prepare. And most of all, my friend, +because you are impatient to secure the end of a long enterprise. But, +Captain, it must be longer yet. It is not for you, but for me, to +fix the time. Behold me! I am come from a grand review. We have again +rehearsed the embarkation. We have again put two thousand horses on +board. The horses did it well; but not the men. They are as brave as +eagles, but as clumsy as the ostrich, and as fond of the sand without +water. They will all be sea-sick. It is in their countenances, though +many have been practised in the mouths of rivers. Those infamous English +will not permit us to proceed far enough from our native land to acquire +what they call the legs of the sea. If our braves are sea-sick, how can +they work the cannon, or even navigate well for the accursed island? +They must have time. They must undergo more waves, and a system of diet +before embarkation. Return, my trusted Captain, and continue your +most esteemed services for three months. I have written these new +instructions for you. You may trust me to remember this addition to your +good works." + +Carne's heart fell, and his face was gloomy, though he did his best +to hide it. So well he knew the arrogance and fierce self-will of his +commanding officer that he durst not put his own opposite view of the +case directly before him. This arrogance grew with the growth of his +power; so that in many important matters Napoleon lost the true state of +the case through the terror felt by his subordinates. So great was the +mastery of his presence that Carne felt himself guilty of impertinence +in carrying his head above the level of the General's plume, and stooped +unconsciously--as hundreds of tall men are said to have done--to lessen +this anomaly of Nature. + +"All shall be done to your orders, my General," he replied, +submissively. "For my own position I have no fear. I might remain there +from year to year without any suspicion arising, so stupid are the +people all around, and so well is my name known among them. The only +peril is in the landing of stores, and I think we should desist from +that. A few people have been wondering about that, though hitherto we +have been most fortunate. They have set it down so far to smuggling +operations, with which in that tyrannical land all the lower orders +sympathise. But it would be wiser to desist awhile, unless you, my +General, have anything of moment which you still desire to send in." + +"What sort of fellow is that Sheeseman?" asked Napoleon, with his +wonderful memory of details. "Is he more to be confided in as a rogue or +as a fool?" + +"As both, sir; but more especially as a rogue, though he has the +compunctions of a fool sometimes. But he is as entirely under my thumb, +as I am under that of my Commander." + +"That is very good," answered the First Consul, smiling with the sense +of his own power; "and at an hour's notice, with fifty chosen men landed +from the London Trader--ah, I love that name; it is appropriate--you +could spike all the guns of that pretentious little battery, and lock +the Commander of the Coast-Defence in one of his own cellars. Is it not +so, my good Captain? Answer me not. That is enough. One question more, +and you may return. Are you certain of the pilotage of the proud young +fisherman who knows every grain of sand along his native shore? Surely +you can bribe him, if he hesitates at all, or hold a pistol at his ear +as he steers the leading prame into the bay! Charron would be the man +for that. Between you and Charron, there should be no mistake." + +"He requires to be handled with much delicacy. He has no idea yet what +he is meant to do. And if I understand his nature, neither bribes nor +fear would move him. He is stubborn as a Breton, and of that simple +character." + +"One can always befool a Breton; but I hate that race," said Napoleon. +"If he cannot be made useful, tie a round shot to him, throw him +overheard, and get a gentler native." + +"Alas, I fear that we cannot indulge in that pleasure," said Carne, with +a smile of regret. "It cost me a large outlay of skill to catch him, and +the natives of that place are all equally stubborn. But I have a plan +for making him do our work without being at all aware of it. Is it your +wish, my General, that I should now describe that plan?" + +"Not now," replied Napoleon, pulling out a watch of English make, "but +in your next letter. I start for Paris in an hour's time. You will hear +of things soon which will add very greatly to the weight and success of +this grand enterprise. We shall have perfidious Albion caught in her own +noose, as you shall see. You have not heard of one Captain Wright, +and the landing-place at Biville. We will have our little Biville +at Springhaven. There will be too many of us to swing up by a rope. +Courage, my friend! The future is with you. Our regiments are casting +dice for the fairest English counties. But your native county is +reserved for you. You shall possess the whole of it--I swear it by +the god of war--and command the Southern army. Be brave, be wise, be +vigilant, and above all things be patient." + +The great man held up his hand, as a sign that he wanted his horse, and +then offered it to Caryl Carne, who touched it lightly with his lips, +and bent one knee. "My Emperor!" he said, "my Emperor!" + +"Wait until the proper time," said Napoleon, gravely, and yet well +pleased. "You are not the first, and you will not be the last. Observe +discretion. Farewell, my friend!" + +In another minute he was gone, and the place looked empty without him. +Carne stood gloomily watching the horsemen as their figures grew small +in the distance, the large man behind pounding heavily away, like an +English dragoon, on the scanty sod, of no importance to anybody--unless +he had a wife or children--the little man in front (with the white plume +waving, and the well-bred horse going easily), the one whose body would +affect more bodies, and certainly send more souls out of them, than +any other born upon this earth as yet, and--we hope--as long as ever it +endureth. + +Caryl Carne cared not a jot about that. He was anything but a +philanthropist; his weaknesses, if he had any, were not dispersive, but +thoroughly concentric. He gathered his long cloak round his body, +and went to the highest spot within his reach, about a mile from the +watch-tower at Cape Grisnez, and thence he had a fine view of the vast +invasive fleet and the vaster host behind it. + +An Englishman who loved his Country would have turned sick at heart and +faint of spirit at the sight before him. The foe was gathered together +there to eat us up on every side, to get us into his net and rend us, +to tear us asunder as a lamb is torn when its mother has dropped it in +flight from the wolves. For forty square miles there was not an acre +without a score of tents upon it, or else of huts thrown up with slabs +of wood to keep the powder dry, and the steel and iron bright and sharp +to go into the vitals of England. Mighty docks had been scooped out by +warlike hands, and shone with ships crowded with guns and alive with +men. And all along the shore for leagues, wherever any shelter lay, and +great batteries protected them, hundreds of other ships tore at their +moorings, to dash across the smooth narrow line, and blacken with fire +and redden with blood the white cliffs of the land they loathed. + +And what was there to stop them? The steam of the multitude rose in +the air, and the clang of armour filled it. Numbers irresistible, and +relentless power urged them. At the beck of the hand that had called the +horse, the grey sea would have been black with ships, and the pale waves +would have been red with fire. Carne looked at the water way touched +with silver by the soft descent of the winter sun, and upon it, so far +as his gaze could reach, there were but a dozen little objects moving, +puny creatures in the distance--mice in front of a lion's den. And much +as he hated with his tainted heart the land of his father, the land +of his birth, some reluctant pride arose that he was by right an +Englishman. + +"It is the dread of the English seaman, it is the fame of Nelson, it is +the habit of being beaten when England meets them upon the sea--nothing +else keeps this mighty host like a set of trembling captives here, when +they might launch forth irresistibly. And what is a great deal worse, +it will keep me still in my ruined dungeons, a spy, an intriguer, an +understrapper, when I am fit to be one of the foremost. What a fool I am +so to be cowed and enslaved, by a man no better endowed than myself with +anything, except self-confidence! I should have looked over his head, +and told him that I had had enough of it, and if he would not take +advantage of my toils, I would toil for him no longer. Why, he never +even thanked me, that I can remember, and my pay is no more than +Charron's! And a pretty strict account I have to render of every +Republican coin he sends. He will have his own head on them within +six months, unless he is assassinated. His manners are not those of a +gentleman. While I was speaking to him, he actually turned his back upon +me, and cleared his throat! Every one hates him as much as fears him, of +all who are in the rank of gentlemen. How would it pay me to throw him +over, denounce my own doings, excuse them as those of a Frenchman and a +French officer, and bow the knee to Farmer George? Truly if it were not +for my mother, who has sacrificed her life for me, I would take that +course, and have done with it. Such all-important news would compel +them to replace me in the property of my forefathers; and if neighbours +looked coldly on me at first, I could very soon conquer that nonsense. I +should marry little Dolly, of course, and that would go half-way towards +doing it. I hate that country, but I might come to like it, if enough of +it belonged to me. Aha! What would my mother say, if she dreamed that +I could have such ideas? And the whole of my life belongs to her. Well, +let me get back to my ruins first. It would never do to be captured by +a British frigate. We had a narrow shave of it last time. And there will +be a vile great moon to-night." + +With these reflections--which were upon the whole more to his credit +than the wonted web of thought--Carne with his long stride struck into +a path towards the beach where his boat was waiting. Although he knew +where to find several officers who had once been his comrades, he kept +himself gladly to his loneliness; less perhaps by reason of Napoleon's +orders than from the growing charm which Solitude has for all who begin +to understand her. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +RUNNING THE GAUNTLET + + +Though Carne had made light, in his impatient mood, of the power of +the blockading fleet, he felt in his heart a sincere respect for its +vigilance and activity. La Liberte (as the unhappy Cheeseman's schooner +was called within gunshot of France) was glad enough to drop that +pretentious name, and become again the peaceful London Trader, when she +found herself beyond the reach of French batteries. The practice of her +captain, the lively Charron, was to give a wide berth to any British +cruiser appearing singly; but whenever more than one hove in sight, +to run into the midst of them and dip his flag. From the speed of his +schooner he could always, in a light wind, show a clean pair of heels to +any single heavy ship, and he had not yet come across any cutter, brig +of war, or light corvette that could collar the Liberte in any sort of +weather. Renaud Charron was a brave young Frenchman, as fair a specimen +as could be found, of a truly engaging but not overpowering type, +kindly, warm-hearted, full of enterprise, lax of morals (unless +honour--their veneer--was touched), loving excitement, and capable of +anything, except skulking, or sulking, or running away slowly. + +"None of your risky tricks to-night!" said Carne, as he stood on the +schooner's deck, in the dusk of the February evening, himself in a dark +mood growing darker--for his English blood supplied the elements of +gloom, and he felt a dull pleasure in goading a Frenchman, after being +trampled on by one of French position. "You will just make straight, as +the tide and shoals allow, for our usual landing-place, set me ashore, +and follow me to the old quarters. I have orders to give you, which can +be given only there." + +"My commanding officer shall be obeyed," the Frenchman answered, with a +light salute and smile, for he was not endowed with the power of hating, +or he might have indulged that bad power towards Carne; "but I fear that +he has not found things to his liking." + +"What concern is that of yours? Your duty is to carry out my orders, to +the utmost of your ability, and offer opinion when asked for." + +The light-hearted Frenchman shrugged his shoulders. "My commanding +officer is right," he said; "but the sea is getting up, and there will +be wind, unless I mistake the arising of the moon. My commanding officer +had better retire, until his commands are needed. He has been known +to feel the effects of high tossing, in spite of his unequalled +constitution. Is it not so, my commander? I ask with deference, and +anxiety." + +Carne, who liked to have the joke on his side only, swore at the moon +and the wind, in clear English, which was shorter and more efficacious +than French. He longed to say, "Try to keep me out of rough water," but +his pride, and the fear of suggesting the opposite to this sailor who +loved a joke, kept him silent, and he withdrew to his little cuddy, +chewing a biscuit, to feed, if it must be so, the approaching malady. + +"We shall have some game, and a fine game too," said Renaud Charron to +himself, as he ordered more sail to be made. "Milord gives himself such +mighty airs! We will take him to the cross-run off the Middle Bank, +and offer him a basin through the key-hole. To make sea-sick an +Englishman--for, after all, what other is he?--will be a fine piece of +revenge for fair France." + +Widow Shanks had remarked with tender sorrow--more perhaps because she +admired the young man, and was herself a hearty soul, than from any loss +of profit in victualling him--that "he was one of they folk as seems to +go about their business, and do their jobs, and keep their skins as full +as other people, without putting nort inside of them." She knew one +of that kind before, and he was shot by the Coast-guard, and when they +postmartyred him, an eel twenty foot long was found inside him, doubled +up for all the world like a love-knot. Squire Carne was of too high +a family for that; but she would give a week's rent to know what was +inside him. + +There was no little justice in these remarks, as is pretty sure to be +the case with all good-natured criticism. The best cook that ever was +roasted cannot get out of a pot more than was put in it; and the weight +of a cask, as a general rule, diminishes if the tap is turned, without +any redress at the bung-hole. Carne ran off his contents too fast, +before he had arranged for fresh receipts; and all who have felt what +comes of that will be able to feel for him in the result. + +But a further decrease was in store for him now. As the moon arose, the +wind got higher, and chopped round to one point north of west, raising a +perkish head-sea, and grinning with white teeth against any flapping of +sails. The schooner was put upon the starboard tack as near to the wind +as she would lie, bearing so for the French coast more than the English, +and making for the Vergoyers, instead of the Varne, as intended. This +carried them into wider water, and a long roll from the southwest +crossing the pointed squabble of the strong new wind. + +"General," cried Charron, now as merry as a grig, and skipping to the +door of Carne's close little cabin, about an hour before midnight, "it +would afford us pleasure if you would kindly come on deck and give us +the benefit of your advice. I fear that you are a little confined down +here, and in need of more solid sustenance. My General, arise; there is +much briskness upon deck, and the waves are dancing beautifully in the +full moon. Two sail are in sight, one upon the weather bow, and the +other on the weather quarter. Ah, how superior your sea-words are +to ours! If I were born an Englishman, you need not seek far for a +successor to Nelson, when he gets shot, as he is sure to be before very +long." + +"Get out!" muttered Carne, whose troubles were faintly illuminated by a +sputtering wick. "Get out, you scoundrel, as you love plain English. Go +direct to the devil--only let me die in peace." + +"All language is excusable in those affected with the malady of the +sea," replied the Frenchman, dancing a little to encourage his friend. +"Behold, if you would get up and do this, you would be as happy inside +as I am. But stay--I know what will ease you in an instant, and enable +you to order us right and left. The indefatigable Sherray put a fine +piece of fat pork in store before we sailed; I have just had it cooked, +for I was almost starving. It floats in brown liquor of the richest +order, such as no Englishman can refuse. Take a sip of pure rum, and you +will enjoy it surely. Say, my brave General, will you come and join me? +It will cure any little disquietude down here." + +With a pleasant smile Charron laid his hand on the part of his commander +which he supposed to be blameable. Carne made an effort to get up and +kick him, but fell back with everything whirling around, and all human +standards inverted. Then the kindly Frenchman tucked him up, for his +face was blue and the chill of exhaustion striking into him. "I wish +you could eat a little bit," said Charron, gently; but Carne gave a push +with his elbow. "Well, you'll be worse before you are better, as the +old women say in your country. But what am I to do about the two British +ships--for they are sure to be British--now in sight?" But Carne turned +his back, and his black boots dangled from the rim of his bunk as if +there was nothing in them. + +"This is going a little too far," cried Charron; "I must have some +orders, my commander. You understand that two English ships are +manifestly bearing down upon us--" + +"Let them come and send us to the bottom--the sooner the better," his +commander groaned, and then raised his limp knuckles with a final effort +to stop his poor ears forever. + +"But I am not ready to go to the bottom, nor all the other people of our +fourteen hands"--the Frenchman spoke now to himself alone--"neither will +I even go to prison. I will do as they do at Springhaven, and doubtless +at every other place in England. I will have my dish of pork, which is +now just crackling--I am capable of smelling it even here--and I will +give some to Sam Polwhele, and we will put heads together over it. To +outsail friend Englishman is a great delight, and to out-gun him would +be still greater; but if we cannot accomplish those, there will be some +pleasure of outwitting him." + +Renaud Charron was never disposed to make the worst of anything. When he +went upon deck again, to look out while his supper was waiting, he found +no change, except that the wind was freshening and the sea increasing, +and the strangers whose company he did not covet seemed waiting for no +invitation. With a light wind he would have had little fear of giving +them the go-by, or on a dark night he might have contrived to slip +between or away from them. But everything was against him now. The wind +was so strong, blowing nearly half a gale, and threatening to blow +a whole one, that he durst not carry much canvas, and the full moon, +approaching the meridian now, spread the white sea with a broad flood of +light. He could see that both enemies had descried him, and were acting +in concert to cut him off. The ship on his weather bow was a frigate, +riding the waves in gallant style, with the wind upon her beam, and +travelling two feet for every one the close-hauled schooner could +accomplish. If the latter continued her present course, in another +half-league she would be under the port-holes of the frigate. + +The other enemy, though further off, was far more difficult to +escape. This was a gun-brig, not so very much bigger than La Liberte +herself--for gun-brigs in those days were very small craft--and for that +very reason more dangerous. She bore about two points east of north from +the greatly persecuted Charron, and was holding on steadily under easy +sail, neither gaining much upon the chase nor losing. + +"Carry on as we are for about ten minutes," said Charron to his mate, +Sam Polwhele; "that will give us period to eat our pork. Come, then, my +good friend, let us do it." + +Polwhele--as he was called to make believe that he and other hands were +Cornishmen, whereas they were Yankees of the sharpest order, owing no +allegiance and unhappily no good-will to their grandmother--this man, +whose true name was Perkins, gave the needful orders, and followed down. +Charron could talk, like many Frenchmen, quite as fast with his mouth +full as empty, and he had a man to talk to who did not require anything +to be said twice to him. + +"No fear of me!" was all he said. "You keep out of sight, because of +your twang. I'll teach them a little good English--better than ever came +out of Cornwall. The best of all English is not to say too much." + +The captain and his mate enjoyed their supper, while Carne in the +distance bore the pangs of a malady called bulimus, that is to say, a +giant's ravening for victuals, without a babe's power of receiving them. +For he was turning the corner of his sickness now, but prostrate and +cold as a fallen stalactite. + +"Aha! We have done well. We have warmed our wits up. One glass of what +you call the grog; and then we will play a pleasant game with those +Englishmen!" Carne heard him say it, and in his heart hoped that the +English would pitch him overboard. + +It was high time for those two to finish their supper. The schooner +had no wheel, but steered--as light craft did then, and long +afterwards--with a bulky ash tiller, having iron eyes for lashing it in +heavy weather. Three strong men stood by it now, obedient, yet muttering +to one another, for another cable's length would bring them into danger +of being run down by the frigate. + +"All clear for stays!" cried Polwhele, under orders from Charron. "Down +helm! Helm's alee! Steady so. Let draw! Easy! easy! There she fills!" +And after a few more rapid orders the handy little craft was dashing +away, with the wind abaft the beam, and her head about two points north +of east. "Uncommon quick in stays!" cried Polwhele, who had taken to the +helm, and now stood there. "Wonder what Britishers will think of that?" + +The British ship soon let him know her opinion, by a roar and a long +streak of smoke blown toward him, as she put up her helm to consider +the case. It was below the dignity of a fine frigate to run after little +smuggling craft, such as she voted this to be, and a large ship had been +sighted from her tops down channel, which might afford her nobler sport. +She contented herself with a harmless shot, and leaving the gun-brig to +pursue the chase, bore away for more important business. + +"Nonplussed the big 'un; shall have trouble with the little 'un," said +Master Polwhele to his captain. "She don't draw half a fathom more than +we do. No good running inside the shoals. And with this wind, she has +the foot of us." + +"Bear straight for her, and let her board us," Charron answered, +pleasantly. "Down with all French hands into the forepart of the hold, +and stow the spare foresail over them. Show our last bills of lading, +and ask them to trade. You know all about Cheeseman; double his prices. +If we make any cash, we'll divide it. Say we are out of our course, +through supplying a cruiser that wanted our goods for nothing. I shall +keep out of sight on account of my twang, as you politely call it. The +rest I may safely leave to your invention. But if you can get any ready +rhino, Sam Polwhele is not the man to neglect it." + +"Bully for you!" cried the Yankee, looking at him with more admiration +than he expected ever to entertain for a Frenchman. "There's five ton +of cheeses that have been seven voyages, and a hundred firkins of Irish +butter, and five-and-thirty cases of Russian tongues, as old as old +Nick, and ne'er a sign of weevil! Lor' no, never a tail of weevil! +Skipper, you deserve to go to heaven out of West Street. But how about +him, down yonder?" + +"Captain Carne? Leave him to me to arrange. I shall be ready, if they +intrude. Announce that you have a sick gentleman on board, a passenger +afflicted with a foreign illness, and having a foreign physician. Mon +Dieu! It is good. Every Englishman believes that anything foreign +will kill him with a vault. Arrange you the trading, and I will be the +doctor--a German; I can do the German." + +"And I can do the trading," the American replied, without any rash +self-confidence; "any fool can sell good stuff; but it requireth a good +man to sell bad goods." + +The gun-brig bore down on them at a great pace, feeling happy certitude +that she had got a prize--not a very big one, but still worth catching. +She saw that the frigate had fired a shot, and believed that it was done +to call her own attention to a matter below that of the frigate. On +she came, heeling to the lively wind, very beautiful in the moonlight, +tossing the dark sea in white showers, and with all her taut canvas +arched and gleaming, hovered with the shades of one another. + +"Heave to, or we sink you!" cried a mighty voice through a speaking +trumpet, as she luffed a little, bringing her port broadside to bear; +and the schooner, which had hoisted British colours, obeyed the command +immediately. In a very few seconds a boat was manned, and dancing on +the hillocks of the sea; and soon, with some danger and much care, the +visitors stood upon the London Trader's deck, and Sam Polwhele came to +meet them. + +"We have no wish to put you to any trouble," said the officer in +command, very quietly, "if you can show that you are what you profess to +be. You sail under British colours; and the name on your stern is London +Trader. We will soon dismiss you, if you prove that. But appearances are +strongly against you. What has brought you here? And why did you run +the risk of being fired at, instead of submitting to his Majesty's ship +Minerva?" + +"Because she haven't got any ready money, skipper, and we don't like +three months' bills," said the tall Bostonian, looking loftily at the +British officer. "Such things is nothing but piracy, and we had better +be shot at than lose such goods as we carry fresh shipped, and in prime +condition. Come and see them, all with Cheeseman's brand, the celebrated +Cheeseman of Springhaven--name guarantees the quality. But one thing, +mind you--no use to hanker after them unless you come provided with the +ready." + +"We don't want your goods; we want you," answered Scudamore, now first +luff of the brig of war Delia, and staring a little with his mild blue +eyes at this man's effrontery. "That is to say, our duty is to know all +about you. Produce your papers. Prove where you cleared from last, and +what you are doing here, some thirty miles south of your course, if you +are a genuine British trader." + +"Papers all in order, sir. First-chop wafers, as they puts on now, to +save sealing-wax. Charter-party, and all the rest. Last bills of lading +from Gravesend, but you mustn't judge our goods by that. Bulk of them +from St. Mary Axe, where Cheeseman hath freighted from these thirty +years. If ever you have been at Springhaven, Captain, you'd jump at +anything with Cheeseman's brand. But have you brought that little bag of +guineas with you?" + +"Once more, we want none of your goods. You might praise them as much +as you liked, if time permitted. Show me to the cabin, and produce your +papers. After that we shall see what is in the hold." + +"Supercargo very ill in best cabin. Plague, or black fever, the German +doctor says. None of our hands will go near him but myself. But you +won't be like that, will you?" + +Less for his own sake than his mother's--who had none but him to help +her--Scudamore dreaded especially that class of disease which is now +called "zymotic." His father, an eminent physician, had observed and +had written a short work to establish that certain families and types +of constitution lie almost at the mercy of such contagion, and find no +mercy from it. And among those families was his own. "Fly, my boy, fly," +he had often said to Blyth, "if you ever come near such subjects." + +"Captain, I will fetch them," continued Mr. Polwhele, looking grave at +his hesitation. "By good rights they ought to be smoked, I dare say, +though I don't hold much with such stuff myself. And the doctor keeps +doing a heap of herbs hot. You can see him, if you just come down these +few steps. Perhaps you wouldn't mind looking into the hold, to find +something to suit your judgment--quality combined with low figures +there--while I go into the infected den, as the cleverest of my chaps +calls it. Why, it makes me laugh! I've been in and out, with this +stand-up coat on, fifty times, and you can't smell a flue of it, though +wonderful strong down there." + +Scudamore shuddered, and drew back a little, and then stole a glance +round the corner. He saw a thick smoke, and a figure prostrate, and +another tied up in a long white robe, waving a pan of burning stuff in +one hand and a bottle in the other, and plainly conjuring Polwhele to +keep off. Then the latter returned, quite complacently. + +"Can't find all of them," he said, presenting a pile of papers big +enough to taint Sahara. "That doctor goes on as bad as opening a coffin. +Says he understands it, and I don't. The old figure-head! What does he +know about it?" + +"Much more than you do, perhaps," replied Blyth, standing up for the +profession, as he was bound to do. "Perhaps we had better look at these +on deck, if you will bring up your lantern." + +"But, Captain, you will have a look at our hold, and make us a bid--we +need not take it, any more than you need to double it--for as prime a +lot of cheese, and sides of bacon--" + +"If your papers are correct, it will not be my duty to meddle with your +cargo. But what are you doing the wrong side of our fleet?" + +"Why, that was a bad job. There's no fair trade now, no sort of dealing +on the square nohow. We run all this risk of being caught by Crappos on +purpose to supply British ship Gorgeous, soweastern station; and blow me +tight if I couldn't swear she had been supplied chock-full by a Crappo! +Only took ten cheeses and fifteen sides of bacon, though she never +knew nought of our black fever case! But, Captain, sit down here, and +overhaul our flimsies. Not like rags, you know; don't hold plague much." + +The young lieutenant compelled himself to discharge his duty of +inspection behind a combing, where the wind was broken; but even so he +took good care to keep on the weather side of the documents; and the +dates perhaps flew away to leeward. "They seem all right," he said, "but +one thing will save any further trouble to both of us. You belong to +Springhaven. I know most people there. Have you any Springhaven hands on +board?" + +"I should think so. Send Tugwell aft; pass the word for Dan Tugwell. +Captain, there's a family of that name there--settled as long as we have +been at Mevagissey. Ah, that sort of thing is a credit to the place, and +the people too, in my opinion." + +Dan Tugwell came slowly, and with a heavy step, looking quite unlike the +spruce young fisherman whom Scudamore had noticed as first and smartest +in the rescue of the stranded Blonde. But he could not doubt that this +was Dan, the Dan of happier times and thoughts; in whom, without using +his mind about it, he had felt some likeness to himself. It was not in +his power to glance sharply, because his eyes were kindly open to all +the little incidents of mankind, but he managed to let Dan know that +duty compelled him to be particular. Dan Tugwell touched the slouched +hat upon his head, and stood waiting to know what he was wanted for. + +"Daniel," said Scudamore, who could not speak condescendingly to any +one, even from the official point of view, because he felt that every +honest man was his equal, "are you here of your own accord, as one of +the crew of this schooner?" + +Dan Tugwell had a hazy sense of being put upon an untrue balance. Not +by this kind gentleman's words, but through his own proceedings. In his +honest mind he longed to say: "I fear I have been bamboozled. I +have cast my lot in with these fellows through passion, and in hasty +ignorance. How I should like to go with you, and fight the French, +instead of getting mixed up with a lot of things I can't make out!" + +But his equally honest heart said to him: "You have been well treated. +You are well paid. You shipped of your own accord. You have no right to +peach, even if you had anything to peach of; and all you have seen is +some queer trading. None but a sneak would turn against his shipmates +and his ship, when overhauled by the Royal Navy." + +Betwixt the two voices, Dan said nothing, but looked at the lieutenant +with that gaze which the receiver takes to mean doubt of his meaning, +while the doubt more often is--what to do with it. + +"Are you here of your own accord? Do you belong to this schooner of your +own accord? Are you one of this crew, of your own free-will?" + +Scudamore rang the changes on his simple question, as he had often been +obliged to do in the Grammar-school at Stonnington, with the slow-witted +boys, who could not, or would not, know the top from the bottom of a +sign-post. "Do you eat with your eyes?" he had asked them sometimes; and +they had put their thumbs into their mouths to enquire. + +"S'pose I am," said Dan at last, assuming stupidity, to cover +hesitation; "yes, sir, I come aboard of my own free-will." + +"Very well. Then I am glad to find you comfortable. I shall see your +father next week, perhaps. Shall I give him any message for you?" + +"No, sir! For God's sake, don't let him know a word about where you +have seen me. I came away all of a heap, and I don't want one of them to +bother about me." + +"As you wish, Dan. I shall not say a word about you, until you return +with your earnings. But if you found the fishing business dull, surely +you might have come to us, Dan. Any volunteers here for His Majesty's +service?" Scudamore raised his voice, with the usual question. "Good +pay, good victuals, fine promotion, and prize-money, with the glory of +fighting for their native country, and provision for life if disabled!" + +Not a man came forward, though one man longed to do so; but his sense +of honour, whether true or false, forbade him. Dan Tugwell went heavily +back to his work, trying to be certain that it was his duty. But sad +doubts arose as he watched the brave boat, lifting over the waves in the +moonlight, with loyal arms tugging towards a loyal British ship; and he +felt that he had thrown away his last chance. + + + +CHAPTER XL + +SHELFING THE QUESTION + + +There is a time of day (as everybody must have noticed who is kind +enough to attend to things) not to be told by the clock, nor measured to +a nicety by the position of the sun, even when he has the manners to say +where he is--a time of day dependent on a multiplicity of things unknown +to us (who have made our own brains, by perceiving that we had none, +and working away till we got them), yet palpable to all those less +self-exalted beings, who, or which, are of infinitely nobler origin than +we, and have shown it, by humility. At this time of day every decent +and good animal feels an unthought-of and untraced desire to shift its +position, to come out and see its fellows, to learn what is happening +in the humble grateful world--out of which man has hoisted himself long +ago, and is therefore a spectre to them--to breathe a little sample of +the turn the world is taking, and sue their share of pleasure in the +quiet earth and air. + +This time is more observable because it follows a period of the opposite +tendency, a period of heaviness, and rest, and silence, when no bird +sings and no quadruped plays, for about half an hour of the afternoon. +Then suddenly, without any alteration of the light, or weather, or even +temperature, or anything else that we know of, a change of mood flashes +into every living creature, a spirit of life, and activity, and stir, +and desire to use their own voice and hear their neighbour's. The usual +beginning is to come out first into a place that cannot knock their +heads, and there to run a little way, and after that to hop, and take +a peep for any people around, and espying none--or only one of the very +few admitted to be friends--speedily to dismiss all misgivings, take a +very little bit of food, if handy (more as a duty to one's family than +oneself, for the all-important supper-time is not come yet), and then, +if gifted by the Lord with wings--for what bird can stoop at such a +moment to believe that his own grandfather made them?--up to the topmost +spray that feathers in the breeze, and pour upon the grateful air the +voice of free thanksgiving. But an if the blade behind the heart is +still unplumed for flying, and only gentle flax or fur blows out on the +wind, instead of beating it, does the owner of four legs sit and sulk, +like a man defrauded of his merits? He answers the question with a skip +and jump; ere a man can look twice at him he has cut a caper, frolicked +an intricate dance upon the grass, and brightened his eyes for another +round of joy. + +At any time of year almost, the time of day commands these deeds, unless +the weather is outrageous; but never more undeniably than in the month +of April. The growth of the year is well established, and its manner +beginning to be schooled by then; childish petulance may still survive, +and the tears of penitence be frequent; yet upon the whole there is--or +used to be--a sense of responsibility forming, and an elemental inkling +of true duty towards the earth. Even man (the least observant of the +powers that walk the ground, going for the signs of weather to the cows, +or crows, or pigs, swallows, spiders, gnats, and leeches, or the final +assertion of his own corns) sometimes is moved a little, and enlarged +by influence of life beyond his own, and tickled by a pen above his +thoughts, and touched for one second by the hand that made him. Then he +sees a brother man who owes him a shilling, and his soul is swallowed up +in the resolve to get it. + +But well in the sky-like period of youth, when the wind sits lightly, +and the clouds go by in puffs, these little jumps of inspiration take +the most respectable young man sometimes off his legs, and the young +maid likewise--if she continues in these fine days to possess such +continuation. Blyth Scudamore had been appointed now, partly through +his own good deserts, and wholly through good influence--for Lord St. +Vincent was an ancient friend of the excellent Admiral Darling--to the +command of the Blonde, refitted, thoroughly overhauled at Portsmouth, +and pronounced by the dock-yard people to be the fastest and soundest +corvette afloat, and in every way a credit to the British navy. "The man +that floated her shall float in her," said the Earl, when somebody, who +wanted the appointment, suggested that the young man was too young. "He +has seen sharp service, and done sharp work. It is waste of time to talk +of it; the job is done." "Job is the word for it," thought the other, +but wisely reserved that great truth for his wife. However, it was not +at all a bad job for England. And Scudamore had now seen four years of +active service, counting the former years of volunteering, and was more +than twenty-five years old. + +None of these things exalted him at all in his own opinion, or, at +any rate, not very much. Because he had always regarded himself with +a proper amount of self-respect, as modest men are almost sure to do, +desiring less to know what the world thinks of them than to try to think +rightly of it for themselves. His opinion of it seemed to be that it was +very good just now, very kind, and fair, and gentle, and a thing for the +heart of man to enter into. + +For Dolly Darling was close beside him, sitting on a very pretty bench, +made of twisted oak, and turned up at the back and both ends, so that +a gentleman could not get very far away from a lady without frightening +her. Not only in this way was the spot well adapted for tender feelings, +but itself truly ready to suggest them, with nature and the time of year +to help. There was no stream issuing here, to puzzle and perpetually +divert the human mind (whose origin clearly was spring-water poured into +the frame of the jelly-fish), neither was there any big rock, like an +obstinate barrier rising; but gentle slopes of daisied pasture led the +eye complacently, sleek cows sniffed the herbage here and there, and +brushed it with the underlip to fetch up the blades for supper-time, and +placable trees, forgetting all the rudeness of the winter winds, began +to disclose to the fond deceiving breeze, with many a glimpse to +attract a glance, all the cream of their summer intentions. And in full +enjoyment of all these doings, the poet of the whole stood singing--the +simple-minded thrush, proclaiming that the world was good and kind, but +himself perhaps the kindest, and his nest, beyond doubt, the best of it. + +"How lovely everything is to-day!" Blyth Scudamore spoke slowly, and +gazing shyly at the loveliest thing of all, in his opinion--the face of +Dolly Darling. "No wonder that your brother is a poet!" + +"But he never writes about this sort of thing," said Dolly, smiling +pleasantly. "His poems are all about liberty, and the rights of men, +and the wrongs of war. And if he ever mentions cows or sheep, it is +generally to say what a shame it is to kill them." + +"But surely it is much worse to kill men. And who is to be blamed for +that, Miss Darling? The Power that wants to overrun all the rest, or the +Country that only defends itself? I hope he has not converted you to +the worship of the new Emperor; for the army and all the great cities of +France have begged him to condescend to be that; and the King of Prussia +will add his entreaties, according to what we have heard." + +"I think anything of him!" cried Dolly, as if her opinion would settle +the point. "After all his horrible murders--worst of all of that very +handsome and brave young man shot with a lantern, and buried in a ditch! +I was told that he had to hold the lantern above his poor head, and his +hand never shook! It makes me cry every time I think of it. Only let +Frank come back, and he won't find me admire his book so very much! They +did the same sort of thing when I was a little girl, and could scarcely +sleep at night on account of it. And then they seemed to get a little +better, for a time, and fought with their enemies, instead of one +another, and made everybody wild about liberty, and citizens, and the +noble march of intellect, and the dignity of mankind, and the rights +of labour--when they wouldn't work a stroke themselves--and the black +superstition of believing anything, except what they chose to make a +fuss about themselves. And thousands of people, even in this country, +who have been brought up so much better, were foolish enough to think +it very grand indeed, especially the poets, and the ones that are too +young. But they ought to begin to get wiser now; even Frank will find it +hard to make another poem on them." + +"How glad I am to hear you speak like that! I had no idea--at least I +did not understand--" + +"That I had so much common-sense?" enquired Dolly, with a glance of +subtle yet humble reproach. "Oh yes, I have a great deal sometimes, I +can assure you. But I suppose one never does get credit for anything, +without claiming it." + +"I am sure that you deserve credit for everything that can possibly +be imagined," Scudamore answered, scarcely knowing, with all his own +common-sense to help him, that he was talking nonsense. "Every time I +see you I find something I had never found before to--to wonder at--if +you can understand--and to admire, and to think about, and to--to be +astonished at." + +Dolly knew as well as he did the word he longed to use, but feared. +She liked this state of mind in him, and she liked him too for all his +kindness, and his humble worship; and she could not help admiring him +for his bravery and simplicity. But she did not know the value yet of a +steadfast and unselfish heart, and her own was not quite of that order. +So many gallant officers were now to be seen at her father's house, half +a cubit taller than poor Blyth, and a hundred cubits higher in rank, and +wealth, and knowledge of the world, and the power of making their wives +great ladies. Moreover, she liked a dark man, and Scudamore was fair and +fresh as a rose called Hebe's Cup in June. Another thing against him was +that she knew how much her father liked him; and though she loved her +father well, she was not bound to follow his leadings. And yet she did +not wish to lose this useful and pleasant admirer. + +"I am not at all ambitious," she replied, without a moment's hesitation, +for the above reflections had long been dealt with, "but how I wish I +could do something to deserve even half that you say of me! But I +fear that you find the air getting rather cold. The weather is so +changeable." + +"Are you sure that you are not ambitious?" Scudamore was too deeply +plunged to get out of it now upon her last hint; and to-morrow he must +be far away. "You have every right to be ambitious, if such a word can +be used of you, who are yourself the height of so many ambitions. It was +the only fault I could imagine you to have, and it seems too bad that +you should have none at all." + +"You don't know anything about it," said Dolly, with a lovely expression +in her face of candour, penitence, and pleasantry combined; "I am not +only full of faults, but entirely made up of them. I am told of them too +often not to know." + +"By miserably jealous and false people." It was impossible to look at +her and not think that. "By people who cannot have a single atom of +perception, or judgment, or even proper feeling. I should like to +hear one of them, if you would even condescend to mention it. Tell +me one--only one--if you can think of it. I am not at all a judge of +character, but--but I have often had to study it a good deal among the +boys." + +This made Miss Dolly laugh, and drop her eyes, and smoothe her dress, as +if to be sure that his penetration had not been brought to bear on her. +And the gentle Scuddy blushed at his clumsiness, and hoped that she +would understand the difference. + +"You do say such things!" She also was blushing beautifully as she +spoke, and took a long time before she looked at him again. "Things that +nobody else ever says. And that is one reason why I like you so." + +"Oh, do you like me--do you like me in earnest? I can hardly dare to +dream even for one moment--" + +"I am not going to talk about that any more. I like Mr. Twemlow, I like +Captain Stubbard, I like old Tugwell--though I should have liked him +better if he had not been so abominably cruel to his son. Now I am sure +it is time to go and get ready for dinner." + +"Ah, when shall I dine with you again? Perhaps never," said the young +man, endeavouring to look very miserable and to inspire sadness. "But +I ought to be very happy, on the whole, to think of all the pleasures I +have enjoyed, and how much better I have got on than I had any right in +the world to hope for." + +"Yes, to be the Commander of a beautiful ship, little more than a year +from the date of your commission. Captain Stubbard is in such a rage +about it!" + +"I don't mean about that--though that of course is rare luck--I mean a +much more important thing; I mean about getting on well with you. The +first time I saw you in that fine old school, you did not even want to +shake hands with me, and you thought what a queer kind of animal I was; +and then the first time or two I dined at the Hall, nothing but fine +hospitality stopped you from laughing at my want of practice. But +gradually, through your own kind nature, and my humble endeavours to be +of use, I began to get on with you better and better; and now you are +beginning almost to like me." + +"Not almost, but altogether," she answered, with quite an affectionate +glance. "I can tell you there are very few, outside of my own family, +that I like half so well as I like you. But how can it matter to you so +much?" + +She looked at him so that he was afraid to speak, for fear of spoiling +everything; and being a very good-natured girl, and pleased with his +deep admiration, she sighed--just enough to make him think that he might +hope. + +"We are all so sorry to lose you." she said; "and no one will miss you +so much as I shall, because we have had such pleasant times together. +But if we can carry out our little plot, we shall hear of you very +often, and I dare say not very unfavourably. Faith and I have been +putting our heads together, and for our own benefit, and that of all the +house, if we can get you to second it. My father jumped at the idea, +and said how stupid we were not to think of it before. You know how very +little he can be at home this summer, and he says he has to sacrifice +his children to his country. So we suggested that he should invite Lady +Scudamore to spend the summer with us, if she can be persuaded to leave +home so long. We will do our very utmost to make her comfortable, and +she will be a tower of strength to us; for you know sometimes it is very +awkward to have only two young ladies. But we dare not do anything until +we asked you. Do you think she would take compassion upon us? A word +from you perhaps would decide her; and Faith would write a letter for +you to send." + +Scudamore reddened with delight, and took her hand. "How can I thank +you? I had better not try," he answered, with some very tender play +of thumb and fore-finger, and a strong impulse to bring lips too into +action. "You are almost as clever as you are good; you will know what +I mean without my telling you. My mother will be only too glad to come. +She knows what you are, she has heard so much from me. And the reality +will put to shame all my descriptions." + +"Tell me what you told her I was like. The truth, now, and not a word +of afterthought or flattery. I am always so irritated by any sort of +flattery." + +"Then you must let me hold your hands, to subdue your irritation; for +you are sure to think that it was flattery--you are so entirely ignorant +of yourself, because you never think of it. I told my dear mother that +you were the best, and sweetest, and wisest, and loveliest, and most +perfect, and exquisite, and innocent, and unselfish of all the human +beings she had ever seen, or heard, or read of. And I said it was quite +impossible for any one after one look at you to think of himself any +more in this world." + +"Well done!" exclaimed Dolly, showing no irritation, unless a gleam of +pearls inside an arch of coral showed it. "It is as well to do things +thoroughly, while one is about it. I can understand now how you get on +so fast. But, alas, your dear mother will only laugh at all that. Ladies +are so different from gentlemen. Perhaps that is why gentlemen never +understand them. And I would always a great deal rather be judged by a +gentleman than a lady. Ladies pick such a lot of holes in one another, +whereas gentlemen are too large-minded. And I am very glad upon the +whole that you are not a lady, though you are much more gentle than +they make believe to be. Oh dear! We must run; or the ladies will never +forgive us for keeping them starving all this time." + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +LISTENERS HEAR NO GOOD + + +"Not that there is anything to make one so very uneasy," said Mr. +Twemlow, "only that one has a right to know the meaning of what we are +expected to put up with. Nothing is clear, except that we have not one +man in the Government who knows his own mind, or at any rate dares to +pronounce it. Addington is an old woman, and the rest--oh, when shall +we have Pitt back again? People talk of it, and long for it; but the +Country is so slow. We put up with everything, instead of demanding that +the right thing shall be done at once. Here is Boney, a fellow raised up +by Satan as the scourge of this island for its manifold sins; and now he +is to be the Emperor forsooth--not of France, but of Europe, continental +Europe. We have only one man fit to cope with him at all, and the voice +of the nation has been shouting for him; but who pays any attention +to it? This state of things is childish--simply childish; or perhaps I +ought to say babyish. Why, even the children on the sea-shore know, when +they make their little sand walls against the tide, how soon they must +be swept away. But the difference is this, that they don't live inside +them, and they haven't got all that belongs to them inside them. Nobody +must suppose for a moment that a clergyman's family would fail to know +where to look for help and strength and support against all visitations; +but, in common with the laity, we ask for Billy Pitt." + +"And in another fortnight you will have him," replied Captain Stubbard, +who was dining there that day. "Allow me to tell you a little thing that +happened to my very own self only yesterday. You know that I am one of +the last people in the world to be accused of any--what's the proper +word for it? Mrs. Stubbard, you know what I mean--Jemima, why the deuce +don't you tell them?" + +"Captain Stubbard always has more meaning than he can well put into +words," said his wife; "his mind is too strong for any dictionary. +Hallucination is the word he means." + +"Exactly!" cried the Captain. "That expresses the whole of what I wanted +to say, but went aside of it. I am one of the last men in the world to +become the victim of any--there, I've lost it again! But never mind. You +understand now; or if you don't, Mrs. Stubbard will repeat it. What I +mean is that I see all things square, and straight, and with their own +corners to them. Well, I know London pretty well; not, of course, as +I know Portsmouth. Still, nobody need come along with me to go from +Charing Cross to St. Paul's Church-yard; and pretty tight I keep all my +hatches battened down, and a sharp pair of eyes in the crow's-nest--for +to have them in the foretop won't do there. It was strictly on duty that +I went up--the duty of getting a fresh stock of powder, for guns are not +much good without it; and I had written three times, without answer or +powder. But it seems that my letters were going the rounds, and would +turn up somewhere, when our guns were stormed, without a bit of stuff to +make answer." + +"Ah, that's the way they do everything now!" interrupted Mr. Twemlow. "I +thought you had been very quiet lately; but I did not know what a good +reason you had. We might all have been shot, and you could not have +fired a salute, to inform the neighbourhood!" + +"Well, never mind," replied the Captain, calmly; "I am not complaining, +for I never do so. Young men might; but not old hands, whose duty it is +to keep their situation in life. Well, you must understand that the air +of London always makes me hungry. There are so many thousands of people +there that you can't name a time when there is nobody eating, and this +makes a man from the country long to help them. Anyhow, I smelled roast +mutton at a place where a little side street comes up into the Strand; +and although it was scarcely half past twelve, it reminded me of Mrs. +Stubbard. So I called a halt, and stood to think upon a grating, and the +scent became flavoured with baked potatoes. This is always more than I +can resist, after all the heavy trials of a chequered life. So I pushed +the door open, and saw a lot of little cabins, right and left of a fore +and aft gangway, all rigged up alike for victualling. Jemima, I told you +all about it. You describe it to the Rector and Mrs. Twemlow." + +"Don't let us trouble Mrs. Stubbard," said the host; "I know the sort of +thing exactly, though I don't go to that sort of place myself." + +"No, of course you don't. And I was a little scared at first, for +there was sawdust enough to soak up every drop of my blood, if they had +pistolled me. Mrs. Twemlow, I beg you not to be alarmed. My wife has +such nerves that I often forget that all ladies are not like her. Now +don't contradict me, Mrs. Stubbard. Well, sir, I went to the end of this +cockpit--if you like to call it so--and got into the starboard berth, +and shouted for a ration of what I had smelled outside. And although +it was far from being equal to its smell--as the character is of +everything--you might have thought it uncommon good, if you had never +tasted Mrs. Stubbard's cooking, after she had been to the butcher +herself. Very well. I don't care for kickshaws, even if I could afford +them, which has never yet been my destiny. So I called for another +ration of hot sheep--beg your pardon, ladies, what I mean is mutton--and +half a dozen more of baked potatoes; and they reminded me of being at +home so much that I called for a pint of best pine-apple rum and a +brace of lemons, to know where I was--to remind me that I wasn't where I +couldn't get them." + +"Oh, Adam!" cried Mrs. Stubbard, "what will you say next? Not on +weekdays, of course, but nearly every Sunday--and the samples of his +powder in his pocket, Mr. Twemlow!" + +"Jemima, you are spoiling my story altogether. Well, you must +understand that this room was low, scarcely higher than the cabin of a +fore-and-after, with no skylights to it, or wind-sail, or port-hole that +would open. And so, with the summer coming on, as it is now--though a +precious long time about it--and the smell of the meat, and the thoughts +of the grog, and the feeling of being at home again, what did I do but +fall as fast asleep as the captain of the watch in a heavy gale of wind! +My back was to the light, so far as there was any, and to make sure of +the top of my head, I fetched down my hat--the soft-edged one, the same +as you see me wear on fine Sundays. + +"Well, I may have gone on in that way for an hour, not snoring, as Mrs. +Stubbard calls it, but breathing to myself a little in my sleep, when I +seemed to hear somebody calling me, not properly, but as people do in +a dream--'Stoobar--Stoobar--Stoobar,' was the sound in my ears, like my +conscience hauling me over the coals in bad English. This made me wake +up, for I always have it out with that part of me when it mutinies; but +I did not move more than to feel for my glass. And then I perceived that +it was nothing more or less than a pair of Frenchmen talking about me +in the berth next to mine, within the length of a marlin-spike from my +blessed surviving ear. + +"Some wiseacre says that listeners never hear good of themselves, and +upon my word he was right enough this time, so far as I made out. The +French language is beyond me, so far as speaking goes, for I never can +lay hold of the word I want; but I can make out most of what those queer +people say, from being a prisoner among them once, and twice in command +of a prize crew over them. And the sound of my own name pricked me up to +listen sharply with my one good ear. You must bear in mind, Rector, +that I could not see them, and durst not get up to peep over the +quarter-rail, for fear of scaring them. But I was wearing a short +hanger, like a middy's dirk--the one I always carry in the battery." + +"I made Adam promise, before he went to London," Mrs. Stubbard explained +to Mrs. Twemlow, "that he would never walk the streets without steel or +firearms. Portsmouth is a very wicked place indeed, but a garden of Eden +compared with London." + +"Well, sir," continued Captain Stubbard, "the first thing I heard those +Frenchmen say was: 'Stoobar is a stupid beast, like the ox that takes +the prize up here, except that he has no claim to good looks, but the +contrary--wholly the contrary.' Mrs. Stubbard, I beg you to preserve +your temper; you have heard others say it, and you should now despise +such falsehoods. 'But the ox has his horns, and Stoobar has none. For +all his great guns there is not one little cup of powder.' The villains +laughed at this, as a very fine joke, and you may well suppose that I +almost boiled over. 'You have then the command of this beast Stoobar?' +the other fellow asked him, as if I were a jackass. 'How then have you +so very well obtained it?' 'In a manner the most simple. Our chief has +him by the head and heels: by the head, by being over him; and by the +heels, because nothing can come in the rear without his knowledge. +Behold! you have all.' 'It is very good,' the other villain answered; +'but when is it to be, my most admirable Charron?--how much longer?--how +many months?' 'Behold my fingers,' said the one who had abused me; 'I +put these into those, and then you know. It would have been already, +except for the business that you have been employed upon in this black +hole. Hippolyte, you have done well, though crookedly; but all is +straight for the native land. You have made this Government appear more +treacherous in the eyes of France and Europe than our own is, and you +have given a good jump to his instep for the saddle. But all this throws +us back. I am tired of tricks; I want fighting; though I find them +quite a jolly people.' 'I don't,' said the other, who was clearly a low +scoundrel, for his voice was enough to settle that; 'I hate them; they +are of thick head and thick hand, and would come in sabots to catch +their enemy asleep. And now there is no chance to entangle any more. +Their Government will be of the old brutal kind, hard knocks, and no +stratagems. In less than a fortnight Pitt will be master again. I know +it from the very best authority. You know what access I have.' 'Then +that is past,' the other fellow answered, who seemed to speak more like +a gentleman, although he was the one that ran down me; 'that is the +Devil. They will have their wits again, and that very fat Stoobar will +be supplied with powder. Hippolyte, it is a very grand joke. Within +three miles of his head (which is empty, like his guns) we have nearly +two hundred barrels of powder, which we fear to bring over in those +flat-bottoms for fear of a volley among them. Ha! ha! Stoobar is one +fine fat ox!' + +"This was all I heard, for they began to move, having had enough sugar +and water, I suppose; and they sauntered away to pay their bill at the +hatch put up at the doorway. It was hopeless to attempt to follow them; +but although I am not so quick in stays as I was, I slewed myself round +to have a squint at them. One was a slight little active chap, with +dapper legs, and jerks like a Frenchman all over. I could pardon him +for calling me a great fat ox, for want of a bit of flesh upon his own +bones. But he knows more about me than I do of him, for I never clapped +eyes on him before, to my knowledge. The other was better built, and of +some substance, but a nasty, slouchy-looking sort of cur, with high fur +collars and a long grey cloak. And that was the one called Hippolyte, +who knows all about our Government. And just the sort of fellow who +would do so in these days, when no honest man knows what they are up +to." + +"That is true," said the Rector--"too true by half. But honest men +soon will have their turn, if that vile spy was well informed. The +astonishing thing is that England ever puts up with such shameful +anarchy. What has been done to defend us? Nothing, except your battery, +without a pinch of powder! With Pitt at the helm, would that have +happened? How could we have slept in our beds, if we had known it? +Fourteen guns, and not a pinch of powder!" + +"But you used to sleep well enough before a gun was put there." Mrs. +Stubbard's right to spare nobody was well established by this time. +"Better have the guns, though they could not be fired, than no guns at +all, if they would frighten the enemy." + +"That is true, ma'am," replied Mr. Twemlow; "but until the guns came, +we had no sense of our danger. Having taught us that, they were bound to +act up to their teaching. It is not for ourselves that I have any fear. +We have long since learned to rest with perfect faith in the Hand that +overruleth all. And more than that--if there should be a disturbance, my +nephew and my godson Joshua has a house of fourteen rooms in a Wiltshire +valley, quite out of the track of invaders. He would have to fight, for +he is Captain in the Yeomanry; and we would keep house for him till all +was over. So that it is for my parish I fear, for my people, my schools, +and my church, ma'am." + +"Needn't be afraid, sir; no call to run away," cried the Captain of +the battery, having now well manned his own portholes with the Rector's +sound wine; "we shall have our powder in to-morrow, and the French can't +come to-night; there is too much moon. They never dare show their noses +nor'ard of their sands, with the man in the moon--the John Bull in the +moon--looking at them. And more than that, why, that cursed Boney--" + +"Adam, in Mr. Twemlow's house! You must please to excuse him, all good +people. He has sate such a long time, without saying what he likes." + +"Jemima, I have used the right word. The parson will back me up in every +letter of it, having said the same thing of him, last Sunday week. But +I beg Mrs. Twemlow's pardon, if I said it loud enough to disturb her. +Well, then, this blessed Boney, if you prefer it, is a deal too full of +his own dirty tricks for mounting the throne of the King they murdered, +to get into a flat-bottomed boat at Boulogne, and a long sight too +jealous a villain he is, to let any one command instead of him. Why, +the man who set foot upon our shore, and beat us--if such a thing can be +supposed--would be ten times bigger than Boney in a month, and would sit +upon his crown, if he gets one." + +"Well, I don't believe they will ever come at all," the solid Mrs. +Stubbard pronounced, with decision. "I believe it is all a sham, and +what they want is to keep us from attacking them in France. However, it +is a good thing on the whole, and enables poor Officers, who have +fought well for their country, to keep out of the Workhouse with their +families." + +"Hearken, hearken to Mrs. Stubbard!" the veteran cried, as he patted his +waistcoat--a better one than he could have worn, and a larger one than +he could have wanted, except for the promised invasion. "I will back my +wife against any lady in the land for common-sense, and for putting it +plainly. I am not ashamed to say thank God for the existence of +that blessed Boney. All I hope is that he will only try to land at +Springhaven--I mean, of course, when I've got my powder." + +"Keep it dry, Captain," said the Rector, in good spirits. "Your +confidence makes us feel comfortable; and of course you would draw all +their fire from the village, and the houses standing near it, as this +does. However, I pray earnestly every night that they may attempt it in +some other parish. But what was it you heard that Frenchman say about +two or three hundred barrels of powder almost within three miles of us? +Suppose it was to blow up, where should we be?" + +"Oh, I don't believe a word of that. It must be brag and nonsense. To +begin with, there is no place where they could store it. I know all the +neighbourhood, and every house in it. And there are no caves on this +coast in the cliff, or holes of that kind such as smugglers use. +However, I shall think it my duty to get a search-order from Admiral +Darling, and inspect large farm-buildings, such as Farmer Graves has +got, and another man the other side of Pebbleridge. Those are the only +places that could accommodate large stores of ammunition. Why, we can +take only forty barrels in the fire-proof magazine we have built. We +all know what liars those Frenchmen are. I have no more faith in the 200 +barrels of powder than I have in the 2000 ships prepared on the opposite +coast to demolish us." + +"Well, I hope you are right," Mr. Twemlow answered. "It does seem a very +unlikely tale. But the ladies are gone. Let us have a quiet pipe. A man +who works as hard as you and I do is entitled to a little repose now and +then." + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +ANSWERING THE QUESTION + + +If Scudamore had not seen Dan Tugwell on board of the London Trader, and +heard from his own lips that he was one of her crew, it is certain that +he would have made a strict search of her hold, according to his orders +in suspicious cases. And if he had done this, it is probable that he +never would have set his nimble feet on deck again, for Perkins (the +American who passed as Sam Polwhele) had a heavy ship-pistol in his +great rough pocket, ready for the back of the young officer's head if +he had probed below the cheeses and firkins of butter. Only two men had +followed the lieutenant from their boat, the rest being needed for her +safety in the strong sea running, and those two at the signal would have +been flung overboard, and the schooner (put about for the mouth of the +Canche, where heavy batteries were mounted) would have had a fair chance +of escape, with a good start, while the gun-brig was picking up her +boat. Unless, indeed, a shot from the Delia should carry away an +important spar, which was not very likely at night, and with a quick +surf to baffle gunnery. However, none of these things came to pass, and +so the chances require no measurement. + +Carne landed his freight with his usual luck, and resolved very wisely +to leave off that dangerous work until further urgency. He had now a +very fine stock of military stores for the ruin of his native land, +and especially of gunpowder, which the gallant Frenchmen were afraid of +stowing largely in their flat-bottomed craft. And knowing that he owed +his success to moderation, and the good-will of his neighbours towards +evasion of the Revenue, he thought it much better to arrange his +magazine than to add to it for a month or two. + +Moreover, he was vexed at the neglect of his advice, on the part of his +arrogant Commander, a man who was never known to take advice from +any mind external to his own body, and not even from that clear power +sometimes, when his passionate heart got the uppermost. Carne, though of +infinitely smaller mind, had one great advantage--he seldom allowed it +to be curdled or crossed in its clear operations by turbulent bodily +elements. And now, when he heard from the light-hearted Charron, who had +lately been at work in London, that the only man they feared was about +to take the lead once more against the enemies of Great Britain, Caryl +Carne grew bitter against his Chief, and began for the first time to +doubt his success. + +"I have a great mind to go to Mr. Pitt myself, tell him everything, +and throw myself upon his generosity," he thought, as he sate among +his ruins sadly. "I could not be brought to trial as a common traitor. +Although by accident of birth I am an Englishman, I am a French officer, +and within my duty in acting as a pioneer for the French army. But +then, again, they would call me at the best a spy, and in that capacity +outside the rules of war. It is a toss-up how they might take it, and +the result would depend perhaps on popular clamour. The mighty Emperor +has snubbed me. He is not a gentleman. He has not even invited me to +Paris, to share in the festivities and honours he proclaims. I would +risk it, for I believe it is the safer game, except for two obstacles, +and both of those are women. Matters are growing very ticklish now. That +old bat of a Stubbard has got scent of a rat, and is hunting about the +farm-houses. It would be bad for him if he came prowling here; that step +for inspectors is well contrived. Twenty feet fall on his head for my +friend; even his bull-neck would get the worst of that. And then, again, +there is that wretch of a Cheeseman, who could not even hang himself +effectually. If it were not for Polly, we would pretty soon enable +him, as the Emperor enabled poor Pichegru. And after his own bona fide +effort, who would be surprised to find him sus. per coll.? But Polly is +a nice girl, though becoming too affectionate. And jealous--good lack! +a grocer's daughter jealous, and a Carne compelled to humour her! What +idiots women are in the hands of a strong man! Only my mother--my mother +was not; or else my father was a weak one; which I can well believe from +my own remembrance of him. Well, one point at least shall be settled +to-morrow." + +It was early in May, 1804, and Napoleon having made away to the best of +his ability--which in that way was pre-eminent--with all possible rivals +and probable foes, was receiving addresses, and appointing dummies, and +establishing foolscap guarantees against his poor fallible and flexible +self--as he had the effrontery to call it--with all the gravity, grand +benevolence, confidence in mankind (as fools), immensity of yearning +for universal good, and intensity of planning for his own, which have +hoodwinked the zanies in every age, and never more than in the present +age and country. And if France licked the dust, she could plead more +than we can--it had not been cast off from her enemy's shoes. + +Carne's love of liberty, like that of most people who talk very largely +about it, was about as deep as beauty is declared to be; or even less +than that, for he would not have imperilled the gloss of his epiderm for +the fair goddess. So that it irked him very little that his Chief had +smashed up the Republic, but very greatly that his own hand should +be out in the cold, and have nothing put inside it to restore its +circulation. "If I had stuck to my proper line of work, in the +Artillery, which has made his fortune"--he could not help saying to +himself sometimes--"instead of losing more than a year over here, and +perhaps another year to follow, and all for the sake of these dirty old +ruins, and my mother's revenge upon this country, I might have been a +General by this time almost--for nothing depends upon age in France--and +worthy to claim something lofty and grand, or else to be bought off at +a truly high figure. The little gunner has made a great mistake if he +thinks that his flat thumb of low breed can press me down shuddering, +and starving, and crouching, just until it suits him to hold up a finger +for me. My true course is now to consider myself, to watch events, and +act accordingly. My honour is free to go either way, because he has not +kept his word with me; he promised to act upon my advice, and to land +within a twelvemonth." + +There was some truth in this, for Napoleon had promised that his +agent's perilous commission in England should be discharged within a +twelvemonth, and that time had elapsed without any renewal. But Carne +was clear-minded enough to know that he was bound in honour to give fair +notice, before throwing up the engagement; and that even then it would +be darkest dishonour to betray his confidence. He had his own sense of +honour still, though warped by the underhand work he had stooped to; and +even while he reasoned with himself so basely, he felt that he could not +do the things he threatened. + +To a resolute man it is a misery to waver, as even the most resolute +must do sometimes; for instance, the mighty Napoleon himself. That +great man felt the misery so keenly, and grew so angry with himself for +letting in the mental pain, that he walked about vehemently, as a horse +is walked when cold water upon a hot stomach has made colic--only +there was nobody to hit him in the ribs, as the groom serves the nobler +animal. Carne did not stride about in that style, to cast his wrath out +of his toes, because his body never tingled with the sting-nettling of +his mind--as it is bound to do with all correct Frenchmen--and his +legs being long, he might have fallen down a hole into ancestral vaults +before he knew what he was up to. Being as he was, he sate still, and +thought it out, and resolved to play his own game for a while, as his +master was playing for himself in Paris. + +The next day he reappeared at his seaside lodgings, looking as comely +and stately as of old; and the kind Widow Shanks was so glad to see him +that he felt a rare emotion--good-will towards her; as the hardest man +must do sometimes, especially if others have been hard upon him. He even +chucked little Susy under the chin, which amazed her so much that she +stroked her face, to make sure of its being her own, and ran away +to tell her mother that the gentleman was come home so nice. Then he +ordered a special repast from John Prater's--for John, on the strength +of all his winter dinners, had now painted on his sign-board "Universal +Victualler," caring not a fig for the offence to Cheeseman, who never +came now to have a glass with him, and had spoiled all the appetite +inspired by his windows through the dismal suggestions of his rash act +on the premises. Instead of flattening their noses and opening their +mouths, and exclaiming, "Oh, shouldn't I like a bit of that?" the +children, if they ventured to peep in at all, now did it with an anxious +hope of horrors, and a stealthy glance between the hams and bacon for +something that might be hanging up among the candles. And the worst of +it was that the wisest man in the village had failed to ascertain as yet +"the reason why 'a doed it." Until that was known, the most charitable +neighbours could have no hope of forgiving him. + +Miss Dolly Darling had not seen her hero of romance for a long time; but +something told her--or perhaps somebody--that he was now at hand; and to +make sure about it, she resolved to have a walk. Faith was very busy, as +the lady of the house, in preparing for a visitor, the mother of Blyth +Scudamore, whom she, with her usual kindness, intended to meet and bring +back from the coach-road that evening; for no less than three coaches +a day passed now within eight miles of Springhaven, and several of the +natives had seen them. Dolly was not to go in the carriage, because +nobody knew how many boxes the visitor might bring, inasmuch as she was +to stop ever so long. "I am tired of all this fuss," cried Dolly; "one +would think Queen Charlotte was coming, at the least; and I dare +say nearly all her luggage would go into the door-pocket. They are +dreadfully poor; and it serves them right, for being so dreadfully +honest." + +"If you ever fall into poverty," said Faith, "it will not be from that +cause. When you get your money, you don't pay your debts. You think that +people should be proud to work for you for nothing. There is one house +I am quite ashamed to pass by with you. How long have you owed poor +Shoemaker Stickfast fifteen shillings and sixpence? And you take +advantage of him, because he dare not send it in to father." + +"Fashionable ladies never pay their debts," Dolly answered, as she spun +round on one light heel, to float out a new petticoat that she was very +proud of; "this isn't paid for, nor this, nor this; and you with your +slow head have no idea how it adds to the interest they possess. If I +am not allowed to have a bit of fashion in my dress, I can be in the +fashion by not paying for it." + +"It is a most happy thing for you, dear child, that you are kept under +some little control. What you would do, I have not the least idea, if +you were not afraid of dear father, as you are. The worst of it is that +he is never here now for as much as two days together. And then he is so +glad to see us that he cannot attend to our discipline or take notice of +our dresses." + +"Ha! you have inspired me!" exclaimed Dolly, who rejoiced in teasing +Faith. "The suggestion is yours, and I will act upon it. From the +village of Brighthelmstone, which is growing very fine, I will +procure upon the strictest credit a new Classic dress, with all tackle +complete--as dear father so well expresses it--and then I will promenade +me on the beach, with Charles in best livery and a big stick behind me. +How then will Springhaven rejoice, and every one that hath eyes clap a +spy-glass to them! And what will old Twemlow say, and that frump of +an Eliza, who condescends to give me little hints sometimes about +tightening up SO, perhaps, and letting out so, and permitting a little +air to come in HERE--" + +"Do be off, you wicked little animal!" cried Faith, who in spite of +herself could not help laughing, so well was Dolly mimicking Eliza +Twemlow's voice, and manner, and attitude, and even her figure, less +fitted by nature for the Classic attire; "you are wasting all my time, +and doing worse with your own. Be off, or I'll take a stick to 'e, as +old Daddy Stakes says to the boys." + +Taking advantage of this state of things, the younger Miss Darling set +forth by herself to dwell upon the beauty of the calm May sea, and her +own pretty figure glassed in tidal pools. She knew that she would show +to the utmost of her gifts, with her bright complexion softly gleaming +in the sun, and dark gray eyes through their deep fringe receiving and +returning tenfold the limpid glimmer of the shore. And she felt that the +spring of the year was with her, the bound of old Time that renews his +youth and powers of going at any pace; when the desire of the young is +to ride him at full gallop, and the pleasure of the old is to stroke his +nose and think. + +Dolly, with everything in her favour, youth and beauty, the time of +year, the time of day, and the power of the place, as well as her own +wish to look lovely, and to be loved beyond reason, nevertheless came +along very strictly, and kept herself most careful not to look about +at all. At any rate, not towards the houses, where people live, and +therefore must look out. At the breadth of sea, with distant ships +jotted against the sky like chips, or dotted with boats like bits of +stick; also at the playing of the little waves that ran at the bottom +of the sands, just now, after one another with a lively turn, and then +jostled into white confusion, like a flock of sheep huddled up and +hurrying from a dog--at these and at the warm clouds loitering in the +sun she might use her bright eyes without prejudice. But soon she had to +turn them upon a nearer object. + +"How absorbed we are in distant contemplation! A happy sign, I hope, in +these turbulent times. Miss Darling, will you condescend to include me +in your view?" + +"I only understand simple English," answered Dolly. "Most of the other +comes from France, perhaps. We believed that you were gone abroad +again." + +"I wish that the subject had more interest for you," Carne answered, +with his keen eyes fixed on hers, in the manner that half angered and +half conquered her. "My time is not like that of happy young ladies, +with the world at their feet, and their chief business in it, to +discover some new amusement." + +"You are not at all polite. But you never were that, in spite of your +French education." + +"Ah, there it is again! You are so accustomed to the flattery of great +people that a simple-minded person like myself has not the smallest +chance of pleasing you. Ah, well! It is my fate, and I must yield to +it." + +"Not at all," replied Dolly, who could never see the beauty of that kind +of resignation, even in the case of Dan Tugwell. "There is no such thing +as fate for a strong-willed man, though there may be for poor women." + +"May I tell you my ideas about that matter? If so, come and rest for +a moment in a quiet little shelter where the wind is not so cold. For +there is no such thing as Spring in England." + +Dolly hesitated, and with the proverbial result. To prove himself more +polite than she supposed, Caryl Carne, hat in hand and with low bows +preserving a respectful distance, conducted her to a little place of +shelter, so pretty and humble and secluded by its own want of art, and +simplicity of skill, that she was equally pleased and surprised with it. + +"Why, it is quite a little bower!" she exclaimed; "as pretty a little +nest as any bird could wish for. And what a lovely view towards the west +and beyond Pebbleridge! One could sit here forever and see the sun set. +But I must have passed it fifty times without the least suspicion of it. +How on earth have you managed to conceal it so? That is to say, if it is +your doing. Surely the children must have found it out, because they go +everywhere." + +"One brat did. But I gave him such a scare that he never stopped roaring +till next Sunday, and it frightened all the rest from looking round that +corner. If any other comes, I shall pitch-plaster him, for I could not +endure that noise again. But you see, at a glance, why you have failed +to see it, as we always do with our little oversights, when humbly +pointed out to us. It is the colour of the ground and the background +too, and the grayness of the scanty growth that hides it. Nobody finds +it out by walking across it, because of this swampy place on your side, +and the shoot of flints down from the cliff on the other, all sharp as +a knife, and as rough as a saw. And nobody comes down to this end of the +warren, neither is it seen from the battery on the hill. Only from the +back is it likely to be invaded, and there is nothing to make people +look, or come, up here. So you have me altogether at your mercy, Miss +Darling." + +Dolly thought within herself that it was much the other way, but could +not well express her thoughts to that effect. And being of a brisk and +versatile--not to say volatile--order, she went astray into a course of +wonder concerning the pretty little structure she beheld. Structure was +not the proper word for it at all; for it seemed to have grown from the +nature around, with a little aid of human hands to guide it. Branches of +sea-willow radiant with spring, and supple sprays of tamarisk recovering +from the winter, were lightly inwoven and arched together, with the +soft compliance of reed and rush from the marsh close by, and the stout +assistance of hazel rods from the westward cliff. The back was afforded +by a grassy hillock, with a tuft or two of brake-fern throwing up their +bronzy crockets among the sprayed russet of last year's pride. And +beneath them a ledge of firm turf afforded as fair a seat as even two +sweet lovers need desire. + +"How clever he is, and how full of fine taste!" thought the +simple-minded Dolly; "and all this time I have been taking him for a +gloomy, hard-hearted, unnatural man. Blyth Scudamore never could have +made this lovely bower." + +In this conclusion she was altogether wrong. Scudamore could have made +it, and would have made it gladly, with bright love to help him. But +Carne never could, and would have scorned the pleasant task. It was +Charron, the lively Frenchman, who, with the aid of old Jerry, had +achieved this pretty feat, working to relieve his dull detention, with +a Frenchman's playful industry and tasteful joy in nature. But Carne was +not likely to forego this credit. + +"I think I have done it pretty well," he said, in reply to her smile of +admiration; "with such scanty materials, I mean, of course. And I shall +think I have done it very well indeed, if you say that you like it, and +crown it with new glory by sitting for a moment in its unpretentious +shade. If your brother comes down, as I hope he will, next week, I shall +beg him to come and write a poem here. The place is fitter for a poet +than a prosy vagabond like me." + +"It is very hard that you should be a--a wanderer, I mean," Dolly +answered, looking at him with a sweet thrill of pity; "you have done +nothing to deserve it. How unfairly fortune has always treated you!" + +"Fortune could make me a thousand times more than the just compensation +even now, if she would. Such a glorious return for all my bitter losses +and outcast condition, that I should--but it is useless to think of such +things, in my low state. The fates have been hard with me, but never +shall they boast that they drove me from my pure sense of honour. Oh +yes, it is damp. But let me cure it thus." + +For Dolly, growing anxious about his meaning, yet ready to think about +another proposal, was desirous to sit down on the sweet ledge of grass, +yet uneasy about her pale blue sarsenet, and uncertain that she had not +seen something of a little sea-snail (living in a yellow house, dadoed +with red), whom to crush would be a cruel act to her dainty fabric. But +if he was there, he was sat upon unavenged; for Carne, pulling off his +light buff cloak, flung it on the seat; after which the young lady could +scarcely be rude enough not to sit. + +"Oh, I am so sorry now! Perhaps it will be spoiled," she said; "for +you say that the fates are against you always. And I am sure that they +always combine against me, when I wear anything of that colour." + +"I am going the wrong way to work," thought Carne. "What a little vixen +it is; but what a beauty!" For his love for her was chiefly a man's +admiration. And bodily she looked worthy now of all that could be done +in that way, with the light flowing in through the budded arch and +flashing upon the sweet flush of her cheeks. Carne gazed at her without +a word or thought, simply admiring, as he never had admired anything, +except himself, till now. Then she felt all the meaning of his gaze, and +turned away. + +"But you must look at me and tell me something," he said, in a low +voice, and taking both her hands; "you shall tell me what my fate must +be. Whether you can ever come to love me, as I have loved you, long and +long." + +"You have no right to speak to me like that," she answered, still +avoiding his eyes, and striving to show proper anger; "no gentleman +would think of taking advantage of a lady so." + +"I care not what is right or wrong. Look up, and tell me that you hate +me. Dolly, I suppose you do." + +"Then you are quite wrong"--she gave him one bright glance of +contradiction; "no. I have always been so sorry for you, and for all +your troubles. You must not ask me to say more." + +"But I must; I must. That is the very thing that I must do. Only say +that you love me, Dolly. Dolly darling, tell me that. Or let your lovely +eyes say it for you." + +"My lovely eyes must not tell stories"--they were gazing softly at him +now--"and I don't think I can say it--yet." + +"But you will--you shall!" he exclaimed, with passion growing as he drew +her near; "you shall not slip from me, you shall not stir, until you +have answered me one question--is there anybody else, my Dolly?" + +"You frighten me. You forget who I am. Of course there are a great many +else, as you call it; and I am not to be called, for a moment, YOUR +DOLLY." + +"No, not for a moment, but forever." Carne was accustomed to the ways of +girls, and read all their words by the light of their eyes. "Your +little heart begins to know who loves it better than all the world +put together. And for that reason I will leave you now. Farewell, my +darling; I conquer myself, for the sake of what is worth a thousand of +it." + +Dolly was in very sad confusion, and scarcely knew what she might do +next--that is to say, if he still went on. Pleasant conceit and bright +coquetry ill supply the place of honest pride and gentle self-respect, +such as Faith was blest with. Carne might have kissed Dolly a hundred +times, without much resistance, for his stronger will had mastered hers; +but she would have hated him afterwards. He did not kiss her once; +and she almost wished that he had offered one--one little tribute of +affection (as the Valentines express it)--as soon as he was gone, and +the crisis of not knowing what to do was past. "I should have let him--I +believe I should," she reflected, sagely recovering herself; "but how +glad I ought to be that he didn't! And I do hope he won't come back +again. The next time I meet him, I shall sink into the earth." + +For her hat had fallen off, and her hair was out of order, and she saw +two crinkles near the buckle of her waist; and she had not so much as a +looking-glass to be sure that she looked nice again. With a heavy sigh +for all these woes, she gathered a flossy bud of willow, and fixed it on +her breast-knot, to defy the world; and then, without heed of the sea, +sun, or sands, went home with short breath, and quick blushes, and some +wonder; for no man's arm, except her father's, had ever been round her +waist till now. + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +LITTLE AND GREAT PEOPLE + + +If ever a wise man departed from wisdom, or a sober place from sobriety, +the man was John Prater, and the place Springhaven, towards the middle +of June, 1804. There had been some sharp rumours of great things before; +but the best people, having been misled so often, shook their heads +without produce of their contents; until Captain Stubbard came out in +his shirt sleeves one bright summer morning at half past nine, with a +large printed paper in one hand and a slop basin full of hot paste in +the other. His second boy, George, in the absence of Bob (who was now +drawing rations at Woolwich), followed, with a green baize apron on, and +carrying a hearth-brush tied round with a string to keep the hair stiff. + +"Lay it on thick on the shutter, my son. Never mind about any other +notices, except the one about young men wanted. No hurry; keep your +elbow up; only don't dab my breeches, nor the shirt you had on Sunday." + +By this time there were half a dozen people waiting; for this shutter of +Widow Shanks was now accepted as the central board and official panel +of all public business and authorised intelligence. Not only because all +Royal Proclamations, Offers of reward, and Issues of menace were +posted on that shutter and the one beyond the window (which served as +a postscript and glossary to it), but also inasmuch as the kind-hearted +Captain, beginning now to understand the natives--which was not to be +done pugnaciously, as he had first attempted it, neither by any show of +interest in them (than which they detested nothing more), but by taking +them coolly, as they took themselves, and gradually sliding, without any +thought about it, into the wholesome contagion of their minds, and the +divine gift of taking things easily--our Captain Stubbard may be fairly +now declared to have made himself almost as good as a native, by the way +in which he ministered to their content. + +For nothing delighted them more than to hear of great wonders going on +in other places--of battles, plague, pestilence, famine, and fire; of +people whose wives ran away with other people, or highwaymen stopping +the coach of a bishop. Being full of good-nature, they enjoyed these +things, because of the fine sympathies called out to their own credit, +and the sense of pious gratitude aroused towards Heaven, that they +never permitted such things among them. Perceiving this genial desire of +theirs, the stout Captain of the Foxhill battery was kind enough to meet +it with worthy subjects. Receiving officially a London newspaper almost +every other day, as soon as it had trodden the round of his friends, +his regular practice was to cut out all the pieces of lofty public +interest--the first-rate murders, the exploits of highwaymen, the +episodes of high life, the gallant executions, the embezzlements of +demagogues, in a word, whatever quiet people find a fond delight +in ruminating--and these he pasted (sometimes upside down) upon his +shutter. Springhaven had a good deal of education, and enjoyed most of +all what was hardest to read. + +But this great piece of news, that should smother all the rest, seemed +now to take a terrible time in coming. All the gaffers were waiting +who had waited to see the result of Mr. Cheeseman's suicide, and their +patience was less on this occasion. At length the great Captain unfolded +his broad sheet, but even then held it upside down for a minute. It was +below their dignity to do anything but grunt, put their specs on their +noses, and lean chin upon staff. They deserved to be rewarded, and so +they were. + +For this grand poster, which overlapped the shutters, was a Royal +Proclamation, all printed in red ink, announcing that His Majesty King +George the 3rd would on the 25th of June then ensuing hold a grand +review upon Shotbury Down of all the Volunteer forces and Reserve, +mounted, footmen, or artillery, of the four counties forming the +Southeast Division, to wit, Surrey, Kent, Sussex, and Hants. Certain +regiments of the line would be appointed to act with them; and officers +in command were ordered to report at once, &c., &c. God save the King. + +If Shotbury Down had been ten miles off, Springhaven would have thought +very little of the matter; for no one would walk ten miles inland to +see all the sojers that ever were shot, or even the "King and Queen, and +their fifteen little ones." Most of the little ones were very large now; +but the village had seen them in a travelling show, and expected them to +continue like it. But Shotbury Down was only three miles inland; and the +people (who thought nothing of twenty miles along the coast) resolved to +face a league of perils of the solid earth, because if they only turned +round upon their trudge, they could see where they lived from every +corner of the road. They always did all things with one accord; the +fishing fleet all should stand still on the sand, and the houses should +have to keep house for themselves. That is to say, perhaps, all except +one. + +"Do as you like," said Mrs. Tugwell to her husband; "nothing as you +do makes much differ to me now. If you feel you can be happy with them +thousands of young men, and me without one left fit to lift a big crock, +go your way, Zeb; but you don't catch me going, with the tears coming +into my eyes every time I see a young man to remind me of Dan--though +there won't be one there fit to stand at his side. And him perhaps +fighting against his own King now!" + +"Whatever hath coom to Dannel is all along of your own fault, I tell +'e." Captain Tugwell had scarcely enjoyed a long pipe since the night +when he discharged his paternal duty, with so much vigour, and such sad +results. Not that he felt any qualms of conscience, though his heart was +sometimes heavy, but because his good wife was a good wife no longer, in +the important sphere of the pan, pot, and kettle, or even in listening +to his adventures with the proper exclamations in the proper places. +And not only she, but all his children, from Timothy down to Solomon, +instead of a pleasant chatter around him, and little attentions, and a +smile to catch a smile, seemed now to shrink from him, and hold whispers +in a corner, and watch him with timid eyes, and wonder how soon their +own time would come to be lashed and turned away. And as for the women, +whether up or down the road--but as he would not admit, even to himself, +that he cared twopence what they thought, it is useless to give voice to +their opinions, which they did quite sufficiently. Zebedee Tugwell felt +sure that he had done the right thing, and therefore admired himself, +but would have enjoyed himself more if he had done the wrong one. + +"What fault of mine, or of his, poor lamb?" Mrs. Tugwell asked, with +some irony. She knew that her husband could never dare to go to see the +King without her--for no married man in the place would venture to look +at him twice if he did such a thing--and she had made up her own mind +to go from the first; but still, he should humble himself before she did +it. "Was it I as colted him? Or was it him as gashed himself, like the +prophets of Baal, when 'a was gone hunting?" + +"No; but you cockered him up, the same as was done to they, by the +wicked king, and his wife--the worst woman as ever lived. If they hadn't +gashed theirselves, I reckon, the true man of God would 'a done it for +them, the same as he cut their throats into the brook Kishon. Solomon +was the wisest man as ever lived, and Job the most patient--the same as +I be--and Elijah, the Tishbite, the most justest." + +"You better finish up with all the Psalms of David, and the Holy +Children, and the Burial Service. No more call for Parson Twemlow, or +the new Churchwarden come in place of Cheeseman, because 'a tried to +hang his self. Zebedee Tugwell in the pulpit! Zebedee, come round +with the plate! Parson Tugwell, if you please, a-reading out the ten +commandments! But 'un ought to leave out the sixth, for fear of spoiling +'s own dinner afterwards; and the seventh, if 'a hopes to go to see King +George the third, with another man's woman to his elbow!" + +"When you begins to go on like that," Captain Tugwell replied, with some +dignity, "the only thing as a quiet man can do is to go out of houze, +and have a half-pint of small ale." He put his hat on his head and went +to do it. + +Notwithstanding all this and much more, when the great day came for +the Grand Review, very few people saw more of the King, or entered more +kindly into all his thoughts--or rather the thoughts that they made him +think--than Zebedee Tugwell and his wife Kezia. The place being so near +home, and the smoke of their own chimneys and masts of their smack as +good as in sight--if you knew where to look--it was natural for them to +regard the King as a stranger requiring to be taught about their place. +This sense of proprietary right is strong in dogs and birds and cows and +rabbits, and everything that acts by nature's laws. When a dog sits in +front of his kennel, fast chained, every stranger dog that comes in at +the gate confesses that the premises are his, and all the treasures they +contain; and if he hunts about--which he is like enough to do, unless +full of self-respect and fresh victuals--for any bones invested in the +earth to ripen, by the vested owner, he does it with a low tail and many +pricks of conscience, perhaps hoping in his heart that he may discover +nothing to tempt him into breach of self-respect. But now men are +ordered, in this matter, to be of lower principle than their dogs. + +King George the third, who hated pomp and show, and had in his blood the +old German sense of patriarchal kingship, would have enjoyed a good talk +with Zebedee and his wife Kezia, if he had met them on the downs alone; +but, alas, he was surrounded with great people, and obliged to restrict +himself to the upper order, with whom he had less sympathy. Zebedee, +perceiving this, made all allowance for him, and bought a new Sunday hat +the very next day, for fear of wearing out the one he had taken off to +His Majesty, when His Majesty looked at him, and Her Majesty as well, +and they manifestly said to one another, what a very fine subject they +had found. Such was loyalty--aye, and royalty--in those times that we +despise. + +But larger events demand our heed. There were forty thousand gallant +fellows, from the age of fifteen upwards, doing their best to look like +soldiers, and some almost succeeding. True it is that their legs and +arms were not all of one pattern, nor their hats put on their heads +alike--any more than the heads on their shoulders were--neither did they +swing together, as they would have done to a good swathe of grass; but +for all that, and making due allowance for the necessity they were under +of staring incessantly at the King, any man who understood them +would have praised them wonderfully. And they went about in such +wide formation, and occupied so much of their native land, that the +best-drilled regiment Napoleon possessed would have looked quite small +among them. + +"They understand furze," said a fine young officer of the staff, who +had ridden up to Admiral Darling's carriage and saluted three ladies who +kept watch there. "I doubt whether many of the Regular forces would +have got through that brake half so well; certainly not without double +gaiters. If the French ever land, we must endeavour to draw them into +furzy ground, and then set the Volunteers at them. No Frenchman can do +much with prickles in his legs." + +Lady Scudamore smiled, for she was thinking of her son, who would have +jumped over any furze-bush there--and the fir-trees too, according to +her conviction; Dolly also showed her very beautiful teeth; but Faith +looked at him gratefully. + +"It is very kind of you, Lord Dashville, to say the best of us that you +can find to say. But I fear that you are laughing to yourself. You know +how well they mean; but you think they cannot do much." + +"No, that is not what I think at all. So far as I can judge, which is +not much, I believe that they would be of the greatest service, if the +Country should unfortunately need them. Man for man, they are as brave +as trained troops, and many of them can shoot better. I don't mean to +say that they are fit to meet a French army in the open; but for acting +on their flanks, or rear, or in a wooded country--However, I have no +right to venture an opinion, having never seen active service." + +Miss Darling looked at him with some surprise, and much approval of +his modesty. So strongly did most of the young officers who came to her +father's house lay down the law, and criticise even Napoleon's tactics. + +"How beautiful Springhaven must be looking now!" he said, after Dolly +had offered her opinion, which she seldom long withheld. "The cottages +must be quite covered with roses, whenever they are not too near the +sea; and the trees at their best, full of leaves and blossoms, by the +side of the brook that feeds them. All the rest of the coast is so hard +and barren, and covered with chalk instead of grass, and the shore so +straight and staring. But I have never been there at this time of year. +How much you must enjoy it! Surely we ought to be able to see it, from +this high ground somewhere." + +"Yes, if you will ride to that shattered tree," said Faith, "you will +have a very fine view of all the valley. You can see round the corner +of Foxhill there, which shuts out most of it just here. I think you have +met our Captain Stubbard." + +"Ah, I must not go now; I may be wanted at any moment"--Lord Dashville +had very fine taste, but it was not the inanimate beauties of +Springhaven that he cared a dash for--"and I fear that I could never see +the roses there. I think there is nothing in all nature to compare with +a rose--except one thing." + +Faith had a lovely moss-rose in her hat--a rose just peeping through +its lattice at mankind, before it should open and blush at them--and she +knew what it was that he admired more than the sweetest rose that +ever gemmed itself with dew. Lord Dashville had loved her, as she was +frightened to remember, for more than a year, because he could not help +it, being a young man of great common-sense, as well as fine taste, and +some knowledge of the world. "He knows to which side his bread will be +buttered," Mr. Swipes had remarked, as a keen observer. "If 'a can only +get Miss Faith, his bread 'll be buttered to both sides for life--his +self to one side, and her to do the tother. The same as I told Mother +Cloam--a man that knoweth his duty to head gardeners, as his noble +lordship doth, the same know the differ atwixt Miss Faith--as fine a +young 'ooman as ever looked into a pink--and that blow-away froth of a +thing, Miss Dolly." + +This fine young woman, to use the words of Mr. Swipes, coloured softly, +at his noble lordship's gaze, to the tint of the rose-bud in her hat; +and then spoke coldly to countervail her blush. + +"There is evidently something to be done directly. All the people are +moving towards the middle of the down. We must not be so selfish as to +keep you here, Lord Dashville." + +"Why, don't you see what it is?" exclaimed Miss Dolly, hotly resenting +the part of second fiddle; "they are going to have the grand march-past. +These affairs always conclude with that. And we are in the worst part of +the whole down for seeing it. Lord Dashville will tell us where we ought +to go." + +"You had better not attempt to move now," he answered, smiling as he +always smiled at Dolly, as if she were a charming but impatient child; +"you might cause some confusion, and perhaps see nothing. And now I +must discharge my commission, which I am quite ashamed of having left +so long. His Majesty hopes, when the march-past is over, to receive a +march-up of fair ladies. He has a most wonderful memory, as you know, +and his nature is the kindest of the kind. As soon as he heard that Lady +Scudamore was here, and Admiral Darling's daughters with her, he said: +'Bring them all to me, every one of them; young Scudamore has done good +work, good work. And I want to congratulate his mother about him. And +Darling's daughters, I must see them. Why, we owe the security of the +coast to him.' And so, if you please, ladies, be quite ready, and allow +me the honour of conducting you." + +With a low bow, he set off about his business, leaving the ladies in a +state of sweet disturbance. Blyth Scudamore's mother wept a little, for +ancient troubles and present pleasure. Lord Dashville could not repeat +before her all that the blunt old King had said: "Monstrous ill-treated +woman, shameful, left without a penny, after all her poor husband did +for me and the children! Not my fault a bit--fault of the Whigs--always +stingy--said he made away with himself--bad example--don't believe a +word of it; very cheerful man. Blown by now, at any rate--must see +what can be done for her--obliged to go for governess--disgrace to the +Crown!" + +Faith, with her quiet self-respect, and the largeness learned from +sorrow, was almost capable of not weeping that she had left at home her +apple-green Poland mantlet and jockey bonnet of lilac satin checked with +maroon. But Dolly had no such weight of by-gone sorrow to balance +her present woe, and the things she had left at home were infinitely +brighter than that dowdy Faith's. + +"Is there time to drive back? Is there time to drive home? The King +knows father, and he will be astonished to see a pair of frumps, and +he won't understand one bit about the dust, or the sun that takes the +colour out. He will think we have got all our best things on. Oh, +Lady Scudamore, how could you do it? You told us to put on quite plain +things, because of the dust, and the sun, and all that; and it might +come to rain, you said--as if it was likely, when the King was on the +hill! And with all your experience of the King and Queen, that you told +us about last evening, you must have known that they would send for us. +Gregory, how long would it take you to go home, at full gallop, allow us +half an hour in the house, and be back here again, when all these people +are gone by?" + +"Well, miss, there be a steepish bit of road, and a many ockard +cornders; I should say 'a might do it in two hours and a half, with a +fresh pair of nags put in while you ladies be a-cleaning of yourselves, +miss. Leastways, if Hadmiral not object." + +"Hadmiral, as you call him, would have nothing to do with it"--Dolly was +always free-spoken with the servants, which made her very popular with +some of them--"he has heavier duty than he can discharge. But two hours +and a half is hopeless; we must even go as we are." + +Coachman Gregory smiled in his sleeve. He knew that the Admiral had that +day a duty far beyond his powers--to bring up his Sea-Fencibles to see +the King--upon which they had insisted--and then to fetch them all +back again, and send them on board of their several craft in a state of +strict sobriety. And Gregory meant to bear a hand, and lift it pretty +frequently towards the most loyal part of man, in the large festivities +of that night. He smacked his lips at the thought of this, and gave a +little flick to his horses. + +After a long time, long enough for two fair drives to Springhaven and +back, and when even the youngest were growing weary of glare, and dust, +and clank, and din, and blare, and roar, and screeching music, Lord +Dashville rode up through a cloud of roving chalk, and after a little +talk with the ladies, ordered the coachman to follow him. Then stopping +the carriage at a proper distance, he led the three ladies towards the +King, who was thoroughly tired, and had forgotten all about them. His +Majesty's sole desire was to get into his carriage and go to sleep; for +he was threescore years and six of age, and his health not such as it +used to be. Ever since twelve o'clock he had been sitting in a box made +of feather-edged boards, which the newspapers called a pavilion, having +two little curtains (both of which stuck fast) for his only defence +against sun, noise, and dust. Moreover, his seat was a board full of +knots, with a strip of thin velvet thrown over it; and Her Majesty +sitting towards the other end (that the public might see between them), +and weighing more than he did, every time she jumped up, he went down, +and every time she plumped down, he went up. But he never complained, +and only slowly got tired. "Thank God!" he said, gently, "it's all over +now. My dear, you must be monstrous tired; and scarcely a bit to eat all +day. But I locked some in the seat-box this morning--no trusting anybody +but oneself. Let us get into the coach and have at them." "Ja, ja, +meinherr," said the Queen. + +"If it please your Majesties"--a clear voice entered between the +bonnet-hoods of the curtains--"here are the ladies whose attendance I +was ordered to require." + +"Ladies!--what ladies?" asked King George, rubbing his eyes, and +yawning. "Oh yes, to be sure! I mustn't get up so early to-morrow. Won't +take a minute, my dear. Let them come. Not much time to spare." + +But as soon as he saw Lady Scudamore, the King's good-nature overcame +the weariness of the moment. He took her kindly by the hand, and looked +at her face, which bore the mark of many heavy trials; and she, who had +often seen him when the world was bright before her, could not smother +one low sob, as she thought of all that had been since. + +"Don't cry, don't cry, my dear," said the King, with his kind heart +showing in his eyes; "we must bow to the will of the Lord, who gives sad +trials to every one of us. We must think of the good, and not the evil. +Bless me, keep your spirits up. Your son is doing very well indeed, +very well indeed, from all I hear. Good chip of the old block, very good +chip. Will cure my grandchildren, as soon as they want it; and nobody is +ever in good health now." + +"No, your Majesty, if you please, my son is in the Royal Navy, fighting +for his Country and his King. And he has already captured--" + +"Three French frigates. To be sure, I know. Better than curing three +hundred people. Fine young officer--very fine young officer. Must come +to see me when he gets older. There, you are laughing! That's as it +should be. Goodbye, young ladies. Forty miles to go tonight, and very +rough roads--very rough indeed. Monstrous pretty girls! Uncommon glad +that George wasn't here to see them. Better stay in the country--too +good for London. Must be off; sha'n't have a bit o' sleep to-night, +because of sleeping the whole way there, and then sure to be late in +the morning, not a bit of breakfast till eight o'clock, and all the day +thrown upside down! Darlings, Darlings--the right name for them! But +they mustn't come to London. No, no, no. Too much wickedness there +already. Very glad George wasn't here to-day!" + +His Majesty was talking, as he always did, with the firm conviction +that his words intended for the public ear would reach it, while +those addressed, without change of tone, to himself, would be strictly +private. But instead of offending any one, this on the whole gave great +satisfaction, and impressed nine people out of ten with a strong and +special regard for him, because almost every one supposed himself to be +admitted at first sight to the inner confidence of the King. And to what +could he attribute this? He would do his own merits great demerit unless +he attributed it to them, and to the King an unusual share of sagacity +in perceiving them. + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN + + +That grand review at Shotbury was declared by all who took part in it, +or at all understood the subject, to have been a most remarkable and +quite unparalleled success. Not only did it show what noble stuff there +is in Englishmen, and how naturally they take to arms, but also it +inspired with martial feeling and happy faith the wives and mothers of +all the gallant warriors there. It would make the blood-stained despot +cower upon his throne of murder, and teach him the madness of invading +any land so fortified. + +However, Napoleon failed to see the matter in that wholesome light, and +smiled a grim and unkind smile as he read Caryl Carne's report of those +"left-handed and uncouth manoeuvres." "One of your Majesty's feeblest +regiments would send the whole of those louts to the devil; and I +am bound to impress once more, with all deference to your infallible +judgment, the vast importance of carrying out your grand designs at +the first moment. All is prepared on my part. One day's notice is all I +need." + +So wrote Carne; and perhaps the truth, as usual, lay about half-way +between the two opinions. Even Carne was not admitted to a perfect +knowledge of his master's schemes. But to keep things moving and men +alert, the Emperor came to the coast at once, busy as he was in Paris, +and occupied for several weeks, with short intervals of absence, the +house prepared for him near Boulogne, whence he watched and quickened +the ripening of his mighty plans against us. + +Now Carne himself, while working with new vigour and fresh enterprise, +had a narrow escape from invasion. Captain Stubbard, stirred up now and +again by Mr. Twemlow, had thoroughly searched all covered places, likely +to harbour gunpowder, within at least six miles of his fort, that is to +say, all likely places, save and except the right one. By doing this +he had done for himself--as regards sweet hospitality--among all the +leading farmers, maltsters, tanners, and millers for miles around. Even +those whose premises were not entered, as if they had been Frenchmen, +had a brother-in-law, or at least a cousin, whose wooden bars had been +knocked up. And the most atrocious thing of all, if there could be +anything worse than worst, was that the Captain dined one day, at a +market-ordinary, with Farmer, or you might say Squire Hanger--for the +best part of his land followed to him from his father--and had rum and +water with him, and spoke his health, and tucked Mrs. Hanger up into the +shay, and rode alongside to guarantee them; and then the next day, on +the very same horse, up he comes at Hanger-dene, and overhauls every tub +on the premises, with a parchment as big as a malt-shovel! Such a man +was not fit to lay a knife and fork by. + +Some sense of the harm he had done to himself, without a bit of good to +any one, dwelt heavily in the Captain's mind, as he rode up slowly upon +the most amiable of the battery-horses--for all sailors can ride, from +long practice on the waves--and struck a stern stroke, with a stick like +a linstock, upon the old shutter that served for a door and the +front entrance to Carne Castle. There used to be a fine old piece +of workmanship in solid and bold oak here, a door divided in the +middle--else no man might swing it back--and even so pierced with a +wicket, for small people to get through. That mighty door was not worn +out, for it was not three hundred years old yet, and therefore scarcely +in middle life; but the mortgagees who had sacked the place of all that +was worth a sack to hold it, these had a very fine offer for that door, +from a rich man come out of a dust-bin. And this was one of the many +little things that made Caryl Carne unpleasant. + +"I do not require production of your warrant. The whole place is open to +your inspection," said Carne, who had long been prepared for this visit; +"open to all the winds and rains, and the lower part sometimes filled +with water. The upper rooms, or rather the few that remain of them, are +scarcely safe for a person of any weight to walk in, but you are most +welcome to try them, if you like; and this gentleman, I think, might not +fall through. Here are my quarters; not quite so snug as my little room +at the widow's; but I can offer you some bread and cheese, and a glass +of country cider. The vaults or cellars have held good wine in their +time, but only empty casks and broken bottles now." + +Captain Stubbard had known for many years the silent woes of poverty, +and now he observed with some good-will the young man's sad but haughty +smile. Then he ordered his young subaltern, his battery-mate, as he +called him, to ascend the broad crumbling staircase, and glance into the +dismantled chambers, while himself with the third of the party--a trusty +old gunner--should inspect the cellarage. + +"We will not keep you long, sir," he said to Carne; "and if you are kind +enough to show us the way, which is easily lost in a place of this kind, +we shall be all the quicker. Wilkins, when you have done up there, wait +here for us. Shall we want a light, sir?" + +"In the winter, you could hardly do without one, but at this time of +year, I think you may. At any rate I will bring a lantern, and we can +light it if wanted. But the truth is that I know next to nothing of +those sepulchral places. They would not be very tempting, even without a +ghost, which they are said to have." + +"A ghost!" cried the Captain; "I don't like that. Not that I have much +faith in them; although one never can be sure. But at this time of +day--What is it like?" + +"I have never seen her, and am quite content without it. It is said to +be an ancestress of mine, a Lady Cordelia Carne, who was murdered, when +her husband was away, and buried down there, after being thrown into the +moat. The old people say that whenever her ghost is walking, the water +of the moat bursts in and covers the floor of the vaults, that she may +flit along it, as she used to do. But of course one must not listen to +that sort of fable." + +"Perhaps you will go in front, sir, because you know the way. It is my +duty to inspect these places; and I am devilish sorry for it; but my +duty must be done." + +"You shall see every hole and corner, including the stone that was put +up to commemorate her murder and keep her quiet. But I should explain +that these vaults extend for the entire length of the building, except +just in the middle, where we now stand. For a few yards the centre of +the building seems to have never been excavated, as to which you will +convince yourself. You may call the cellars east and west, or right and +left, or north and south, or uphill and downhill, or anything else, for +really they are so much alike, and partitioned into cells so much alike, +that I scarcely know which is which myself, coming suddenly from the +daylight. But you understand those things much better. A sailor always +knows his bearings. This leads to the entrance of one set." + +Carne led the Captain and old Gunner Bob--as he was called in the +battery--along a dark and narrow passage, whose mouth was browed with +ivy. Half-way through, they found an archway on the right-hand side, +opening at right angles into long and badly lighted vaults. In this arch +there was no door; but a black step-ladder (made of oak, no doubt), very +steep and rather rickety, was planted to tempt any venturesome foot. + +"Are you sure this ladder is safe?"--the Captain was by no means in love +with the look of it. "My weight has increased remarkably in the fine air +of Springhaven. If the bottom is rotten, the top won't help us." + +"Let me go first. It is my duty, as the owner; and I have no family +dependent on me. My neck is of no value, compared to yours, Captain." + +"How I have mistaken this young man!" thought the brave yet prudent +Stubbard. "I called him a Frenchified fool, whereas he is a downright +Englishman! I shall ask him to dinner next week, if Jemima can get a new +leg for the dripping-pan." + +Following warily, with Gunner Bob behind him, and not disdaining the +strong arm of the owner, the Captain of Foxhill was landed in the vault, +and being there, made a strict examination. He even poked his short +sword into the bung-holes of three or four empty barrels, that Bob might +be satisfied also in his conscience. "Matter of form," he said, "matter +of form, sir, when we know who people are; but you might have to do it +yourself, sir, if you were in the service of your King. You ought to be +that, Mr. Carne; and it is not too late, in such days as these are, to +begin. Take my advice--such a fine young man!" + +"Alas, my dear sir, I cannot afford it. What officer can live upon his +pay for a generation?" + +"Gospel truth!" cried the Captain, warmly; "Gospel truth! and more than +that--he must be the last of his generation, or else send his young 'uns +to the workhouse. What things I could tell you, Mr. Carne! But here we +are at the end of the vaults; all empty, as I can certify; and I hope, +my dear sir, that you may live to see them filled with good wine, as +they used to be." + +"Thank you, but there is no hope of that. Shall we take the vaults +of the other end next, or examine the chapel, and the outer +buildings--outer ruins, I should say?" + +"Oh, a little open air first, for goodness sake!" said the Captain, +going heavily up the old steps; "I am pretty nearly choked with all this +mildew. A little fresh air, before we undertake the other lot." + +As soon as the echo of their steps was dead, Charron, old Jerry, and +another man jumped down from a loop-hole into the vault they had left, +piled up a hoarding at the entrance, and with a crowbar swung back a +heavy oak hatch in the footings of the outer wall. A volume of water +poured in from the moat, or rather from the stream which had once +supplied it. Seeing this, they disappeared with a soft and pleasant +chuckle. + +The owner kept Stubbard such a time among the ruins, telling him some +fine old legends, and otherwise leading him in and out, that when a bit +of food and a glass of old Cognac was proposed by way of interlude, +the Captain heartily embraced the offer. Then Carne conducted his three +visitors, for Wilkins had now rejoined them, into a low room poorly +furnished, and regaled them beyond his promise. "Rare stuff!" exclaimed +Stubbard, with a wink at Carne. "Ah, I see that free-trade still exists. +No concern of mine, except to enjoy its benefits. Here's to your very +good health, sir, and I am proud to have made your acquaintance." + +"Have another drop; it can hurt no one," Carne declared, and the Captain +acquiesced. + +"Well, I suppose we must finish our job," the official visitor at length +pronounced; "a matter of form, sir, and no offence; but we are bound +to carry out our duty. There is nothing left, except the other lot of +vaults; but the light begins to fail us, for underground work. I hope +they are not so dark as those we have been through." + +"Just about the same. You would hardly know one set from the other, as +I told you, except for the stone that records the murder. Perhaps we had +better light the lantern now?" + +"By all means. I don't half like that story of the lady that walks on +the water. It does seem so gashly and unchristian altogether. Not that I +have any fear of ghosts--not likely, for I have never even seen one." + +"I have," said Gunner Bob, in a deep voice, which made them all glance +through the ivy. "I have, and a fearful one it were." + +"Don't be a fool, Bob," the Captain whispered; "we don't want to hear +about that now. Allow me to carry the lantern, Mr. Carne; it throws such +shadows from the way you hold it. Why, surely, this is where we were +before!" + +"You might easily fancy so," Carne answered, smiling, "especially with a +mind at all excited--" + +"My mind is not excited, sir; not at all excited; but as calm as it ever +was in all its life." + +"Then two things will show you that these are the other vaults. The arch +is on your left hand, instead of on your right"--he had brought them in +now from the other end of the passage--"and this entrance, as you see, +has a door in it, which the other had not. Perhaps the door is to keep +the ghost in"--his laugh sounded hollow, and like a mocking challenge +along the dark roof--"for this is the part she is supposed to walk in. +But so much for the door! The money-lenders have not left us a door that +will stand a good kick. You may find our old doors in Wardour Street." + +As he spoke, he set foot against the makeshift door, and away it went, +as he had predicted. Crashing on the steps as it fell, it turned over, +and a great splash arose at the bottom. + +"Why, bless my heart, there is a flood of water there!" cried Stubbard, +peeping timidly down the steps, on which (if the light had been clear, +and that of his mind in the same condition) he might have seen the marks +of his own boots. "A flood of water, perhaps six feet deep! I could +scarcely have believed, but for that and the door, that these were not +the very vaults that we have examined. But what business has the water +there?" + +"No business at all, any more than we have," Carne answered, with some +rudeness, for it did not suit him to encourage too warmly the friendship +of Captain Stubbard; "but I told you that the place becomes covered with +water whenever the ghost intends to walk. Probably there is not more +than a foot of water"--there was in fact about three inches--"and as you +are bound to carry out your duty--" + +"My dear sir, I am satisfied, perfectly satisfied. Who could keep +gunpowder under water, or even in a flooded cellar? I shall have the +greatest pleasure in reporting that I searched Carne Castle--not of +course suspiciously, but narrowly, as we are bound to do, in execution +of our warrant--" + +"If you would not mind looking in this direction," whispered Carne, who +could never be contented, "I think I could show you, just beyond the +murder-stone--yes, and it seems to be coming towards us, as white as a +winding-sheet; do come and look." + +"No, sir, no; it is not my duty"--the Captain turned away, with his hair +upon the rise. "I was sent here to look for saltpetre, not spectres. No +officer in His Majesty's service can be expected--Bob, and Wilkins, are +you there?" + +"Yes, sir, yes--we have had quite enough of this; and unless you give +the orders--" + +"Here she comes, I do declare!" whispered Carne, with extraordinary +calmness. + +"Bob, and Wilkins, give me one arm each. Make for daylight in close +order. You may be glad to see your grandmother, young man; but I decline +to have anything to say to her. Bob, and Wilkins, bear a hand; I feel a +little shaky in my lower timbers. Run for your lives, but don't leave +me behind. Run, lads, like the very devil!" For a groan of sepulchral +depth, and big enough to lift a granite tombstone, issued from the +vault, and wailed along the sombre archway. All the Artillerymen fled, +as if the muzzle of their biggest gun was slewed upon them, and very +soon the sound of horses' heels, urged at a perilous pace down the hill, +rang back as the echo of that grand groan. + +"I think I did that pretty well, my Captain," cried Charron, ascending +from the vault with dripping boots; "I deserve a glass of Cognac, if +they have left me any. Happy is Stoobar that he was contented, without +breaking his neck at the inspector's step." + +"He has satisfied his conscience," Carne answered, grimly; "yet it +cannot be blameless, to make him run so fast. I am glad we have been +saved from killing them. It would have been hard to know what to do +next. But he will never trouble us here again." + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +FATHER, AND CHILD + + +"Tell Miss Faith, when she comes in, that I shall be glad to see her," +said Admiral Darling to his trusty butler, one hot afternoon in August. +He had just come home from a long rough ride, to spend at least one day +in his own house, and after overhauling his correspondence, went into +the dining-room, as the coolest in the house, to refresh himself a +little with a glass of light wine before going up to dress for dinner. +There he sat in an arm-chair, and looked at his hands, which were +browned by the sun, and trembling from a long period of heavy work and +light sleep. He was getting too old to endure it with impunity, yet +angry with himself for showing it. But he was not thinking of himself +alone. + +"I hope she will be sensible"--he was talking to himself, as elderly +people are apt to do, especially after being left to themselves; "I hope +she will see the folly of it--of living all her life as the bride of +a ghost; and herself such a beautiful, cheerful darling! Loving, +warm-hearted, sweet-tempered, adoring children, and adored by them; +obedient, gentle--I can't think of anything good that she hasn't got, +except common-sense. And even for that, I like her all the more; because +it is so different from all the other girls. They have got too much--one +lover out of sight, even for a month or two, gone fighting for his +Country, what do they do but take up with another, as I very greatly +fear our Dolly would? But Faith--Why, my darling, how well you look!" + +"How I wish that I could say the same of you, dear father!" said the +lovely young woman, while kissing him, and smoothing with her soft hand +his wrinkled forehead; "you never used to have these little tucks and +gathers here. I would rather almost that the French should come and +devour us all, than see my father, whenever we do see him, once in a +month, say, gauffred like this--as their laundresses do it--and getting +reduced to the Classical shape, so that I can put one arm round him." + +"My darling," said the Admiral, though proud at heart of the +considerable reduction of his stomach, "you should not say such things +to me, to remind me how very old I am!" + +Fathers are crafty, and daughters childish, as behoves the both of them. +The Admiral knew, as well as if he had ordered it, what Faith would do. +And she must have perceived his depth, if only she had taken a moment to +think of it. Because when she plumped, like a child, into his arms, how +came his arms to be so wide open? and when two great tears rolled down +her cheeks, how sprang his handkerchief so impromptu out from beneath +his braided lappet? + +"Tell me what harm I have done," she asked, with a bright smile dawning +through the dew of her dark eyes; "what have I done to vex you, father, +that you say things fit to make me cry? And yet I ought to laugh, +because I know so well that you are only fishing for compliments. You +are getting so active that I shall be frightened to go for a walk or +a ride with you. Only I do love to see you look fat, and your darling +forehead smooth and white." + +"My dear child, I must get up my substance. This very day I begin in +earnest. Because I am to be a great man, Faith. How would you like to +have to call me 'Sir Charles'?" + +"Not at all, darling; except when you deserve it, by being cross to me; +and that never, never happens. I wish there was more chance of it." + +"Well, dear, if you won't, the other people must; for His Majesty has +been graciously pleased to turn me into a Baronet. He says that I have +earned it; and perhaps I have; at any rate, he put it so nicely that +without being churlish I could not refuse. And it will be a good thing +for Frank, I hope, by bringing him back from his democratic stuff. To +myself it is useless; but my children ought to like it." + +"And so they will, father, for your own dear sake. Let me be the first +to salute you, father. Oh, Dolly will be in such a rage because you told +me, without telling her!" + +"I never thought of that," said the Admiral, simply; "I am afraid that +I shall get in for it. However, I have a right to please myself, and you +need not tell her until I do. But that is not all my news, and not by +any means the best of it. The King was reminded, the other day, of all +that he and his family owe to the late Sir Edmond Scudamore, and better +late than never, he has ordered your governess, as he called her, to be +put on the list for a pension of 300 pounds a year. Nothing that once +gets into his head can ever be got out of it, and he was shocked at +seeing his old physician's widow 'gone out as a governess--gone out as +a governess--great disgrace to the royal family!' I am very glad that it +happened so." + +"And so am I. She ought to have had it long and long ago, especially +after the sad misfortune of her husband. You will let me tell her? It +will be such a pleasure." + +"Certainly, my dear; you are the very one to do it. Tell her that her +eldest pupil is come with a little piece of news for her; it will make +her smile--she has a very pretty smile, which reminds me of the +gallant Blyth. And now, my child, the third piece of news concerns +yourself--your good, and dutiful, and exceedingly sensible self. Ahem!" +cried the Admiral, as he always did, when he feared that he might have +overstepped the truth. + +"I know what it is; you need not tell me," Faith answered, confirming +her fear at once. "It is no use, father; it is no good at all--unless +you intend to forget your own promise." + +"That I shall never do," he replied, while looking at her sadly; "no, my +dear child, I shall never attempt to drive instead of lead you. But you +have not heard me out as yet. You don't even know who it is I mean." + +"Oh yes, I do; I know well enough, father. I am not like Dolly, +universally admired. Because I do not want to be. You mean Lord +Dashville--can you tell me that you don't?" + +"No, my dear"--Sir Charles was a little surprised that Faith should be +so quick, for (like most people of gentle nature) she was taken to +be slow, because she never snapped--"I cannot deny that it is Lord +Dashville, because that is the man, and no other. But how you could tell +surpasses me, and it shows that he must be very often in your mind:" +the Admiral thought he had caught her there. "Now can you say anything +against him? Is he not honest, manly, single-minded, faithful as +yourself, I do believe, good-looking, well-bred, a Tory, and a +gentleman, certain to make any woman happy whom he loves? Can you say a +syllable against all that?" + +"No," replied Faith--a very long, slow "no," as if she only wished she +could say something hard about him. + +"Very well," her father went on, with triumph, "and can you deny that +he is just the person you might have taken a great liking to--fallen +in love with, as they call it--if only he had come before your mind +was full of somebody else--a very fine young fellow, no doubt; but--my +darling, I won't say a word against him, only you know what I mean too +well. And are you forever to be like a nun because it has pleased the +Lord to take him from you?" + +"Lord Dashville has not advanced himself in my good opinion, if he cares +for that," said Faith, starting sideways, as a woman always does, from +the direct issue, "by going to you, when I declined to have anything +more to say to him." + +"My dear, you are unjust," replied Sir Charles; "not purposely, I know, +for you are the most upright darling that can be, in general. But you +accuse young Dashville of what he never did. It was his good mother, the +Countess of Blankton, a most kind-hearted and lady-like person, without +any nonsense about her, who gave me the best cup of tea I ever tasted, +and spoke with the very best feeling possible. She put it so sweetly +that I only wish you could have been there to hear her." + +"Father, what is the good of it all? You hate turncoats even worse than +traitors. Would you like your daughter to be one? And when she would +seem to have turned her coat--for the ladies wear coats now, the horrid +ugly things!--for the sake of position, and title, and all that. If Lord +Dashville had been a poor man, with his own way to make in the world, a +plain Mister, there might have been more to be said for it. But to +think that I should throw over my poor darling because he will come home +without a penny, and perhaps tattoed, but at any rate turned black, for +the sake of a coronet, and a heap of gold--oh, father, I shall break +down, if you go on so!" + +"My dear girl, I will not say a word to vex you. But you are famous for +common-sense, as well as every other good quality, and I would ask you +to employ just a little of it. Can you bear me to speak of your trouble, +darling?" + +"Oh yes, I am so well accustomed to it now; and I know that it is +nothing compared to what thousands of people have to bear. Sometimes I +am quite ashamed of giving way to it." + +"You do not give way to it, Faith. No person can possibly say that of +you. You are my brave, unselfish, cheerful, sweet-natured, upright, and +loving child. Nobody knows, but you and I--and perhaps I know it even +more than you do--the greatness of the self-command you use, to be +pleasant and gay and agreeable, simply for the sake of those around +you." + +"Then, father," cried Faith, who was surprised at this, for the Admiral +had never said a word about such matters, "you think, after all, that I +am--that I am almost as good as Dolly!" + +"You jealous little vixen, I shall recall every word I have said in your +favour! My child, and my pride, you are not only as good as Dolly, but +my best hope is that when Dolly grows older she may be like you. Don't +cry, darling; I can't stand crying, when it comes from eyes that so +seldom do it. And now that you know what I think of you, allow me to +think a little for you. I have some right to interfere in your life; you +will allow that--won't you?" + +"Father, you have all right, and a thousand times as much, because you +are so gentle about using it." + +"I calls that bad English, as Zeb Tugwell says when he doesn't want to +understand a thing. But, my pretty dear, you must remember that you +will not have a father always. Who will look after you, when I am gone, +except the Almighty?--and He does not do it, except for the few who +look after themselves. It is my duty to consider these points, and they +override sentimentality. To me it is nothing that Dashville will be +an Earl, and a man of great influence, if he keeps up his present high +character; but it is something to me that I find him modest, +truthful, not led away by phantoms, a gentleman--which is more than a +nobleman--and with his whole heart given to my dear child Faith." + +Faith sighed heavily, partly for herself, but mainly, perhaps, for the +sake of a fine heart sadly thrown away on her. "I believe he is all +that," she said. + +"In that case, what more can you have?" pursued the triumphant Admiral. +"It is one of the clearest things I ever knew, and one of the most +consistent"--consistent was a great word in those days--"as well as in +every way desirable. Consider, not yourself--which you never do--but +the state of the Country, and of Dolly. They have made me a baronet, +for being away from home nearly every night of my life; and if I had +Dashville to see to things here, I might stay away long enough to be a +lord myself, like my late middy the present Duke of Bronte." + +Faith laughed heartily. "You call me jealous! My dear father, I know +that you could have done a great deal more than Lord Nelson has, because +he learned all that he knows from you. And now who is it that really +defends the whole south coast of England against the French? Is it Lord +Nelson? He has as much as he can do to look after their fleet in the +Mediterranean. Admiral Cornwallis and Sir Charles Darling are the real +defenders of England." + +"No, my dear, you must never say that, except of course in private. +There may be some truth in it, but it would be laughed at in the present +condition of the public mind. History may do me justice; but after all +it is immaterial. A man who does his duty should be indifferent to the +opinion of the public, which begins more and more to be formed less +by fact than by the newspapers of the day. But let us return to more +important matters. You are now in a very sensible frame of mind. You see +what my wishes are about you, and how reasonable they are. I should be +so happy, my darling child, if you would consider them sensibly, and +yield some little of your romantic views. I would not ask you unless +I were sure that this man loves you as you deserve, and in his own +character deserves your love." + +"Then, father, will this content you, dear? Unless I hear something of +Erle Twemlow, to show that he is living, and still holds to me, in the +course of another twelvemonth, Lord Dashville, or anybody else, may +try--may try to take his place with me. Only I must not be worried--I +mean, I must not hear another word about it, until the time has quite +expired." + +"It is a very poor concession, Faith. Surely you might say half a year. +Consider, it is nearly three years now--" + +"No, papa, I should despise myself if I were so unjust to one so +unlucky. And I only go so much from my own wishes because you are such a +dear and good father. Not a bit of it for Lord Dashville's sake." + +"Well, my poor darling," the Admiral replied, for he saw that she was +upon the brink of tears, and might hate Lord Dashville if further urged, +"half a loaf is better than no bread. If Dashville is worthy of your +constant heart, he will stand this long trial of his constancy. This is +the tenth day of August, 1804. I hope that the Lord may be pleased to +spare me till the 10th of August, 1805. High time for them to come and +lay the cloth. I am as hungry as a hunter." + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +CATAMARANS + + +Napoleon had shown no proper dread of the valiant British volunteers, +but kept his festival in August, and carried on his sea-side plans, as +if there were no such fellows. Not content with that, he even flouted +our blockading fleet by coming out to look at them. And if one of our +frigates had shot straight, she might have saved millions of lives and +billions of money, at the cost of one greatly bad life. But the poor +ship knew not her opportunity, or she would rather have gone to the +bottom than waste it. + +Now the French made much of this affair, according to their nature; and +histories of it, full of life and growth, ran swiftly along the +shallow shore, and even to Paris, the navel of the earth. Frenchmen of +letters--or rather of papers--declared that all England was smitten with +dismay; and so she might have been, if she had heard of it. But as our +neighbours went home again, as soon as the water was six fathoms +deep, few Englishmen knew that they had tried to smell a little of the +sea-breeze, outside the smell of their inshore powder. They were pleased +to get ashore again, and talk it over, with vivid description of the +things that did not happen. + +"Such scenes as these tended much to agitate England," writes a great +French historian. "The British Press, arrogant and calumnious, as the +Press always is in a free country, railed much at Napoleon and his +preparations; but railed as one who trembles at that which he would fain +exhibit as the object of his laughter." It may have been so, but it is +not to be seen in any serious journal of that time. He seems to have +confounded coarse caricaturists with refined and thoughtful journalists, +even as, in the account of that inshore skirmish, he turns a gun-brig +into a British frigate. However, such matters are too large for us. + +It was resolved at any rate to try some sort of a hit at all these +very gallant Frenchmen, moored under their own batteries, and making +horse-marines of themselves, whenever Neptune, the father of the horse, +permitted. The jolly English tars, riding well upon the waves, sent many +a broad grin through a spy-glass at Muncher Crappo tugging hard to get +his nag into his gun-boat and then to get him out again, because his +present set of shoes would not be worn out in England. Every sailor +loves a horse, regarding him as a boat on legs, and therefore knowing +more about him than any landlubber may feign to know. + +But although they would have been loth to train a gun on the noble +animal, who was duly kept beyond their range, all the British sailors +longed to have a bout with the double tier of hostile craft moored +off the shore within shelter of French batteries. Every day they could +reckon at least two hundred sail of every kind of rig invented since +the time of Noah, but all prepared to destroy instead of succouring the +godly. It was truly grievous to see them there and not be able to get at +them, for no ship of the line or even frigate could get near enough to +tackle them. Then the British Admiral, Lord Keith, resolved after much +consultation to try what could be done with fire-ships. + +Blyth Scudamore, now in command of the Blonde, had done much excellent +service, in cutting off stragglers from the French flotilla, and driving +ashore near Vimereux some prames and luggers coming from Ostend. He +began to know the French coast and the run of the shoals like a native +pilot; for the post of the Blonde, and some other light ships, was +between the blockading fleet and the blockaded, where perpetual +vigilance was needed. This sharp service was the very thing required to +improve his character, to stamp it with decision and self-reliance, and +to burnish his quiet, contemplative vein with the very frequent friction +of the tricks of mankind. These he now was strictly bound not to study, +but anticipate, taking it as first postulate that every one would +cheat him, if permitted. To a scrimpy and screwy man, of the type most +abundant, such a position would have done a deal of harm, shutting him +up into his own shell harder, and flinting its muricated horns against +the world. But with the gentle Scuddy, as the boys at school had called +him, the process of hardening was beneficial, as it is with pure gold, +which cannot stand the wear and tear of the human race until it has been +reduced by them at least to the mark of their twenty carats. + +And now it was a fine thing for Scudamore--even as a man too +philanthropic was strengthened in his moral tone (as his wife found out) +by being compelled to discharge the least pleasant of the duties of a +county sheriff--or if not a fine thing, at least it was a wholesome and +durable corrective to all excess of lenience, that duty to his country +and mankind compelled the gentle Scuddy to conduct the western division +of this night-attack. + +At this time there was in the public mind, which is quite of full +feminine agility, a strong prejudice against the use of fire-ships. +Red-hot cannon-balls, and shrapnel, langrage, chain-shot, and +Greek-fire--these and the like were all fair warfare, and France might +use them freely. But England (which never is allowed to do, without +hooting and execration, what every other country does with loud +applause)--England must rather burn off her right hand than send a +fire-ship against the ships full of fire for her houses, her cottages, +and churches. Lord Keith had the sense to laugh at all that stuff, but +he had not the grand mechanical powers which have now enabled the human +race, not to go, but to send one another to the stars. A clumsy affair +called a catamaran, the acephalous ancestor of the torpedo, was expected +to relieve the sea of some thousands of people who had no business +there. This catamaran was a water-proof box about twenty feet long, and +four feet wide, narrowed at the ends, like a coffin for a giant. It +was filled with gunpowder, and ballasted so that its lid, or deck, was +almost awash; and near its stern was a box containing clock movements +that would go for about ten minutes, upon the withdrawal of a peg +outside, and then would draw a trigger and explode the charge. This +wondrous creature had neither oar nor sail, but demanded to be towed to +the tideward of the enemy, then have the death-watch set going, and be +cast adrift within hail of the enemy's line. Then as soon as it came +across their mooring cables, its duty was to slide for a little way +along them in a friendly manner, lay hold of them kindly with its long +tail, which consisted of a series of grappling-hooks buoyed with cork, +and then bringing up smartly alongside of the gun-boats, blow itself up, +and carry them up with it. How many there were of these catamarans is +not quite certain, but perhaps about a score, the intention being to +have ten times as many, on the next occasion, if these did well. And no +doubt they would have done well, if permitted; but they failed of their +purpose, like the great Guy Fawkes, because they were prevented. + +For the French, by means of treacherous agents--of whom perhaps Caryl +Carne was one, though his name does not appear in the despatches--knew +all about this neat little scheme beforehand, and set their wits at work +to defeat it. Moreover, they knew that there were four fire-ships, +one of which was the Peggy of Springhaven, intended to add to the +consternation and destruction wrought by the catamarans. But they did +not know that, by some irony of fate, the least destructive and most +gentle of mankind was ordered to take a leading part in shattering man, +and horse, and even good dogs, into vapours. + +Many quiet horses, and sweet-natured dogs, whose want of breeding had +improved their manners, lived in this part of the great flotilla, and +were satisfied to have their home where it pleased the Lord to feed +them. The horses were led to feed out of the guns, that they might not +be afraid of them; and they struggled against early prejudice, to like +wood as well as grass, and to get sea-legs. Man put them here to suit +his own ideas; of that they were quite aware, and took it kindly, +accepting superior powers, and inferior use of them, without a shade +of question in their eyes. To their innocent minds it was never brought +home that they were tethered here, and cropping clots instead of +clover, for the purpose of inspiring in their timid friends ashore the +confidence a horse reposes in a brother horse, but very wisely doubts +about investing in mankind. For instance, whenever a wild young animal, +a new recruit for the cavalry, was haled against his judgment by a man +on either side to the hollow-sounding gangway over dancing depth of +peril, these veteran salts of horses would assure him, with a neigh from +the billowy distance, that they were not drowned yet, but were walking +on a sort of gate, and got their victuals regular. On the other hand, +as to the presence of the dogs, that requires no explanation. Was +there ever a time or place in which a dog grudged his sprightly and +disinterested service, or failed to do his best when called upon? These +French dogs, whom the mildest English mastiff would have looked upon, +or rather would have shut his eyes at, as a lot of curs below contempt, +were as full of fine ardour for their cause and country as any noble +hound that ever sate like a statue on a marble terrace. + +On the first of October all was ready for this audacious squibbing of +the hornet's nest, and the fleet of investment (which kept its distance +according to the weather and the tides) stood in, not bodily so as to +arouse excitement, but a ship at a time sidling in towards the coast, +and traversing one another's track, as if they were simply exchanging +stations. The French pretended to take no heed, and did not call in a +single scouting craft, but showed every sign of having all eyes shut. +Nothing, however, was done that night, by reason perhaps of the weather; +but the following night being favourable, and the British fleet brought +as nigh as it durst come, the four fire-ships were despatched after +dark, when the enemy was likely to be engaged with supper. The sky was +conveniently overcast, with a faint light wandering here and there, from +the lift of the horizon, just enough to show the rig of a vessel and +her length, at a distance of about a hundred yards. Nothing could be +better--thought the Englishmen; and the French were of that opinion too, +especially as Nelson was not there. + +Scudamore had nothing to do with the loose adventure of the fire-ships, +the object of which was to huddle together this advanced part of the +flotilla, so that the catamarans might sweep unseen into a goodly +thicket of vessels, and shatter at least half a dozen at once. + +But somehow the scheme was not well carried out, though it looked very +nice upon paper. One very great drawback, to begin with, was that the +enemy were quite aware of all our kind intentions; and another scarcely +less fatal was the want of punctuality on our part. All the floating +coffins should have come together, like a funeral of fifty from a +colliery; but instead of that they dribbled in one by one, and were +cast off by their tow-boats promiscuously. Scudamore did his part well +enough, though the whole thing went against his grain, and the four +catamarans under his direction were the only ones that did their duty. +The boats of the Blonde had these in tow, and cast them off handsomely +at the proper distance, and drew the plugs which set their clock-springs +going. But even of these four only two exploded, although the clocks +were not American, and those two made a tremendous noise, but only +singed a few French beards off. Except, indeed, that a fine old horse, +with a white Roman nose and a bright chestnut mane, who was living in +a flat-bottomed boat, broke his halter, and rushed up to the bows, and +gave vent to his amazement, as if he had been gifted with a trumpet. + +Hereupon a dog, loth to be behind the times, scampered up to his side, +and with his forefeet on the gunwale, contributed a howl of incalculable +length and unfathomable sadness. + +In the hurly of the combat and confusion of the night, with the dimness +streaked with tumult, and the water gashed with fire, that horse and +this dog might have gone on for ever, bewailing the nature of the sons +of men, unless a special fortune had put power into their mouths. One +of the fire-ships, as scandal did declare, was that very ancient tub +indeed--that could not float on its bottom--the Peggy of Springhaven, +bought at thrice her value, through the influence of Admiral Darling. If +one has to meet every calumny that arises, and deal with it before going +further, the battle that lasted for a fortnight and then turned into +an earthquake would be a quick affair compared with the one now in +progress. Enough that the Peggy proved by the light she gave, and her +grand style of burning to the water's edge before she blew up, that she +was worth at least the hundred pounds Widow Shanks received for her. She +startled the French more than any of the others, and the strong light +she afforded in her last moments shone redly on the anguish of that poor +horse and dog. There was no sign of any one to help them, and the flames +in the background redoubled their woe. + +Now this apparently deserted prame, near the centre of the line, was +the Ville de Mayence; and the flag of Rear-Admiral Lacrosse was even now +flying at her peak. "We must have her, my lads," cried Scudamore, who +was wondering what to do next, until he descried the horse and dog and +that fine flag; "let us board her, and make off with all of them." + +The crew of his launch were delighted with that. To destroy is very +good; but to capture is still better; and a dash into the midst of the +enemy was the very thing they longed for. "Ay, ay, sir," they cried, set +their backs to their oars, and through the broad light that still shone +upon the waves, and among the thick crowd of weltering shadows, the +launch shot like a dart to the side of the foe. + +"Easy all! Throw a grapple on board," cried the young commander; and as +the stern swung round he leaped from it, and over the shallow bulwarks, +and stood all alone on the enemy's fore-deck. And alone he remained, for +at that moment a loud crash was heard, and the launch filled and sank, +with her crew of sixteen plunging wildly in the waves. + +This came to pass through no fault of their own, but a clever device +of the enemy. Admiral Lacrosse, being called away, had left his +first officer to see to the safety of the flag-ship and her immediate +neighbours, and this brave man had obtained permission to try a little +plan of his own, if assailed by any adventurous British boats in charge +of the vessels explosive. In the bows of some stout but handy boats he +had rigged up a mast with a long spar attached, and by means of a guy at +the end of that spar, a brace of heavy chain-shot could be swung up and +pitched headlong into any boat alongside. While the crew of Scudamore's +launch were intent upon boarding the prame, one of these boats came +swiftly from under her stern, and with one fling swamped the enemy. Then +the Frenchmen laughed heartily, and offered oars and buoys for the poor +British seamen to come up as prisoners. + +Scudamore saw that he was trapped beyond escape, for no other British +boat was anywhere in hail. His first impulse was to jump overboard and +help his own drowning men, but before he could do so an officer stood +before him, and said, "Monsieur is my prisoner. His men will be safe, +and I cannot permit him to risk his own life. Mon Dieu, it is my dear +friend Captain Scudamore!" + +"And you, my old friend, Captain Desportes! I see it is hopeless to +resist"--for by this time a score of Frenchmen were round him--"I can +only congratulate myself that if I must fall, it is into such good +hands." + +"My dear friend, how glad I am to see you!" replied the French captain, +embracing him warmly; "to you I owe more than to any man of your nation. +I will not take your sword. No, no, my friend. You shall not be +a prisoner, except in word. And how much you have advanced in the +knowledge of our language, chiefly, I fear, at the expense of France. +And now you will grow perfect, at the expense of England." + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +ENTER AND EXIT + + +The summer having been fine upon the whole, and a very fair quantity +of fish brought in, Miss Twemlow had picked up a sweetheart, as the +unromantic mothers of the place expressed it. And the circumstances were +of such a nature that very large interest was aroused at once, and not +only so, but was fed well and grew fast. + +The most complete of chronicles is no better than a sponge of inferior +texture and with many mouths shut. Parts that are full of suctive power +get no chance of sucking; other parts have a flood of juice bubbling at +them, but are waterproof. This is the only excuse--except one--for +the shameful neglect of the family of Blocks, in any little treatise +pretending to give the dullest of glimpses at Springhaven. + +The other excuse--if self-accusation does not poke a finger through +it--is that the Blockses were mainly of the dry land, and never went to +sea when they could help it. If they had lived beyond the two trees and +the stile that marked the parish boundary upon the hill towards London, +they might have been spotless, and grand, and even honest, yet must +have been the depth of the hills below contempt. But they dwelt in the +village for more generations than would go upon any woman's fingers, +and they did a little business with the fish caught by the others, which +enabled it to look after three days' journey as if it swam into town +upon its own fins. The inventions for wronging mankind pay a great deal +better than those for righting them. + +Now the news came from John Prater's first, that a gentleman of great +renown was coming down from London city to live on fish fresh out of +the sea. His doctors had ordered him to leave off butcher's meat, and +baker's bread, and tea-grocer's tea, and almost every kind of inland +victuals, because of the state of his--something big, which even +Springhaven could not pronounce. He must keep himself up, for at least +three months, upon nothing but breezes of the sea, and malt-liquor, and +farm-house bread and milk and new-laid eggs, and anything he fancied +that came out of the sea, shelly, or scaly, or jellified, or weedy. +News from a public-house grows fast--as seeds come up quicker for +soaking--and a strong competition for this gentleman arose; but he +knew what he was doing, and brought down his cook and house-maid, and +disliking the noise at the Darling Arms, took no less than five rooms at +the house of Matthew Blocks, on the rise of the hill, where he could see +the fish come in. + +He was called at once Sir Parsley Sugarloaf, for his name was Percival +Shargeloes; and his cook rebuked his housemaid sternly, for meddling +with matters beyond her sphere, when she told Mrs. Blocks that he was +not Sir Percival, but only Percival Shargeloes, Esquire, very high up +in the Corporation, but too young to be Lord Mayor of London for some +years. He appeared to be well on the right side of forty; and every +young lady on the wrong side of thirty possessing a pony, or even a +donkey, with legs enough to come down the hill, immediately began to +take a rose-coloured view of the many beauties of Springhaven. + +If Mr. Shargeloes had any ambition for title, it lay rather in a +military direction. He had joined a regiment of City Volunteers, and +must have been a Captain, if he could have stood the drill. But this, +though not arduous, had outgone his ambition, nature having gifted him +with a remarkable power of extracting nourishment from food, which is +now called assimilation. He was not a great feeder--people so blessed +seldom are--but nothing short of painful starvation would keep him lean. +He had consulted all the foremost physicians about this, and one said, +"take acids," another said, "walk twenty miles every day with two Witney +blankets on," a third said, "thank God for it, and drink before you +eat," and a fourth (a man of wide experience) bade him marry the +worst-tempered woman he knew. Then they all gave him pills to upset his +stomach; but such was its power that it assimilated them. Despairing of +these, he consulted a Quack, and received the directions which brought +him to Springhaven. And a lucky day for him it was, as he confessed for +the rest of his life, whenever any ladies asked him. + +Because Miss Twemlow was intended for him by the nicest adjustment of +nature. How can two round things fit together, except superficially? +And in that case one must be upper and the other under; which is not the +proper thing in matrimony, though generally the prevailing one. But take +a full-moon and a half-moon, or even a square and a tidy triangle--with +manners enough to have one right angle--and when you have put them into +one another's arms, there they stick, all the firmer for friction. Jack +Spratt and his wife are a case in point; and how much more pointed the +case becomes when the question is not about what is on the plate, but +the gentleman is in his own body fat, and the lady in her elegant person +lean! + +Mr. Sugarloaf--which he could not bear to be called--being an ardent +admirer of the Church, and aware that her ministers know what is good, +returned with great speed the Rector's call, having earnest hopes of +some heart-felt words upon the difference between a right and +left handed sole. One of these is ever so much better than the +other--according to our evolutionists, because when he was a cod, a few +milliards of years back, he chose the right side to begin lying down on, +that his descendants in the thirty-millionth generation might get flat. +His wife, from sheer perversity, lay down upon the other side, and this +explains how some of their descendants pulled their eyes through their +heads to one side, and some (though comparatively few) to the other. And +the worst of it is that the fittest for the frying-pan did not survive +this well-intended involution, except at a very long figure in the +market. + +As it fell out upon that day, Miss Twemlow was sitting in the +drawing-room alone, waiting till her mother's hair was quite done up, +her own abundant locks being not done up at all, for she had lately +taken to set her face against all foreign fashions. "I have not been +introduced to the King," she said, "nor even to the Queen, like those +forward Darlings, and I shall do my hair to please myself." When her +father objected, she quenched him with St. Paul; and even her mother, +though shocked, began to think that Eliza knew what she was about. The +release of her fine hair, which fell in natural waves about her stately +neck, made her look nearly ten years younger than she was, for by this +time she must have been eight-and-twenty. The ladies of the Carne race, +as their pictures showed (until they were sold to be the grandmothers +of dry-salters), had always been endowed with shapely necks, fit +columns for their small round heads. And this young lady's hair, with no +constraint but that of a narrow band across the forehead, clustered and +gleamed like a bower of acanthus round that Parian column. + +Mr. Shargeloes, having obeyed his orders always to dine early, was +thrilled with a vision of poetry and romance, as he crossed the first +square of the carpet. The lady sat just where the light fell best from a +filtered sunbeam to illumine her, without entering into the shady parts; +and the poetry of her attitude was inspired by some very fine poetry +upon her lap. "I don't care what the doctors say, I shall marry that +girl," said Mr. Shargeloes to himself. + +He was a man who knew his own mind, and a man with that gift makes +others know it. Miss Twemlow clenched in the coat upon his back the nail +she had driven through his heart, by calling him, at every other breath, +"Colonel Shargeloes." He said he was not that; but she felt that he was, +as indeed every patriotic man must be. Her contempt for every man +who forsook his country in this bitter, bitter strait was at once so +ruthless and so bewitching that he was quite surprised into confessing +that he had given 10,000 pounds, all in solid gold, for the comfort of +the Royal Volunteers, as soon as the autumnal damps came on. He could +not tell such an elegant creature that what he had paid for was flannel +drawers, though she had so much strength of mind that he was enabled to +tell her before very long. + +A great deal of nonsense is talked about ladies who are getting the +better of their first youth, as if they then hung themselves out as old +slates for any man to write his name on. The truth is that they have +better judgment then, less trouble in their hearts about a gentleman's +appearance, and more enquiry in their minds as to his temper, tastes, +and principles, not to mention his prospects of supporting them. And +even as concerns appearance, Mr. Shargeloes was very good. Nature had +given him a fine stout frame, and a very pleasant countenance; and +his life in the busy world had added that quickness of decision and +immediate sense of right which a clever woman knows to be the very +things she wants. Moreover, his dress, which goes a very long way into +the heart of a lady, was most correct and particular. For his coat was +of the latest Bond Street fashion, the "Jean de Brie," improved and +beautified by suggestions from the Prince of Wales himself. Bright +claret was the colour, and the buttons were of gold, bright enough to +show the road before him as he walked. The shoulders were padded, as if +a jam pot stood there, and the waist buttoned tight, too tight for any +happiness, to show the bright laticlave of brocaded waistcoat. Then +followed breeches of rich purple padusoy, having white satin bows at the +knee, among which the little silver bells of the Hessian boots jingled. + +Miss Twemlow was superior to all small feeling, but had great breadth of +sympathy with the sterling truth in fashion. The volume of love, like +a pattern-book, fell open, and this well-dressed gentleman was engraved +upon her heart. The most captious young chit, such as Dolly herself, +could scarcely have called him either corpulent or old. Every day he +could be seen to be growing younger, with the aid of fresh fish as a +totally novel ingredient in his system; his muscle increased with the +growth of brain-power, and the shoemaker was punching a fresh hole +in his belt, an inch further back, every week he stopped there. After +buckling up three holes, he proposed. Miss Twemlow referred him to her +dear papa; and the Rector took a week to enquire and meditate. "Take a +month, if you like," said Mr. Shargeloes. + +This reply increased the speed. Mr. Twemlow had the deepest respect for +the Corporation, and to live to be the father of a Lord Mayor of London +became a new ambition to lead on his waning years. "Come and dine with +us on Saturday, and we will tell you all about it," he said, with a +pleasant smile, and warm shake of the hand; and Shargeloes knew that the +neck and the curls would bend over the broad gold chain some day. + +How grievous it is to throw a big stone into a pool which has plenty of +depth and length and width for the rings to travel pleasantly, yet not +to make one ring, because of wind upon the water! In the days that were +not more than two years old, Springhaven could have taken all this news, +with a swiftly expanding and smoothly fluent circle, with a lift of +self-importance at the centre of the movement, and a heave of gentle +interest in the far reflective corners. Even now, with a tumult of +things to consider, and a tempest of judgment to do it in, people +contrived to be positive about a quantity of things still pending. Sir +Parsley Sugarloaf had bought Miss Twemlow for 50,000 pounds, they said, +and he made her let her curls down so outrageous, because she was to be +married at Guildhall, with a guinea at the end of every hair. Miss +Faith would be dirt-cheap at all that money; but as for Miss Eliza, they +wished him better knowledge, which was sure to come, when it was no good +to him. + +"What a corner of the world this is for gossip!" Mr. Shargeloes said, +pleasantly, to his Eliza, having heard from his cook, who desired no new +mistress, some few of the things said about him. "I am not such a fool +as to care what they say. But I am greatly surprised at one thing. +You know that I am a thorough Englishman; may I tell you what I think, +without offending you? It is a delicate matter, because it concerns a +relative of your own, my dear." + +"I know what you mean. You will not offend me. Percival, I know how +straightforward you are, and how keen of perception. I have expected +this." + +"And yet it seems presumptuous of me to say that you are all blind +here, from the highest to the lowest. Except indeed yourself, as I now +perceive. I will tell you my suspicions, or more than suspicions--my +firm belief--about your cousin, Mr. Carne. I can trust you to keep this +even from your father. Caryl Carne is a spy, in the pay of the French." + +"I have long thought something, though not quite so bad as that," +Miss Twemlow answered, calmly; "because he has behaved to us so very +strangely. My mother is his own father's sister, as you know, and yet he +has never dined with us more than once, and then he scarcely said a word +to any one. And he never yet has asked us to visit him at the castle; +though for that we can make all allowance, of course, because of its sad +condition. Then everybody thought he had taken to smuggling, and after +all his losses, no one blamed him, especially as all the Carnes had done +it, even when they were the owners of the land. But ever since poor +Mr. Cheeseman, our church-warden, tried to destroy himself with his own +rope, all the parish began to doubt about the smuggling, because it pays +so well and makes the people very cheerful. But from something he +had seen, my father felt quite certain that the true explanation was +smuggling." + +"Indeed! Do you know at all what it was he saw, and when, and under what +circumstances?" Mr. Shargeloes put these questions with more urgency +than Miss Twemlow liked. + +"Really I cannot tell you all those things; they are scarcely of general +interest. My dear father said little about it: all knowledge is denied +in this good world to women. But no doubt he would tell you, if you +asked him, when there were no ladies present." + +"I will," said Mr. Shargeloes. "He is most judicious; he knows when to +speak, and when to hold his tongue. And I think that you combine with +beauty one of those two gifts--which is the utmost to be expected." + +"Percival, you put things very nicely, which is all that could be +expected of a man. But do take my advice in this matter, and say no more +about it." + +Mr. Shargeloes feigned to comply, and perhaps at the moment meant to do +so. But unluckily he was in an enterprising temper, proud of recovered +activity, and determined to act up to the phosphate supplied by fish +diet. Therefore when the Rector, rejoicing in an outlet for his long +pent-up discoveries, and regarding this sage man as one of his family, +repeated the whole of his adventure at Carne Castle, Mr. Shargeloes +said, briefly, "It must be seen to." + +"Stubbard has been there," replied Mr. Twemlow, repenting perhaps of his +confidence; "Stubbard has made an official inspection, which relieves us +of all concern with it." + +"Captain Stubbard is an ass. It is a burning shame that important +affairs should be entrusted to such fellows. The country is in peril, +deadly peril; and every Englishman is bound to act as if he were an +officer." + +That very same evening Carne rode back to his ruins in a very grim state +of mind. He had received from the Emperor a curt and haughty answer to +his last appeal for immediate action, and the prospect of another gloomy +winter here, with dangers thickening round him, and no motion to enliven +them, was almost more than he could endure. The nights were drawing in, +and a damp fog from the sea had drizzled the trees, and the ivy, and +even his own moustache with cold misery. + +"Bring me a lantern," he said to old Jerry, as he swung his stiff legs +from the back of the jaded horse, "and the little flask of oil with the +feather in it. It is high time to put the Inspector's step in order." + +Jerry Bowles, whose back and knees were bent with rheumatism and dull +service, trotted (like a horse who has become too stiff to walk) for the +things commanded, and came back with them. Then his master, without +a word, strode towards the passage giving entry to the vaults which +Stubbard had not seen--the vaults containing all the powder, and the +weapons for arming the peasantry of England, whom Napoleon fondly +expected to rise in his favour at the sight of his eagles. + +"How does it work? Quite stiff with rust. I thought so. Nothing is ever +in order, unless I see to it myself. Give me the lantern. Now oil the +bearings thoroughly. Put the feather into the socket, and work the pin +in and out, that the oil may go all round. Now pour in some oil from the +lip of the flask; but not upon the treadle, you old blockhead. Now do +the other end the same. Ah, now it would go with the weight of a mouse! +I have a great mind to make you try it." + +"What would you do, sir, if my neck was broken? Who would do your work, +as I do?" + +They were under an arch of mouldy stone, opening into the deep dark +vaults, where the faint light of the lantern glanced on burnished +leather, brass, and steel, or fell without flash upon dull round bulk. +The old man, kneeling on the round chalk-flints set in lime for +the flooring of the passage, was handling the first step of narrow +step-ladder leading to the cellar-depth. This top step had been taken +out of the old oak mortice, and cut shorter, and then replaced in the +frame, with an iron pin working in an iron collar, just as the gudgeon +of a wheelbarrow revolves. Any one stepping upon it unawares would go +down without the aid of any other step. + +"Goes like spittle now, sir," said old Jerry; "but I don't want no +more harm in this crick of life. The Lord be pleased to keep all them +Examiners at home. Might have none to find their corpusses until next +leap-year. I hope with all my heart they won't come poking their long +noses here." + +"Well, I rather hope they will. They want a lesson in this +neighbourhood," muttered Carne, who was shivering, and hungry, and +unsweetened. + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +MOTHER SCUDAMORE + + +If we want to know how a tree or flower has borne the gale that flogged +last night, or the frost that stung the morning, the only sure plan is +to go and see. And the only way to understand how a friend has taken +affliction is to go--if it may be done without intrusion--and let him +tell you, if he likes. + +Admiral Darling was so much vexed when he heard of Blyth Scudamore's +capture by the French, and duty compelled him to inform the mother, that +he would rather have ridden a thousand miles upon barley-bread than +face her. He knew how the whole of her life was now bound up with the +fortunes of her son, and he longed to send Faith with the bad news, as +he had sent her with the good before; but he feared that it might seem +unkind. So he went himself, with the hope of putting the best complexion +upon it, yet fully expecting sad distress, and perhaps a burst of +weeping. But the lady received his tidings in a manner that surprised +him. At first she indulged in a tear or two, but they only introduced a +smile. + +"In some ways it is a sad thing," she said, "and will be a terrible blow +to him, just when he was rising so fast in the service. But we must not +rebel more than we can help, against the will of the Lord, Sir Charles." + +"How philosophical, and how commonplace!" thought the Admiral; but he +only bowed, and paid her some compliment upon her common-sense. + +"Perhaps you scarcely understand my views, and perhaps I am wrong in +having them," Lady Scudamore continued, quietly. "My son's advancement +is very dear to me, and this will of course retard it. But I care most +of all for his life, and now that will be safe for a long while. They +never kill their prisoners, do they?" + +"No, ma'am, no. They behave very well to them; better, I'm afraid, than +we do to ours. They treat them quite as guests, when they fall into good +hands. Though Napoleon himself is not too mild in that way." + +"My son has fallen into very good hands, as you yourself assure me--that +Captain Desportes, a gallant officer and kind gentleman, as I know from +your daughter's description. Blyth is quite equal to Lord Nelson in +personal daring, and possibly not behind him in abilities. Consider how +shockingly poor Nelson has been injured, and he feels convinced himself +that they will have his life at last. No officer can be a hero without +getting very sad wounds, and perhaps losing his life. Every one who does +his duty must at least be wounded." + +The Admiral, who had never received a scratch, was not at all charmed +with this view of naval duty; but he was too polite to enter protest, +and only made one of his old-fashioned scrapes. + +"I am sure every time I have heard a gun coming from the sea, and +especially after dark," the lady resumed, without thinking of him, "it +has made me miserable to know that probably Blyth was rushing into some +deadly conflict. But now I shall feel that he cannot do that; and I hope +they will keep him until the fighting grows milder. He used to send me +all his money, poor dear boy! And now I shall try to send him some of +mine, if it can be arranged about bank-notes. And now I can do it very +easily, thanks to your kindness, Sir Charles, his father's best friend, +and his own, and mine." + +Lady Scudamore shed another tear or two, not of sorrow, but of pride, +while she put her hand into her pocket, as if to begin the remittance at +once. "You owe me no thanks, ma'am," said the Admiral, smiling; "if any +thanks are due, they are due to the King, for remembering at last what +he should have done before." + +"Would he ever have thought of me, but for you? It is useless to talk +in that way, Sir Charles; it only increases the obligation, which I must +entreat you not to do. How I wish I could help you in anything!" + +"Every day you are helping me," he replied, with truth; "although I am +away too often to know all about it, or even to thank you. I hope my +dear Faith has persuaded you not to leave us for the winter, as you +threatened." + +"Faith can persuade me to anything she pleases. She possesses the power +of her name," replied the lady; "but the power is not called for, when +the persuasion is so pleasant. For a month, I must be away to visit my +dear mother, as I always have done at this time of year; and then, but +for one thing, I would return most gladly. For I am very selfish, you +must know, Sir Charles--I have a better chance of hearing of my dear +son at these head-quarters of the defence of England, than I should have +even in London." + +"Certainly," cried the Admiral, who magnified his office; "such a number +of despatches pass through my hands; and if I can't make them out, why, +my daughter Dolly can. I don't suppose, Lady Scudamore, that even when +you lived in the midst of the world you ever saw any girl half so +clever as my Dolly. I don't let her know it--that would never do, of +course--but she always gets the best of me, upon almost any question." + +Sir Charles, for the moment, forgot his best manners, and spread his +coat so that one might see between his legs. "I stand like this," he +said, "and she stands there; and I take her to task for not paying her +bills--for some of those fellows have had to come to me, which is not +as it should be in a country place, where people don't understand the +fashionable system. She stands there, ma'am, and I feel as sure as if I +were an English twenty-four bearing down upon a Frenchman of fifty +guns, that she can only haul her colours down and rig out gangway +ladders--when, bless me and keep me! I am carried by surprise, and +driven under hatchways, and if there is a guinea in my hold, it flies +into the enemy's locker! If it happened only once, I should think +nothing of it. But when I know exactly what is coming, and have +double-shotted every gun, and set up hammock-nettings, and taken +uncommon care to have the weather-gage, 'tis the Devil, Lady +Scudamore--excuse me, madam--'tis the Devil to a ditty-bag that I have +her at my mercy. And yet it always comes to money out of pocket, madam!" + +"She certainly has a great power over gentlemen"--Blyth's mother smiled +demurely, as if she were sorry to confess it; "but she is exceedingly +young, Sir Charles, and every allowance must be made for her." + +"And by the Lord Harry, she gets it, madam. She takes uncommonly good +care of that. But what is the one thing you mentioned that would prevent +you from coming back to us with pleasure?" + +"I scarcely like to speak of it. But it is about that self-same Dolly. +She is not fond of advice, and she knows how quick she is, and that +makes her resent a word from slower people. She has taken it into her +head, I fear, that I am here as a restraint upon her; a sort of lady +spy, a duenna, a dictatress, all combined in one, and all unpleasant. +This often makes me fancy that I have no right to be here. And then your +sweet Faith comes, and all is smooth again." + +"Dolly has the least little possible touch of the vixen about her. I +have found it out lately," said the Admiral, as if he were half doubtful +still; "Nelson told me so, and I was angry with him. But I believe he +was right, as he generally is. His one eye sees more than a score of +mine would. But, my dear madam, if that is your only objection to coming +back to us, or rather to my daughters, I beg you not to let it weigh a +feather's weight with you. Or, at any rate, enhance the obligation to +us, by putting it entirely on one side. Dolly has the very finest heart +in all the world; not so steady perhaps as Faith's, nor quite so fair to +other people, but wonderfully warm, ma'am, and as sound as--as a roach." + +Lady Scudamore could not help laughing a little, and she hoped for her +son's sake that this account was true. Her gratitude and good-will to +the Admiral, as well as her duty to her son, made her give the promise +sought for; and she began to prepare for her journey at once, that she +might be back in good time for the winter. But she felt very doubtful, +at leaving the Hall, whether she had done quite right in keeping her +suspicions of Dolly from Dolly's father. For with eyes which were +sharpened by jealousy for the interests, or at least the affections, +of her son, she had long perceived that his lady-love was playing a +dangerous game with Caryl Carne. Sometimes she believed that she ought +to speak of this, for the good of the family; because she felt the +deepest mistrust and dislike of Carne, who strictly avoided her whenever +he could; but on the other hand she found the subject most delicate and +difficult to handle. For she had taken good care at the outset not to be +here upon any false pretences. At the very first interview with her host +she had spoken of Blyth's attachment to his younger daughter, of which +the Admiral had heard already from that youthful sailor. And the Admiral +had simply said, as in Captain Twemlow's case: "Let us leave them to +themselves. I admire the young man. If she likes him, I shall make no +objection, when they are old enough, and things are favourable." And now +if she told him of the other love-affair, it would look like jealousy +of a rival. Perhaps a hundred times a day, as her love for gentle Faith +grew faster than her liking for the sprightly Dolly, she would sigh +that her son did not see things like herself; but bitter affliction had +taught her that the course of this life follows our own wishes about +as much as another man's dog heeds our whistle. But, for all that, this +good lady hoped some day to see things come round as she would like to +bring them. + +"No wonder that we like her son so much," said Faith when they had done +waving handkerchiefs at the great yellow coach going slowly up the hill, +with its vast wicker basket behind, and the guard perched over it with +his blunderbus; "he takes after his mother in so many ways. They are +both so simple and unsuspicious, and they make the best of every one." + +"Including themselves, I suppose," answered Dolly. "Well I like people +who have something on their minds, and make the worst of everybody. They +have so much more to talk about." + +"You should never try to be sarcastic, dear. And you know that you don't +mean it. I am sure you don't like to have the worst made of yourself." + +"Oh, I have long been used to that. And I never care about it, when I +know it is not true. I am sure that Mother Scudamore runs me down, when +I am out of hearing. I never did like those perfect people." + +"Mother Scudamore, indeed! You are getting into a low way of talking, +which is not at all pretty in a girl. And I never heard her say an +unkind word about you. Though she may not have found you quite so +perfect as she hoped." + +"I tell you, Miss Darling," cried Dolly, with her bright colour +deepened, and her grey eyes flashing, "that I don't care a--something +that papa often says--what she thinks about me, or you either. I know +that she has come here to spy out all my ways." + +"You should not have any to be spied out, Dolly," Faith answered, with +some sternness, and a keen look at her sister, whose eyes fell beneath +her gaze. "You will be sorry, when you think of what you said to me, who +have done nothing whatever to offend you. But that is a trifle compared +with acting unfairly to our father. Father is the kindest man that ever +lived; but he can be stern in great matters, I warn you. If he ever +believes that you have deceived him, you will never be again to him what +you have always been." + +They had sent the carriage home that they might walk across the fields, +and this little scene between the sisters took place upon a foot-path +which led back to their grounds. Dolly knew that she was in the wrong, +and that increased her anger. + +"So you are another spy upon me, I suppose. 'Tis a pretty thing to have +one's sister for an old duenna. Pray who gave you authority to lord it +over me?" + +"You know as well as I do"--Faith spoke with a smile of superior +calmness, as Dolly tossed her head--"that I am about the last person in +the world to be a spy. Neither do I ever lord it over you. If anything, +that matter is very much the other way. But being so much older, and +your principal companion, it would be very odd of me, and as I think +most unkind, if I did not take an interest in all your goings on." + +"My goings on! What a lady-like expression! Who has got into a low way +of talking now? Well, if you please, madam, what have you found out?" + +"I have found out nothing, and made no attempt to do so. But I see that +you are altered very much from what you used to be; and I am sure that +there is something on your mind. Why not tell me all about it? I would +promise to let it go no further, and I would not pretend to advise, +unless you wished. I am your only sister, and we have always been +together. It would make you so much more comfortable, I am certain of +that, in your own mind, darling. And you know when we were little girls, +dear mother on her death-bed put her hands upon our heads and said, 'Be +loving sisters always, and never let anything come between you.' And +for father's sake, too, you should try to do it. Put aside all nonsense +about spies and domineering, and trust me as your sister, that's my own +darling Dolly." + +"How can I resist you? I will make a clean breast of it;" Dolly sighed +deeply, but a wicked smile lay ambushed in her bright eyes and upon her +rosy lips. "The sad truth is that my heart has been quite sore since I +heard the shocking tidings about poor old Daddy Stokes. He went to bed +the other night with his best hat on, both his arms in an old muff he +found in the ditch, and his leathern breeches turned inside out." + +"Then the poor old man had a cleaner breast than yours," cried Faith, +who had prepared her heart and eyes for tears of sympathy; "he goes upon +his knees every night, stiff as they are, and his granddaughter has +to help him up. But as for you, you are the most unfeeling, mocking, +godless, unnatural creature that ever never cared what became of +anybody. Here we are at the corner where the path divides. You go home +that way, and I'll go home by this." + +"Well, I'm so glad! I really did believe that it was quite impossible to +put you in a rage. Now don't be in a hurry, dear, to beg my pardon." + +"Of that you may be quite sure," cried Faith across the corner of the +meadow where the paths diverged; "I never was less in a passion in my +life; and it will be your place to apologise." + +Dolly sent a merry laugh across the widening interval; and Faith, who +was just beginning to fear that she had been in a passion, was +convinced by that laugh that she had not. But the weight lifted from her +conscience fell more heavily upon her heart. + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + +EVIL COMMUNICATIONS + + +Although she pretended to be so merry, and really was so self-confident +(whenever anybody wanted to help her), Miss Dolly Darling, when left to +herself, was not like herself, as it used to be. Her nature was lively, +and her spirit very high; every one had petted her, before she could +have earned it by aught except childish beauty; and no one had left off +doing it, when she was bound to show better claim to it. All this made +doubt, and darkness, and the sense of not being her own mistress, very +snappish things to her, and she gained relief--sweet-tempered as she was +when pleased--by a snap at others. For although she was not given, any +more than other young people are, to plaguesome self-inspection, she +could not help feeling that she was no longer the playful young Dolly +that she loved so well. A stronger, and clearer, yet more mysterious +will than her own had conquered hers; but she would not confess it, and +yield entire obedience; neither could she cast it off. Her pride still +existed, as strong as ever, whenever temper roused it; but there was too +much of vanity in its composition, and too little of firm self-respect. +Contempt from a woman she could not endure; neither from a man, if made +manifest; but Carne so calmly took the upper hand, without any show of +having it, that she fell more and more beneath his influence. + +He, knowing thoroughly what he was about, did nothing to arouse +resistance. So far as he was capable of loving any one, he was now in +love with Dolly. He admired her quickness, and pretty girlish ways, and +gaiety of nature (so unlike his own), and most of all her beauty. He +had made up his mind that she should be his wife when fitted for that +dignity; but he meant to make her useful first, and he saw his way to do +so. He knew that she acted more and more as her father's secretary, for +she wrote much faster than her sister Faith, and was quicker in catching +up a meaning. Only it was needful to sap her little prejudices--candour, +to wit, and the sense of trust, and above all, patriotic feeling. He +rejoiced when he heard that Lady Scudamore was gone, and the Rector had +taken his wife and daughter for change of air to Tunbridge Wells, +Miss Twemlow being seriously out of health through anxiety about Mr. +Shargeloes. For that gentleman had disappeared, without a line or +message, just when Mr. Furkettle, the chief lawyer in the neighbourhood, +was beginning to prepare the marriage-settlement; and although his cook +and house-maid were furious at the story, Mrs. Blocks had said, and all +the parish now believed, that Sir Parsley Sugarloaf had flown away +to Scotland rather than be brought to book--that fatal part of the +Prayer-book--by the Rector and three or four brother clergymen. + +This being so, and Frank Darling absorbed in London with the publication +of another batch of poems, dedicated to Napoleon, while Faith stood +aloof with her feelings hurt, and the Admiral stood off and on in the +wearisome cruise of duty, Carne had the coast unusually clear for the +entry and arrangement of his contraband ideas. He met the fair Dolly +almost every day, and their interviews did not grow shorter, although +the days were doing so. + +"You should have been born in France," he said, one bright November +morning, when they sat more comfortable than they had any right to be, +upon the very same seat where the honest but hapless Captain Scuddy +had tried to venture to lisp his love; "that is the land you belong to, +darling, by beauty and manners and mind and taste, and most of all by +your freedom from prejudice, and great liberality of sentiment." + +"But I thought we were quite as good-looking in England;" Dolly lifted +her long black lashes, with a flash which might challenge the brilliance +of any French eyes; "but of course you know best. I know nothing of +French ladies." + +"Don't be a fool, Dolly;" Carne spoke rudely, but made up for it in +another way. "There never was a French girl to equal you in loveliness; +but you must not suppose that you beat them all round. One point +particularly you are far behind in. A French woman leaves all political +questions, and national matters, and public affairs, entirely to her +husband, or her lover, as the case may be. Whatever he wishes is the law +for her. Thy gods shall be my gods." + +"But you said they had great liberality of sentiment, and now you say +they have no opinions of their own! How can the two things go together?" + +"Very easily," said Carne, who was accustomed to be baffled by such +little sallies; "they take their opinions from their husbands, who are +always liberal. This produces happiness on both sides--a state of things +unknown in England. Let me tell you of something important, mainly as +it concerns yourself, sweet Dolly. The French are certain to unite with +England, and then we shall be the grandest nation in the world. No power +in Europe can stand before us. All will be freedom, and civilization, +and great ideas, and fine taste in dress. I shall recover the large +estates, that would now be mine, but for usury and fraud. And you will +be one of the first ladies in the world, as nature has always intended +you to be." + +"That sounds very well; but how is it to be done? How can France unite +with England, when they are bitter enemies? Is France to conquer England +first? Or are we to conquer France, as we always used to do?" + +"That would be a hard job now, when France is the mistress of the +Continent. No, there need be no conquering, sweet Dolly, but only a +little removal. The true interest of this country is--as that mighty +party, the Whigs, perceive--to get rid of all the paltry forms and dry +bones of a dynasty which is no more English than Napoleon is, and to +join that great man in his warfare against all oppression. Your brother +Frank is a leading spirit; he has long cast off that wretched insular +prejudice which defeats all good. In the grand new scheme of universal +right, which must prevail very shortly, Frank Darling will obtain that +foremost place to which his noble views entitle him. You, as his sister, +and my wife, will be adored almost as much as you could wish." + +"It sounds very grand," answered Dolly, with a smile, though a little +alarmed at this turn of it; "but what is to become of the King, and +Queen, and all the royal family? And what is my father to do, and Faith? +Although she has not behaved well to me." + +"Those details will be arranged to everybody's satisfaction. Little +prejudices will subside, when it is seen that they are useless. Every +possible care will be taken not to injure any one." + +"But how is it all to be done?" asked Dolly, whose mind was practical, +though romantic. "Are the French to land, and overrun the country? I am +sure I never should agree to that. Are all our defenders to be thrown +into prison?" + +"Certainly not. There will be no prisons. The French might have to land, +as a matter of form; but not to overrun the country, only to secure +British liberties and justice. All sensible people would hasten to join +them, and any opposition would be quenched at once. Then such a glorious +condition of mankind would ensue as has never been known in this +world--peace, wealth, universal happiness, gaiety, dancing everywhere, +no more shabby clothes, no more dreary Sundays. How do you like the +thought of it?" + +"Well, some of it sounds very nice; but I don't see the use of universal +justice. Justice means having one's own rights; and it is impossible +for everybody to do that, because of other people. And as for the French +coming to put things right, they had better attend to their own affairs +first. And as if any Englishman would permit it! Why, even Frank would +mount his wig and gown (for he is a full-fledged barrister now, you +know), and come and help to push them back into the sea. And I hope that +you would do so too. I am not going to marry a Frenchman. You belong to +an old English family, and you were born in England, and your name is +English, and the property that ought to belong to you. I hope you don't +consider yourself a Frenchman because your mother is a great French +lady, after so many generations of Carnes, all English, every bit of +them. I am an English girl, and I care very little for things that I +don't see--such as justice, liberty, rights of people, and all that. But +I do care about my relations, and our friends, and the people that live +here, and the boats, and all the trees, and the land that belongs to +my father. Very likely you would want to take that away, and give it to +some miserable Frenchman." + +"Dolly, my dear, you must not be excited," Carne answered, in the manner +of a father; "powerful as your comprehension is, for the moment these +things are beyond it. Your meaning is excellent, very good, very great; +but to bring it to bear requires further information. We will sit by +the side of the sea to-morrow, darling, if you grant me a view of your +loveliness again; and there you will see things in a larger light than +upon this narrow bench, with your father's trees around us, and your +father's cows enquiring whether I am good to eat. Get away, cow! Do you +take me for a calf?" + +One of the cows best loved by Dolly, who was very fond of good animals, +had come up to ask who this man was that had been sitting here so long +with her. She was gifted with a white face and large soft eyes--even +beyond the common measure of a cow--short little horns, that she would +scarcely think of pushing even at a dog (unless he made mouths at her +infant), a flat broad nose ever genial to be rubbed, and a delicate +fringe of finely pointed yellow hairs around her pleasant nostrils and +above her clovery lips. With single-hearted charity and enviable faith +she was able to combine the hope that Dolly had obtained a lover as good +as could be found upon a single pair of legs. Carne was attired with +some bravery, of the French manner rather than the English, and he +wanted no butter on his velvet and fine lace. So he swung round his cane +of heavy snakewood at the cow, and struck her poor horns so sharply that +her head went round. + +"Is that universal peace, and gentleness, and justice?" cried Dolly, +springing up and hastening to console her cow. "Is this the way the +lofty French redress the wrongs of England? What had poor Dewlips done, +I should like to know? Kiss me, my pretty, and tell me how you would +like the French army to land, as a matter of form? The form you would +take would be beef, I'm afraid; not even good roast beef, but bouillon, +potage, fricandeau, friture--anything one cannot taste any meat in; and +that is how your wrongs would be redressed, after having had both your +horns knocked off. And about the same fate for John Bull, your master, +unless he keeps his horns well sharpened. Do I not speak the truth, +monsieur?" + +When Carne did anything to vex Miss Dolly--which happened pretty often, +for he could not stop to study much her little prejudices--she addressed +him as if he were a Frenchman, never doubting that this must reduce him +sadly in his self-esteem. + +"Never mind matters political," he said, perceiving that his power must +not be pressed until he had deepened its foundations; "what are all the +politics in the world compared with your good opinion, Beauty?" Dolly +liked to be called "Beauty," and the name always made her try to deserve +it by looking sweet. "You must be quite certain that I would do nothing +to injure a country which contains my Dolly. And as for Madam Cow, I +will beg her pardon, though my cane is hurt a great deal more than her +precious horns are. Behold me snap it in twain, although it is the only +handsome one I possess, because it has offended you!" + +"Oh, what a pity! What a lovely piece of wood!" cried Dolly; and they +parted on the best of terms, after a warm vow upon either side that no +nasty politics should ever come between them. + +But Carne was annoyed and discontented. He came to the edge of the +cliff that evening below his ruined castle; for there are no cliffs at +Springhaven, unless the headland deserves that name; and there he sat +gloomily for some hours, revolving the chances of his enterprise. The +weather had changed since the morning, and a chill November wind began +to urge the waves ashore. The sky was not very dark, but shredded with +loose grey vapours from the west, where a heavy bank of clouds lay under +the pale crescent of a watery moon. In the distance two British cruisers +shone, light ships of outlook, under easy sail, prepared to send the +signal for a hundred leagues, from ship to ship and cliff to cliff, +if any of England's foes appeared. They shone upon the dark sea, with +canvas touched by moonlight, and seemed ready to spring against the +lowering sky, if it held any menace to the land they watched, or the +long reach of water they had made their own. + +"A pest upon those watch-dogs!" muttered Carne. "They are always +wide-awake, and forever at their stations. Instead of growing tired, +they get sharper every day. Even Charron can scarcely run through them +now. But I know who could do it, if he could only be trusted. With a +pilot-boat--it is a fine idea--a pilot-boat entered as of Pebbleridge. +The Pebbleridge people hate Springhaven, through a feud of centuries, +and Springhaven despises Pebbleridge. It would answer well, although the +landing is so bad, and no anchorage possible in rough weather. I must +try if Dan Tugwell will undertake it. None of the rest know the coast +as he does, and few of them have the bravery. But Dan is a very sulky +fellow, very difficult to manage. He will never betray us; he is +wonderfully grateful; and after that battle with the press-gang, when he +knocked down the officer and broke his arm, he will keep pretty clear of +the Union-jack. But he goes about moping, and wondering, and mooning, as +if he were wretched about what he has to do. Bless my soul, where is my +invention? I see the way to have him under my thumb. Reason is an old +coat hanging on a peg; passion is the fool who puts it on and runs away +with it. Halloa! Who are you? And what do you want at such a time as +this? Surely you can see that I am not at leisure now. Why, Tugwell, I +thought that you were far away at sea!" + +"So I was, sir; but she travels fast. I never would believe the old +London Trader could be driven through the water so. Sam Polwhele knows +how to pile it on a craft, as well as he do upon a man, sir. I won't +serve under him no more, nor Captain Charcoal either. I have done my +duty by you. Squire Carne, the same as you did by me, sir; and thanking +you for finding me work so long, my meaning is to go upon the search +to-morrow." + +"What fools they must have been to let this fellow come ashore!" thought +Carne, while he failed to see the wisest way to take it. "Tugwell, you +cannot do this with any honour, after we have shown you all the secrets +of our enterprise. You know that what we do is of the very highest +honour, kind and humane and charitable, though strictly forbidden by a +most inhuman government. How would you like, if you were a prisoner in +France, to be debarred from all chance of getting any message from your +family, your wife, your sweetheart, or your children, from year's end +to year's end, and perhaps be dead for months without their knowing +anything about it?" + +"Well, sir, I should think it very hard indeed; though, if I was dead, +I shouldn't know much more about it. But, without reproach to you, I +cannot make out altogether that our only business is to carry letters +for the prisoners, as now may be in England, from their loving friends +to command in their native country. I won't say against you, sir, if +you say it is--that is, to the outside of all your knowledge. And twenty +thousand of them may need letters by the sack. But what use they could +make, sir, of cannon as big as I be, and muskets that would kill a man +a hundred yards of distance, and bayonets more larger and more sharper +than ever I see before, even with the Royal Volunteers--this goes out of +all my calculation." + +"Daniel, you have expressed your views, which are remarkable--as indeed +they always are--with your usual precision. But you have not observed +things with equal accuracy. Do you know when a gun is past service?" + +"No, sir; I never was a poacher, no-how. Squire Darling, that is to say, +Sir Charles Darling now, according to a chap on board, he was always so +good upon his land that nobody durst go a-poaching." + +"I mean a cannon, Dan. They don't poach with cannon yet, though they may +come to do it, as the game-laws increase. Do you know when a cannon is +unsafe to fire, though it may look as bright as ever, like a worn-out +poker? All those things that have frightened you are only meant for +ornament. You know that every ancient building ought to have its +armoury, as this castle always had, until they were taken away and sold. +My intention is to restore it, when I can afford to do so. And having +a lot of worn-out weapons offered me for next to nothing, I seized the +chance of bringing them. When times are better, and the war is over, I +may find time to arrange them. But that is not of much importance. The +great point is to secure the delivery of letters from their native +land to the brave men here as prisoners. I cannot afford to do that for +nothing, though I make no profit out of it. I have so many things to +think about that I scarcely know which to consider first. And after all, +what matters to us whether those poor men are allowed to die, and be +buried like dogs, without knowledge of their friends? Why should we run +the risk of being punished for them?" + +"Well, sir, that seems hard doctrine, if I may be allowed to say so, +and not like your kind-heartedness. Our Government have no right to stop +them of their letters." + +"It is a cruel thing. But how are we to help it? The London Trader is +too large for the purpose, and she is under suspicion now. I tell you +everything, Daniel, because I know that you are a true-hearted fellow, +and far above all blabbing. I have thought once or twice of obtaining +leave to purchase a stout and handy pilot-boat, with her licence and all +that transferred to us, and so running to and fro when needful. The only +risk then would be from perils of the sea; and even the pressmen dare +not meddle with a pilot-boat. By-the-by, I have heard that you knocked +some of them about. Tugwell, you might have got us all into sad +trouble." + +"Was I to think of what I was doing, Squire Carne, when they wanted +to make a slave of me? I would serve King George with a good heart, in +spite of all that father has said against it. But it must be with a free +will, Squire Carne, and not to be tied hand and foot to it. How would +you like that yourself, sir?" + +"Well, I think I should have done as you did, Dan, if I had been a +British sailor. But as to this pilot-boat, I must have a bold and good +seaman to command it. A man who knows the coast, and is not afraid of +weather. Of course we should expect to pay good wages; 3 pounds a week, +perhaps, and a guinea for every bag of letters landed safe. There are +plenty of men who would jump at such a chance, Dan." + +"I'll be bound there are, sir. And it is more than I am worth, if you +mean offering the place to me. It would suit me wonderful, if I was +certain that the job was honest." + +"Daniel Tugwell"--Carne spoke with great severity--"I will not lose my +temper, for I am sure you mean no insult. But you must be of a very low, +suspicious nature, and quite unfit for any work of a lofty and unselfish +order, if you can imagine that a man in my position, a man of my large +sentiments--" + +"Oh, no, sir, no; it was not at all that"--Dan scarcely knew how to +tell what it was--"it was nothing at all of that manner of thinking. I +heartily ask your pardon, sir, if it seemed to go in that way." + +"Don't do that," replied Carne, "because I can make allowances. I know +what a fine nature is, and how it takes alarm at shadows. I am always +tender with honest scruples, because I find so many of them in myself. +I should not have been pleased with you, if you had accepted my +offer--although so advantageous, and full of romantic interest--until +you were convinced of its honourable nature. I have no time for +argument, and I am sorry that you must not come up to the castle for +supper, because we have an old Springhaven man there, who would tell +your father all about you, which you especially wish to avoid. But if +you feel inclined for this berth--as you sailors seem to call it--and +hesitate through some patriotic doubts, though I cannot understand what +they are, I will bring you a document (if you meet me here to-morrow +night) from Admiral Sir Charles Darling, which I think will satisfy +you." + +"And shall I be allowed to keep it, sir, to show, in case of trouble?" + +"Very likely. But I cannot say for certain. Some of those official forms +must be returned, others not; all depends upon their rules. Now go and +make yourself comfortable. How are you off for money?" + +"Plenty, sir, plenty. I must not go where anybody knows me, or to-morrow +half the talk at old Springhaven would be about me. Good-night, sir, and +God bless you." + + + +CHAPTER L + +HIS SAVAGE SPIRIT + + +At this time letters came very badly, not only to French prisoners in +England, but even to the highest authorities, who had the very best +means of getting them. Admiral Darling had often written to his old +friend Nelson, but had long been without any tidings from him, through +no default on the hero's part. Lord Nelson was almost as prompt with +the pen as he was with the sword, but despatches were most irregular and +uncertain. + +"Here at last we have him!" cried Sir Charles one morning early in +December; "and not more than five weeks old, I declare! Dolly, be +ready, and call Faith down. Now read it, my dear, for our benefit. Your +godfather writes a most excellent hand, considering that it is his left +hand; but my eyes are sore from so much night-work. Put on my specs, +Dolly; I should like to see you in them." + +"Am I to read every word, papa, just as it comes? You know that he +generally puts in words that are rather strong for me." + +"Nelson never thought or wrote a single word unfit for the nicest +young lady. But you may hold up your hand if you come to any strong +expressions, and we shall understand them." + +"Then I shall want both hands as soon as ever we come to the very first +Frenchman. But this is what my godfather says: + + +"'VICTORY, OFF TOULON, October 31st, 1804. + +"'MY DEAR LINGO,--It was only yesterday that I received your letter of +July 21st; it went in a Spanish smuggling boat to the coast of Italy and +returned again to Spain, not having met any of our ships. And now I hope +that you will see me before you see this letter. We are certain to be at +war with Spain before another month is out, and I am heartily sorry for +it, for I like those fellows better than the French, because they are +not such liars. My successor has been appointed, I have reason to hope, +and must be far on his way by this time; probably Keith, but I cannot +say. Ministers cannot suppose that I want to fly the service; my whole +life has proved the contrary; if they refuse, I shall most certainly +leave in March or April, for a few months' rest I must have, or else +die. My cough is very bad, and my side where I was struck off Cape St. +Vincent is very much swelled, at times a lump as large as my fist is +brought on by violent coughing, but I hope and believe my lungs are +sound. I hope to do good service yet, or else I should not care so much. +But if I am in my grave, how can I serve the Country? + +"'You will say, this is not at all like Nelson, to write about nothing +but his own poor self; and thank God, Lingo, I can say that you +are right; for if ever a man lived for the good of England and the +destruction of those'"--here Dolly held a hand up--"'Frenchmen, it is +the man in front of this ink-bottle. The Lord has appointed me to that +duty, and I shall carry out my orders. Mons. La Touche, who was preached +about in France as the man that was to extinguish me, and even in +the scurvy English newspapers, but never dared to show his snivelly +countenance outside of the inner buoys, is dead of his debosheries, for +which I am deeply grieved, as I fully intended to send him to the devil. + +"'I have been most unlucky for some time now, and to tell the truth I +may say always. But I am the last man in the world to grumble--as you, +my dear Lingo, can testify. I always do the utmost, with a single mind, +and leave the thought of miserable pelf to others, men perhaps who never +saw a shotted cannon fired. You know who made eighty thousand pounds, +without having to wipe his pigtail--dirty things, I am glad they are +gone out--but my business is to pay other people's debts, and receive +all my credits in the shape of cannon-balls. This is always so, and I +should let it pass as usual, except for a blacker trick than I have ever +known before. For fear of giving me a single chance of earning twopence, +they knew that there was a million and a half of money coming into Cadiz +from South America in four Spanish frigates, and instead of leaving me +to catch them, they sent out Graham Moore--you know him very well--with +orders to pocket everything. This will create a war with Spain, a war +begun with robbery on our part, though it must have come soon in any +case. For everywhere now, except where I am, that fiend of a Corsican is +supreme. + +"'There is not a sick man in this fleet, unless it is the one inside my +coat. That liar La Touche said HE CHASED ME AND I RAN. I keep a copy of +his letter, which it would have been my duty to make him eat, if he had +ventured out again. But he is gone to the lake of brimstone now, and I +have the good feeling to forgive him. If my character is not fixed by +this time, it is not worth my trouble to put the world right. Yesterday +I took a look into the port within easy reach of their batteries. They +lay like a lot of mice holed in a trap, but the weather was too thick to +count them. They are certainly nearly twice our number; and if any one +was here except poor little Nelson, I believe they would venture out. +But my reputation deprives me always of any fair chance to increase it. + +"'And now, my dear Lingo, allow me to enquire how you are getting on +with your Coast-defence. I never did attach much importance to their +senseless invasion scheme. The only thing to make it formidable would +be some infernal traitor on the coast, some devilish spy who would keep +them well informed, and enable them to land where least expected. If +there is such a scoundrel, may the Lord Almighty'"--here both Dolly's +hands went up, with the letter in them, and her face turned as white as +the paper. + +"'I have often told you, as you may remember, that Springhaven is the +very place I should choose, if I were commander of the French flotilla. +It would turn the flank of all the inland defences, and no British +ship could attack their intrenchments, if once they were snug below the +windows of the Hall. But they are not likely to know this, thank God; +and if they did, they would have a job to get there. However, it is wise +to keep a sharp lookout, for they know very well that I am far away. + +"'And now that I have got to your own doors, which I heartily hope to +do, perhaps before you see this, let me ask for yourself and all your +dear family. Lingo, the longer I live the more I feel that all the +true happiness of life is found at home. My glory is very great, and +satisfies me, except when it scares the enemy; but I very often feel +that I would give it all away for a quiet life among those who love me. +Your daughter Faith is a sweet young woman, just what I should wish +for a child of mine to be. And Horatia, my godchild, will turn out very +well, if a sharp hand is kept over her. But she takes after me, she is +daring and ambitious, and requires a firm hand at the helm. Read this +to her, with my love, and I dare say she will only laugh at it. If she +marries to my liking, she will be down for a good thing in my will, some +day. God bless us all. Amen. Amen. + +"'Yours affectionately, + +"'NELSON AND BRONTE.'" + + +"Take it to heart, my dear; and so must I," said the Admiral, laughing +at the face his daughter made; "your godfather is a most excellent judge +of everybody's character except his own. But, bless me, my dear, why, +you are crying! You silly little thing! I was only in fun. You shall +marry to his liking, and be down for the good thing. Look up, and laugh +at everybody, my darling. No one laughs so merrily as my pretty Dolly. +Why, Faith, what does she mean by this?" + +To the coaxing voice of her father, and the playful glance that she used +to play with, Dolly had not rushed up at all, either with mind, or, if +that failed, with body, as she always used to do. She hurried towards +the door, as if she longed to be away from them; and then, as if she +would rather not make any stir about it, sat down and pretended to have +caught her dress in something. + +"The only thing is to let her go on as she likes," Faith said aloud, +so that Dolly might hear all of it; "I have done all I can, but she +believes herself superior. She cannot bear any sort of contradiction, +and she expects one to know what she says, without her saying it. There +is nothing to be done but to treat her the same way. If she is left to +herself, she may come back to it." + +"Well, my dear children," said the Admiral, much alarmed at the prospect +of a broil between them, such as he remembered about three years back, +"I make no pretence to understand your ways. If you were boys, it would +be different altogether. But the Almighty has been pleased to make +you girls, and very good ones too; in fact, there are none to be found +better. You have always been bound up with one another and with me; and +every one admires all the three of us. So that we must be content if +a little thing arises, not to make too much of it, but bear with one +another, and defy anybody to come in between us. Kiss one another, my +dears, and be off; for I have much correspondence to attend to, besides +the great Nelson's, though I took him first, hoping for something +sensible. But I have not much to learn about Springhaven, even from his +lordship. However, he is a man in ten thousand, and we must not be vexed +about any of his crotchets, because he has never had children to talk +about; and he gets out of soundings when he talks about mine. I wish +Lady Scudamore was come back. She always agrees with me, and she takes a +great load off my shoulders." + +The girls laughed at this, as they were meant to do. And they +hurried off together, to compare opinions. After all these years of +independence, no one should be set up over them. Upon that point Faith +was quite as resolute as Dolly; and her ladyship would have refused to +come back, if she had overheard their council. For even in the loftiest +feminine nature lurks a small tincture of jealousy. + +But Dolly was now in an evil frame of mind about many things which she +could not explain even to herself, with any satisfaction. Even that +harmless and pleasant letter from her great godfather went amiss with +her; and instead of laughing at the words about herself, as with a sound +conscience she must have done, she brooded over them, and turned them +bitter. No man could have mixed up things as she did, but her mind was +nimble. For the moment, she hated patriotism, because Nelson represented +it; and feeling how wrong he had been about herself, she felt that he +was wrong in everything. The French were fine fellows, and had quite as +much right to come here as we had to go and harass them, and a little +abatement of English conceit might be a good thing in the long-run. Not +that she would let them stay here long; that was not to be thought of, +and they would not wish it. But a little excitement would be delightful, +and a great many things might be changed for the better, such as the +treatment of women in this country, which was barbarous, compared to +what it was in France. Caryl had told her a great deal about that; and +the longer she knew him the more she was convinced of his wisdom and +the largeness of his views, so different from the savage spirit of Lord +Nelson. + + + +CHAPTER LI + +STRANGE CRAFT + + +While his love was lapsing from him thus, and from her own true self yet +more, the gallant young sailor, whose last prize had been that useful +one misfortune, was dwelling continually upon her image, because he +had very little else to do. English prisoners in France were treated +sometimes very badly, which they took good care to proclaim to Europe; +but more often with pity, and good-will, and a pleasant study of their +modes of thought. For an Englishman then was a strange and ever fresh +curiosity to a Frenchman, a specimen of another race of bipeds, with +doubts whether marriage could make parentage between them. And a century +of intercourse, good-will, and admiration has left us still inquisitive +about each other. + +Napoleon felt such confidence in his plans for the conquest of England +that if any British officer belonging to the fleet in the narrow seas +was taken (which did not happen largely), he sent for him, upon his +arrival at Boulogne, and held a little talk with any one who could +understand and answer. He was especially pleased at hearing of the +capture of Blyth Scudamore (who had robbed him of his beloved Blonde), +and at once restored Desportes to favour, which he had begun to do +before, knowing as well as any man on earth the value of good officers. +"Bring your prisoner here to-morrow at twelve o'clock," was his order; +"you have turned the tables upon him well." + +Scudamore felt a little nervous tingling as he passed through the +sentries, with his friend before him, into the pavilion of the greatest +man in Europe. But the Emperor, being in high good-humour, and pleased +with the young man's modest face and gentle demeanour, soon set him at +his ease, and spoke to him as affably as if he had been his equal. For +this man of almost universal mind could win every heart, when he set +himself to do it. Scudamore rubbed his eyes, which was a trick of his, +as if he could scarcely believe them. Napoleon looked--not insignificant +(that was impossible for a man with such a countenance), but mild, and +pleasing, and benevolent, as he walked to and fro, for he never could +stay still, in the place which was neither a tent nor a room, but a +mixture of the two, and not a happy one. His hat, looped up with a +diamond and quivering with an ostrich feather, was flung anyhow upon the +table. But his wonderful eyes were the brightest thing there. + +"Ha! ha!" said the Emperor, a very keen judge of faces; "you expected +to find me a monster, as I am portrayed by your caricaturists. Your +countrymen are not kind to me, except the foremost of them--the great +poets. But they will understand me better by-and-by, when justice +prevails, and the blessings of peace, for which I am striving +perpetually. But the English nation, if it were allowed a voice, would +proclaim me its only true friend and ally. You know that, if you are one +of the people, and not of the hateful House of Lords, which engrosses +all the army and the navy. Are you in connection with the House of +Lords?" + +Scudamore shook his head and smiled. He was anxious to say that he had +a cousin, not more than twice removed, now an entire viscount; but +Napoleon never encouraged conversation, unless it was his own, or in +answer to his questions. + +"Very well. Then you can speak the truth. What do they think of all this +grand army? Are they aware that, for their own good, it will very soon +occupy London? Are they forming themselves to act as my allies, when I +have reduced them to reason? Is it now made entirely familiar to their +minds that resistance to me is as hopeless as it has been from the first +unwise? If they would submit, without my crossing, it would save them +some disturbance, and me a great expense. I have often hoped to hear of +it." + +"You will never do that, sire," Scudamore answered, looking calmly and +firmly at the deep gray eyes, whose gaze could be met by none of the +millions who dread passion; "England will not submit, even if you +conquer her." + +"It is well said, and doubtless you believe it," Napoleon continued, +with a smile so slight that to smile in reply to it would have been +impertinent; "but England is the same as other nations, although the +most obstinate among them. When her capital is occupied, her credit +ruined, her great lords unable to obtain a dinner, the government (which +is not the country) will yield, and the country must follow it. I have +heard that the King, and the Court, and the Parliament, talk of +flying to the north, and there remaining, while the navy cuts off our +communications, and the inferior classes starve us. Have you heard of +any such romance as that?" + +"No, sire:" Scudamore scarcely knew what to call him, but adopted this +vocative for want of any better. "I have never heard of any such +plan, and no one would think of packing up, until our fleet has been +demolished." + +"Your fleet? Yes, yes. How many ships are now parading to and fro, and +getting very tired of it?" + +"Your Majesty's officers know that best," Scudamore answered, with his +pleasant open smile. "I have been a prisoner for a month and more, and +kept ten miles inland, out of sight of the sea." + +"But you have been well treated, I hope. You have no complaint to make, +Monsieur Scutamour? Your name is French, and you speak the language +well. We set the fair example in the treatment of brave men." + +"Sire, I have been treated," the young officer replied, with a low bow, +and eyes full of gratitude, "as a gentleman amongst gentlemen. I might +say as a friend among kind friends." + +"That is as it should be. It is my wish always. Few of your English +fabrications annoy me more than the falsehoods about that. It is most +ungenerous, when I do my best, to charge me with strangling brave +English captains. But Desportes fought well, before you took his vessel. +Is it not so? Speak exactly as you think. I like to hear the enemy's +account of every action." + +"Captain Desportes, sire, fought like a hero, and so did all his crew. +It was only his mishap in sticking fast upon a sand-bank that enabled us +to overpower him." + +"And now he has done the like to you. You speak with a brave man's +candour. You shall be at liberty to see the sea, monsieur; for a sailor +always pines for that. I will give full instructions to your friend +Desportes about you. But one more question before you go--is there much +anxiety in England?" + +"Yes, sire, a great deal. But we hope not to allow your Majesty's +armament to enter and increase it." + +"Ah, we shall see, we shall see how that will be. Now farewell, Captain. +Tell Desportes to come to me." + +"Well, my dear friend, you have made a good impression," said the French +sailor, when he rejoined Scudamore, after a few words with the Master of +the State; "all you have to do is to give your word of honour to avoid +our lines, and keep away from the beach, and of course to have no +communication with your friends upon military subjects. I am allowed +to place you for the present at Beutin, a pleasant little hamlet on +the Canche, where lives an old relative of mine, a Monsieur Jalais, an +ancient widower, with a large house and one servant. I shall be afloat, +and shall see but little of you, which is the only sad part of the +business. You will have to report yourself to your landlord at eight +every morning and at eight o'clock at night, and only to leave the house +between those hours, and not to wander more than six miles from home. +How do these conditions approve themselves to you?" + +"I call them very liberal, and very handsome," Scudamore answered, as +he well might do. "Two miles' range is all that we allow in England to +French officers upon parole. These generous terms are due to your kind +friendship." + +Before very long the gentle Scuddy was as happy as a prisoner can expect +to be, in his comfortable quarters at Beutin. Through friendly exchanges +he had received a loving letter from his mother, with an amiable +enclosure, and M. Jalais being far from wealthy, a pleasant arrangement +was made between them. Scudamore took all his meals with his host, who +could manage sound victuals like an Englishman, and the house-keeper, +house-cleaner, and house-feeder (misdescribed by Desportes as a servant, +according to our distinctions), being a widow of mark, sat down to +consider her cookery upon choice occasions. Then for a long time would +prevail a conscientious gravity, and reserve of judgment inwardly, +everybody waiting for some other body's sentiments; until the author of +the work, as a female, might no more abide the malignant silence of male +reviewers. + +Scudamore, being very easily amused, as any good-natured young man is, +entered with zest into all these doings, and became an authority upon +appeal; and being gifted with depth of simplicity as well as high +courtesy of taste, was never known to pronounce a wrong decision. That +is to say, he decided always in favour of the lady, which has been the +majestic course of Justice for centuries, till the appearance of Mrs. +-----, the lady who should have married the great Home-Ruler. + +Thus the wily Scudamore obtained a sitting-room, with the prettiest +outlook in the house, or indeed in any house in that part of the world +for many leagues of seeking. For the mansion of M. Jalais stood in an +elbow of the little river, and one window of this room showed the curve +of tidal water widening towards the sea, while the other pleasantly gave +eye to the upper reaches of the stream, where an angler of rose-coloured +mind might almost hope to hook a trout. The sun glanced down the stream +in the morning, and up it to see what he had done before he set; and +although M. Jalais' trees were leafless now, they had sleeved their bent +arms with green velvetry of moss. + +Scudamore brought his comfortable chair to the nook between these +windows, and there, with a book or two belonging to his host, and the +pipe whose silver clouds enthrone the gods of contemplation, many a +pleasant hour was passed, seldom invaded by the sounds of war. For the +course of the roads, and sands of the river, kept this happy spot aloof +from bad communications. Like many other streams in northern France, +the Canche had been deepened and its mouth improved, not for uses of +commerce, but of warfare. Veteran soldier and raw recruit, bugler, +baker, and farrier, man who came to fight and man who came to write +about it, all had been turned into navvies, diggers, drivers of piles, +or of horses, or wheelbarrows, by the man who turned everybody into +his own teetotum. The Providence that guides the world showed mercy in +sending that engine of destruction before there was a Railway for him to +run upon. + +Now Scudamore being of a different sort, and therefore having pleased +Napoleon (who detested any one at all of his own pattern), might have +been very well contented here, and certainly must have been so, if he +had been without those two windows. Many a bird has lost his nest, and +his eggs, and his mate, and even his own tail, by cocking his eyes to +the right and left, when he should have drawn their shutters up. And +why? Because the brilliance of his too projecting eyes has twinkled +through the leaves upon the narrow oblong of the pupils of a spotty-eyed +cat going stealthily under the comb of the hedge, with her stomach wired +in, and her spinal column fluted, to look like a wrinkled blackthorn +snag. But still worse is it for that poor thrush, or lintie, or robin, +or warbler-wren, if he flutters in his bosom when he spies that cat, and +sets up his feathers, and begins to hop about, making a sad little chirp +to his mate, and appealing to the sky to protect him and his family. + +Blyth Scudamore's case was a mixture of those two. It would have been +better for his comfort if he had shut his eyes; but having opened them, +he should have stayed where he was, without any fluttering. However, he +acted for the best; and when a man does that, can those who never do so +find a word to say against him? + +According to the best of his recollection, which was generally near the +mark, it was upon Christmas Eve, A.D. 1804, that his curiosity was first +aroused. He had made up his room to look a little bit like home, with +a few sprigs of holly, and a sheaf of laurel, not placed daintily as a +lady dresses them, but as sprightly as a man can make them look, and as +bright as a captive Christmas could expect. The decorator shed a little +sigh--if that expression may be pardoned by analogy, for he certainly +neither fetched nor heaved it--and then he lit his pipe to reflect upon +home blessings, and consider the free world outside, in which he had +very little share at present. + +Mild blue eyes, such as this young man possessed, are often +short-sighted at a moderate range, and would be fitted up with glasses +in these artificial times, and yet at long distance they are most +efficient, and can make out objects that would puzzle keener organs. And +so it was that Scudamore, with the sinking sun to help him, descried at +a long distance down the tidal reach a peaceful-looking boat, which made +his heart beat faster. For a sailor's glance assured him that she was +English--English in her rig and the stiff cut of her canvas, and in all +those points of character to a seaman so distinctive, which apprise him +of his kindred through the length of air and water, as clearly as we +landsmen know a man from a woman at the measure of a furlong, or a +quarter of a mile. He perceived that it was an English pilot-boat, and +that she was standing towards him. At first his heart fluttered with +a warm idea, that there must be good news for him on board that boat. +Perhaps, without his knowledge, an exchange of prisoners might have been +agreed upon; and what a grand Christmas-box for him, if the order for +his release was there! But another thought showed him the absurdity +of this hope, for orders of release do not come so. Nevertheless, he +watched that boat with interest and wonder. + +Presently, just as the sun was setting, and shadows crossed the water, +the sail (which had been gleaming like a candle-flame against the haze +and upon the glaze) flickered and fell, and the bows swung round, and +her figure was drawn upon the tideway. She was now within half a mile +of M. Jalais' house, and Scudamore, though longing for a spy-glass, was +able to make out a good deal without one. He saw that she was an +English pilot-boat, undecked, but fitted with a cuddy forward, rigged +luggerwise, and built for speed, yet fit to encounter almost any Channel +surges. She was light in the water, and bore little except ballast. He +could not be sure at that distance, but he thought that the sailors must +be Englishmen, especially the man at the helm, who was beyond reasonable +doubt the captain. + +Then two long sweeps were manned amidship, with two sturdy fellows to +tug at each; and the quiet evening air led through the soft rehearsal of +the water to its banks the creak of tough ash thole-pins, and the groan +of gunwale, and the splash of oars, and even a sound of human staple, +such as is accepted by the civilized world as our national diapason. + +The captive Scuddy, who observed all this, was thoroughly puzzled at +that last turn. Though the craft was visibly English, the crew might +still have been doubtful, if they had held their tongues, or kept them +in submission. But that word stamped them, or at any rate the one who +had been struck in the breast by the heavy timber, as of genuine British +birth. Yet there was no sign that these men were prisoners, or acting by +compulsion. No French boat was near them, no batteries there commanded +their course, and the pilot-boat carried no prize-crew to direct +reluctant labours. At the mouth of the river was a floating bridge, for +the use of the forces on either side, and no boat could have passed it +without permission. Therefore these could be no venturesome Britons, +spying out the quarters of the enemy; either they must have been allowed +to pass for some special purpose, under flag of truce, or else they +were traitors, in league with the French, and despatched upon some dark +errand. + +In a few minutes, as the evening dusk began to deepen round her, the +mysterious little craft disappeared in a hollow of the uplands on the +other side of the water, where a narrow creek or inlet--such as +is called a "pill" in some parts of England--formed a sheltered +landing-place, overhung with clustering trees. Then Scudamore rose, and +filled another pipe, to meditate upon this strange affair. "I am +justly forbidden," he thought, as it grew dark, "to visit the camp, or +endeavour to learn anything done by the army of invasion. And I have +pledged myself to that effect. But this is a different case altogether. +When Englishmen come here as traitors to their country, and in a place +well within my range, my duty is to learn the meaning of it; and if +I find treachery of importance working, then I must consider about my +parole, and probably withdraw it. That would be a terrible blow to me, +because I should certainly be sent far inland, and kept in a French +prison perhaps for years, with little chance of hearing from my friends +again. And then she would give me up as lost, that faithful darling, +who has put aside all her bright prospects for my sake. How I wish I had +never seen that boat! and I thought it was coming to bring me such good +news! I am bound to give them one day's grace, for they might not +know where to find me at once, and to-night I could not get near them, +without overstaying my time to be in-doors. But if I hear nothing +to-morrow, and see nothing, I must go round, so as not to be seen, and +learn something about her the very next morning." + +Hearing nothing and seeing no more, he spent an uncomfortable Christmas +Day, disappointing his host and kind Madame Fropot, who had done all +they knew to enliven him with a genuine English plum-pudding. And the +next day, with a light foot but rather heavy heart, he made the long +round by the bridge up-stream, and examined the creek which the English +boat had entered. He approached the place very cautiously, knowing that +if his suspicions were correct, they might be confirmed too decisively, +and his countrymen, if they had fire-arms, would give him a warm +reception. However, there was no living creature to be seen, except +a poor terrified ox, who had escaped from the slaughter-houses of the +distant camp, and hoped for a little rest in this dark thicket. He was +worn out with his long flight and sadly wounded, for many men had shot +at him, when he desired to save his life; and although his mouth was +little more than the length of his tail from water, there he lay gasping +with his lips stretched out, and his dry tongue quivering between his +yellow teeth, and the only moisture he could get was running out instead +of into his mouth. + +Scudamore, seeing that the coast was clear, and no enemy in chase of +this poor creature, immediately filled his hat with fresh water--for the +tide was out now, and the residue was sweet--and speaking very gently in +the English language, for he saw that he must have been hard-shouted +at in French, was allowed without any more disturbance of the system to +supply a little glad refreshment. The sorely afflicted animal licked his +lips, and looked up for another hatful. + +Captain Scuddy deserved a new hat for this--though very few Englishmen +would not have done the like--and in the end he got it, though he must +have caught a bad cold if he had gone without a hat till then. + +Pursuing his search, with grateful eyes pursuing him, he soon discovered +where the boat had grounded, by the impress of her keel and forefoot on +the stiff retentive mud. He could even see where a hawser had been made +fast to a staunch old trunk, and where the soil had been prodded with +a pole in pushing her off at the turn of tide. Also deep tracks of some +very large hound, or wolf, or unknown quadruped, in various places, +scarred the bank. And these marks were so fresh and bright that they +must have been made within the last few hours, probably when the last +ebb began. If so, the mysterious craft had spent the whole of Christmas +Day in that snug berth; and he blamed himself for permitting his host's +festivities to detain him. Then he took a few bearings to mark the +spot, and fed the poor crippled ox with all the herbage he could gather, +resolving to come with a rope to-morrow, and lead him home, if possible, +as a Christmas present to M. Jalais. + + + +CHAPTER LII + +KIND ENQUIRIES + + +That notable year, and signal mark in all the great annals of England, +the year 1805, began with gloom and great depression. Food was scarce, +and so was money; wars, and rumours of worse than war; discontent of men +who owed it to their birth and country to stand fast, and trust in +God, and vigorously defy the devil; sinkings even of strong hearts, and +quailing of spirits that had never quailed before; passionate outcry for +peace without honour, and even without safety; savage murmurings at wise +measures and at the burdens that must be borne--none but those who lived +through all these troubles could count half of them. If such came now, +would the body of the nation strive to stand against them, or fall in +the dust, and be kicked and trampled, sputtering namby-pamby? Britannia +now is always wrong, in the opinion of her wisest sons, if she dares to +defend herself even against weak enemies; what then would her crime +be if she buckled her corselet against the world! To prostitute their +mother is the philanthropy of Communists. + +But while the anxious people who had no belief in foreigners were +watching by the dark waves, or at the twilight window trembling (if ever +a shooting-star drew train, like a distant rocket-signal), or in their +sleepy beds scared, and jumping up if a bladder burst upon a jam-pot, +no one attempted to ridicule them, and no public journal pronounced that +the true British flag was the white feather. It has been left for times +when the power of England is tenfold what it was then, and her duties +a hundredfold, to tell us that sooner than use the one for the proper +discharge of the other, we must break it up and let them go to pot upon +it, for fear of hurting somebody that stuck us in the back. + +But who of a right mind knows not this, and who with a wrong one +will heed it? The only point is that the commonest truisms come upon +utterance sometimes, and take didactic form too late; even as we shout +to our comrade prone, and beginning to rub his poor nose, "Look out!" +And this is what everybody did with one accord, when he was down upon +his luck--which is far more momentous than his nose to any man--in the +case of Rector Twemlow. + +That gentleman now had good reason for being in less than his usual +cheer and comfort. Everything around him was uneasy, and everybody +seemed to look at him, instead of looking up to him, as the manner used +to be. This was enough to make him feel unlike himself; for although he +was resolute in his way, and could manage to have it with most people, +he was not of that iron style which takes the world as wax to write +upon. Mr. Twemlow liked to heave his text at the people of his parish on +Sunday, and to have his joke with them on Monday; as the fire that has +burned a man makes the kettle sing to comfort him. And all who met him +throughout the week were pleased with him doubly, when they remembered +his faithfulness in the pulpit. + +But now he did his duty softly, as if some of it had been done to him; +and if anybody thanked him for a fine discourse, he never endeavoured +to let him have it all again. So far was he gone from his natural state +that he would rather hear nothing about himself than be praised enough +to demand reply; and this shows a world-wide depression to have arrived +in the latitude of a British waistcoat. However, he went through his +work, as a Briton always does, until he hangs himself; and he tried +to try some of the higher consolation, which he knew so well how to +administer to others. + +Those who do not understand the difference of this might have been +inclined to blame him; but all who have seen a clever dentist with the +toothache are aware that his knowledge adds acuteness to the pain. Mr. +Twemlow had borne great troubles well, and been cheerful even under +long suspense; but now a disappointment close at home, and the grief +of beholding his last hopes fade, were embittered by mystery and dark +suspicions. In despair at last of recovering his son, he had fastened +upon his only daughter the interest of his declining life; and now he +was vexed with misgivings about her, which varied as frequently as she +did. It was very unpleasant to lose the chance of having a grandchild +capable of rocking in a silver cradle; but that was a trifle compared +with the prospect of having no grandchild at all, and perhaps not even +a child to close his eyes. And even his wife, of long habit and fair +harmony, from whom he had never kept any secret--frightful as might be +the cost to his honour--even Mrs. Twemlow shook her head sometimes, when +the arrangement of her hair permitted it, and doubted whether any of the +Carne Castle Carnes would have borne with such indignity. + +"Prosecute him, prosecute him," this good lady always said. "You ought +to have been a magistrate, Joshua--the first magistrate in the Bible was +that--and then you would have known how to do things. But because you +would have to go to Sir Charles Darling--whose Sir can never put him on +the level of the Carnes--you have some right feeling against taking out +a summons. In that I agree with you; it would be very dreadful here. But +in London he might be punished, I am sure; and I know a great deal +about the law, for I never had any one connected with me who was not +a magistrate; the Lord Mayor has a Court of his own for trying the +corporation under the chair; and if this was put properly before him by +a man like Mr. Furkettle, upon the understanding that he should not be +paid unless he won his case, I am sure the result would be three years' +imprisonment. By that time he would have worn out his coat with jailer's +keys upon it, which first attracted our poor Eliza; or if he was not +allowed to wear it, it would go out of fashion, and be harmless. No one +need know a word about it here, for Captain Stubbard would oblige us +gladly by cutting it out of the London papers. My dear, you have nobody +ill in the parish; I will put up your things, and see you off to-morrow. +We will dine late on Friday, to suit the coach; and you will be quite +fit for Sunday work again, if you keep up your legs on a chair all +Saturday." + +"If ever I saw a straightforward man," Mr. Twemlow used to answer, "it +was poor Percival Shargeloes. He is gone to a better world, my dear. +And if he continued to be amenable to law, this is not a criminal, but a +civil case." + +"A nice case of civility, Joshua! But you always stand up for your sex. +Does the coach take people to a better world? A stout gentleman, like +him, was seen inside the coach, muffled up in a cravat of three colours, +and eating at frequent intervals." + +"The very thing poor Percival never did. That disposes to my mind of +that foolish story. My dear, when all truth comes to light, you will do +justice to his memory." + +"Yes, I dare say. But I should like to do it now. If you entertain any +dark ideas, it is your duty to investigate them. Also to let me share +them, Joshua, as I have every right to do." + +This was just what the Rector could not do; otherwise he might have been +far more happy. Remembering that last conversation with his prospective +son-in-law, and the poor man's declaration that the suspicious matter at +the castle ought to be thoroughly searched out at once, he nourished a +dark suspicion, which he feared to impart to his better half, the +aunt of the person suspected. But the longer he concealed it, the more +unbearable grew this misery to a candid nature, until he was compelled, +in self-defence, to allow it some sort of outlet. "I will speak to the +fellow myself," he said, heartily disliking the young man now, "and +judge from his manner what next I ought to do." + +This resolution gave him comfort, much as he hated any interview with +Carne, who treated him generally with cold contempt. And, like most +people who have formed a decision for the easing of the conscience, he +accepted very patiently the obstacles encountered. In the first place, +Carne was away upon business; then he was laid up with a heavy cold; +then he was much too hard at work (after losing so much time) to be able +to visit Springhaven; and to seek him in his ruins was most unsafe, even +if one liked to do it. For now it was said that two gigantic dogs, as +big as a bull and as fierce as a tiger, roved among the ruins all day, +and being always famished, would devour in two minutes any tempting +stranger with a bit of flesh or fat on him. The Rector, patting his +gaiters, felt that instead of a pastor he might become a very sweet +repast to them, and his delicacy was renewed and deepened. He was bound +to wait until his nephew appeared at least inside his parish. + +Therefore the time of year was come almost to the middle of February +when Mr. Twemlow at last obtained the chance he required and dreaded. He +heard that his nephew had been seen that day to put up his horse in the +village, and would probably take the homeward road as soon as it grew +too dark to read. So he got through his own work (consisting chiefly of +newspaper, dinner, and a cool clay pipe, to equalise mind with matter), +and having thus escaped the ladies, off he set by the lobby door, +carrying a good thick stick. As the tide would be up, and only deep +sand left for the heavy track of the traveller, he chose the inland way +across the lower part of the Admiral's grounds, leading to the village +by a narrow plank bridge across the little stream among some trees. Here +were banks of earth and thicket, shadowy dells where the primrose grew, +and the cuckoo-pint, and wood-sorrel, and perhaps in summer the glowworm +breathed her mossy gleam under the blackberries. + +And here Parson Twemlow was astonished, though he had promised himself +to be surprised no more, after all he had been through lately. As he +turned a sharp corner by an ivied tree, a breathless young woman ran +into his arms. + +"Oh!" cried the Rector, for he was walking briskly, with a +well-nourished part of his system forward--"oh, I hope you have not hurt +yourself. No doubt it was my fault. Why, Dolly! What a hurry you are in! +And all alone--all alone, almost after dark!" + +"To be sure; and that makes me in such a hurry;" Miss Dolly was in sad +confusion. "But I suppose I am safe in my father's own grounds." + +"From everybody, except yourself, my dear," Mr. Twemlow replied, +severely. "Is your father aware, does your sister know, that you are +at this distance from the house after dark, and wholly without a +companion?" + +"It is not after dark, Mr. Twemlow; although it is getting darker than +I meant it to be. I beg your pardon for terrifying you. I hope you +will meet with no other perils! Good-night! Or at least I mean, +good-afternoon!" + +"The brazen creature!" thought Mr. Twemlow, as the girl without another +word disappeared. "Not even to offer me any excuse! But I suppose she +had no fib handy. She will come to no good, I am very much afraid. Maria +told me that she was getting very wilful; but I had no idea that it was +quite so bad as this. I am sorry for poor Scudamore, who thinks her such +an angel. I wonder if Carne is at the bottom of this? There is nothing +too bad for that dark young man. I shall ascertain at any rate whether +he is in the village. But unless I look sharp I shall be too late to +meet him. Oh, I can't walk so fast as I did ten years ago." + +Impelled by duty to put best leg foremost, and taking a short-cut above +the village, he came out upon the lane leading towards the castle, some +half-mile or so beyond the last house of Springhaven. Here he waited to +recover breath, and prepare for what he meant to say, and he was sorry +to perceive that light would fail him for strict observation of his +nephew's face. But he chose the most open spot he could find, where the +hedges were low, and nothing overhung the road. + +Presently he heard the sound of hoofs approaching leisurely up the hill, +and could see from his resting-place that Carne was coming, sitting +loosely and wearily on his high black horse. Then the Rector, to cut +short an unpleasant business, stood boldly forth and hailed him. + +"No time for anything now," shouted Carne; "too late already. Do you +want my money? You are come to the wrong man for that; but the right +one, I can tell you, for a bullet." + +"Caryl, it is I, your uncle Twemlow, or at any rate the husband of your +aunt. Put up your pistol, and speak to me a minute. I have something +important to say to you. And I never can find you at the castle." + +"Then be quick, sir, if you please;" Carne had never condescended to +call this gentleman his uncle. "I have little time to spare. Out with +it." + +"You were riding very slowly for a man in a hurry," said the Rector, +annoyed at his roughness. "But I will not keep you long, young man. For +some good reasons of your own you have made a point of avoiding us, your +nearest relatives in this country, and to whom you addressed yourself +before you landed in a manner far more becoming. Have I ever pressed my +attentions upon you?" + +"No, I confess that you have not done that. You perceived as a gentleman +how little there was in common between the son of a devoted Catholic and +a heretic clergyman." + +"That is one way to put it," Mr. Twemlow answered, smiling in spite of +his anger at being called a heretic; "but I was not aware that you had +strong religious views. However that may be, we should have many things +in common, as Englishmen, at a time like this. But what I came to speak +of is not that. We can still continue to get on without you, although +we would rather have met with friendly feeling and candour, as becomes +relatives. But little as you know of us, you must be well aware that +your cousin Eliza was engaged to be married to a gentleman from London, +Mr. Percival Shargeloes, and that he--" + +"I am sure I wish her all happiness, and congratulate you, my dear sir, +as well as my aunt Maria. I shall call, as soon as possible, to offer +my best wishes. It was very kind of you to tell me. Goodnight, sir, +good-night! There is a shower coming." + +"But," exclaimed the Rector, nonplussed for the moment by this view +of the subject, yet standing square before the horse, "Shargeloes has +disappeared. What have you done with him?" + +Carne looked at his excellent uncle as if he had much doubt about his +sanity. "Try to explain yourself, my dear sir. Try to connect your +ideas," he said, "and offer me the benefit another time. My horse is +impatient; he may strike you with his foot." + +"If he does, I shall strike him upon the head," Mr. Twemlow replied, +with his heavy stick ready. "It will be better for you to hear me out. +Otherwise I shall procure a search-warrant, and myself examine your +ruins, of which I know every crick and cranny. And your aunt Maria shall +come with me, who knows every stone even better than you do. That would +be a very different thing from an overhauling by Captain Stubbard. I +think we should find a good many barrels and bales that had paid no +duty." + +"My dear uncle," cried Carne, with more affection than he ever yet had +shown, "that is no concern of yours; you have no connection with the +Revenue; and I am sure that Aunt Maria would be loth to help in pulling +down the family once more. But do as you please. I am accustomed to +ill fortune. Only I should like to know what this is about poor Cousin +Eliza. If any man has wronged her, leave the case to me. You have no son +now, and the honour of the family shall not suffer in my hands. I will +throw up everything, busy as I am, to make such a rascal bite the dust. +And Eliza so proud, and so upright herself!" + +"Caryl," said his uncle, moved more than he liked to show by this +fine feeling, "you know more, I see, than you liked to show at first, +doubtless through goodwill to us. Your dear aunt wished to keep the +matter quiet, for the sake of poor Eliza, and her future chances. But I +said--No. Let us have it all out. If there is wrong, we have suffered, +not done it. Concealment is odious to every honest mind." + +"Deeply, deeply odious. Upon that point there can be no two +opinions"--he forgets his barrels, thought the Rector--"but surely this +man, whatever his name is--Charleygoes--must have been hiding from you +something in his own history. Probably he had a wife already. City men +often do that when young, and then put their wives somewhere when +they get rich, and pay visits, and even give dinners, as if they were +bachelors to be sought after. Was Charleygoes that sort of a man?" + +"His name is 'Shargeloes,' a name well known, as I am assured, in the +highest quarters. And he certainly was not sought after by us, but came +to me with an important question bearing on ichthyology. He may be a +wanderer, as you suggest, and as all the ladies seem to think. But my +firm belief is to the contrary. And my reason for asking you about him +is a very clear one. He had met you twice, and felt interest in you as +a future member of our family. You had never invited him to the castle; +and the last intention he expressed in my hearing was to call upon you +without one. Has he met with an accident in your cellars? Or have your +dogs devoured him? He carried a good deal of flesh, in spite of all he +could do to the contrary; and any man naturally might endeavour to hush +up such an incident. Tell me the truth, Caryl. And we will try to meet +it." + +"My two dogs (who would never eat any one, though they might pull down +a stranger, and perhaps pretend to bite him) arrived here the first week +in January. When did Charleygoes disappear? I am not up in dates, but it +must have been weeks and weeks before that time. And I must have heard +of it, if it had happened. I may give you my honour that Orso and Leo +have not eaten Charleygoes." + +"You speak too lightly of a man in high position, who would have been +Lord Mayor of London, if he had never come to Springhaven. But living +or dead, he shall never be that now. Can you answer me, in the same +straightforward manner, as to an accident in your cellars; which, as a +gentleman upon a private tour, he had clearly no right to intrude upon?" + +"I can answer you quite as clearly. Nothing accidental has happened in +my cellars. You may come and see them, if you have any doubt about it. +And you need not apply for a search-warrant." + +"God forbid, my dear fellow," cried the uncle, "that I should intrude +upon any little matters of delicacy, such as are apt to arise between +artificial laws and gentlemen who happen to live near the sea, and to +have large places that require restoring! I shall go home with a +lighter heart. There is nothing in this world that brings the comfort of +straightforwardness." + + + +CHAPTER LIII + +TIME AND PLACE + + +In a matter like that French invasion, which had been threatened for +such a time, and kept so long impending, "the cry of wolf" grows stale +at last, and then the real danger comes. Napoleon had reckoned upon +this, as he always did upon everything, and for that good reason he had +not grudged the time devoted to his home affairs. These being settled +according to his will, and mob turned into pomp as gaily as grub turns +into butterfly, a strong desire for a little more glory arose in his +mighty but ill-regulated mind. If he could only conquer England, or even +without that fetch her down on her knees and make her lick her own dust +off the feet of Frenchmen, from that day forth all the nations of the +earth must bow down before him. Russia, Prussia, Austria, Spain, though +they might have had the power, never would have plucked the spirit up, +to resist him hand in hand, any more than skittle-pins can back one +another up against the well-aimed ball. + +The balance of to-be or not-to-be, as concerned our country (which many +now despise, as the mother of such disloyal children), after all that +long suspension, hung in the clouds of that great year; and a very +cloudy year it was, and thick with storms on land and sea. Storm was +what the Frenchmen longed for, to disperse the British ships; though +storm made many an Englishman, pulling up the counterpane as the window +rattled, thank the Father of the weather for keeping the enemy ashore +and in a fright. But the greatest peril of all would be in the case of +fog succeeding storm, when the mighty flotilla might sweep across before +our ships could resume blockade, or even a frigate intercept. + +One of the strangest points in all this period of wonders, to us who +after the event are wise, is that even far-sighted Nelson and his +watchful colleagues seem to have had no inkling of the enemy's main +project. Nelson believed Napoleon to be especially intent on Egypt; +Collingwood expected a sudden dash on Ireland; others were sure that +his object was Jamaica; and many maintained that he would step ashore +in India. And these last came nearest to the mark upon the whole, for a +great historian (who declares, like Caryl Carne, that a French invasion +is a blessing to any country) shows that, for at least a month in the +spring of 1805, his hero was revolving a mighty scheme for robbing poor +England of blissful ravage, and transferring it to India. + +However, the master of the world--as he was called already, and meant +soon to be--suddenly returned to his earlier design, and fixed the vast +power of his mind upon it. He pushed with new vigour his preparations, +which had been slackened awhile, he added 30,000 well-trained soldiers +to his force already so enormous, and he breathed the quick spirit +of enterprise into the mighty mass he moved. Then, to clear off all +obstacles, and ensure clear speed of passage, he sent sharp orders to +his Admirals to elude and delude the British fleets, and resolved to +enhance that delusion by his own brief absence from the scene. + +Meanwhile a man of no importance to the world, and of very moderate +ambition, was passing a pleasant time in a quiet spot, content to +be scarcely a spectator even of the drama in rehearsal around him. +Scudamore still abode with M. Jalais, and had won his hearty friendship, +as well as the warm good-will of that important personage Madame Fropot. +Neither of these could believe at first that any Englishman was kind +and gentle, playful in manner, and light-hearted, easily pleased, and +therefore truly pleasing. But as soon as they saw the poor wounded ox +brought home by a ford, and settled happily in the orchard, and received +him as a free gift from their guest, national prejudices dwindled very +fast, and domestic good feeling grew faster. M. Jalais, although a sound +Frenchman, hated the Empire and all that led up to it; and as for +Madame Fropot, her choicest piece of cookery might turn into cinders, +if anybody mentioned conscription in her presence. For she had lost +her only son, the entire hope of her old days, as well as her only +daughter's lover, in that lottery of murder. + +Nine out of ten of the people in the village were of the same way of +thinking. A great army cannot be quartered anywhere, even for a week, +without scattering brands of ill-will all around it. The swagger of the +troops, their warlike airs, and loud contempt of the undrilled swain, +the dash of a coin on the counter when they deign to pay for anything, +the insolent wink at every modest girl, and the coarse joke running +along apish mouths--even before dark crime begins, native antipathy is +sown and thrives. And now for nearly four years this coast had never +been free from the arrogant strut, the clanking spur, and the loud +guffaw, which in every age and every clime have been considered the +stamp of valour by plough-boys at the paps of Bellona. So weary was the +neighbourhood of this race, new conscripts always keeping up the pest, +that even the good M. Jalais longed to hear that the armament lay at +the bottom of the Channel. And Scudamore would have been followed by the +good wishes of every house in the village, if he had lifted his hat and +said, "Good-bye, my dear friends; I am breaking my parole." + +For this, though encouraged by the popular voice, he was not +sufficiently liberal, but stayed within bounds of space and time more +carefully than if he had been watched. Captain Desportes, who had been +in every way a true friend to him, came to see him now and then, being +now in command of a division of the prames, and naturally anxious for +the signal to unmoor. Much discourse was held, without brag on either +side, but with equal certainty on both sides of success. And in one of +these talks the Englishman in the simplest manner told the Frenchman all +that he had seen on Christmas Eve, and his own suspicions about it. + +"Understand this well," continued Scudamore; "if I discover any +treachery on the part of my own countrymen, I shall not be able to stop +here on the terms that have been allowed me. Whatever the plan may be, +I shall feel as if I were a party to it, if I accepted my free range +and swallowed my suspicions. With your proceedings I do not meddle, +according to fair compact, and the liberal conditions offered. But to +see my own countrymen playing my country false is more than I could +stand. You know more of such things than I do. But if you were an +Englishman, could you endure to stand by and hide treachery, for the +sake of your own comfort?" + +"Beyond a doubt, no," Captain Desportes answered, spreading his hand +with decision: "in such a case I should throw up my parole. But a mere +suspicion does not justify an act so ungracious to the commander, and +personally so unkind to me. I hoped that bright eyes might persuade you +to forego hard knocks, and wear none but gentle chains among us. Nature +intended you for a Frenchman. You have the gay heart, and the easy +manner, and the grand philosophy of our great nation. Your name is +Blyth, and I know what that intends." + +Scudamore blushed, for he knew that Madame Fropot was doing her best to +commit him with a lovely young lady not far off, who had felt a tender +interest in the cheerful English captive. But after trying to express +once more the deep gratitude he felt towards those who had been so +wonderfully kind and friendly, he asked with a smile, and a little sigh +behind it, what he must do, if compelled by duty to resign his present +privileges. + +"My faith! I scarcely know," replied Desportes; "I have never had such +a case before. But I think you must give me a written notice, signed by +yourself and by M. Jalais, and allow a week to pass, and then, unless +you have heard from me, present yourself to the commandant of the +nearest post, which must be, I suppose, at Etaples. Rather a rough man +he is; and I fear you will have reason for regret. The duty will then +remain with him. But I beg you, my dear friend, to continue as you are. +Tush, it is nothing but some smuggler's work." + +Scudamore hoped that he might be right, and for some little time was not +disturbed by any appearance to the contrary. But early in the afternoon +one day, when the month of March was near its close, he left his books +for a little fresh air, and strolled into the orchard, where his friend +the ox was dwelling. This worthy animal, endowed with a virtue denied to +none except the human race, approached him lovingly, and begged to draw +attention to the gratifying difference betwixt wounds and scars. He +offered his broad brow to the hand, and his charitable ears to be +tickled, and breathed a quick issue of good feeling and fine feeding, +from the sensitive tucks of his nostrils, as a large-hearted smoker +makes the air go up with gratitude. + +But as a burnt child dreads the fire, the seriously perforated animal +kept one eye vigilant of the northern aspect, and the other studious +of the south. And the gentle Scuddy (who was finding all things happy, +which is the only way to make them so) was startled by a sharp jerk of +his dear friend's head. Following the clue of gaze, there he saw, coming +up the river with a rollicking self-trust, a craft uncommonly like that +craft which had mounted every sort of rig and flag, and carried every +kind of crew, in his many dreams about her. This made him run back to +his room at once, not only in fear of being seen upon the bank, but also +that he might command a better view, with the help of his landlord's old +spy-glass. + +Using this, which he had cleaned from the dust of ages, he could clearly +see the faces of the men on board. Of these there were six, of whom five +at least were Englishmen, or of English breed. As the pilot-boat drew +nearer, and the sunlight fell upon her, to his great surprise he became +convinced that the young man at the tiller was Dan Tugwell, the son +of the captain of Springhaven. Four of the others were unknown to him, +though he fancied that he had seen two of them before, but could not +remember when or where. But he watched with special interest the tall +man lounging against the little door of the cuddy in the bows, whose +profile only was presented to him. Then the boat canted round towards +the entrance of the creek, and having his glass upon the full face of +the man, he recognised him as Caryl Carne, whom he had met more than +once at Springhaven. + +His darkest suspicions were at once redoubled, and a gush of latent +jealousy was added to them. In happier days, when he was near his +lady-love, some whispers had reached him about this fellow, whose +countenance had always been repulsive to him, arrogant, moody, and +mysterious. His good mother also, though most careful not to harass +him, had mentioned that Carne in her latest letter, and by no means in +a manner to remove his old misgivings. As a matter now of duty to his +country and himself, the young sailor resolved to discover, at any risk, +what traitorous scheme had brought this dark man over here. + +To escape the long circuit by the upper bridge, he had obtained leave, +through M. Jalais, to use an old boat which was kept in a bend of the +river about a mile above the house. And now, after seeing that English +boat make for the creek where she had been berthed on Christmas Eve, he +begged Madame Fropot to tell his host not to be uneasy about him, and +taking no weapon but a ground-ash stick, set forth to play spy upon +traitors. As surely as one foot came after the other, he knew that every +step was towards his grave, if he made a mistake, or even met bad luck; +but he twirled his light stick in his broad brown hand, and gently +invaded the French trees around with an old English song of the days +when still an Englishman could compose a song. But this made him think +of that old-fashioned place Springhaven; and sadness fell upon him, that +the son of its captain should be a traitor. + +Instead of pulling across the river, to avoid the splash of oars he +sculled with a single oar astern, not standing up and wallowing in the +boat, but sitting and cutting the figure of 8 with less noise than a +skater makes. The tide being just at slack-water, this gave him quite +as much way as he wanted, and he steered into a little bight of the +southern bank, and made fast to a stump, and looked about; for he durst +not approach the creek until the light should fade and the men have +stowed tackle and begun to feed. The vale of the stream afforded shelter +to a very decent company of trees, which could not have put up with the +tyranny of the west wind upon the bare brow of the coast. Most of these +trees stood back a little from the margin of high tide, reluctant to see +themselves in the water, for fear of the fate of Narcissus. But where +that clandestine boat had glided into gloom and greyness, a fosse of +Nature's digging, deeply lined with wood and thicket, offered snug +harbourage to craft and fraud. + +Scudamore had taken care to learn the ups and downs of the riverside ere +this, and knew them now as well as a native, for he had paid many visits +to the wounded ox, whom he could not lead home quite as soon as he had +hoped, and he had found a firm place of the little river, easy to cross +when the tide was out. With the help of this knowledge he made his way +to the creek, without much risk of being observed, and then, as he came +to the crest of the thicket, he lay down and watched the interlopers. + +There was the boat, now imbedded in the mud, for the little creek was +nearly dry by this time. Her crew had all landed, and kindled a fire, +over which hung a kettle full of something good, which they seemed to +regard with tender interest; while upon a grassy slope some few yards to +the right a trooper's horse was tethered. Carne was not with them, but +had crossed the creek, as the marks of his boots in the mud declared; +and creeping some little way along the thicket, Scudamore descried +him walking to and fro impatiently in a little hollow place, where the +sailors could not see him. This was on Scudamore's side of the creek, +and scarcely fifty yards below him. "He is waiting for an interview +with somebody," thought Scuddy: "if I could only get down to that little +shanty, perhaps I should hear some fine treason. The wind is the right +way to bring me every word he says." + +Keeping in shelter when the traitor walked towards him, and stealing on +silently when his back was turned, the young sailor managed to ensconce +himself unseen in the rough little wattle shed made by his own hands for +the shelter of his patient, when a snow-storm had visited the valley of +the Canche last winter. Nothing could be better fitted for his present +purpose, inasmuch as his lurking-place could scarcely be descried from +below, being sheltered by two large trees and a screen of drooping +ivy, betwixt and below which it looked no more than a casual meeting +of bushes; while on the other hand the open space beneath it was curved +like a human ear, to catch the voice and forward it. + +While Scudamore was waiting here and keenly watching everything, the +light began to falter, and the latest gleam of sunset trembled with the +breath of Spring among the buds and catkins. But the tall man continued +his long, firm stride, as if the watch in his pocket were the only thing +worth heeding. Until, as the shadows lost their lines and flowed into +the general depth, Carne sprang forward, and a horse and rider burst +into the silence of the grass and moss and trees. + +Carne made a low obeisance, retired a little, and stood hat in hand, +until it should please the other man to speak. And Scudamore saw, with a +start of surprise, that the other man was Napoleon. + +This great man appeared, to the mild English eyes that were watching +him so intently, of a very different mood and visage from those of their +last view of him. Then the face, which combined the beauty of Athens +with the strength of Rome, was calm, and gentle, and even sweet, with +the rare indulgence of a kindly turn. But now, though not disturbed with +wrath, nor troubled by disappointment, that face (which had helped to +make his fortune, more than any woman's had ever done for her) was cast, +even if the mould could be the same, in a very different metal. Stern +force and triumphant vigour shone in every lineament, and the hard +bright eyes were intent with purpose that would have no denial. + +Refusing Carne's aid, he remained on his horse, and stroked his mane for +a moment, for he loved any creature that served him well, and was tender +of heart when he could afford it; which added to his power with mankind. + +"Are all your men well out of earshot?" he asked; and receiving +assurance from Carne, went on. "Now you will be satisfied at length. You +have long been impatient. It is useless to deny it. All is arranged, and +all comes to a head within three months, and perhaps within two. Only +four men will know it besides yourself, and three of those four are +commanders of my fleet. A short time will be occupied in misleading +those British ships that beleaguer us; then we concentrate ours, and +command the Channel; if only for three days, that will be enough. I +depart for Italy in three days or in four, to increase the security of +the enemy. But I shall return, without a word to any one, and as fast +as horses can lay belly to the ground, when I hear that our ships have +broken out. I shall command the invasion, and it will be for England to +find a man to set against me." + +"England will have difficulty, sire, in doing that," Carne answered, +with a grim smile, for he shared the contempt of English Generals then +prevalent. "If the Continent cannot do it, how can the poor England? +Once let your Majesty land, and all is over. But what are your Majesty's +orders for me? And where do you propose to make the landing?" + +"Never ask more than one question at a time," Napoleon answered, with +his usual curtness; "my orders to you are to return at once. Prepare +your supplies for a moment's notice. Through private influence of +some fair lady, you have command of the despatches of that officer at +Springport, who has the control of the naval forces there. Ha! what +was that? I heard a sound up yonder. Hasten up, and see if there is any +listener. It seemed to be there, where the wood grows thick." + +Blyth Scudamore, forgetful of himself, had moved, and a dry stick +cracked beneath his foot. Carne, at the Emperor's glance and signal, +sprang up the bank, with the help of some bushes, drew his sword and +passed it between the wattles, then parted them and rushed through, but +saw no sign of any one. For Scuddy had slipped away, as lightly as a +shadow, and keeping in a mossy trough, had gained another shelter. Here +he was obliged to slink in the smallest possible compass, kneeling +upon both knees, and shrugging in both shoulders. Peering very sharply +through an intertwist of suckers (for his shelter was a stool of hazel, +thrown up to repair the loss of stem), he perceived that the Emperor had +moved his horse a little when Carne rejoined and reassured him. And this +prevented Scudamore from being half so certain as he would have liked to +be, about further particulars of this fine arrangement. + +"No," was the next thing he heard Napoleon say whose power of saying +"no" had made his "yes" invincible; "no, it is not to be done like that. +You will await your instructions, and not move until you receive them +from my own hand. Make no attempt to surprise anybody or anything, until +I have ten thousand men ashore. Ten thousand will in six hours attain to +fifty thousand, if the shore proves to be as you describe; so great is +the merit of flat-bottomed boats. Your duty will be to leave the right +surprise to us, and create a false one among the enemy. This you must do +in the distance of the West, as if my Brest fleet were ravaging there, +and perhaps destroying Plymouth. You are sure that you can command the +signals for this?" + +"Sire, I know everything as if I sat among it. I can do as I please with +the fair secretary; and her father is an ancient fool." + +"Then success is more easy than I wish to have it, because it will not +make good esteem. If Nelson comes at all, he will be too late, as he +generally is too early. London will be in our hands by the middle of +July at the latest, probably much earlier, and then Captain Carne shall +name his own reward. Meanwhile forget not any word of what I said. Make +the passage no more. You will not be wanted here. Your services are far +more important where you are. You may risk the brave Charron, but not +yourself. Send over by the 20th of May a letter to me, under care of +Decres, to be opened by no hand but mine, upon my return from Italy, and +let the messengers wait for my reply. Among them must be the young man +who knows the coast, and we will detain him for pilot. My reply will fix +the exact date of our landing, and then you will despatch, through the +means at your command, any English force that might oppose our landing, +to the West, where we shall create a false alarm. Is all this clear to +you? You are not stupid. The great point is to do all at the right time, +having consideration of the weather." + +"All is clear, and shall be carried out clearly, to the best of your +Majesty's humble servant's power." + +Napoleon offered his beautiful white hand, which Carne raised to his +lips, and then the Emperor was gone. Carne returned slowly to the +boat, with triumph written prematurely on his dark stern face; while +Scudamore's brisk and ruddy features were drawn out to a wholly unwonted +length, as he quietly made his way out of the covert. + + + +CHAPTER LIV + +IN A SAD PLIGHT + + +"How shall I get out of this parole? Or shall I break it, instead of +getting out? Which shall I think of first, my honour, or my country? The +safety of millions, or the pride of one? An old Roman would have settled +it very simply. But a Christian cannot do things so. Thank God there is +no hurry, for a few days yet! But I must send a letter to Desportes this +very night. Then I must consider about waiting for a week." + +Scudamore, unable to think out his case as yet--especially after running +as if his wind could turn a vane--was sitting on the bank, to let the +river-bed get darker, before he put his legs into the mud to get across. +For the tide was out, and the old boat high and dry, and a very weak +water remained to be crossed (though, like nearly all things that are +weak, it was muddy), but the channel had a moist gleam in the dry spring +air, and anybody moving would be magnified afar. He felt that it would +never do for him, with such a secret, to be caught, and brought to book, +or even to awake suspicion of his having it. The ancient Roman of whom +he had thought would have broken parole for his country's sake, and then +fallen on his sword for his own sake; but although such behaviour should +be much admired, it is nicer to read of such things than to do them. +Captain Scuddy was of large and steady nature, and nothing came to him +with a jerk or jump--perhaps because he was such a jumper--and he wore +his hat well on the back of his head, because he had no fear of losing +it. But for all that he found himself in a sad quandary now. + +To begin with, his parole was not an ordinary leave, afforded by his +captors to save themselves trouble; but a special grace, issuing from +friendship, and therefore requiring to be treated in a friendly vein. +The liberality of these terms had enabled him to dwell as a friend +among friends, and to overhear all that he had heard. In the balance +of perplexities, this weighed heavily against his first impulse to cast +away all except paramount duty to his country. In the next place, he +knew that private feeling urged him as hotly as public duty to cast away +all thought of honour, and make off. For what he had heard about the +"fair secretary" was rankling bitterly in his deep heart. He recalled +at this moment the admirable precept of an ancient sage, that in such +a conflict of duties the doubter should incline to the course least +agreeable to himself, inasmuch as the reasons against it are sure to be +urged the most feebly in self-council. Upon the whole, the question was +a nice one for a casuist; and if there had not been a day to spare, duty +to his country must have overridden private faith. + +However, as there was time to spare, he resolved to reconcile private +honour with the sense of public duty; and returning to his room, wrote a +careful letter (of which he kept a copy) to his friend Desportes, now on +board, and commanding the flagship of one division of the flotilla. He +simply said, without giving his reason, that his parole must expire in +eight days after date, allowing one day for delivery of his letter. +Then he told M. Jalais what he had done, and much sorrow was felt in +the household. When the time had expired without any answer from Captain +Desportes, who meant to come and see him but was unable to do so, +Scudamore packed up a few things needful, expecting to be placed in +custody, and resolved to escape from it, at any risk of life. Then he +walked to Etaples, a few miles down the river, and surrendered himself +to the commandant there. This was a rough man--as Desportes had +said--and with more work to do than he could manage. With very little +ceremony he placed the English prisoner in charge of a veteran corporal, +with orders to take him to the lock-up in the barracks, and there await +further instructions. And then the commandant, in the hurry of his +duties, forgot all about him. + +Captain Scuddy now found himself in quarters and under treatment very +trying to his philosophy. Not that the men who had him in charge were +purposely unkind to him, only they were careless about his comfort, and +having more important work to see to, fed him at their leisure, which +did not always coincide with his appetite. Much of his food was watery +and dirty, and seemed to be growing its own vegetables, and sometimes +to have overripened them. Therefore he began to lose substance, and his +cheeks became strangers to the buxom gloss which had been the delight of +Madame Fropot. But although they did not feed him well, they took good +care of him in other ways, affording no chance of exit. + +But sour fruit often contains good pips. Scudamore's food was not worth +saying grace for, and yet a true blessing attended it: forasmuch as the +Frenchmen diminished the width of their prisoner, but not of the window. +Falling away very rapidly, for his mind was faring as badly as his body +(having nothing but regrets to feed upon, which are no better diet than +daisy soup), the gentle Scuddy, who must have become a good wrangler if +he had stopped at Cambridge, began to frame a table of cubic measure, +and consider the ratio of his body to that window, or rather the +aperture thereof. One night, when his supper had been quite forgotten +by everybody except himself, he lay awake thinking for hours and hours +about his fair Dolly and the wicked Carne, and all the lies he must have +told about her--for not a single syllable would Scudamore believe--and +the next day he found himself become so soft and limp, as well as +reduced to his lowest dimension, that he knew, by that just measure +which a man takes of himself when he has but a shred of it left, that +now he was small enough to go between the bars. And now it was high time +to feel that assurance, for the morning brought news that the order for +his removal to a great prison far inland was come, and would be carried +out the next day. "Now or never" was the only chance before him. + +Having made up his mind, he felt refreshed, and took his food with +gratitude. Then, as soon as the night was dark and quiet, and the +mighty host for leagues and leagues launched into the realms of slumber, +springing with both feet well together, as he sprang from the tub at +Stonnington, Scuddy laid hold of the iron bars which spanned the window +vertically, opened the lattice softly, and peeped out in quest of +sentinels. There were none on duty very near him, though he heard one +pacing in the distance. Then flinging himself on his side, he managed, +with some pain to his well-rounded chest, to squeeze it through the +narrow slit, and hanging from the bar, dropped gently. The drop was +deep, and in spite of all precautions he rolled to the bottom of a +grassy ditch. There he lay quiet to rest his bruises, and watch whether +any alarm was raised. Luckily for him, the moon was down, and no one +had observed his venture. Crawling on all fours along a hollow place, he +passed the outposts, and was free. + +Free in mind as well as body, acquitted from all claims of honour, +and able without a taint upon his name to bear most important news to +England, if he could only get away from France. This would be difficult, +as he was well aware; but his plan had been thoroughly considered in his +prison, and he set forth to make the best of it. Before his escape had +been discovered, he was under M. Jalais' roof once more, and found his +good friends resolved never to betray him. "But I must not expose you to +the risk," said he, "of heavy fine and imprisonment. I shall have to say +good-bye to all your goodness in an hour. And I shall not even allow +you to know what road I take, lest you should be blamed for sending my +pursuers on the wrong one. But search my room in three days' time, and +you will find a packet to pay for something which I must steal for the +present. I pray you, ask nothing, for your own sake." + +They fed him well, and he took three loaves, and a little keg of cider, +as well as the bag he had packed before he surrendered himself at +Etaples. Madame Fropot wept and kissed him, because he reminded her of +her lost son; and M. Jalais embraced him, because he was not at all like +any son of his. With hearty good wishes, and sweet regret, and promises +never to forget them, the Englishman quitted this kind French house, and +became at once a lawful and a likely mark for bullets. + +The year was now filled with the flurry of Spring, the quick nick of +time when a man is astonished at the power of Nature's memory. A +great many things had been left behind, mainly for their own good, no +doubt--some of the animal, some of the vegetable, some of the mineral +kingdom even--yet none of them started for anarchy. All were content to +be picked up and brought on according to the power of the world, making +allowance for the pinches of hard times, and the blows of east winds +that had blown themselves out. Even the prime grumbler of the earth--a +biped, who looks up to heaven for that purpose mainly--was as nearly +content with the present state of things as he can be with anything, +until it is the past. Scudamore only met one man, but that one declared +it was a lovely night; and perhaps he was easier to please because he +had only one leg left. + +The stars had appeared, and the young leaves turned the freshness of +their freedom towards them, whether from the crisp impulse of night, +or the buoyant influence of kindness in the air. There was very little +wind, and it was laden with no sound, except the distant voice of +an indefatigable dog; but Scudamore perceived that when the tide set +downwards, a gentle breeze would follow down the funnel of the river. +Then he drew the ancient boat which he had used before to the mossy +bank, and having placed his goods on board, fetched a pair of oars and +the short mast and brown sail from the shed where they were kept, and +at the top of a full tide launched forth alone upon his desperate +enterprise. + +There was faint light in the channel, but the banks looked very dark; +and just as he cast loose he heard the big clock at Montreuil, a great +way up the valley, slowly striking midnight. And he took it for good +omen, as he swiftly passed the orchard, that his old friend the ox +trotted down to the corner, and showed his white forehead under a +sprawling apple-tree, and gave him a salute, though he scarcely could +have known him. By this time the breeze was freshening nicely, and +Scudamore, ceasing to row, stepped the mast, and hoisting the brown +sail, glided along at a merry pace and with a hopeful heart. Passing the +mouth of the creek, he saw no sign of the traitorous pilot-boat, neither +did he meet any other craft in channel, although he saw many moored at +either bank. But nobody challenged him, as he kept in mid-stream, and +braced up his courage for the two great perils still before him ere he +gained the open sea. The first of these would be the outposts on either +side at Etaples, not far from the barracks where he had been jailed, and +here no doubt the sentinels would call him to account. But a far greater +danger would be near the river's mouth, where a bridge of boats, with a +broad gangway for troops, spanned the tidal opening. + +There was no bridge across the river yet near the town itself, but, +upon challenge from a sentry, Scudamore stood up and waved his hat, and +shouted in fine nasal and provincial French, "The fisherman, Auguste +Baudry, of Montreuil!" and the man withdrew his musket, and wished him +good success. Then he passed a sandy island with some men asleep upon +it, and began to fear the daybreak as he neared the bridge of boats. +This crossed the estuary at a narrow part, and having to bear much +heavy traffic, was as solid as a floating bridge can be. A double row of +barges was lashed and chained together, between piles driven deep into +the river's bed; along them a road of heavy planks was laid, rising +and falling as they rose and fell with tide, and a drawbridge near the +middle of about eight yards' span must suffice for the traffic of the +little river. This fabric was protected from the heavy western surges +by the shoals of the bar, and from any English dash by a strong shore +battery at either end. At first sight it looked like a black wall across +the river. + +The darkness of night is supposed to be deepest just before dawn--but +that depends upon the weather--and the sleep of weary men is often in +its prime at that time. Scudamore (although his life, and all that life +hangs on from heaven, were quivering at the puff of every breeze) was +enabled to derive some satisfaction from a yawn, such as goes the round +of a good company sometimes, like the smell of the supper of sleep +that is to come. Then he saw the dark line of the military bridge, and +lowered his sail, and unstepped his little mast. The strength of the +tide was almost spent, so that he could deal with this barrier at his +leisure, instead of being hurled against it. + +Unshipping the rudder and laying one oar astern, Scudamore fetched along +the inner row of piles, for he durst not pass under the drawbridge, +steering his boat to an inch while he sat with his face to the oar, +working noiselessly. Then he spied a narrow opening between two barges, +and drove his boat under the chain that joined them, and after some +fending and groping with his hands in the darkness under the planks +of the bridge, contrived to get out, when he almost despaired of it, +through the lower tier of the supporters. He was quit of that formidable +barrier now, but a faint flush of dawn and of reflection from the sea +compelled him to be very crafty. Instead of pushing straightway for the +bar and hoisting sail--which might have brought a charge of grape-shot +after him--he kept in the gloom of the piles nearly into the left bank, +and then hugged the shadow it afforded. Nothing but the desolate sands +surveyed him, and the piles of wrack cast up by gales from the west. +Then with a stout heart he stepped his little mast, and the breeze, +which freshened towards the rising of the sun, carried him briskly +through the tumble of the bar. + +The young man knelt and said his morning prayer, with one hand still +upon the tiller; for, like most men who have fought well for England, +he had staunch faith in the Power that has made and guides the nations, +until they rebel against it. So far his success had been more than his +own unaided hand might work, or his brain with the utmost of its labours +second. Of himself he cast all thoughts away, for his love seemed lost, +and his delight was gone; the shores of his country, if he ever reached +them, would contain no pleasure for him; but the happiness of millions +might depend upon his life, and first of all that of his mother. + +All by himself in this frail old tub, he could scarcely hope to cross +the Channel, even in the best of weather, and if he should escape the +enemy, while his scanty supplies held out. He had nothing to subsist on +but three small loaves, and a little keg of cider, and an old tar tub +which he had filled with brackish water, upon which the oily curdle of +the tar was floating. But, for all that, he trusted that he might hold +out, and retain his wits long enough to do good service. + +The French coast, trending here for leagues and leagues nearly due north +and south, is exposed to the long accumulating power of a western gale, +and the mountain roll of billows that have known no check. If even a +smart breeze from the west sprang up, his rickety little craft, intended +only for inland navigation, would have small chance of living through +the tumult. But his first care was to give a wide berth to the land and +the many French vessels that were moored or moving, whether belonging +to the great flotilla, or hastening to supply its wants. Many a time he +would have stood forth boldly, as fast as the breeze and tide permitted; +but no sooner had he shaped a course for the open sea than some hostile +sail appeared ahead and forced him to bear away until she was far +onward. Thus, after a long day of vigilance and care, he was not more +than five miles from land when the sun set, and probably further from +the English coast than when he set forth in the morning; because he had +stood towards the south of west all day, to keep out of sight of the +left wing of the enemy; and as the straight outline of the coast began +to fade, he supposed himself to be about half-way between the mouth of +the Canche and that of the little Authie. + +Watching with the eyes of one accustomed to the air the last +communication of the sun, and his postscript (which, like a lady's, is +the gist of what he means), Scudamore perceived that a change of weather +might come shortly, and must come ere long. There was nothing very +angry in the sky, nor even threatening; only a general uncertainty +and wavering; "I wish you well all round," instead of "Here's a guinea +apiece for you." Scuddy understood it, and resolved to carry on. + +Having no compass, and small knowledge of the coast--which lay out of +range of the British investment--he had made up his mind to lie by for +the night, or at any rate to move no more than he could help, for +fear of going altogether in the wrong direction. He could steer by the +stars--as great mariners did, when the world was all discovery--so long +as the stars held their skirts up; but, on the other hand, those stars +might lead him into the thick of the enemy. Of this, however, he must +now take his chance, rather than wait and let the wind turn against him. +For his main hope was to get into the track where British frigates, +and ships of light draught like his own dear Blonde, were upon patrol, +inside of the course of the great war chariots, the ships of the line, +that drave heavily. Revolving much grist in the mill of his mind, as +the sage Ulysses used to do, he found it essential to supply the motive +power bodily. One of Madame Fropot's loaves was very soon disposed of, +and a good draught of sound cider helped to renew his flagging energy. + +Throughout that night he kept wide-awake, and managed to make fair +progress, steering, as well as he could judge, a little to the west of +north. But before sunrise the arrears of sleep increased at compound +interest, and he lowered his sail, and discharged a part of the heavy +sum scored against him. But when he awoke, and glanced around him with +eyes that resented scanty measure, even a sleepy glance sufficed to show +much more than he wished to see. Both sky and sea were overcast with +doubt, and alarm, and evil foreboding. A dim streak lay where the land +had been, and a white gleam quivered from the sunrise on the waves, as +if he were spreading water-lilies instead of scattering roses. As the +earth has its dew that foretells a bright day--whenever the dew is of +the proper sort, for three kinds are established now--so the sea has a +flit of bloom in the early morning (neither a colour, nor a sparkle, nor +a vapour) which indicates peace and content for the day. But now there +was no such fair token upon it, but a heavy and surly and treacherous +look, with lumps here and there; as a man who intends to abuse us +thrusts his tongue to get sharp in his cheek. + +Scudamore saw that his poor old boat, scarcely sound enough for the men +of Gotham, was already complaining of the uncouth manners of the strange +place to which she had been carried in the dark. That is to say, she +was beginning to groan, at a very quiet slap in the cheeks, or even a +thoroughly well-meaning push in the rear. + +"You are welcome to groan, if you don't strain," exclaimed the heartless +Captain Scuddy. + +Even as he spoke he beheld a trickle of water glistening down the +forward bends, and then a little rill, and then a spurt, as if a serious +leak was sprung. He found the source of this, and contrived to caulk +it with a strand of tarred rope for the present; but the sinking of his +knife into the forward timber showed him that a great part of the bows +was rotten. If a head-sea arose, the crazy old frame would be prone to +break in bodily, whereas if he attempted to run before the sea, already +beginning to rise heavily from the west, there was nothing to save the +frail craft from being pooped. On every side it was a bad lookout, there +was every sign of a gale impending, which he could not even hope to +weather, and the only chance of rescue lay in the prompt appearance of +some British ship. + +Even in this sad plight his courage and love of native land prevailed +against the acceptance of aid from Frenchmen, if any should approach +to offer it. Rather would he lie at the bottom of the Channel, or drift +about among contending fishes, than become again a prisoner with his +secret in his mind, and no chance of sending it to save his country. As +a forlorn hope, he pulled out a stump of pencil, and wrote on the back +of a letter from his mother a brief memorandum of what he had heard, and +of the urgency of the matter. Then taking a last draught of his tarry +water, he emptied the little tub, and fixed the head in, after he had +enclosed his letter. Then he fastened the tub to an oar, to improve the +chance of its being observed, and laid the oar so that it would float +off, in case of the frail boat foundering. The other oar he kept at +hand to steer with, as long as the boat should live, and to help him to +float, when she should have disappeared. + +This being done, he felt easier in his mind, as a man who has prepared +for the worst should do. He renewed his vigour, which had begun to flag +under constant labour and long solitude, by consuming another of his +loaves, and taking almost the last draught of his cider, and after +that he battled throughout the dreary day against the increase of bad +weather. Towards the afternoon he saw several ships, one of which he +took to be a British frigate; but none of them espied his poor labouring +craft, or at any rate showed signs of doing so. Then a pilot-boat ran by +him, standing probably for Boulogne, and at one time less than a league +away. She appeared to be English, and he was just about to make signal +for aid, when a patch in her foresail almost convinced him that she was +the traitor of the Canche returning. She was probably out of her proper +course in order to avoid the investing fleet, and she would run inside +it when the darkness fell. Better to go to the bottom than invoke such +aid; and he dropped the oar with his neckerchief upon it, and faced the +angry sea again and the lonely despair of impending night. + +What followed was wiped from his memory for years, and the loss was not +much to be regretted. When he tried to think about it, he found nothing +but a roaring of wind and of waves in his ears, a numbness of arms as he +laboured with the oar tholed abaft to keep her heavy head up, a prickly +chill in his legs as the brine in the wallowing boat ran up them, and +then a great wallop and gollop of the element too abundant round him. + +But at last, when long years should have brought more wisdom, he went +poaching for supper upon Welsh rabbits. That night all the ghastly time +came back, and stood minute by minute before him. Every swing of his +body, and sway of his head, and swell of his heart, was repeated, the +buffet of the billows when the planks were gone, the numb grasp of +the slippery oar, the sucking down of legs which seemed turning into +sea-weed, the dashing of dollops of surf into mouth and nose closed ever +so carefully, and then the last sense of having fought a good fight, but +fallen away from human arms, into "Oh Lord, receive my spirit!" + + + +CHAPTER LV + +IN SAVAGE GUISE + + +"A man came out of the sea to-day, and made me believe we were all found +out," said the gay Charron to the gloomy Carne, a day or two after poor +Scudamore's wreck. "I never beheld a more strange-looking creature as +the owner of our human face divine, as some of your poets have found +to say. He has hair from his head all down to here"--the little Captain +pointed to a part of his system which would have been larger in more +tranquil times--"and his clothes were so thin that one was able to see +through them, and the tint of his face was of roasted sugar, such as it +is not to obtain in England. A fine place for fat things, but not for +thin ones." + +"My friend, you arouse my curiosity," the master of the feast, which was +not a very fat one, answered, as he lazily crossed his long legs; "you +are always apprehensive about detection, of which I have ceased to +entertain all fear, during the short time that remains. This stranger of +yours must have been very wet, if he had just appeared out of the sea. +Was it that which made his clothes transparent, like those of the higher +class of ladies?" + +"You have not the right understanding of words. He was appeared out of +the sea, but the wood of a boat was spread between them. He was as dry +as I am; and that is saying much, with nothing but this squeezing of bad +apples for to drink." + +"Ah, we shall have better soon. What an impatient throat it is! Well, +what became of this transparent man, made of burnt sugar, and with hair +below his belt?" + +"I tell you that you take it in a very different way. But he was a long +man, as long almost as you are, and with much less of indolence in the +moving of his legs. It was not sincerely wise for me to exhibit myself, +in the land. I was watching for a signal from the sea, and a large ship, +not of the navy but of merchants, was hanging off about a league and +delaying for her boat. For this reason I prevented him from seeing me, +and that created difficulty of my beholding him. But he was going along +the basin of the sea towards Springhaven--'Springport' it is designated +by the Little Corporal; ah ha, how the language of the English comes +left to him!" + +"And how right it comes to you, my friend, through your fine self-denial +in speaking it with me! It is well for our cause that it is not +sincerely wise for you to exhibit yourself in the land, or we should +have you making sweet eyes at English young ladies, and settling down +to roast beef and nut-brown ale. Fie, then, my friend! where is your +patriotism?" + +"These English young ladies," said the Frenchman, unabashed, "are very +fine, in my opinion--very fine indeed; and they could be made to dress, +which is sincerely an external thing. By occasion, I have seen the very +most belle, and charming and adorable of all the creatures ever made by +the good God. And if she was to say to me, 'Abandon France, my Captain, +and become my good husband'--and she has the money also--the fair France +would go to the bottom, and the good ship Charron hoist the Union-jack." + +"This becomes serious:" Carne had long learned to treat his French +colleague with a large contempt: "I shall have to confine you in the +Yellow Jar, my friend. But what young lady has bewitched you so, and led +your most powerful mind astray?" + +"I will tell you. I will make no secret of it. You have none of those +lofty feelings, but you will be able in another to comprehend them. It +is the daughter of the Coast-Defender--Admiral Charles Sir Darling." + +"Admiral Darling has two daughters. Which of them has the distinguished +honour of winning the regard of Captain Charron?" + +"If there are two, it is so much more better. If I succeed not with one, +I will try with the other. But the one who has made me captive for the +present is the lady with the dark hair done up like this." + +In a moment Charron had put up his hair, which was thick but short, into +a double sheaf; and Carne knew at once that it was Faith whose charms +had made havoc of the patriotism of his colleague. Then he smiled and +said, "My friend, that is the elder daughter." + +"I have some knowledge of the laws of England," the Frenchman continued, +complacently; "the elder will have the most money, and I am not rich, +though I am courageous. In the confusion that ensues I shall have the +very best chance of commending myself; and I confide in your honourable +feeling to give me the push forward by occasion. Say, is it well +conceived, my friend? We never shall conquer these Englishmen, but we +may be triumphant with their ladies." + +"It is a most excellent scheme of invasion," Carne answered, with his +slow sarcastic smile, "and you may rely on me for what you call the push +forward, if a Frenchman ever needs it with a lady. But I wish to hear +more about that brown man." + +"I can tell you no more. But the matter is strange. Perhaps he was +visiting the fat Captain Stoobar. I feel no solicitude concerning him +with my angel. She would never look twice at such a savage." + +But the gallant French Captain missed the mark this time. The +strange-looking man with the long brown beard quitted the shore before +he reached the stepping-stones, and making a short-cut across the +rabbit-warren, entered the cottage of Zebedee Tugwell, without even +stopping to knock at the door. The master was away, and so were all the +children; but stout Mrs. Tugwell, with her back to the door, was tending +the pot that hung over the fire. At the sound of a footstep she turned +round, and her red face grew whiter than the ashes she was stirring. + +"Oh, Mr. Erle, is it you, or your ghostie?" she cried, as she fell +against the door of the brick oven. "Do 'e speak, for God's sake, if He +have given the power to 'e." + +"He has almost taken it away again, so far as the English language +goes," Erle Twemlow answered, with a smile which was visible only in his +eyes, through long want of a razor; "but I am picking up a little. +Shake hands, Kezia, and then you will know me. Though I have not quite +recovered that art as yet." + +"Oh, Mr. Erle!" exclaimed Zebedee's wife, with tears ready to start for +his sake and her own, "how many a time I've had you on my knees, afore +I was blessed with any of my own, and a bad sort of blessing the best of +'em proves. Not that I would listen to a word again' him. I suppose you +never did happen to run again' my Dan'el, in any of they furrin parts, +from the way they makes the hair grow. I did hear tell of him over to +Pebbleridge; but not likely, so nigh to his own mother, and never come +no nigher. And if they furrin parts puts on the hair so heavily, who +could 'a known him to Pebbleridge? They never was like we be. They'd as +lief tell a lie as look at you, over there." + +In spite of his own long years of trouble, or perhaps by reason of them, +Erle Twemlow, eager as he was to get on, listened to the sad tale that +sought for his advice, and departed from wisdom--as good-nature always +does--by offering useless counsel--counsel that could not be taken, and +yet was far from being worthless, because it stirred anew the fount of +hope, towards which the parched affections creep. + +"But Lor bless me, sir, I never thought of you!" Mrs. Tugwell exclaimed, +having thought out her self. "What did Parson say, and your mother, and +Miss Faith? It must 'a been better than a play to see them." + +"Not one of them knows a word about it yet; nor anybody in Springhaven, +except you, Kezia. You were as good as my nurse, you know; I have never +had a chance of writing to them, and I want you to help me to let them +know it slowly." + +"Oh, Mr. Erle, what a lovely young woman your Miss Faith is grown up by +now! Some thinks more of Miss Dolly, but, to my mind, you may as well +put a mackerel before a salmon, for the sake of the stripes and the +glittering. Now what can I do to make you decent, sir, for them duds +and that hair is barbarious? My Tabby and Debby will be back in half an +hour, and them growing up into young maidens now." + +Twemlow explained that after living so long among savages in a burning +clime, he had found it impossible to wear thick clothes, and had been +rigged up in some Indian stuff by the tailor of the ship which had +rescued him. But now he supposed he must reconcile himself by degrees to +the old imprisonment. But as for his hair, that should never be touched, +unless he was restored to the British Army, and obliged to do as the +others did. With many little jokes of a homely order, Mrs. Tugwell, +regarding him still as a child, supplied him with her husband's summer +suit of thin duck, which was ample enough not to gall him; and then she +sent her daughters with a note to the Rector, begging him to come at +seven o'clock to meet a gentleman who wished to see him upon important +business, near the plank bridge across the little river. Erle wrote that +note, but did not sign it; and after many years of happy freedom from +the pen, his handwriting was so changed that his own father would not +know it. What he feared was the sudden shock to his good mother; his +father's nerves were strong, and must be used as buffers. + +"Another trouble, probably; there is nothing now but trouble," Mr. +Twemlow was thinking, as he walked unwillingly towards the place +appointed. "I wish I could only guess what I can have done to deserve +all these trials, as I become less fit to bear them. I would never +have come to this lonely spot, except that it may be about Shargeloes. +Everything now is turned upside down; but the Lord knows best, and I +must bear it. Sir, who are you? And what do you want me for?" + +At the corner where Miss Dolly had rushed into the Rector's open arms so +fast, a tall man, clad in white, was standing, with a staff about +eight feet long in his hand. Having carried a spear for four years now, +Captain Twemlow found no comfort in his native land until he had cut the +tallest growth in Admiral Darling's osier bed, and peeled it, and shaved +it to a seven-sided taper. He rested this point in a socket of moss, +that it might not be blunted, and then replied: + +"Father, you ought to know me, although you have grown much stouter in +my absence; and perhaps I am thinner than I used to be. But the climate +disagreed with me, until I got to like it." + +"Erle! Do you mean to say you are my boy Erle?" The Rector was +particular about his clothes. "Don't think of touching me. You are hair +all over, and I dare say never had a comb. I won't believe a word of it +until you prove it." + +"Well, mother will know me, if you don't." The young man answered +calmly, having been tossed upon so many horns of adventure that none +could make a hole in him. "I thought that you would have been glad to +see me; and I managed to bring a good many presents; only they are +gone on to London. They could not be got at, to land them with me; but +Captain Southcombe will be sure to send them. You must not suppose, +because I am empty-handed now--" + +"My dear son," cried the father, deeply hurt, "do you think that your +welcome depends upon presents? You have indeed fallen into savage ways. +Come, and let me examine you through your hair; though the light is +scarcely strong enough now to go through it. To think that you should be +my own Erle, alive after such a time, and with such a lot of hair! Only, +if there is any palm-oil on it--this is my last new coat but one." + +"No, father, nothing that you ever can have dreamed of. Something that +will make you a bishop, if you like, and me a member of the House +of Lords. But I did not find it out myself--which makes success more +certain." + +"They have taught you some great truths, my dear boy. The man who begins +a thing never gets on. But I am so astonished that I know not what I +say. I ought to have thanked the Lord long ago. Have you got a place +without any hair upon it large enough for me to kiss you?" + +Erle Twemlow, whose hand in spite of all adventures trembled a little +upon his spear, lifted his hat and found a smooth front, sure to be all +the smoother for a father's kiss. + +"Let us go home," said the old man, trying to exclude all excitement +from his throat and heart; "but you must stay outside until I come to +fetch you. I feel a little anxious, my dear boy, as to how your dear +mother will get over it. She has never been strong since the bad news +came about you. And somebody else has to be considered. But that must +stand over till to-morrow." + + + +CHAPTER LVI + +THE SILVER VOICE + + +Many shrewd writers have observed that Britannia has a special +luck--which the more devout call Providence--in holding her own, against +not only her true and lawful enemies, but even those of her own bosom +who labour most to ruin her. And truly she had need of all her fortune +now, to save her from the skulking traitor, as well as the raging +adversary. + +"Now I will have my revenge," said Carne, "on all who have outraged and +plundered me. Crows--carrion-crows--I will turn them into owls without +a nest. Prowling owls, to come blinking even now at the last of my poor +relics! Charron, what did that fellow say to old Jerry, the day I tied +the dogs up?" + +"He said, my dear friend, that he missed from the paintings which he had +taken to his house the most precious of them all--the picture of your +dear grandmother, by a man whose name it is hard to pronounce, but a +Captain in the British Army, very much fond of beloving and painting +all the most beautiful ladies; and since he had painted the mother of +Vash--Vash--the man that conquered England in America--all his work was +gone up to a wonderful price, and old Sheray should have one guinea if +he would exhibit to him where to find it. Meedle or Beedle--he had set +his heart on getting it. He declared by the good God that he would have +it, and that you had got it under a tombstone." + +"A sample of their persecutions! You know that I have never seen it, +nor even heard of the Captain Middleton who went on his rovings from +Springhaven. And, again, about my own front-door, or rather the door of +my family for some four centuries, because it was carved as they cannot +carve now, it was put into that vile Indenture. I care very little for +my ancestors--benighted Britons of the county type--but these things are +personal insults to me. I seldom talk about them, and I will not do so +now." + +"My Captain, you should talk much about it. That would be the good +relief to your extensive mind. Revenge is not of the bright French +nature; but the sky of this island procreates it. My faith! how I would +rage at England, if it were not for the people, and their daughters! We +shall see; in a few days more we shall astonish the fat John Bull; and +then his little kittens--what do you call them?--calves of an ox, will +come running to us." + +"Enough of your foolish talk," said Carne. "The women are as resolute as +the men. Even when we have taken London, not an English woman will come +near us, until all the men have yielded. Go down to your station and +watch for the boat. I expect an important despatch to-night. But I +cannot stay here for the chance of it. I have business in Springhaven." + +His business in Springhaven was to turn young love to the basest use, to +make a maiden (rash and flighty, but not as yet dishonourable) a traitor +to her friends and father-land, and most of all to her own father. He +had tried to poison Dolly's mind with doses of social nonsense--in which +he believed about as much as a quack believes in his own pills--but his +main reliance now was placed in his hold upon her romantic heart, and in +her vague ambitions. Pure and faithful love was not to be expected from +his nature; but he had invested in Dolly all the affection he could +spare from self. He had laboured long, and suffered much, and the red +crown of his work was nigh. + +Riding slowly down the hill about half a mile from the village, Carne +saw a tall man coming towards him with a firm, deliberate walk. The +stranger was dressed very lightly, and wore a hat that looked like a +tobacco leaf, and carried a long wand in his hand, as if he were going +to keep order in church. These things took the eye afar, but at shorter +range became as nothing, compared with the aspect of the man himself. +This was grand, with its steadfast gaze--no stare, but a calm and kind +regard--its large tranquillity and power of receiving without believing +the words of men; and most of all in the depth of expression reserved by +experience in the forest of its hair. + +Carne was about to pass in silent wonder and uneasiness, but the other +gently laid the rod across his breast and stopped him, and then waited +for him to ask the reason why. + +"Have you any business with me, good sir?" Carne would have spoken +rudely, but saw that rudeness would leave no mark upon a man like this. +"If so, I must ask you to be quick. And perhaps you will tell me who you +are." + +"I think that you are Caryl Carne," said the stranger, not unpleasantly, +but as if it mattered very little who was Caryl Carne, or whether there +was any such existence. + +Carne stared fiercely, for he was of touchy temper; but he might as +well have stared at a bucket of water in the hope of deranging its +tranquillity. "You know me. But I don't know you," he answered at last, +with a jerk of his reins. + +"Be in no hurry," said the other, mildly; "the weather is fine, and time +plentiful. I hope to have much pleasant knowledge of you. I have the +honour to be your first cousin, Erle Twemlow. Shake hands with your +kinsman." + +Carne offered his hand, but without his usual grace and self-possession. +Twemlow took it in his broad brown palm, in which it seemed to melt +away, firm though it was and muscular. + +"I was going up to call on you," said Twemlow, who had acquired a +habit of speaking as if he meant all the world to hear. "I feel a deep +interest in your fortunes, and hope to improve them enormously. You +shall hear all about it when I come up. I have passed four years in the +wilds of Africa, where no white man ever trod before, and I have found +out things no white man knows. We call those people savages, but they +know a great deal more than we do. Shall I call to-morrow, and have a +long talk?" + +"I fear," replied Carne, who was cursing his luck for bringing this +fellow home just now, "that I shall have no time for a week or two. I +am engaged upon important business now, which will occupy my whole +attention. Let me see! You are staying at the rectory, I suppose. The +best plan will be for me to let you know when I can afford the pleasure +of receiving you. In a fortnight, or three weeks at the latest--" + +"Very well. I am never in a hurry. And I want to go to London to see +about my things. But I dare say you will not object to my roving about +the old castle now and then. I loved the old place as a boy, and I know +every crick and cranny and snake-hole in it." + +"How glad they must have been to see you--restored from the dead, +and with such rich discoveries! But you must be more careful, my good +cousin, and create no more anxiety. Glad as I shall be to see you, +when time allows that indulgence, I must not encourage you to further +rovings, which might end in your final disappearance. Two boar-hounds, +exceedingly fierce and strong, and compelled by my straitened +circumstances to pick up their own living, are at large on my premises +night and day, to remonstrate with my creditors. We fear that they ate +a man last night, who had stolen a valuable picture, and was eager for +another by the same distinguished artist. His boots and hat were found +unhurt; but of his clothes not a shred remained, to afford any +pattern for enquiry. What would my feelings be if Aunt Maria arrived +hysterically in the pony-carriage, and at great personal risk +enquired--" + +"I fear no dogs," said Erle Twemlow, without any flash of anger in his +steadfast eyes. "I can bring any dog to lick my feet. But I fear any man +who sinks lower than a dog, by obtaining a voice and speaking lies with +it. If you wish, for some reason of your own, to have nought to do with +me, you should have said so; and I might have respected you afterwards. +But flimsy excuses and trumpery lies belong to the lowest race of +savages, who live near the coast, and have been taught by Frenchmen." + +Erle Twemlow stood, as he left off speaking, just before the shoulder +of Carne's horse, ready to receive a blow, if offered, but without +preparation for returning it. But Carne, for many good reasons--which +occurred to his mind long afterwards--controlled his fury, and consoled +his self-respect by repaying in kind the contempt he received. + +"Well done, Mr. Savage!" he said, with a violent effort to look amiable. +"You and I are accustomed to the opposite extremes of society, and the +less we meet, the better. When a barbarian insults me, I take it as a +foul word from a clodhopper, which does not hurt me, but may damage his +own self-respect, if he cherishes such an illusion. Perhaps you will +allow me to ride on, while you curb your very natural curiosity about a +civilized gentleman." + +Twemlow made no answer, but looked at him with a gentle pity, which +infuriated Carne more than the keenest insult. He lashed his horse, and +galloped down the hill, while his cousin stroked his beard, and looked +after him with sorrow. + +"Everything goes against me now," thought Caryl Carne, while he put up +his horse and set off for the Admiral's Roundhouse. "I want to be cool +as a cucumber, and that insolent villain has made pepper of me. What +devil sent him here at such a time?" + +For the moment it did not cross his mind that this man of lofty rudeness +was the long-expected lover of Faith Darling, and therefore in some +sort entitled to a voice about the doings of the younger sister. By many +quiet sneers, and much expressive silence, he had set the brisk Dolly +up against the quiet Faith, as a man who understands fowl nature can set +even two young pullets pulling each other's hackles out. + +"So you are come at last!" said Dolly. "No one who knows me keeps me +waiting, because I am not accustomed to it. I expect to be called for at +any moment, by matters of real importance--not like this." + +"Your mind is a little disturbed," replied Carne, as he took her hand +and kissed it, with less than the proper rapture; "is it because of the +brown and hairy man just returned from Africa?" + +"Not altogether. But that may be something. He is not a man to be +laughed at. I wish you could have seen my sister." + +"I would rather see you; and I have no love of savages. He is my first +cousin, and that affords me a domestic right to object to him. As a +brother-in-law I will have none of him." + +"You forget," answered Dolly, with a flash of her old spirit, which he +was subduing too heavily, "that a matter of that sort depends upon us, +and our father, and not upon the gentlemen. If the gentlemen don't like +it, they can always go away." + +"How can they go, when they are chained up like a dog? Women may wander +from this one to that, because they have nothing to bind them; but a man +is of steadfast material." + +"Erle Twemlow is, at any rate--though it is hard to see his material +through his hair; but that must come off, and I mean to do it. He is the +best-natured man I have ever yet known, except one; and that one had got +nothing to shave. Men never seem to understand about their hair, and +the interest we feel concerning it. But it does not matter very much, +compared to their higher principles." + +"That is where I carry every vote, of whatever sex you please"--Carne +saw that this girl must be humoured for the moment. "Anybody can see +what I am. Straightforward, and ready to show my teeth. Why should an +honest man live in a bush?" + +"Faith likes it very much; though she always used to say that it did +seem so unchristian. Could you manage to come and meet him, Caryl? We +shall have a little dinner on Saturday, I believe, that every one may +see Erle Twemlow. His beloved parents will be there, who are gone quite +wild about him. Father will be at home for once; and the Marquis of +Southdown, and some officers, and Captain Stubbard and his wife will +come, and perhaps my brother Frank, who admires you so much. You shall +have an invitation in the morning." + +"Such delights are not for me," Carne answered, with a superior smile; +"unhappily my time is too important. But perhaps these festivities will +favour me with the chance of a few words with my darling. How I long to +see her, and how little chance I get!" + +"Because, when you get it, you spend three-quarters of the time in +arguing, and the rest in finding fault. I am sure I go as far as anybody +can; and I won't take you into my father's Roundhouse, because I don't +think it would be proper." + +"Ladies alone understand such subjects; and a gentleman is thankful +that they do. I am quite content to be outside the Roundhouse--so called +because it is square, perhaps--though the wind is gone back to the east +again, as it always does now in an English summer, according to a man +who has studied the subject--Zebedee Tugwell, the captain of the fleet. +Dolly, beloved, and most worthy to be more so, clear your bright mind +from all false impressions, whose only merit is that they are yours, and +allow it to look clearly at a matter of plain sense." + +She was pleased to have compliments paid to her mind, even more than to +her body--because there was no doubt about the merits of the latter--and +she said: "That is very nice. Go on." + +"Well, beauty, you know that I trust you in everything, because of your +very keen discretion, and freedom from stupid little prejudice. I have +been surprised at times, when I thought of it in your absence, that +any one so young, who has never been through any course of political +economy, should be able to take such a clear view of subjects which are +far beyond the intellect of even the oldest ladies. But it must be your +brother; no doubt he has helped you to--" + +"Not he!" cried the innocent Dolly, with fine pride; "I rather look down +upon his reasoning powers; though I never could make such a pretty +tink of rhymes--like the bells of the sheep when the ground is full of +turnips." + +"He approves of your elevated views," said Carne, looking as grave as a +crow at a church clock; "they may not have come from him, because they +are your own, quite as much as his poetry is his. But he perceives their +truth, and he knows that they must prevail. In a year or two we shall be +wondering, sweet Dolly, when you and I sit side by side, as the +stupid old King and Queen do now, that it ever has been possible for +narrow-minded nonsense to prevail as it did until we rose above it. We +shall be admired as the benefactors, not of this country only, but of +the whole world." + +Miss Dolly was fairly endowed with common-sense, but often failed to +use it. She would fain have said now, "That sounds wonderfully fine; but +what does it mean, and how are we to work it?" But unluckily she +could not bring herself to say it. And when millions are fooled by the +glibness of one man--even in these days of wisdom--who can be surprised +at a young maid's weakness? + +"You wish me to help you in some way," she said; "your object is sure to +be good; and you trust me in everything, because of my discretion. Then +why not tell me everything?" + +"You know everything," Carne replied, with a smile of affection and +sweet reproach. "My object is the largest that a man can have; and +until I saw you, there was not the least taint of self-interest in my +proceedings. But now it is not for the universe alone, for the grandeur +of humanity, and the triumph of peace, that I have to strive, but also +for another little somebody, who has come--I am ashamed to say--to +outweigh all the rest in the balance of my too tender heart." + +This was so good, and so well delivered, that the lady of such love +could do no less than vouchsafe a soft hand and a softer glance, instead +of pursuing hard reason. + +"Beauty, it is plain enough to you, though it might not be so to stupid +people," Carne continued, as he pressed her hand, and vanquished the +doubt of her enquiring eyes with the strength of his resolute gaze, +"that bold measures are sometimes the only wise ones. Many English girls +would stand aghast to hear that it was needful for the good of England +that a certain number, a strictly limited number, of Frenchmen should +land upon this coast." + +"I should rather think they would!" cried Dolly; "and I would be one of +them--you may be quite sure of that." + +"For a moment you might, until you came to understand." Carne's voice +always took a silver tone when his words were big with roguery; as +the man who is touting for his neighbour's bees strikes the frying-pan +softly at first, to tone the pulsations of the murmuring mob. "But +every safeguard and every guarantee that can be demanded by the wildest +prudence will be afforded before a step is taken. In plain truth, a +large mind is almost shocked at such deference to antique prejudice. +But the feelings of old women must be considered; and our measures are +fenced with such securities that even the most timid must be satisfied. +There must be a nominal landing, of course, of a strictly limited +number, and they must be secured for a measurable period from any +ill-judged interruption. But the great point of all is to have no +blood-guiltiness, no outbreak of fanatic natives against benefactors +coming in the garb of peace. A truly noble offer of the olive-branch +must not be misinterpreted. It is the finest idea that has ever been +conceived; and no one possessing a liberal mind can help admiring the +perfection of this plan. For the sake of this country, and the world, +and ourselves, we must contribute our little share, darling." + +Carne, with the grace of a lofty protector, as well as the face of +an ardent lover, drew the bewildered maiden towards him, and tenderly +kissed her pretty forehead, holding up his hand against all protest. + +"It is useless to dream of drawing back," he continued; "my beauty, +and my poor outcast self, are in the same boat, and must sail on to +success--such success as there never has been before, because it will +bless the whole world, as well as secure our own perfect happiness. You +will be more than the Queen of England. Statues of you will be set up +everywhere; and where could the sculptors find such another model? I may +count upon your steadfast heart, I know, and your wonderful quickness of +perception." + +"Yes, if I could only see that everything was right. But I feel that I +ought to consult somebody of more experience in such things. My father, +for instance, or my brother Frank, or even Mr. Twemlow, or perhaps +Captain Stubbard." + +"If you had thought of it a little sooner, and allowed me time to reason +with them," Carne replied, with a candid smile, "that would have been +the very thing I should have wished, as taking a great responsibility +from me. But alas, it would be fatal now. The main object now is to +remove all chance of an ill-judged conflict, which would ruin all good +feeling, and cost many valuable lives, perhaps even that of your truly +gallant father. No, my Dolly, you must not open your beautiful lips to +any one. The peace and happiness of the world depend entirely upon your +discretion. All will be arranged to a nicety, and a happy result is +certain. Only I must see you, about some small points, as well as to +satisfy my own craving. On Saturday you have that dinner party, when +somebody will sit by your side instead of me. How miserably jealous I +shall be! When the gentlemen are at their wine, you must console me by +slipping away from the ladies, and coming to the window of the little +room where your father keeps his papers. I shall quit everything and +watch there for you among the shrubs, when it grows dark enough." + + + +CHAPTER LVII + +BELOW THE LINE + + +Of the British Admirals then on duty, Collingwood alone, so far as now +appears, had any suspicion of Napoleon's real plan. + +"I have always had an idea that Ireland alone was the object they have +in view," he wrote in July, 1805, "and still believe that to be their +ultimate destination--that they [i. e., the Toulon fleet] will now +liberate the Ferrol squadron from Calder, make the round of the bay, and +taking the Rochefort people with them, appear off Ushant, perhaps +with 34 sail, there to be joined by 20 more. Cornwallis collecting his +out-squadrons may have 30 and upwards. This appears to be a probable +plan; for unless it is to bring their great fleets and armies to some +point of service--some rash attempt at conquest--they have been only +subjecting them to chance of loss; which I do not believe the Corsican +would do, without the hope of an adequate reward. This summer is big +with events." + +This was written to Lord Nelson upon his return to Europe, after chasing +that Toulon fleet to the West Indies and back again. And a day or +two later, the same Vice-Admiral wrote to his friend very clearly, as +before: + +"Truly glad will I be to see you, and to give you my best opinion on the +present state of affairs, which are in the highest degree intricate. But +reasoning on the policy of the present French government, who never aim +at little things while great objects are in view, I have considered the +invasion of Ireland as the real mark and butt of all their operations. +The flight to the West Indies was to take off the naval force, which +is the great impediment to their undertaking. The Rochefort squadron's +return confirmed me. I think they will now collect their force at +Ferrol--which Calder tells me are in motion--pick up those at Rochefort, +who, I am told, are equally ready, and will make them above thirty sail; +and then, without going near Ushant or the Channel fleet, proceed to +Ireland. Detachments must go from the Channel fleet to succour Ireland, +when the Brest fleet--21 I believe of them--will sail, either to another +part of Ireland, or up the Channel--a sort of force that has not been +seen in those seas, perhaps ever." + +Lord Nelson just lately had suffered so much from the disadvantage of +not "following his own head, and so being much more correct in judgment +than following the opinion of others," that his head was not at all in +a receptive state; and like all who have doubted about being right, +and found the doubt wrong, he was hardened into the merits of his own +conclusion. "Why have I gone on a goose-chase?" he asked; "because I +have twice as many ears as eyes." + +This being so, he stuck fast to the conviction which he had nourished +all along, that the scheme of invasion was a sham, intended to keep the +British fleet at home, while the enemy ravaged our commerce and colonies +afar. And by this time the country, grown heartily tired of groundless +alarms and suspended menace, was beginning to view with contempt a camp +that was wearing out its own encampment. Little was it dreamed in the +sweet rose gardens of England, or the fragrant hay-fields, that the curl +of blue smoke while the dinner was cooking, the call of milkmaids, the +haymaker's laugh, or the whinny of Dobbin between his mouthfuls, might +be turned (ere a man of good appetite was full) into foreign shouts, and +shriek of English maiden, crackling homestead, and blazing stack-yard, +blare of trumpets, and roar of artillery, cold flash of steel, and the +soft warm trickle of a father's or a husband's blood. + +But the chance of this hung upon a hair just now. One hundred and sixty +thousand soldiers--the finest sons of Mars that demon has ever yet +begotten--fifteen thousand warlike horses, ready to devour all the oats +of England, cannons that never could be counted (because it was not +always safe to go near them), and ships that no reckoner could get to +the end of, because he was always beginning again. + +Who was there now to meet all these? Admiral Darling, and Captain +Stubbard, and Zebedee Tugwell (if he found them intrusive), and Erle +Twemlow, as soon as he got his things from London. There might be a few +more to come forward, as soon as they saw the necessity; but Mr. John +Prater could not be relied on--because of the trade he might expect +to drive; Mr. Shargeloes had never turned up again; and as for poor +Cheeseman, he had lost himself so entirely now that he made up the +weight of a pound of sausages, in the broad summer light, with a tallow +candle. Like others concerned in this history, he had jumped at the +stars, and cracked his head against a beam, in manner to be recorded. + +The country being destitute thus of defenders--for even Stubbard's +battery was not half manned, because it had never been wanted--the plan +of invasion was thriving well, in all but one particular. The fleet +under Villeneuve was at large, so was that under Lallemand, who had +superseded Missiessy, so was the force of Gravina and another Spanish +admiral; but Ganteaume had failed to elude the vigilance of that hero of +storms, Cornwallis. Napoleon arrived at Boulogne on the 3rd of August, +and reviewed his troops, in a line on the beach some eight miles long. +A finer sight he had never seen, and he wrote in his pride: "The English +know not what is hanging over their ears. If we are masters of the +passage for twelve hours, England is conquered." But all depended on +Villeneuve, and happily he could not depend upon his nerves. + +Meanwhile the young man who was charged with a message which he would +gladly have died to discharge was far away, eating out his heart in +silence, or vainly relieving it with unknown words. At the last gasp, or +after he ceased to gasp for the time, and was drifting insensible, but +happily with his honest face still upward, a Dutchman, keeping a sharp +lookout for English cruisers, espied him. He was taken on board of a +fine bark bound from Rotterdam for Java, with orders to choose the track +least infested by that ravenous shark Britannia. Scudamore was treated +with the warmest kindness and the most gentle attention, for the +captain's wife was on board, and her tender heart was moved with +compassion. Yet even so, three days passed by with no more knowledge +of time on his part than the face of a clock has of its hands; and more +than a week was gone before both body and mind were in tone and tune +again. By that time the stout Dutch bark, having given a wide berth +to the wakes of war, was forty leagues west of Cape Finisterre, under +orders to touch no land short of the Cape, except for fresh water at St. +Jago. + +Blyth Scudamore was blest with that natural feeling of preference for +one's own kin and country which the much larger minds of the present +period flout, and scout as barbarous. Happily our periodical blight +is expiring, like cuckoo-spit, in its own bubbles; and the time is +returning when the bottle-blister will not be accepted as the good ripe +peach. Scudamore was of the times that have been (and perhaps may +be coming again, in the teeth and the jaw of universal suffrage), of +resolute, vigorous, loyal people, holding fast all that God gives them, +and declining to be led by the tail, by a gentleman who tacked their +tail on as his handle. + +This certainty of belonging still to a firm and substantial race of men +(whose extinction would leave the world nothing to breed from) made the +gallant Scudamore so anxious to do his duty, that he could not do it. +Why do we whistle to a horse overburdened with a heavy load uphill? That +his mind may grow tranquil, and his ears train forward, his eyes lose +their nervous contraction, and a fine sense of leisure pervade him. But +if he has a long hill to surmount, with none to restrain his ardour, the +sense of duty grows stronger than any consideration of his own good, +and the best man has not the conscience needful to understand half his +emotions. + +Thus the sense of duty kept Blyth Scudamore full of misery. Every day +carried him further from the all-important issues; and the chance of +returning in time grew faint, and fainter at every sunset. The kindly +Dutchman and his wife were aware of some burden on his mind, because of +its many groaning sallies while astray from judgment. But as soon as his +wits were clear again, and his body fit to second them, Blyth saw that +he could not crave their help, against the present interests of their +own land. Holland was at enmity with England, not of its own accord, +but under the pressure of the man who worked so hard the great European +mangle. Captain Van Oort had picked up some English, and his wife could +use tongue and ears in French, while Scudamore afforded himself and them +some little diversion by attempts in Dutch. Being of a wonderfully happy +nature--for happiness is the greatest wonder in this world--he could not +help many a wholesome laugh, in spite of all the projects of Napoleon. + +Little things seldom jump into bigness, till a man sets his microscope +at them. According to the everlasting harmonies, Blyth had not got a +penny, because he had not got a pocket to put it in. A pocketful of +money would have sent him to the bottom of the sea, that breezy April +night, when he drifted for hours, with eyes full of salt, twinkling +feeble answer to the twinkle of the stars. But he had made himself light +of his little cash left, in his preparation for a slow decease, +and perhaps the fish had paid tribute with it to the Caesar of this +Millennium. Captain Van Oort was a man of his inches in length, but in +breadth about one-third more, being thickened and spread by the years +that do this to a body containing a Christian mind. "You will never get +out of them," said Mrs. Van Oort, when he got into her husband's large +smallclothes; but he who had often jumped out of a tub felt no +despair about jumping out of two. In every way Scudamore hoped for the +best--which is the only right course for a man who has done his own +best, and is helpless. + +Keeping out of the usual track of commerce, because of the privateers +and other pests of war waylaying it, they met no sail of either friend +or foe until they cast anchor at St. Jago. Here there was no ship bound +for England, and little chance of finding one, for weeks or perhaps for +months to come. The best chance of getting home lay clearly in going yet +further away from home, and so he stuck to the good ship still, and they +weighed for the Cape on the 12th of May. Everything set against poor +Scuddy--wind, and wave, and the power of man. It had been the 16th of +April when he was rescued from the devouring sea; some days had been +spent by the leisurely Dutchman in providing fresh supplies, and the +stout bark's favourite maxim seemed to be, "the more haste the less +speed." Baffling winds and a dead calm helped to second this philosophy, +and the first week of June was past before they swung to their moorings +in Table Bay. + +"What chance is there now of my doing any good?" the young Englishman +asked himself, bitterly. "This place is again in the hands of the Dutch, +and the English ships stand clear of it, or only receive supplies by +stealth. I am friendless here, I am penniless; and worst of all, if I +even get a passage home, there will be no home left. Too late! too late! +What use is there in striving?" + +Tears stood in his blue eyes, which were gentle as a lady's; and his +forehead (usually calm and smooth and ready for the flicker of a very +pleasant smile) was as grave and determined as the brow of Caryl Carne. +Captain Van Oort would have lent him 500 guilders with the greatest +pleasure, but Scudamore would not take more than fifty, to support him +until he could obtain a ship. Then with hearty good-will, and life-long +faith in each other, the two men parted, and Scudamore's heart was +uncommonly low--for a substance that was not a "Jack-in-the-box"--as he +watched from the shore the slow fading into dream-land of the Katterina. + +Nothing except patriotic feeling may justify a man, who has done no +harm, in long-continued misery. The sense of violent bodily pain, or of +perpetual misfortune, or of the baseness of all in whom he trusted, and +other steady influx of many-fountained sorrow, may wear him for a time, +and even fetch his spirit lower than the more vicarious woe can do. But +the firm conviction that the family of man to which one belongs, and +is proud of belonging, has fallen into the hands of traitors, eloquent +liars, and vile hypocrites, and cannot escape without crawling in the +dust--this produces a large deep gloom, and a crushing sense of doom +beyond philosophy. Scudamore could have endured the loss and the +disillusion of his love--pure and strong as that power had been--but +the ruin of his native land would turn his lively heart into a lump of +stone. + +For two or three days he roved about among the people of the +water-side--boatmen, pilots, shipping agents, store-keepers, stevedores, +crimps, or any others likely to know anything to help him. Some of these +could speak a little English, and many had some knowledge of French; but +all shook their heads at his eagerness to get to England. "You may +wait weeks, or you may wait months," said the one who knew most of +the subject; "we are very jealous of the English ships. That country +swallows up the sea so. It has been forbidden to supply the English +ships; but for plenty money it is done sometimes; but the finger must +be placed upon the nose, and upon the two eyes what you call the guinea; +and in six hours where are they? Swallowed up by the mist from the +mountain. No, sir! If you have the great money, it is very difficult. +But if you have not that, it is impossible." + +"I have not the great money; and the little money also has escaped from +a quicksand in the bottom of my pocket." + +"Then you will never get to England, sir," this gentleman answered, +pleasantly; "and unless I have been told things too severely, the best +man that lives had better not go there, without a rock of gold in his +pocket grand enough to fill a thousand quicksands." + +Scudamore lifted the relics of his hat, and went in search of some other +Job's comforter. Instead of a passage to England, he saw in a straight +line before him the only journey which a mortal may take without paying +his fare. + +To save himself from this gratuitous tour, he earned a little money in +a porter's gang, till his quick step roused the indignation of the rest. +With the loftiest perception of the rights of man, they turned him +out of that employment (for the one "sacred principle of labour" is to +play), and he, understanding now the nature, of democracy, perceived +that of all the many short-cuts to starvation, the one with the fewest +elbows to it is--to work. + +While he was meditating upon these points--which persons of big words +love to call "questions of political economy"--his hat, now become a +patent ventilator, sat according to custom on the back of his +head, exposing his large calm forehead, and the kind honesty of his +countenance. Then he started a little, for his nerves were not quite +as strong as when they had good feeding, at the sudden sense of being +scrutinized by the most piercing gaze he had ever encountered. + +The stranger was an old man of tall spare frame, wearing a shovel-hat +and long black gown drawn in with a belt, and around his bare neck was a +steel chain supporting an ebony cross. With a smile, which displayed the +firm angles of his face, he addressed the young man in a language which +Scudamore could not understand, but believed to be Portuguese. + +"Thy words I am not able to understand. But the Latin tongue, as it is +pronounced in England, I am able to interpret, and to speak, not +too abundantly." Scudamore spoke the best Latin he could muster at a +moment's notice, for he saw that this gentleman was a Catholic priest, +and probably therefore of good education. + +"Art thou, then, an Englishman, my son?" the stranger replied, in the +same good tongue. "From thy countenance and walk, that opinion stood +fast in my mind at first sight of thee. Every Englishman is to me +beloved, and every Frenchman unfriendly--as many, at least, as now +govern the state. Father Bartholomew is my name, and though most men +here are heretical, among the faithful I avail sufficiently. What saith +the great Venusian? 'In straitened fortunes quit thyself as a man of +spirit and of mettle.' I find thee in straitened fortunes, and would +gladly enlarge thee, if that which thou art doing is pleasing to the God +omnipotent." + +After a few more words, he led the hapless and hungry Englishman to +a quiet little cot which overlooked the noble bay, and itself was +overlooked by a tall flag-staff bearing the colours of Portugal. Here in +the first place he regaled his guest with the flank of a kid served with +cucumber, and fruit gathered early, and some native wine, scarcely good +enough for the Venusian bard, but as rich as ambrosia to Scudamore. Then +he supplied him with the finest tobacco that ever ascended in spiral +incense to the cloud-compelling Jove. At every soft puff, away flew the +blue-devils, pagan, or Christian, or even scientific; and the brightness +of the sleep-forbidden eyes returned, and the sweetness of the smile +so long gone hence in dread of trespass. Father Bartholomew, neither +eating, drinking, nor smoking, till the sun should set--for this was one +of his fast-days--was heartily pleased with his guest's good cheer, and +smiled with the large benevolence which a lean face expresses with more +decision than a plump and jolly one. "And now, my son," he began again, +in Latin more fluent and classical than the sailor could compass after +Cicero thrown by, "thou hast returned thanks to Almighty God, for which +I the more esteem thee. Oblige me, therefore, if it irk thee not, among +smoke of the genial Nicotium, by telling thy tale, and explaining what +hard necessity hath driven thee to these distant shores. Fear not, for +thou seest a lover of England, and hater of France the infidel." + +Then Scudamore, sometimes hesitating and laughing at his own bad Latin, +told as much of his story as was needful, striving especially to make +clear the importance of his swift return, and his fear that even so it +would be too late. + +"Man may believe himself too late, but the Lord ariseth early," the good +priest answered, with a smile of courage refreshing the heart of the +Englishman. "Behold how the hand of the Lord is steadfast over those who +serve him! To-morrow I might have been far away; to-day I am in time to +help thee. Whilst thou wert feeding, I received the signal of a swift +ship for Lisbon, whose captain is my friend, and would neglect nothing +to serve me. This night he will arrive, and with favourable breezes, +which have set in this morning, he shall spread his sails again +to-morrow, though he meant to linger perhaps for three days. Be of good +cheer, my son; thou shalt sail to-morrow. I will supply thee with all +that is needful, and thank God for a privilege so great. Thou shalt have +money as well for the passage from Lisbon to England, which is not +long. Remember in thy prayers--for thou art devout--that old man, Father +Bartholomew." + + + +CHAPTER LVIII + +IN EARLY MORN + + +One Saturday morning in the month of August, an hour and a half before +sunrise, Carne walked down to the big yew-tree, which stood far enough +from the brink of the cliff to escape the salt, and yet near enough +to command an extensive sea-view. This was the place where the young +shoemaker, belonging to the race of Shanks, had been scared so sadly +that he lost his sweetheart, some two years and a half ago; and this was +the tree that had been loved by painters, especially the conscientious +Sharples, a pupil of Romney, who studied the nicks and the tricks of +the bole, and the many fantastic frets of time, with all the loving +care which ensured the truth of his simple and powerful portraits. But +Sharples had long been away in the West; and Carne, having taste for +no art except his own, had despatched his dog Orso, the fiercer of the +pair, at the only son of a brush who had lately made ready to encamp +against that tree; upon which he decamped, and went over the cliff, with +a loss of much personal property. + +The tree looked ghostly in the shady light, and gaunt armstretch of +departing darkness, going as if it had not slept its sleep out. Now +was the time when the day is afraid of coming, and the night unsure of +going, and a large reluctance to acknowledge any change keeps everything +waiting for another thing to move. What is the use of light and shadow, +the fuss of the morning, and struggle for the sun? Fair darkness has +filled all the gaps between them, and why should they be sever'd into +single life again? For the gladness of daybreak is not come yet, nor +the pleasure of seeing the way again, the lifting of the darkness leaves +heaviness beneath it, and if a rashly early bird flops down upon the +grass, he cannot count his distance, but quivers like a moth. + +"Pest on this abominable early work!" muttered Carne with a yawn, as he +groped his way through the deep gloom of black foliage, and entered the +hollow of the ancient trunk; "it is all very well for sailors, but too +hard upon a quiet gentleman. Very likely that fellow won't come for two +hours. What a cursed uncomfortable maggoty place! But I'll have put +the sleep he has robbed me of." He stretched his long form on the rough +bench inside, gathered his cloak around him, and roused the dull echo of +the honey-combed hollow with long loud snores. + +"Awake, my vigilant commander, and behold me! Happy are the landsmen, to +whom the stars bring sleep. I have not slept for three nights, and the +fruits are here for you." + +It was the lively voice of Renaud Charron; and the rosy fan of the dawn, +unfolded over the sea and the gray rocks, glanced with a flutter of +shade into the deep-ribbed tree. Affecting a lofty indifference, Carne, +who had a large sense of his own dignity, rose slowly and came out into +the better light. "Sit down, my dear friend," he said, taking the sealed +packet; "there is bread and meat here, and a bottle of good Macon. You +are nearly always hungry, and you must be starved now." + +Charron perceived that his mouth was offered employment at the expense +of his eyes; but the kernel of the matter was his own already, and he +smiled to himself at the mystery of his chief. "In this matter, I should +implore the tree to crush me, if my father were an Englishman," he +thought; "but every one to his taste; it is no affair of mine." Just as +he was getting on good terms with his refreshment, Carne came back, and +watched him with a patronising smile. + +"You are the brother of my toil," he said, "and I will tell you as +much as it is good for you to know. A few hours now will complete our +enterprise. Napoleon is at Boulogne again, and even he can scarcely +restrain the rush of the spirits he has provoked. The first Division is +on board already, with a week's supplies, and a thousand horses, ready +to sail when a hand is held up. The hand will be held up at my signal, +and that I shall trust you to convey to-night, as soon as I have settled +certain matters. Where is that sullen young Tugwell? What have you done +with him?" + +"Wonderfully clever is your new device, my friend," Charron replied, +after a long pull at the bottle. "To vanquish the mind by a mind +superior is a glory of high reason; but to let it remain in itself +and compel it to perform what is desired by the other, is a stroke of +genius. And under your pharmacy he must do it--that has been proved +already. The idea was grand, very noble, magnificent. It never would +have shown itself to my mind." + +"Probably not. When that has been accomplished, we will hang him for a +traitor. But, my dear friend, I have sad news for you, even in this hour +of triumph. The lady of your adoration, the Admiral's eldest daughter, +Faith, has recovered the man for whom she has waited four years, and she +means to marry him. The father has given his consent, and her pride is +beyond description. She has long loved a mystery--what woman can help +it? And now she has one for life, a husband eclipsed in his own hair. +My Renaud, all rivalry is futile. Your hair, alas, is quite short and +scanty. But this man has discovered in Africa a nut which turns a man +into the husk of himself. No wonder that he came out of the sea all +dry!" + +"Tush! he is a pig. It is a pig that finds the nuts. I will be the +butcher for that long pig, and the lady will rush into the arms of +conquest. Then will I possess all the Admiral's lands, and pursue the +fine chase of the rabbits. And I will give dinners, such dinners, my +faith! Ha! that is excellent said--embrace me--my Faith will sit at the +right side of the table, and explain to the English company that such +dinners could proceed from nobody except a French gentleman commingling +all the knowledge of the joint with the loftier conception of the hash, +the mince--the what you call? Ah, you have no name for it, because +you do not know the proper thing. Then, in the presence of admiring +Englishmen, I will lean back in my chair, the most comfortable chair +that can be found--" + +"Stop. You have got to get into it yet," Carne interrupted, rudely; "and +the way to do that is not to lean back in it. The fault of your system +has always been that you want to enjoy everything before you get it." + +"And of yours," retorted Charron, beginning to imbibe the pugnacity of +an English landlord, "that when you have got everything, you will enjoy +what? Nothing!" + +"Even a man of your levity hits the nail on the head sometimes," said +Carne, "though the blow cannot be a very heavy one. Nature has not +fashioned me for enjoyment, and therefore affords me very little. But +some little I do expect in the great inversion coming, in the upset of +the scoundrels who have fattened on my flesh, and stolen my land, to +make country gentlemen--if it were possible--of themselves. It will take +a large chimney to burn their title-deeds, for the robbery has lasted +for a century. But I hold the great Emperor's process signed for +that; and if you come to my cookery, you will say that I am capable +of enjoyment. Fighting I enjoy not, as hot men do, nor guzzling, nor +swigging, nor singing of songs; for all of which you have a talent, my +friend. But the triumph of quiet skill I like; and I love to turn the +balance on my enemies. Of these there are plenty, and among them all who +live in that fishy little hole down there." + +Carne pointed contemptuously at Springhaven, that poor little village +in the valley. But the sun had just lifted his impartial face above the +last highland that baulked his contemplation of the home of so many and +great virtues; and in the brisk moisture of his early salute the village +in the vale looked lovely. For a silvery mist was flushed with rose, +like a bridal veil warmed by the blushes of the bride, and the curves of +the land, like a dewy palm leaf, shone and sank alternate. + +"What a rare blaze they will make!" continued Carne, as the sunlight +glanced along the russet thatch, and the blue smoke arose from the +earliest chimney. "Every cottage there shall be a bonfire, because it +has cast off allegiance to me. The whole race of Darling will be at my +mercy--the pompous old Admiral, who refused to call on me till his idiot +of a son persuaded him--that wretched poetaster, who reduced me to the +ignominy of reading his own rubbish to him--and the haughty young woman +that worships a savage who has treated me with insult. I have them all +now in the hollow of my hand, and a thorough good crumpling is prepared +for them. The first house to burn shall be Zebedee Tugwell's, that +conceited old dolt of a fishing fellow, who gives me a nod of suspicion, +instead of pulling off his dirty hat to me. Then we blow up the church, +and old Twemlow's house, and the Admiral's, when we have done with it. +The fishing-fleet, as they call their wretched tubs, will come home, +with the usual fuss, to-night, and on Monday it shall be ashes. How like +you my programme? Is it complete?" + +"Too much, too much complete; too barbarous," answered the kindly +hearted Frenchman. "What harm have all the poor men done to you? And +what insanity to provoke enemies of the people all around who would +bring us things to eat! And worse--if the houses are consumed with fire, +where will be the revenue that is designed for me, as the fair son of +the Admiral? No, no; I will allow none of that. When the landing is +made, you will not be my master. Soult will have charge of the subjects +inferior, and he is not a man of rapine. To him will I address myself in +favour of the village. Thus shall I ascend in the favour of my charming, +and secure my property." + +"Captain, I am your master yet, and I will have no interference. No more +talk; but obey me to the letter. There is no sign of any rough weather, +I suppose? You sailors see things which we do not observe." + +"This summer has not been of fine weather, and the sky is always +changing here. But there is not any token of a tempest now. Though there +is a little prospect of rain always." + +"If it rains, all the better, for it obscures the sea. You have fed +enough now to last even you till the evening; or if not, you can take +some with you. Remain to the westward, where the cliffs are higher, and +look out especially for British ships of war that may be appearing up +Channel. Take this second spy-glass; it is quite strong enough. But +first of all tell Perkins to stand off again with the pilot-boat, as +if he was looking out for a job, and if he sees even a frigate coming +eastward, to run back and let you know by a signal arranged between you. +Dan Tugwell, I see, was shipped yesterday on board of Prame No. 801, a +very handy vessel, which will lead the van, and five hundred will follow +in her track on Sunday evening. My excellent uncle will be at the height +of his eloquence just when his favourite Sunday-school boy is bringing +an addition to his congregation. But the church shall not be blown up +until Monday, for fear of premature excitement. By Monday night about +two hundred thousand such soldiers as Britain could never produce will +be able to quell any childish excitement such as Great Britain is apt to +give way to." + +"But what is for me, this same Saturday night? I like very much to make +polite the people, and to marry the most beautiful and the richest; but +not to kill more than there is to be helped." + +"The breaking of the egg may cut the fingers that have been sucked till +their skin is gone. You have plagued me all along with your English +hankerings, which in your post of trust are traitorous." + +Charron was accustomed to submit to the infinitely stronger will of +Carne. Moreover, his sense of discipline often checked the speed of his +temper. But he had never been able to get rid of a secret contempt for +his superior, as a traitor to the race to which he really belonged, at +least in the Frenchman's opinion. And that such a man should charge him +with treachery was more than his honest soul could quite endure, and his +quick face flushed with indignation as he spoke: + +"Your position, my commander, does not excuse such words. You shall +answer for them, when I am discharged from your command; which, I hope, +will be the case next week. To be spoken of as a traitor by you is very +grand." + +"Take it as you please," Carne replied, with that cold contemptuous +smile which the other detested. "For the present, however, you will not +be grand, but carry out the orders which I give you. As soon as it is +dark, you will return, keep the pilot-boat in readiness for my last +despatch, with which you will meet the frigate Torche about midnight, as +arranged on Thursday. All that and the signals you already understand. +Wait for me by this tree, and I may go with you; but that will depend +upon circumstances. I will take good care that you shall not be kept +starving; for you may have to wait here three or four hours for me. But +be sure that you do not go until I come." + +"But what am I to do if I have seen some British ships, or Perkins has +given me token of them?" + +"Observe their course, and learn where they are likely to be at +nightfall. There will probably be none. All I fear is that they may +intercept the Torche. Farewell, my friend, and let your sense of duty +subdue the small sufferings of temper." + + + +CHAPTER LIX + +NEAR OUR SHORES + + +"This is how it is," said Captain Tugwell, that same day, to Erle +Twemlow: "the folk they goes on with a thing, till a man as has any +head left twists it round on his neck, with his chin looking down his +starn-post. Then the enemy cometh, with his spy-glass and his guns, and +afore he can look round, he hath nothing left to look for." + +"Then you think, Tugwell, that the danger is not over?--that the French +mean business even now, when every one is tired of hearing of it? I have +been away so long that I know nothing. But the universal opinion is--" + +"Opinion of the universe be dashed!" Master Zebedee answered, with a +puff of smoke. "We calls ourselves the universe, when we be the rope +that drags astarn of it. Cappen, to my mind there is mischief in the +wind, more than there hath been for these three years; and that's why +you see me here, instead of going with the smacks. Holy Scripture saith +a dream cometh from the Lord; leastways, to a man of sense, as hardly +ever dreameth. The wind was so bad again us, Monday afternoon, that we +put off sailing till the Tuesday, and Monday night I lay on my own bed, +without a thought of nothing but to sleep till five o'clock. I hadn't +taken nothing but a quart of John Prater's ale--and you know what his +measures is--not a single sip of grog; but the Hangel of the Lord he +come and stand by me in the middle of the night. And he took me by the +hand, or if he didn't it come to the same thing of my getting there, and +he set me up in a dark high place, the like of the yew-tree near Carne +Castle. And then he saith, 'Look back, Zeb'; and I looked, and behold +Springhaven was all afire, like the bottomless pit, or the thunder-storm +of Egypt, or the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And two figures was +jumping about in the flames, like the furnace in the plain of Dura, and +one of them was young Squire Carne, and the other was my son Daniel, as +behaveth below his name. And I called out, 'Daniel, thou son of Zebedee +and Kezia Tugwell, come forth from the burning fiery furnace'; but he +answered not, neither heeded me. And then Squire Darling, Sir Charles is +now the name of him, out he come from his Round-house, and by the white +gate above high-water mark, to order out the fire, because they was all +his own cottages. But while he was going about, as he doth for fear of +being hard upon any one, out jumps Squire Carne, from the thickest of +the blazes, and takes the poor Squire by the forepart of his neck, which +he liketh to keep open when he getteth off of duty, and away with him +into the burning fiery furnace made of his own houses! That was more +than I could put up with, even under the Hangel, and I give such a kick +that Kezia, though she saith she is the most quietest of women, felt +herself a forced to bounce me up." + +"A dream of that sort deserves notice," answered Erle, who had passed +many months among sailors; "and over and above that, I see proofs of +a foolish security in England, and of sharp activity in France. Last +Monday I was only five miles from Boulogne, on board of our frigate +the Melpomene, for I wanted the captain's evidence to help me in my +own affairs; and upon my word I was quite amazed at the massing of the +French forces there, and the evident readiness of their hundreds of +troop-ships. Scores of them even had horses on board, for I saw them +quite clearly with a spy-glass. But the officers only laughed at me, and +said they were tired of seeing that. And another thing I don't like +at all is the landing of a French boat this side of Pebbleridge. I was +coming home after dark one night, and as soon as they saw me they pushed +off, and pretended to be English fishermen; but if ever I saw Frenchmen, +these were French; and I believe they had a ship not far away, for I saw +a light shown and then turned off. I examined the place in the morning, +and saw the footprints of men on a path up the cliff, as if they had +gone inland towards Carne Castle. When the Admiral came home, I told him +of it; but he seemed to think it was only some smuggling." + +"Ah, there's smooglin' of a bad kind over there, to my belief. I +wouldn't tell your honour not a quarter what I thinks, because of the +young gentleman being near akin to you. But a thing or two have come to +my ears, very much again a young squire over that way. A man as will do +what he have done is a black one in some ways; and if some, why not in +all?" + +"Tell me what you mean," said Twemlow, sternly. "After saying so much, +you are bound to say more. Caryl Carne is no friend of mine, although he +is my cousin. I dislike the man, though I know but little of him." + +"For sartin then a kind gentleman like you won't like him none the +better for betraying of a nice young maid as put her trust in him, as +lively and pretty a young maid as ever stepped, and might have had the +pick of all the young men in the parish." + +"What!" exclaimed Erle, with a sudden chill of heart, for Faith had not +concealed from him her anxiety about Dolly. "Tugwell, do you mean to +say--" + +"Yes, sir; only you must keep it to yourself, for the sake of the poor +young thing; though too many knows it already, I'm afeared. And that +was how poor Jem Cheeseman changed from a dapper money-turning man, as +pleasant as could be, to a down-hearted, stick-in-doors, honest-weighted +fellow. Poor little Polly was as simple as a dove, and her meant to +break none of the Lord's commandments, unless it was a sin to look so +much above her. He took her aboard her father's trading-craft, and +made pretence to marry her across the water, her knowing nothing of +the lingo, to be sure; and then when there come a thumping boy, and +her demanded for the sake of the young 'un that her marriage should be +sartified in the face of all the world, what does he do but turn round +and ask her if she was fool enough to suppose that a Carne had married a +butter-man's daughter? With a few words more, she went off of her head, +and have never been right again, they say; and her father, who was +mighty proud to have a grandson heir to an old ancient castle, he was +so took aback with this disappointment that he puzzled all the village, +including of me, as I am free to own, by jumping into his own rope. +'Twas only now just that I heard all this; and as the captain of this +here place, I shall ask leave of Cheeseman to have it out with Master +Carne, as soon as may be done without hurting the poor thing. If she +had been my child, the rope should have gone round his neck first, if it +come to mine there-arter!" + +"The ----- villain!" Twemlow used a strong short word, without adding +heavily, it may be hoped, to the score against him. "And to think that +all this time he has been daring to address himself--But never mind that +now. It will be a bad time for him when I catch him by himself, though I +must not speak of Polly. Poor little Polly! what a pretty child she was! +I used to carry sugar-plums on purpose for her. Good-bye, Tugwell; I +must think about all this." + +"And so must I, sir. What a strapping chap 'a be!" Captain Zebedee +continued to himself, as Twemlow strode away with the light step of a +mountain savage, carrying a long staff from force of habit, and looking +even larger than himself from the flow of chestnut hair and beard around +him. "Never did see such a hairy chap. Never showed no signs of it when +'a was a lad, and Miss 'Liza quite smooth in the front of her neck. Must +come of Hottentot climate, I reckon. They calls it the bush, from +the folk been so bushy. I used to think as my beard was a pretty good +example; but, Lord bless me and keep me, it would all go on his nose! If +'a spreadeth that over the face of Squire Carne, 'a will ravish him, as +the wicked doth ravish the poor." + +Twemlow had many sad things to consider, and among them the impending +loss of this grand mane. After divers delays, and infinitude of forms, +and much evidence of things self-evident--in the spirit which drove Sir +Horatio Nelson to pin a certificate of amputation to the sleeve of his +lost arm--this Twemlow had established that he was the Twemlow left +behind upon the coast of Africa, and having been captured in the service +of his country, was entitled at least to restoration. In such a case +small liberality was shown in those days, even as now prevaileth, the +object of all in authority being to be hard upon those who are out +of it. At last, when he was becoming well weary, and nothing but an +Englishman's love of his country and desire to help in her dangers +prevented him from turning to private pursuits--wherein he held a key +to fortune--he found himself restored to his rank in the Army, and +appointed to another regiment, which happened to be short of officers. +Then he flung to the winds, until peace should return, his prospect of +wealth beyond reckoning, and locked in a black leather trunk materials +worth their weight in diamonds. But, as life is uncertain, he told +his beloved one the secret of his great discovery, which she, in sweet +ignorance of mankind, regarded as of no importance. + +But as wars appear and disappear, nations wax and wane, and the holiest +principles of one age become the scoff of the next, yet human nature is +the same throughout, it would be wrong to cast no glance--even with the +French so near our shores--at the remarkable discovery of this young +man, and the circumstances leading up to it. For with keen insight +into civilized thought, which yearns with the deepest remorse for those +blessings which itself has banished, he knew that he held a master-key +to the treasuries of Croesus, Mycerinus, Attalus, and every other King +who has dazzled the world with his talents. The man who can minister to +human needs may, when he is lucky, earn a little towards his own; the +man who contributes to the pleasure of his fellows must find reward in +his own; but he who can gratify the vanity of his race is the master of +their pockets. + +Twemlow had been carried from the deadly coast (as before related by +Captain Southcombe) to the mountainous district far inland, by the great +King Golo of the Quackwas nation, mighty warriors of lofty stature. Here +he was treated well, and soon learned enough of their simple language to +understand and be understood; while the King, who considered all white +men as of canine origin, was pleased with him, and prepared to make him +useful. Then Twemlow was sent, with an escort of chiefs, to the land of +the Houlas, as a medicine-man, to win Queen Mabonga for the great King +Golo. But she--so strange is the perversity of women--beholding this man +of a pearly tint, as fair as the moon, and as soft as a river--for he +took many months to get properly tanned--with one long gaze of amazement +yielded to him what he sought for another. A dwarf and a whipster he +might be among the great darkies around her--for he had only six feet +and one inch of stature, and forty-two inches round the chest--but, to +her fine taste, tone and quality more than covered defect of quantity. +The sight of male members of her race had never moved her, because she +had heard of their wickedness; but the gaze of this white man, so tender +and so innocent, set her on a long course of wondering about herself. +Then she drew back, and passed into the private hut behind, where no one +was allowed to disturb her. For she never had felt like this before, and +she wanted nobody to notice it. + +But the Houla maidens, with the deepest interest in matters that came +home to them outside their understanding, held council with their +mothers, and these imparted to the angelic stranger, as plainly as +modesty permitted, the distressing results of his whiteness, and +implored him to depart, before further harm was done. Twemlow perceived +that he had tumbled into a difficult position, and the only way out of +it was to make off. Giving pledges to return in two moons at the latest, +he made his salaam to the sensitive young Queen, whose dignity was +only surpassed by her grace, and expecting to be shortened by the head, +returned with all speed to the great King Golo. Honesty is the best +policy--as we all know so well that we forbear to prove it--and the +Englishman saw that the tale would be darker from the lips of his black +attendants. The negro monarch was of much-enduring mind, but these +tidings outwent his philosophy. He ordered Twemlow's head to come off by +dinner-time, and, alas, that royal household kept very early hours; and +the poor captain, corded to a tree, sniffed sadly the growth of good +roast, which he never should taste, and could only succeed in succession +of fare. For although that enlightened King had discarded the taste of +the nations around him, it was not half so certain as the prisoner could +have wished that his prejudice would resist the relish of a candid rival +in prime condition. + +While Twemlow was dwelling upon this nice question, and sympathising +deeply with the animal on the spit, Tuloo, the head councillor of +the realm, appeared, an ancient negro full of wisdom and resource. +Discovering that the white man set more value on his head than is usual +with these philosophers, he proposed conditions which were eagerly +accepted, and releasing the captive, led him into his own hut. Here the +man of wisdom spat three times into his very ample bosom, to exorcise +evil spells, and took from a hole in the corner something which he +handled very carefully, and with a touch as light as possible. Following +everything with his best eyes, Twemlow perceived in the hand of Tuloo +a spongy-looking substance of conical form, and in colour and size very +like a morel, but possessing a peculiar golden glow. "Kneel here, my +son, and move not until I tell you," the old man whispered, and was +obeyed. Then he stripped off all covering from the white neck and +shoulders, and beginning immediately below the eyes, brushed all the +cheeks and the chin, throat and neck and upper part of the bosom, with +the substance in his hand, from which a yellow powder passed, moist +rather than dusty, into the open pores. "In one moon you will be a beast +of the woods, and in two you shall return to the Queen that loves you," +said Councillor Tuloo, with a sly little grin. + +But Twemlow was robbed of no self-respect by the growth of a forest +about him; and when he was sent again to Queen Mabonga, and the dewy +glance of love died at the very first wink into a stony glare--because +of his face being covered with hair--he said to himself that he knew +where he could inflict a very different impression upon ladies. For +these cannot have too much hair in England, at the back of their own +heads, and front of their admirers'. + +Councillor Tuloo was gifted with a deep understanding of a thing which +looks shallow to a man who has never yet heard of false bottoms. He said +to King Golo: "I know what women are. As long as she never had thought +about men, you might crawl, and be only a hog to her. But her eyes have +been opened to this white man, and there is room for a black one to +go into them. And unless you are at hand, it will be done by some one +else." + +In short, all was managed so beautifully that in six more moons the coy +Mabonga split the Durra straw with King Golo, amid vast rejoicings and +in din almost equal to that which a wedding in Wales arouses. But +from time to time it was considered needful to keep up her Majesty's +repulsion by serving Erle Twemlow with another dose of that which would +have created for the English fair capillary attraction. Thus he became +a great favourite with the King, who listened with deep interest to +his descriptions of the houseful of beads and buttons to be earned in +England by a little proper management of Tuloo's magic dust. Before +very long it was arranged that as soon as a good supply of Pong could be +collected, Twemlow should be sent back to the coast and placed under +the charge of Bandeliah, who was now a tributary of this great King. And +here he might have waited years and years--for the trading station was +abandoned now--but for the benevolence of Captain Southcombe, who, being +driven to the eastward of his course upon one of his returns from India, +stood in a little further to enquire about his friend, and with no small +pleasure conveyed him home. + + + +CHAPTER LX + +NO DANGER, GENTLEMEN + + +The little dinner at Springhaven Hall, appointed for that same Saturday, +had now grown into a large one. Carne had refused Dolly's offer to get +him an invitation, and for many reasons he was not invited. He ought +to have been glad of this, because he did not want to be there; but his +nature, like a saw's, was full of teeth, and however he was used, he +grated. But without any aid of his teeth, a good dinner, well planned +and well served, bade fair in due course to be well digested also by +forty at least of the forty-two people who sat down to consider it. +For as yet the use of tongue was understood, and it was not allowed to +obstruct by perpetual motion the duties of the palate. And now every +person in the parish of high culture--which seems to be akin to the +Latin for a knife, though a fork expels nature more forcibly--as well +as many others of locality less favoured, joined in this muster of good +people and good things. At the outset, the Admiral had intended nothing +more than a quiet recognition of the goodness of the Lord in bringing +home a husband for the daughter of the house; but what Englishman can +forbear the pleasure of killing two birds with one stone? + +It was Stubbard who first suggested this, and Sir Charles at once +saw the force of it, especially with the Marquis of Southdown coming. +Captain Stubbard had never admired anybody, not even himself--without +which there is no happiness--much less Mr. Pitt, or Lord Nelson, or the +King, until justice was done to the race of Stubbard, and their hands +were plunged into the Revenue. But now, ever since the return of the war +to its proper home in England, this Captain had been paid well for doing +the very best thing that a man can do, i. e., nothing. He could not help +desiring to celebrate this, and as soon as he received his invitation, +he went to the host and put it clearly. The Admiral soon entered into +his views, and as guests were not farmed by the head as yet at tables +entertaining self-respect, he perceived the advantage of a good dinner +scored to his credit with forty at the cost of twenty; and Stubbard's +proposal seemed thoroughly well timed, so long was it now since the +leaders of Defence had celebrated their own vigilance. Twenty-two, +allowing for the ladies needful, were thus added to the score of chairs +intended, and the founder of the feast could scarcely tell whether +the toast of the evening was to be the return of the traveller, or the +discomfiture of Boney. That would mainly depend upon the wishes of the +Marquis, and these again were likely to be guided by the treatment +he had met with from the government lately and the commanders of his +Division. + +This nobleman was of a character not uncommon eighty years ago, but now +very rare among public men, because a more flexible fibre has choked +it. Steadfast, honourable, simple, and straightforward, able to laugh +without bitterness at the arrogant ignorance of mobs, but never to smile +at the rogues who led them, scorning all shuffle of words, foul haze, +and snaky maze of evasion, and refusing to believe at first sight that +his country must be in the wrong and her enemies in the right, he +added to all these exterminated foibles a leisurely dignity now equally +extinct. Trimmers, time-servers, and hypocrites feared him, as thieves +fear an honourable dog; and none could quote his words against one +another. This would have made him unpopular now, when perjury means +popularity. For the present, however, self-respect existed, and no one +thought any the worse of his lordship for not having found him a liar. +Especially with ladies, who insist on truth in men as a pleasant proof +of their sex, Lord Southdown had always been a prime favourite, and an +authority largely misquoted. And to add to his influence, he possessed +a quick turn of temper, which rendered it very agreeable to agree with +him. + +Lord Southdown was thinking, as he led Miss Darling to her chair at the +head of the table, that he never had seen a more pleasing young woman, +though he grieved at her taste in preferring the brown young man on her +left to his elegant friend Lord Dashville. Also he marvelled at hearing +so much, among the young officers of his acquaintance, concerning the +beauty of the younger sister, and so little about this far sweeter young +person--at least in his opinion. For verily Dolly was not at her best; +her beautiful colour was gone, her neck had lost its sprightly turn, and +her gray eyes moved heavily instead of sparkling. "That girl has some +burden upon her mind," he thought as he watched her with interest and +pity; "she has put on her dress anyhow, and she does not even look to +see who is looking at her!" + +For the "Belle of all Sussex," as the young sparks entitled her, was +ill at ease with herself, and ready to quarrel with every one except +herself. She had conscience enough to confess, whenever she could not +get away from it, that for weeks and months she had been slipping far +and further from the true and honest course. Sometimes, with a pain like +a stitch in the side, the truth would spring upon her; and perhaps for a +moment she would wonder at herself, and hate the man misleading her. But +this happened chiefly when he was present, and said or did something to +vex her; and then he soon set it to rights again, and made everything +feel delightful. And this way of having her misgivings eased made them +easier when they came again with no one to appease them. For she began +to think of what he had done, and how kind and considerate his mind must +be, and how hard it must seem to mistrust him. + +Another thing that urged her to keep on now, without making any fuss +about it, was the wonderful style her sister Faith had shown since that +hairy monster came back again. It was manifest that the world contained +only one man of any high qualities, and nobody must dare to think even +twice about any conclusion he laid down. He had said to her, with a +penetrating glance--and it must have been that to get through such a +thicket--that dangerous people were about, and no girl possessing any +self-respect must think of wandering on the shore alone. The more she +was spied upon and admonished, the more she would do what she thought +right; and a man who had lived among savages for years must be a queer +judge of propriety. But, in spite of all these defiant thoughts, her +heart was very low, and her mind in a sad flutter, and she could +not even smile as she met her father's gaze. Supposing that she was +frightened at the number of the guests, and the noise of many tongues, +and the grandeur of the people, the gentle old man made a little signal +to her to come and have a whisper with him, as a child might do, under +courtesy of the good company. But Dolly feigned not to understand, at +the penalty of many a heart-pang. + +The dinner went on with a very merry sound, and a genuine strength of +enjoyment, such as hearty folk have who know one another, and are met +together not to cut capers of wit, but refresh their goodwill and fine +principles. And if any dinner party can be so arranged that only five +per cent. has any trouble on its mind, the gentleman who whips away the +plates, at a guinea a mouth, will have to go home with a face of willow +pattern. + +The other whose mind was away from her food, and reckless of its own +nourishment, was Blyth Scudamore's mother, as gentle a lady as ever +tried never to think of herself. In spite of all goodness, and faith in +the like, she had enough to make her very miserable now, whenever she +allowed herself to think about it, and that was fifty-nine minutes +out of sixty. For a brief account of her son's escape from Etaples had +reached her, through the kindness of Captain Desportes, who found means +to get a letter delivered to the Admiral. That brave French officer +spoke most highly of the honourable conduct of his English friend, but +had very small hope of his safety. For he added the result of his own +inquiries to the statement of M. Jalais, and from these it was clear +that poor Scuddy had set forth alone in a rickety boat, ill found and +ill fitted to meet even moderate weather in the open Channel. Another +young Englishman had done the like, after lurking in the forest of +Hardelot, but he had been recaptured by the French at the outset of his +hopeless voyage. Scudamore had not been so retaken; and the Captain +(who had not received his letter until it was too late to interfere, +by reason of his own despatch to Dieppe) had encountered a sharp summer +gale just then, which must have proved fatal to the poor old boat. +The only chance was that some English ship might have picked up the +wanderer, and if so the highly respected Admiral would have heard of it +before he received this letter. As no such tidings had been received, +there could be little doubt about the issue in any reasonable mind. But +the heart of a woman is not a mind, or the man that is born of her might +as well forego the honour. + +However, as forty people were quite happy, the wisest course is to +rejoin them. The ladies were resolved upon this occasion to storm the +laws of usage which required their withdrawal before the toasts began; +and so many gentle voices challenged the garrison of men behind their +bottles that terms of unusual scope were arranged. It was known that the +Marquis would make a fine speech--short, and therefore all the finer--in +proposing the toast of the evening, to wit, "Our King, and our Country." +Under the vigorous lead of Mrs. Stubbard, the ladies demanded to hear +every word; after which they would go, and discuss their own affairs, or +possibly those of their neighbours. But the gentlemen must endure their +presence till his lordship had spoken, and the Admiral replied. Faith +was against this arrangement, because she foresaw that it would make +them very late; but she yielded to the wishes of so many of her guests, +consoled with the thought that she would be supported by some one on her +left hand, who would be her support for life. + +When all had done well, except the two aforesaid, and good-will born of +good deeds was crowning comfort with jocund pleasure, and the long oak +table, rich of grain and dark with the friction of a hundred years, +shone in the wavering flow of dusk with the gleam of purple and golden +fruit, the glance of brilliant glass that puzzles the light with its +claim to shadow, and the glow of amber and amethyst wine decanted to +settle that question--then the bold Admiral, standing up, said, "Bring +in the lights, that we may see his lordship." + +"I like to speak to some intelligence," said the guest, who was shrewd +at an answer. And Dolly, being quick at occasion, seized it, and in the +shifting of chairs left her own for some one else. + +The curtains were drawn across the western window, to close the conflict +between God's light and man's, and then this well-known gentleman, +having placed his bottle handily--for he never "put wine into two +whites," to use his own expression--arose with his solid frame as +tranquil as a rock, and his full-fronted head like a piece of it. Every +gentleman bowed to his bow, and waited with silent respect for his +words, because they would be true and simple. + +"My friends, I will take it for granted that we all love our country, +and hate its enemies. We may like and respect them personally, for they +are as good as we are; but we are bound to hate them collectively, +as men who would ruin all we love. For the stuff that is talked about +freedom, democracy, march of intellect, and so forth, I have nothing to +say, except to bid you look at the result among themselves. Is there a +man in France whose body is his own if he can carry arms, or his soul if +it ventures to seek its own good? As for mind--there is only the mind +of one man; a large one in many ways; in others a small one, because it +considers its owner alone. + +"But we of England have refused to be stripped of all that we hold dear, +at the will of a foreign upstart. We have fought for years, and we still +are fighting, without any brag or dream of glory, for the rights of +ourselves and of all mankind. There have been among us weak-minded +fellows, babblers of abstract nonsense, and even, I grieve to +say--traitors. But, on the whole, we have stood together, and therefore +have not been trodden on. How it may end is within the knowledge of the +Almighty only; but already there are signs that we shall be helped, if +we continue to help ourselves. + +"And now for the occasion of our meeting here. We rejoice most heartily +with our good host, the vigilant Defender of these shores, at the +restoration to his arms--or rather, to a still more delightful +embrace--of a British officer, who has proved a truth we knew already, +that nothing stops a British officer. I see a gentleman struck so keenly +with the force of that remark, because he himself has proved it, that I +must beg his next neighbour to fill up his glass, and allow nothing to +stop him from tossing it off. And as I am getting astray from my text, I +will clear my poor head with what you can see through." + +The Marquis of Southdown filled his glass from a bottle of grand old +Chambertin--six of which had been laid most softly in a cupboard of +the wainscote for his use--and then he had it filled again, and saw his +meaning brilliantly. + +"Our second point is the defeat of the French, and of this we may now +assure ourselves. They have not been defeated, for the very good reason +that they never would come out to fight; but it comes to the same thing, +because they are giving it over as a hopeless job. I have seen too many +ups and downs to say that we are out of danger yet; but when our fleets +have been chasing theirs all over the world, are they likely to come +and meet us in our own waters? Nelson has anchored at Spithead, and +is rushing up to London, as our host has heard to-day, with his usual +impetuosity. Every man must stick to his own business, even the mighty +Nelson; and he might not meddle with Billy Blue, or anybody else up +Channel. Still, Nelson is not the sort of man to jump into a chaise at +Portsmouth if there was the very smallest chance of the French coming +over to devour us. + +"Well, my friends, we have done our best, and have some right to be +proud of it; but we should depart from our nature if we even exercised +that right. The nature of an Englishman is this--to be afraid of nothing +but his own renown. Feeling this great truth, I will avoid offence by +hiding as a crime my admiration of the glorious soldiers and sailors +here, yet beg them for once to remember themselves, as having enabled +me to propose, and all present to pledge, the welfare of our King and +Country." + +The Marquis waved his glass above his head, without spilling a single +drop, although it was a bumper, then drained it at a draught, inverted +it, and cleverly snapped it in twain upon the table, with his other hand +laid on his heart, and a long low reverence to the company. Thereupon up +stood squires and dames, and repeating the good toast, pledged it, with +a deep bow to the proposer; and as many of the gentlemen as understood +the art, without peril to fair neighbours, snapped the glass. + +His lordship was delighted, and in the spirit of the moment held up +his hand, which meant, "Silence, silence, till we all sing the National +Anthem!" In a clear loud voice he led off the strain, Erle Twemlow from +his hairy depths struck in, then every man, following as he might, and +with all his might, sustained it, and the ladies, according to their +wont, gave proof of the heights they can scale upon rapture. + +The Admiral, standing, and beating time now and then with his +heel--though all the time deserved incessant beating--enjoyed the +performance a great deal more than if it had been much better, and +joined in the main roar as loudly as he thought his position as host +permitted. For although he was nearing the haven now of threescore years +and ten, his throat and heart were so sea-worthy that he could very +sweetly have outroared them all. But while he was preparing just to +prove this, if encouraged, and smiling very pleasantly at a friend who +said, "Strike up, Admiral," he was called from the room, and in the +climax of the roar slipped away for a moment, unheeded, and meaning to +make due apology to his guests as soon as he came back. + + + +CHAPTER LXI + +DISCHARGED FROM DUTY + + +While loyalty thus rejoiced and throve in the warmth of its own +geniality, a man who was loyal to himself alone, and had no geniality +about him, was watching with contempt these British doings. Carne had +tethered his stout black horse, who deserved a better master, in a dusky +dell of dark-winged trees at the back of the eastern shrubbery. Here the +good horse might rest unseen, and consider the mysterious ways of men; +for the main approach was by the western road, and the shades of evening +stretched their arms to the peaceful yawn of sunset. And here he found +good stuff spread by nature, more worthy of his attention, and +tucking back his forelegs, fared as well as the iron between his teeth +permitted. + +Then the master drew his green riding-coat of thin velvet closer round +him, and buttoned the lappet in front, because he had heavy weight in +the pockets. Keeping warily along the lines of shadow, he gained a place +of vantage in the shrubbery, a spot of thick shelter having loops of +outlook. Above and around him hung a curtain of many-pointed ilex, +and before him a barberry bush, whose coral clusters caught the waning +light. In this snug nook he rested calmly, leaning against the ilex +trunk, and finished his little preparations for anything adverse to his +plans. In a belt which was hidden by his velvet coat he wore a short +dagger in a sheath of shagreen, and he fixed it so that he could draw it +in a moment, without unfastening the riding-coat. Then from the pockets +on either side he drew a pair of pistols, primed them well from a little +flask, and replaced them with the butts beneath the lappets. "Death for +at least three men," he muttered, "if they are fools enough to meddle +with me. My faith, these Darlings are grown very grand, on the strength +of the land that belongs to us!" + +For he heard the popping of champagne corks, and the clink of abundant +silver, and tuning of instruments by the band, and he saw the flash of +lights, and the dash of serving-men, and the rush of hot hospitality; +and although he had not enough true fibre in his stomach to yearn for +a taste of the good things going round, there can be little doubt, from +what he did thereafter, that his gastric juices must have turned to +gall. + +With all these sounds and sights and scents of things that he had no +right to despise, his patience was tried for an hour and a half, or at +any rate he believed so. The beautiful glow in the west died out, where +the sun had been ripening his harvest-field of sheafy gold and awny +cloud; and the pulse of quivering dusk beat slowly, so that a man might +seem to count it, or rather a child, who sees such things, which later +men lose sight of. The forms of the deepening distances against the +departure of light grew faint, and prominent points became obscure, and +lines retired into masses, while Carne maintained his dreary watch, +with his mood becoming darker. As the sound of joyful voices, and of +good-will doubled by good fare, came to his unfed vigil from the open +windows of the dining-room, his heart was not enlarged at all, and +the only solace for his lips was to swear at British revelry. For the +dining-room was at the western end, some fifty yards away from him, and +its principal window faced the sunset, but his lurking-place afforded a +view of the southern casements obliquely. Through these he had seen +that the lamps were brought, and heard the increase of merry noise, the +clapping of hands, and the jovial cheers at the rising of the popular +Marquis. + +At last he saw a white kerchief waved at the window nearest to him, the +window of the Admiral's little study, which opened like a double door +upon the eastern grass-plat. With an ill-conditioned mind, and body +stiff and lacking nourishment, he crossed the grass in a few long +strides, and was admitted without a word. + +"What a time you have been! I was giving it up," he whispered to the +trembling Dolly. "Where are the candles? I must strike a light. Surely +you might have brought one. Bolt the door, while I make a light, and +close the curtains quietly, but leave the window open. Don't shake, like +a child that is going to be whipped. Too late now for nonsense. What are +you afraid of? Silly child!" + +As he spoke he was striking a light in a little French box containing a +cube of jade, and with very little noise he lit two candles standing on +the high oak desk. Dolly drew a curtain across the window, and then +went softly to the door, which opened opposite the corner of a narrow +passage, and made pretence to bolt it, but shot the bolt outside the +socket. + +"Come and let me look at you," said Carne, for he knew that he had +been rough with her, and she was not of the kind that submits to that. +"Beauty, how pale you look, and yet how perfectly lovely in this evening +gown! I should like to kill the two gentlemen who sat next to you at +dinner. Darling, you know that whatever I do is only for your own sweet +sake." + +"If you please not to touch me, it will be better," said the lady, +not in a whisper, but a firm and quiet voice, although her hands were +trembling; "you are come upon business, and you should do it." + +If Carne had but caught her in his arms, and held her to his heart, and +vowed that all business might go to the devil while he held his angel +so, possibly the glow of nobler feelings might have been lost in +the fire of passion. But he kept his selfish end alone in view, and +neglected the womanly road to it. + +"A despatch from London arrived today; I must see it," he said, shortly; +"as well as the copy of the answer sent. And then my beauty must insert +a NOT in the order to be issued in the morning, or otherwise invert its +meaning, simply to save useless bloodshed. The key for a moment, the +key, my darling, of this fine old piece of furniture!" + +"Is it likely that I would give you the key? My father always keeps it. +What right have you with his private desk? I never promised anything so +bad as that." + +"I am not to be trifled with," he whispered, sternly. "Do you think that +I came here for kissing? The key I must have, or break it open; and how +will you explain that away?" + +His rudeness settled her growing purpose. The misery of indecision +vanished; she would do what was right, if it cost her life. Her face was +as white as her satin dress, but her dark eyes flashed with menace. + +"There is a key that opens it," she said, as she pointed to the +bookcase; "but I forbid you to touch it, sir." + +Carne's only reply was to snatch the key from the upper glass door of +the book-shelves, which fitted the lock of the Admiral's desk, though +the owner was not aware of it. In a moment the intruder had unlocked the +high and massive standing-desk, thrown back the cover, and placed one +candlestick among the documents. Many of them he brushed aside, as +useless for his purpose, and became bewildered among the rest, for the +Commander of the Coast-defence was not a man of order. He never knew +where to put a thing, nor even where it might have put itself, but found +a casual home for any paper that deserved it. This lack of method has +one compensation, like other human defects, to wit, that it puzzles a +clandestine searcher more deeply than cypher or cryptogram. Carne had +the Admiral's desk as wide as an oyster thrown back on his valve, and +just being undertucked with the knife, to make him go down easily. Yet +so great was the power of disorder that nothing could be made out of +anything. "Watch at the door," he had said to Dolly; and this suited her +intention. + +For while he was thus absorbed, with his back towards her, she opened +the door a little, and presently saw the trusty Charles come hurrying +by, as if England hung upon his labours. "Tell my father to come here +this moment; go softly, and say that I sent you." As she finished her +whisper she closed the door, without any sound, and stood patiently. + +"Show me where it is; come and find it for me. Everything here is in +the vilest mess," cried Carne, growing reckless with wrath and hurry. +"I want the despatch of this morning, and I find tailors' bills, way to +make water-proof blacking, a list of old women, and a stump of old pipe! +Come here, this instant, and show me where it is." + +"If you forget your good manners," answered Dolly, still keeping in the +dark near the door, "I shall have to leave you. Surely you have practice +enough in spying, to find what you want, with two candles." + +Carne turned for a moment, and stared at her. Her attitude surprised +him, but he could not believe in her courage to rebel. She stood with +her back to the door, and met his gaze without a sign of fear. + +"There are no official papers here," he said, after another short +ransack; "there must have been some, if this desk is the one. Have you +dared to delude me by showing the wrong desk?" + +Dolly met his gaze still, and then walked towards him. The band had +struck up, and the company were singing with a fine patriotic roar, +which rang very nobly in the distance--"Britannia, rule the waves!" +Dolly felt like a Briton as the words rolled through her, and the melody +lifted her proud heart. + +"You have deluded yourself," she said, standing proudly before the +baffled spy; "you have ransacked my father's private desk, which I +allowed you to do, because my father has no secrets. He leaves it open +half the time, because he is a man of honour. He is not a man of plots, +and wiles, and trickery upon women. And you have deluded yourself, in +dreaming that a daughter of his would betray her Country." + +"By the God that made me, I will have your life!" cried Carne in +French, as he dashed his hand under his coat to draw his dagger; but the +pressure of the desk had displaced that, so that he could not find it. +She thought that her time was come, and shrieked--for she was not at all +heroic, and loved life very dearly--but she could not take her eyes from +his, nor turn to fly from the spell of them; all she could do was to +step back; and she did so into her father's arms. + +"Ho!" cried the Admiral, who had entered with the smile of good cheer +and good company glowing on his fine old countenance; "my Dolly and a +stranger at my private desk! Mr. Carne! I have had a glass or two of +wine, but my eyes must be playing me extraordinary tricks. A gentleman +searching my desk, and apparently threatening my dear daughter! Have the +kindness to explain, before you attempt to leave us." + +If the curtain had not been drawn across the window, Carne would have +made his escape, and left the situation to explain itself. But the stuff +was thick, and it got between his legs; and before he could slip +away, the stout old Admiral had him by the collar with a sturdy grasp, +attesting the substance of the passing generation. And a twinkle of +good-humour was in the old eyes still--such a wonder was his Dolly that +he might be doing wrong in laying hands of force upon a visitor of hers. +Things as strange as this had been within his knowledge, and proved to +be of little harm--with forbearance. But his eyes grew stern, as Carne +tried to dash his hand off. + +"If you value your life, you will let me go," said the young man to the +old one. + +"I will not let you go, sir, till you clear up this. A gentleman must +see that he is bound to do so. If I prove to be wrong, I will apologise. +What! Are you going to fire at me? You would never be such a coward!" + +He dropped upon the floor, with a bullet in his brain, and his course of +duty ended. Carne dashed aside the curtain, and was nearly through the +window, when two white arms were cast round his waist. He threw himself +forward with all his might, and wrenched at the little hands clasped +around him, but they held together like clenched iron. "Will you force +me to kill you?" "You may, if you like"--was the dialogue of these +lovers. + +The strength of a fit was in her despair. She set her bent knees against +the window-frame, and a shower of glass fell between them; but she +flinched not from her convulsive grasp. "Let me come back, that I may +shoot myself," Carne panted, for his breath was straitened; "what is +life to me after losing you?" She made no answer, but took good care +not to release so fond a lover. Then he threw himself back with all his +weight, and she fell on the floor beneath him. Her clasp relaxed, and +he was free; for her eyes had encountered her father's blood, and she +swooned away, and lay as dead. + +Carne arose quickly, and bolted the door. His breath was short, and his +body trembling, but the wits of the traitor were active still. "I must +have something to show for all this," he thought as he glanced at the +bodies on the floor. "Those revellers may not have heard this noise. I +know where it is now, and I will get it." + +But the sound of the pistol, and shriek of the girl, had rung through +the guests, when the wine was at their lips, and all were nodding to one +another. Faith sprang up, and then fell back trembling, and several men +ran towards the door. Charles, the footman, met them there, with his +face whiter than his napkin, and held up his hands, but could not speak. +Erle Twemlow dashed past him and down the passage; and Lord Southdown +said: "Gentlemen, see to the ladies. There has been some little mishap, +I fear. Bob, and Arthur, come with me." + +Twemlow was first at the study door, and finding it fastened, struck +with all his force, and shouted, at the very moment when Carne stood +before the true desk of office. "Good door, and good bolt," muttered +Carne; "my rule is never to be hurried by noises. Dolly will be quiet +for a quarter of an hour, and the old gentleman forever. All I want is +about two minutes." + +Twemlow stepped back a few yards, and then with a good start delivered a +rushing kick; but the only result was a jar of his leg through the sole +of his thin dress sandal. + +"The window!" cried the Marquis. "We'll stop here; you know the house; +take the shortest cut to the window. Whoever is there, we shall have him +so. I am too slow. Boy Bob, go with him." + +"What a fool I was not to think of that!" shouted Twemlow, as he set off +for the nearest house door, and unluckily Carne heard him. He had struck +up the ledge of the desk with the butt of the pistol he had fired, and +pocketing a roll of fresh despatches, he strode across the body of the +Admiral, and with a glance at Dolly--whose eyes were wide open, but +her face drawn aside, like a peach with a split stone--out he went. He +smiled as he heard the thundering of full-bodied gentlemen against +the study door, and their oaths, as they damaged their knuckles and +knee-caps. Then he set off hot-foot, but was stopped by a figure +advancing from the corner of the house. + +This was not a graceful figure, as of gentle maiden, nor venerable and +slow of foot, as that of an ancient mariner, but a man in the prime of +strength, and largely endowed with that blessing--the mate of truth. +Carne perceived that he had met his equal, and perhaps his better, in a +bout of muscle, and he tried to escape by superior mind. + +"Twemlow, how glad I am that I have met you! You are the very man I +wanted. There has been a sad accident in there with one of the Admiral's +pistols, and the dear old man is badly wounded. I am off for a doctor, +for my horse is at hand. For God's sake run in, and hold his head up, +and try to staunch the bleeding. I shall be back in half an hour with +the man that lives at Pebbleridge. Don't lose a moment. Particulars +hereafter." + +"Particulars now!" replied Twemlow, sternly, as he planted himself +before his cousin. "For years I have lived among liars, and they called +a lie Crom, and worshipped it. If this is not Crom, why did you bolt the +door?" + +"You shall answer for this, when time allows. If the door was bolted, he +must have done it. Let me pass; the last chance depends on my speed." + +Carne made a rush to pass, but Twemlow caught him by the breast, and +held him. "Come back," he said, fiercely, "and prove your words. Without +that, you go no further." + +Carne seized him by the throat, but his mighty beard, like a collar of +hemp, protected him, and he brought his big brown fist like a hammer +upon the traitor's forehead. Carne wrenched at his dagger, but failed to +draw it, and the two strong men rolled on the grass, fighting like two +bull-dogs. Reason, and thought, and even sense of pain were lost in +brutal fury, as they writhed, and clutched, and dug at one another, +gashing their knuckles, and gnashing their teeth, frothing with one +another's blood, for Carne bit like a tiger. At length tough condition +and power of endurance got the mastery, and Twemlow planted his knee +upon the gasping breast of Carne. + +"Surrend," he said, for his short breath could not fetch up the third +syllable; and Carne with a sign of surrender lay on his back, and +put his chin up, and shut his eyes as if he had fainted. Twemlow with +self-congratulation waited a little to recover breath, still keeping +his knee in the post of triumph, and pinning the foe's right arm to his +side. But the foe's left hand was free, and with the eyes still shut, +and a continuance of gasping, that left hand stole its way to the left +pocket, quietly drew forth the second pistol, pressed back the hammer on +the grass, and with a flash (both of eyes and of flint) fired into the +victor's forehead. The triumphant knee rolled off the chest, the body +swung over, as a log is rolled by the woodman's crowbar, and Twemlow's +back was on the grass, and his eyes were closed to the moonlight. + +Carne scrambled up and shook himself, to be sure that all his limbs were +sound. "Ho, ho, ho!" he chuckled; "it is not so easy to beat me. Why, +who are you? Down with you, then!" + +Lord Robert Chancton, a lad of about sixteen, the eldest son of +the Marquis, had lost his way inside the house, in trying to find a +short-cut to the door, and coming up after the pistol was fired, made a +very gallant rush at the enemy. With a blow of the butt Carne sent him +sprawling; then dashing among the shrubs and trees, in another minute +was in the saddle, and galloping towards the ancestral ruins. + +As he struck into the main road through the grounds, Carne passed and +just missed by a turn of the bridle another horseman ascending the hill, +and urging a weary animal. The faces of the men shot past each other +within a short yard, and gaze met gaze; but neither in the dark flash +knew the other, for a big tree barred the moonlight. But Carne, in +another moment, thought that the man who had passed must be Scudamore, +probably fraught with hot tidings. And the thought was confirmed, as +he met two troopers riding as hard as ride they might; and then saw the +beacon on the headland flare. From point to point, and from height to +height, like a sprinkle of blood, the red lights ran; and the roar of +guns from the moon-lit sea made echo that they were ready. Then the +rub-a-dub-dub of the drum arose, and the thrilling blare of trumpet; +the great deep of the night was heaved and broken with the stir of human +storm; and the staunchest and strongest piece of earth--our England--was +ready to defend herself. + + + +CHAPTER LXII + +THE WAY OUT OF IT + + +"My father! my father! I must see my father. Who are you, that dare to +keep me out? Let me know the worst, and try to bear it. What are any of +you to him?" + +"But, my dear child," Lord Southdown answered, holding the door against +poor Faith, as she strove to enter the room of death, "wait just one +minute, until we have lifted him to the sofa, and let us bring your poor +sister out." + +"I have no sister. She has killed my father, and the best thing she can +do is to die. I feel that I could shoot her, if I had a pistol. Let me +see him, where he lies." + +"But, my poor dear, you must think of others. Your dear father is beyond +all help. Your gallant lover lies on the grass. They hope to bring him +round, God willing! Go where you can be of use." + +"How cruel you are! You must want to drive me mad. Let his father and +mother see to him, while I see to my own father. If you had a daughter, +you would understand. Am I crying? Do I even tremble?" + +The Marquis offered his arm, and she took it in fear of falling, though +she did not tremble; so he led her to her father's last repose. The poor +Admiral lay by the open window, with his head upon a stool which Faith +had worked. The ghastly wound was in his broad smooth forehead, and his +fair round cheeks were white with death. But the heart had not quite +ceased to beat, and some remnant of the mind still hovered somewhere +in the lacerated brain. Stubbard, sobbing like a child, was lifting +and clumsily chafing one numb hand; while his wife, who had sponged the +wound, was making the white curls wave with a fan she had shaped from a +long official paper found upon the floor. + +Dolly was recovering from her swoon, and sat upon a stool by the +bookcase, faintly wondering what had happened, but afraid to ask or +think. The corner of the bookcase, and the burly form of Stubbard, +concealed the window from her, and the torpid oppression which ensues +upon a fit lay between her and her agony. Faith, as she passed, darted +one glance at her, not of pity, not of love, but of cold contempt and +satisfaction at her misery. + +Then Faith, the quiet and gentle maid, the tranquil and the +self-controlled (whom every one had charged with want of heart, because +she had borne her own grief so well), stood with the body of her father +at her feet, and uttered an exceeding bitter cry. The others had seen +enough of grief, as every human being must, but nothing half so sad +as this. They feared to look at her face, and durst not open lips to +comfort her. + +"Don't speak. Don't look at him. You have no right here. When he comes +to himself, he will want none but me. I have always done everything for +him since dear mother died; and I shall get him to sit up. He will be +so much better when he sits up. I can get him to do it, if you will +only go. Oh, father, father, it is your own Faith come to make you well, +dear, if you will only look at me!" + +As she took his cold limp hand and kissed it, and wiped a red splash +from his soft white hair, the dying man felt, by nature's feeling, that +he was being touched by a child of his. A faint gleam flitted through +the dimness of his eyes, which he had not the power to close, and the +longing to say "farewell" contended with the drooping of the underlip. +She was sure that he whispered, "Bless you, darling!" though nobody else +could have made it out; but a sudden rush of tears improved her hearing, +as rain brings higher voices down. + +"Dolly too!" he seemed to whisper next; and Faith made a sign to Mrs. +Stubbard. Then Dolly was brought, and fell upon her knees, at the other +side of her father, and did not know how to lament as yet, and was +scarcely sure of having anything to mourn. But she spread out her hands, +as if for somebody to take them, and bowed her pale face, and closed her +lips, that she might be rebuked without answering. + +Her father knew her; and his yearning was not to rebuke, but to bless +and comfort her. He had forgotten everything, except that he was dying, +with a daughter at each side of him. This appeared to make him very +happy, about everything, except those two. He could not be expected +to have much mind left; but the last of it was busy for his children's +good. Once more he tried to see them both, and whispered his last +message to them--"Forgive and love each other." + +Faith bowed her head, as his fell back, and silently offered to kiss her +sister; but Dolly neither moved nor looked at her. "As you please," +said Faith; "and perhaps you would like to see a little more of your +handiwork." + +For even as she spoke, her lover's body was carried past the window, +with his father and mother on either side, supporting his limp arms and +sobbing. Then Dolly arose, and with one hand grasping the selvage of +the curtain, fixed one long gaze upon her father's corpse. There were +no tears in her eyes, no sign of anguish in her face, no proof that she +knew or felt what she had done. And without a word she left the room. + +"Hard to the last, even hard to you!" cried Faith, as her tears fell +upon the cold forehead. "Oh, darling, how could you have loved her so?" + +"It is not hardness; it is madness. Follow your sister," Lord Southdown +said. "We have had calamities enough." + +But Faith was fighting with all her strength against an attack of +hysterics, and fetching long gasps to control herself. "I will go," +replied Mrs. Stubbard; "this poor child is quite unfit. What on earth is +become of Lady Scudamore? A doctor's widow might have done some good." + +The doctor's widow was doing good elsewhere. In the first rush from the +dining-room, Lady Scudamore had been pushed back by no less a person +than Mrs. Stubbard; when at last she reached the study door she found +it closed against her, and entering the next room, saw the flash of the +pistol fired at Twemlow. Bravely hurrying to the spot by the nearest +outlet she could find, she became at once entirely occupied with this +new disaster. For two men who ran up with a carriage lamp declared that +the gentleman was as dead as a door-nail, and hastened to make good +their words by swinging him up heels over head. But the lady made them +set him down and support his head, while she bathed the wound, and sent +to the house for his father and mother, and when he could be safely +brought in-doors, helped with her soft hands beneath his hair, and then +became so engrossed with him that the arrival of her long-lost son was +for several hours unknown to her. + +For so many things coming all at once were enough to upset any one. +Urgent despatches came hot for the hand that now was cold for ever; not +a moment to lose, when time had ceased for the man who was to urge it. +There were plenty of officers there, but no one clearly entitled to take +command. Moreover, the public service clashed with the personal rage of +the moment. Some were for rushing to the stables, mounting every horse +that could be found, and scouring the country, sword in hand, for that +infernal murderer. Some, having just descried the flash of beacon from +the headland, and heard the alarm-guns from shore and sea, were for +hurrying to their regiments, or ships, or homes and families (according +to the head-quarters of their life), while others put their coats on +to ride for all the doctors in the county, who should fetch back +the Admiral to this world, that he might tell everybody what to do. +Scudamore stood with his urgent despatches in the large well-candled +hall, and vainly desired to deliver them. "Send for the Marquis," +suggested some one. + +Lord Southdown came, without being sent for. "I shall take this duty +upon myself," he said, "as Lord-Lieutenant of the county. Captain +Stubbard, as commander of the nearest post, will come with me and read +these orders. Gentlemen, see that your horses are ready, and have all +of the Admiral's saddled. Captain Scudamore, you have discharged your +trust, and doubtless ridden far and hard. My orders to you are a bottle +of wine and a sirloin of roast beef at once." + +For the sailor was now in very low condition, weary, and worried, and in +want of food. Riding express, and changing horses twice, not once had he +recruited the inner man, who was therefore quite unfit to wrestle with +the power of sudden grief. When he heard of the Admiral's death, he +staggered as if a horse had stumbled under him, and his legs being stiff +from hard sticking to saddle, had as much as they could do to hold him +up. Yet he felt that he could not do the right thing now, he could not +go and deal with the expedient victuals, neither might he dare intrude +upon the ladies now; so he went out to comfort himself by attending to +the troubles of his foundered horse, and by shedding unseen among the +trees the tears which had gathered in his gentle eyes. + +According to the surest law of nature, that broken-down animal had been +forgotten as soon as he was done with. He would have given his four +legs--if he could legally dispose of them--for a single draught of +sweet delicious rapturous ecstatic water; but his bloodshot eyes sought +vainly, and his welted tongue found nothing wet, except the flakes of +his own salt foam. Until, with the help of the moon, a sparkle (worth +more to his mind than all the diamonds he could draw)--a sparkle of the +purest water gleamed into his dim eyes from the distance. Recalling to +his mind's eyes the grand date of his existence when he was a colt, and +had a meadow to himself, with a sparkling river at the end of it, he set +forth in good faith, and, although his legs were weary, "negotiated"--as +the sporting writers say--the distance between him and the object of +his desire. He had not the least idea that this had cost ten guineas--as +much as his own good self was worth; for it happened to be the first +dahlia seen in that part of the country. That gaudy flower at its first +appearance made such a stir among gardeners that Mr. Swipes gave the +Admiral no peace until he allowed him to order one. And so great was +this gardener's pride in his profession that he would not take an order +for a rooted slip or cutting, from the richest man in the neighbourhood, +for less than half a guinea. Therefore Mr. Swipes was attending to the +plant with the diligence of a wet-nurse, and the weather being dry, he +had soaked it overhead, even before he did that duty to himself. + +A man of no teeth can take his nourishment in soup; and nature, +inverting her manifold devices--which she would much rather do than be +beaten--has provided that a horse can chew his solids into liquids, if +there is a drop of juice in their composition, when his artificial life +has failed to supply him with the bucket. This horse, being very dry, +laid his tongue to the water-drops that sparkled on the foliage. He +found them delicious, and he longed for more, and very soon his ready +mind suggested that the wet must have come out of the leaves, and there +must be more there. Proceeding on this argument, he found it quite +correct, and ten guineas' worth of dahlia was gone into his stomach by +the time that Captain Scudamore came courteously to look after him. + +Blyth, in equal ignorance of his sumptuous repast, gave him a pat of +approval, and was turning his head towards the stable yard, when he +saw a white figure gliding swiftly through the trees beyond the belt +of shrubbery. Weary and melancholy as he was, and bewildered with the +tumult of disasters, his heart bounded hotly as he perceived that the +figure was that of his Dolly--Dolly, the one love of his life, stealing +forth, probably to mourn alone the loss of her beloved father. As yet +he knew nothing of her share in that sad tale, and therefore felt no +anxiety at first about her purpose. He would not intrude upon her grief; +he had no right to be her comforter; but still she should have some one +to look after her, at that time of night, and with so much excitement +and danger in the air. So the poor horse was again abandoned to his own +resources, and being well used to such treatment, gazed as wistfully and +delicately after the young man Scudamore as that young man gazed after +his lady-love. + +To follow a person stealthily is not conducive to one's self-respect, +but something in the lady's walk and gesture impelled the young sailor +to follow her. She appeared to be hastening, with some set purpose, and +without any heed of circumstance, towards a part of the grounds where +no house was, no living creature for company, nor even a bench to rest +upon. There was no foot-path in that direction, nor anything to go to, +but the inland cliff that screened the Hall from northeastern winds, +and at its foot a dark pool having no good name in the legends of the +neighbourhood. Even Parson Twemlow would not go near it later than the +afternoon milking of the cows, and Captain Zeb would much rather face +a whole gale of wind in a twelve-foot boat than give one glance at its +dead calm face when the moon like a ghost stood over it. + +"She is going towards Corpse-walk pit," thought Scuddy--"a cheerful +place at this time of night! She might even fall into it unawares, in +her present state of distraction. I am absolutely bound to follow her." + +Duty fell in with his wishes, as it has a knack of doing. Forgetting his +weariness, he followed, and became more anxious at every step. For the +maiden walked as in a dream, without regard of anything, herself more +like a vision than a good substantial being. To escape Mrs. Stubbard she +had gone upstairs and locked herself in her bedroom, and then slipped +out without changing dress, but throwing a dark mantle over it. This had +fallen off, and she had not cared to stop or think about it, but went on +to her death exactly as she went in to dinner. Her dress of white silk +took the moonlight with a soft gleam like itself, and her clustering +curls (released from fashion by the power of passion) fell, like the +shadows, on her sweet white neck. But she never even asked herself how +she looked; she never turned round to admire her shadow: tomorrow she +would throw no shade, but be one; and how she looked, or what she was, +would matter, to the world she used to think so much of, never more. + +Suddenly she passed from the moonlight into the blackness of a lonely +thicket, and forced her way through it, without heed of bruise or rent. +At the bottom of the steep lay the long dark pit, and she stood upon +the brink and gazed into it. To a sane mind nothing could look less +inviting. All above was air and light, freedom of the wind and play of +moon with summer foliage; all below was gloom and horror, cold eternal +stillness, and oblivion everlasting. Even the new white frock awoke no +flutter upon that sullen breast. + +Dolly heaved a sigh and shuddered, but she did not hesitate. Her mind +was wandering, but her heart was fixed to make atonement, to give its +life for the life destroyed, and to lie too deep for shame or sorrow. +Suddenly a faint gleam caught her eyes. The sob of self-pity from her +fair young breast had brought into view her cherished treasures, bright +keepsakes of the girlish days when many a lover worshipped her. Taking +from her neck the silken braid, she kissed them, and laid them on the +bank. "They were all too good for me," she thought; "they shall not +perish with me." + +Then, with one long sigh, she called up all her fleeting courage, and +sprang upon a fallen trunk which overhung the water. "There will be no +Dan to save me now," she said as she reached the end of it. "Poor Dan! +He will be sorry for me. This is the way out of it." + +Her white satin shoes for a moment shone upon the black bark of the +tree, and, with one despairing prayer to Heaven, she leaped into the +liquid grave. + +Dan was afar, but another was near, who loved her even more than Dan. +Blyth Scudamore heard the plunge, and rushed to the brink of the pit, +and tore his coat off. For a moment he saw nothing but black water +heaving silently; then something white appeared, and moved, and a faint +cry arose, and a hopeless struggle with engulfing death began. + +"Keep still, don't struggle, only spread your arms, and throw your head +back as far as you can," he cried, as he swam with long strokes towards +her. But if she heard, she could not heed, as the lights of the deep sky +came and went, and the choking water flashed between, and gurgled into +her ears and mouth, and smothered her face with her own long hair. +She dashed her poor helpless form about, and flung out her feet for +something solid, and grasped in dim agony at the waves herself had made. +Then her dress became heavily bagged with water, and the love of life +was quenched, and the night of death enveloped her. Without a murmur, +down she went, and the bubbles of her breath came up. + +Scudamore uttered a bitter cry, for his heart was almost broken--within +an arm's-length of his love, and she was gone for ever! For the moment +he did not perceive that the clasp of despair must have drowned them +both. Pointing his hands and throwing up his heels, he made one vain +dive after her, then he knew that the pit was too deep for the bottom +to be reached in that way. He swam to the trunk from which Dolly had +leaped, and judging the distance by the sullen ripple, dashed in with +a dive like a terrified frog. Like a bullet he sank to the bottom, and +groped with three fathoms of water above him. Just as his lungs were +giving out, he felt something soft and limp and round. Grasping this +by the trailing hair, he struck mightily up for the surface, and drew a +long breath, and sustained above water the head that fell back upon his +panting breast. + +Some three hours later, Dolly Darling lay in her own little bed, as pale +as death, but sleeping the sleep of the world that sees the sun; while +her only sister knelt by her side, weeping the tears of a higher world +than that. "How could I be so brutal, and so hard?" sobbed Faith. +"If father has seen it, will he ever forgive me? His last words +were--'forgive, and love.'" + + + +CHAPTER LXIII + +THE FATAL STEP + + +As Carne rode up the hill that night towards his ruined castle, the +flush of fierce excitement and triumphant struggle died away, and +self-reproach and miserable doubt struck into him like ague. For the +death of Twemlow--as he supposed--he felt no remorse whatever. Him he +had shot in furious combat, and as a last necessity; the fellow had +twice insulted him, and then insolently collared him. And Faith, who had +thwarted him with Dolly, and been from the first his enemy, now would +have to weep and wail, and waste her youth in constancy. All that was +good; but he could not regard with equal satisfaction the death of the +ancient Admiral. The old man had brought it upon himself by his stupid +stubbornness; and looking fairly upon that matter, Carne scarcely saw +how to blame himself. Still, it was a most unlucky thing, and must lead +to a quantity of mischief. To-morrow, or at the latest Monday, was to +have crowned with grand success his years of toil and danger. There +still might be the landing, and he would sail that night to hasten it, +instead of arranging all ashore; but it could no longer be a triumph of +crafty management. The country was up, the Admiral's death would +spread the alarm and treble it; and worst of all, in the hot pursuit of +himself, which was sure to follow when people's wits came back to them, +all the stores and ammunition, brought together by so much skill and +patience and hardihood, must of necessity be discovered and fall into +the hands of the enemy. Farewell to his long-cherished hope of specially +neat retribution, to wit, that the ruins of his family should be the +ruin of the land which had rejected him! Then a fierce thought crossed +his mind, and became at once a stern resolve. If he could never restore +Carne Castle, and dwell there in prosperity, neither should any of his +oppressors. The only trace of his ancestral home should be a vast black +hole in earth. + +For even if the landing still succeeded, and the country were subdued, +he could never make his home there, after what he had done to-night. +Dolly was lost to him for ever; and although he had loved her with all +the ardor he could spare from his higher purposes, he must make up his +mind to do without her, and perhaps it was all the better for him. If +he had married her, no doubt he could soon have taught her her proper +place; but no one could tell how she might fly out, through her +self-will and long indulgence. He would marry a French woman; that would +be the best; perhaps one connected with the Empress Josephine. As soon +as he had made up his mind to this, his conscience ceased to trouble +him. + +From the crest of the hill at the eastern gate many a bend of shore was +clear, and many a league of summer sea lay wavering in the moonlight. +Along the beach red torches flared, as men of the Coast-Defence pushed +forth, and yellow flash of cannon inland signalled for the Volunteers, +while the lights gleamed (like windows opened from the depth) where +sloop and gun-boat, frigate and ship of the line, were crowding sail +to rescue England. For the semaphore, and when day was out the +beacon-lights, had glowed along the backbone of the English hills, and +England called every Englishman to show what he was made of. + +"That will do. Enough of that, John Bull!" Defying his native land, +Carne shook his fist in the native manner. "Stupid old savage, I shall +live to make you howl. This country has become too hot to hold me, and +I'll make it hotter before I have done. Here, Orso and Leo, good dogs, +good dogs! You can kill a hundred British bull-dogs. Mount guard for +an hour, till I call you down the hill. You can pull down a score of +Volunteers apiece, if they dare to come after me. I have an hour to +spare, and I know how to employ it. Jerry, old Jerry Bowles, stir your +crooked shanks. What are you rubbing your blear eyes at?" + +The huge boar-hounds, who obeyed no voice but his, took post upon the +rugged road (which had never been repaired since the Carnes were a power +in the land), and sat side by side beneath the crumbling arch, +with their long fangs glistening and red eyes rolling in the silver +moonlight, while their deep chests panted for the chance of good fresh +human victuals. Then Carne gave his horse to ancient Jerry, saying, +"Feed him, and take him with his saddle on to the old yew-tree in half +an hour. Wait there for Captain Charron, and for me. You are not to go +away till I come to you. Who is in the old place now? Think well before +you answer me." + +"No one now in the place but her"--the old man lifted his elbow, as +a coachman does in passing--"and him down in the yellow jug. All the +French sailors are at sea. Only she won't go away; and she moaneth +worse than all the owls and ghosts. Ah, your honour should never 'a done +that--respectable folk to Springhaven too!" + +"It was a slight error of judgment, Jerry. What a mealy lot these +English are, to make such a fuss about a trifle! But I am too +soft-hearted to blow her up. Tell her to meet me in half an hour by the +broken dial, and to bring the brat, and all her affairs in a bundle such +as she can carry, or kick down the hill before her. In half an hour, do +you understand? And if you care for your stiff old bones, get out of the +way by that time." + +In that half-hour Carne gathered in small compass, and strapped up in a +little "mail"--as such light baggage then was called--all his important +documents, despatches, letters, and papers of every kind, and the cash +he was entrusted with, which he used to think safer at Springhaven. Then +he took from a desk which was fixed to the wall a locket bright with +diamonds, and kissed it, and fastened it beneath his neck-cloth. The +wisp of hair inside it came not from any young or lovely head, but from +the resolute brow of his mother, the woman who hated England. He should +have put something better to his mouth; for instance, a good beef +sandwich. But one great token of his perversion was that he never did +feed well--a sure proof of the unrighteous man, as suggested by the +holy Psalmist, and more distinctly put by Livy in the character he gives +Hannibal. + +Regarding as a light thing his poor unfurnished stomach, Carne mounted +the broken staircase, in a style which might else have been difficult. +He had made up his mind to have one last look at the broad lands of his +ancestors, from the last that ever should be seen of the walls they had +reared and ruined. He stood upon the highest vantage-point that he could +attain with safety, where a shaggy gnarl of the all-pervading ivy served +as a friendly stay. To the right and left and far behind him all had +once been their domain--every tree, and meadow, and rock that faced the +moon, had belonged to his ancestors. "Is it a wonder that I am fierce?" +he cried, with unwonted self-inspection; "who, that has been robbed as +I have, would not try to rob in turn? The only thing amazing is my +patience and my justice. But I will come back yet, and have my revenge." + +Descending to his hyena den--as Charron always called it--he caught +up his packet, and took a lantern, and a coil of tow which had been +prepared, and strode forth for the last time into the sloping court +behind the walls. Passing towards the eastern vaults, he saw the form of +some one by the broken dial, above the hedge of brambles, which had +once been of roses and sweetbriar. "Oh, that woman! I had forgotten that +affair!" he muttered, with annoyance, as he pushed through the thorns to +meet her. + +Polly Cheeseman, the former belle of Springhaven, was leaning against +the wrecked dial, with a child in her arms and a bundle at her feet. +Her pride and gaiety had left her now, and she looked very wan through +frequent weeping, and very thin from nursing. Her beauty (like her +friends) had proved unfaithful under shame and sorrow, and little of +it now remained except the long brown tresses and the large blue eyes. +Those eyes she fixed upon Carne with more of terror than of love in +them; although the fear was such as turns with a very little kindness to +adoring love. + +Carne left her to begin, for he really was not without shame in this +matter; and Polly was far better suited than Dolly for a scornful and +arrogant will like his. Deeply despising all the female race--as the +Greek tragedian calls them--save only the one who had given him to the +world, he might have been a God to Polly if he had but behaved as a +man to her. She looked at him now with an imploring gaze, from the +gentleness of her ill-used heart. + +Their child, a fine boy about ten months old, broke the silence by +saying "booh, booh," very well, and holding out little hands to his +father, who had often been scornfully kind to him. + +"Oh, Caryl, Caryl, you will never forsake him!" cried the young mother, +holding him up with rapture, and supporting his fat arms in that +position; "he is the very image of you, and he seems to know it. Baby, +say 'Da-da.' There, he has put his mouth up, and his memory is so +wonderful! Oh, Caryl, what do you think of that--and the first time of +trying it by moonlight?" + +"There is no time for this nonsense, Polly. He is a wonderful baby, +I dare say; and so is every baby, till he gets too old. You must obey +orders, and be off with him." + +"Oh no! You are come to take us with you. There, I have covered his face +up, that he may not suppose you look cross at me. Oh, Caryl, you would +never leave him behind, even if you could do that to me. We are not +grand people, and you can put us anywhere, and now I am nearly as well +as ever. I have put up all his little things; it does not matter about +my own. I was never brought up to be idle, and I can earn my own living +anywhere; and it might be a real comfort for you, with the great people +going against you, to have somebody, not very grand, of course, but as +true to you as yourself, and belonging altogether to you. I know many +people who would give their eyes for such a baby." + +"There is no time for this," Carne answered, sternly; "my arrangements +are made, and I cannot take you. I have no fault to find with you, but +argument is useless." + +"Yes, I know that, Caryl; and I am sure that I never would attempt to +argue with you. You should have everything your own way, and I could +attend to so many things that no man ever does properly. I will be a +slave to you, and this little darling love you, and then you will feel +that you have two to love you, wherever you go, and whatever you do. +And if I spoke crossly when first I found out that--that I went away for +nothing with you, you must have forgiven me by this time, and I never +will remind you again of it; if I do, send me back to the place I belong +to. I belong to you now, Caryl, and so does he; and when we are away +from the people who know me, I shall be pleasant and cheerful again. I +was only two-and-twenty the day the boats came home last week, and they +used to say the young men jumped into the water as soon as they caught +sight of me. Try to be kind to me, and I shall be so happy that I shall +look almost as I used to do, when you said that the great ladies might +be grander, but none of them fit to look into my looking-glass. Dear +Caryl, I am ready; I don't care where it is, or what I may have to put +up with, so long as you will make room for your Polly, and your baby." + +"I am not at all a hard man," said Carne, retreating as the impulsive +Polly offered him the baby, "but once for all, no more of this. I have +quite forgiven any strong expressions you may have made use of when your +head was light; and if all goes well, I shall provide for you and the +child, according to your rank in life. But now you must run down the +hill, if you wish to save your life and his." + +"I have run down the hill already. I care not a pin for my own life; +and hard as you are you would never have the heart to destroy your +own little Caryl. He may be called Caryl--you will not deny him that, +although he has no right to be called Carne. Oh, Caryl, Caryl, you can +be so good, when you think there is something to gain by it. Only be +good to us now, and God will bless you for it, darling. I have given up +all the world for you, and you cannot have the heart to cast me off." + +"What a fool the woman is! Have you ever known me change my mind? If +you scorn your own life, through your own folly, you must care for the +brat's. If you stop here ten minutes, you will both be blown to pieces." + +"Through my own folly! Oh, God in heaven, that you should speak so of my +love for you! Squire Carne, you are the worst man that ever lived; and +it serves me right for trusting you. But where am I to go? Who will take +me and support me, and my poor abandoned child?" + +"Your parents, of course, are your natural supporters. You are hurting +your child by this low abuse of me. Now put aside excitement, and run +home, like a sensible woman, before your good father goes to bed." + +She had watched his face all the time, as if she could scarcely believe +that he was in earnest, but he proved it by leaving her with a wave of +his hat, and hastening back to his lantern. Then taking up that, and the +coil of tow, but leaving his package against the wall, he disappeared +in the narrow passage leading to the powder vaults. Polly stood still +by the broken dial, with her eyes upon the moon, and her arms around +the baby, and a pang in her heart which prevented her from speaking, or +moving, or even knowing where she was. + +Then Carne, stepping warily, unlocked the heavy oak door at the entrance +of the cellarage, held down his lantern, and fixed with a wedge the top +step of the ladder, which had been made to revolve with a pin and collar +at either end, as before described. After trying the step with his hand, +to be sure that it was now wedged safely, he flung his coil into the +vault and followed. Some recollection made him smile as he was going +down the steps: it was that of a stout man lying at the bottom, shaken +in every bone, yet sound as a grape ensconced in jelly. As he touched +the bottom he heard a little noise as of some small substance falling, +but seeing a piece of old mortar dislodged, he did not turn round to +examine the place. If he had done so he would have found behind the +ladder the wedge he had just inserted to secure the level of the +"Inspector's step." + +Unwinding his coil of tow, which had been steeped in saltpetre to make +a long fuse, with a toss of his long legs he crossed the barricade of +solid oak rails about six feet high securely fastened across the vault, +for the enclosure of the dangerous storage. Inside it was a passage, +between chests of arms, dismounted cannon, and cases from every +department of supply, to the explosive part of the magazine, +the devourer of the human race, the pulp of the marrow of the +Furies--gunpowder. + +Of this there was now collected here, and stored in tiers that reached +the roof, enough to blow up half the people of England, or lay them +all low with a bullet before it; yet not enough, not a millionth part +enough, to move for the breadth of a hair the barrier betwixt right +and wrong, which a very few barrels are enough to do with a man who has +sapped the foundations. Treading softly for fear of a spark from his +boots, and guarding the lantern well, Carne approached one of the casks +in the lower tier, and lifted the tarpaulin. Then he slipped the wooden +slide in the groove, and allowed some five or six pounds to run out upon +the floor, from which the cask was raised by timber baulks. Leaving the +slide partly open, he spread one end of his coil like a broad lamp-wick +in the pile of powder which had run out, and put a brick upon the tow +to keep it from shifting. Then he paid out the rest of the coil on the +floor like a snake some thirty feet long, with the tail about a yard +inside the barricade. With a very steady hand he took the candle from +inside the horn, and kindled that tail of the fuse; and then replacing +his light, he recrossed the open timber-work, and swiftly remounted the +ladder of escape. "Twenty minutes' or half an hour's grace," he thought, +"and long before that I shall be at the yew-tree." + +But, as he planted his right foot sharply upon the top step of the +ladder, that step swung back, and cast him heavily backwards to the +bottom. The wedge had dropped out, and the step revolved like the +treadle of a fox-trap. + +For a minute or two he lay stunned and senseless, with the lantern +before him on its side, and the candle burning a hole in the bubbly +horn. Slowly recovering his wits, he strove to rise, as the deadly peril +was borne in upon him. But instead of rising, he fell back again with a +curse, and then a long-drawn groan; for pain (like the thrills of a man +on the rack) had got hold of him and meant to keep him. His right arm +was snapped at the elbow, and his left leg just above the knee, and the +jar of his spine made him feel as if his core had been split out of him. +He had no fat, like Shargeloes, to protect him, and no sheath of hair +like Twemlow's. + +Writhing with anguish, he heard a sound which did not improve his +condition. It was the spluttering of the fuse, eating its merry way +towards the five hundred casks of gunpowder. In the fury of peril he +contrived to rise, and stood on his right foot with the other hanging +limp, while he stayed himself with his left hand upon the ladder. Even +if he could crawl up this, it would benefit him nothing. Before he +could drag himself ten yards, the explosion would overtake him. His only +chance was to quench the fuse, or draw it away from the priming. With +a hobble of agony he reached the barricade, and strove to lift his +crippled frame over it. It was hopeless; the power of his back was gone, +and his limbs were unable to obey his brain. Then he tried to crawl +through at the bottom, but the opening of the rails would not admit his +body, and the train of ductile fire had left only ash for him to grasp +at. + +Quivering with terror, and mad with pain, he returned to the foot of the +steps, and clung till a gasp of breath came back. Then he shouted, with +all his remaining power, "Polly, oh, Polly, my own Polly!" + +Polly had been standing, like a statue of despair, beside the broken +dial. To her it mattered little whether earth should open and swallow +her, or fire cast her up to heaven. But his shout aroused her from +this trance, and her heart leaped up with the fond belief that he had +relented, and was calling her and the child to share his fortunes. There +she stood in the archway and looked down, and the terror of the scene +overwhelmed her. Through a broken arch beyond the barricade pale +moonbeams crossed the darkness, like the bars of some soft melody; in +the middle the serpent coil was hissing with the deadly nitre; at +the foot of the steps was her false lover--husband he had called +himself--with his hat off, and his white face turned in the last +supplication towards her, as hers had been turned towards him just now. +Should a woman be as pitiless as a man? + +"Come down, for God's sake, and climb that cursed wood, and pull back +the fuse, pull it back from the powder. Oh, Polly! and then we will go +away together." + +"It is too late. I will not risk my baby. You have made me so weak that +I could never climb that fence. You are blowing up the castle which you +promised to my baby; but you shall not blow up him. You told me to run +away, and run I must. Good-bye; I am going to my natural supporters." + +Carne heard her steps as she fled, and he fancied that he heard +therewith a mocking laugh, but it was a sob, a hysterical sob. She would +have helped him, if she dared; but her wits were gone in panic. She knew +not of his shattered limbs and horrible plight; and it flashed across +her that this was another trick of his--to destroy her and the baby, +while he fled. She had proved that all his vows were lies. + +Then Carne made his mind up to die like a man, for he saw that escape +was impossible. Limping back to the fatal barrier, he raised himself +to his full height, and stood proudly to see, as he put it, the last +of himself. Not a quiver of his haughty features showed the bodily pain +that racked him, nor a flinch of his deep eyes confessed the tumult +moving in his mind and soul. He pulled out his watch and laid it on the +top rail of the old oak fence: there was not enough light to read the +time, but he could count the ticks he had to live. Suddenly hope flashed +through his heart, like the crack of a gun, like a lightning fork--a big +rat was biting an elbow of the yarn where some tallow had fallen upon +it. Would he cut it, would he drag it away to his hole? would he pull it +a little from its fatal end? He was strong enough to do it, if he only +understood. The fizz of saltpetre disturbed the rat, and he hoisted his +tail and skipped back to his home. + +The last thoughts of this unhappy man went back upon his early days; and +things, which he had passed without thinking of, stood before him like +his tombstone. None of his recent crimes came now to his memory to +disturb it--there was time enough after the body for them--but trifles +which had first depraved the mind, and slips whose repetition had made +slippery the soul, like the alphabet of death, grew plain to him. Then +he thought of his mother, and crossed himself, and said a little prayer +to the Virgin. + + * * * * * + +Charron was waiting by the old yew-tree, and Jerry sat trembling, with +his eyes upon the castle, while the black horse, roped to a branch, was +mourning the scarcity of oats and the abundance of gnats. + +"Pest and the devil, but the coast is all alive!" cried the Frenchman, +soothing anxiety with solid and liquid comforts. "Something has gone +wrong behind the tail of everything. And there goes that big Stoobar, +blazing with his sordid battery! Arouse thee, old Cheray! The time too +late is over. Those lights thrice accursed will display our little boat, +and John Bull is rushing with a thousand sails. The Commander is mad. +They will have him, and us too. Shall I dance by a rope? It is the only +dancing probable for me in England." + +"I have never expected any good to come," the old man answered, without +moving. "The curse of the house is upon the young Squire. I saw it in +his eyes this morning, the same as I saw in his father's eyes, when the +sun was going down the very night he died. I shall never see him more, +sir, nor you either, nor any other man that bides to the right side of +his coffin." + +"Bah! what a set you are of funerals, you Englishmen! But if I thought +he was in risk, I would stay to see the end of it." + +"Here comes the end of it!" the old man cried, leaping up and catching +at a rugged cord of trunk, with his other hand pointing up the hill. +From the base of the castle a broad blaze rushed, showing window and +battlement, arch and tower, as in a flicker of the Northern lights. Then +up went all the length of fabric, as a wanton child tosses his Noah's +ark. Keep and buttress, tower and arch, mullioned window and battlement, +in a fiery furnace leaped on high, like the outburst of a volcano. Then, +with a roar that rocked the earth, they broke into a storm of ruin, +sweeping the heavens with a flood of fire, and spreading the sea with +a mantle of blood. Following slowly in stately spires, and calmly +swallowing everything, a fountain of dun smoke arose, and solemn silence +filled the night. + +"All over now, thank the angels and the saints! My faith, but I made up +my mind to join them," cried Charron, who had fallen, or been felled by +the concussion. "Cheray, art thou still alive? The smoke is in my neck. +I cannot liberate my words, but the lumps must be all come down by this +time, without adding to the weight of our poor brains. Something fell in +this old tree, a long way up, as high as where the crows build. It +was like a long body, with one leg and one arm. I hope it was not the +Commander; but one thing is certain--he is gone to heaven. Let us pray +that he may stop there, if St. Peter admits a man who was selling the +keys of his country to the enemy. But we must do duty to ourselves, my +Cheray. Let us hasten to the sea, and give the signal for the boat. La +Torche will be a weak light after this." + +"I will not go. I will abide my time." The old man staggered to a broken +column of the ancient gateway which had fallen near them, and flung his +arms around it. "I remember this since I first could toddle. The ways of +the Lord are wonderful." + +"Come away, you old fool," cried the Frenchman; "I hear the tramp of +soldiers in the valley. If they catch you here, it will be drum-head +work, and you will swing before morning in the ruins." + +"I am very old. My time is short. I would liefer hang from an English +beam than deal any more with your outlandish lot." + +"Farewell to thee, then! Thou art a faithful clod. Here are five guineas +for thee, of English stamp. I doubt if napoleons shall ever be coined in +England." + +He was off while he might--a gallant Frenchman, and an honest enemy; +such as our country has respected always, and often endeavoured to turn +into fast friends. But the old man stood and watched the long gap, where +for centuries the castle of the Carnes had towered. And his sturdy faith +was rewarded. + +"I am starving"--these words came feebly from a gaunt, ragged figure +that approached him. "For three days my food has been forgotten; and +bad as it was, I missed it. There came a great rumble, and my walls fell +down. Ancient Jerry, I can go no further. I am empty as a shank bone +when the marrow-toast is serving. Your duty was to feed me, with +inferior stuff at any rate." + +"No, sir, no;" the old servitor was roused by the charge of neglected +duty. "Sir Parsley, it was no fault of mine whatever. Squire undertook +to see to all of it himself. Don't blame me, sir; don't blame me." + +"Never mind the blame, but make it good," Mr. Shargeloes answered, +meagrely, for he felt as if he could never be fat again. "What do I see +there? It is like a crust of bread, but I am too weak to stoop for it." + +"Come inside the tree, sir." The old man led him, as a grandsire leads a +famished child. "What a shame to starve you, and you so hearty! But the +Squire clean forgotten it, I doubt, with his foreign tricks coming to +this great blow-up. Here, sir, here; please to sit down a moment, while +I light a candle. They French chaps are so wasteful always, and always +grumbling at good English victual. Here's enough to feed a family +Captain Charron has throwed by--bread, and good mutton, and pretty near +half a ham, and a bottle or so of thin nasty foreign wine. Eat away, Sir +Parsley; why, it does me good to see you. You feeds something like an +Englishman. But you know, sir, it were all your own fault at bottom, for +coming among them foreigners a-meddling." + +"You are a fine fellow. You shall be my head butler," Percival +Shargeloes replied, while he made such a meal as he never made +before, and never should make again, even when he came to be the Right +Honourable the Lord Mayor of London. + + + +CHAPTER LXIV + +WRATH AND SORROW + + +The two most conspicuous men of the age were saddened and cast down +just now--one by the natural kindly sorrow into which all men live for +others, till others live into it for them; and one by the petulant +turns of fortune, twisting and breaking his best-woven web. Lord Nelson +arrived at Springhaven on Monday, to show his affection for his dear +old friend; and the Emperor Napoleon, at the same time, was pacing the +opposite cliffs in grief and dudgeon. + +He had taken his post on some high white land, about a league southward +of Boulogne, and with strong field-glasses, which he pettishly exchanged +in doubt of their power and truth, he was scanning all the roadways of +the shore and the trackless breadths of sea. His quick brain was burning +for despatches overland--whether from the coast road past Etaples, or +further inland by the great route from Paris, or away to the southeast +by special courier from the Austrian frontier--as well as for signals +out at sea, and the movements of the British ships, to show that his own +were coming. He had treated with disdain the suggestions of his faithful +Admiral Decres, who had feared to put the truth too plainly, that the +fleet ordered up from the west had failed, and with it the Master's +mighty scheme. Having yet to learn the lesson that his best plans might +be foiled, he was furious when doubt was cast upon this pet design. Like +a giant of a spider at the nucleus of his web, he watched the broad fan +of radiant threads, and the hovering of filmy woof, but without the mild +philosophy of that spider, who is versed in the very sad capriciousness +of flies. + +Just within hearing (and fain to be further, in his present state of +mind) were several young officers of the staff, making little mouths at +one another, for want of better pastime, but looking as grave, when the +mighty man glanced round, as schoolboys do under the master's eye. +"Send Admiral Decres to me," the Emperor shouted, as he laid down his +telescope and returned to his petulant to-and-fro. + +In a few minutes Admiral Decres arrived, and after a salute which was +not acknowledged, walked in silence at his master's side. The great man, +talking to himself aloud, and reviling almost every one except himself, +took no more notice of his comrade for some minutes than if he had been +a poodle keeping pace with him. Then he turned upon him fiercely, with +one hand thrown out, as if he would have liked to strike him. + +"What then is the meaning of all this?" He spoke too fast for the other +to catch all his words. "You have lost me three days of it. How much +longer will you conceal your knowledge? Carne's scheme has failed, +through treachery--probably his own. I never liked the man. He wanted to +be the master of me--of me! I can do without him; it is all the better, +if my fleet will come. I have three fleets, besides these. Any one of +them would do. They would do, if even half their crews were dead, so +long as they disturbed the enemy. You know where Villeneuve is, but you +will not tell me." + +"I told your Majesty what I thought," M. Decres replied, with dignity, +"but it did not please you to listen to me. Shall I now tell your +Majesty what I know?" + +"Ha! You have dared to have secret despatches! You know more of the +movements of my fleets than I do! You have been screening him all along. +Which of you is the worse traitor?" + +"Your Majesty will regret these words. Villeneuve and myself are devoted +to you. I have not heard from him. I have received no despatches. But in +a private letter just received, which is here at your Majesty's service, +I find these words, which your Majesty can see. 'From my brother on +the Spanish coast I have just heard. Admiral Villeneuve has sailed for +Cadiz, believing Nelson to be in chase of him. My brother saw the whole +fleet crowding sail southward. No doubt it is the best thing they could +do. If they came across Nelson, they would be knocked to pieces.' +Your Majesty, that is an opinion only; but it seems to be shared by M. +Villeneuve." + +Napoleon's wrath was never speechless--except upon one great +occasion--and its outburst put every other in the wrong, even while he +knew that he was in the right. Regarding Decres with a glare of fury, +such as no other eyes could pour, or meet--a glare as of burnished steel +fired from a cannon--he drove him out of every self-defence or shelter, +and shattered him in the dust of his own principles. It was not the +difference of rank between them, but the difference in the power of +their minds, that chased like a straw before the wind the very stable +senses of the man who understood things. He knew that he was right, but +the right was routed, and away with it flew all capacity of reason in +the pitiless torrent of passion, like a man in a barrel, and the barrel +in Niagara. + +M. Decres knew not head from tail, in the rush of invective poured upon +him; but he took off his hat in soft search for his head, and to let in +the compliments rained upon it. + +"It is good," replied the Emperor, replying to himself, as the foam +of his fury began to pass; "you will understand, Decres, that I am not +angry, but only lament that I have such a set of fools. You are not the +worst. I have bigger fools than you. Alas that I should confess it!" + +Admiral Decres put his hat upon his head, for the purpose of taking it +off, to acknowledge the kindness of this compliment. It was the first +polite expression he had received for half an hour. And it would have +been the last, if he had dared to answer. + +"Villeneuve cannot help it that he is a fool," continued Napoleon, in +a milder strain; "but he owes it to his rank that he should not be a +coward. Nelson is his black beast. Nelson has reduced him to a condition +of wet pulp. I shall send a braver man to supersede him. Are French +fleets forever to turn tail to an inferior force of stupid English? If +I were on the seas, I would sweep Nelson from them. Our men are far +braver, when they learn to spread their legs. As soon as I have finished +with those filthy Germans, I will take the command of the fleets myself. +It will be a bad day for that bragging Nelson. Give me pen and paper, +and send Daru to me. I must conquer the Continent once more, I suppose; +and then I will return and deal with England." + +In a couple of hours he had shaped and finished the plan of a campaign +the most triumphant that even he ever planned and accomplished. Then his +mind became satisfied with good work, and he mounted his horse, and +for the last time rode through the grandest encampment the sun has ever +seen, distributing his calm smile, as if his nature were too large for +tempests. + + * * * * * + +On the sacred white coast, which the greatest of Frenchmen should only +approach as a prisoner, stood a man of less imperious mould, and of +sweet and gentle presence--a man who was able to command himself in the +keenest disappointment, because he combined a quick sense of humour with +the power of prompt action, and was able to appreciate his own great +qualities without concluding that there were no other. His face, at all +times except those of hot battle, was filled with quiet sadness, as if +he were sent into the world for some great purpose beyond his knowledge, +yet surely not above his aim. Years of deep anxiety and ever urgent duty +had made him look old before his time, but in no wise abated his natural +force. He knew that he had duty before him still, and he felt that the +only discharge was death. + +But now, in the tenderness of his heart, he had forgotten all about +himself, and even for the moment about his country. Nelson had taken the +last fond look at the dear old friend of many changeful years, so true +and so pleasant throughout every change. Though one eye had failed for +the work of the brain, it still was in sympathy with his heart; and a +tear shone upon either wrinkled cheek, as the uses of sadness outlast +the brighter view. He held Faith by the hand, or she held by his, as +they came forth, without knowing it, through nature's demand for an open +space, when the air is choked with sorrow. + +"My dear, you must check it; you must leave off," said Nelson, although +he was going on himself. "It is useless for me to say a word to you, +because I am almost as bad myself. But still I am older, and I feel that +I ought to be able to comfort you, if I only knew the way." + +"You do comfort me, more than I can tell, although you don't say +anything. For any one to sit here, and be sorry with me, makes it come +a little lighter. And when it is a man like you, Lord Nelson, I feel a +sort of love that makes me feel less bitter. Mr. Twemlow drove me wild +with a quantity of texts, and a great amount of talk about a better +land. How would he like to go to it himself, I wonder? There is a great +hole in my heart, and nothing that anybody says can fill it." + +"And nothing that any one can do, my dear," her father's friend +answered, softly, "unless it is your own good self, with the kindness +of the Lord to help you. One of the best things to begin with is to help +somebody else, if you can, and lead yourself away into another person's +troubles. Is there any one here very miserable?" + +"None that I can think of half so miserable as I am. There is great +excitement, but no misery. Miss Twemlow has recovered her Lord +Mayor--the gentleman that wore that extraordinary coat--oh, I forgot, +you were not here then. And although he has had a very sad time of it, +every one says that the total want of diet will be much better for him +than any mere change. I am ashamed to be talking of such trifles now; +but I respect that man, he was so straightforward. If my brother Frank +had been at all like him, we should never have been as we are this day." + +"My dear, you must not blame poor Frank. He would not come down to the +dinner because he hated warlike speeches. But he has seen the error of +his ways. No more treasonable stuff for him. He thought it was large, +and poetic, and all that, like giving one's shirt to an impostor. All +of us make mistakes sometimes. I have made a great many myself, and +have always been the foremost to perceive them. But your own brave +lover--have you forgotten him? He fought like a hero, I am told; +and nothing could save his life except that he wore a new-fashioned +periwig." + +"I would rather not talk of him now, Lord Nelson, although he had no +periwig. I am deeply thankful that he escaped; and no doubt did his +best, as he was bound to do. I try to be fair to everybody, but I cannot +help blaming every one, when I come to remember how blind we have been. +Captain Stubbard must have been so blind, and Mrs. Stubbard a great deal +worse, and worst of all his own aunt, Mrs. Twemlow. Oh, Lord Nelson, if +you had only stopped here, instead of hurrying away for more glory! You +saw the whole of it; you predicted everything; you even warned us +again in your last letter! And yet you must go away, and leave us to +ourselves; and this is how the whole of it has ended." + +"My dear child, I will not deny that the eye of Nelson has a special +gift for piercing the wiles of the scoundrelly foe. But I was under +orders, and must go. The nation believed that it could not do without +me, although there are other men every bit as good, and in their own +opinion superior. But the enemy has never been of that opinion; and a +great deal depends upon what they think. And the rule has been always +to send me where there are many kicks but few coppers. I have never been +known to repine. We all err; but if we do our duty as your dear father +did his, the Lord will forgive us, when our enemies escape. When my time +comes, as it must do soon, there will be plenty to carp at me; but I +shall not care, if I have done my best. Your father did his best, and is +happy." + +Faith Darling took his hand again, and her tears were for him quite +as much as for herself. "Give me one of the buttons of your coat," she +said; "here is one that cannot last till you get home." + +It was hanging by a thread, and yet the hero was very loth to part +with it, though if it had parted with him, the chances were ten to +one against his missing it. However, he conquered himself, but not so +entirely as to let her cut it off. If it must go, it should be by his +own hand. He pulled out a knife and cut it off, and she kissed it when +he gave it to her. + +"I should like to do more than that," he said, though he would sooner +have parted with many guineas. "Is there nobody here that I can help, +from my long good-will to Springhaven?" + +"Oh, yes! How stupid I am!" cried Faith. "I forget everybody in my own +trouble. There is a poor young man with a broken heart, who came to me +this morning. He has done no harm that I know of, but he fell into the +power of that wicked--but I will use no harsh words, because he is gone +most dreadfully to his last account. This poor youth said that he only +cared to die, after all the things that had happened here, for he has +always been fond of my father. At first I refused to see him, but they +told me such things that I could not help it. He is the son of our chief +man here, and you said what a fine British seaman he would make." + +"I remember two or three of that description, especially young Dan +Tugwell." Nelson had an amazing memory of all who had served under +him, or even had wished to do so. "I see by your eyes that it is young +Tugwell. If it will be any pleasure to you, I will see him, and do what +I can for him. What has he done, my dear, and what can I do for him?" + +"He has fallen into black disgrace, and his only desire is to redeem +it by dying for his country. His own father has refused to see him, +although he was mainly the cause of it; and his mother, who was Erle +Twemlow's nurse, is almost out of her mind with grief. A braver young +man never lived, and he was once the pride of Springhaven. He saved poor +Dolly from drowning, when she was very young, and the boat upset. His +father chastised him cruelly for falling under bad influence. Then he +ran away from the village, and seems to have been in French employment. +But he was kept in the dark, and had no idea that he was acting against +his own country." + +"He has been a traitor," said Lord Nelson, sternly. "I cannot help such +a man, even for your sake." + +"He has not been a traitor, but betrayed," cried Faith; "he believed +that his only employment was to convey private letters for the poor +French prisoners, of whom we have so many hundreds. I will not contend +that he was right in that; but still it was no very great offence. +Even you must have often longed to send letters to those you loved in +England; and you know how hard it is in war time. But what they really +wanted him for was to serve as their pilot upon this coast. And the +moment he discovered that, though they offered him bags of gold to do +it, he faced his death like an Englishman. They attempted to keep him +in a stupid state with drugs, so that he might work like a mere machine. +But he found out that, and would eat nothing but hard biscuit. They had +him in one of their shallow boats, or prames, as they call them, which +was to lead them in upon signal from the arch-traitor. This was on +Saturday, Saturday night--that dreadful time when we were all so gay. +They held a pair of pistols at poor Dan's head, or at least a man was +holding one to each of his ears, and they corded his arms, because he +ventured to remonstrate. That was before they had even started, so you +may suppose what they would have done to us. Poor Daniel made up his +mind to die, and it would have eased his mind, he says now, if he had +done so. But while they were waiting for the signal, which through dear +father's vigilance they never did receive, Dan managed to free both +his hands in the dark, and as soon as he saw the men getting sleepy, +he knocked them both down, and jumped overboard; for he can swim like a +fish, or even better. He had very little hopes of escaping, as he says, +and the French fired fifty shots after him. With great presence of mind, +he gave a dreadful scream, as if he was shot through the head at least, +then he flung up his legs, as if he was gone down; but he swam under +water for perhaps a hundred yards, and luckily the moon went behind +a black cloud. Then he came to a boat, which had broken adrift, and +although he did not dare to climb into her, he held on by her, on the +further side from them. She was drifting away with the tide, and at last +he ventured to get on board of her, and found a pair of oars, and was +picked up at daylight by a smuggling boat running for Newhaven. He was +landed last night, and he heard the dreadful news, and having plenty +of money, he hired a post-chaise, and never stopped until he reached +Springhaven. He looks worn out now; but if his mind was easier, he would +soon be as strong as ever." + +"It is a strange story, my dear," said Nelson; "but I see that it has +done you good to tell it, and I have known many still stranger. But how +could he have money, after such a hard escape?" + +"That shows as much as anything how brave he is. He had made up his mind +that if he succeeded in knocking down both those sentinels, he would +have the bag of gold which was put for his reward in case of his +steering them successfully. And before he jumped overboard he snatched +it up, and it helped him to dive and to swim under water. He put it +in his flannel shirt by way of ballast, and he sticks to it up to the +present moment." + +"My dear," replied Lord Nelson, much impressed, "such a man deserves to +be in my own crew. If he can show me that bag, and stand questions, I +will send him to Portsmouth at my own expense, with a letter to my dear +friend Captain Hardy." + + + +CHAPTER LXV + +TRAFALGAR + + +Lord Nelson sailed from Portsmouth on the 15th of September, in his +favourite ship the Victory, to take his last command. He knew that he +never should come home, except as a corpse for burial, but he fastened +his mind on the work before him, and neglected nothing. "A fair fight, +and no favour," was the only thing he longed for. + +And this he did obtain at last. The French commander-in-chief came +forth, with all his mighty armament, not of his own desire, but goaded +by imperious sneers, and stings that made his manhood tingle. He spread +the sea-power of two nations in a stately crescent, double-lined (as the +moon is doubled when beheld through fine plate-glass)--a noble sight, a +paramount temptation for the British tow-rope. + +"What a lot for we to take to Spithead!" was the British tar's remark, +as forty ships of the line and frigates showed their glossy sides, and +canvas bosomed with the gentle air and veined with gliding sunlight. A +grander spectacle never was of laborious man's creation; and the work +of the Lord combined to show it to the best advantage--dark headlands +in the distance standing as a massive background, long pellucid billows +lifting bulk Titanic, and lace-like maze, sweet air wandering from +heaven, early sun come fresh from dew, all the good-will of the world +inspiring men to merriness. + +Nelson was not fierce of nature, but as gentle as a lamb. His great +desire, as he always proved, was never to destroy his enemies by the +number of one man spareable. He had always been led by the force of +education, confirmed by that of experience, to know that the duty of an +Englishman is to lessen the stock of Frenchmen; yet he never was free +from regret when compelled to act up to his conscience, upon a large +scale. + +It is an old saying that nature has provided for every disease its +remedy, and challenges men to find it out, which they are clever enough +not to do. For that deadly disease Napoleon, the remedy was Nelson; and +as soon as he should be consumed, another would appear in Wellington. +Such is the fortune of Britannia, because she never boasts, but grumbles +always. The boaster soon exhausts his subject; the grumbler has matter +that lasts for ever. + +Nelson had much of this national virtue. "Half of them will get away," +he said to Captain Blackwood, of the Euryalus, who was come for his +latest orders, "because of that rascally port to leeward. If the wind +had held as it was last night, we should have had every one of them. It +does seem hard, after waiting so long. And the sky looks like a gale of +wind. It will blow to-night, though I shall not hear it. A gale of wind +with disabled ships means terrible destruction. Do all you can to save +those poor fellows. When they are beaten, we must consider their lives +even more than our own, you know, because we have been the cause of it. +You know my wishes as well as I do. Remember this one especially." + +"Good-bye, my lord, till the fight is over." Captain Blackwood loved his +chief with even more than the warm affection felt by all the fleet for +him. "When we have got them, I shall come back, and find you safe and +glorious." + +"God bless you, Blackwood!" Lord Nelson answered, looking at him with a +cheerful smile. "But you will never see me alive again." + +The hero of a hundred fights, who knew that this would be his last, put +on his favourite ancient coat, threadbare through many a conflict with +hard time and harder enemies. Its beauty, like his own, had suffered +in the cause of duty; the gold embroidery had taken leave of absence in +some places, and in others showed more fray of silk than gleam of yellow +glory; and the four stars fastened on the left breast wanted a little +plate-powder sadly. But Nelson was quite contented with them, and like +a child--for he always kept in his heart the childhood's freshness--he +gazed at the star he was proudest of, the Star of the Bath, and through +a fond smile sighed. Through the rays of that star his death was coming, +ere a quarter of a day should be added to his life. + +With less pretension and air of greatness than the captain of a penny +steamer now displays, Nelson went from deck to deck, and visited every +man at quarters, as if the battle hung on every one. There was scarcely +a man whom he did not know, as well as a farmer knows his winter hands; +and loud cheers rang from gun to gun when his order had been answered. +His order was, "Reserve your fire until you are sure of every shot." +Then he took his stand upon the quarter-deck, assured of victory, and +assured that his last bequest to the British nation would be honoured +sacredly--about which the less we say the better. + +In this great battle, which crushed the naval power of France, and saved +our land from further threat of inroad, Blyth Scudamore was not engaged, +being still attached to the Channel fleet; but young Dan Tugwell bore +a share, and no small share by his own account and that of his native +village, which received him proudly when he came home. Placed at a gun +on the upper deck, on the starboard side near the mizzen-mast, he fought +like a Briton, though dazed at first by the roar, and the smoke, and the +crash of timber. Lord Nelson had noticed him more than once, as one of +the smartest of his crew, and had said to him that very morning, "For +the honour of Springhaven, Dan, behave well in your first action." And +the youth had never forgotten that, when the sulphurous fog enveloped +him, and the rush of death lifted his curly hair, and his feet were +sodden and his stockings hot with the blood of shattered messmates. + +In the wildest of the wild pell-mell, as the Victory lay like a pelted +log, rolling to the storm of shot, with three ships at close quarters +hurling all their metal at her, and a fourth alongside clutched so close +that muzzle was tompion for muzzle, while the cannon-balls so thickly +flew that many sailors with good eyes saw them meet in the air and +shatter one another, an order was issued for the starboard guns on the +upper deck to cease firing. An eager-minded Frenchman, adapting his +desires as a spring-board to his conclusions, was actually able to +believe that Nelson's own ship had surrendered! He must have been off +his head; and his inductive process was soon amended by the logic of +facts, for his head was off him. The reason for silencing those guns was +good--they were likely to do more damage to an English ship which lay +beyond than to the foe at the portholes. The men who had served those +guns were ordered below, to take the place of men who never should fire +a gun again. Dan Tugwell, as he turned to obey the order, cast a glance +at the Admiral, who gave him a little nod, meaning, "Well done, Dan." + +Lord Nelson had just made a little joke, such as he often indulged in, +not from any carelessness about the scene around him--which was truly +awful--but simply to keep up his spirits, and those of his brave and +beloved companion. Captain Hardy, a tall and portly man, clad in bright +uniform, and advancing with a martial stride, cast into shade the mighty +hero quietly walking at his left side. And Nelson was covered with dust +from the quarter-gallery of a pounded ship, which he had not stopped to +brush away. + +"Thank God," thought Dan, "if those fellows in the tops, who are picking +us off so, shoot at either of them, they will be sure to hit the big man +first." + +In the very instant of his thought, he saw Lord Nelson give a sudden +start, and then reel, and fall upon both knees, striving for a moment to +support himself with his one hand on the deck. Then his hand gave way, +and he fell on his left side, while Hardy, who was just before him, +turned at the cabin ladderway, and stooped with a loud cry over him. Dan +ran up, and placed his bare arms under the wounded shoulder, and helped +to raise and set him on his staggering legs. + +"I hope you are not much hurt, my lord?" said the Captain, doing his +best to smile. + +"They have done for me at last," the hero gasped. "Hardy, my backbone is +shot through." + +Through the roar of battle, sobs of dear love sounded along the +blood-stained deck, as Dan and another seaman took the pride of our +nation tenderly, and carried him down to the orlop-deck. Yet even so, in +the deadly pang and draining of the life-blood, the sense of duty never +failed, and the love of country conquered death. With his feeble hand +he contrived to reach the handkerchief in his pocket, and spread it over +his face and breast, lest the crew should be disheartened. + +"I know who fired that shot," cried Dan, when he saw that he could help +no more. "He never shall live to boast of it, if I have to board the +French ship to fetch him." + +He ran back quickly to the quarterdeck, and there found three or four +others eager to give their lives for Nelson's death. The mizzen-top of +the Redoutable, whence the fatal shot had come, was scarcely so much +as fifty feet from the starboard rail of the Victory. The men who were +stationed in that top, although they had no brass cohorn there, such +as those in the main and fore tops plied, had taken many English lives, +while the thick smoke surged around them. + +For some time they had worked unheeded in the louder roar of cannon, and +when at last they were observed, it was hard to get a fair shot at them, +not only from the rolling of the entangled ships, and clouds of blinding +vapour, but because they retired out of sight to load, and only +came forward to catch their aim. However, by the exertions of our +marines--who should have been at them long ago--these sharp-shooters +from the coign of vantage were now reduced to three brave fellows. They +had only done their duty, and perhaps had no idea how completely they +had done it; but naturally enough our men looked at them as if they were +"too bad for hanging." Smoky as the air was, the three men saw that a +very strong feeling was aroused against them, and that none of their +own side was at hand to back them up. And the language of the +English--though they could not understand it--was clearly that of bitter +condemnation. + +The least resolute of them became depressed by this, being doubtless a +Radical who had been taught that Vox populi is Vox Dei. He endeavoured, +therefore, to slide down the rigging, but was shot through the heart, +and dead before he had time to know it. At the very same moment the +most desperate villain of the three--as we should call him--or the most +heroic of these patriots (as the French historians describe him) popped +forward and shot a worthy Englishman, who was shaking his fist instead +of pointing his gun. + +Then an old quartermaster, who was standing on the poop, with his legs +spread out as comfortably as if he had his Sunday dinner on the spit +before him, shouted--"That's him, boys--that glazed hat beggar! Have +at him all together, next time he comes forrard." As he spoke, he +fell dead, with his teeth in his throat, from the fire of the other +Frenchman. But the carbine dropped from the man who had fired, and his +body fell dead as the one he had destroyed, for a sharp little Middy, +behind the quartermaster, sent a bullet through the head, as the hand +drew trigger. The slayer of Nelson remained alone, and he kept back +warily, where none could see him. + +"All of you fire, quick one after other," cried Dan, who had picked up a +loaded musket, and was kneeling in the embrasure of a gun; "fire so that +he may tell the shots; that will fetch him out again. Sing out first, +'There he is!' as if you saw him." + +The men on the quarter-deck and poop did so, and the Frenchman, who was +watching through a hole, came forward for a safe shot while they were +loading. He pointed the long gun which had killed Nelson at the smart +young officer on the poop, but the muzzle flew up ere he pulled the +trigger, and leaning forward he fell dead, with his legs and arms +spread, like a jack for oiling axles. Dan had gone through some +small-arm drill in the fortnight he spent at Portsmouth, and his eyes +were too keen for the bull's-eye. With a rest for his muzzle he laid +it truly for the spot where the Frenchman would reappear; with extreme +punctuality he shot him in the throat; and the gallant man who deprived +the world of Nelson was thus despatched to a better one, three hours in +front of his victim. + + + +CHAPTER LXVI + +THE LAST BULLETIN + + +To Britannia this was but feeble comfort, even if she heard of it. She +had lost her pet hero, the simplest and dearest of all the thousands +she has borne and nursed, and for every penny she had grudged him in the +flesh, she would lay a thousand pounds upon his bones. To put it +more poetically, her smiles were turned to tears--which cost her +something--and the laurel drooped in the cypress shade. The hostile +fleet was destroyed; brave France would never more come out of harbour +to contend with England; the foggy fear of invasion was like a morning +fog dispersed; and yet the funds (the pulse of England) fell at the loss +of that one defender. + +It was a gloomy evening, and come time for good people to be in-doors, +when the big news reached Springhaven. Since the Admiral slept in the +green churchyard, with no despatch to receive or send, the importance of +Springhaven had declined in all opinion except its own, and even Captain +Stubbard could not keep it up. When the Squire was shot, and Master Erle +as well, and Carne Castle went higher than a lark could soar, and folk +were fools enough to believe that Boney would dare put his foot down +there, John Prater had done a most wonderful trade, and never a man who +could lay his tongue justly with the pens that came spluttering from +London had any call for a fortnight together to go to bed sober at his +own expense. But this bright season ended quite as suddenly as it had +begun; and when these great "hungers"--as those veterans were entitled +who dealt most freely with the marvellous--had laid their heads together +to produce and confirm another guinea's worth of fiction, the London +press would have none of it. Public interest had rushed into another +channel; and the men who had thriven for a fortnight on their tongues +were driven to employ them on their hands again. + +But now, on the sixth of November, a new excitement was in store for +them. The calm obscurity of night flowed in, through the trees that +belonged to Sir Francis now, and along his misty meadows; and the only +sound in the village lane was the murmur of the brook beside it, or the +gentle sigh of the retiring seas. Boys of age enough to make much +noise, or at least to prolong it after nightfall, were away in the +fishing-boats, receiving whacks almost as often as they needed them; for +those times (unlike these) were equal to their fundamental duties. +In the winding lane outside the grounds of the Hall, and shaping its +convenience naturally by that of the more urgent brook, a man--to show +what the times were come to--had lately set up a shoeing forge. He had +done it on the strength of the troopers' horses coming down the hill so +fast, and often with their cogs worn out, yet going as hard as if they +had no knees, or at least none belonging to their riders. And although +he was not a Springhaven man, he had been allowed to marry a Springhaven +woman, one of the Capers up the hill; and John Prater (who was akin to +him by marriage, and perhaps had an eye to the inevitable ailment of a +man whose horse is ailing) backed up his daring scheme so strongly that +the Admiral, anxious for the public good, had allowed this smithy to be +set up here. + +John Keatch was the man who established this, of the very same family +(still thriving in West Middlesex) which for the service of the state +supplied an official whose mantle it is now found hard to fill; and the +blacksmith was known as "Jack Ketch" in the village, while his forge was +becoming the centre of news. Captain Stubbard employed him for battery +uses, and finding his swing-shutters larger than those of Widow Shanks, +and more cheaply lit up by the glow of the forge, was now beginning, in +spite of her remonstrance, to post all his very big proclamations there. + +"Rouse up your fire, Ketch," he said that evening, as he stood at the +door of the smithy, with half a dozen of his children at his heels. +"Bring a dozen clout-nails; here's a tremendous piece of news!" + +The blacksmith made a blaze with a few strokes of his bellows, and swung +his shutter forward, so that all might read. + +"GREAT AND GLORIOUS VICTORY. Twenty line-of-battle ships destroyed or +captured. Lord Nelson shot dead. God save the King!" + +"Keep your fire up. I'll pay a shilling for the coal," cried the +Captain, in the flush of excitement. "Bring out your cow's horn, and +go and blow it at the corner. And that drum you had to mend, my boy and +girl will beat it. Jack, run up to the battery, and tell them to blaze +away for their very lives." + +In less than five minutes all the village was there, with the readers +put foremost, all reading together at the top of their voices, for the +benefit of the rest. Behind them stood Polly Cheeseman, peeping, with +the glare of the fire on her sad pale face and the ruddy cheeks of her +infant. "Make way for Widow Carne, and the young Squire Carne," the loud +voice of Captain Zeb commanded; "any man as stands afront of her will +have me upon him. Now, ma'am, stand forth, and let them look at you." + +This was a sudden thought of Captain Tugwell's; but it fixed her rank +among them, as the order of the King might. The strong sense of justice, +always ready in Springhaven, backed up her right to be what she +had believed herself, and would have been, but for foul deceit and +falsehood. And if the proud spirit of Carne ever wandered around the +ancestral property, it would have received in the next generation a +righteous shock at descrying in large letters, well picked out with +shade: "Caryl Carne, Grocer and Butterman, Cheese-monger, Dealer in +Bacon and Sausages. Licensed to sell Tea, Coffee, Snuff, Pepper, and +Tobacco." + +For Cheeseman raised his head again, with the spirit of a true British +tradesman, as soon as the nightmare of traitorous plots and contraband +imports was over. Captain Tugwell on his behalf led the fishing fleet +against that renegade La Liberte, and casting the foreigners overboard, +they restored her integrity as the London Trader. Mr. Cheeseman shed a +tear, and put on a new apron, and entirely reformed his political views, +which had been loose and Whiggish. Uprightness of the most sensitive +order--that which has slipped and strained its tendons--stamped all +his dealings, even in the butter line; and facts having furnished a +creditable motive for his rash reliance upon his own cord, he turned +amid applause to the pleasant pastimes of a smug church-warden. And when +he was wafted to a still sublimer sphere, his grandson carried on the +business well. + +Having spread the great news in this striking manner, Captain +Stubbard--though growing very bulky now with good living, ever since his +pay was doubled--set off at a conscientious pace against the stomach of +the hill, lest haply the Hall should feel aggrieved at hearing all +this noise and having to wonder what the reason was. He knew, and was +grateful at knowing, that Carne's black crime and devilish plot had +wrought an entire revulsion in the candid but naturally too soft mind +of the author of the Harmodiad. Sir Francis was still of a liberal mind, +and still admired his own works. But forgetting that nobody read them, +he feared the extensive harm they might produce, although he was now +resolved to write even better in the opposite direction. On the impulse +of literary conscience, he held a council with the gardener Swipes, as +to the best composition of bonfire for the consumption of poetry. Mr. +Swipes recommended dead pea-haulm, with the sticks left in it to +ensure a draught. Then the poet in the garden with a long bean-stick +administered fire to the whole edition, not only of the Harmodiad, +but also of the Theiodemos, his later and even grander work. Persons +incapable of lofty thought attributed this--the most sage and practical +of all forms of palinode--to no higher source than the pretty face and +figure, and sweet patriotism, of Lady Alice, the youngest sister of +Lord Dashville. And subsequent facts, to some extent, confirmed this +interpretation. + +The old house looked gloomy and dull of brow, with only three windows +showing light, as stout Captain Stubbard, with his short sword swinging +from the bulky position where his waist had been, strode along the +winding of the hill towards the door. At a sharp corner, under some +trees, he came almost shoulder to shoulder with a tall man striking into +the road from a foot-path. The Captain drew his sword, for his nerves +had been flurried ever since the great explosion, which laid him on his +back among his own cannon. + +"A friend," cried the other, "and a great admirer of your valour, +Captain, but not a worthy object for its display." + +"My dear friend Shargeloes!" replied the Captain, a little ashamed of +his own vigilance. "How are you, my dear sir? and how is the system?" + +"The system will never recover from the tricks that infernal Carne has +played with it. But never mind that, if the intellect survives; we all +owe a debt to our country. I have met you in the very nick of time. +Yesterday was Guy Fawkes' Day, and I wanted to be married then; but +the people were not ready. I intend to have it now on New-Year's Day, +because then I shall always remember the date. I am going up here to +make a strange request, and I want you to say that it is right and +proper. An opinion from a distinguished sailor will go a long way +with the daughters of an Admiral. I want the young ladies to be my +bridesmaids--and then for the little ones, your Maggy and your Kitty. I +am bound to go to London for a month to-morrow, and then I could order +all the bracelets and the brooches, if I were only certain who the +blessed four would be." + +"I never had any bridesmaids myself, and I don't know anything about +them. I thought that the ladies were the people to settle that." + +"The ladies are glad to be relieved of the expense, and I wish to start +well," replied Shargeloes. "Why are ninety-nine men out of a hundred +henpecked?" + +"I am sure I don't know, except that they can't help it. But have you +heard the great news of this evening?" + +"The reason is," continued the member of the Corporation, "that they +begin with being nobodies. They leave the whole management of their +weddings to the women, and they never recover the reins. Miss Twemlow +is one of the most charming of her sex; but she has a decided character, +which properly guided will be admirable. But to give it the lead at the +outset would be fatal to future happiness. Therefore I take this affair +upon myself. I pay for it all, and I mean to do it all." + +"What things you do learn in London!" the Captain answered, with a sigh. +"Oh, if I had only had the money--but it is too late to talk of that. +Once more, have you heard the news?" + +"About the great battle, and the death of Nelson? Yes, I heard of all +that this morning. But I left it to come in proper course from you. Now +here we are; mind you back me up. The Lord Mayor is coming to be my best +man." + +The two sisters, dressed in the deepest mourning, and pale with long +sorrow and loneliness, looked wholly unfit for festive scenes; and as +soon as they heard of this new distress--the loss of their father's +dearest friend, and their own beloved hero--they left the room, to have +a good cry together, while their brother entertained the visitors. "It +can't be done now," Mr. Shargeloes confessed; "and after all, Eliza is +the proper person. I must leave that to her, but nothing else that I can +think of. There can't be much harm in my letting her do that." + +It was done by a gentleman after all, for the worthy Rector did it. The +bride would liefer have dispensed with bridesmaids so much fairer than +herself, and although unable to advance that reason, found fifty others +against asking them. But her father had set his mind upon it, and +together with his wife so pressed the matter that Faith and Dolly, much +against their will, consented to come out of mourning for a day, but not +into gay habiliments. + +The bride was attired wonderfully, stunningly, carnageously--as Johnny, +just gifted with his commission, and thereby with much slang, described +her; and in truth she carried her bunting well, as Captain Stubbard told +his wife, and Captain Tugwell confirmed it. But the eyes of everybody +with half an eye followed the two forms in silver-grey. That was the +nearest approach to brightness those lovers of their father allowed +themselves, within five months of his tragic death; though if the old +Admiral could have looked down from the main-top, probably he would have +shouted, "No flags at half-mast for me, my pets!" + +Two young men with melancholy glances followed these fair bridesmaids, +being tantalized by these nuptial rites, because they knew no better. +One of them hoped that his time would come, when he had pushed his great +discovery; and if the art of photography had been known, his face would +have been his fortune. For he bore at the very top of it the seal and +stamp of his patent--the manifest impact of a bullet, diffracted by the +power of Pong. The roots of his hair--the terminus of blushes, according +to all good novelists--had served an even more useful purpose, by +enabling him to blush again. Strengthened by Pong, they had defied the +lead, and deflected it into a shallow channel, already beginning to +be overgrown by the aid of that same potent drug. Erle Twemlow looked +little the worse for his wound; to a lady perhaps, to a man of science +certainly, more interesting than he had been before. As he gazed at the +bride all bespangled with gold, he felt that he had in his trunk the +means of bespangling his bride with diamonds. But the worst of it was +that he must wait, and fight, and perhaps get killed, before he could +settle in life and make his fortune. As an officer of a marching +regiment, ordered to rejoin immediately, he must flesh his sword in +lather first--for he had found no razor strong enough--and postpone the +day of riches till the golden date of peace. + +The other young man had no solace of wealth, even in the blue distance, +to whisper to his troubled heart. Although he was a real "Captain +Scuddy" now, being posted to the Danae, 42-gun frigate, the capacity of +his cocked hat would be tried by no shower of gold impending. For mighty +dread of the Union-jack had fallen upon the tricolor; that gallant flag +perceived at last that its proper flight was upon dry land, where as yet +there was none to flout it. Trafalgar had reduced by 50 per cent. the +British sailor's chance of prize-money. + +Such computations were not, however, the chief distress of Scudamore. +The happiness of his fair round face was less pronounced than usual, +because he had vainly striven for an interview with his loved one. With +all her faults he loved her still, and longed to make them all his own. +He could not help being sadly shocked by her fatal coquetry with the +traitor Carne, and slippery conduct to his own poor self. But love in +his faithful heart maintained that she had already atoned for that +too bitterly and too deeply; and the settled sorrow of her face, and +listless submission of her movements, showed that she was now a very +different Dolly. Faith, who had always been grave enough, seemed gaiety +itself in comparison with her younger sister, once so gay. In their +simple dresses--grey jaconet muslin, sparely trimmed with lavender--and +wearing no jewel or ornament, but a single snow-drop in the breast, the +lovely bridesmaids looked as if they defied all the world to make them +brides. + +But the Rector would not let them off from coming to the breakfast +party, and with the well-bred sense of fitness they obeyed his bidding. +Captain Stubbard (whose jokes had missed fire too often to be satisfied +with a small touch-hole now) was broadly facetious at their expense; +and Johnny, returning thanks for them, surprised the good company by his +manly tone, and contempt of life before beginning it. This invigorated +Scudamore, by renewing his faith in human nature as a thing beyond +calculation. He whispered a word or so to his friend Johnny while Mr. +and Mrs. Shargeloes were bowing farewell from the windows of a great +family coach from London, which the Lord Mayor had lent them, to make +up for not coming. For come he could not--though he longed to do so, and +all Springhaven expected him--on account of the great preparations in +hand for the funeral of Lord Nelson. + +"Thy servant will see to it," the boy replied, with a wink at his +sisters, whom he was to lead home; for Sir Francis had made his way down +to the beach, to meditate his new poem, Theriodemos. + +"His behaviour," thought Dolly, as she put on her cloak, "has been +perfect. How thankful I feel for it! He never cast one glance at me. He +quite enters into my feelings towards him. But how much more credit to +his mind than to his heart!" + +Scudamore, at a wary distance, kept his eyes upon her, as if she had +been a French frigate gliding under strong land batteries, from which +he must try to cut her out. Presently he saw that his good friend Johnny +had done him the service requested. At a fork of the path leading to the +Hall, Miss Dolly departed towards the left upon some errand among +the trees, while her brother and sister went on towards the house. +Forgetting the dignity of a Post-Captain, the gallant Scuddy made a cut +across the grass, as if he were playing prisoner's base with the boys +at Stonnington, and intercepted the fair prize in a bend of the brook, +where the winter sun was nursing the first primrose. + +"You, Captain Scudamore!" said the bridesmaid, turning as if she could +never trust her eyes again. "You must have lost your way. This path +leads nowhere." + +"If it only leads to you, that is all that I could wish for. I am +content to go to nothing, if I may only go with you." + +"My brother sent me," said Dolly, looking down, with more colour on her +cheeks than they had owned for months, and the snow-drop quivering on +her breast, "to search for a primrose or two for him to wear when he +dines at the rectory this evening. We shall not go, of course. We have +done enough. But Frank and Johnny think they ought to go." + +"May I help you to look? I am lucky in that way. I used to find so many +things with you, in the happy times that used to be." Blyth saw that her +eyelids were quivering with tears. "I will go away, if you would rather +have it so. But you used to be so good-natured to me." + +"So I am still. Or at least I mean that people should now be +good-natured to me. Oh, Captain Scudamore, how foolish I have been!" + +"Don't say so, don't think it, don't believe it for a moment," said +Scudamore, scarcely knowing what he said, as she burst into a storm of +sobbing. "Oh, Dolly, Dolly, you know you meant no harm. You are breaking +your darling heart, when you don't deserve it. I could not bear to look +at you, and think of it, this morning. Everybody loves you still, as +much and more than ever. Oh, Dolly, I would rather die than see you cry +so terribly." + +"Nobody loves me, and I hate myself. I could never have believed I +should ever hate myself. Go away, you are too good to be near me. Go +away, or I shall think you want to kill me. And I wish you would do it, +Captain Scudamore." + +"Then let me stop," said the Captain, very softly. She smiled at the +turn of his logic, through her tears. Then she wept with new anguish, +that she had no right to smile. + +"Only tell me one thing--may I hold you? Not of course from any right to +do it, but because you are so overcome, my own, own Dolly." The Captain +very cleverly put one arm round her, at first with a very light touch, +and then with a firmer clasp, as she did not draw away. Her cloak was +not very cumbrous, and her tumultuous heart was but a little way from +his. + +"You know that I never could help loving you," he whispered, as she +seemed to wonder what the meaning was. "May I ever hope that you will +like me?" + +"Me! How can it matter now to anybody? I used to think it did; but I +was very foolish then. I know my own value. It is less than this. This +little flower has been a good creature. It has been true to its place, +and hurt nobody." + +Instead of seeking for any more flowers, she was taking from her breast +the one she had--the snow-drop, and threatening to tear it in pieces. + +"If you give it to me, I shall have some hope." As he spoke, he looked +at her steadfastly, without any shyness or fear in his eyes, but as one +who knows his own good heart, and has a right to be answered clearly. +The maiden in one glance understood all the tales of his wonderful +daring, which she never used to believe, because he seemed afraid to +look at her. + +"You may have it, if you like," she said; "but, Blyth, I shall never +deserve you. I have behaved to you shamefully. And I feel as if I could +never bear to be forgiven for it." + +For the sake of peace and happiness, it must be hoped that she conquered +this feminine feeling, which springs from an equity of nature--the +desire that none should do to us more than we ever could do to them. +Certain it is that when the Rector held his dinner party, two gallant +bosoms throbbed beneath the emblem of purity and content. The military +Captain's snow-drop hung where every one might observe it, and some +gentle-witted jokes were made about its whereabouts that morning. +By-and-by it grew weary on its stalk and fell, and Erle Twemlow never +missed it. But the other snow-drop was not seen, except by the wearer +with a stolen glance, when people were making a loyal noise--a little +glance stolen at his own heart. He had made a little cuddy there +inside his inner sarcenet, and down his plaited neck-cloth ran a sly +companionway to it, so that his eyes might steal a visit to the joy that +was over his heart and in it. Thus are women adored by men, especially +those who deserve it least. + +"Attention, my dear friends, attention, if you please," cried the +Rector, rising, with a keen glance at Scuddy. "I will crave your +attention before the ladies go, and theirs, for it concerns them +equally. We have passed through a period of dark peril, a long time +of trouble and anxiety and doubt. By the mercy of the Lord, we have +escaped; but with losses that have emptied our poor hearts. England has +lost her two foremost defenders, Lord Nelson, and Admiral Darling. To +them we owe it that we are now beginning the New Year happily, with the +blessing of Heaven, and my dear daughter married. Next week we shall +attend the grand funeral of the hero, and obtain good places by due +influence. My son-in-law, Percival Shargeloes, can do just as he pleases +at St. Paul's. Therefore let us now, with deep thanksgiving, and one +hand upon our hearts, lift up our glasses, and in silence pledge the +memory of our greatest men. With the spirit of Britons we echo the last +words that fell from the lips of our dying hero--'Thank God, I have +done my duty!' His memory shall abide for ever, because he loved his +country." + +The company rose, laid hand on heart, and deeply bowing, said--"Amen!" + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Springhaven, by R. D. 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